JUDITH SLOAN | "I am intrigued by the rapid rise in the popularity of One Nation as a political force and wonder whether there are important economic angles to the analysis. My guess is that a lot of One Nation voters would rather cope – indeed flourish – off their own bat. They don’t want to be dependent on government, and they deeply resent the load placed on them to receive government benefits." Article | spectator.com.au/2026/06/and…

Albanese’s meltdown over the ‘Fire the Liar’ campaign is the biggest self-inflicted political failure of the century. Not only has he officially marked One Nation as the Opposition – he has highlighted a massive loss of trust in his own campaign. As for the Coalition, they’re not even in the conversation. Labor is standing at the bottom of a mountain. One Nation is a truck with no brakes. And Angus Taylor has parked his ute in the off-ramp. At this point, One Nation is not in control of this election momentum. It has been taken from them by the people and they have decided to use the party as a tool to pry back democracy from the clutches of born-to-rule politicians who believe they deserve to be a party of government … because. That is about the best explanation they can offer. Article | spectator.com.au/2026/06/fir…

Bozo! The Stop Sign!! And the week Albanese almost certainly regrets... My latest in @SpectatorOz

The most consequential allies in the US war on the Iranian Republic are not influential, behemoth nations, but small, agile, rising powers. The United Arab Emirates and Somaliland are bringing enormous global influence to bear. The US must reward and strengthen these small states exercising disproportionate impact – compact nations courageously repelling Iranian influence. These are bold allies indeed. @MissDiagnosis Article | spectator.com.au/2026/06/dav…

What if One Nation is not a trend, not a vibe, not a protest, and not a fleeting blip in the political conversation... What if One Nation is a real Australian populist revolt? The mainstream rejection of corrosive progressivism and a political re-set back to common sense, traditional values, and honouring the will of Australians citizens? Article | spectator.com.au/2026/06/one…

Just to remind Albo about his integrity, trucks are now driving around his electorate of Grayndler with the words ‘Fire the Liar’ emblazoned on the sides of the trucks. In case anyone missed it - Pauline Hanson made sure to post photos on her Twitter account. Article | spectator.com.au/2026/06/lab…

I recently left an art display at the Art Gallery of Western Australia called Attachment Styles: Modes of Belonging in Modern and Contemporary Art with one very clear message: I don’t belong in any part of the story that Perth Institutions tell themselves about Western Australia. Article | spectator.com.au/2026/06/inc…

Can right-wing men play #JamesBond? 🤔 Like many people, I’ve been bemoaning the woke capture of our security services for some time. In 2024, Sir Richard Moore, then the head of MI6, resigned from the Garrick Club during the row over the admission of women, and earlier this year it emerged MI5 was excluding white people from registering interest for administrative roles due to the ‘under-representation’ of black, Asian and minority ethnic people. You would hope the recruitment of spies would be based on merit, given the vital role they play in protecting the national interest, but apparently diversity targets are more important. Article | spectator.com.au/2026/06/was…

Steven Spielberg has said his latest film, Disclosure Day, is ‘the summation of my life in science fiction’, which began with Close Encounters of the Third Kind and ends here. (He is now 79.) I adored Close Encounters when it first came out in 1977 and still do – that final scene must be one of the greatest final scenes in cinema, greater even than The Terminator. But Disclosure Day is not its match, not nearly. What we have here instead is a forgettable action film with the bones of your average conspiracy thriller. There may or may not be life on other planets, but this poor Earthling felt the life drain from her at around ten minutes in. Article | spectator.com.au/2026/06/spi…

Pitting Nigel Farage against Rupert Lowe may be Kemi Badenoch's new tactic. Let the wolves fight each other and then worry about whichever one survives. It's also unlikely to work. However, as for cleaning up the party and demanding conservative values, she as least putting down the law. The Tory brand, in her own words, remains ‘a distressed asset’. To revive it she is demanding that every candidate sign up to core conservative principles. ‘We are leaving the European Convention on Human Rights. If you won’t sign up to that, you will not be a Conservative MP.’ They’ll have to agree to ditch net zero. Her first decision on day one in No. 10 would be to ‘drill our oil and gas in the North Sea and get the tax revenue out’. Article | spectator.com.au/2026/06/rup…

REFORM has sworn to do what no conservative in the modern era has the nerve to try - befriend the unions. And it looks like the conversion has already begun. Which unions have Reform-friendly members? spectator.com.au/2026/06/whi…

