Opinion

Lest we forget history. Has the next world war already begun?, Nine Newspapers, 25 April 2025
Dennis looks at the state of the world today and asks whether the next global war is already underway.
Echoes of 1930s Europe grow ever louder. We ignore them at our peril, Nine Papers, 25 Feb 2025
​The AfD's success at the Reichstag elections should worry the world. Could it all happen again?
Since Trump’s victory, we’ve avoided the F-word. We need to bring it back, 16 January 2025
Dennis examines the similarities between the MAGA Republicans the politics of the 1930s.
History repeats: ‘We are entering a new age of savagery and organised lying’, Guardian, 25 August 2024
​Article discussing the release of Repeat: A Warning from History.
What the French election means for the future of Europe’s growing far-right movement, Nine Papers 8 July 2024​Macron's gamble to surprise the far right pays off – just – but doesn't bare repeating.
Who was really to blame for the failure of Scott’s Antarctic expedition? Nine Papers, 22 June 2024Dennis Reviews Harrison Christian's Terra Nova and concludes it was the weather, not human failings, that killed Scott's men.
What’s the difference between 1939 and 2023? Not enough, The Age & SMH, 28 October 2023
Dennis argues that we are in danger of repeating the mistakes of the 1920s, 30s and maybe 40s – and statesmen and women should deepen their understanding of history.
Simon Crean stuck to his guns and was proven right, The Age and SMH, 26 June 2023
Dennis pays tribute to the fighting spirit of his old boss, Simon Crean
If Dutton thinks Orwell's animals would oppose the Voice, then pigs can fly, Age and SMH, 23 May 2023
Dennis takes aim at Peter Dutton's misuse of Orwell great line "All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others" to criticise the Voice.
Censoring Roald Dahl: the plot twist even Orwell didn't think of, The Age and SMH, 22 February 2023
Dennis criticises the trend for censoring libraries.
Jim Chalmer's Moment, The Monthly, December 2022 - January 2023
Dennis calls on Chalmers to respond to the current global crisis with a statement of intelligence and conviction.
The Party within a Party: How Labor's Factions Work, The Saturday Paper, 2 August 2022
Dennis calls for the abolition of Victorian Labor's factions after yet another major scandal is exposed.
​​​What drives Philip Lowe? The Saturday Paper 22 October 2022
Dennis disagrees with some of the criticisms of Reserve Bank Governor, Philip Lowe.
Censoring Roald Dahl: the plot-twist even Orwell didn’t think of, The Age and SMH, 23 February 2023
Dennis discusses the eerie similarities between modern censorship and what Winston and Julia do in the Ministry of Truth.
George Orwell, me and the longest suicide note in Labor history, The Age and SMH, 7 August 2021
Dennis discusses the preparation of the ALP National Platform and the logic behind Labor's policy changes.
U.S. cannot ignore the lessons of history, The Age and SMH, 17 January 2021
Dennis compares the storming of the Capitol on 6 January 2021 to the Nazi's attempted Beer Hall Putsch of November 9 1923.
Why George Orwell still has plenty to say, The Age and SMH, 21 August 2020
Dennis reviews two new books on the legacy of George Orwell.
The Road Back to the Rust Belt
In this essay for the Ethics Centre, Dennis argues that the Left has largely forgotten about the working class
Next shock vote could be here
The Age and SMH, 13 November 2016
Why the Labor Party is not ready for reform
The Australian Financial Review, 29 July 2015
Labor needs a new big idea
Australian Financial Review, 8 January 2015
A quiet room, a desk and a lamp
Australian Financial Review, 23 October 2014
Joseph Stiglitz points the way to Labor's future
Australian Financial Review, 8 July 2014
Left given a new weapon to wield
Australian Financial Review, 14 May 2014
Paul Howes a product of the Hawke-Keating system
Australian Financial Review, 25 March 2014
Labor needs to go back to roots
Australian Financial Review, 18 March 2014
Value in Making things
Australian Financial Review, 18 February 2014
Labor needs philosophy, not focus groups
Australian Financial Review, 22 January 2014
Why Labor should have its own Cory Bernardi
The Australian Financial Review, 14 January 2014
Rudd lacked the purpose Labor needed
Australian Financial Review, 15 November 2013
Rudd's launch speech lacking
Australian Financial Review, 2 September 2013
ALP warlords still run roughshod
Australian Financial Review, 23 July 2013
Labor politics better played with heart than with abacus
Australian Financial Review, 24 June 2013
Labor's future is not back in the past
Australian Financial Review, 5 June 2013
Labor's asking the wrong questions
Australian Financial Review, 16 April 2013
History’s damnation a Labor trait
Australian Financial Review, 22 March 2013
Gillard spells the end of the big left project
Australian Financial Review, 1 March 2013
Loosen the comrades' hold and reform Labor
Australian Financial Review, 28 September 2012
McKew's book has lessons for Labor
The Australian, 6 November 2012
Britain could point way for labor recovery
The Australian, 17 October 2012
ALP thinkers should spell out the Party's values with brio
The Australian, 24 August 2012
Labor’s faceless men prepared to do anything to hang on to office
The Australian, 11 July 2012
Left should learn that workers love the monarch
The Australian, 8 June 2012
Forget Hawke, Keating and Kelty: look to Britain for the light on the hill
The Australian, 24 May 2012
Swan's appeal hits egalitarian nerve to triumph over political taboo
The Australian, 13 March 2012
Hawke-Keating era saw Labor begin to lose its way
The Australian, 15 February 2012
Pysmatic ploy fails to steal the show
The Australian, 3-4 December 2011
ALP must atone for asylum seeker sins
The Australian, 12 September 2011
Time to publish or be damned
The Australian, 29 July 2011
You can be a patriot and oppose this battle
The Australian, 10 June 2011
Visit the burbs, and be surprised
The Australian, 13 January 2011
This time, say it with feeling
The Australian, 22 November 2010
Unsung servants of Labor ideals
The Australian, 22 October 2010
Labor pains could foreshadow political rebirth
The Australian, 10 September 2010
Redfern speech flatters writer as well as orator
The Australian, 27 August 2010
Prime minister casts a wide net
The Australian, 18 July 2010
Maintain rage at Howard's praetorian guard
The Australian, 16 June 2010
Turnbull the canary in the coalmine
The Australian, 01 December 2009
PM's pitch to the intelligentsia
The Australian, 10 February 2009
With a little help from his friends
The Australian, 8 December 2007
Inconsistent, inaccurate and devoid of hope
The Australian, November 2007
Pearson right to demand action before abstraction
The Australian, 20 July 2007
Blood-letting must stop if Rudd is to win
The Australian, 5 December 2006
Too little knowledge is a dangerous thing
The Australian, 7 October 2006
Second-rate rant will spoil the party
The Australian, 6 July 2005
Labor's fear of power
The Australian, 12 January 2005
Don't ditch the 'elites'
The Australian, 29 November 2004
Working class dreams fade as jobs dry up
The Age, 8 February 2014
Ten reasons why politics can be great
The Age, 28 September 2005
Howard's secret abortion agenda
The Age, 11 February 2005
How the aspirationals were duped
The Age 16 December 2004
Misguided insiders
The Age, 27 October 2004
Speechwriters are go! Why the speech maker cuts close to the bone
Daily Review, 6 June 2014
The vulnerable fear neglect in post-carbon era
News.com.au, 20 April 2007
What's wrong with the Labor Party?
Online Opinion, 16 August 2005
A new spectre is haunting the land: class warfare. And I think I know where it's coming from
Chifley Research Centre, 5 April 2013