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
Three speed economy
BlueScope Steel’s announcement of job losses prompted Paul Howes (AWU) to play the well-known strategic protectionist card: “we can’t rely on imported goods in our strategic sectors." He advocated putting pressure on China to allow the Yuan to float (good luck with that one) and a “sectoral support plan” including “tough local content policy”.
What is a tough local content policy? It is a policy to lessen the profitability and competitiveness of other Australian industries by having them pay more for their steel products than would otherwise be the case. Is that sensible and sustainable? Of course it isn’t. Union leaders seldom have a grasp of economics beyond the end of their nose. But Mr Howes is not wrong about everything. He said back in April that he could not support the carbon tax if it cost just one job. Though he has been noticeably shy – no prizes for guessing why – about repeating this very brave ultimatum, it was a fleeting moment of insight. 
It pointed (albeit…
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
