menu_open
Paul Daley

Paul Daley

The Guardian

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

A life without my dogs seems imponderable. Yet we do keep going after losing the animals we adore

One of my dogs, Olive, turned five years old this week and while every minute for her holds unfettered joy, love and promise, the birthday was...

yesterday 1

The Guardian

Paul Daley

A note from my mum stirs my memory of her more than a photograph ever could

Some things you only learn with the hindsight of loss and the significant passage of time. One of them for me is that photographs of family and...

08.04.2024 10

The Guardian

Paul Daley

A reelected Trump is Albanese’s elephant in the room, and a potential disaster for Australia

Australians, like people the world over who care about democracy and global security, really should get a vote in the forthcoming US election, so...

17.02.2024 20

The Guardian

Paul Daley

My memory of life and the markers of its passing are refracted through the sea

The sea in all its variations, from tranquil coves and moody bays to wind-racked ocean beaches, from the ostentatious harbour to meandering with dogs...

03.02.2024 5

The Guardian

Paul Daley

Australia Day is on the nose – it’s becoming harder to defend celebrating the date of an apocalypse

With each passing year, this one fraught day of the year becomes harder for politicians, especially progressives, to defend as that on which Australia...

25.01.2024 7

The Guardian

Paul Daley

The ‘road toll’ is a benign term that sanitises the senseless waste of human life in Australia

And, so, December ends with the reality-biting grimness that 2023 was the deadliest on Australian roads in five-and-a-half years. The fact that 1,253...

23.12.2023 30

The Guardian

Paul Daley

Christmas joy feels more elusive than ever – look for quiet contemplation instead

Christmas, most of us are brought up to believe, is all about joy. Joy about being with loved ones. Joy about giving and gracefully receiving. Joy...

18.12.2023 7

The Guardian

Paul Daley

My youth has all but faded. But my three-quarter-life crisis is filled with fascinating revelations and boundless joys

In the treacherous depths of middle-age, bits of your mortal frame invariably crumble. My lower right molar, saved by root canal surgery days after I...

11.12.2023 8

The Guardian

Paul Daley

‘It’s all about entitlement. Simple’: the rampant acts of tree vandalism on Australia’s foreshores

Woodford Bay on Sydney’s lower north shore, its exclusive white mansions and quaint boat sheds nestled into gnarly, urban bush abutting the harbour,...

09.12.2023 3

The Guardian

Paul Daley

Driving while distracted is a truly dumb way to die. Hopefully I’ve learned my lesson

The photograph didn’t lie. There I was in the driver’s seat of my car, stopping at the lights, with one hand on the wheel, the other on my lap and...

28.11.2023 8

The Guardian

Paul Daley

In a distressing world, moments of beauty seem elusive. I found one in a Sydney theatre

Given humankind’s recent showcasing of its infinite capacity to inflict misery upon itself, joy sometimes seems so elusive as to be borderline...

15.11.2023 8

The Guardian

Paul Daley

What’s the hottest property on a boiling planet? Just ask a billionaire

10.11.2023 6

The Guardian

Paul Daley

On Remembrance Day, Australia’s leaders are failing to learn from history

It seems inappropriate that politicians have centre stage at moments when Australia and many other countries stop to contemplate what is, now more...

10.11.2023 6

The Guardian

Paul Daley

Loving Collingwood is about the heart and not the head – and my grandfather’s story helped forge my emotional connection

E very supporter has a unique personal story about why they barrack for their team. It might involve a special moment. Just as often it’s about...

28.09.2023 3

The Guardian

Paul Daley

I quit Facebook and Twitter cold turkey – and I barely know myself

Quite how insidiously some social media had altered my brain wasn’t apparent until I kicked the habit. There is nothing worse than the sanctimony of...

17.09.2023 20

The Guardian

Paul Daley

Using Neville Bonner’s politics to guess his stance on the voice seems an indolent misuse of history

The first Aboriginal person in federal parliament, the Liberal senator Neville Bonner, would have “hated the idea” of a constitutionally enshrined...

14.09.2023 7

The Guardian

Paul Daley

0664f5c7e02e2f808a75f538eb83d67a