Daniel Andrews’ Labor Party defeated the Liberal-National coalition at the Victorian election on November 29 and will hold a majority of about six seats, although the ALP had a swing of only about 1.3 per cent on primary votes.   Victoria’s new Equality Minister Martin Foley In 2010, the Coalition won the election, taking 13 seats from Labor. The Coalition had a majority…

China presents world with a fait accompli Sir,  I read with interest your Canberra Observed column, “China FTA: more about diplomacy than trade” (News Weekly, November 22, 2014). I agree entirely that both Australia and China have sought a free trade agreement mainly for diplomatic reasons.  On October 21, an article published in the People’s Daily in China, declared: “If Mao Zedong enabled…

  MI6: The History of the Secret Intelligence Service, 1909-1949 by Keith Jeffery (London: Bloomsbury) Paperback: 864 pages ISBN: 9781408810057 Price: AUD$29.95   Reviewed by Jeffry Babb   For centuries, Britain had a traditional enemy — France.  France at one time had the largest population in Western Europe, making it a formidable threat, not least due to the depths of its manpower reserves.…

  41: A PORTRAIT OF MY FATHER  by George W. Bush (New York: Random House) Hardcover: 304 pages ISBN: 9780753556580 Price: AUD$54.95   Reviewed by Janice Shaw Crouse    George W. Bush’s critics, if they bother to read 41: Portrait of My Father, will likely complain that what the book shows best is nepotism, the doors that can be opened by tribal connections.…