Articles Archive

Curing sick hospitals

ONE THING I have learned is that the so-called "health debate" is between insiders – doctors and ministers. Usually...

By John Menadue

A place at the top table

IN MARCH 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that Australia would be a candidate for a non-permanent seat on...

By Michael Fullilove

Illuminations

ROAD BUILDERS MADE me slow down. The Surf Highway switched from bitumen to shingle. The hire car, a shiny,...

By Rachel Buchanan

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...

By Carl Reinecke

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