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…
In the final chapter of his latest book, John Howard gives his view on why the Morrison government lost this year’s election. Of course, there was the “it’s time” factor after nine years. But the government didn’t help itself, he said, by lacking a strong fourth term agenda and refraining from fight on lots of…
Recognising indigenous people in the constitution is well worth doing but only if it’s done in ways that don’t damage our system of government and don’t compromise our national unity. Done well, recognition would complete our constitution rather than change it. Done badly, recognition would entrench race-based separatism and make the business of government even…
When you’re prevented by law from having large gatherings, for the best part of three years, these surely have been dispiriting times. Certainly, it’s been hard to practice freedom and enterprise, locked up in your house, and with your business closed on account of a virus. And with our country, two hundred years on, from…
As Health Minister in the Howard government, I’d given much thought to a potential pandemic. In those days, our fear was a readily transmissible version of avian flu, a poultry disease with a 30 per cent plus case fatality rate for those who caught it, typically chicken farmers living cheek-by-jowl with their birds. In response,…
E&OE……………………….…………………………………………………………………………… It’s an honour to be at a conference such as this, that brings people together, from different countries, to work for the betterment of mankind, based on all that we have in common. It’s so fitting that we meet here in India, the world’s largest democracy – also one of the world’s oldest democracies…
E&OE……………………….…………………………………………………………………………… Originally published in The Australian Probably not a single death in human history will be as widely felt as that of Queen Elizabeth II. Thanks to television, that was just coming into its own at the start of her reign, there’d hardly be anyone, anywhere unfamiliar with her. Unlike mere celebrities, she’s been consequential;…
E&OE……………………….…………………………………………………………………………… Originally published in The Australian Andrew Morton, The Queen, Hardie Grant, ISBN 9781789294644, $32-99 At one level, this is an extraordinarily well-informed and reasonably sympathetic account of our Queen’s life. At another level it’s an incredibly detailed and relentlessly unsparing chronicle of one family’s crises. I suppose that’s to be expected from the author…