A fortnight ago you didn’t know who they were, now their Anglo-Irish haircuts are everywhere. So who’s riding the barely-legal boy band behemoth that is One Direction? Sony Music and Nine Entertainment Co are the two entities promoting the band’s local tour, which celebrity agent Max Marxson estimates has received in excess of $10 million […]
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In Timor-Leste, an admirably free and fair presidential run-off
Monday’s runoff vote is another step in the reconfiguration of East Timorese politics, writes Michael Leach, associate professor in politics at Swinburne University, at Inside Story
The Urbanist: are inner-city residents bad for the environment?
I’ve written before about understanding the importance of selection bias before attributing significant behavioural influences to the physical environment. More often than not, it’s the characteristics of the people that explain more about their behaviour than the type of neighbourhood or housing they live in. The Australian Conservation Foundation’s well-known Consumption Atlas illustrates this point well. The ACF […]
Follow the Power: Gunns misfire … Palmer and tax … Doyle for mayor …
Gunns one day, Enpax the next? Gunns CEO Greg L’Estrange isn’t one to avoid painful realities. Eighteen months ago he admitted defeat in the so-called forest wars, declaring the timber industry had been “out-thought and out-played” by environmentalists. Now, in a bid to restore Gunns’ ailing reputation and share price, he’s considering changing the company’s name and relocating its […]
Don’t want a second airport? Time to cut Sydney loose
Here’s a radical thought about keeping the budget in surplus and ending the perennial lacerations of the second Sydney Airport debate: cut Sydney loose. Tell the entitled, chronically poorly managed city that it’s on its own. The rest of Australia doesn’t need it. Not just in terms of its airport, but its badly managed ports […]
Follow the Power: Howes manifesto … Howard’s honour … Hadley v AG …
The Howes manifesto. Union boss Paul Howes, who rarely lacks chutzpah, has outdone himself today. The AWU national secretary has released a bold reform agenda to save the manufacturing industry — particularly steelmaking. He wants the government to embrace the original, more comprehensive Resources Super Profits Tax, peg the Australian dollar to another currency and consider rewriting the Reserve Bank […]
Video of the Day: Rick Santorum pulls out of the race
Watch the full press conference of Rick Santorum as he announces his withdrawal from the US presidential race.
Follow the Power: Tex’s Twitter trouble … Bob’s big chance … Tinkler subs out …
Tex courts Twitter trouble. Two of the country’s most powerful PR guns are set to go head-to-head in what looks to be yet another case of 140 characters that may have been better left untweeted. PR legend-cum-motoring columnist John Connolly is suing Liberal Party pollster Mark Textor for allegedly sending a tweet that defamed him […]
Teachers, scientists slam IPA for sending Plimer book to schools
Scientists and teachers have accused free market think tank The Institute of Public Affairs of spreading scientific disinformation by sending copies of Ian Plimer’s latest book to hundreds of schools around the country.
The Power Index: the most powerful man in the arts … David Walsh
David Walsh hasn’t just changed how the rest of the country sees Tasmania with his s-x and death museum, he’s altered the very mindset of the Apple Isle itself. Hobart’s most famous maths savant has poured huge chunks of the millions he’s won from complex gambling syndicates into creating the largest private gallery in the […]
Follow the power: Lawrence steps up … Palmer’s picnic … Phar Lap memories …
Lawrence steps up before stepping down. It seems Jeff Lawrence has saved his best for last. The outgoing boss of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, whose been critisised for keeping a low-profile during his time as secretary, has finally shown his hand in calling for the Health Services Union to be suspended from the council — even before Fair […]
HSU investigation deemed useless
Crikey media wrap: Criminal charges against embattled Labor MP Craig Thomson are now unlikely, after a three-year investigation into the Health Services Union was deemed useless as a brief of evidence by the federal public prosecutor.
The Grim Reaper II: do gay men need to be scared?
In April 1987 I had just turned six. I was far too grown up for Play School, and my television memories from this time are Mary Delahunty reading the ABC new … and the Grim Reaper. Quite a contrast — Mary was much better coiffed and dressed. But I loved the Grim Reaper ad, too. It was by […]
The Urbanist: where’s the money for public transport?
It seems Australian governments don’t want to tax and they don’t want to spend, writes Alan Davies, of Crikey blog The Urbanist.
The Power Index: arts and culture, Richard Kingsmill at #2
When it comes to Australian music, there aren’t many who match the make-you-or-break-you power of Richard Kingsmill. As music director at youth radio network triple j, “The King” sits in the driver’s seat of one of the few outlets with the mandate to uncover (or “unearth” in JJJ parlance) up-and-coming local artists. It’s something the […]
Try speaking to Aboriginal workers before labelling them charlatans
The first that staff and members of the Aboriginal Medical Service Alliance Northern Territory [AMSANT] heard about the Centre for Independent Studies researcher Sara Hudson was that she had written a piece on Aboriginal Health Workers [AHWs] for the ABC’s The Drum, and that she had quoted AMSANT in her research paper, Charlatan training: how Aboriginal Health Workers are being short-changed. A large […]
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: It’s the leader’s character, stupid
Crikey readers have their say.
Follow the power: Moore must choose … Howes’ house … space power …
Clover Moore told to pack her bags. We didn’t put Clover Moore on the Sydney power list because she’s ripped up Sydney sidewalks to install bike paths and opened the laneways for a new class of whiskey drinkers. While that was all certainly part of it, Moore took out the No. 4 spot because she makes big, bold decisions […]
Crikey clarifier: is the Murray-Darling Basin plan illegal?
Another battle has broken out in the murky war over the Murray Darling Basin Plan, with Victoria and South Australia in disagreement over the level of water cuts and two different groups — including the SA government — now threatening that the current basin plan is illegal.
The Power Index: arts and culture, Andrew Denton at #3
Never mind his five-foot-five frame, Andrew Denton is a colossus in TV land. He’s returning to our screens soon to host a new show, but it’s his work off camera that really counts. The bespectacled boss of production house Zapruder’s Other Films has got his fingerprints all over some of the country’s most popular original […]
Neil Chenoweth: News Corp’s tireless tormentor
Neil Chenoweth, the veteran journalist driving The Australian Financial Review’s coverage of alleged pay-TV piracy by a News Corp subsidiary, has been acclaimed as one of the country’s most forensic and tough-minded reporters — but also as a purveyor of beat-ups and conspiracy theories. Chenoweth’s allegations against News’ former anti-piracy unit, NDS, have attracted global attention and sparked […]
What do specialist journos say about their reporting practices?
Science is one of those topics where reporters find themselves inundated with media releases. In 2010, the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism analysed more than 200 health, medicine and science-related stories and found that more than half the health journalism in our papers is driven by a public relations event or media release. Each week universities, research institutions […]
Follow the Power: Williams fires up … Leckie’s boast … Epstein to Optus …
Kim Williams gets straight to the point. When The Power Index spoke to New Ltd boss Kim Williams late last year, he told us that he’s “not backward in coming forward … I’m not a great believer in toiling the soil before getting stuck into a problem”. We reckon he’s lived up to his word with his letter published […]
