ADDRESS TO THE RECOVERING CONSERVATISM CONFERENCEHOSTED BY THE DANUBE INSTITUTEREFORM CLUB, LONDON E&OE What’s gone wrong with centre-right politics: is it our leaders, or our beliefs; or has the world changed? It’s a bit of each, as I will try to show, but there’s no reason it can’t be fixed. Consider the Reagan, Thatcher, and…
Originally published in the Spectator Australia Most Australians know very little about Morocco because it’s one of those places that rarely makes the news. Not much goes wrong there. In fact, much is going right. It’s peaceful, politically stable, and surprisingly prosperous. And for a Muslim country, it’s been remarkably protective of its Jewish community,…
Originally published as the afterword in ‘Dignity and Prosperity: The Future of Liberal Australia’, edited by David Stevens (Connor Court, 2023) As opposition leader, I often said that the longer the Rudd-Gillard government lasted the better the Howard government would look. But to the authors of these essays, it’s not just the former Labor government…
THE HYATT HOTEL, CANBERRAE&OE While life membership is a way for a political party to say thank you, to those who’ve served it, really, this party should less be thanking me, than I should be thanking you. But for the Liberal Party, I would never have been a member of parliament; never have been a…
This funeral, is less a sad farewell to a great friend; and more, a joyous tribute to a great hero. It’s the celebration of a wonderful life; a once-in-a-generation gathering, of the people of faith; to re-dedicate ourselves to the ideals, George Pell lived for; and to draw strength, from each other, for the struggles…
23 January 2023 E&OE……………………….…………………………………………………………………………… Originally published in The Telegraph It is easy to be so consumed by day-to-day international events that you miss a major development. Some days ago, one such development occurred. The treaty, signed at the Tower of London, allowing British forces to be stationed in Japan, and vice-versa, marks a new phase…
Originally published in The Australian The best way to honour the dead is less to elaborate on their human decency than to take seriously the causes that mattered to them. Of course, it was hard to find a better man than the late Senator Jim Molan who was utterly dedicated to his family and to…
The passing of George Pell leaves a large, eclectic and global circle of friends and admirers bereft of a mentor. The Church has lost a servant and a teacher who came much closer than most to the imitation of Christ. And Australia has lost its greatest religious leader, at least since the redoubtable Archbishop Danny…
Originally published in The Daily Telegraph Goodwill towards Aboriginal people has never been greater and there is all-but-universal support for recognising indigenous people in the constitution. But this proposal for a constitutionally entrenched indigenous voice to the government and to the parliament is way beyond recognition. It’s a special body for some, but not all,…
In my retirement from day to day politics, I enjoy a spacious office on the 65th floor of a classic Sydney skyscraper, with panoramic views over the world’s finest harbour. Sometimes, my enjoyment of this vista is darkened by the thought of such peace and plenty being turned into something resembling Mariupol. If that’s an…
