Latest Articles
We are encouraged to rely more and more on government officials to do for us what we could equally well do for ourselves—and, maybe more importantly, not to do what might help us solve our own problems.
Sep 08 2024
10 mins
If we imagine a metric called the Pinocchio Scale, which measures the number of lies told by a politician as a percentage of his or her overall public statements, our current prime minister (for want of a better description), Airbus Albo, has moved well into uncharted territory.
Sep 06 2024
5 mins
The Opera House
Sir: Philip Drew’s and Andrew Botros’s articles on Sydney’s Opera House (June 2019) reminded me about another part of the struggle to complete this remarkable building.
As the structure progressed the engineers of the air-conditioning and fire protection company I worked for noted that there had been no discussion about the air-conditioning and fire protection systems that would be needed for this unique building. It was obvious that the loads on the architectural team to complete the detailed design and manage the basic structure were keeping then totally occupied and left little time for some of the other aspects of this complex structure.
It was almost too late to design air-conditioning or fire protection systems, and have them drawn up and put out to tender, if the completion date was to be achieved. We approached the architectural team, who agreed and said, “What do you suggest?”
We suggested they approach the top four air-conditioning and fire protection…
Madam: Archbishop Fisher (July-August 2024) does not resist the attacks on his church by the political, social or scientific atheists and those who insist on not being told what to do.
Aug 29 2024
6 mins
To claim Aborigines have the world's oldest continuous culture is to misunderstand the meaning of culture, which continuously changes over time and location. For a culture not to change over time would be a reproach and certainly not a cause for celebration, for it would indicate that there had been no capacity to adapt. Clearly this has not been the case
Aug 20 2024
23 mins
A friend and longtime supporter of Quadrant, Clive James sent us a poem in 2010, which we published in our December issue. Like the Taronga Park Aquarium he recalls in its 'mocked-up sandstone cave' it's not to be forgotten
Aug 16 2024
2 mins
