Western Australians have spoken, and loudly
One angry state, inept One Nation
Western Australian voters were in a punishing mood on Saturday, and it’s easy to see why. Colin Barnett’s Coalition government had presided over the state’s biggest ever mining...
Editor’s Note March 2017
“A scam artist, an ignoramus, a professional liar, a colossal and malignant narcissist, a vulgarian, a casino operator, a serial bankrupt – a Roy Cohn–mentored billionaire with...
The Turnbull government is peddling energy myths and climate denialism
Defining clean to include dirty
Federal energy minister Josh Frydenberg yesterday revealed that the government is considering changing the mandate of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) to allow it to...
Editor’s Note February 2017
The first week of Donald Trump’s presidency may not have revealed anything new about the man, but it did confirm the worst fears for his rule.
Any doubts over whether he meant...
The government will be scorched unless it acts soon
The Centrelink summer
“WHEN a government agency tasked with assisting some of the most vulnerable Australians is reduced to suggesting on Twitter that clients seek help via Lifeline,” said the Courier-...
Editor’s Note December 2016 – January 2017
The American people elected a candidate who promised to upend their political system. As with Brexit, it was a political result that seemed to come out of nowhere. The politics of...
Editor’s Note November 2016
The election of the most powerful person in the world was always going to be dramatic, but the fascination and disgust generated by Donald Trump has led to democratic effects that...
Editor’s Note October 2016
“In 2016,” writes Alison Croggon in the new issue of the Monthly, “it became clear that Australian arts are facing the worst crisis since before the Australia Council was founded...
From the census debacle to the Don Dale scandal, politicians and the public have short memories
Playing charades
“It was an attack, and we believe from overseas,” said David Kalisch, the chief statistician with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the day after the census debacle. “It...
Editor’s Note September 2016
What is the role of the ABC?
This question has never been more important. As commercial newsrooms struggle amid collapsing revenue – as jobs are lost, desks are closed –...
Editor’s Note August 2016
As Australia emerges from its post-election stupor and parties begin to evaluate what went right and wrong, this month we focus on the Australian Greens. What did the party...
Editor’s Note July 2016
This month in a landmark essay, the great indigenous leader Galarrwuy Yunupingu writes about his history and culture, and sums up a lifetime of his thinking about relations...
Editor’s Note June 2016
Three weeks into the eight-week election campaign, some things are clear. Bill Shorten’s confidence is up, and he seems to be having fun. His party, while vulnerable to the common...
Editor’s Note May 2016
“Our prime minister says that we must ‘live within our means’,” writes Don Watson. “The treasurer and the minister for finance both say it. As is the custom, having said it once,...
Editor’s Note April 2016
Prime Minister Turnbull’s announcement last week certainly set the political class abuzz. Parliament would be prorogued, paving the way for a double-dissolution election. It was a...
Just how innovative is the Turnbull government’s innovation package?
The start-up whisperer
If innovation and economic reform could be achieved by sunny proclamation, Australia under a Turnbull government would be sitting pretty. Agility would be our paradigmatic virtue...
Editor’s Note March 2016
In 2014, Malcolm Turnbull said Australia’s tax system was “too tough on people earning income, i.e. the entrepreneurs, the people who are growing and driving, younger people in...
Editor's Note February 2016
David Bulmer-Rizzi, 32, was recently killed in a freak accident in Adelaide, while honeymooning there with his husband, Marco.
The couple were married last year in the United...
