Ben Morton’s appointment to federal Cabinet has been explained — correctly — as the PM rewarding his supporters in the party. But what skills and experience does he bring to the job, and what does this tell us about the work of politics? (more…)
Hal Colebatch
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A Response to Greg Barns: what makes a story a good story?
Greg Barns has evidently found Pearls and Irritations a suitable venue for exercising his skills as a barrister – that is, making a good case for someone (or something). One of these skills is, of course, ignoring the factors that don’t support your argument. This doesn’t matter in court, where there is another barrister employed to put the opposite argument, but readers of Pearls and Irritations have to work out for themselves what the corrective might be, and what they would conclude about the argument.
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Reflections on Mathias Cormann’s resignation
Perhaps the most interesting, though less discussed, aspect of Mathias Cormann’s resignation is what it shows us about the professionalization of politics – Politik als Beruf, as Weber put it.