If, like me, you have left your Christmas shopping to the last minute, consider gifting the ground breaking book, by Australian journalist Sharri Markson, on the origins of the coronavirus. Her book has been a worldwide hit. Titled What really happened in Wuhan? it is the most gripping description of how the world descended into the worst pandemic since the Spanish Flu. For most, this will be a topic you think you know much about. The coronavirus has been the number one story for nearly two years, and many of the stories Ms Markson broke have been widely reported. There is still many unanswered questions though that this book explores, as well as just being a rollicking, “inside the room” account of how this all happened. Read more

China’s exports have boomed since coronavirus. Covid-19 was probably made in a Chinese lab, but the Chinese Communist Party’s trade has skyrocketed well beyond gain of function exploits. Take their social credit score system. Chinese leaders can probably barely believe how quickly Western countries have adopted its system of controlling what people can do based on whether they do as they’re told. Vaccine passports are now more common than a ‘get your 6th coffee; free card. Our Covid check-in apps will probably have this feature in about 2023. Read more

What is it with the Labor party and their addiction to taxes? Over the past decade they have tried (and failed) to introduce a carbon tax, a mining tax and a retiree tax (on franking credits). Last week they were at it again with what appears to be a proposal to introduce the mutant child of the carbon and mining taxes. Read more

Modern science is a wonderful thing. Scientific discoveries save lives, make it easier for us to clean our house and let us travel all around the world effortlessly. But science also puts pressure on what is the difference between right and wrong. Most laws, going right back to when Hammurabi was a boy, outlaw certain conduct, like killing or assaulting others. This is known as the natural law approach to ethics, based on the idea that we can discover what is "good" by investigating the true essence of human nature. The good of protecting human life is almost always part of any natural law. Read more

Anyone that has filled up their car recently can see that prices are going up. Last week The Economist magazine tweeted that "The sharp increase in inflation over the past year has blindsided many economists. Almost no one saw it coming." Read more

The Courier-Mail said this week I was out of touch for voting against vaccine mandates. I am against vaccine mandates because they do not work, while denying many others the right to work. Read more

This week some businesses in Yeppoon organised a meeting to express concerns about the Queensland Government's introduction of a mandatory vaccine passport. With just four days of planning, around 600 passionate and concerned people crammed into the Yeppoon town hall. I have never seen a political reaction like it. The outpouring of concern has confirmed for me why we are wrong to divide our society by requiring people to show medical papers. The vaccine works (to reduce the risk of a severe reaction) but these vaccine mandates do not work because the vaccine does a poor job at stopping transmission. Why take away people's jobs and businesses for something that will not work? Read more

Not long after the First Fleet arrived in Sydney in 1788, a government farm was established where the Botanical Gardens now are. The first Australian farm was a failure, less grain was harvested than sown, mainly due to the poor soils. Australian farming recovered from its botched beginning. Australia has not been short of food since the days of the early settlers, and we now grow enough to feed double our population. Read more

I have been in politics for a while but until last week I hadn't heard of the rule that a nation's leader must tell other world leaders everything they are doing. Or at least The Prime Minister was strongly criticised last week by the Labor Party for not telling the French President, Emmanuel Macron, that Australia had been negotiating to buy nuclear submarines from the British and US Governments. Anthony Albanese accused Scott Morrisson of "gaslighting" the French and Labor's Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Penny Wong, accused the PM of "vandalism". Read more

There are a lot of great things going on in Central Queensland right now. The concrete at Rookwood weir is being poured and when finished it will help double agricultural production in the Fitzroy. The first coal from the Adani mine is about to be exported at a time when our coal has never been in stronger demand. And, the Rockhampton Ring Road project will start soon, the biggest infrastructure project in regional Queensland. These projects are in part thanks to the years of strong advocacy from myself, Michelle Landry, Ken O'Dowd and other CQ politicians. We have worked non stop to defend our agricultural and mining industries from unjust attack. We won these debates and the jobs that are flowing from these projects are the spoils of victory. Read more