E&OE……………………….…………………………………………………………………………… Originally published in the Australian I’m all in favour of recognising indigenous people in our constitution but not if it means making a race based body part of our parliament and not if it means changing our system of government. The problem with entrenching in the constitution an indigenous voice to the parliament is…
E&OE……………………….…………………………………………………………………………… Originally published in the Australian The murder of Shinzo Abe has sent shock waves around the world because he was not just a distinguished former prime minister but had established Japan as the leading democracy of the western Pacific. Like most Japanese statesmen, he never fell into the trap of wishful thinking about communist…
E&OE……………………….…………………………………………………………………………… Originally published in the Australian On an otherwise discouraging election night, it was good to see more Indigenous people entering the parliament. We’ve come a long way since 1971, when Neville Bonner was the first to arrive as a Liberal senator for Queensland. But with 10 Indigenous MPs, what’s the point of a separate…
E&OE……………………….…………………………………………………………………………… Originally published in the London Telegraph The vast majority of Australians have nothing but respect and admiration for Her Majesty the Queen and will be wishing her good health and even longer life on the occasion of her platinum jubilee. On her 21st birthday, she declared that: “my whole life, whether it be long…
E&OE……………………….…………………………………………………………………………… Originally published in The Spectator Australia If you want an inside view on the Trump White House, there could hardly be a better read than Joe Hockey’s account of his time as our US ambassador. It’s funny, deep, wry and revealing; and full of insights drawn from a long and successful public life. Joe…
E&OE……………………….…………………………………………………………………………… Originally published in The Daily Telegraph It always hurts to lose, especially to a seemingly inferior opponent. Yet no government lasts forever and the challenge for Liberals and Nationals is to remember the successes of the Morrison government while working diligently to become a more effective political movement. A new government that’s limped into…
E&OE……………………….…………………………………………………………………………… Originally published in The Hindu As a Rhodes scholar travelling from Sydney to Oxford, way back in 1981, I didn’t feel that I could fly over nearly a billion Indians without stopping to learn, and to pay my respects. Even then, in the three months I spent back-packing here, it was obvious to me…
E&OE……………………….…………………………………………………………………………… Originally published in The Australian Every time he has addressed a national parliament, the Ukrainian leader has made a request. Only one country has immediately delivered: that’s Australia, which has now slapped punitive tariffs on all Russian imports and is preparing swiftly to despatch Bushmaster armoured vehicles to Ukraine’s heroic defenders after Volodymyr Zelensky’s…
E&OE……………………….…………………………………………………………………………… Some years ago, at an East Asia Summit in Burma, I found myself standing with Japan’s Shinzo Abe, plus China’s Le Keqiang and the Sultan of Brunei. China’s premier was upbraiding the prime minister over Japan’s war record, so to create a distraction, I grabbed the sultan and loudly told him that he must…
E&OE……………………….…………………………………………………………………………… Originally published in The Australian What do Australians think about a more powerful country invading and subjugating a nation of 44 million people; how ready are we for the global economic disruption that would accompany the first big European war in seven decades; and are we psychologically prepared to become more like Israel in…