July 2017 Volume LXI, Number 7, No. 538
In Defence of Proust
Noel Pearson’s Nations
Brexit, the Hard Way
The Dictatorship of the Psychiatrists
The World Still Needs America in Asia
Trump vs. Obama in the Middle East
Contents
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Sir: I was saddened to read that a literary masterpiece […]
June 30, 2017
7 mins
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Rather than fulfilling Tony Abbott’s hope that recognition would make the Constitution complete and the nation whole, this latest proposal would perpetuate Aboriginal claims to a point that would render most of the continent largely ungovernable
July 3, 2017
8 mins
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There is no “soft Brexit”. It does not exist as a serious or credible option. Halfway house arrangements in which we are subject to EU rules but have no say in setting them would represent the worst of all worlds. The only softness is in the heads of the people who advocate such half-baked notions
June 30, 2017
9 mins
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Why did I purchase Reginald Ellery’s 'Psychiatric Aspects of Modern Warfare'? Well, I came across him in the context of the Ern Malley affair, in which he testified as an expert witness. But more than that, he has value as an example of an intellectual whose mind changes, never the certainty of his opinions
July 13, 2017
8 mins
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Those of us in Asia and elsewhere who believe in a liberal global order should work with kindred spirits in the US to keep it looking outward, rather than turning inward, and to advance, not retreat, from its leadership responsibilities. The US remains the indispensable nation
August 30, 2017
24 mins
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On climate change and other issues, Donald Trump has departed the G20 summit at odds with much of the world. That was to be expected, given his compliant predecessor is much missed by Merkel & Co. Nowhere are the two presidents' differences greater than in the Middle East
July 9, 2017
13 mins
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The British General Election of 2017 confounded expectations, in an […]
June 30, 2017
12 mins
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Voices for and against re-writing the Constitution met recently at a Quadrant symposium in Sydney. As editor Keith Windschuttle put it, if the Commonwealth goes ahead with the referendum, it should fund and publicise a fully investigated, well-articulated case for voting No.
August 2, 2017
35 mins
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One of the difficulties of Stan Grant's recent book is trying to pin down how pre-TV life differed from that of any working-class boy from the bush who makes it in the big smoke. But then there are quite a few things Grant neglects to explore in his genial but ultimately frustrating personal history
August 6, 2017
7 mins
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If Australia’s pre-eminent Aboriginal historian is incapable of reading a wedding certificate dealing with his own family history one can only imagine what fantasies might inform his work. As to his extended speculation about an Indigenous bloodline, why not a DNA test?
August 9, 2017
23 mins
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The Royal Commission concentrated overwhelmingly on the Catholic Church in general and Cardinal Pell in particular, ignoring some and skating over other alleged offenders and institutions. Yet the evidence suggests Catholics were neither the worst nor only offenders. Why the singular focus?
July 4, 2017
16 mins
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As I look around my study the following items would have involved pricing cartels: desk, chairs, books, lamps, paper, heater, shoes and clothing. Were nature to call, I’d visit our price-fixed china pedestal. As a conservative, unqualified adulation of Menzies browns me off
August 17, 2017
24 mins
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Lulled by the charms of rational nationalism, which include the growth and global spread of prosperity, the progressive mind fails to spot its twin in the shadows, irrational nationalism. The besetting sin is ignorance of the dark side, a weakness that catches liberals asleep at the wheel every time.
