Past Issues
Radical Hope: Education and Equality in Australia
Noel Pearson
Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard have promised an education revolution, but what might that really mean? In Quarterly Essay 35, one of Australia’s most original and provocative thinkers turns his attention to the question of education.
Stop At Nothing: The Life and Adventures of Malcolm Turnbull
Annabel Crabb
What does Malcolm Turnbull stand for? In Stop at Nothing Annabel Crabb tells the story of the man who would be prime minister.
Quarry Vision: Coal, Climate Change and the End of the Resources Boom
Guy Pearse
This is an essay about "quarry vision," the belief that Australia's greatest asset is its mineral and energy resources - coal above all. How has this distorted our national politics and stymied action on climate change? In this powerful essay about the national interest, Guy Pearse dissects the Rudd government's climate change response: from the Garnaut report to the silver bullet of "clean coal" and beyond.
American Revolution: The Fall of Wall Street and the Rise of Barack Obama
Kate Jennings
American Revolution is a dazzling and perceptive look at the United States between hope and despair: an election-year kaleidoscope. Jennings describes how and why the US economy fell off a cliff and how an apparently endless run of primaries and an increasingly rancorous campaign culminated in a world-changing victory. This is an essay that shows America in fascinating flux: it is witty and poetic, acute and evocative.
Now or Never: A Sustainable Future for Australia?
Tim Flannery
This landmark essay by Tim Flannery is about sustainability, our search for it in the twenty-first century, and the impact it might have on the environmental threats that confront us today. Flannery discusses in detail three potential solutions to the most pressing of the sustainability challenges: climate change.
Last Drinks: The Impact of the Nothern Territory Intervention
Paul Toohey
When Mal Brough and John Howard announced the Northern Territory intervention in mid-2007, they proclaimed a child abuse emergency. In this riveting piece of reportage and analysis, Paul Toohey unpicks the rhetoric of emergency and tracks progress. Winner of the 2008 Walkley Award for Coverage of Indigenous Affairs.
Love & Money: The Family and the Free Market
Anne Manne
In Love & Money, Anne Manne looks at the religion of work - its high priests and sacrificial lambs. As family life and motherhood feel the pressure of the market, she asks whether the chief beneficiaries are child-care corporations and self-interested employers.
Exit Right: The Unravelling of John Howard
Judith Brett
In Exit Right, Judith Brett explains why the tide turned on John Howard. This is an essay about leadership, in particular Howard's style of strong leadership which led him to dominate his party with such ultimately catastrophic results.
Reaction Time: Climate Change and the Nuclear Option
Ian Lowe
Australia is at a crossroads: do we need to embrace a nuclear future? In Reaction Time, Ian Lowe examines the science and the politics of nuclear power, as well as the feasible alternatives in an era of global warming.
