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Tony Walker

Adjunct Professor, School of Communications, La Trobe University

The Australian Financial Review: International Editor (2010-2016), Washington correspondent (2004-2010), Political Editor (2000-2004), Financial Times: Middle East correspondent (1984-1993), Beijing bureau chief (1993-1998), North American correspondent 1998-2000. Publications include Arafat: The Biography (Virgin Books 2004) and The Thomson Five: A golfing legend's greatest triumphs (Melbourne University Press 2016). Graduate Australian National University BA.(1968) Dual Walkley award winner for commentary (2003 and 2007). Paul Lyneham Award Excellence Press Gallery journalism (2003).

Malcolm Fraser's political manifesto would make good reading for the Morrison government

Aug 28, 2018 12:57 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics

Malcolm Fraser died on March 20, 2015, just a little more than three years ago. One can only speculate what he would have made of a three-year Malcolm Turnbull interregnum, but it is a fair assumption he would have been...

Memo Scott Morrison: don't chase the 'base'

Aug 25, 2018 07:50 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics

John Howard was fond of referring to the Liberal Party as a broad church. This included its conservative base. But what has eluded those seeking to define this amorphous group of electors is exactly what is meant by...

Why the world should be worried about the rise of strongman politics

Jul 24, 2018 16:25 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics

Back in 2016, The Financial Times Gideon Rachman advanced the view in a commentary for The Economist that the strongman style of leadership was gravitating from east to west, and growing stronger. Across the world from...

Government needs to slow down on changes to spying and foreign interference laws

Jun 08, 2018 05:32 am UTC| Insights & Views Law

Whats the rush? If you believe Commonwealth Attorney-General Christian Porter, unless two pieces of security legislation are in place in the remaining two weeks of parliament before the winter recess, the country will be...

As it launches another missile, we must realise there are no easy options for dealing with North Korea

Aug 29, 2017 14:22 pm UTC| Insights & Views

Heres the script accompanied by a lot of bombast, signifying not much. North Korea launches another missile its 18th for the year and 80th since Kim Jong-un assumed power in 2011. This time it travels over Japan...

Trump changes his mind on Afghanistan, but will upping the ante win the war?

Aug 22, 2017 14:55 pm UTC| Insights & Views

President Donald Trump has upped the ante in Americas longest-running war, but it is not clear whether an all-guns-blazing strategy will bring the long-running conflict any nearer to a conclusion. In a clear departure...

Global Geopolitics Series

After Islamic State falls, we should expect aftershocks

Jun 30, 2017 17:47 pm UTC| Insights & Views

US-backed forces in Iraq and in Syria are in the process of rooting Islamic State (IS) fighters out of their strongholds in northern Iraq and eastern Syria. In the case of Mosul in Iraq, the removal of diehard IS...

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Economy

Beyond the spin, beyond the handouts, here’s how to get a handle on what’s really happening on budget night

Three weeks from now, some of us will be presented with a mountain of budget papers, and just about all of us will get to hear about them on radio, TV or news websites on budget night. The quickest way to find out what...

Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility

Ivan Vladislavić is Johannesburgs literary linkman. He tells us, in the first pages of his new book, The Near North, that before cities were lit, first by gaslight and later electricity, people of means paid torchbearers...

What if the Reserve Bank itself has been feeding inflation? An economist explains

Heres something for the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia to ponder as it meets next month to set interest rates. It has pushed up rates on 13 occasions since it began its attempt to restrain inflation in May...

China’s new world order: looking for clues from Xi’s recent meetings with foreign leaders

There is broad consensus that Chinese foreign policy has become more assertive and more centralised in the decade since Xi Jinping has ascended to the top of Chinas leadership. This has also meant that Chinese foreign...

How India’s economy has fared under ten years of Narendra Modi

More than 960 million Indians will head to the polls in the worlds biggest election between April 19 and early June. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is seeking a third...

