Crispin Hull

THERE is no god-given right for The Newcastle Herald, the Illawarra Mercury, or indeed The Canberra Times, to come out every day. Running a newspaper has to be a business, albeit a public-spirited one, not a charity. Continue reading “Newspapers’ painful transmogrification”

IF CANBERRA had a cohort of filthy rich, Treasurer Andrew Barr’s tax “reform” might make some sense. But it does not. Canberra’s top end in the income and wealth scale is nothing like that in other Australian cities – business people with serious wealth. Continue reading “Over-taxing the goose’s property”

ONLY two bitumen roads cross the 1862-kilometre border between Western Australia and its eastern neighbours – one close to the coast in the north and one close to the coast in the south. In between is seemingly endless desert. It could be one of the easiest borders in the world to secure, if it came to that. Continue reading “Miners are masterful propagandists”

MIDWAY through Craig Thomson’s address to the Parliament this week I was reminded of those half a dozen or so British police shows in which the arresting officer typically says: “I am arresting you for [insert charge]. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you say may be given in evidence.” Continue reading “Craig: You have the right not to put foot in mouth”

THINGS are getting more difficult for pollsters. Polling techniques and interpretation may be getting more sophisticated, but the critical base of all polling – the random sample – is getting harder to come by. Continue reading “Getting harder for pollsters to sample”

AT LAST, a tomahawk is being taken to the defence budget. Pity it wasn’t an axe. If we can save $1.3 billion by delaying the purchase of the joint strike fighter and a few other things, think how much more could be saved by not buying them at all. Continue reading “Military toys we do not need”

WE ARE taxing the family home at the wrong time. We now hit people with a large amount of stamp duty when they buy. Continue reading “Taxing the family home at the wrong time”

IN THE early 1960s we had, at the Rectory Beechworth, a state-of-the-art reel-to-reel tape recorder. My father had brought it from England when we emigrated. It was the size of half a suitcase and weighed a tonne. It recorded only through a microphone. Continue reading “Torrent of abuse tackled badly”

FIRST Western Australia, then Victoria, then NSW and then Queensland. Is the ACT next? More of the ACT anon. So, are the conservatives on the march? Possibly. But there is another explanation. Continue reading “State Govts ousted because they just cannot keep up”

AS YOU read this, the Global Atheists Convention is being held in Melbourne. Census statistics show that people describing themselves as atheist, agnostic or of no religion has steadily risen every census since the Australian Bureau of Statistics was founded. Continue reading “Changing rationality and atheism’s rise”