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Articles by Tom Switzer
Happy Birthday to US
As Quadrant marks its first 70 years we remain a forum for writers, academics and journalists at odds with much of Australian intellectual life's left-of-centre assumptions Oct 21 2026 8 mins Andrea Battistoni’s eloquent treatment of Puccini’s score produced one of the best all-round musical Opera Australia experiences in recent years Oct 21 2026 4 mins What kind of woke ideologue is indoctrinating your kids this week?
The Josh Frydenberg media tour
Am I alone among conservatives in thinking that the media hoopla surrounding Josh Frydenberg has become just a tad excessive? First, a few words in his defence before I get stuck in. I have known Josh for as long as I can remember. We are the same age, and he is friendly, hardworking and intellectually sharp. He was an outstanding tennis player in his youth and remains a devoted Carlton AFL supporter.
Murdoch, the Australian and me
We all know the Australian, the national newspaper Rupert Murdoch created in 1964, as a publication that generally occupies the conservative side of Australia’s political and ideological divide. From economic policy and US alliance management to the culture wars, the Oz is rarely mistaken for a left-of-centre newspaper. But it was not always so.
Erasing the portrait of a nation
National cultural institutions are entrusted with preserving a country’s historical memory. When they lose sight of that mission, the consequences extend far beyond the gallery walls. In a powerful essay for the Weekend Australian, art historian Christopher Allen argues that the National Portrait Gallery has relegated many of the historical figures who shaped the nation in favour of exhibitions organised around contemporary themes.
The rise and rise of Australia’s Nigel Farage
Sydney For three decades, Australia’s political Establishment has been predicting Pauline Hanson’s demise. But whenever critics tried to administer the kiss of death to the flame-haired firebrand, it somehow functioned as mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Today her One Nation party is polling at levels once thought unimaginable. In recent polls, it even surpasses support for Australia’s centre-left Labor government and centre-right Liberal-National party opposition.
If only Labor took Enoch Powell’s advice
‘You don’t tax a loss. You only tax a profit.’ That was the great insight of Enoch Powell six decades ago, when Harold Wilson’s Labour government seemed determined to tax British industry progressively into decline. Powell was the brilliant British maverick intellectual-turned-politician – the subject of Simon Heffer’s magisterial 1998 biography Like the Roman: The Life and Times of Enoch Powell, republished this month. His point was less ideological dogma than economic reality.
Treasurer, you’re no Keating
Other than Malcolm Turnbull, no retired Australian politician has devoted quite so much energy to the high art of the personal vendetta as Paul Keating. Three decades after losing office to John Howard in a humiliating landslide election, Keating remains gloriously, almost professionally, incapable of letting anything go.
The latest essay every day.
Historians reserve the term “watershed” for those rare moments when events do not merely shock the established order but overturn it. Think of the Allied victory over fascism in 1945 and the onset of the Cold War soon after. Or the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, which hastened the end of the bipolar conflict and ushered in an era of American unipolarity.
If Trump hates the Wall Street Journal so much, why is its editorial board dictating Iran policy?
For the better part of a decade, Donald Trump has been an avid, if irascible, reader of the Wall Street Journal – particularly the columns overseen by its long-time editor Paul Gigot. Because the Journal is among the few American conservative outlets willing to criticize Trump – on everything from tariffs to temperament – he has developed a habit of denouncing it in public while devouring it in private.
Will the war in Iran really weaken China?
Analogies in international politics are tricky and easily abused, yet they remain irresistible because they can illuminate patterns that are otherwise hard to see. Consider the present moment. Just as Ukraine has become a growing burden for Washington and its Western allies, Iran is now a strategic burden for Moscow and Beijing. The US, particularly under the Trump administration, appears to be placing less emphasis on supporting Ukraine. Something similar may be happening in reverse with Iran.
Will Trump bring about World War Three?
One of the enduring myths about Donald Trump is that he is an isolationist: a president bent on dismantling alliances and hauling up the drawbridge on America’s engagement with the world. The reality is more unsettling. Trump’s instincts may incline toward retrenchment, but they coexist with a pugnacious temperament and a visceral conception of American honor.
Bring back Tony Abbott
With a likely Liberal party room ballot looming, the Coalition’s predicament has become impossible to ignore. The parties are haemorrhaging votes to Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, struggling to connect with the wider electorate, and oddly muted in their prosecution of Labor. Against that backdrop, an idea once dismissed as fanciful begins to look less so: a return to parliament – and perhaps the leadership – by Tony Abbott. Abbott, for all his flaws, has confronted such a predicament before.
