One night a couple of weeks back I attended two separate meetings, of different organisations, both with an interest in public life: the first had about 50 people, mostly over 60, pessimistic about the next election; the second, over 100 people, mostly under 30, optimistic about their ability to make a difference. It might not…
Thank you for giving me the same platform that you’ve previously given to fellow Australians John Howard and George Pell. I will strive to be worthy of their example and their friendship; to offer a common sense way through the climate conflict; and, also, to place this particular issue in the broader search for practical…
Originally published in the Daily Telegraph and the Herald Sun, 28 September 2017 No one wants to seem harsh towards gay friends and family members which is why most people’s initial inclination was to say “yes” to same sex marriage. But that’s starting to change as more and more of us realise that this issue…
Originally published in the Australian, 20 September 2017 It’s bordering on absurd that a country with the world’s largest readily available reserves of coal, gas and uranium should have some of the world’s highest power prices and can’t be sure of keeping the lights on this summer; but that’s what happens when policy is driven…
Originally published in the Sydney Morning Herald, 12 September 2017 Like most, I have tried to be there for friends and family who are gay. They are good people who deserve our love, respect and inclusion but that doesn’t mean that we can’t continue to reserve the term “marriage” for the relationship of one man…
Originally published in The Australian, 6 September 2017 Our country is drifting because the Labor Party and the Senate won’t allow the government to do its job. But even though Bill Shorten has done enough damage already, if the polls are right, he’s going to be prime minister soon and make a bad situation much,…
Originally published in the Weekend Australian, 2 September 2017 The mark of a conservative politician is a preoccupation with finding practical ways to deal with the nation’s problems. The conservative’s focus is not so much articulating a vision because that can easily become mere rhetoric; and not merely proclaiming beliefs (important though they are) because…
Originally published in The Australian, 28 August 2017 It’s hard to credit but there are still policy makers who think that a welfare dependent male’s right to spend his money on booze trumps his partner’s right to be protected from a drunken rage. The immediate victims of binge drinking are the family members and neighbours…
Originally published in The Australian, 15 August 2017 Same sex marriage is a tough issue. It divides families; it splits political parties; often enough, it tears at individuals too. It was definitely rending the Liberal Party in mid-2015 between those sure that the institution at the heart of our society must not be redefined to…
Originally published The Australian, 7 August 2017 The real villain in the same sex marriage imbroglio is Bill Shorten. He is the one who’s playing politics with this issue and stopping it from being resolved in this term of parliament via the plebiscite that people want. It’s Shorten who told church leaders before the 2013…