Accessibility Tools

  • Content scaling 100%
  • Font size 100%
  • Line height 100%
  • Letter spacing 100%

John Uhr

John Uhr reviews ‘Quarterly Essay 16: Breach of trust: truth, morality and politics’ by Raimond Gaita

April 2005, no. 270 01 April 2005
On 15 February 2005 the Labor Opposition launched a ‘matter of public importance’ (MPI) debate on ‘truth in government’ in the House of Representatives. An MPI debate is really only an invitation to comment on a ‘matter for discussion’, with no vote taken, as would be the case in a censure motion. The parliamentary discussion is simply timed out. But it is a useful opposition tactic fo ... (read more)

John Uhr reviews 'Power Without Responsibility? Ministerial staffers in Australian governments from Whitlam to Howard' by Anne Tiernan

October 2007, no. 295 01 October 2007
The cover says it all. The photograph comes from the Cole Inquiry, but it could be from any number of recent events. In the centre is Prime Minister John Howard, smiling without hubris, a confident leader going about the business of leadership, ready to inform the Cole Inquiry what he knew and what he was never officially told. But the prime minister is not alone. Blacked out on either side are tw ... (read more)