Jack Waterford

People often say that we get the politicians we deserve, but I am not sure that even the Australians who voted “no” at the recent referendum deserve what passed for political leadership and quality representation that has been on recent display. The conduct of the Albanese government in succumbing to Peter Dutton-inspired panic about hardened criminal foreigners suddenly at large in the community invited questions about whether its ministers, strategists and tacticians had the moral and intellec…

No attempt to “explain”, rationalise, find some counter-“equivalence” for, nor any attempt to see matters through the eyes and the experiences of the murderers rather than the immediate victims, can justify or forgive the barbaric massacre of Israeli children, women and men by Hamas warriors after they broke out of Gaza. It does not forgive collective punishment, or the counter-massacre of Palestinians it inspired either. But one of the starting-off points for dealing with the latest upsurge of…

It may be too late for supporters of the “yes” cause at the referendum to retrieve their initial majority support among the population. Perhaps people have made up their minds and are unlikely to go 180 degrees again. But if there is a strategy and a tactic which could win the case, it could be from an unsparing attack on the character and personality, and record in relation to Indigenous affairs, of the Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton. That might be risky, in part for “going negative”.…

Former Queensland judge Walter Sofronoff has copped a terrible verbal pasting from the ACT Chief Minister and written character references from journalists and commentators, especially those concerned with the efficacy of sexual offence laws. Thank heavens he has Janet Albrechtsen, columnist for The Australian, standing up for the rule of law and celebrating his selection of her as one of the nation’s few responsible and reliable journalists, worthy of getting the mail at first hand. It’s become…

When the tumult and the shouting occasioned by the Sofronoff inquiry into the ACT justice system is over, possibly after a further investigation to fill in some of the missing pieces, consideration should be given to recognising the ferreting capacities of Janet Albrechtsen of The Australian, forever scooping everyone else with probative information which should not have been available to her. Over the past week it has been by being first with the report itself, but not, she insists in breach of…

Peter Dutton has staked his political future on Jacinta Price, his new spokeswoman for Indigenous Australians, a woman of less than 10 months experience in Parliament, none of which have been spent in government. No-one could doubt her zeal, debating skills and her own stake in the success of achieving a “no” vote at the Voice referendum. By the time it is held, she will probably have given her all. But if it is not enough, as I expect, it won’t be her fault. It will rather be the fault of fi…

The Director-General of the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation, Mike Burgess, is an intelligence professional whose views about threats to national security should be considered carefully, and on their merits. But I am not sure that he deserves the benefit of every doubt. Sarah Kendall, a PhD candidate from the University of Queensland, seemed to suggest he did in a recent issue of The Conversation. Her article began with appropriate scepticism, asking why, if there was unprecede…

The least well-developed political sense is the feel for when it is time to move on. Power is very satisfying and rewarding, however much one must profess that they find it onerous and difficult. Even those tempted to walk away at a time of their own choosing and with their ego and dignity intact can rationalise staying on by considering duty to the party they lead and the self-confident belief, often not shared by all their colleagues, that they remain the best hope of their side. Even secur…

We can strive for independence without abandoning the West.

It shouldn’t surprise that casinos, banks and modern governments are so similar in their dishonesty and lack of concern for decency and the public interest.