Europeans endured two world wars in the 20th Century. Surely they have no wish to begin the 21st Century with a third. Johann Sebastian Bach died in Leipzig in 1750. Two hundred years later, Leipzig, the musical capital of Germany, was behind the Iron Curtain. The Berlin Airlift, the detonation of Russia’s first atomic bomb Continue reading »
Arts and Sport
Why oh why is anyone surprised by English reaction to the Bairstow stumping? After all it is no secret that the entire history of England has been marked by deep-seated hypocrisy. That Bairstow had tried the same thing unsuccessfully in the same Test. That coach McCullum had done the same – claiming the wicket in Continue reading »
Elite sport has the potential to uplift, inspire and connect individuals and groups in a way that is unrivalled in our culture. It can represent the soaring ambition and capabilities of our species, as well as our innate capacities for collaboration and compassion. Sport can be an unmatched training ground for developing character and creating Continue reading »
Cricket has always had a difficult relationship with ethics and integrity. This is notwithstanding two things: the game’s pride in the saying “It’s not cricket” to describe anything unfair, and the inclusion in the game’s Laws of a Preamble called “The Spirit of Cricket” to guide player behaviour. Cricket’s Ashes are upon us, and England’s Continue reading »
The story behind Jenny Hocking’s epic battle against the Australian Government and HM Queen Elizabeth to access the Palace Letters is being told through a new documentary film. Based on the best-selling book “The Palace Letters” by Jenny Hocking, Scribe 2020. The Search for the Palace Letters follows historian Professor Jenny Hocking as she fights Continue reading »
“You be the bigger person, and you walk away.” AFL Legend and Co-Founder of the GO Foundation, Adam Goodes Gets Real with former Manchester United player and England Football Captain, Rio Ferdinand covering family, leadership, racism, culture and identity, and his love for sport. Former Manchester United player and England Football Captain, Rio Ferdinand sits Continue reading »
Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you got till it’s gone? – Joni Mitchell How many times have you seen the life of a great Australian eulogised on page 2 of the New York Times? Perishing few, if any, is my impression. Yet that august American journal took time and Continue reading »
On 30 January 2023, the Albanese Government released its new national cultural policy, REVIVE: a five-year plan to revive the arts in Australia. There was widespread pleasure that after a decade of neglect of cultural matters, attention was being given again to this important aspect of Australian life. There was, however, some dismay at the Continue reading »
Historically, Australian sport has been bosom-tied to corrupt administrative and state management. Administrators of the myriad sporting codes are typically conceited in assuming they provide a service for an increasingly obese populace. The sports personalities turn up and play; spectators turn up in their colours, pies and beers; the sporting hierarchs can then claim they Continue reading »
The passing of my distinguished predecessor, Sir Leslie Colin Patterson deserves a tribute. Leslie Patterson was one of Australia’s first cultural diplomats, being posted as Cultural Attache to the Far East by the Whitlam government in 1974, having previously served with distinction as Minister for Shark Conservation and Minister for Drought. (This was before he Continue reading »