People & associates
John Roskam
Private perils overstated
Sometimes parliamentary inquiries are not a complete waste of time. There's an inquiry going on at the moment that might even prove to be useful....
The snobbery of Melbourne 2030
Suddenly politicians have discovered our housing unaffordability "crisis". They ask themselves why, if the economy is booming, are homes so...
Leaders locked in the past
You Australians are smart people. We can't understand why you still think you need to make things." So said a senior bureaucrat in the Commerce,...
The left has deserted Hawke's famous promise
This week is the 20th anniversary of the most famous promise in national politics. At the Sydney Opera House during his campaign launch for the...
Expect more gymnastics
The Dalai Lama's Australian visit has revealed the diplomatic gymnastics our politicians perform when they deal with China. "Checking the diary"...
Self-defeating exaggeration
Australia might not be perfect, but it is a pretty good place in which to live. Most of us would regard ourselves as being fortunate. Millions of...
Bureaucracy gone mad
For a moment, think the unthinkable. It is December 2007. Greg Combet is the federal minister for trade union affairs, and his ministerial adviser...
GM foods offer a rosy future
Penicillin wouldn't exist if we had the same attitude to pharmaceuticals as we do to genetically modified food. One of the arguments against GM...
Give MacBank a break
Tiger Woods, J. K. Rowling and Allan Moss, the chief executive of Macquarie Bank, have much in common. They manage global operations, they face...
Playing the cards casino has dealt
For 10 years Crown Casino has been a part of Melbourne, and for most of that time it has never been far from controversy. It's difficult to think...