Opinion Articles

Songlines, space stations and the slow decline of science

The Americans had Apollo. The Soviets had Soyuz. The Chinese have Tiangong. And Australia? We now have the world’s first taxpayer-funded attempt to guide space exploration using songlines. It’s as if the nation looked up at the stars, ignored four centuries of physics, and concluded that what satellite design really needs is a smoking ceremony and a cultural consultation workshop. According to the project brief, “learning from songlines, creation stories and deep cultural connections between people

Trevor Whittington December 18, 2025

Media Releases

WAFarmers backs mandated pain relief for mulesing as flystrike threat remains front and centre

WAFarmers has welcomed the Minister for Agriculture’s confirmation in Parliament that Western Australia will mandate the use of pain relief for mulesing under the nationally agreed Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for sheep, noting the move is squarely in line with existing WAFarmers policy. WAFarmers Livestock Council supports that effective pain relief should be mandatory for mulesing and has consistently supported continued research into practical alternatives to surgical mulesing. Geoff Pearson, President of the

Darren Brown November 20, 2025

Opinion Articles

Captain Jarvis will go down in history

Long-suffering readers know my refrain: Western Australia can build stadiums, museums and Metronet tunnels, yet still cannot build a permanent home for its agriculture department. Call it DPIRD or the old Ag Department, or — as I prefer — the Department of People, Inclusion, Re-education and Diversity. Titles change, logos change, ministers change. The reality stays the same. For decades we have shuffled staff around Perth like sailors swapping hammocks on a leaking frigate, while

Trevor Whittington November 6, 2025