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Energy Poverty versus Moral Cowardice
What’s worse? Chris Bowen plunging Australia into energy poverty in order to reach an unattainable goal which, even if it were reached, would make no difference to the climate. Or Australia voting at the UN to condemn Israel to a continuation of horrific attacks on its people. I argue in a Quadrant Online piece that…
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Politicians vote unanimously to screw NSW electricity users
A Bill passed the NSW parliament on 30 November. Reportedly, it was unanimously supported by Labor, the Greens, the Liberals and National Party. Was it about helping widows and orphans? Come on. What these days makes bedfellows of the main political parties? So-called climate change of course. The Climate Change (Net Zero Future) Bill 2023…
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The non-indigenous elephant in the room
Went to a debate the other evening on the Voice; now that the dust has settled. It was at the Sydney Institute, which is run by Gerard Henderson. He puts on many good shows. When I say debate I mean separate short speeches by Paul Kelly (The Australian) and emerita professor of law Anne Twomey.…
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Despicable lies are on the rise
Politicians lie compulsively, it’s sometimes said. Maybe. Certainly they don’t let reality interfere too much with their promises before elections. At the same time, I am reluctant to badge them all as liars. For example, both George Bush senior and Paul Keating failed to deliver tax cuts which they’d promised. Tony Abbot introduced tax measures…
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How to be useful: A guide for Idiots
I suppose if I hadn’t read Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Mark Steyn, Douglas Murray, Irshad Manji, Robert Spencer, Oriana Fallaci, Mark Durie, Michel Houellebecq and number of others; if I hadn’t often dipped into the Koran and the Hadith to check on what malign drivel was being said and written; if I hadn’t heard of Charlie…
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A droplet of hope in a sea of despair
First, I like to acknowledge the country on which we make our home, Terra Australis, whose landmass is over fifty percent under Native Title; whose major oil and gas projects are delayed by judges in thrall of whale song-lines, mythical undersea burial grounds, by mother sea and by rainbow serpents; whose states are busy enacting…
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Self-defence in extremis
Self-defence is available to individuals to communities and to nations. It is ethically and legally sound to engage in self-defence. The principle of proportionality should be applied when engaging in self-defence. This means that you should do no more advertently, than is necessary to remove the threat. For example, if somebody begins punching you on…
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A Baleful Creed
Writing in the Australian newspaper on October 24, Greg Sheridan examines anti-Semitism and, as a convicted Christian, says this: “the biggest source of anti-Semitism throughout history is Christianity.” I’m insufficiently versed in the history of anti-Semitism to know whether this assertion is strictly true or not. At the same time, it is surely true that…
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No sanitized way of defeating Hamas, of defeating Evil
I wrote a couple of pieces for Quadrant Online (QoL)on the depraved attack on Israel by Hamas. They are here and here. Each was met with lots of intelligent comments as per usual on QoL But, and it’s a big but, out came a few pro-Palestinian “trolls” (my description). The editor sensibly shut comments down.…
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Me and My Aboriginal Cousins, Sharing Race and Ancestry
The marvels of modern technology allow us to restart a TV program which is already well underway. So it was on Wednesday that I rewound Bolt, so to speak. Bolt bled into Kenny. Swap channels? I kept watching for a bit, wondering what specious arguments du soir he’d come up. He didn’t disappoint. So far…