Category On the Record

A reply to three national security analysts who have mistaken disagreement for illiberalism.

The WA Liberals have spent a year asking West Australians what they think. They could have read a poll.

A state-mandated code of conduct for local government places political argument inside a complaint process. One council voted against it — but it applies regardless.

ACEM flew its members across the country to learn about eels and witchetty grubs. It counted as CPD.

Either ancestry-and-land claims can ground political standing or they cannot. Australian institutions want both positions simultaneously—without saying why.

Like failed New Year's resolutions, Australia has treated strategic seriousness as aspirational rather than binding. The Constitution doesn't. Section 51(vi) creates defence obligations that expand as threats grow—and the threats are growing.

The City of Albany shut down a grain operation mid-harvest, two days before Christmas, then went on holiday. The directive was rescinded within 24 hours. This is not how serious organisations behave.

Institutions decay in a familiar pattern: when values are treated as optional, the serious people move on.