July 27, 2017
20 mins
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The most essential principle for living in truth in a democracy: first and foremost, the obligation to speak the truth and not adapt ourselves to falsehoods. This is precisely where the power of the powerless lies or, as Vaclav Havel put it, “the moral life starts at the moment we refuse to lie"
August 22, 2017
30 mins
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When Nikita and Dicky Inspected an American Home “Don’t you […]
June 30, 2017
37 mins
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The fate of Dr A.I. Dikigoropoulos is a cautionary tale and offers a clear demonstration of how getting a job as an academic at an Australian university can be a tricky business. Often there is no discernible connection between having great merit and being appointed
July 18, 2017
10 mins
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For CNN’s W. Kamau Bell, Islam has always been present […]
June 30, 2017
11 mins
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The big lie being peddled in the media and by the liberal elites is that all religions are the same, and therefore Christianity is no different from Islam or any other religion. Christians aren’t allowed to call out this great lie without being branded bigots or accused of promoting hate speech
August 12, 2017
44 mins
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Among the often patronising observations in author David Goodhart's 'The Road to Somewhere' there is this telling gem: while elites routinely praise and promote alternate families, they almost always raise their own kids in traditional, married, two-parent households
July 19, 2017
7 mins
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A woman or girl in any number of Muslim countries may face forced marriage, gender apartheid, honour killing, female genital mutilation, polygamy and harsh punishment for being a rape victim. To author Susan Carland, aka Mrs Waleed Aly, any mention of this is Islamophobic
July 8, 2017
7 mins
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One Leg Over by Robin Dalton Text, 2017, 197 pages, […]
June 30, 2017
7 mins
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What does the beach house tell us of contemporary life in Australia, this nation living on the edge of land and ocean? Not much, other than Australian architecture now so lacks a local accent that we might easily be in California or Mexico, on Mallorca and Ibiza, even the Shetland Islands
August 21, 2017
8 mins
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The full force of 'cultural appropriation' came down upon Elizabeth Durack when the story of her Aboriginal alter ego emerged much sooner than she would have wished. It was who and what the artist was that mattered to her attackers, not the wonderful works themselves
July 29, 2017
14 mins
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Rule of Law by Winton Higgins Brandl & Schlesinger, 2016, […]
June 30, 2017
7 mins
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The Dust of Uruzgan by Fred Smith Allen & Unwin, […]
June 30, 2017
3 mins
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A man of grace, decorum and soundness, Sir Owen Dixon’s contribution to the activities of the Felton Bequests Committee remains an example of the important voluntary work a jurist possessing a classically equipped mind can perform on behalf of both the public and beauty
August 27, 2017
13 mins
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My eldest sister Ormé was named after a horse. Not […]
June 30, 2017
19 mins
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Martin Scorsese described the dominant the theme of the novel […]
June 30, 2017
9 mins
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Emanuel Bach paused, considering how best to put his next […]
June 30, 2017
6 mins
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As we approach the northern entrance of the Harbour Tunnel, […]
June 30, 2017
38 mins
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I usually ask taxi drivers where they come from. It […]
June 30, 2017
7 mins
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21/1/15 The blessings This summer evening has been one of […]
June 30, 2017
10 mins
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Sixteen years after September 11, the latest attacks in London, Manchester and the Melbourne suburb of Brighton might just be awakening a dormant fury. When even the ABC finds itself using "Islam" and "terrorism" in the same sentence, there is hope reality is finally making itself felt
July 23, 2017
8 mins
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The Fragrance of Lemons for Sarah Colquhoun I loved […]
June 30, 2017
3 mins
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A Note to Alvaro You can be happy in Australia […]
June 30, 2017
2 mins
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Larkman All the fledgling lark knows is the dark […]
June 30, 2017
3 mins
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Freedom Think fredome mair to prys Than all the […]
June 30, 2017
2 mins
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Song of the Actuarial Dollar Chicken Soft generic birds […]
June 30, 2017
2 mins
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Houston Riot of 1917 Gentlemen and generals, members of the […]
June 30, 2017
3 mins
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A Teacher Hopes It’s not that he’s stupid, It’s not […]
June 30, 2017
2 mins
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One twenty over eighty Systolic / Diastolic— I’m watching […]
June 30, 2017
3 mins
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A Restoration? In January 2017, the regional court of Wuppertal, […]
June 30, 2017
3 mins
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Four Frivolities 1. Ballad for the Fart Tax. (5/9/2003, […]
June 30, 2017
4 mins