Views on the news from Canberra’s top columnists
"If the defence had a 'knockout' blow they had to raise it with Bruce during their cross-examination. That never happened. It follows they have no 'we-gotcha' evidence." Legal columnist HUGH SELBY reports from the theatre of litigation.
Former senior planner RICHARD JOHNSTON has misgivings about the ACT government's “independent review” into the governance of the new planning system.
"Biden’s fate is blowing in a much fiercer wind than confronted either of his high-wire predecessors. The chances of his reaching his goal is diminishing with every television news feed from the Gaza Strip," writes ROBERT MACKLIN.
Do chairs, dreamcatchers (organic) or red trams offer more political hope for Canberra? KEEPING UP THE ACT might just have a point...
Having gone the distance in the political ring all these years, ANDREW BARR-BRAWLER says it's time to reflect on his legacy.
Letter writer SUE DYER, of Downer, is looking for enlightenment from the ACT Integrity Commission about the extent to which snake oil was an embedded project ingredient at the CIT.
Legal affairs writer and former barrister HUGH SELBY says the presumption of innocence is dead and buried. It has been inverted. It is now a presumption of guilt unless and until a court finds the accused "not guilty".
There's a word that describes the smell after rain, another for the rumble of a hungry stomach and one for when you don't want to get out of bed. "Whimsey" columnist CLIVE WILLIAMS bets you haven't heard of them…
Public toilets in Canberra seem to cost more than anywhere on earth to build. Luckily, Minister Chris Steel helped KEEPING UP THE ACT make sense of it all for you...
"Mark Dreyfus has promoted his place as a proponent of whistleblower protection law. But his actions this week are in stark contradiction," writes legal columnist HUGH SELBY.
"Since self-government, the share of social housing has declined from 12 per cent to 6 per cent of the total housing stock… No wonder the government has struggled to justify the priority given to light rail," writes MIKE QUIRK.
"Not even the finest fine printer will save the insurance industry from the worldwide ravages of climate change," predicts "The Gadfly" columnist ROBERT MACKLIN.
Cash may no longer be king, but the Optus debacle shows it is still necessary, writes CHRIS VASANTKUMAR.
In this exclusive column, our ever-lovin’ CHIEF DUDERINO says that in the lead up to the 2024 election they're going to flick the loony switch: "I’d like to tell you everything we have planned, except we don’t even know ourselves!"
Because the great majority of criminal cases are finalised with sentencing following a plea of guilty, the public hears too little about the vital role of crime-scene examiners and forensic scientists, writes HUGH SELBY.
Letter writer IAN PILSNER makes no bones about it. He thinks the anti-colonialists should thank the many convicts that were shackled for the long and arduous hours of backbreaking work to build the foundations of this country.
ANDREW FRASER reckons it's pretty rough that only former Prime Ministers, some in the job for barely days, get explanatory signage in the Canberra suburbs named after them yet other prominent Australians are snubbed by the ACT government.
Legal columnist HUGH SELBY looks down the checklist to see how Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus is performing. The results are underwhelming...
Optus said it didn’t have the ‘soundbite’ to explain the crisis. We should expect better, writes PETER ROBERTS.
