What if the Education Minister was a former teacher?
Over an Indian dinner with a mate on the main street of St Marys last week, the conversation turned to politics, as it inevitably...
Abbott’s PR plan will kill off Turnbull
On Monday morning, former Prime Minister Tony Abbott will front up for the second of his now fortnightly radio appearances on Ray Hadley’s 2GB...
We must always remember them
Reading through the pages of old editions of the Nepean Times this past week, the bluntness of war really hit home.
Without the Internet, social...
Believing Facebook over science
Sometimes I think people protest or argue purely because they want to get angry about something no matter what it is. I think to...
Difficult path to the truth
By now I think everyone has read about, and formed an opinion on, the story that has engulfed the Penrith Panthers and star forward...
Penalty rate cut won’t change a thing
There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to the debate over penalty rates, which flared up last week when the Fair...
Has your credit score changed overnight?
At some point in the middle of the night, I went from being a good credit risk, to an average one.
And it's likely that...
Cory, Malcolm and a dying TV platform
Bernardi is a rat – no doubt about it
A little over six months ago Cory Bernardi was elected to the Senate as a member...
Longing for the days of the corner shop
I grew up in a small beach suburb of Wollongong called Towradgi where, as children, we would ride in the back seat of the...
Baird a popular Premier who lost his groove
Mike Baird couldn't have possibly scripted it better.
His rise to Premier in April 2014 came just days before the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge...
Thanks for another great year
Friday marks the final edition of the Weekender for 2016, bringing the curtain down on an incredibly busy year for the region.
It was a year...
Could Ayres still be Premier?
Every local member – State or Federal – has an element of predictability and standardisation about them.
From blanket media releases to ribbon cuttings and...
Throwing Salt in home ownership wounds
The path to home ownership is more difficult than ever, and ordering smashed avocados at local cafes isn’t totally to blame, but Bernard Salt’s...
Derby atmosphere unrivalled in Australian sport
I’ve been to plenty of great sporting events at ANZ Stadium, from NRL Grand Finals to State of Origins, football internationals and of course...
Panthers open premiership window
Penrith’s NRL season didn’t quite have a dream finish, but it’s far from a nightmare.
The club’s 2016 campaign, which ended at the hands of...
Kruger doesn’t deserve vile response to immigration comments
As somebody who writes 50-odd opinion columns a year, I understand that criticism, the odd abuse-laden letter and angry phone calls come as part...
Howard’s battlers have been lost
When both Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten made unscheduled visits to the Lindsay electorate last Saturday, it was evident that something quite extraordinary and...
A question of trust and integrity
This is probably one of the most difficult pre-election columns I’ve ever written.
Difficult because it is impossible to say there’s been a clear winner...
Sick hospital needs help – now
When severe stomach pain sent me to Nepean Hospital’s Emergency Department last month, it was the first time I’d been to Nepean as a...
I won’t put up with casual homophobia any longer
So many of us woke on Monday morning to discover the severity and magnitude of yet another mass shooting in the US, the biggest...