Tuesday November 18, 2008
The left writes Liberals' history
In the dark years of the Conservative Party in Britain, before the advent of Margaret Thatcher, the Tories were commonly referred to as the stupid party - by opponents and frustrated supporters alike, writes Gerard Henderson.
Tuesday November 11, 2008
Truth and the casualties of war
The guns stopped firing on the Western Front, and what was called the Great War ended, 90 years ago today. Yet sniping, of the verbal kind, has continued apace, writes Gerard Henderson.
Tuesday November 4, 2008
Media focus more fashion than facts
I've lost count of the number of ABC journalists, based in or visiting the United States, who are covering the presidential election. But the number does not really matter since they all seem to be saying much the same thing, writes Gerard Henderson.
Tuesday October 28, 2008
Don't hit immigration panic button
In times of economic downturn, or even recession, the "don't panic" mantra makes sense. Including in the area of immigration, writes Gerard Henderson.
Tuesday October 21, 2008
Doomsayer gets instant fame
It had to happen. In the international financial crisis, it was always likely the cult of celebrity would merge with that of economic doomsayer, writes Gerard Henderson.
Tuesday October 14, 2008
Break election promises, save jobs
Kevin Rudd is a dedicated follower of the former Labor prime minister Gough Whitlam. He restated his position when delivering the Gough Whitlam Lecture at Sydney University last month. The Prime Minister acknowledged that "the Whitlam government had its failures", writes Gerard Henderson.
Tuesday October 7, 2008
Do-gooders helped make the mess
Complicated outcomes rarely, if ever, have simple explanations. There was merit in Kevin Rudd's speech last Friday in which he condemned financial greed, writes Gerard Henderson.
Tuesday September 30, 2008
It's economy with the truth, stupid
Just imagine what the sneering left intelligentsia, in the United States and elsewhere, would have said if a Republican vice-presidential candidate had told CBS News that "when the stockmarket crashed [in 1929], Franklin Roosevelt got on television" and informed Americans what had happened, writes Gerard Henderson.
Tuesday September 23, 2008
Bombs prove it pays to be vigilant
It's just over a week since five bombs exploded in New Delhi with tens of deaths and scores of injured. Almost a week later, a suicide-homicide bomber detonated a massive bomb outside the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad killing Pakistanis and Western tourists, writes Gerard Henderson.
Tuesday September 16, 2008
Turnbull looks the man for the job
Shortly after the Coalition's defeat in last November's federal election, Dr Norman Abjorensen appeared on Lateline and predicted the demise of the Liberal Party, writes Gerard Henderson.
Tuesday September 9, 2008
Nats head for a smaller paddock
Just three days after his stunning victory in the Lyne byelection on the NSW mid North Coast, Rob Oakeshott has already become one of the best-known MPs in Canberra, writes Gerard Henderson.
Tuesday September 2, 2008
Full marks for old-school Rudd
The reason why conservatives and social democrats have a similar attitude to education reform in Australia results from the fact that they are attempting to resolve a continuing problem, writes Gerard Henderson.
Tuesday August 26, 2008
History says blocking doesn't work
Here we go again. The Coalition in opposition is back to its bad habit of opposing government legislation in the Senate, writes Gerard Henderson.
Tuesday August 19, 2008
Weird portrait by a spiteful mob
To obtain a glimpse of two different views of Australia start at Circular Quay where the First Fleet came ashore in January 1788. The crowd is invariably busy on weekdays and relaxed at the weekend, writes Gerard Henderson.
Tuesday August 12, 2008
No wins for Howard in culture wars
No doubt about it. Nine months after the Coalition's devastating election loss, John Howard is looking better, writes Gerard Henderson.
Tuesday August 5, 2008
Why Costello can still be the one
A majority of the Canberra paliamentary press gallery seem to be of the view that, after the publication of The Costello Memoirs in mid-September, the former treasurer will resign from politics. But there is an alternative scenario, writes Gerard Henderson.
Tuesday July 29, 2008
A heated grab for climate control
It's not often that the media is more interested in the policy, or potential policy, of an opposition rather than a government, writes Gerard Henderson.
Tuesday July 22, 2008
Rudd or Costello, it's a mild ride
The revelations in Christine Jackman's book Inside Kevin 07 concerning the Liberal Party leadership struggle in the lead-up to last November's federal election come as no real surprise, writes Gerard Henderson.
Tuesday July 15, 2008
The sorry sport of Pope bashing
The new sectarianism is quite different from the old sectarianism. Yet it is real enough, writes Gerard Henderson.
Tuesday July 8, 2008
The shrewd move is to just say yes
Conventional wisdom has it that since July 1 the five Greens senators and two independents have held the balance of power in the Senate, writes Gerard Henderson.
Tuesday July 1, 2008
Crying need for doubting Peter
In the wake of the surprisingly large swing against Labor in the Gippsland byelection on Saturday, Kevin Rudd could well do with a Peter Walsh in his cabinet, writes Gerard Henderson.
Tuesday June 24, 2008
Baton passed in diplomatic games
Kevin Rudd's decision to attend the Beijing Olympics has led to predictable outrage from Bob Brown, writes Gerard Henderson.
Tuesday June 17, 2008
Teething pains tied to baby bonus
The phrase "tipping point" has become one of the cliches of our time. It covers not only the edge beyond which there will be (alleged) catastrophe but also mundane matters of human interaction. Moreover, the tipping can occur in either direction, writes Gerard Henderson.
Tuesday June 10, 2008
What lies beneath Rudd's Iraq line
Kevin Rudd in government has continued the same ambivalence towards Iraq as he exhibited in opposition.
Tuesday June 3, 2008
Luvvies Labor's loss over Henson
In 1996 the barrister Julian Burnside, the journalist Margo Kingston and the academic Robert Manne voted for John Howard and the Coalition. Then they spent much of the next decade publicly bewailing the consequences of their own electoral choice, writes Gerard Henderson.
