Tone
I really wanted to write a good review of this book, but this was not the book to do it. Abbott is a conviction politician, no matter how angry certain commenter may be when I say that. He wants power, yes, and he is ruthless in his pursuit of it. But he wants power for a reason, not just for its own sake. I just hope that the debate this book sparked gets people talking about what those reasons are.
Primary
Most people join political parties because of the issues. They want to see Labor policies enacted by a Labor government. It’s when the policy side starts slipping that people start caring about the people we put there, when you can’t expect Caucus to follow the platform that is developed, written, debated and voted on by its members.
A Word about Welfare
Am I the only person who is thoroughly sick of the neoliberals and right-wingers carping on about the evils of the welfare state? It was, after all, they who invented it.
Ne bis in idem
Crossposted from No Right Turn. The above, which translates as “not twice for the same”, is one of the fundamental principles of modern law. Once you’ve been tried for something, and that trial has reached a final verdict (either to [...]
Taking responsibility, or being silenced?
I had been contemplating writing some posts about the South Australian election, coming up on 20 March. But it seems that if I am to do so, either on Larvatus Prodeo, or on my own blog, I must publish my [...]
Racist theft
Crossposted from No Right Turn. Australia has some of the worst racial disparities in the developed world. The average household income of indigenous Australians is only 60% of the average. The proportion with high-school or higher educations is only half [...]
Utegate in LOLcats!
For anyone who hasn’t been quite sure of exactly what went down in Parliament over the last few weeks, check out the fine summary of Bekk’s brilliant LOLcat epic: Utegate as told by LOLcats Below is just one sample image: [...]
Elites versus masses on climate change
Much has been made over the last decade or more of the divide between “elite” opinion and popular opinion on a range of issues. George Megalogenis reports on the divide between popular opinion and that of an important category of [...]
Guest post by Marcus Westbury: Flotillas vs. flagships
We featured some of Marcus Westbury‘s commentary on cultural policy here at LP around the time of the 2020 summit. Here’s a guest post which originally appeared at his blog – it’s the text of a talk he gave to [...]
You're the minister now, Bob
The Clarke inquiry into the Haneef affair has revealed several interesting things. Amongst them is the statement in ASIO’s unclassified submission that they participated in “whole of government” discussions of the possible threat posed by Haneef. As the statement says: [...]
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