Quadrant Magazine, September 2010
The Royal Family of Australian Communism
The Aarons family were influential Australian communists over three or four generations.
In presenting his family’s story Mark Aarons has two aims which are in conflict with each other.
One is to criticise his family for being supporters of communist mass murderers—he admits some communists “betrayed” Australia, a strong word.
The other aim is to salvage something from the wreckage by bignoting his relatives, particularly his father Laurie Aarons, for being close to the centre of great events, as though some of the glamour rubs off on them.
He claims they wielded great influence (especially in the ALP), and had the biggest ASIO files (Why is this surprising, why an occasion for boasting?). It’s a tightrope act to reconcile these contradictory aims, and Mark Aarons falls off on a number of occasions.
Read Patrick Morgans’s Quadrant essay here…
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QED
Gillard in ABC land
Gavin Atkins, September 2, 2010
The commentariat contributed to Gillard's disastrous campaign, seducing her into believing that Abbott was unelectable. These assumptions came crashing down at Rooty Hill where, away from ABC land, the Prime Minister finally came face to face with people whose opinions really mattered. More…
Welcome to Greenland!
John Izzard, August 29, 2010
Big brother is now equipped to film and record your waste, and identify what you dispose of. The idea of government, even local government, recording a person’s waste is enough to even spook Winston Smith. More…
Fairfax fundamentalists
Ben-Peter Terpstra, August 31, 2010
To deliberately plan children’s lives around the needs of sexual minority groups isn’t a consequence-free choice. More...
Australia’s New Class
Bill Muehlenberg, August 30, 2010
Since the New Class takeover things have only gotten worse in the Labor Party, and Michael Thompson, a man of the Left, is not happy with what he is witnessing. His anger has not abated. More…
Throwing Bob Brown overboard
Merv Bendle, August 29, 2010
It appears that a move may be made by the ‘entryists’ in the Greens to seize control of the party and exploit its role as a vehicle for the far-left anti-capitalist, anti-democratic policies of a type indistinguishable from those of the old-style Stalinist left. More…
Flaky conservatives
Peter Smith, August 29, 2010
At least you can say of those on the left that they know where they stand. They know whose side they are on. That is a great strength against political dilettantes on the conservative right. More…
Green follies
Christopher Carr, August 27, 2010
The Green beneficiaries of the boom are biting the hand which feeds them. We may be astonished at the spectacle of voters supporting policies which are so contrary to their own interests. More…
The Kingmakers
Peter Smith, August 26, 2010
Near the end of the count the Labor party had received around 20% of the vote in Kennedy, 13% in Lyne and 8% in New England. And the three might support Labor? What mandate would they have for that? More…
Doomed Planet
Climate tactics
Paul Goard, August 25, 2010
When delving into the Climategate material I found PDF files of promotional pamphlets prepared by a communications agency intended to help UK government departments influence public debate. More…
Rising sea of irresponsibility
Des Moore & Tom Quirk, August 23, 2010
Careful analysis of the sea level situation indicates that the risk of extensive flooding of low lying areas in Australia is remote and that State governments and councils are behaving irresponsibly. Indeed those holding developable land in many low lying areas may have a legal case for challenging decisions such as the VCAT one. More…
Tasmania’s greenshirts: a warning
Doomed Planet, August 19, 2010
Miranda Devine: “John Gay’s wife was spat at in the supermarket and the Tasmanian media sat on the fence as a good man’s reputation was destroyed.” More…
CSIRO gets political
Doomed Planet, August 18, 2010
President, CSIRO Staff Association: “And in Australia, CSIRO, the Bureau of Meteorology, and many other science agencies have been attacked and threatened in Senate estimates by politicians and in the right-wing media such as Quadrant and The Australian.” More…
Where we are
Walter Starck, August 15, 2010
Despite an overwhelming abundance of evidence clearly indicating that most Western nations are on an unsustainable path to a major economic crisis, the prevailing climate of denial is astounding. More…
Quadrant Books
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What's On
7 September: John Lee on "The Dragon & the Elephant: five myths about the Chinese and Indian economies": Sydney.
9 September: Monthly Debate series: “Renewable Energy: should we make the switch?”: Carlton.
8 October: Quadrant Dinner with Bob Carter: Sydney.
29 October: Quadrant Dinner with John Howard on Lazarus Rising: The Howard Memoirs: Sydney.
3 November: Sara Hudson on “The Case for Alcohol Restrictions in Aboriginal Communities and Towns”: Sydney.
4 November: John Howard at the Sydney Institute: Sydney.
Details here...