Columns / Crikey Says


Where was the protest over the Forgotten Generation Apology?

Why was there no protest over the Apology to the Forgotten Generation, as there was over last year’s Apology to the Stolen Generation?

Packer and Murdoch can’t buy their way out of this one

In throwing out the ASIC case against the One.Tel founders, the NSW Supreme Court demolished the idea that two of Sydney’s richest kids — the Packer heir James and the Murdoch heir Lachlan — were unsuspecting victims of One.Tel management in the failed telco’s boardroom.

Minchin destroys the Liberal Party to save it

Nick Minchin’s appearance onn Four Corners last week was a calculated performance by one of the country’s shrewdest political tacticians who knew precisely how the media and his colleagues would react.

The Oz: too smart for its own good

The Australian should do itself a favour and let reality intrude occasionally on the constant flow of its commentary.

Blatant spin from inside the Queensland Premier’s Office

Lies about the movements of Anna Bligh’s chief of staff, Mike Kaiser, to the National Broadband Network came without a hint of subtlety, greyness or a plausible get out.

Don’t mention the “r” word

There are signs that the largely undiscussed pact between Australia’s major political parties not to exploit issues of race, immigration and population may be breaking down.

Fairfax MIA on book imports

While The Australian afforded the issue of book reform appropriate and extensive coverage this morning, the Fairfax broadsheets were missing in action. It’s an absence Australian public life can ill-afford.

The Liberal-National divide grows deeper

If the Federal Coalition is going to rupture, it would be better for the Liberal Party to control the process, rather than sit back and let it happen or allow Barnaby Joyce to control it.

Paywalls: the tricky trouble with the internets

Rupert Murdoch has had a lot to say lately about the internet, and how a modern media mogul might milk it for corporate gain. Luckily, we can milk it right back.

The Ladybird Books guide to newspaper economics

Crikey uncovers the new definitive text on the newspaper industry…

Clash of the media titans at Media140

A certain slack-jawed wonderment ran around the room at yesterday’s Media140 conference in Sydney, when a senior News Ltd journalist rose to spruik the vested corporate interests of her employer…

All locked away in our digital ghettoes

With the decline of the mainstream media, we’re also losing something social media cannot provide. What about the viewpoints that we don’t want to hear, but should?

The ATO’s business needs: lest we forget

The ATO has asked tax office managers to balance their “business needs” against a minute of silence for Remembrance Day next week.

A late scratching for Abbott

Eleven people are missing, perhaps lost at sea, off the Cocos Islands. One is confirmed dead. Who does Tony Abbott choose to blame?

Rudd leads the nation, not the ALP

The Coalition should give up — its best and brightest have left politics and now work for Kevin Rudd. And Rudd’s power as national leader now looks unassailable.

From WA premier to Wesfarmers lobbyist?

Former WA premier Alan Carpenter joining Wesfarmers as its chief spinner and lobbyist is, in a word, a disgrace.

Poor Packer has had a gutful this morning

It was fat puns aplenty at News Limited this morning, with lots of unflattering photos running of rival media mogul James Packer. What point were they trying to make exactly?

Australia takes its pick of the refugee litter

Humanitarian migration allows Australia to siphon off the best-educated and most-talented citizens of embattled countries, while poorer refugees remain trapped in camps and on leaky boats.

The big stories: monster sharks and porn stars

Here’s the top stories that Australians are reading today, according to News Ltd. Lots of sex, sharks, gangs and Penthouse scandals. Paywall time?

Calm down, no rush on CPRS

Apparently the CPRS isn’t that urgent. Otherwise, why would debate keep getting delayed by both the Coalition and the government?

Even his own team get Bolted

Alan Kohler may have been the main target of Andrew Bolt’s latest attack, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t also accidentally take a jab at his boss.

Break-up Telstra? Nope, no way, forgeddaboutit

You know the Liberal Party’s position on the break-up of Telstra — denial and delay! — is flawed when it makes Barnaby Joyce look like the voice of reason.

The Trioli Awards

Crikey honours ABC2 host Virginia Trioli’s finger-twirling candour with a new award for public waffle.

Does journalism still need a separation of church and state?

News.com.au editor David Higgins believes the commercial-editorial division is a “luxury” the media can no longer afford. Oh dear.

The parallel universe of Canberra

Malcolm Turnbull’s finally got the green light from the Coalition to negotiate on the ETS. Too bad all the party politics means the key issue gets ignored.