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
Now to Make the Best Use of Victory
When searching my mind for some suitable quotes regarding the referendum result, I first came up with “The victory fell on us” from Shakespeare’s Macbeth. However, this seemed a little crudely simplistic and lacked the nuances the situation deserved. Horatio Nelson’s “First gain the victory and then make the best use of it you can” was more appropriate, for we now must work together as a nation to create the best country we can for all who call Australia home.
“Don’t gloat, dear,” my grandmother used to say. “Gloating is unladylike, unseemly and un-Christian. Just smile sweetly and move on.”
This memoir appears in the latest Quadrant.
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Now that the referendum is done and dusted, I’m having great difficulty controlling my sinful desire to gloat. Surely just a little victorious gloating wouldn’t hurt? How about a small smirk or a teensy touch of smugness? Maybe discreetly behind the closed bedroom door? Those of us who have been…
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
