Articles Archive

The other charge of the Light Brigade

LATE ON A February night in 1916 Ernest William Keefe, a trooper training with the Sixth Australian Light Horse...

Out of the ordinary

THE LUCKY COUNTRY by Donald Horne is among my treasured Australian books. When first tempted to open its covers,...

By John Keane

Inside the tent

IN 2009 I ATTENDED two large sixtieth-birthday parties. Each celebrated a senior woman academic who had attained considerable recognition...

By Dennis Altman

The endless seminar

‘The only kind of revolution possible is a cultural one. Simply to change the people in control of parliament...

By Glyn Davis

The politics of prosperity

‘Luck always seems to be against those who depend on it.'THIS IS A lucky country. The challenge is to...

By Tom Conley

More than a gift from the gods

THE CONCEPT OF comparative advantage is perhaps the single most powerful idea in economics. It is taught to every...

By Jonathan West (dec.)

The resource curse

Shortlisted, 2010 Australian Human Rights Commission Awards, Print Media Category; Longlisted, 2010 John Button Prize, Articles and Essays; Shortlisted, 2010 Queensland...

By Marcia Langton

Fat is a fairness issue

INEQUITY IS THE invisible partner undermining the quest for the perfect body, or even a healthy population. As individuals...

By Stephanie Short

The ace of spades

Selected for Best Australian Essays 2010 THE ACE OF spades is the highest card in the deck, and is also...

By Carmel Bird

End sex

ALICE TURNS HER key stealthily, like they're breaking into someone else's life. She pulls Drew after her, kicking the...

By Rose Michael

A Femocrat’s Story, 1970s Style

IN APRIL 1973, five months after Gough Whitlam was elected prime minister, a woman I admired for the talks...

By Sara Dowse

Home is where the heart is

COME CLOSER WHILE I tell you this. Let me whisper in your ear. No one likes a dissenter. No...

By Cassandra Atherton