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
Welcome to Shut-up Country
In the manner of the two world wars, the global war on free speech is fought across multiple theatres and between a broad range of combatants: some of them unlikely allies, some prone to switches of allegiance, and some operating behind enemy lines.
To receive a full briefing on the current conflict, please join me in the war room. And bring your own brandy, as rationing has left the drinks cabinet somewhat depleted.
Are we assembled? Good.
Tim Blair’s column appears in every Quadrant.
Click here to subscribe
The main front in this international conflict is the war on words themselves. Certain words and phrases now cause flashpoint detonations at free speech front lines, even as freedom warriors achieve occasional significant victories.
The United Nations fought a long campaign to outlaw use of the phrase illegal immigrants, for example, but this has been gradually beaten down as the broader community recognised that those who attempt illegal immigration may in fact be…
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
