Opinion Articles

Climate data and Wheatbelt wisdom: Reading between the rainfall lines

In a year when the eastern states have either been drowning under floods or gasping through drought, and here in the west half the state has been left staring at a dry horizon, it seemed timely to stop watching the skies and start digging into the past. Instead of relying on the usual long-range forecasts—which, let’s be honest, have been about as useful as a rain gauge in a sandstorm—I decided to look back at

Trevor Whittington June 4, 2025

Opinion Articles

When the Sheriff comes for your Super

The Albanese government, fresh from electoral victory and emboldened by a tighter alliance with the Greens, has wasted no time signalling its intentions: the nation’s nest eggs are in its sights with their plans to tax unrealised gains on super accounts over $3m. It was a policy that seemed to go with minimal challenge by Dutton during the election campaign, no doubt paralysed in fear that he would be accused of pandering to the 80,000

Trevor Whittington May 23, 2025

Opinion Articles

Sussan Ley no longer barking up the wrong tree

When the Facts Change: In Praise of Politicians Who Pivot “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?” That famous line, attributed to John Maynard Keynes, ought to be stitched into the lapels of every politician wandering through Parliament House with a talking point in one hand and a Twitter poll in the other. Out here in the Wheatbelt, we know better than most that stubbornness is a vice when the

Trevor Whittington May 14, 2025

Opinion Articles

Goldilocks and the Three Energy Realities: Why Fossil Fuels Still Rule the World

“This porridge is too hot, this porridge is too cold, but this porridge is just right.” Who doesn’t live in a house with heating and cooling, a fridge, and a stove? I’d wager every Labor, Teal, and Green candidate enjoys all the modern conveniences that make life comfortable. For decades, alarmists have warned of impending disasters—“Peak Oil!” “Peak Coal!” “Climate Catastrophe!”—predicting the collapse of modern civilisation. Yet, as we approach 2030, the year Australia is

Trevor Whittington March 17, 2025

Opinion Articles

The last woke holdout: Why universities still preach what the world has abandoned

Somewhere between Trump’s second term, the corporate world rediscovering common sense, and the general public finally tiring of being lectured by the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) zealots, Australia’s universities seem to have missed the memo: going woke is so yesterday. I wouldn’t have given it much thought, being more preoccupied with real-world matters like tracking the Ukraine-Russia war or the latest state and federal election manoeuvres. But my third-born has just started mechanical engineering

Trevor Whittington March 11, 2025

Opinion Articles

Liar, liar, nation on fire: Why we keep electing serial fibbers

There was a time, not so long ago, when politicians at least made an effort to pretend they were telling the truth. Sure, they stretched it, massaged it, and occasionally trampled all over it, but there was still some vague expectation that outright, blatant lying was a career-ending mistake. But today? Forget it. Lying is no longer a political liability—it’s a winning strategy. Across Western democracies, voters keep electing and re-electing leaders who lie through

Trevor Whittington February 28, 2025

Opinion Articles

Heritage: Can’t you see it? It’s everywhere

The recent decision in the Tony Maddox case is yet another example of how Western Australia’s Aboriginal heritage laws have become a legal minefield for private property owners. What was once a well-defined, albeit imperfect, piece of legislation largely aimed at the mining sector has evolved into a tool for increasingly ambiguous and arbitrary interpretations of cultural heritage. The ruling against Maddox has confirmed what many landholders feared: there are no clear boundaries, no definitive

Trevor Whittington February 28, 2025

Opinion Articles

Keeping the family silver—or hoarding rusted relics

By now, most farmers will have heard that the State Labor Government is “flying the kite” on taking back ownership of WA’s rail network. For some, particularly the Tier 3 romantics, the idea of reviving a government-run rail system is a dream come true. For others, especially those who remember the old Westrail, the idea brings back memories of bloated inefficiency, endless strikes, and the kind of bureaucratic mismanagement that only the private sector could

Trevor Whittington February 17, 2025

Opinion Articles

The Nationals’ Northam DPIRD fantasy falls apart

Every now and then, one of my weekly articles stirs up a reaction (published recently plus reprinted at the end of this one) —usually in the form of a phone call to the President, complaining that I’m spreading “fake news” and should be cancelled. The usual response? An open invitation for a right of reply, though few ever take up the challenge. But every so often, someone does, eager to set me straight. That’s exactly

Trevor Whittington February 10, 2025

Opinion Articles

When clean green turns a blind eye to what’s natural

It seems that no one weeps for the fall of natural fibres. Once the crowning jewels of human ingenuity, symbols of tradition, status, and our interdependence with nature, fibres like wool, silk, hemp, and linen have been quietly relegated to the back of the wardrobe. All the while, the so-called “clean green” warriors of today are too busy waving banners against petroleum products to notice—or care—that the natural fibre industry has been driven to the

Trevor Whittington January 29, 2025