NATO’s Suez moment
The Greenland Drama Shows the U.S. Is No Longer Europe’s Guarantor
This is Nato’s Suez moment
In 1969, Charles de Gaulle told his friend André Malraux that America’s “desire – and one day it will satisfy it – is to desert Europe. You will see.” It has taken nearly six decades, but de Gaulle’s prophecy now looks uncomfortably close to fulfilment.
Fraser under the microscope
Malcolm Fraser: A Personal Reflection Connor Court, pp.240, $39.95 Gerard Henderson is known for his sound convictions, his incredible political memory, his tough scrutiny of mainstream media – especially the ABC – and his refusal to give quarter when he believes the record needs correcting. With one of the sharpest media minds in the country, he has spoken with almost everyone who has mattered in Canberra for five decades.
The dangers of defenestration
Political instability in Australia provides sobering lessons for plotters in the Labour Party Westminster is abuzz with talk of another prime minister being toppled. May, Boris, Truss, Sunak and now, quite possibly, Starmer — what a depressing state of British affairs since David Cameron fell on his sword in 2016. For the parliamentary Labour party, the issue is not if Starmer should go but when: in the New Year or after next May’s elections.
Give Sussan Ley a chance
It’s over for Sussan Ley, apparently. Don’t even be guided by the polls. Just sound out her own parliamentary party room: the question is not if she should go but when. Her party abounds with colleagues wielding knives and waiting to sink them between her shoulder blades. What Andrew Neil says of Keir Starmer, which you can read in the UK Daily Mail, could be said of Ley: there will be no comeback, no resurgence, no clawing back of support bit by bit.
Dazed Libs should heed their own history
Can things get any worse for the Liberal party? It’s lost voters and members, and recent leaders have failed to reinvigorate its grass-roots. Out of power across much of the country, the party of Robert Menzies is dazed, deeply divided and drifting to its doom. At party functions, there is ill-concealed dismay among shadow ministers and party grandees. Andrew Hastie’s departure from the front bench has produced real disturbance and alarm.
How powerful is the China-Russia alliance?
This summer’s big security summit in Tianjin, followed by the military parade in Beijing on September 3, has been widely interpreted as a sign of a new global realignment. At a time of growing friction within the US alliances in East Asia and Europe, President Xi Jinping of China, President Vladimir Putin of Russia and about 20 leaders mostly from Central Asia have not just reaffirmed their nations’ close ties.
Why the U.S. Should Pivot to East Asia
Last week’s security summit in Tianjin, followed by the military parade in Beijing, has been widely interpreted as a sign of a new China-led global realignment. At a time of growing friction within the U.S. alliances in East Asia and Europe, President Xi Jinping, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, and about twenty leaders mostly from Central Asia did not just reaffirm their nations’ close ties.
The Minister Speaks: Iron Sharpens Iron
Hello fine readers of The Leader-Vindicator. I would like to start with a little introduction, and I would also like to thank you for taking time out of your one life to read this article. My name is Tom Switzer, I am a local boy, raised in the area and I attended Redbank Valley schools, which is also where I graduated. After that, I attended Clarion University before making my way to Lynchburg, Va. to attend Liberty University where I received a degree in Biblical studies.
Why Politics Is So Unpredictable
Around sixty years ago, two British prime ministers summed up the unpredictability of politics, and why the governance of any democracy is so dependent on what a third, Jim Callaghan, called “time and chance.” Harold Macmillan, who was in Downing Street from 1957 to 1963, allegedly spoke of “events, dear boy, events” when referring to the power of circumstances to derail a government—or even an opposition—from the course it thought it was on.
Why the ABC Should Be Privatised
Were the ABC to be sold off it might just be possible to take in an entire night's viewing without once shouting at the screen Jun 11 2025 16 mins Determining an Olympic sprinter's time with a sundial would have more integrity than the IPCC's projections of global doom Jun 10 2025 5 mins How to prise the Aboriginal Industry off the public teat?
Time to get real on Ukraine
What doth it profit a man if he gains the whole of Ukraine, and yet loses the balance of power? Donald Trump’s overtures to Russia have upset many people across the West. From left to right, Canberra to Canada and London to Lithuania, politicians and pundits are in a state of shock and grief. It’s appeasement, another Munich, the end of the US alliance system — all these barbs have been hurled at the President.
