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…
E&OE……………………….…………………………………………………………………………… Originally published in First Things Paul V Mankowski SJ, Jesuit at Large, Essays and Reviews, edited by George Weigel, Ignatius Press, ISBN 978-1-62164-514-6, 237pp, $17-95 A decade or so back, after he had been turned down, yet again, for full membership in the Jesuit order, I asked Father Paul Mankowski why he didn’t pursue…
E&OE……………………….…………………………………………………………………………… Originally published in The Daily Telegraph It’s only thanks to NSW Premier Dom Perrottet that we’re still able to look forward to a decent Christmas. But for Perrottet, all overseas arrivals would still be stuck in two weeks quarantine; but for him, we’d still be forced to wear masks at all indoor venues; and…
E&OE……………………….…………………………………………………………………………… Originally published in the Australian Fifty years ago, Australia and Britain were hardly separate countries. It wasn’t just the same queen at the apex of our systems and the words “British subject” then still appearing on Australians’ passports. For Australians of my parents’ generation and beyond (think Clive James, Germaine Greer and Barry Humphries),…
E&OE……………………….…………………………………………………………………………… Originally published in the Australian The world’s “emerging democratic superpower” is how I habitually described India as PM. With the world’s other emerging superpower becoming more belligerent almost-by-the-day, it’s in everyone’s interests that India take its rightful place among the leading nations as quickly as possible. And because trade deals are about politics as…
E&OE……………………….…………………………………………………………………………… Australia’s PM Scott Morrison has said that there’s a whiff of the 1930s about these times. Others have said that we’re on the brink of a new Cold War. I’d prefer to hope that nothing more ominous than a Cold Peace now exists between China and the West but, however described, it’s by far…
Address to the Policy Exchange, London E&OE How to deal with a potential pandemic was often on my mind during four years as health minister in the Australian government of John Howard.In those days, hundreds of people – nearly all in East Asia and living in close contact with poultry – contracted bird flu; and…