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
Sir John Kerr and the Queen
A case has been brought in the Federal Court by Professor Jenny Hocking to gain access to correspondence between the Queen and Governor-General Sir John Kerr concerning his dismissal of the Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam in 1975. The National Archives argue that the letters belong to Sir John Kerr’s heirs and are therefore subject to the directions given by Sir John. Professor Hocking is being represented by Gough Whitlam’s son, Anthony Whitlam QC.
Sir John Kerr directed that the letters not be released until 2027, subject to the private secretaries to the Queen and the Governor-General each being entitled to withhold publication. Professor Hocking seems to be trying to implicate The Queen in Sir John Kerr’s decision to dismiss Whitlam. This is an exercise in futility, whatever the legal status of the letters.
It is very clear that Sir John went to great lengths not to involve the Queen. The reason was that under the Constitution the decision was his. So he was determined not to…
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
