George Brandis, the Rule of Law and Populism
Nothing stimulates frankness like an imminent departure from politics. From the deceptions, dissimulations and general obtuseness offered by the political craft, a person appointed to […]
Articles by Dr Binoy Kampmark
Barnaby Joyce, Sex and Finance
The insatiable appetite of Anglophone cultures for the prurient is of a different order to others. But it is an appetite tinged by horror, squeamishness […]
Keeping an Eye on Australia: Admiral Harry Harris Goes to Canberra
Imperial arrangements require decent overseer of subjects. In the Pax Americana, which is, in fact, rather violent, Australia is indispensable in the Pacific theatre. It […]
Outing the US Empire: Trump’s Military Parade
You only had to see him goggle-eyed and enthusiastic beside France’s President Emmanuel Macron last Bastille Day. The tricolours were fluttering, the jets booming above […]
Bungling Crown Privilege: Australia’s Cabinet Security Breach
Journalists would have seen it as a scoop, and insisted that no laws had been broken. Politicians might have considered it a calamity. Whatever one […]
Vulnerability and Prowess: Mike Pompeo meets the BBC
In this age of reality television (or televised unreality), the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency was not going to miss out. Unlike other chief […]
One Year of Trump: The Defenders of Fictional Democracy
It seemed so much busier, much more manic and crowded than the one year that had passed. Since his inauguration, President Donald Trump continues to […]
Warring on Plastic: David Attenborough, Britain and Environmental Missions
Few documentaries have had quite this impact, so much so that it has ushered in the unfortunate combination of war and plastic, two terms that […]
Parallel Worlds: Trump, Nuclear Buttons and Korean Diplomacy
It has been said that what is required in dealing with the Trump administration is less an army of diplomats than keen and attentive psychiatrists. […]
Gangs, Race and Melbourne
Two’s a company; three’s a crowd. More? This issue is preoccupying political and policing figures in the city considered by the Economist Intelligence Unit the […]
Cost and Indulgence: Gloating over New Year’s Celebrations
The gloating over the forthcoming New Year celebrations has already commenced. The first big city to feature on the roundups in each news segment as […]
The Politics of Manus Island: Refugees, Responsibilities and Contracts
In what has been a nightmare at Christmas, the plight of refugees relocated to other sites on Manus Island after the closure of the facility […]
Neutral Athletes: Russia, Drugs and the Olympics
Being a moralist in the Olympics doesn’t carry you very far. Turn one way, and there are enterprising drug cheats; turn another, there are wads […]
The Fall of Sam Dastyari: The Allures of Foreign Influence
Gazing at the politics of a vassal state is interesting in one acute, and jarring sense. Voices of presumed independence are often bought; political opinions […]
Escaping Reality: Roy Moore and the Rage of Decency
It all seemed to be the rage of decency. Everywhere, moral indignation was on the rise. Since the election of Donald Trump to the White […]