Mungo MacCallum (Dec'd)

Recent articles by Mungo MacCallum (Dec'd)

Mungo MacCallum: The collection

Mungo MacCallum: The collection

He who laughs has not yet heard the terrible tidings.... A collection of stories from the late, great, veteran political reporter Mungo MacCallum: Australia's true journalistic believer.   https://publish.pearlsandirritations.com/mungo-maccallum-the-patience-of-our-first-nation-while-remarkable-is-not-inexhaustible/   https://publish.pearlsandirritations.com/mungo-maccallum-cook-and-the-continuing-culture-wars/   https://publish.pearlsandirritations.com/mungo-maccallum-in-the-secret-world-secrecy-is-always-the-default-option/ https://publish.pearlsandirritations.com/mungo-maccallum-labor-accepts-ritual-humiliation/   Read more at Mungo MacCallum's P&I author page, here: https://publish.pearlsandirritations.com/author/mungo-maccallum-decd/

Most viewed articles 2020: Gladys' arrogance paves the way for Federal ICAC (Oct 20, 2020)

The most remarkable thing about the revelation of Gladys Berejiklians love life was that it was remarkable at all.

That's all she wrote

I never thought Id say it, but I can no longer go on working.

Australia against China: a face-off which must be avoided

It may be a statement of the bleeding obvious, but a face-off with the Peoples Republic of China would not be a good idea.

Is Morrison finally nearing the tipping point on climate?

He would rather forego his parliamentary pension than admit it, but our prime minister is unobtrusively softening his hardline stance on climate change.

The national anthem is back on the playlist

Our national anthem is back on the playlist, and as always for the wrong reasons.

We were warned about the Brererton report - it is still shocking

Scott Morrison warned us that we would be shocked by the Brereton report on alleged war crimes and this is one promise he has kept.

Joel Fitzgibbon and Labor's environment policy

Joel Fitzgibbons resignation from the front bench does not change the policy of the Labor Party. nor its leadership. But it does change the mechanics.

Ministers at a very public bar

In the old days, no one called parliament house a toxic bubble. The more usual term was a smorgasbord, a sumptuous spread provided by the men hoping to get their ends in, which meant almost all of them.

Planet America: A voting system in a world of its own

Many more Americans voted against Donald Trump than voted for him millions more. But nearly as many did not vote at all. And the explanation of why they failed to do so is bad news for what is left of democracy.

Facing Conservative Commentators Up to the Truth About Trump

The damage to convention, the rule of law, honesty, integrity and decency that Trump has wreaked and is still wreaking will be harder to repair.

Trump. The mendacious wheeler-dealer

A crunch day for Australia on Tuesday and not just for the Melbourne Cup, vital as that is for the nations well-being. November 4 will determine whether the United States of America regains its sanity or embarks on another quadrennium of demented Trumpery.

Cartier watches and Morrison's pet rock.

Morrisons stalwart declaration of independence on climate changer sounded more like a petulant plea: stop the world, I want to get off.

The government, in due course, acted promptly

In the far-off innocent days before the spin doctors decreed that backbenchers should cease thinking for themselves and instead parrot the talking points devised to avoid saying anything meaningful at all, a few brave souls were prepared to respond to questions more or less spontaneously.

We have just about given up on the mainstream media.

For Labor, there is no point in getting into a fight you will never win. The Murdoch myrmidons will always be their enemy, and since they have become invulnerable like the banks, they are too big to fail -- they have to be accommodated.

Gladys' arrogance paves the way for Federal ICAC

The most remarkable thing about the revelation of Gladys Berejiklians love life was that it was remarkable at all.

The altar boys at The Australian

The usually reliable NewsPoll last week delivered a bombshell as unexpected as it was unwelcome to its Murdochratic media proprietors

Theres one sure thing about Josh Frydenbergs budget it is shovel ready

Warehouses have been emptied to find the shovels (and the wheelbarrows, the backhoes, the bulldozers and the front-end loaders) needed to move the mountains of cash from the invisible lenders through the Treasury to the pockets of the punters.

Scott Morrison plans to launch Matthias Cormann on to the global stage.

Following the long and successful run in the provinces ScoMo believes his retiring Finance Minister is ready to take on the world and has nominated him to the prestigious role of Secretary General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.He will be remembered for his longevity, but not much else, not through a lack of diligence but because it went with the job.

Three important considerations for the budget: jobs, jobs and jobs

The straight talking New South Wales Premier, Neville Wran, set the scene in one terse sentence. Delegates, he rasped, this summit is about three things: jobs, jobs and jobs.

Susan Ryan

Susan Ryan was more than a feminist icon and achiever, Labors first woman cabinet minister and the model for all those who have followed her.

Angus Taylor's energy roadmap: national interest second

At least the latest energy plan - the coalitions 22nd, and counting is not all about gas.

What is unforgivable about the Victorian shut down policies is that they are working

The indefatigable freedom fighters crusading to liberate the shut-down in Victoria are quite right. The restrictions are stultifying, draconian, totalitarian. They are intolerable in a democracy, an affront to Australia as we know it.

Morrison's choice: blimps and gas-fired power

If Scott Morrison ever went back to his old job of promoting tourism and needed to ramp up the travel industry, he would put his money on blimps. So gas is obviously the go. A sensible middle course, obviously the best option, even if it is the wrong one.

Freeing the indigenous flag

It is a flag that can be admired and cherished, a beacon for reconciliation and beyond. It is, in the truest sense, an Australian institution.

Isn't less government what the conservatives really want?

The commonwealth has unraveled, federation has unfederated. So why arent the Tories cheering?

It's too late for Juukan Gorge but Warragamba dam is on the horizon

Shakepeare said: Tis the sport to have the engineer hoist with his own petard. And indeed, there is some satisfaction in seeing the petard that hoisted the Juukan Gorge also sending some of Rio Tintos top brass flying out of the executive wing.

Falling into depression

It has always been argued that gas, while not a squeaky clean fuel, is a least a better bet than coal. But now it turns out that gas may be even dirtier, because the methane leaks that cannot be contained will probably nullify any advantages from emissions of coal.

McMahon, Abbott and Morrison.

Has Tony Abbott surpassed McMahon as the worst of our worst?

Never give a Sukkar an even break

Readers of the Melbourne Age and the Sydney Morning Herald and viewers of the Nine network will have been alerted to the self-destruction of the Victorian branch of the Liberal Party the jewel in the crown, as the founder, Robert Menzies, once called it.

Vale Richard di Natale.

Richard di Natale left his party much as he led it without fuss or fanfare, quiet, reasonable, and always at a certain distance from the turmoil of parliamentary conflict.

Scott Morrison's marketing of a vaccine is true to form

Morrison is offering not a solution but a thought bubble, something to keep us going until some other rabbit can be pulled out of his well worn hat of illusions. But the fact that it has already been dismissed as so much puffery by both AstraZeneca itself and by the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories who are supposed to deliver the vaccine to the masses is not encouraging.

We have the least worst Minister in charge of Aged Care

Depending on your choice of cliche the aged care portfolio may be seen as a minefield, a poisoned chalice or a suicide mission a high risk activity best avoided.

Morrison can't bluff his way out of the aged care crisis

I will turn 80 next year, which means that the issue of aged care is rapidly assuming more than academic significance.

The Ruby Princess fiasco, deaths and damage.

This was not just another Covid cluster it was a full on Covid cluster fuck, brought to you in glorious 20-20 hindsight and quadrophonic dodging and denial.

The federal government is hiding under the covers

Having tried pleas, threats, restrictions, lockdowns, fines and closures in vain, our political masters are now apparently cutting to the melodramatic climax: scare the living crap out of us writes Mungo MacCallum.

University Failures and Canberra parsimony.

Cynical, short-sighted and gutless everything a proper university should eschew. But perhaps the teachers have been taking lessons from their political masters. If so, both deserve a fail.

Some good news emerging from the bad

Another month, another setback several, unfortunately. With preparations for the budget being finalised in an atmosphere of quiet desperation, COVID-19 is now clearly out of control.

Its a terrible thing to say, but Joel Fitzgibbon is rapidly turning into Labors answer to Barnaby Joyce

We hasten to add that we are not comparing him to the Beetrooters personal failings, but his drift away from the political mainstream.

A second wave of relief for Morrison

We would never dream of accusing Scott Morrison of being relieved by the onset of the second wave of coronavirus, but nonetheless it has postponed a nagging Jobseeker problem for him.

An obituary for our native flora,fauna and habitat.

The essential reform...the appointment of an independent cop on the beat to remove politics from a system infested by donors and lobbyists, mainly miners and developers.

Economic recovery is their only target, but do they have a plan?

The consensus is in: the economy rules, okay? Finally, what remains of the national cabinet is essentially united.

The Queen's plausible denial is risible

The queen did not pull the trigger. But she, her family and her closest advisers were well and truly in the loop during the events of 1975. And since 1975 was all about politics, the neutrality of the crown is irrevocably compromised.

A second wave of economic stimulus

If this isnt the dreaded second wave of COVID-19, it will do until the real thing comes along.

The absurdity of border protection

Closing borders never really works. The Great Wall of China eventually crumbled and in modern times there were always trickles through the Iron Curtain (incorporating the Berlin Wall) until the trickles became an outbreak.

Morrison and Sebastian, exemplars of Australian art

I have nothing against pop singers, Some of them are very nice people, generous, tolerant, kind to children and dogs. And they give pleasure to many Australians.

A wins a win in Eden-Monaro

A messy and unedifying campaign gaffes, sabotage and dirty tricks. And a pretty ordinary result in the Eden-Monaro by-election.

Our dream run over COVID has come to an end

Australia awoke last week to the strains of Spike Milligans poignant refrain, Im walking backwards to Christmas.

Knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Universities are not, and must never be, walled citadels protected enclaves sheltering from the societies that surround and nurture them.

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