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Sweltering or freezing: this is not normal

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As I write, south-east Australia is experiencing an extraordinary heatwave. This is the second such heatwave for 2026. At the same time, a vicious polar vortex is monstering much of North America and Europe. While at this sweltering end of the world we’re enjoying photos of frozen rivers and huge snowdrifts, friends in Canada and the US are similarly enjoying pics of Australians trying to cool off under hoses. These conditions, while not unprecedented, are not normal. Yes, of course we’ve had heatwaves before, and the northern hemisphere has experienced big freezes before, but these conditions are coming more frequently and with greater intensity than ever before. This is not normal nor should it be. We can’t say we weren’t warned. Since the mid-1980s climate scientists have been warning us of climate change. The climate stats and data tell the story and we were warned in the 1990s that heatwaves would get hotter and more frequent, droughts will be longer and drier, floods ...
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Welcome to 2026 ... and buckle up!

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  The year is barely three weeks old but it seems like we’ve been here for months. If you’re feeling exhausted and in need of a holiday, you’re not alone. So far this year we have seen the USA invade Venezuela, devastating bushfires in Victoria, cyclone and floods in north Queensland, a rising tide of revolution in Iran, the announcement of a Royal Commission into the Bondi attack, parliament recalled to debate hate speech and gun laws, Australia retain the Ashes in just 11 days of cricket, and the Adelaide Writers’ Week implode. Suddenly the world seems to have moved into warp speed and we’re just hanging on and hoping it lands somewhere safe. It’s difficult to know where to start navigating this gridlock of events and, it being summer break and therefore our traditional season of beach, barbeques, beer and a breather from current affairs, we’re just not used to such a high octane start to a new year. Globally, the big question is will he, won’t he make a m...
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How not to win a Nobel Peace Prize

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 When the inventor, entrepreneur and businessman Alfred Nobel died, his will stated that his fortune was to be used to reward “those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.” The Nobel Peace Prize was first awarded in 1901, and is awarded to a nominated person who the Committee believes has done the most towards promoting peace. This year, the Committee has awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan democracy advocate and opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, "for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy." Predictably, the malignant, bloviating orange blob currently occupying the White House, is throwing a full-scale hissy fit over the Committee's failure to award the prize to him, having been duly nominated by that other paragon of peace, the genocidal narcissist, Netanyahu. The White H...
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A wheel story

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  Once upon a time service stations had workshops attached to them. If one needed something mechanical, one could go to the workshop and a bloke in greasy overalls would come out, wiping his hands on an oily rag, and say something like, "G'day, mate/love [strike out whichever is inapplicable] what can I do for you?" Whether one's problem was black smoke emanating from under the bonnet, or a tyre that needed pumping up, the mechanic would deal with it. Now service stations have retail assistants who stand behind virus-and-bullet-proof plexiglass and sell petrol, drinks, snacks, dodgy pies and sandwiches and who have likely never lifted the bonnet of a car or hefted a spanner. If one wants something mechanical done, one has to go to a Mechanical Repairs Centre, which has a reception area with comfy chairs, wifi, a big screen TV, a water cooler and a receptionist whose job it is to keep the general public as far away from the mechanics as possible. One has to b...
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"De-extinction": the new frontier or scientific circus?

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There is no doubt that the impact of human development and negligence has caused the extinction of a lot of species. The thylacine, passenger pigeon and dodo for starters. The black rhino, orangutan and hawksbill turtle, among many others, are hanging on by a thread. In Australia the  antechinus, mountain pygmy possum and orange-bellied parrot are on the critical list and loss of habitat is posing a growing threat to our beloved koala, which could be gone within 25 years if there is not significant intervention to ensure their preservation. So when news broke this week that the dire wolf, a species extinct for the last 10,000 years, has been genetically reproduced and brought back , the popular media went into a frenzy of congratulatory glee. All those creatures we've hunted into oblivion can be restored! Let us rejoice! Umm, not so fast. Let's face it, apart from zoological paleontologists, who'd even heard of a dire wolf until the TV adaptation of George RR Martin's ...
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