A set of provocative ideas about recalibrating the relationship between Australia and the USA to deliver peace and prosperity rather than conflict and disharmonyAmerica matters. Australia matters. They matter to each other. They matter to the world. Their institutional and structural alignments are deep and powerful. Americans believe in themselves. Australians believe in each other. They are mates. They are gregarious. Americans are single-minded and ambitious. Success is the re...

Is increased defence spending all that Australia needs to ensure its national security? How well placed are we to deal with global shocks and surprises? How should Australia recalibrate its national security settings to deal with global disruption?Drawing on thirty years of experience as a senior government adviser on foreign policy, Allan Behm explores the thinking behind Australia’s security approach and how it’s been shaped by Australia’s cultural and historical experiences. He ...

Nothing prepares a person for the job of chief of staff to a Commonwealth Minister. There are no professional development courses, no specialist recruitment agencies and no training manuals.It was into this vortex that Allen Behm became chief of staff to Greg Combet in 2009, the minister responsible for managing carbon pricing and the pink batts crisis.A seasoned troubleshooter, Behm has an uncanny ability to anticipate and deflect political crises. By his measure success as ...

Readings Best Books of 2024, Non-FictionNominated for the 2025 Sperber PrizeNever before has the media played such an active part in our politics, with Elon Musk using X to affect world elections and direct US government policy. But as Crikey owner and ex-News Corp executive Eric Beecher shows, media moguls have a long history of abusing their power …What’s gone wrong with our media? The answer: its owners. From Will...

What are Australia's 'barbecue stopper' conversations right now? What are the things we talk and worry about?the 2009 ABC Boyer Lecturer is our best-known military officer, General Peter Cosgrove - an Australian Everyman whose interests are our own. As a father, General Cosgrove is concerned about the world we will leave to future generations. As a proud Australian, he is interested in how migration changed our sense of national identity. As an ex-soldier his life was about guarante...

What is true political leadership, and how do we get it? What qualities should we wish for in our leaders? And why is it killing season for prime ministers?In this wise and timely essay, Laura Tingle argues that democratic leaders build a consensus for change, rather than bludgeon the system or turn politics into a popularity contest. They mobilise and guide, more than impose a vision. Tingle offers acute portraits – profiles in courage and cunning – of leaders r...

With an introduction by Hugh Mackay'Australia is a lucky country, run mainly by second-rate people who share its luck.'The phrase 'the lucky country' has become part of our lexicon; it's forever being invoked in debates about the Australian way of life, but is all too often misused by those blind to Horne's irony.When it was first published in 1964 The Lucky Country caused a sensation. Horne took Australian society to task for its phi...

The typical contemporary Labour MP is almost certain to be a university-educated Europhile who is more comfortable in the leafy enclaves of north London than the party’s historic heartlands. As a result, Labour has become radically out of step with the culture and values of working-class Britain.Drawing on his background as a firefighter and trade unionist from Dagenham, Paul Embery argues that this disconnect has been inevitable since the Left political establishment swallowed a p...

The real story of how power works in this country ... In recent years, the trust in Australian politics and politicians has been at an all-time low. From political polarisation and the spread of disinformation to the lack of trust in the public institutions that underpin our government, the truth can often be hard to find. How Australian Democracy Works is a pulse check of our country's political health and a helpful guide to understanding our nation's political history and our place in th...

Australia is on the brink of momentous change, but only if its citizens and politicians can come to new terms with the past.In this inspiring essay, Mark McKenna considers the role of history in making and unmaking the nation. From Captain Cook to the frontier wars, from Australia Day to the Uluru Statement, we are seeing fresh debates and recognitions. McKenna argues that it is time to move beyond the history wars, and that truth-telling about the past will be lib...

‘A persuasive manifesto for a better Britain.’ Observer Book of the DayBritain needs a fresh start. This timely book by one of the stars of the new government shows how to achieve it.In this brilliant and accessible intervention, Lisa Nandy reveals how Britain can leave behind the mess in which we find ourselves. All In charts a course towards a fairer, more equal, more prosperous country by drawing on the greatest asset we have – each oth...

In the first Quarterly Essay of 2006, Clive Hamilton throws out a challenge to Australia’s party of social democracy – to both its true believers and right-wing machine men. Will it be business-as-usual and creeping atrophy, or will the Labor Party find a new way of talking to individualistic, affluent Australia?According to Hamilton, Labor and the Left must acknowledge that the social democracy of old – with its strong unions, public ownership of assets and distinct social classes...