Australian artists will never be silenced by cuts to funding. MUCH is being made of this week’s wholesale cuts to arts funding in Australia. We knew it was coming, it’s shocking to witness, but does it mean anything to the average Australian artist? Well, if you’re an independent Australian artist, probably not. There is a simple […]
Cut the crap about arts funding, just grant us access: @burgewords comments on #ArtsBlackFriday
May 14, 2016
LGBTI versus Christians, an unnecessary war: @burgewords comments on #SafeSchools
February 26, 2016
This is not a suffering competition for martyrs, it’s a legislative process taking place in a secular nation. THE Turnbull government has no firm plans for a public vote on marriage equality. We only know it’ll be ‘after the election’, an Abbott three-word slogan for ‘on the never-never’; and that it will be a non-binding, […]
Hanging on a red herring: @burgewords reviews #PicnicAtHangingRock
November 13, 2015
The answer to what drew Miss McGraw to follow the girls up the rock that timeless afternoon was always there, it’s just that others decided we were not prepared for it. FORTY years since the premier of the Peter Weir film, it’s time for Australians to realise that Picnic at Hanging Rock has kept us […]
The making of a #MarriageEquality advocate: @burgewords extract
May 29, 2015
IRELAND’S yes vote for marriage equality kicked a rainbow-coloured goal for LGBTQI people around the globe, and while the major Australian political parties fight for ownership of the ball, this extract from an upcoming non-fiction podcast and book by MICHAEL BURGE is a reminder of how far we’ve come. Marriage, like a seed, was planted within me […]
Burning issues for @TonyAbbottMHR: @burgewords #CreatingWaves on #DirectAction
November 2, 2014
CLIMATE change efforts in Australia have become a matter of simple mathematics. With the Coalition’s Direct Action Bill in place just this week, after a deal struck with the Palmer United Party and Senate crossbenchers, Australia is now attempting to reduce its carbon emissions by 5 per cent by 2020. It’s official: we’re trying, and […]
Secrets of a Hollywood king from Kiama: @burgewords #CreatingWaves on Orry-Kelly
October 19, 2014
JUST about everyone I knew as a kid went to Kiama for the school holidays. Apart from its famous blow-hole, through which the ocean mysteriously forces a geyser-like spray to the delight of tourists, there is nothing extraordinary about this sleepy town which has all the caravan parks, bait shops and holiday rentals of every town […]
The Aussie who loved and left us: @burgewords #CreatingWaves on Sumner Locke Elliott
September 28, 2014
Expats often get a bad name, perhaps because they heed the bogan’s call to ‘love’ or ‘leave’ our shores, but Elliott had the courage to do both. ALL this talk about progressive thinkers packing up and leaving Australia, if we don’t love what’s happening politically in our country, brings to mind the ones who actually went through […]
It’s too late for #MarriageEquality in Australia: @burgewords #CreatingWaves
September 7, 2014
IN April 2013 Guardian Australia journalist Gay Alcorn declared the culture war was over for marriage equality and confidently asserted that after “a year or two” LGBTQI couples would bask in the same connubial rights as straight Australians. She declared the debate “interminably dull” and credited lobby group Australian Marriage Equality’s (AME) latest pitch for support – […]
Don’t f**k with #JudyDavis: @burgewords #CreatingWaves on an Australian icon
August 29, 2014
LOVE or hate Australian actress Judy Davis, chances are you’ve seen one of her acerbic, riveting, onscreen meltdowns. I recently caught Charles Sturridge’s underrated 1991 adaptation of E.M. Forster’s debut novel Where Angels Fear to Tread on television, and was reminded what a milestone in her career this movie remains. Already a staple in period dramas by that time, Davis […]
