Christian Johnston: heading up investment banking’s brat packYou might not know his name, but Christian Johnston is one well-connected individual. When a CEO, board or government wants to wheel and deal, they go to “CJ,” one of the top corporate deal makers, writes Tom Cowie.
September, 2011
Malaysia deal not sunk yet
Media wrap: Julia Gillard is likely to rescue her High Court-doomed Malaysia Solution policy, with Labor MPs expected to back changes this morning to the current Migration Act to allow offshore processing.
What news websites looked like on September 11, 2001
Ten years ago there was no Facebook or Twitter and the most popular search engine was Yahoo. Mashable presents screenshots of how news websites covered the 9/11 attacks.
Nielsen: Labor would win under Kevin Rudd
The latest Nielsen poll offers new torment for Julia Gillard by finding Labor would be ahead 52-48 if it were led by Kevin Rudd, writes William Bowe.
What difference do political speeches make?
Like Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama is regarded as a great communicator. But to what extent do political speeches make a real difference in terms of passing policy and gathering public support? asks Robert de Neufville.
travel Spring equinox at one of humanity’s oldest structures
The culture that built the temples of Malta disappeared over four millennia ago, around the time the ancient Egyptians began building pyramids in Giza, writes traveller Ashley Davis.
book reviews Bearings, by Leah Swann
Leah Swann’s book Bearings is an intense collection of stories with well-formed characters and a distinct voice. The subjects vary but all examine similar conundrums about the human condition, writes Rachel Edwards.
Ansett dossier: the twin towers fall, Ansett collapses, Qantas gets kicked from 2001 to 2007 overnight
This is the fourth and final extract from an Ansett dossier in a series of articles about the 10th anniversary of the collapse of the airline on 14 September 2001, writes Ben Sandlilands.
Silence makes the heart grow fonder
The revival in Kevin Rudd’s fortunes as shown by the latest Nielsen Poll tell us one thing: silence often is the best way for a politician to revive public standing, writes Richard Farmer.
Amsterdam: not just strippers and ass-less lederhosen
Amsterdam. The very name stirs sexy and forbidden images from deep within the cerebral cortex of every young traveller. But there’s much more to the famous city, writes Ben Oliver on his 9th visit to the Netherlands capital.
theatre reviews The Threepenny Opera — Sydney Theatre
The cast burn incandescently with character and energy in this new Weill and Brecht production that rollicks along with erratic and manic energy, writes Lloyd Bradford Skye.
film reviews The Change-Up — thumbs down
The Change-Up is a body switch comedy in the gimmicky tradition of films like Dating the Enemy and Freaky Friday. The jokes rely on crass throwaway moments and the screenplay is cloyingly sentimental, writes Luke Buckmaster.
Hussein on 9/11: it was never as simplistic as us-versus-them
Ten years ago, writes Shakira Hussein, just knowing the name “bin Laden” qualified you as moderately well-informed. Ten years go, Australia was still processing “Hansonism.” And then…
Gina Rinehart and daughter at war: the heiress’ contradiction
One thing is certain after yesterday’s revelation that Gina Rinehart’s daughter Hope Welker has launched a legal claim against her own mother — it is going be an awkward Christmas at the Rinehart household this year.
What Metcalfe said … or is understood to have said
Was the head of Immigration verballed by journalists about social unrest? Well, yes and no …
Sideshow Alley: Sideshow Alley: what a lovely pair
This week it’s unanimous — you have united across party lines in your condemnation of the Coalition flirting with the idea of not granting Craig Thomson a pair to attend the birth of his child.
Bernardi highlights a double standard on terrorism
The double standard behind our anti-terrorism laws needs to be brought out into the open and examined.
Guy Rundle: Like war on terror, 9/11 posed for cameras, but stays fresh
The towers still loom above us, or their absence does. The actual images of 9/11 never lose their power to shock.
Save the gloom for offshore: our economy is performing well
There’s plenty of bad economic news offshore but the Australian economy remains well-placed, whatever commentators might say, write Glenn Dyer and Bernard Keane.
The Power Index: and the #1 megaphone is … Andrew Bolt
Love him or loathe him, there’s no denying that Andrew Bolt is an exceptional writer. His sentences are short and sharp; his words fizz with fury. He grabs the reader’s attention from the first line and refuses, like a dog with a bone, to let it go until he’s done. No wonder he’s the nation’s […]
Julia undeserving of At Home with … and so are we
Once I watched At Home with Julia, my discomfort flourished, bloomed and became generally exponential, writes author and editor Sophie Cunningham.
How Indonesia shoots itself in the investment foot
For private-sector companies operating in Indonesia, the prospect of being too successful in competing with a state-owned company is all too real, writes Stuart Ranfurlie, a freelance journalist in Jakarta.
Manne’s Quarterly Essay: silence so far from The Oz
Robert Manne’s account of the influence of The Australian and the tactics it uses to promote its conservative views and discredit its enemies has so far been met with silence from Holt Street.
Cox: broadening the boardroom options
One of the failures of feminism has been our inability to change the culture of most workplaces.
