Trump lies, but his lies are the small ones
The Oxford Dictionary declared “post-truth” the word of the year in 2016, with the explanation: “it describes not just particular assertions, but a general characteristic of our age”. Donald Trump’s presidential campaign was widely thought to embody this new age. And now, it seems his pres...CONTINUE READING
The waterfront war that shook Australia
Twenty years ago, on 7 April 1998, Patrick Stevedores dismissed and locked out all 1,400 of its unionised waterside workforce, triggering mass protests and picketing around the country. In the dead of night, balaclava-wearing scabs with German shepherds and rottweilers entered the docks, c...CONTINUE READING
ANU preaches free speech, censors student
“ANU prides itself on the principle of academic freedom and I am always proud to see our students standing up for issues they feel strongly about. I am disappointed this happened, and everyone has learned from it.” Brian Schmidt, vice-chancellor of the Australian National University, let g...CONTINUE READING
A modest proposal on espionage law
ASIO director general Duncan Lewis, supporting the government’s “espionage” bill, has told a parliamentary committee that journalists should not be exempted from 20-year sentences for revealing government lies that the liars have classified as “secret”. Journalism, Lewis said, provides an...CONTINUE READING
Batman: Labor smears Greens to distract from its appalling refugee policies
In the week leading up to the tightly contested Batman by-election in Melbourne’s inner north, a social media storm erupted in what has become colloquially known as #placardgate. The offending placard, carried at a Refugee Action Collective rally in the Batman electorate on 10 March, was a...CONTINUE READING
Note to Emma Alberici: This is how you meet ABC editorial standards
They couldn’t have done it better if they’d aimed for parody. “The surprisingly frugal habits of the super rich”, read the headline. Perhaps we were supposed to be tantalised. For most people who clicked through to the article, however, it was likely more a case of, “No, they wouldn’t real...CONTINUE READING
Vale Zelda D’Aprano, a fighter for women’s liberation
Zelda D’Aprano, famous for chaining herself to the railings of the Commonwealth Building in Melbourne in 1969 to demand equal pay for women, died on 21 February, aged 90. Zelda was born into a working class Jewish family in Carlton in 1928. Following her mother’s example, she became a memb...CONTINUE READING
There’s nothing good about Turnbull’s sex ban
What to do when desperately trying to keep your government from sinking in a mire of salacious scandal brought on by Barnaby Joyce’s sordid and hypocritical personal life? Malcolm Turnbull’s solution is a new “code of conduct” for government ministers, which bans them, married or single, f...CONTINUE READING
ABC’s pathetic kowtowing to government
US investigative journalist I.F. Stone famously said: “All governments lie”. So a filing cabinet full of classified government documents should have been a heaven-sent opportunity for the ABC to hold the Australian government to account. Instead, we got a craven attempt by the ABC to show...CONTINUE READING