Christianity in the political workplace - posted by Graham

We seem to be simultaneously in a time of strident secularity and one where it is unprecedently fashionable for politicians to declare their Christianity, and Christians to want to interfere in politics, as Christians. Industrial relations policy is the arena... More

Junkies are the scum of the earth (2) - posted by Ronda Jambe

The good news is he's been arrested again. The better news is this cycle hasn't sent me into quite the same spiral as before. This time, I didn't get sick. There were a few weeks of chasing around after him,... More

The Cheihk of him - posted by Graham

A little while ago I drew attention to the prevalence of developer donations to both sides of politics. Maybe we are about to find out much more about it. The biggest donor to the Liberal Party is George Cheihk who... More

Sin - a nice little earner - posted by Graham

Some people think Premier Peter Beattie has lost it. Based on some of the things he has been saying lately, they could be right. For example, he blamed Queenslanders' unhealthy lifestyles for the hospital crisis. Apparently eating muesli and walking... More

Join the tax revolt for better fuel policy - posted by Graham

Sometimes I wonder why I vote Liberal, then I remember, the other guys have even less to recommend them. Take fuel policy. Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane is supposed to have good free market credentials, so why is he pushing for... More

A lack of civility is undermining the political process - posted by Jeff Wall

Watching the dignitaries arrive at the 80th birthday celebrations for Baroness Thatcher in London last week it struck me that such an array of guests simply could not be assembled for a retired and respected political leader in Australia. Among... More

Not enough sunshine in greenhouse debate - posted by Graham

I've been mulling over this quote from John Quigggin in last Thursday's Fin Review: "But for anyone who takes mainstream economics seriously, the idea that a physical resource like oil or coal is essential to prosperity must be regarded as... More

Work choices advertising - stop it please!!!!! - posted by Jeff Wall

One of the joys of early morning radio is that there are few advertisements, so you can imagine my consternation when I tuned into 4KQ at 4.30 this morning and was greeted with yet another taxpayer funded 'Work Choices' advertisement.... More

Australian National Gallery has a deal for Mac Bank - posted by Graham

Ron Radford, the newish director of the Australian National Gallery, has come up with a not entirely logical proposal to fund its growth. He suggests that as "masterpieces go up in value at a much faster rate than shares or... More

If taking donations from property developers is a sin... - posted by Graham

Given that property developers and Queensland politics are so entwined I've been fascinated by the way the state government has set the CMC onto certain Gold Coast City Councillors. They may well be corrupt, but if they are, they wouldn't... More

Intelligently designed global warming - posted by Graham

Pat Robertson has a different spin on recent natural catastrophes - they are a sign that the end of the world is nigh. Or is it so different? Robertson's outpourings can be characterised in a number of ways. One is... More

High tide of fear - posted by Graham

One of the most frequent left critiques of John Howard is that he has created a climate of fear in Australia. What makes this observation interesting is that when we survey vast numbers of people we find that those who... More

Secondo Amigo - posted by Graham

With Councillor Tim Nicholls winning Liberal Party preselection by two votes for the state seat of Clayfield I now have a 66.66% success rate on my prediction that Santoro, Caltabiano and Nicholls would all attempt to enter state politics at... More