Mind their language
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Co-written with Kate Burridge Bill Shorten’s been telling us he wants to give Australians a “fair go”. Malcolm Turnbull has decried Labor for an “assault on the Australian spirit”. Of course, they’re not…
Co-authored with Howard Manns We started our election pieces by introducing some ordinary political expressions — those with not so ordinary histories. We felt it was time to revisit political expressions…
Co-authored with Howard Manns Lengthy elections grow tedious for everyone and, in the 24/7 media cycle, nerves and performances fray. Yet how many of us would really stand up to such intense and prolonged…
Scott Morrison would have us think politics is more war than performance whereas names like ScoMo tell us quite the opposite. When pollies, in the words of Paul Keating, “turn the switch to vaudeville…
I would never claim to be a suppository of wisdom but speaking off script can get a pollie into trouble. And, well, look, shit happens in debates. This means it’s worth flagging some differences in the…
Co-written with Kate Burridge One of this piece’s authors (Howard Manns), a migrant, obviously struggles with English and literacy issues. He thanks his lucky stars that pollies speak to him in simple…
The word tax (and words derived from it like taxable, taxpayer etc) loomed large in Scott Morrison’s budget speech – 79 mentions in fact. Tax figured less prominently in Labor’s reply (27 mentions) – but…