I was a subscriber to Crikey for twenty years, from the very early days of Stephen Mayne and Christian Kerr, AKA Hillary Bray. In those early days, Crikey was feisty, funny and invaluable, providing the daily doses of sanity required to counter the loathsomeness of Kennett and the loathsomeness of Howard.
Mayne and Kerr, and Crikey generally, were not left, and certainly not left enough for me. Both had been conservative political staffers and they leaned towards small government. They had their blind spots. In particular, Kerr absolutely despised the Australian Greens in the manner that is entirely appropriate now but was not then. Or, maybe it was. Maybe Kerr was right about that, too. In any case, Crikey writers were typically thoughtful and clear, you knew what they believed and why. More than anything, Mayne and Kerr were about good governance, of which Australia had, and has, woefully little. Crikey would take on anyone and everyone, seemingly never pulling their punches. They were despised in return, sidelined by pretty much everyone, including the toadying big shot media. I wore my Crikey t shirt with pride. Continue reading “Crikey, it’s Bad”
