It takes political cunning to win a House of Reps seat as an independent. Bob Katter, then, is clearly not someone to be laughed off as a jokester, writes Richard Farmer.
October, 2011
Portraits into the past: smiling Victorians
Uber retro site How to be a Retronaut has featured photos taken when new photography processes had cut exposure time to two second. The images are intensely moving, writes Guy Rundle.
Febfast, Dry July, Ocsober — pass, pass, pass
It seems as if every second month drinkers are hit with a campaign to sober up and fly right. Kim Powell explains why she’s sick and tired of all this anti-alcohol posturing.
Why does the Coalition insist on raising the Rudd spectre?
With Labor slumping so badly in the polls, why does the Coalition insist on raising the possibility of a Rudd leadership change? Could it be that they want revenge because he beat them in 2007? asks Andrew Elder.
theatre reviews Don Giovanni — Opera Theatre, Sydney
Who couldn’t love Don Juan? Who hasn’t loved him? He was the libertine all women privately crave and all men crave to be, writes Lloyd Bradford Skye.
aviation industry Grim tidings for Tiger in Singapore
The implication of statements filed to the Singapore Stock Exchange by Tiger Airways Holdings make it clear that its Australian division continues to drag it down, reports Ben Sandilands.
film reviews Real Steel movie review — straight to the junkyard
Hugh Jackman’s latest bout of small-minded big budget balderdash is a boxing movie in which the boxers are robots and the human characters are clumsily written and portrayed, writes Luke Buckmaster.
Newspoll: 57-43 to Liberal-National in WA
The latest quarterly Newspoll of state voting intention for Western Australia shows no change on two-party preferred, with the Liberal-National (“don’t call us the Coalition!”) government still holding a commanding 57-43 lead, reports William Bowe.
The really dangerous idea — it’s all the media’s fault
Of all the dangerous ideas raised at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney over the weekend, the organisers seemed to miss one pertinent topic: is the media to blame for everything that’s wrong with our society?
Tanya Plibersek takes the pledge
Citizenship is a birthright; reciting or refusing to recite a pledge of allegiance would make zero difference to that.
No beet-up, but Hun happy to throw meat in retail war
The Herald Sun has rejected conflict-of-interest concerns over its editorial coverage major advertisers, after some startling synergies heaped doubt on News Limited’s hallowed journalistic division between church and state.
Kohler: a smudge on Henry’s tax blueprint
It’s hard to imagine anything at all coming from tomorrow’s tax forum when we have a deeply unpopular minority government committed to a $47.7 billion budget turnaround within two years.
Essential: amid the economic gloom, Labor gets a primary boost
The latest weekly Essential Research survey offers more evidence of gloom about the economy, with 58% expecting conditions in Australia to worsen over the next 12 months. However, the pessimism is not quite as bad as first appears
Rooted: Panama UN climate talks — what will they mean?
So what will Panama bring, with its natural themed meaning, to the next round of UN climate negotiations which kicked off over the weekend?
How do Catholic clubs defend their anti-pokies reform position?
The gambling industry is up in arms about the Gillard government’s proposed poker machine reforms. Clubs NSW is leading the charge but what about the Catholic clubs? asks gambling-reform blogger Tom Cummings.
Gee, long way from home, but greatness warms the heart
A writers festival on the New South Wales central coast is probably the closest you can come to watching the AFL grand final in a vacuum, writes blogger Geoff Lemon.
How retailers are shooting themselves in the foot
Forget about high interest rates, or poor consumer customers — retailers are being destroyed by smarter competitors.
Cox: social and gender equity way down on the tax forum agenda
It appears social and gender equity will be well down the tax forum agenda.
Maley: recycling a Greek mess
Greece’s cabinet has approved large spending cuts and given the green light to a controversial plan aimed at slashing the size of the country’s public sector, writes Karen Maley of Business Spectator.
The economics of a tough-minded, no-pain-no-gain approach
It took bad thinking and bad policy by many players to get us into the state we’re in, writes Nicholas Gruen, CEO of Lateral Economic.
The problem with privatising penicillin
A leading medical expert has claimed the privatisation of drug company CSL contributed to the rationing of benzyl penicillin, an important antibiotic for public health.
The Power Index: law enforcers, Greg Medcraft at #5
Greg Medcraft must be a sucker for a challenge: he’s taken the lead of Australia’s corporate watchdog at a time when it desperately needs to bare its teeth, and while the markets continue to fluctuate wildly. Still, The Power Index is tipping the banking supremo to become one of Australia’s most powerful law enforcers. As long […]
Guy Rundle: Rundle: on Bolt, it’s Marcia Langton v Marcia Langton
The debate between the two Marcia Langtons looks set to continue for years to come.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Europe, United, may never be defeated
Crikey readers have their say.
Morning Market Report: Markets down as US closed down last week
The Dow Jones recorded its eighth weekly loss in the past 10 weeks.