Despite being allowed to stay open until 2am for the #WorldCup, English pubs say they still aren't making money. We lost 161 pubs in the first three months of 2026, nearly two a day, for all the usual reasons: VAT, National Insurance hikes, pension contributions, energy bills and, above all, staffing costs. Finding good workers is difficult, if not impossible. Tell them they will be working until three or four in the morning for the late kick-offs, and you will not see them back the next day. You gain one night and lose the next day’s trade. And what about the extra barrels, bought and paid for in advance? Extra TVs dragged into the garden, maybe even a temporary bar under the trees? All of this comes at a price. What if the crowds don’t come? I am already hearing it from regulars: “Hmm, it is a bit late. Might just stay in and watch at home, get a few cans with the mates.” It’s understandable, when a round in most country pubs now costs not far off what a night in Mayfair might set you back. Every landlord I know is being told the same thing by customers: “You will have the big screen on, will not you? Extra barrels? Food deals? Stay open late?” On paper, the World Cup sounds like a lifeline. In practice, it is a high-stakes gamble for landlords. Article | spectator.com.au/2026/06/the…

It’s been 32 years since the World Cup first tainted American soil. The 1994 invasion was a colossal flop, despite the corporate subsidies lavished by Coca-Cola, Mastercard and the usual suspects. The title game – oh, excuse me: match – a thrilling 0-0 tie in regulation between Brazil and Italy, did not win millions of new fans. The indifference of Americans to the World Cup will be ascribed to our provincialism and ignorance of the wider world, but in fact it owes more to good old-fashioned American stubbornness and the vestigial resistance to homogenisation that produced, for instance, the popular rejection of the metric system. Article | spectator.com.au/2026/06/why…

Despite declining polls, the Tories have purchased a £14.3 million to serve as their home. For nearly two decades, the Conservatives have lacked a permanent home, ever since Smith Square – the site of Mrs Thatcher’s three election victories –had to be sold off in 2007. Since then, they have rented offices in, first, Milbank Tower and currently, Matthew Parker Street. But now the Tories boast a new address: 1 Castle Lane in Victoria, just a ten minute stroll from their current base. The £14.3 million building was bought by the Conservative Foundation, thanks to a generous legacy from the late Lord Sainsbury, to ensure that no party leader is flogged to sell the base at the behest of bean-counters in future. Lord Spencer, the Chairman of the Foundation, gave the introduction. ‘This party, as you all know, has had 200 years of history behind us, and there is no reason we cannot have 200 years ahead of us too.’ Article | spectator.com.au/2026/06/ins…

We need to learn to say 'no' to activists and their demands. Who are the Waspi women? (Women Against State Pension Inequality) At the beginning of this year, Welfare Secretary Pat McFadden recommitted the government to the decision to refuse compensation to the 3.6 million women born in the 1950s who claimed not to have been informed that their state pension age would rise to bring it into line with the male retirement age. McFadden was right to make that decision because the claim is beyond baseless. Article | spectator.com.au/2026/06/the…

Labor increasingly views 'success' as a problem to be solved. We see it in tax debates. We see it in housing policy. We see it in discussions about wealth, inheritance, and investment. Success increasingly attracts suspicion. Profit is treated as something requiring justification. Ambition is viewed as a social problem to be managed rather than a human impulse to be encouraged. This is particularly striking in Australia. Article | spectator.com.au/2026/06/the…

An ABC national poll on education concludes: ‘One Nation voters are turning on the mainstream education system as conservatives across the country express a deep mistrust of what they say is a leftist agenda taking over the classroom.’ Article | spectator.com.au/2026/06/par…

Cities full of homes - or prison cells? Governments are being pushed to build as many houses as possibly - as quickly as possible - and as cheaply as possible. The character of our future cities is being decided today - but are we building homes, or a dystopia? "Inside the apartments themselves, a particular aesthetic of cheapness has become the default. Concrete floors, black aluminium frames, stark minimalist detailing, and harsh down lights create spaces that feel cold, clinical, and remarkably difficult to humanise." Article | spectator.com.au/2026/06/the…

If sex-selective abortion is taking place in Australia - what do we do about it? 🤔 -------------------- The largest and most recently published Australian study on the subject analysed more than two million births in NSW and WA. The researchers found skewed sex ratios among some migrant populations that were consistent with patterns observed internationally where son preference and prenatal sex selection are known to occur. There have been several other population studies in the last five years that have come to similar conclusions. Article | spectator.com.au/2026/06/sex…

This is a letter I never expected to write, and I do so now with great regret and reluctance. ... I am being forced to make decisions that would reduce the readiness of our Forces and increase the risk to personnel on operations, and could make the country less safe. Article | spectator.com.au/2026/06/why…

The Defence Secretary has resigned with a devastating parting shot at Keir Starmer after the Prime Minister failed even to secure a derisory sum of money that he had demanded from the Treasury and the cabinet. In his resignation letter, Healey says ‘you have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats’. Article | spectator.com.au/2026/06/joh…