For two decades now, successive Fairfax boards have hidden behind the charter. To them it has not been a charter of independence – it has been an abdication of responsibility.

The opposition should be pleased with the preferred prime minister poll. And Tony Abbott is right to ignore the theologians at The Australian.

Australians know that the flood of asylum seekers is a gigantic rort which any government worth its salt would stop within weeks.

The federal government has developed an insatiable appetite for new taxes, and in doing so has weakened its ability and that of the states to provide good government. The proposed federal tax on state mineral resources is the latest example. It should be abandoned.

Given that we are told that “the science” on anthropgenic global warming  points only one way and everyone else is a “ratbag denier”, surely the Australian people are entitled to know of testimony by an expert which flies in the face of the establishment position. 

In the absence of proprietors and strong editors, the strongest influence on our journalists is other journalists. This is manifested in the herd mentality of the press gallery, and the emergence of the journalism cabals which run Fairfax, the ABC and SBS.

Why do our parliaments guarantee a gold-plated justice system for hardened criminals, but weight the dice against the bravest of the brave, those who are prepared to die for their country?

In using her Afghan visit to score cheap political points, Julia Gillard  has gone too far.

For the sake of the morale ability of the armed forces, Parliament must immediately correct its error in ceding absolute power to its creation, the Director of Military Prosecutions.