According to Geoffrey Robertson, the most notable Australian item in the British Museum is the Gweagal Shield, which he maintains was 'plundered' at Botany Bay by James Cook, whom he also holds responsible the 'bullet hole' at its centre. Not a word of that is true, as the most cursory checking of readily available sources would have shown

After fifteen years in the job I’ve decided to retire as editor of the magazine. In my place, the Quadrant board has appointed Rebecca Weisser to the position, a decision I wholeheartedly support. But even though I’m retiring as editor, retirement itself is the last thing on my mind

Thirty years ago today the Native Title Act became law, the stated goal being to uplift and enrich indigenous communities. This was a case of good intentions at odds with history. Earlier, after the Gurindjis gained title, they swapped life and work on a productive cattle station for welfare, and they were not alone. By 1990, 30 other stations had also been abandoned, as Quadrant reported in 2012

The life of an Arab Palestinian in the West, particularly […]

It is very rare in Australian political history for the […]

The months between Anthony Albanese's rash election-night pledge and the Voice's overwhelming rejection on October 14 saw public support follow an unvarying downward path to utter defeat. Much as its promoters prefer to blame racism, misinformation and 'sheer stupidity' for their failure, it was hubris, arrogance and bullying which brought their cause undone

Marcia Langton is talking about angry youths taking to the streets while Henry Reynolds looks further afield to the UN, where he promises Australia will have 'few friends in the erstwhile colonial world'. Given neither academic commands a phalanx of angry teenage youths, what they are expressing is what they wish would happen. What they actually reveal is their hatred for the country that has given them all they have

Megan Davis claims that at Federation the notion of 'the people' specifically omitted from the Aus­tralian polity Aborigines, women and Chinese and Kanaks by denying them all the right to vote. This claim reveals her complete ignorance of Australia electoral history. Alas amongst her fellow 'Yes' activists she is far from alone

The Big Man of the Northern Land Council used politics to gain the right to charge rents to big corporations, and he artfully persuaded politicians and the media to influence the judiciary. Of those rents paid to organisations under his charge, very little was invested and very much spent on conspicuous consumption by the local Aboriginal elite