Hal Colebatch
H.K. Colebatch is a political scientist who established the graduate program in social science and policy at UNSW. But he has not published any poetry, nor has he been awarded the Prime Minister’s prize for Political History.
Hal's recent articles
14 October 2021
The rise of the career politician: Ben Morton
Ben Mortons 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?
19 August 2021
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 dont support your argument. This doesnt 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.
19 July 2020
Eden-Monaro shows us the significance of the small players
Noel Turnbulls blistering critique of commentary on the recent by-election leaves us asking (like Julius Sumner Miller) Why is it so ?
15 July 2020
Reflections on Mathias Cormann's resignation
Perhaps the most interesting, though less discussed, aspect of Mathias Cormanns resignation is what it shows us about the professionalization of politics Politik als Beruf, as Weber put it.