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In the latest Quarterly Essay profile of Peter Dutton, author Lech Blaine may well describe his work as character delineation, rather than character assassination. But we seem to be at an impasse in Australian market of ideas, and scorn gives greater bang for the buck than dialogue.
Just in time to arrest ponderous musings about Western Civilisation, up jumps Denniss' cheeky funeral oration for the neoliberal settlement. His target is the assumption that an economy based on unregulated competition between individuals will benefit society. He does not spend time arguing with the theory, but points to the results.
Hanson doesn't pretend to be religious. Her anti-Islam agenda isn't inspired by some rightwing evangelical passion like Danny Nalliah's nor by a conservative moralistic Catholicism like Cory Bernardi's. But she clearly can feel the pulse of many in the electorate who worry about terrorism and national security. Hanson's politics really only work when there is a 'them' for 'us' to worry about. But where does she get this idea that Islam is not a religion but an ideology?
The polls are still evenly balanced and Turnbull has yet to strut his stuff in any meaningful way. So Shorten should still be the subject of the sort of scrutiny that David Marr has just given him. Marr is appalled by Shorten's path to power through the union movement, the Labor Party and the factions for what it reveals about the modus operandi of these organisations. But he is still somewhat taken with Shorten's talents. Nevertheless, he doubts that Shorten is up to the job.
Most of us vehemently reject claims such as that made by FoxNews' Glen Beck, that the Japan earthquake was the work of a vengeful God. In his Quarterly Essay last week, David Malouf gives a nuanced reading of the position that Beck has bastardised.
In early 2008, 89 per cent of us thought Rudd to be a 'man of vision'. Recall his essay on Bonhoeffer in The Monthly; the promise of a politics of decency and equality; the Apology; the ideas summit. After that it all goes a bit foggy.
Much can be achieved in cooperation with friends who don't necessarilyshare the same faith or any faith at all. If you're homeless, who careswhether an atheist, a Christian or a Buddhist provides shelter?
The great wave of Utegate has passed over us, leaving Malcolm Turnbull on the sands, chastened but apparently unrepentant, and far from exhausted. Reports of his political death are manifestly exaggerated.
Going to jail for the right reasons is noble. In effect Jesus called for a kind of civil disobedience. He went to jail for justice. Today, I would be prepared to be jailed for resisting consorting laws. Exclusive preview: The John Smith Quarterly Essay
John Button was a minister and senator in the Hawke and Keating governments. He has written books, a Quarterly Essay, and has also written for, among many publications, the Sydney Morning Herald and Crikey.
Reviews of Frontier Justice: Weapons of mass destruction and the bushwacking of America; Best Australian political cartoons and Quarterly Essay, ‘Made in England: Australia’s British Inheritance’.
Reviews of Quarterly Essay, Groundswell: the Rise of the Greens; The Tournament; The Writer and the World and Wild Politics.
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