Our journalism at Sky News is under attack from pro-Palestinian activists.
— Sharri Markson (@SharriMarkson) November 13, 2025
It was deeply disturbing to be told two months ago that a group of pro-Palestinian activists had lodged a formal complaint with the Australian Human Rights commission about my reporting in the wake of the…
Friday, November 14, 2025
Down in the gutter
Saturday, November 08, 2025
The dark times
Today marks exactly 21 years since the release of the first teaser trailer for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. At the time, it was believed that it would be the final Star Wars feature film. Considering the mixed reception the sequel trilogy received, perhaps it should have been.
Saturday, November 01, 2025
Broken shards
Potter's House, a controversial, to put it politely, Christian sect, has made national headlines amidst reports of alleged spiritual abuse of its members. The reader is encouraged to read the full article. I wish to take issue with their teachings on marriage. Ex members report pressure from leaders to get married young.
One of them reported:
“If you are single, your pastor will tell you if someone is a good choice to marry. And they firmly believe in marrying them young. If you are not married by 25, something is wrong.”
I once bumped into some Potter's House members in a suburban shopping strip. They asked me how old I was, and if I was married. I told them my age, and that I was single. They tried to tell me that being single was a sin. It appears that this is what they teach their members, and cause a lot of damage to peoples' lives as a consequence.
At the time, I was too polite to challenge their rebuking of me. I can only speculate that they take the Adamic procreation mandate, initially given to Adam, and later reiterated to Noah, Ishmael, Jacob, and Jacob's sons, as a binding Christian command. (See Genesis 1:28, 9:1, 7, 17:20, 28:3, 35:11, and 48:4).
This takes some very creative hermeneutics, to say the least. No Christian member of the clergy should teach such nonsense. While the Bible teaches that marriage is a good thing, as the apostle Paul taught in his first letter to the Corinthians, marriage and singleness are choices. Regardless of their situation, faithful obedience to God is commanded.
It would be a good thing if news stories like this cause people to leave Potter's House. It is disheartening to think about all the people whose lives they have negatively influenced.
Friday, October 31, 2025
Poor boy made good
United States Vice President may have his critics, but he comes across as reasonably likeable in this extended interview with New York Post columnist, Miranda Devine.
Friday, October 24, 2025
Where's the authoritarian?
"...Trump doesn’t believe in democracy. What we see here is an authoritarian leader trying to consolidate power as an authoritarian..."
As Henderson rightly points out, Hartcher sounded like an American leftist running a “No Kings” message – despite the fact that the Trump administration cannot get its budget through the United States Congress. A real King would have no such problem.
https://thesydneyinstitute.com.au/blog/issue-751/Monday, October 13, 2025
Maintaining the rage, fifty years on
Coming up to the fiftieth anniversary of the November 1975 dismissal of Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam's government by Governor General Sir John Kerr, expect a flurry of print and digital media discourse on this tumultuous and controversial period of Australian political history. Former Attorney General George Brandis is getting in early.
Even if this article is written by a former federal Liberal politician, it is still pertinent to remind that in 1970, when he was Opposition Leader, Whitlam unsuccessfully attempted to block supply to then Prime Minister John Gorton. I was not aware of that.
Monday, September 15, 2025
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