The Commonwealth that brings us together 

Heavyweight boxing is not typically associated with Queen Elizabeth II or even the British monarchy.  But Anthony Joshua’s recent Commonwealth Day speech is a refreshing example of these two unlikely – but actually quite similar – worlds coming together.  Joshua, the current unified heavyweight champion, is Watford-born but of Nigerian descent. “I come from the Yoruba people,” he said in front of the Queen, “who are the largest and some might say the loudest ethnic group in all of Africa. I am proudly Nigerian and I am proudly British.”  His unifying remarks are refreshing at a time of jarring identity […]

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Built to last in the internet age

Peter Kirstein – the man who helped Queen Elizabeth hit ‘send’ on her first email in 1976 – has died. His passing, the result of a brain tumour, symbolises not only a life of great leaps forward but also great change. In 1953, when Elizabeth took the throne at just 25, world figures included Churchill, Stalin and Eisenhower. Now it is Bojo, Putin and Trump. In 1949, just eight nations created the Commonwealth. Today membership comprises 53 states and 2.4 billion people. Summarising these sweeping changes, and how our attitudes have changed, the Archbishop of York John Sentamu neatly observes: […]

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What would Churchill tell us millennials? 

The end of the month marks 55 years since Winston Churchill’s death. With an estimated 10,000 books on the great man, one clearly needs to be careful in adding yet more layers of legend or biography. But this reservoir is too good not to tap, especially for young people that can learn practical lessons from someone who, at twenty-six, “had done enough to fill several lives”.[1] Far from existing only for his time “at the very gates of destiny”, in the eulogising words of Robert Menzies, millennials can draw from Churchill in everyday terms – from persisting in the face […]

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11 inclusive reasons to celebrate Australia Day

As another Australia Day approaches, it’s worth touching on the things to be thankful for, and worth celebrating, since Australia’s very humbled beginnings. Far from a time of historical lament, I’ve always seen the late 1700s and the pre-federation era as the growing foundations for a continuously democratic, tolerant and prosperous nation. While self-criticism has its place, Australia’s story of growth is something I feel that all Australians can overwhelmingly be proud of, regardless of complexion or heritage. Here are my 11 reasons to celebrate, and be thankful, on Australia Day. 1. Standard of living Today we tend to speak […]

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Eventful, but not unexpected: a royal life in modern times 

This piece is also published on The Spectator’s Flat White blog Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s announcement to step back as “senior royals” has predictably drawn fierce speculation – former palace press secretary Dickie Arbiter has called it “unprecedented” and a “breakdown in the royal family”, while another source notes the Queen is supposedly “upset” and “incandescent with rage.” While speculation brews, however, it’s hard to deny the past 12 months haven’t been a more than eventful at the intersection of royal life and relentless media pressure – Westminster log jam around Brexit, Prince Andrew, Phillip’s car crash and, of […]

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Interview with ABC’s Kelly Higgins-Devine

My take on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision to take a step back as ‘senior royals’. The Queen says it’ll “take time to work through” and I couldn’t agree more. Did I get it right? Have a listen and let me know your thoughts.   Want to know more about the monarchy vs republic debate? Here’s a recent post I wrote, which I hope provides some much needed context to this important discussion. Image source: Dominic Lipinski/PA Images via Getty Images

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Australian republicans have misread Brexit

A recent opinion piece by Glen Norris (‘Brexit likely to revive republican movement’) underlines how elastic republican claims are becoming. According to Norris, Brexit will now trigger Scottish independence and the unification between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.  But closer to home Brexit has supposedly re-animated the republican cause – Britain is “a shadow of its former self”, he notes, while Australia’s future is exclusively in Asia and we are not truly independent until we un-tether ourselves from a shaky and unstable Crown. “Britain’s Brexit debacle has put an end to the only good argument Australian monarchists used […]

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Why all the populism? A fair take on the political currents of 2019

I was slightly stumped when recently asked by a close friend, who’s definitely not a conservative, why so many centre-right governments were winning elections across the Western world. Trump, Boris, ScoMo and even Trudeau’s razor-thin Canadian victory reveal that centre-left politics is, to say the least, failing to connect at the ballot box. But surely, I thought, the reasons for this are obvious? Progressive politics, once the domain of the working class, is losing badly because of a commitment to identity politics, stifling correctness and a detachment from bread and butter issues like jobs, sound borders and economic growth. ‘Get […]

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A Liberal Party in the 21st Century

LEARNING FROM VICTORY A Liberal Party in the 21st Century Principles, politics and the big issues of our time   “Unless we have ideas to offer we cannot develop a real sense of conviction, a real instinct of political faith, and this election will be just one more election on top of those which have gone. Just one more election will never do.”  Robert Menzies, Founder of the Australian Liberal Party, 1894-1978     The battle for ideas A sensible political party should be as contemplative in victory as in defeat. The 2019 expectation-defying coalition victory offers optimism for a party that […]

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