Articles by Mungo MacCallum


Mungo MacCallum: Minchin has no excuse for his ignorance

The most depressing statistic of modern times is the one that tells us that well over 50% of adult Americans do not believe in evolution. Or it was — until Nick Minchin came along.

Mungo MacCallum: Saint Kevin’s halo has finally slipped

If last week’s polling switch is really a result of the boat people kerfuffle, Rudd won’t be able to bluster and twitter his way out of it. So what does he have to do to win the voters back?

Mungo MacCallum: Mungo: Tough stance on boat people borders on the ridiculous

Border protection” — the very phrase is ominous. It evokes a country under siege, its frontiers threatened by the rampaging armies of Attila the Hun. No wonder our politicians feel that they have to be tough about it.

Mungo MacCallum: Turnbull caught between a brainsnap and the cavemen

Finding himself surrounded once again by drongos and knuckle-draggers, Malcolm Turnbull decided to crash through or crash. But the messy Libs climate change situation is not totally without hope.

Mungo MacCallum: Make no mistake, this is a new world order

The acceptance of the G20 as a rule-maker for the conduct of the world’s financial systems quite literally ushers in a new world economic order: a genuine democratisation that directly includes two-thirds of the world’s population and indirectly gives a voice to the rest.

Mungo MacCallum: Rudd making the best of the available talent

Some sage advice for politicians: not all the good people in the House sit on one side, and the enemy is often the people sitting around you.

Mungo MacCallum: We deserve better than legacy wars

Here we are, nearly two years out of the Howard years and happily consigning them to well-deserved oblivion. Then Paul Kelly released his book, and they all came lurching out of the political cemetery.

Mungo MacCallum: It’s time for Turnbull to lighten up and celebrate the great escape

Malcolm Turnbull and his colleagues appear unable to come to terms with the single most pertinent fact about the government’s stimulus measures: they worked.

Mungo MacCallum: Nelson salutes, Howard on rights and the mess of NSW

Mungo MacCallum discusses Brendan Nelson’s departure, John Howard’s shameless return to his soap box, and Nathan Rees’ attempts to avoid the Obeid and Tripodi kiss of death.

Mungo MacCallum: Coalition of the not very willing

In Malcolm Turnbull and Barnaby Joyce we have two alpha males in full political rut. And they have one key quality in common: they are both fairly new, outsiders and have an urgent need to prove themselves to their followers.

Mungo MacCallum: Taking the RET out of ETS

Tthe government had finally shown common sense in separating its Renewable Energy Bill from the Emissions Trading Scheme Bill, writes Mungo MacCallum.

Mungo MacCallum: Climate is physical, not political

Our politicians have insisted on treating climate change not as a grim physical reality, but as a political problem which can be fixed with a political solution.

Mungo MacCallum: Rudd or Turnbull — who’s right on the GFC?

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd likes to take the credit for steering Australia through the GFC, but Malcolm Turnbull says Australia’s results are thanks to John Howard’s legacy.

Mungo MacCallum: Rudd’s grim manifesto and Libs in a muddle

It says much for PM Kevin Rudd’s political ascendancy that he can afford to produce such a gloomy prediction as his weekend 6000-word essay. Then again, it pays to prepare voters for what lies ahead.

Mungo MacCallum: Is it time to bring the troops home?

After seven years of achieving very little, it may be timely to ask just how and when we an expect to bring the troops home from Afghanistan.

Mungo MacCallum: Kevin07 G8 success will not stop climate change

Last week the crusading Kevin07 re-emerged to take what the real heavies (Barack Obama, Gordon Brown and Al Gore) described as a leading role in the campaign.

Mungo MacCallum: Calling for a government restructure to address Aboriginal issues

The one size fits all approach of the intervention is plainly inappropriate to societies as diverse as Indigenous Australia, writes Mungo MacCallum.

Mungo MacCallum: Utegate political whodunit

There can be no doubt that Rudd emerged triumphant, and Turnbull severely damaged. But the question remains: who set up the caper in the first place? And almost as importantly, why?

Mungo MacCallum: Utegate threatens Prime Minister’s integrity

The Prime Minister’s integrity would seem to hinge on whether the alleged email from Rudd’s office to Treasury which Senator Eric Abetz quoted last week actually exists, and if so whether it is genuine.

Mungo MacCallum: Banks look to take advantage of a very lucky country

For Rudd is our shepherd, even if we’re not quite sure where he’s leading us, and the banks we trust — to be bastards.

Mungo MacCallum: Fitzgibbon, Faulkner and the cost of new appointments

Just because you’re paranoid it doesn’t mean that they’re not after you.

Mungo MacCallum: Another week of carry on up the Murray

For the casual observer, last week was political Send in the Clowns week, writes Mungo MacCallum.

Mungo MacCallum: Turnbull manages a budget week without silliness

Turnbull did pretty well in budget week … the only one of his colleagues who bagged him was Bronwyn Bishop.

Mungo MacCallum: Wong and Rudd present ETS Plan B

Rudd must now be regretting he left the climate change debate to languish on the backburner for so long.

Mungo MacCallum: Confusion reigns amid Australia’s GFC bandaids

The Prime Minister now seems to enjoy messing with the collective mind of the entire electorate.