Britain moves Left, but how far? | Eamonn Butler & Tom Switzer
Donate today! Your support will help build a better future. Your Donation at WorkDonate Now Eamonn Butler joined us at the Centre for Independent Studies for a conversation on the recent political shift in Britain following the Labour Party’s victory and its implications for the economy. This event was moderated by CIS Executive Director, Tom Switzer. After 14 years in power, the Conservatives were recently defeated in a massive landslide.
Why NATO Expansion Explains Russia’s Actions in Ukraine - Australian Institute of International Affairs
The Kremlin’s decision to invade Ukraine has been primarily driven by the threat of NATO’s expansion along Russia’s border. Its strategic objective is to annex some Ukrainian territory and badly weaken the country so it cannot join NATO. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, a chorus of government officials, academics, commentators, and retired bureaucrats and diplomats has dismissed all links between the crisis and the decades-long NATO expansion.
Why Israel is in deep trouble
After more than six months, it appears to many that Israel is losing its war in Gaza. At the same time, Israel is fighting Hezbollah on its northern border, relations between Jerusalem and Washington are strained, and the International Court of Justice has ruled that a plausible case can be made that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) hosted John Mearsheimer in discussion with Tom Switzer on May 17.
Why Israel Is in Deep Trouble
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Is Giorgia’s Meloni becoming a centrist?
When it became clear in September 2022 that Giorgia’s Meloni right-wing coalition was on course to win Italy’s general election, Ursula von der Leyen issued a warning.
Blame Prince William, not Kate, for the photo blunder
The Princess of Wales has owned up. In a statement on X/Twitter, she revealed that she was the phantom photoshopper: “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused.
The RNC becomes the Trump National Committee
Donald Trump has a plan to turn the Republic National Committee into a “seamless operation” — and it involves cleaning house. The RNC has historically been headed by presidential loyalists. In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan’s daughter, Maureen, even served as its chair. Still, recent shake-ups within the committee have Cockburn wondering if the RNC has become the TNC.
Why Republicans are skeptical of Ukraine funding
When US policymakers supported NATO expansion in the 1990s, it was widely believed that America, as the sole remaining superpower, could impose its will and leadership across the globe. “An American century,” “indispensable nation,” “the unipolar moment,” “benign hegemony” — these became the new buzzwords of Washington’s political class.
Why Republicans are sceptical about funding Ukraine
When US policy-makers supported Nato expansion in the 1990s, it was widely believed that America, as the sole remaining superpower, could impose its will and leadership across the globe. ‘An American century’, ‘indispensable nation’, ‘the unipolar moment’, ‘benign hegemony’ – these became the new buzz-words of Washington’s political class.
ANOTHER The Year That Made Me: Andrew Haveron 2007
Andrew Haveron plays the violin beautifully. He joined the critically acclaimed Brodsky Quartet at age 24 and then moved on to the London Symphony Orchestra. For the past few years Andrew has been violinist and concert master for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
The War for Australia’s Past
Australia ought to be in the world’s gaze for being a successful, affluent, confident country that serves as a model for democracies around the world, with a commitment to the rule of law and liberty. Instead, it has now become the habit this time every year for the world to focus upon us as a model of the divisiveness and bitterness caused by the pursuit of identity politics.
The debate on reparations for the African slave trade
The debate on reparations for the African slave trade If the west’s wealth is based on slavery, should reparations be paid? Or does Africa instead need moral accountability from its own leaders and honesty among its intellectuals about what the trans-Atlantic trade entailed. Ebenezer Obadare, senior fellow for Africa studies, Council on Foreign Relations. Is a “woke” assault undermining the history of the west?
What can today’s China learn from the Cultural Revolution?
What can today’s China learn from the Cultural Revolution? A new book tells the stories of people who took part in the Cultural Revolution and what is has cost them. It also examines its importance and its connection to China today. Tanya Branigan, author, Red Memory: Living, Remembering and Forgetting China’s Cultural Revolution. Was this the only true European revolution there’s ever been? The year was 1848.It was the year that revolutions spread to almost every nation in Europe.
The most powerful woman in North Korea
The most powerful woman in North Korea Kim Yo Jong is the sister of North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un. She’s known as the most powerful woman in the hermit kingdom. Could she also be her brother’s successor? Sung Yoon Lee, author, The Sister: The extraordinary story of Kim Yo Jung, the most powerful woman in North Korea. The rise and fall of Islamic State Sunni jihadists, having morphed into Islamic State, or ISIS, shocked the world by capturing the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
The one-sided attitude of the media toward the Ukraine war. - ABC listen
The one-sided attitude of the media toward the Ukraine war. We look at why pro-interventionist views dominate the front pages and media airwaves. Ted Galen Carpenter, senior fellow, defence and foreign policy studies, Cato Institute. Author, Unreliable Watchdog: The News Media and U.S. Foreign Policy. The UK journalist who broke the "Golden Rule" and paid dearly Isabel Oakeshott has been grilled, hounded, pilloried and reviled by several media outlets in the UK – and here in Australia.
