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
Four Expressions to Undermine the Constitution
Four concepts and expressions have recently crept into our consciousness and our vocabulary that should not be allowed in our nation’s Constitution. They are payback, humbugging, truth-telling and sovereignty.
There is an inquest currently being held (partly on-country) in the Northern Territory. In response to the death that the inquest is investigating, many “elders” have been advocating “payback”. This is an extract from the Northern Territory News in November:
A senior Warlpiri Elder says the Yuendumu community will not be able to heal from the death of Kumanjayi Walker until they are able to spill the blood of his killer, Constable Zach Rolfe, in a form of traditional justice known as “payback”.
Coroner Elisabeth Armitage is visiting the central Australian outback community as part of a long-running inquest into the fatal 2019 police shooting, for which Constable Rolfe was acquitted on all charges in March.
While Ms Armitage toured significant sites on…
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