Politics

Labour can afford to be far more ambitious with its economic policies – voters are on board

To say that the Labour party is flying high in the polls is something of an understatement. But despite its consistent lead against the Tories, the opposition finds itself in a rather odd position: on the cusp of power but...

History for sale: what does South Africa’s struggle heritage mean after 30 years of democracy?

One of my favourite statues is the one of Nelson Mandela at the Sandton City shopping centre in Johannesburg. Larger than life, its oversized bronze shoes shimmer in the evening light, polished by the hands of many...

Sudan: civil war stretches into a second year with no end in sight

In the early hours of April 15 2023, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) a Sudanese paramilitary force attacked the military airstrip in the town of Merowe and deployed troops across strategic locations in Sudans capital,...

Turkey’s suppression of the Kurdish political movement continues to fuel a deadly armed conflict

The world has 91 democracies and 88 autocracies. Yet 71% of the worlds population (some 5.7 billion people) are living under autocratic rule, a big jump from 48% ten years ago. This trend towards authoritarianism can...

Georgia is sliding towards autocracy after government moves to force through bill on ‘foreign agents’

Georgias ruling party attempted to pass a controversial bill on foreign agents in March 2023. The law would have required civil society groups and the media to register as being under foreign influence if they receive...

Science

A Nasa rover has reached a promising place to search for fossilised life on Mars

While we go about our daily lives on Earth, a nuclear-powered robot the size of a small car is trundling around Mars looking for fossils. Unlike its predecessor Curiosity, Nasas Perseverance rover is explicitly intended to...

The rising flood of space junk is a risk to us on Earth – and governments are on the hook

A piece of space junk recently crashed through the roof and floor of a mans home in Florida. Nasa later confirmed that the object had come from unwanted hardware released from the international space station. The 700g,...

Peter Higgs was one of the greats of particle physics. He transformed what we know about the building blocks of the universe

Peter Higgs, who gave his name to the subatomic particle known as the Higgs boson, has died aged 94. He was always a modest man, especially when considering that he was one of the greats of particle physics the area of...

Could a telescope ever see the beginning of time? An astronomer explains

The James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST for short, is one of the most advanced telescopes ever built. Planning for JWST began over 25 years ago, and construction efforts spanned over a decade. It was launched into space on...

US media coverage of new science less likely to mention researchers with African and East Asian names

When one Chinese national recently petitioned the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to become a permanent resident, he thought his chances were pretty good. As an accomplished biologist, he figured that news...

Technology

Binance Reassures Filipino Users Amid SEC App Removal Request, Urges Balanced Review by Google and Apple

Following recent regulatory proceedings by the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Binance has finally published a statement to its users regarding the removal request for its app from the Google Play...

Shiba Inu Announces Shibarium Hardfork: New Capabilities Teased, SHIB Price Jumps 3.2%

Shiba Inu has announced a transformative hardfork for its Shibarium platform, set for May 2, promising enhanced features and a surge in SHIBs price by 3.2% in response to the news. Shibarium Hardfork Set for May 2:...

Qualcomm Responds to Snapdragon X Elite Benchmark Cheating Claims

Qualcomm has responded to the serious allegations that it cheated on performance benchmarks for its Snapdragon X Elite and Plus chips, targeting competition with leading laptop processors. According to Toms Hardware,...

Japanese Yen Hits Record Low As Bitcoin Surges Globally

In a stunning financial shift, the Japanese yen has reached a 34-year low against Bitcoin, which also hit all-time highs in 14 countries, fueled by optimism surrounding new spot Bitcoin ETFs. Yen Hits 34-Year Low as...

Worldcoin Targets OpenAI Alliance, Faces Scrutiny Amid Regulatory Challenges

Worldcoin, a digital identification innovator, is eyeing a partnership with OpenAI despite facing regulatory scrutiny and data privacy concerns. The collaboration aims to bolster its technological advancements and market...