William Golding’s Lord of the Flies remains a bleak meditation on power, fear and civilisation. In today’s politics, its allegory feels newly unsettling. (more…)
Patricia Edgar
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Song Sung Blue: a joyful tribute to enduring partnerships, grit and second chances
A new film inspired by a real-life tribute act follows two working-class Midwesterners who build a life and a stage partnership through hardship, music and resilience. With Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson at its centre, it’s a reminder of how powerful a hopeful story can be.
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Linklater and Hawke turn a broken partnership into riveting cinema
Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon uses Ethan Hawke’s portrayal of Lorenz Hart to explore the grief, jealousy and loneliness that can follow a fractured creative partnership. Patricia Edgar argues it is a sharp, claustrophobic film about talent, loss and the human cost of being left behind.
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The man who puts his name on everything
Trump’s compulsion to mark territory is more than ego. It reflects a worldview where prestige matters more than truth, law, or restraint.
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Best of 2025 – Age policy is a shambles. Where to from here? Part 1 & 2
Wherever you look, at residential aged care institutions, at retirement village life, at the home support package scheme, or talk to the people over 65 — called “the old” — living at home making no claim on the system, just coping by whatever means they can, this stage of life means grappling with overwhelming challenges. (more…)
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2025 in Review: ageing, policy failure and a year of misplaced priorities
Looking back on 2025, a year marked by global turmoil, timid reform at home, policy failure on ageing and a rushed social media ban that mistakes gesture for solution.
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Investigative journalists are the heroes of our time
Investigative journalists and whistleblowers must be cherished and protected if there is to be any chance of maintaining our fragile democratic system.
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The press and the Dismissal – Part III
Television had come to the fore in elections during the Whitlam campaign of 1972 when increased funds were spent on advertising with slogans (“It’s time” was backed by a catchy jingle) and mainly short television grabs for the news. (more…)
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The press and the Dismissal – Part II
Following the Dismissal on 11 November 1975, the editors of the major newspapers understood the national mood was volatile. (more…)
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The press and the Dismissal – Part I
On the morning of 15 October 1975, most major newspapers advocated in their editorials that the Labor Government should go. (more…)
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Grieving for the US
I recently viewed the 1997 movie Good Will Hunting. The final shot is a widescreen view of an old car driven through a verdant landscape, as the hero, who happens to be a mathematical genius (Matt Damon), drives into his future, having resolved his issues, seeking new opportunities in California. (more…)
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Age policy is a shambles. Where to from here? Part 1 & 2
Wherever you look, at residential aged care institutions, at retirement village life, at the home support package scheme, or talk to the people over 65 — called “the old” — living at home making no claim on the system, just coping by whatever means they can, this stage of life means grappling with overwhelming challenges. (more…)
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The central role of government support for the Arts in defining our national culture
Australians emerged from our cultural cringe in the late sixties when our film and television industries thrived. Has that belief and pride in Australia gone for good? (more…)
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How the Fourth Estate failed journalists
Edmund Burke, an Anglo-Irish statesman and political theorist, is credited, with coining the phrase “Fourth Estate” in 1771. (more…)
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Understanding Donald J. Trump
I think I am in a bad dream and soon I will wake and find Donald J. Trump didn’t happen. (more…)
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We need media literacy programs for children, not a ban on social media
Western countries are searching for reasons why the anxiety, neuroticism and introversion of young people are increasing. Social media is being targeted as the major cause. So, Australia has decided to ban social media usage for children under age 16. (more…)
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Effective philanthropy: A model partnership
Effective philanthropy is hard to achieve. It’s difficult to access money for a worthy cause but also difficult to give money away effectively with impact. (more…)
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Banning social media for kids is not the answer. Jonathan Haidt is wrong
Jonathan Haidt is described as a modern-day prophet who claims to have the cure for the epidemic of anxiety afflicting young kids today. (more…)
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Jason Clare’s monumental task in education
The Labor Government has promised a rethink in education policy and a better future for all children. (more…)
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Albanese should remember his childhood – and the rhymes he learnt
There is much wisdom to be had in what was learnt in the first years of life, (more…)
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What is education for these days?
Are we experiencing the end of universities? Will the role of academia be simply to service the status quo, not challenge it? (more…)
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Where has all the laughter gone?
In August, 1964, Norman Cousins, a former editor of the Saturday Review was diagnosed with a serious degenerative and painful disease of the connective tissue. He was given a one in five hundred chance of recovery. (more…)
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When I’m 65…
The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines anyone over 65 as “old”. You don’t qualify for the means tested “old age pension” for two more years, and when politicians talk of ageing, they focus on nursing homes and care, dementia and falls. Ageing policy is confused and confusing. (more…)
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There is no future without children
Imagine a world without children, a world steadily depopulating like that in the dystopian novel by P.D. James, Children of Men. (more…)
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‘Adolescence’, misogyny and the power of television
Rarely does a television series stop you in your tracks, through the heartbreaking power of its content and the creative process employed in its making. Such is the Netflix series from the UK titled Adolescence. (more…)
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Medicare skullduggery
Prime Minister Albanese has announced an $8.5 billion boost for Medicare to make bulk-billing available to all adults, not just concession card holders. Within hours, the Leader of the Opposition matched Labor’s bid. Both leaders are acutely aware that health care affordability is a critical issue for the electorate. In his commentary on P&I March 1 Ross Gittins states “Medicare has more problems than just out of pocket payments’. (more…)
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It can’t happen here
The novel It Can’t Happen Here, written by Sinclair Lewis was published in 1935 during the rise of fascism in Europe. It tells the story of Berzelius “Buzz” Windrip, a demagogue who is elected President of the United States, after fomenting fear, and promising drastic economic and social reforms while promoting a return to patriotism and traditional values. After his election, Windrip takes complete control of the government via a self-coup and imposes totalitarian rule with the help of a ruthless paramilitary force. (more…)
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The road to hell is paved with good intentions: Do not ban social media for kids
Social media platforms allow users to interact with others, have conversations, share information and create web content. There are many forms, including games, blogs, wikis, social networking sites, photo-sharing sites, instant messaging, video-sharing sites, podcasts, widgets, virtual worlds, and more. So, with the government considering a ban on social media for children where do we start this impossible task? (more…)
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Ageing policy ignores the majority of older people
‘Old’ is defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as any person over the age of 65. This is a wildly outdated notion given our longer life expectancy and the fact that most of us will live many years beyond that arbitrary date in active service to the community. (more…)
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A bonded approach to the education of skilled workers
Education Minister Jason Clare’s important review of education seems to have lost the plot. Secondary schoolers have been told for years that their aim should be university entrance. That approach has distorted the focus of secondary schooling toward achieving a high score in HSC while the technical side has been downgraded in both funding and status. (more…)