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Jack Waterford

Jack Waterford

The Sydney Morning Herald

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Dutton's desire for a vote on toughness is a well-laid trap

latest 4

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Will public servants become agents of the party rather than the state?

Will public servants become agents of the party rather than the state?
27.01.2025 5

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

The APS has never been in as parlous a state, and the problem is infectious

The APS has never been in as parlous a state, and the problem is infectious
24.01.2025 10

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Laurel-less Biden limps for the exit. Will Albanese be next?

Laurel-less Biden limps for the exit. Will Albanese be next?
20.01.2025 7

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

Biden limps to exit. He was unimpressive and unpersuasive like one of our contenders

Biden limps to exit. He was unimpressive and unpersuasive like one of our contenders
17.01.2025 9

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

A clear and present danger to the peace of the world

A clear and present danger to the peace of the world
13.01.2025 40

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

A clear and present danger to the peace of the world

A clear and present danger to the peace of the world
10.01.2025 10

The Examiner

Jack Waterford

A clear and present danger to the peace of the world

A clear and present danger to the peace of the world
10.01.2025 8

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Steering without a compass or a map

In 1971, Time magazine decided that it might do a friendly cover story on newly installed Liberal prime minister, Billy McMahon, and asked for co-...

06.01.2025 6

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

People want to be led, but they want to know where they're going

In 1971, Time magazine decided it might do a friendly cover story on newly installed Liberal prime minister Billy McMahon, and asked for...

03.01.2025 1

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Whipping up Aboriginal enthusiasm

Here’s a sad prediction for 2025. By the end of next year, more states and territories will have dropped the age of criminal responsibility to 10,...

30.12.2024 1

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

Here's a sad prediction for 2025. It'll be very popular, but it simply won't work

Here's a sad prediction for 2025. By the end of next year, more states and territories will have dropped the age of criminal responsibility to 10...

27.12.2024 3

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Few voters think they have benefitted much from Labor in government

It goes almost without saying that much of the ordinary economic commentary ahead of the election, whether in the Murdoch media, the Fairfax media...

23.12.2024 3

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

Achoo! The economy's caught a cold and splashing the cash can't fix it

During the recent presidential election, Donald Trump invited Americans to ask themselves whether they felt better off now, after four years of Joe...

20.12.2024 3

The Examiner

Jack Waterford

Achoo! The economy's caught a cold and splashing the cash can't fix it

During the recent presidential election, Donald Trump invited Americans to ask themselves whether they felt better off now, after four years of Joe...

20.12.2024 3

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

To defeat Dutton, Labor needs inspiration and leadership from its ‘mortal enemy’ – the Greens

Dutton’s nuclear plans provide an opportunity for a campaign Labor could win. But it won’t be won without girding for war. The need for some...

16.12.2024 3

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

We now have the election's defining issue. Here's how Labor will stuff it up

The release of some Opposition nuclear policy detail, such as it is, will define the federal election. It represents an opportunity for an...

13.12.2024 4

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Albo’s pre-emptive kowtow to an imagined Westminster

The Labor Party would like it to be understood that they would prefer that voters give their second preference to the Liberal Party or the National...

09.12.2024 10

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

This is a damn-fool idea and it puts Labor on the road to electoral suicide

The Labor Party would like it to be understood that it would prefer that voters give their second preference to the Liberal Party or the National...

06.12.2024 6

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Does Albo even deserve to win?

Not since Alaska has the US won a nation so cheaply. A friend joked to me recently that the best news Labor has had this week was being told that I...

02.12.2024 3

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

At this point, does Albo even deserve to win?

A friend joked to me recently that the best news Labor has had this week was being told that I was thinking that Anthony Albanese could very well...

29.11.2024 4

The Examiner

Jack Waterford

At this point, does Albo even deserve to win?

A friend joked to me recently that the best news Labor has had this week was being told that I was thinking that Anthony Albanese could very well...

29.11.2024 3

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Distorting elections: Australia’s professional politicians feather their own nests

The ALP is full of legends – of which many old party folk are defiantly proud – of political skullduggery. There have been stuffed ballot boxes,...

25.11.2024 2

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

We can't trust bipartisan hands in our pockets

The ALP is full of legends - of which many old party folk are defiantly proud - of political skullduggery. There have been stuffed ballot boxes,...

22.11.2024 4

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Labor, party of the comfortably housed, needs the Greens

Labor needs the Greens. It seems to calculate that the Greens have no choice about preferencing them. That might once have seemed logical, but it...

18.11.2024 2

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

What Albo could learn from the Greens as he drags his feet on next election

This week the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, let slip his last opportunity to call an election this year. With the statutory requirements of a...

