Peter Allan Williams Writer and broadcaster for half a century. Now watching from the sidelines although verbalising thoughts on www.realitycheck.radio three days a week peterallanwilliams.substack.com The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland born Samoan, after he
If someone suggested setting fire to a building that was already smouldering, in order to put the fire out, you’d rightly consider them crazy. If someone suffering from mild arsenic poisoning decided to chug a litre of it to cure themselves, you’d lock them up for their own
Many years ago, I found myself “between jobs”, as they say. Mrs Brady, diligently scanning the job ads, found a position open in a health food store. “Must have a commitment to sharing organic and vegan lifestyles”, the ad specified. I pointed out that I was, if anything, diametrically opposed
As I’ve been reporting for The BFD, there’s a huge criminal case underway in Melbourne these last couple of weeks that I wasn’t able to tell you almost anything about. All I’ve been able to tell you is that an activist, who could not be named,
Beginning journalism students are warned about the danger of becoming too sympathetic to their sources, thus colouring their objectivity. At worst, journalists are told, they may fall prey to “source capture”: privileging the interests of their sources and pushing a biased narrative. Especially when the source’s interest too-closely
Back in the early 2000s, Australia was looking down the barrel of what the AMA called “arguably the biggest potential disaster the medical community has ever faced”. Skyrocketing medical indemnity costs were forcing more and more doctors out of practice. A meeting of 5000 doctors in Sydney threatened to pull
As you may recall, there was a huge story in Australia which I couldn’t tell you much about. No one can: a Victorian judge slapped an almost-total suppression order on it. I can’t tell you much about a new development in the story, either. All I can
If something is true, then it is true in all circumstances. If rape is a crime, then it is a crime, without exception. If racism is wrong in itself, then it is wrong in all circumstances. Things may be ‘morally grey’, but that doesn’t change the truth or otherwise
Australian state governments too often like to use car license plates as banners for their Maoist little slogans. Especially in Victoria. They used to be just “The Garden State”, but in the last few decades, they’ve had “Nuclear Free State”, “Education State”, and so on. Still, not as embarrassing
Mary Hackshaw On the 22nd of February I had a pleasant surprise. A week and a half after widespread blackouts hit Victoria following a summer storm, cutting off power to 530,000 homes and businesses, we had a 38-degree day. Perfect conditions for the grid to collapse with the
Even by the standards of the Canberra Bubble, this one’s a jaw-dropper: disgraced former ACT director of public prosecutions Shane Drumgold has been appointed as a lecturer at Canberra University. Even more astonishing, he’s teaching a unit on the law of evidence. Which makes about as much
My old mother always used to say, “A guilty conscience needs no accusing”. The wise saying, which possibly goes back all the way to Socrates, means that the guilty know they are guilty and a nagging conscience eventually shows itself. Moving on to another topic entirely, ever since the ASIO
No doubt all our mothers have asked us, at some stage: If your friends all jumped off a cliff, would you do it, too? The honest answer, of course, would be: Absolutely. That’s because children, teenagers especially, are tiny-brained followers with no concept of “consequences”. Just take a
Augusto Zimmermann mercatornet.com Augusto Zimmermann is professor and head of law at Sheridan Institute of Higher Education and served as associate law dean at Murdoch University. He is also a former commissioner with the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia. He is the co-author with Gabriël Moens AM
One of the most interesting outcomes from this weekend’s by-election in Victoria is just how each side is spinning it. The left-wing ABC is talking gloom for Labor, while the right-wing Australian is moping over the Liberals’ fortunes. So, what actually happened? As expected, Labor held
Well, the spy boss still won’t tell Australians who the “traitor” who sat in Parliament is, but he’s at least graciously condescended to admit who he was spying for. Hold your breath, readers, it’s going to come as a shock. China’s leading spy agency has been
