Australian politics, society & culture

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Don Watson

Don Watson is an award-winning author and former speechwriter for Paul Keating. His books include Death Sentence: The Decay of Public Language, Recollections of a Bleeding Heart: A Portrait of Paul Keating PM, American Journeys, The Bush and, most recently, the Quarterly Essay ‘Enemy Within: American Politics in the Time of Trump’.

Articles by this author

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Donald Trump’s presidency feels both unprecedented and oddly familiar
American berserk
It will be recognised with slavery and the Civil War. It will be recognised with World War One and the Great Depression. It will be recognised with World War Two. It will be...
 
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Hillary Clinton needs her new progressive agenda as much as America does
A democratic moment
“It’s not what you say, it’s what people hear.” – Political strategist Frank Luntz It seems certain a majority of voters in the United States have – at last –...
 
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What does the prime minister stand for, and when will we find out about it?
The mystery of Malcolm Turnbull
The mystery of Malcolm Turnbull is the absence of mystery. He is astute, obviously, and eloquent nearly to a fault, but he’s not compelling. To go with his intelligence he has...
 
Americans are split along party lines as never before
These divided states of America
Every four years the people of the United States of America choose the person they think most likely to keep them free and safe; and to decide what their country’s interests are...
 
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Whatever the politicians say, we can't afford to skimp on education
Living within our platitudes
Our prime minister says that we must “live within our means”. The treasurer and the minister for finance both say it. As is the custom, having said it once, they have said it...
 
The prime minister does not seem to be himself at all
Turnbull’s rightful place
“All joy wants eternity,” Nietzsche said, speaking of woe and eternal recurrence. And, “we all get carried out in the end”, Paul Keating said, speaking of prime ministers....
 
A welcome to Turnbull and a farewell to slogans
The new normal
Now look, your grace,” said Sancho, “what you see over there aren’t giants, but windmills, and what seems to be arms are just their sails, that go around in the wind and turn...
 
Tony Abbott’s surprises keep coming
Method in the madness
“Jesus knew that there was a place for everything and it’s not necessarily everyone’s place to come to Australia.” It’s possible that our prime minister riffs on some bowdlerised...
 
Our politicians have paltry ideas and express them poorly
Lost for words
A study in the United States has revealed that in the first four years of life children of professional parents will hear 30 million more words than children from families on...
 
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Remembering Gough Whitlam puts modern Labor to shame
Whitlam’s ghost
Gough Whitlam had just died, and on the ABC TV program The Drum John Hewson and Craig Emerson were offering us their thoughts. During his time as leader of the Liberal Party 20...
 
Andrew Bolt and Tony Abbott. © Jason Edwards / Newspix
Why do Andrew Bolt and company love to hate the national broadcaster?
The conservative crusade against the ABC
It’s such an ABC discussion to end with a discussion about “Lou Reed”. This, you know, heroin addict and transgressional. So ABC … What about Dvořák? … Or Tchaikovsky? … Well...
 
How should we remember World War One?
Lest we go over the top
The experience of war very much depends on where one happens to be standing at the time. This is true for those whose fate is decided in battle and for those who, having sent them...
 
The prime minister is sorry about everything
Tony Abbott apologises
Good evening. Tonight I want to speak to you about honesty. And dishonesty. On honesty good government depends. Dishonesty is the seed of bad government. It is a betrayal of the...
 
The all-purpose election victory speech
Thank you, thank you, thank you, no, really, please, thank you. A short time ago, my opponent called me to offer his congratulations. He’s a good bloke, whatever his...
 
In praise of Tony Windsor
The Hon. Tony Windsor Member for New England Tamworth Dear Mr Windsor, I can find no elegant way of saying this, so I will use plain terms: I have a kind of crush on you....
 
Illustration by Jeff Fisher.
Horse racing’s inegalitarian streak
The Kings and I
The football ends, and the vanquished lie here and there on their backs, like blowflies after a spray of Mortein. It would make a telling coda to the season if the victors were...
 
Illustration by Jeff Fisher.
Comment: A New Dusk
In 1967, when La Trobe University was brand new and underpopulated, John O’Brien, an Irish historian with a wild and feverish laugh, told us about the enemy within. It was not for...
 
George Pell, Anzac service, 24 April 2009. © AAP/Jenny Evans
The Anzac cult
A New Opium
Of all believers who might have debated Richard Dawkins on the ABC earlier this year, Cardinal George Pell was surely among the more unlikely. There is no doubting the depth of...
 

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