A look back at the world in 2023
Our final panel for 2023 We look back at a year that many want to see the back of. From the war in Ukraine to conflict in the Middle East and a polarised and deeply divided America. Mary Kissel, former Wall Street Journal columnist and senior advisor to former US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, Tim Montgomerie, former British Conservative party adviser and editor at The Times newspaper, Sam Roggeveen, Lowy Institute.
How did China corner the green energy market? - ABC listen
How did China corner the green energy market? China is addicted to Australian gas and coal – but it’s leading the world towards a greener future. How has China come to dominate the renewables market so dramatically? Cindy Yu, assistant editor, Spectator magazine, London. The fall of the American empire A leading American academic says while the United States will remain powerful and influential, the notion of American global primacy is unrealistic.
Are the US Republicans incapable of governing in Washington? - ABC listen
Are the US Republicans incapable of governing in Washington ? One leading analyst says the party's problems stem from the Clinton era in the 1990’s. We look at what lies behind the sad state of today’s Republicans — the party of Lincoln, Eisenhower and Reagan. Professor Nicole Hemmer, author Partisans: The Conservative Revolutionaries Who Remade American Politics In The 1990’s. She Kills on a whim.
John Mearsheimer on Israel, Russia-Ukraine and the US pivot to Asia - ABC listen
Will Israel and Ukraine derail the US pivot to Asia? The crisis in the Middle East is likely to have terrible consequences for Israel, its neighbours and U.S. foreign policy. Israel’s military response to Hamas’s attacks will surely trigger outrage across the Middle East, fuelling jihadism, and possibly wars with Hezbollah and Iran. At the same time, Russia, far from being a serious threat to the U.S., should be its ally to contain China.
The Voice has been silenced - why did it fail so badly?
Dissecting the Voice referendum Earlier this year the Voice campaign was ahead. It had the backing of corporates, philanthropists, unions - even sporting codes. So what happened that made it fail so spectacularly? Eric Abetz, former Liberal senator for Tasmania. Linda Scott former Deputy lord mayor of Sydney, ALP representative. Will the war in the Middle East widen?
Israel faces its September 11 – but can it destroy Hamas? - ABC listen
Israel faces its September 11 – but can it destroy Hamas? Hamas’s surprise attack, Israel’s response and what this war means for the broader Persian Gulf. Daniel Pipes, leading expert on the Israel and the Middle East, president of the Middle East Forum, Philadelphia. Two sides to the slave trade A look at African leaders who demand western reparations, yet ignore that the slave trade had willing agents on both sides.
Conrad Black on Murdoch, Trump, Trudeau and Cancel Culture - ABC listen
Conrad Black on Murdoch, Trump and Cancel Culture In Canada, conservatives are on the rise politically and the country could be set for a change of government. Why is the Canadian government on the nose? Conrad Black also speaks of his rivalry with Rupert Murdoch, Donald Trump's second run for the presidency and the threat to free speech that is ‘cancel culture’. Conrad Black, Canadian-born British businessman who built one of the world's largest newspaper groups in the 1990s.
Rupert Murdoch: Supremacy, scandal and succession
Rupert Murdoch: Supremacy, scandal and succession One of the world’s most polarising figures, Rupert Murdoch, steps down as chairman of Fox and News Corporation. From one newspaper in Adelaide, Murdoch built a global media empire. We reflect on his record – the stunning successes, the scandals and the succession. Chris Mitchell, former editor-in-chief of The Australian newspaper.
Meet the Aboriginal politician leading the charge against Australia’s Voice referendum
Sydney Every so often, in the life of nations, there comes a moment when a new political force articulates a sense of frustration at the old orthodoxies, or a yearning for something new. Sometimes, such a force turns into a momentous presence that transforms the national landscape. Australia has reached such a moment in the person of a 42-year-old Aboriginal mother of four.
Republican political strategist Karl Rove on a Trump-Biden rematch
Leading US Republican political strategist Karl Rove on a Trump-Biden rematch. Many Americans think Joe Biden is too old to run for president again in 2024. So, is he a dangerous choice for the Democrats? Karl Rove, leading US Republican party strategist: senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush from 2001- 2007. The Spectre of Kim Jong Un strutting the world stage A look at the bromance between North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un and Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
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