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Paddy Gourley

Paddy Gourley

Brisbane Times

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The price of pork has hit $23 billion

The price of pork has hit $23 billion

The WA GST deal has cost almost $23 billion and left other states short. Political convenience is overriding fairness, independent advice and the...

previous day 10

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

The price of pork has hit $23 billion

The price of pork has hit $23 billion

The WA GST deal has cost almost $23 billion and left other states short. Political convenience is overriding fairness, independent advice and the...

wednesday 20

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

Rolling out the pork barrel again

A $560 million invitation-only grants program heavily favoured Labor-held seats, according to the Centre for Public Integrity. The controversy raises...

16.09.2026 20

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

How decades of bad policy broke public service pay

Decades of flawed pay policy have left the Commonwealth public service with a dysfunctional remuneration system – and the latest round of enterprise...

26.08.2026 40

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

Jenny Wilkinson is on the money about good government

12.08.2026 40

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

The fantasy world of Hegseth's testosterone bomb

Pete Hegseth’s testosterone militarism and calls to escalate against Iran reveal the dangerous fantasies shaping US war thinking. Hegseth popped up...

22.07.2026 40

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

Defence policy deserves more than slogans and selective history

Pat Conroy’s speech at the National Press Club was not a convincing presentation of the ALP’s record on defence. The Minister for Defence...

08.07.2026 40

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

How APS secretary salaries quietly grew past $1 million

When last year the salary of the top Commonwealth departmental secretaries tipped over the magic million mark, senator Jacqui Lambie's blood,...

26.06.2026 40

Canberra Times

Paddy Gourley

The million-dollar secretary salary question

The Remuneration Tribunal’s review of Commonwealth departmental secretary salaries should confront the large and poorly justified gap between top...

24.06.2026 40

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

Trust US War Secretary Hegseth? Sure can't

Pete Hegseth’s Shangri-La Dialogue speech revealed the contradictions at the heart of Trump’s foreign policy: demanding allied military obedience...

08.06.2026 50

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

Chance for a fresh start in patching up the Commonwealth Public Service

The appointment of a new Commonwealth Public Service Commissioner highlights deeper structural problems inside the Public Service Commission, from...

20.05.2026 50

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

Light rations from the Antisemitism Royal Commission thus far

06.05.2026 50

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

The forgotten war Australia would rather not remember

22.04.2026 50

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

A culture of secrecy is taking hold in Canberra

The refusal to release the Pezzullo investigation report highlights a culture of secrecy across the public service and government. For those who do...

08.04.2026 40

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

Budget savings for Chalmers – fix the bloated pay system at the top of the public service

25.03.2026 60

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

Australia, Iran and the politics of evasion

Political evasions and half-truths are shaping Australia’s response to the US-Israel attack on Iran, undermining honest debate about legality and...

11.03.2026 60

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

ASIO fails to gag the ABC

ASIO’s pre-emptive attack on a Four Corners investigation into the Bondi killings was vague, thinly evidenced and ultimately counter-productive. The...

25.02.2026 50

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

Do we really need a Minister for Social Cohesion?

11.02.2026 40

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

Blaming the Privacy Act for government secrecy

28.01.2026 50

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

Best of 2025 - How the Albanese government kept “jobs for mates” alive

18.01.2026 50

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

Best of 2025 - ASIO's Mike Burgess and a lust for the limelight

15.01.2026 40

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

Best of 2025 - A deserved defeat for Albanese on freedom of information

11.01.2026 40

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

How the Albanese government kept “jobs for mates” alive

03.12.2025 40

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

The Dismissal at 50: Albanese condemns the past but avoids real reform

26.11.2025 30

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

ASIO's Mike Burgess and a lust for the limelight

12.11.2025 40

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

Commonwealth administrative reform remains up the creek

29.10.2025 30

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

Government secrecy 2, the public interest 0. Again

02.10.2025 50

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

How to get Albanese up for the Nobel Peace Prize

17.09.2025 40

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

Messiness in spookdom: Australia's Iran Contra deal

03.09.2025 40

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

Modelling consultative ineptitude at the economic roundtable

20.08.2025 40

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

Mike Burgess on the ASIO soapbox, again

06.08.2025 40

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

Time for Foreign Minister Wong to put her foot down

18.07.2025 40

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley