Opinion

  By Anne Summers Illustration by John Shakespeare In 1996 Paul Keating went into the federal election with 45 per cent of voters preferring him as prime minister over the 40 per cent who preferred opposition leader John Howard. Yet Howard won the election convincingly. The election result in 1996 was strikingly similar to last week’s Newspoll that gave the … Read More

Anyone who thinks of me as a tough-minded sort of person might be surprised to learn that as I strip down my possessions in preparation for a move to New York, the pieces I’m finding hardest to part with are my wedding dress, and a silk dress and a smocked woollen coat I wore as a one-year-old. Obviously I am … Read More

by Anne Summers Photograph: Louise Kennerley Why does the state government hate the Powerhouse Museum? Why is it so set upon spending millions, possibly billions, of dollars better used elsewhere (on addressing homelessness for instance) on a senseless relocation of a much-loved and unique institution from its current iconic site? Why is it willing to spend $240 million to allow … Read More

  By Anne Summers Illustration: Jim Pavlidis Some years ago, I declined to provide a reference for a well-known public figure who was being nominated for an Order of Australia. I had not been a referee for this woman’s initial nomination, but the office at Government House in Canberra that administers the awards had sought my views as to her … Read More

by Anne Summers Photo: AP US President Donald Trump’s tweets have been described as grenades. Now, in terms of their potential to cause severe and lasting damage, they are more like nuclear warheads. Just in the past week, Trump has made remarks that undermine, if they don’t actually sabotage, his own appeal to the US Supreme Court on his immigration … Read More