I wish I had time for a longer post on the John Brogden brouhaha. The degraded state of journalism in the country is on full-show. A politician gets a little drunk and in a situation which is obviously completely off the record indulges in a bit of horseplay and makes a weak, slightly racist, joke […]

Barnaby Joyce’s behaviour over Telstra should be a lesson to the Queensland Liberals on how to negotiate a coalition agreement with the Queensland Nats. Just because they threaten to walk away or wreck things if they don’t get their way doesn’t mean they will. Joyce at one stage wanted $5 billion from the sale of […]

Full marks to Dr Ameer Ali, president of the national Federation of Islamic Councils, when he says that Islamic extremists should not be banned. “The best thing is to expose these people and marginalise them. As long as they are out in the open we know what they are thinking,” is one of the classic […]

Could Bob Quinn lose his job as a result of winning the Queensland by-elections? That’s the seemingly bizarre analysis running around the Queensland Liberal Party. It goes like this. Michael Caltabiano, the winner in Chatsworth, has entered Parliament with the express intention of becoming Parliamentary Leader. Not only is he ambitious, but some of his […]

The Queensland Liberal Party has had two significant victories in the Redcliffe and Chatsworth by-elections. With swings in Redcliffe of around 7% and 12% in Chatsworth voters have told Premier Beattie to fix the health system. They have also put in place the first building blocks of a decent opposition. The Liberal Party has increased […]

In the Redcliffe and Chatsworth by-elections, only the Liberal Party is under real pressure. For Peter Beattie a loss would be a good management tool. It would say to his back-benchers that his government is not impregnable, so they should be careful how they behave. He would also be able to claim, with more credibility […]

I came across this piece in Open Democracy by Scilla Elworthy a couple of weeks ago. In it’s own context it is not that different from the advice that I would give a political combatant in a domestic legislative scrap, so it resonates with me. Elworthy has five principles to reduce terrorism which she believes […]

According to the ABC, Tim Gartrell, National Secretary of the ALP, “wants the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to investigate whether it is possible to stop political candidates making money from the election process”. His concern is that Pauline Hanson made $164,000 from public funding in her last attempt to gain a senate seat. I think […]

The best thing about Graeme Gilbert is that he spells “Grayam” differently from the way that I spell it. He’s using my name and he’s wearing it out.This man is as big a threat to our way of life as the Islamo-fascists he criticises. I subjected myself to at least an hour of Gilbert’s bile […]

While the National Party is busy demanding broadband access to every homestead, along with a tar seal on the road, two new dams for every property over 1000 hectares, and reticulated water everywhere but the Simpson Desert, I wonder whether Telecoms services in the city are really up to what the Nationals would call “scratch”. […]