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
Geoff Page: Two Poems
Different people
Different people, different signs
but everyone is “darling” now,
starting with her husband who
is honouring a distant vow.
He takes her to the jazz they love
as often as he can,
New Orleans through to Latest Thing.
She can be anxious on the road,
the night so wide and unforeseen.
Inside, she wears a playful cap;
smiles and taps her foot
and sometimes starts to sing along.
Six parts disinhibited,
she fills the short-lived gap
left between our clapping and
the leader’s next announcement
with a stripe of child-like wonder.
“Aren’t they marvellous!” she says
and starts a ripple of bemusement
and slightly wincing smiles.
Even the musicians get it;
more flattered than annoyed.
Her voice is now a part of it
and, most nights, she is right.
The Keys
Not long after it began
they found that they had swapped their keys;
happy matron, older man,
and neither one too hard to please.
No need to knock, she had her own;
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