15.11.2024 2

The Examiner

Jack Waterford

What Albo could learn from the Greens as he drags his feet on next election

This week the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, let slip his last opportunity to call an election this year. With the statutory requirements of a...

15.11.2024 3

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Like Kamala, Albanese doesn’t seem to get it

This was a mood election; It was not a referendum about Kamala Harris. Nor was it a referendum of Donald Trump’s character. Immediately after an...

11.11.2024 3

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

The big lesson for Albo if he doesn't want to suffer the same fate as Harris

Immediately after an election, journalists such as me write analysis and commentary explaining the result and what it says about the mood of the...

08.11.2024 4

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Albanese’s limp self-defence aggravated the damage of Qantas allegations

And the National Anti-Corruption Commission loses its appeal. Major General Paul Brereton would be doing well to plan a skilful retreat from utter...

04.11.2024 2

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

Anti-corruption commission now so weak, pathetic that Dutton is its biggest fan

Major General Paul Brereton would be doing well to plan a skilful retreat from utter disaster rather than gallant holding actions pending the...

01.11.2024 3

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Keeping the public in the dark: Is it time to scrap the NACC and start again?

The National Anti-Corruption Commission has recently issued its first substantial, if highly redacted report clearing a former Department of Home...

28.10.2024 3

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

This series of elections will only bring bad news for Labor

The menu for Anthony Albanese over the next few weeks provides good examples of Labor's problems in controlling the agenda and sticking to the...

18.10.2024 1

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

ACT’s Barr will struggle to overcome belief he has been in power too long

This ACT election is not an election about policies. Nor, by itself, about significant changes to the style of government. Andrew Barr,...

14.10.2024 2

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

Australia poised to enter another US-led Middle East war

With less than two months to go, voters may go to the American polls while their nation is at war. If they do, there is a significant chance that...

07.10.2024 5

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

War would change the whole dynamic of the US presidential election

With less than two months to go, voters may go to the American polls while their nation is at war. Login or signup to continue reading If they do,...

04.10.2024 1

The Examiner

Jack Waterford

War would change the whole dynamic of the US presidential election

With less than two months to go, voters may go to the American polls while their nation is at war. Login or signup to continue reading If they do,...

04.10.2024 2

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

If we can’t have vision, let’s have boldness and strength of purpose

One should never feel sympathy for a politician caught in a rule-in rule-out game. Perhaps the period should be after the eighth word, but there is...

30.09.2024 2

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

If Albo is going to make any lasting impression, this could be his last chance

One should never feel sympathy for a politician caught in a rule-in rule-out game. Perhaps the period should be after the eighth word, but there is...

27.09.2024 3

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Public Service Commission is an enemy of the public and the public interest

Irony does not seem to be the strong point of the Public Service Commissioner, Gordon de Brouwer. During the very moments while explaining why...

23.09.2024 2

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

They were sold as coming to fix the APS and restore integrity. They failed

Irony does not seem to be the strong point of the Public Service Commissioner, Gordon de Brouwer. During the very moments while explaining why...

20.09.2024 2

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Kamala still facing electoral college hurdles

Kamala Harris was, to my mind, a clear winner of the first debate between herself and Donald Trump. As things stand, however, I reckon that Trump...

16.09.2024 3

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

Kamala Harris clearly won the debate, but it likely won't matter

Kamala Harris was, to my mind, a clear winner of the first debate between herself and Donald Trump. As things stand, however, I reckon that Trump...

13.09.2024 3

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

It’s now too late for Labor to fix its re-election problems

This week I was practising my argument about a feeling that Albanese Labor has by now left it too late to retrieve its position before the next...

09.09.2024 2

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

Labor looks well due for a kick in the pants

This week I was practising my argument about a feeling that Albanese Labor has by now left it too late to retrieve its position before the next...

06.09.2024 2

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Stewards should have an early look at this roughie racehorse

We can all be grateful that the acting auditor general Rona Mellor has decided to take at least a sideways glance into Commonwealth speculation,...

02.09.2024 3

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

Here's some advice for Albo: Never get into a fight with a skunk

One of Lyndon Johnson's sage pieces of political advice was that one should never get into a piss fight with a skunk. Kamala Harris should take...

23.08.2024 2

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Labor makes industry by embracing its gambling mates

History has too stately a progress to be the guide to tactics. But those who make history that does not fit logically into a pattern of principle,...

19.08.2024 3

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

This may end up being Albanese's primary legacy, and not in a good way

History has too stately a progress to be the guide to tactics. But those who make history that does not fit logically into a pattern of principle,...

16.08.2024 5

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Albo may struggle to enthuse his followers

I do not expect that there would be an outbreak of existential angst, despair, or deep public sullenness, even among committed Labor voters, if...

12.08.2024 2

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford