Can One Nation break through the glass ceiling to the majors?

No comments

One Nation has struck a chord with Australians who are sick and tired of the same old Uniparty.

Pauline Hanson is like the Rocky Balboa doll: ‘You can kick it, you can beat it, it does everything. That’s right, takes a terrific beating.’

In my opinion she was Australia’s first political prisoner. Of course, Hanson was exonerated. But you can’t get much more underdog than that.

Hanson has also been consistent. She doesn’t need to say she is a conviction politician (like Albo used to tell us before gaslighting became the new normal). Nothing says conviction more than living by conviction.

In the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes wrote:

One Nation’s polling may or may not have peaked, but in terms of voter share it is up equal to, or ahead of, the two major parties. Will it stay there? Will it crack the ‘glass ceiling’ in actual elections? Michael de Percy thinks so, as One Nation rides the wave of voter dissatisfaction with their major party choices. But with ascension to major party Olympus comes what Pauline Hanson seems to hate – scrutiny. Of ideas, policies and, yes, people. That even includes One Nation people scrutinising other One Nation people, as we’ve seen this week with Barnaby Joyce dissociating himself from certain views of Malcom Roberts. Arguably, One Nation has some political growing-up to do if it aspires to electoral greatness. Being prepared to offer costed policies would be a great start.

In the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall wrote:

There is a lot of talk about the survival chances of One Nation as a potential major party. Michael de Percy runs through the essential things that Pauline Hanson and her colleagues will have to get right if One Nation is to survive this trial by fire. Are these unfair standards? Probably. But at the moment, all of their political competitors are out to get them.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Can One Nation break through the glass ceiling to the majors?

Green energy turned into Armageddon

No comments

Where's my $275 saving on my energy bill, Mr Bowen? That was thousands of dollars ago!

This week, Zen Energy, the company that was touted as the ‘proof of concept’ for Chris Bowen’s green energy dream, went into administration. Bowen’s dream became a nightmare.

The trouble is that the Coalition and One Nation are too busy fighting each other. There is policy gold unfolding all around them, but they have become so myopic they are believing their own fates are reflected in the current polling.

For One Nation, that they are on a collision course with victory.

For the Coalition, that they are done for and they have to do something else because nobody likes conservatism.

All the worst Prime Minister in the history of prime ministers has to do is throw in a mind grenade and the conservatives go into a twist.

Lesson: Don’t do that.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Green energy turned into Armageddon.

Albo’s cold fart warmed up, or Gus’ genuine cool?

No comments

As we used to say when we were kids, Albo think's he's hot shit, but he's only cold fart warmed up.

Anthony Albanese stepped off his RAAF jet last October in his jeans with a Joy Division T-shirt stretched across his chest, grinning like he’d just pulled off the greatest larrikin stunt in Australian political cool. The press gallery cooed. Cool statement, they said. The Prime Minister enjoying his ascension, showing he’s still one of the boys.

As we used to say when we were kids, Albo thought he was hot shit. But he was only cold fart warmed up.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Albo’s cold fart warmed up, or Gus’ genuine cool?

Want to save Australia’s heritage? Attend this event!

No comments

There's an event on August 6 in Sydney might help those who aren't sure about Australian culture.

Everyone’s talking about Australian culture. What is it? Where is it? And how do we know it when we see it? There is an event coming up on August 6 in Sydney that might help those who are confused. If there is one part of Australian culture that everybody understands, it is the legend of the Anzacs.

So, if you would like to enjoy a three-course black-tie extravaganza for $150 per head or corporate tables of 10 for only $1,350, while supporting the sons of daughters of Anzacs, have I got a deal for you!

The Lone Pine Gala Dinner will be held at the Four Seasons Hotel Sydney on August 6 from 6pm till 10pm.

You can book your table or tickets before July 24 here.

The purpose of the event is to raise funds for the Gallipoli Scholarship Fund. The Fund ‘provides $8,000 per year in scholarships to support young Australians carrying a legacy of service, helping them succeed in higher education’. The scholarship is open to direct descendants of an Australian or New Zealand Veteran who has served in any conflict or peacekeeping operation from the first world war to the present day.

I have been attending the event of the last two years, with previous speakers including Dr Brendan Nelson and Sir Peter Cosgrove.

This year’s keynote address will be delivered by Aaron Patrick, columnist with Seven West Media, former Deputy Editor of the AFR, and author of The Last Battle, the story of Australia’s SAS and Commandos and our greatest victory in our longest war in Afghanistan.

The event is hosted by the Gallipoli Memorial Club, an organisation established by the original Anzacs. I am honoured to be the editor of the Club’s official journal, The Gallipoli Gazette.

The Gallipoli Memorial Club Museum is located at Loftus Street in Sydney. After years of renovations, the Museum is due to open soon.

Why am I so keen? Check out the Club’s creed:

We believe that within the community there exists an obligation for all to preserve the special qualities of loyalty, respect, love of country, courage and comradeship which were personified by the heroes of the Gallipoli Campaign and bequeathed to all humanity as a foundation for perpetual peace and universal freedom.

Do yourself and your fellow country folk a favour. Get along to the Lone Pine Gala Dinner 2026.

As a sampler of Aaron Patrick’s work, below is my recent review of his book.

Aaron Patrick’s The Last Battle: Australian SAS, Commandos and Our Greatest Victory in Our Longest War ($36.99 in paperback or $17.99 as an e-book) is a meticulously researched, minute-by minute account of the Battle of Shah Wali Kot in June 2010. Drawing on extensive interviews and operational detail, Patrick captures the chaos, courage and split-second decisions that defined the fighting in the villages of Chenartu and Tizak. In my view as a former Army officer, the book delivers exactly what it promises – a genuine sense of what it was like to be an SAS or commando soldier on the ground in Afghanistan. Patrick captures the noise, the fear, the relentless pressure, and the extraordinary bonds characteristic of active service.

What upset me the most is not the combat narrative but the bureaucratic nightmare that followed. Patrick’s account makes clear how the realities of close combat and the impossible choices it demands were later reframed and scrutinised in ways that may have placed almost all responsibility on the other ranks and junior commanders. Higher command and institutional processes appear curiously insulated. While the soldiers who did their duty under the most extreme conditions remain open to scrutiny, this was not necessarily the same for the bureaucracy.

This reflection arrives at a particularly sensitive moment.

Patrick’s book stands on its own merits as an extensively researched work that understands military culture from the inside. It portrays the operational environment and the human cost without descending into the polemic.

The greatest tragedy illuminated by the book and its broader context is the potential long-term damage to recruitment. Young Australians who might otherwise have become our next generation of military heroes may now think twice before volunteering for special forces or even the wider Army. When the consequences of operational service, in the national interest can lead, years later, to prolonged legalistic processes rather than recognition or support, the deterrent effect is real. In this sense it echoes the shameful treatment of many Vietnam veterans. But not just through public shaming this time, but through a cold, drawn-out legal and bureaucratic machinery that appears to leave people to navigate complex processes with limited support.

This important book forces the reader to confront how our institutions sometimes repay that service. The Last Battle is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand more about events in modern warfare that may challenge the very foundations of the Anzac tradition.

One Nation supporters are the underdogs

No comments

Pauline Hanson in action in the Senate.

What we are seeing throughout the West is a remaking of liberal democracy. In its infancy, even John Stuart Mill was worried about what would happen if the principle of ‘one vote, one value’ was applied with universal suffrage. Imagine a dumb arse navvy getting the same vote as an educated property owner? This is the classic problem of the tyranny of the majority.

Instead of advocating plural voting, where those better-educated individuals had more votes than less-educated workers, academics have invented a shame culture that effectively does the same thing. Politicians of the major parties have given in to this shame culture by doing their utmost to avoid being labelled ‘Populist’.

For years, the left have used subtle yet effective ways of blocking dissent and any form of challenge to their policies relating to energy, identity politics, and welfare.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, One Nation supporters are the underdogs.

Life on the DMZ: A Personal Photo Essay

No comments
A guard post on the North West Islands, about 15km from North Korea

My talk to the Crookwell Rotary Club — 16 June 2026

On a crisp June evening I had the pleasure of speaking to the Crookwell Rotary Club about one of the most confronting and inspiring places I’ve visited in recent years: the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

The talk, “Life on the DMZ: A Personal Perspective,” was a photo essay drawn from multiple visits to the frontier that still divides the Korean peninsula. It was a privilege to share these images and stories with a room full of people who understand service, resilience, and community — values that feel very much at home in the Southern Tablelands.

Why the DMZ?

I’ve been exploring the Demilitarised Zone between the two Koreas for the last few years to understand what it is like to live at the frontier of freedom.

The North Korean propaganda village, as seen from South Korea

The contrast between North and South is confronting. It gives one a profound sense of gratitude for the lifestyles we enjoy in the West — and makes clear how important it is that we actively defend our way of life.

Personal Connections — Korea Military Academy

The Korean  military Academy

At an Asia Society Korea event in Seoul I met Colonel Steve Tharp (US Army), Colonel Honki Jee (ROK Army), and retired Lieutenant General In-Bum Chun.

After the session, General Chun approached me, thanked me for my service, and said:

“Thank you for the 340 Australians who lost their lives so that we could create this,” gesturing out the window toward the metropolis of Seoul below.

That moment crystallised the living legacy of Australia’s sacrifice in the Korean War.

Our friend Colonel Jee and his name on the graduation list.

Observatories and the View Across the Divide

With Colonel Tharp at Dora.

Dora Observatory, on Dorasan in Paju-si, is one of the closest public vantage points for viewing North Korea. The detailed topographic model helps orient visitors to the guard posts, villages, and terrain on both sides of the DMZ.

The view at Ganwha Peace Observatory.

Further west, Gangwha Peace Observatory offers another powerful perspective on the division.

Life on the Islands – YP-Do and Coastal Defence

Guard Post at YP-Do

Yeonpyeong Island (YP-Do) and the Northwest Islands are among the most exposed parts of South Korea’s frontier. Here, old Sherman tank guns have been repurposed as coastal artillery, and modern K9 howitzers stand ready.

Re-purposed Sherman tank gun on YP-Do.

The islands show the constant state of readiness that defines life on the DMZ.

The tunnel to get to the coastal artillery.

The Constant Threat of Landmines

Even decades after the Korean War, the danger remains real. Warning signs like these are common near the DMZ. In December 2023 a man in his sixties was killed when his excavator triggered a Korean War-era landmine while working on his property.

Landmines are a persistent threat.
I wasn't joking around.

The 3rd Infiltration Tunnel and surrounding areas are stark reminders that this frontier is still very much a live military zone.

The third tunnel exhibition is rather touristie, but don't be fooled!

R&R – The Human Side of South Korea

While the DMZ commands respect and vigilance, everyday life in South Korea is vibrant and full of colour. Korean baseball (KBO), hearty meals, and the ritual of Cass beer, soju, and makgeolli provided wonderful moments of R&R between visits to the frontier.

Cass beer, soju, and makgeolli. What's not to like?

Jamsil Stadium is an institution. Grateful for Colonels Tharp (pictured) and Jee (taking the photo).

Korean food is the greatest. Pork hock.

Korean food and drink are the best. The end.

The Mapo Wine Club is an institution. What an excellent evening! Thank you, Gentlemen!

Defending Memory

At Jayu (Freedom) Park in Incheon stands the statue of General Douglas MacArthur, honoured for the 1950 Incheon Landing. In 2005 progressive activists tried to have it removed. Korean War veterans mobilised in large numbers to physically defend it. The statue remains standing today — a powerful example of a nation that refuses to forget its friends.

General Macarthur statue at Incheon Freedom Park.

Life on the DMZ is a frontier of freedom that still shapes lives today.

It was an honour to share these photographs and reflections with the Crookwell Rotary Club. In a regional community like ours, the values of service, mateship, and quiet resilience feel very close to the stories of the Korean people and the legacy of the 340 Australians who gave their lives in the Korean War.

Freedom is not free.

Thank you to everyone who came along, asked thoughtful questions, and stayed for a chat afterwards. These conversations matter.

Lest we forget.

Pauline Hanson came, saw, and conquered Canberra

No comments

Pauline kept on as if nothing had happened. One Nation later joked they wish they’d thought of it!

The National Press Club this week attempted to show its liberal democratic credentials by giving the One Nation leader a national platform.

I was hoping it would be a win-win situation for Pauline Hanson.

If the journos got the best of her, more sympathisers would be on her side. If she won over the journos, she would have shifted the party into new territory. But nobody could predict that she would win, and win, and then win big in Canberra.

In the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes wrote:

Our Press Gallery correspondent, Michael de Percy, was at the Press Club on Wednesday, and asked Pauline Hanson a question as one of her media interrogators. As an accredited Gallery journo, Michael had a box seat to the proceedings, and he’s shared his impressions of the lunch, Hanson and her performance. It’s probably fair to say he’s had a Pauline conversion. And, as Rowan said on Sky, Michael’s question was excellent.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Pauline Hanson came, saw, and conquered Canberra.

Labor failed their political IQ test

No comments
Bozo! The Stop Sign!! And the week Albanese almost certainly regrets...

This week, Labor failed a political IQ test.

The best way to fight your political opponent is to Labor what pouring petrol on a fire is to the Rural Fire Service. Not only did Labor raise barely a trickle of financial support to stop One Nation, they helped Pauline win big. After three days and counting, One Nation’s war chest has surpassed $3.6 million.

Albo reckons it’s all a bit dubious. Pauline posted proof of truth.

Independent tech auditors say the amount is legit. Apparently, they’ve checked with the SQuirreLs and the SQuirreLs say the funds are not just promised but already delivered. That means there could be even more money on the way.

Just to remind Albo about his integrity, trucks are now driving around his electorate of Grayndler with the words ‘Fire the Liar’ emblazoned on the sides of the trucks.

In the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes wrote:

Meanwhile, the Fire the Liar fundraising campaign goes from strength to strength, with Oner Nation’s banked total now well over $4 million. Damien Costas explores the politics behind the visceral public reaction to Fire the Liar – and indeed to the Liar, and his and his government’s lies, that inspired it. Michael de Percy also adds his ringing endorsement to the cheeky One Nation campaign inspired by a comment made on a Sky News television programme just a week ago.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Labor failed their political IQ test.

God, King, and Country: British identity and the Australian Defence Force

1 comment
Gunnedah soldiers, World War I. My great-grandfather, Ernest Percy, front row second from left.

This article appeared in The Spectator Australia on the King's Birthday, 8 June 2026. Terry Barnes wrote in the Morning Double Shot newsletter:

I was much taken with former Army officer Michael de Percy’s from-the-heart comment piece for King’s Birthday. He was sharing the importance of our British heritage and traditions for the Australian Defence Force, and the relationship our serving members have with the Crown. Our British heritage matters: that’s why King’s Birthday remains important: to remind us of where this country came from, and the legacy we carry from those origins. We have to be interoperable with Yank forces, but it doesn’t mean we sacrifice our own inherited military traditions and culture. Heavens, they can’t even salute properly.

The article was adapted from a speech I delivered at the Robert Menzies Institue's 2025 Annual Conference, 'Menzies and the British Commonwealth of Nations'. A recording of the speech is available below.

God, King, and Country is an interesting concept. As a political scientist, my method tends to be what is known as historical institutionalism. What I look at are legacies and how they inform policy choices in the present, but also continuity, disruption, and often serendipity.

In terms of serendipity, it’s interesting that Lord Kitchener was invited to Australia by Alfred Deakin to report on the Australian land defence force, the Australian Army. At the time there was controversy that it should have been Lord Fisher looking at the Navy, which made more strategic sense. But Kitchener arrived in 1909 and stayed until 1910. He travelled throughout Australia – Seymour, Darwin, Townsville, and elsewhere – and arrived to great fanfare. The country people loved the fact that this war hero, the Kitchener of Khartoum, was visiting Australia. Kitchener, of course, became the face of the first world war recruitment campaign.

It was interesting that Uncle Sam is a fictitious character, whereas Kitchener was the real, living hero. He was often criticised for sending many young men from British country towns to their deaths. Anyway, the long story short. Kitchener advised the formation of the Royal Military College, Duntroon. Duntroon was established along the lines of Sandhurst in the UK. It was quite natural that British identity would form part of the early institutions of the Australian Army and the military more generally.

Kitchener said Australians were soldiers naturally.

I probably won’t come up with any fantastic theoretical contributions today, but one thing strikes me personally. I am one of four generations of my family who have served in the Australian Army – my great-grandfather, my grandfather, myself, and my son. The Australian Army has been part of our family history for a very long time, and it feels entirely natural. As a teenager I had the Union Jack and the Australian flag hanging in my bedroom, and I took them with me to Duntroon in 1992 and 1993. I don’t know why I did that. It’s just what I did. There is something very natural about that British identity in the Australian Defence Force.

When it comes to God, my first experience in the military was the laying up of the colours for the 51st Battalion, the Far North Queensland Regiment. In a church. It was a church parade. I’ll never forget at Duntroon the trooping of the colours on the Queen’s Birthday and the call, ‘Three cheers for Her Most Gracious Majesty. Hip, hip-hip, huzzah!’ I tell you what – if you’re not a monarchist after shouting ‘huzzah’, what’s wrong with you?

Then there is country. My first unit, the 51st Battalion, carried the sentiment Ducit Amor Patriae – excuse my Latin, but it essentially means love of country leads me. God, King, and Country are embedded in the symbolism, the practices, and the institutions of the Australian Defence Force.

This is very personal for me. What I’ll be arguing is that Menzies is part of that continuity. I dare say that without Queen Elizabeth II reigning for so long, we would not have had the same degree of continuity. I don’t know that King Charles would have carried the same appeal had he been the monarch we relied upon as the representative of the Crown for Australia. There was deep affection for Queen Elizabeth II, shared by Sir Robert Menzies – famously ‘British to the bootstraps’ – and reflected in the well-known story of the Queen walking past him in Old Parliament House. A lot of that feels natural, almost serendipitous.

The enduring importance of God, King, and Country in the ADF lies in the sense of purpose that most others do not have. When you are commissioned as an officer, you receive your commission from the Queen – in my case – which says you are to follow the orders given to you. If that means sending your soldiers to their deaths, and possibly yourself, then that is your job. That is a very powerful thing, and it is shared by warrant officers and other ranks as well.

Menzies played an important role in perpetuating that ideal. The modern expression of it really begins with the Korean War, which I’ll come to shortly. But let me start at the end.

Under the Morrison government – and reaffirmed in recent years—the Australian Defence Veterans’ Covenant was introduced. My generation of soldiers was very disillusioned with the RSL and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Only in recent years have many of us started coming back to the fold. I think we reached an age where we realised how important it was and wanted it back in our lives.

I wasn’t even aware the Covenant existed until my hearing began to fail. As an artillery officer I discovered I was already pre-registered for hearing aids, which was welcome. Suddenly I needed an RSL advocate, so I dug out my old 1999 badge and rejoined. The Covenant introduced something of an American-style ‘thank you for your service’. The oath states, ‘For what they have done, this we will do.’ One of the most significant aspects is that all mental health treatment is now covered for every soldier, sailor, and airman who has served.

Things have changed significantly, as they did after the first world war and again after the Second. Yet the Covenant sits quite comfortably alongside British military customs. Clement Attlee’s idea of the New Jerusalem was similar in spirit – the general ideal of looking after veterans – though perhaps with more of a socialist bent than Sir Robert would have liked.

In the regular army I served with the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery. The title ‘Royal’ was granted by Queen Elizabeth II to the Australian Artillery in 1962, during Menzies’ time and during her reign. I’ll never forget, as a young subaltern, being told that the newest member of the regiment had to say grace at a dining-in night. These were formal occasions where you were not permitted to leave the table until the loyal toast had been drunk – quite excruciating in the ’90s, I can only imagine what they were like earlier.

The grace was simple, ‘For what we are about to receive, thank God.’ When I was first told to say it, it took me straight back to Duntroon, where I once asked the regimental drill sergeant major for advice on a parade and received a classic ‘bum steer’, resulting in two weeks of extra drills. It was that sort of culture – rather like an apprentice being sent to find a couple of skyhooks. But the grace was correct and very straightforward.

Back then the loyal toast for the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery was, ‘The Queen, our Captain General.’ King Charles is now the Captain General. These are direct, frequent affirmations of the Crown and the Christian tradition. That tradition continues in the RSL. The League has its roots in the first world war. Like the Gallipoli Memorial Club in Sydney, which still exists, early RSL branches sometimes tried to restrict membership to those who had served at Gallipoli, but that could not last. The RSL adapted, as institutions must. Even today, RSL meetings usually display both the Union Jack and the Australian flag, and we always recite the Ode. It is almost archaic, yet very moving.

I mentioned the Korean War. My grandfather, whom I knew well, served in the second world war and then with the 67th Battalion in the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan, including Hiroshima. Australia’s participation in the BCOF was entirely natural. The 67th Battalion became the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. The ‘Royal’ prefix was important. We began serving alongside Americans as the Royal Australian Regiment during the Korean War. The 67th Battalion was formed from volunteers from the 3rd, 6th, and 11th Divisions to deploy as part of the BCOF.

Anyone who has served with an infantry battalion, or as a forward observer in artillery – as I did with Bravo Company, 6 RAR in Brisbane – knows how strongly those soldiers feel part of the Royal Australian Regiment. They are extremely proud of it. The Royal Australian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force have their own proud traditions. What we see overall is the continuation of the British Army regimental system in Australia.

In my day we were still called SO3 – Staff Officer Grade Three, a captain’s rank – followed by our functional title (Operations, Fire Support, or whatever it was). Those titles have since moved toward American usage for interoperability, though the British have done something similar. Honours and awards are still approved by the Sovereign, and the Crown remains the symbolic legal source of military authority in Australia.

The RSL was long focused on the idea of imperial service, and that emphasis continued through the inter-war and post-war periods. After he retired, my grandfather lived in an RSL home called War Haven in Cairns – an entire village of veterans. You can imagine the shenanigans. But there was also a profound sense of loyalty, belonging, and camaraderie.

Service in the two world wars was largely seen as service to the Empire. Even when Curtin brought the 7th Division home, it showed a necessary turn toward the Americans. That did not erase the deep Britishness inculcated in the Australian Defence Force. Returned soldiers received enhanced social status. Old property maps of Australia still show the impact of soldier settlement schemes, especially in country towns. Military service was a badge of superior citizenship, rooted in the ideal of British imperial loyalty.

Menzies described himself as ‘British to the bootstraps’. It has become almost a cliché, yet he genuinely sought to preserve a cultural, even puritan, inflection of British character in Australia. It is unfair when the left admonishes him for this, because he also had warm connections with the United States and lectured there. Through his demeanour, however, he reinvigorated monarchist and imperial sentiment in the 1950s and ’60s. The granting of royal titles to our military units, many of which remain unchanged, created a favourable climate for the RSL’s British-oriented veterans’ culture – one that still exists today.

The Royal Australian Regiment grew out of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force. This was not all Menzies’ doing. It occurred under the Chifley government. In earlier work I have written about communications and about Menzies and nuclear policy. He was not always the instigator, but he was a powerful perpetuator of these ideas. The Royal Australian Regiment became Australia’s first permanent infantry regiment, modelled on British lines.

Kitchener had recommended a form of compulsory military training, which existed from 1911 until around 1922. Menzies later reintroduced national service. During these foundational periods, a great many able-bodied young Australian men experienced that tradition. The inculcation of British military history and culture through the Australian military has been perpetuated though such schemes.

If you come to Gunning, my village in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales – population roughly a thousand – we routinely see more than three hundred people at the Anzac Day service. Particularly in regional Australia, the culture and sense of identity remain strong.

The Royal Australian Regiment’s motto, worn on the hat badge, is ‘Duty First’. If you were not doing your job, your mates would soon remind you to ‘read your hat badge’. These symbols are constantly reinforced. They are not mere decoration. They function as living institutions. That is something you do not find in the same way elsewhere.

In the Commonwealth context, Australia retained the Crown while republics were admitted to the Commonwealth of Nations. The ADF continued to operate within the broader Commonwealth military culture – ABCA (American, British, Canadian, and Australian), later expanded with New Zealand – through regimental exchanges and close cooperation.

At Duntroon, my guidance officer was a British infantry officer of the Northumberland Fusiliers. My surname traces to Northumberland. Our artillery regimental officers’ basic course was run by a regimental sergeant major from the Royal Horse Artillery. These exchanges between Australia and the British military continue and remain important. The integration is remarkably seamless. The main cultural difference is that Australians tend to bag each other more than the Brits or Kiwis do, but apart from minor drill variations, it feels entirely natural to serve together.

British identity in the defence force stands in contrast to civilian Australia, where it is now largely symbolic and declining. We still see coats of arms on regional courthouses and prisons, but they are not lived traditions. In the ADF these traditions are institutional, daily, and operational. In many ways the Australian Defence Force is the last redoubt of God, King, and Country.

The difference persists because tradition and esprit de corps require continuity. You cannot simply recreate a history. Anyone who has marched in column to a pipes and drums band, or to a military band playing the same tunes the British marched to in the Seven Years’ War in the 1750s, knows the adrenaline that rises. These are tried and tested ways of motivating troops, and the same music continues today. The regimental system is inherently conservative precisely because tradition matters.

Interoperability with the UK and Commonwealth partners now extends to the Americans as well. There is also a constitutional reality. The King, symbolically and constitutionally, through the Governor-General, remains Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Defence Force. Veterans’ organisations continue to reinforce that Britishness.

To conclude, the ADF remains one of the most British institutions in contemporary Australia. Loyalty to King and Country – and implicitly to God – is not a mere ceremony but a living tradition.

I’ll never forget an early lecture at Duntroon on comparative religion. The lecturer asked, ‘Hands up – who doesn’t believe in God?’ A few hands went up. He said, ‘When we were caught in an ambush by the Japanese in New Guinea, everybody prayed’. Implicitly, God is part of that process. As the Americans say, there are no atheists in foxholes.

This identity was consciously preserved through the Menzies era and continues to shape the profession of arms in Australia. Menzies was a big supporter of the RSL. In the military, more than anywhere else in Australian society, this British identity endures.

Just to finish, the black-and-white photographs across the top of montage below shows my great-grandfather – before he went overseas, during his preparation, and then in the second world war, because he went back for another six years. You can see the impact. Featured are my grandfather, myself, and my son. It is very difficult to separate the personal from this idea of British identity, because to me it is simply natural.

The Percy Warriors

What did I miss? Australia’s political week in fast-forward

No comments

Angus Taylor openly referred to Albo’s government policies as socialist. It’s about time.

Recent interviews suggest Paul Kelly isn’t a fan of One Nation. The veteran editor-at-large at The Australian reckoned ‘Pauline Hanson is not fit to be Prime Minister of Australia’. Our editor-in-chief begged to differ.

Meanwhile, One Nation will ban The Guardian from attending party events after the masthead allegedly admitted it used photographs that deliberately made Pauline Hanson look more sinister. The only thing sinister about Pauline is that she is putting the wind up the establishment that doesn’t give a toss about ordinary Australians.

While we’re on the topic of not being fit to be Prime Minister of Australia, Angus Taylor openly referred to Albo’s government policies as socialist. It’s about time somebody in high office stated the bleeding obvious. It seems the battle lines have been drawn.

It’s a good thing too because those ‘other people’ who have the money that socialists use are now mere mythical creatures. Unless of course you read the comments from all the leftie bots that ride on Albo’s gravy train.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, What did I miss? Australia’s political week in fast-forward.

Albanese’s regional Australia is being subsidised by $5 coffees

No comments
This week, I became a barista. It's more like Mugatu's bloated foamy latte fart than art, but it's a start! 

You don’t have to tell me that most politicians and policymakers are out of touch with small businesses in regional Australia.

I know it for a fact.

This week, Labor’s policies created a Catch-22 for the people who hold regional communities together. For me, this time it’s personal.

Small business cafés in the regions are being forced to choose between two bad options. They can absorb the rising costs of running a business and keep providing the social glue that governments never fund. Or they can pass those costs on to customers who are already stretched, watch their trade collapse, and lose the very community role that makes the business viable in the first place.

Either way, the social fabric frays and the business is weakened. That is the bind Labor’s cost-of-living settings have created for regional Australia.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Albanese’s regional Australia is being subsidised by $5 coffees.

What did I miss? Australia’s political week in fast-forward

No comments
My editor: Where is the interview? All you filed with me were photos of yourself in an infinity pool.

From Port Havannah, Vanuatu: What have you missed? If you’ve had a gutful of trending politics like me, probably all of it. Every day brings another story about how the Albanese government is driving the cost of living through the roof. Labor has become the proverbial ‘passion fingers’.

Exhausted by press releases and nauseated watching Labor’s pitiful social media campaign (designed to bombard taxpayers with so much Budget propaganda that they eventually fall in love it), we went off to Port Havannah in Vanuatu for a week. It is the first time I have had an actual holiday in nearly 40 years of adult life. I turned my phone off and drank Piña Coladas like they were going out of fashion (if that’s possible).

There’s no point saving money while Labor is in power. I figured they’ll take it off me somehow. So off we went.

The trouble is, we ran straight into a microcosm of Labor’s bullshit in Vanuatu.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, What did I miss? Australia’s political week in fast-forward.

Standing on the shoulders of leftists

No comments
Labor deserves a Darwin Award. They’re standing on the shoulders of Lilliputians.

The Albanese government is unoriginal. They are supported by the bolshie petty bourgeoisie.

The bolshie petty bourgeoisie are those who survive on government funds. In other words, they are leaners and not lifters. With so many people now living on government funds, that is, taxpayers’ money, these grifters are not the owners of the means of production. But they are communist in intent and dead set on milking the government teat dry. All while claiming they are productive.

It’s like the old joke about capitalism and communism. In capitalism, you have two cows. You buy a bull and create a herd. You sell your natural increase which produces protein. Everybody is happy – they have meat, you have money – and there is much rejoicing.

In communism, you have two cows. A public servant decides that veganism is great. You know they’re a vegan because they tell you straight away. Next thing you know the public servant takes your cows and shoots them because they are creating too much methane and causing climate change. You shake your head. But that is a microaggression and next minute you are forced to undertake retraining to become vegan.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Standing on the shoulders of leftists.




 


What did I miss? Australia’s political week in fast-forward

No comments

Labor's circus declares war on small businesses with a covert death tax thrown in for good measure. 

Small businesses copped Labor’s socialist king-hit. These days they’re called a ‘coward punch’ which is fitting, because what the Treasurer penned in his Budget certainly constitutes a cowardly act.

On display since last Tuesday’s Budget are Labor’s double standards. These are supported by their network of supporters I would call the bolshie petty bourgeoisie.

They’re bolshie as in communists, but they are actually the petty bourgeoisie.

They aren’t the owners of the means of production, but they’re public servants, union officials, dole bludgers, and immigrants all living off the government.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, What did I miss? Australia’s political week in fast-forward.

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
© 2025 Dr Michael de Percy
made with by templateszoo