Between Somewhere and Nowhere: Brendan Nelson as Federal Liberal Leader
It is a well known cliché that the job of opposition leader is the toughest in politics. In recent Australian history, less that one in three opposition leaders has managed to make the transition to Prime Ministership. Dr Nelson has had the opportunity but also the misfortune to full a gap caused not just by the departure of the previous leader, but by the deputy, a situation without historical precedent. Thus the outlook for Nelson’s leadership appears gloom. This article outlines some of the factors that Nelson must deal with in order to establish his longevity.
Geoffrey Hawker
The Politics of Paris
When Sarkozy took office in 2007he was almost as popular as his great right-wing predecessor Charles de Gaulle. His support amongst the French, measured by the polls, was stunning, however, Paris had never been as supportive. Sarkozy had done very well in the capital in the presidential election, but he still only achieved 50.6% of the popular vote. From there, however, it was all downhill. The honeymoon did not last long between the president and the capital.
George Parsons
From Loony Bin to Academia?
“An advantage received from an upbringing in an English village, by an illiterate gravedigger father and a mother devoted to her hobby of attempting suicide, is to have seemingly escaped becoming a racist. Being the nearest English equivalent to an untouchable in India, my earliest identity was with other outcasts of English rural society, such as Gypsies and poachers…”
John Perkins
Postcards from the Desert
“Why am I here? Why did I leave a perfectly comfortable job in Dubai (and Sydney before that) to live in a country where I spend my Fridays vacuuming sand out of my car’s engine? Why do I choose to live in a country where I can’t but bacon and shopping detergent can cost $20? Well, to paraphrase dreadfully from the great mountaineer George Leigh Mallory, because I can. Oh, and because I am the Gulf’s only Western female newspaper editor. Which, believe me, is far less glamorous than it actually sounds…”
Rachel Morris
The Last Antarctican
Isabelle Guaran
Review Essay – Anonymity and Ubiquity: Two Masks Threatening Democratic Values
Tony Smith
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