Last night I was interviewed by TRT – Turkey’s answer to Al Jazeera – on a panel moderated by Adnan Azwaz on the Australian fires. My fellow panellists were Professor Mark Howden and Tony Kevin. Azwaz did a good job, and his courteous approach to moderation could teach Tony Jones a thing or two, although he […]

This is a vital free speech issue, so I’ve initiated a petition “Don’t discriminate against Israel Folau” and urge all readers to sign it. I don’t endorse all of Folau’s views, but I endorse his right to have and to express them. He is employed as a football player, and he executes that job brilliantly. […]

Some more on the BOM Annual Climate Report, or at least the reaction to it. Speaking on the World Today, Professor Will Steffen said this: In terms of our coastal zones we’ve got to take seriously the issue that sea levels are rising and storm surges are coming in on a higher sea level. The […]

Climate change is accelerating, according to the latest annual climate report from the Bureau of Meteorology, with 2016 tipped to have been the hottest year ever recorded globally. according to The Australian. And because it is the BOM, no one bothers to check. In fact, when you go to some of Australia’s oldest and best […]

Sonia Kruger was the first significant celebrity (unless you put Pauline Hanson in this category) to suggest that perhaps we should stop Islamic immigration, at least temporarily, until the terrorism issue is settled. Now an Essential Poll says 49% of Australians agree. The proportions between the parties are 60% amongst coalition voters, 40% amongst Labor […]

Under Section 44 of the Australian Constitution there is every chance that Sam Dastyari is inelegible to sit as a senator. Section 44 says: 44. Any person who – (i) Is under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a foreign power, or is a subject or a citizen or entitled to the rights […]

Q&A last night was a panel discussion on Shakespeare featuring Germaine Greer, Anthony Grayling, some minor colonial celebs and John Bell. While the politics of the Australians was not announced, I suspect that they all hail hard from the left. This is odd, as from what we know of Shakespeare he was the son of […]

Apparently if you say anything critical of members of another race it is, according to a wide range of activists, twitterati, human rights commissioners and journalists, racist. That’s the only conclusion you can draw from the criticism of Bill Leak’s cartoon. But let’s apply a test here. Something can only be racist if it is […]

Labor perpetrated one of the great frauds of Australian politics when they persuaded some voters to accept the proposition the coalition was planning to privatise Medicare. They’ve boasted about the tactic. Now they are trying to justify it on the basis that the coalition has allegedly lied to win elections too. Senator Dastyari downplayed concerns […]