January 24, 2026 Roughly a century and a half ago a quiet revolution took place in the laws governing corporations. The several states of America, eager to attract new business, entered into a competition to attract corporate formations. They assured investors that they might form companies within their borders, and that the law would require of their directors but one thing only: that they pursue the company’s “best interests.” Every former idea—that a corporation owed a dut

29 October 2025 This past weekend, I attended a Writers’ Festival where, while discussing the proposed massive expansion of Woodside Energy’s gas operations in Western Australia, a well-known independent Senator advised we should write to our elected representatives in parliament.   His response reflects conventional wisdom: if you want government to do something, write your representatives a letter. If thousands of your fellow citizens write the same thing, the thinking goes

By Robert C. Hinkley 16 October 2025 "Democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." --Winston Churchill People are slowly coming to recognise that democracy has a big problem: its failure to govern the behaviour of the most powerful among us. The result is severe and growing harm to the public interest, not just regarding the environment, but the public health and safety, the dignity of employees and the