No one with even a shred of decency defends the shooting of unarmed prisoners, as alleged in the Brereton Report. And no one can observe the way Defence has confronted the report's aftermath without the deepest misgivings about the nous and competence of those who seem unable to say the word 'alleged'

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If the SASR engaged in 'blooding', as has been alleged, that was one crime for which no excuse can be accepted. But there is another hardly less repugnant violation: if subordinates were bullied into taking innocent lives, the obligation not only to lead troops but to protect them was heinously betrayed by their superiors

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Teenage Aboriginal suicides won't end because NRL stars refuse to sing the National Anthem. As for indigenous academics, they are happiest pontificating about flags, the Constitution and the date of Australia Day. So where are the voices, especially in their own communities, demanding abusers pay for their crimes?

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Popular drama tends to present democracies as flawed at best and monstrously corrupt otherwise, an impression apt to be be bolstered in the young by teachers spouting post-modern bile. It's past time, I reckon, for the movies to depict what the alternative is like, with bloody China standing ready for its closeup

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Australian soldiers in Afghanistan face enemies all around, from declared Taliban warriors to treacherous faux comrades who have gunned them down without mercy or warning. The allegations in the Brereton Report are shocking -- but so is the rush to judgment

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In the immortal words of Victoria’s one-time premier Joan Kirner, education must be 'part of the socialist struggle for equality, participation and social change, rather than an instrument of the capitalist system'. Were Ms Kirner still with us, she would be mightily pleased with Education Services Australia's dark green Scootle portal

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Truly, we live in interesting times, the grand scheme to run an industrial civilisation without the 24-hour contribution of conventional power sources being the most interesting development of all. Given the legions of rent seekers and their shills in state and federal parliaments, it will pay to think ahead: get in early, beat the rush, install a diesel generator today!

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Given the deadly combination of drought, heavy fuel loads, many fires and vulnerable communities, the summer's disasters were ordained. These had nothing to do with climate change. Rather, they were the inevitable consequence of foolish policies, incompetent governance and culpable land management. The royal commission grasped none of this

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Unlike International Women's Day, the November 19 date set aside to mark those issues specifically relevant to the male of the species shares discordant billing with another UN-endorsed day of celebration, World Toilet Day. No, it's not a feminist joke, but it would still be nice to see plumbing fixtures exalted on some other day

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The site purports to be a forum for readers to rate the latest books -- an innocent enough activity, or so you might think. But not when SJW scolds invade the comments threads to fling abuse and demand boycotts of authors whose opinions they don't like and whose books they haven't read. Authors, for example, such as alleged 'transphobe' JK Rowling

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