Direct elect republicans and others ought to be watching Lord Mayor Campbell Newman very closely. He is likely to provide a model for what a popularly elected President could do at his most powerful, and he’s just met his worst nightmare. Tall, blond, urbane, and a talented artist, Councillor David Hinchliffe, is Labor’s new leader […]

This week’s brawling in national politics over Iraq has firmly focussed attention on the leadership issue. Labor has placed all its eggs in the Latham basket; the Coalition is increasingly edgy over whether Howard still has the goods, or whether they should switch to Costello. I have been giving Latham the benefit of the doubt […]

Australia seems to have its very own Kelly/Gilligan affair with some differences. The person playing the role of Andrew Gilligan is Opposition Leader, Mark Latham. Defence Department Deputy Secretary, Ron Bonighton is Kelly. While David Kelly was not in a position to know the information that he was supposed to have passed on, Bonighton was. […]

I’d just returned from dinner with a friend from when I worked in a university. We had enjoyed a wide-ranging conversation over some tasty Indonesian food – words like ontology and epistemology were used freely. So I decided to veg out a little and let my brain slow down before retiring. What better way than […]

THE new Premier of Tasmania, Paul Lennon, has long been my kind of politician – no nonsense, tell it exactly how you see it, and reject political correctness with enthusiasm. Yesterday, in a statement running to just three sentences, Paul Lennon confirmed why he is the kind of politician those of us fed up with […]

There is something decidedly Oedipal about federal politics these days. Here is the overtly patriarchal John Howard (stern, authoritative, self–righteous) brawling with the brash, energetic and hungry Mark Latham over ownership of the motherland. Latham made the character of this conflict obvious when he made that crack about the desperation of a politician at the […]

Mandate theory is being given a work-out in Brisbane. Liberal Campbell Newman has been elected Lord Mayor, but 17 out of the 27 councillors are Labor. Neither side is taking it well. Newman says he is “the Boss” and his programme will be implemented. Labor spokesperson and former school teacher, Maureen Hayes wants to know […]

THE media has given virtually no coverage (bar this) to one of the more extraordinary results in the weekend’s council elections in New South Wales and Queensland – the re- election of the Mayor of Maitland, NSW, Peter Blackmore. Mr Blackmore is the former Liberal MP for Maitland who lost his seat the 1989 State […]

I’ve been enjoying the current ABC nature series on Sunday nights. They show the amazing special effects available to even documentary makers now and highlight the growing understanding of natural relationships. The name – “Wolf (or ‘Shark’ etc) Battleground” – which no doubt the marketeers thought would appeal to our violence-saturated audience, is misleading because […]

I watched ‘Pearl Harbor’ last night on TV –yet another Hollywood blockbuster that made me think, “Glad I didn’t blow ten bucks on this stinker”. It certainly palls beside the 1970s movie ‘Tora, Tora, Tora’, a joint US-Japanese production that tried for some historical accuracy. That version could not match the fantastic but increasingly unrealistic […]