THERE has been no shortage of hypocrisy in the saga that engulfs the beleaguered federal MP Craig Thomson.
Rational people tend to act out of self-interest, and politicians are no different. It is therefore understandable that Julia Gillard should have sought to prolong her time as the head of the government by seeking to protect Thomson.
Similarly, it is perfectly legitimate for the Coalition to apply pressure to the government and Thomson as it seeks to take over the reins of power.

However, as deputy opposition leader Julie Bishop cogently stated in the …

PATRICK Victor Martindale White was born in Knightsbridge, London, 100 years ago this month. As befits his standing as a winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, his centenary is a significant cultural event for Australia and deserves serious analysis as well as celebration. From 1935 until his death in Sydney on September 30, 1990, White published 12 novels, two short-story collections and eight plays.
This year’s centenary will most likely reinforce White’s standing as an Australian icon, but we need to remember that, as a writer, he toiled away for …

PERHAPS the funniest recent satire about writers’ festivals is Michael Wilding’s Superfluous Men, published in 2009.
Having recently re-read Wilding’s expose I thought I’d go to see and hear him at this year’s Sydney Writers’ Festival, which is being held from May 14-20.
Imagine my annoyance when I noticed Wilding was on at the same time as Frank Moorhouse. This seemed more than a bit careless since Wilding and Moorhouse have, over the years, attracted virtually the same audience: “The two parts of a pantomime horse”, as Martin Johnston rightly called them. …