http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/david-donovan/ David Donovan, 40, is a journalist, writer and the managing editor of http://www.independentaustralia.net. Before become a scribe he worked for many years in the finance industry in London and Australia. He is also the Vice Chair (Media) with the Australian Republican Movement. David lives in Surfers Paradise with his wife, son, cat and incessantly barking cavoodle. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/elites-cling-to-the-monarchy-real-people-want-a-republic/ In the course of doing business – you know, fighting for democracy, egalitarianism and the common weal – republicans are occasionally accused of being elitist. The argument goes that republicans are all inner-city latte-sipping lefties who want a Republic because they have no understanding about what the common man really cares about. The idea appeared because some especially pompous Sydney Law School Professor from the inner-city Eastern suburbs of that city wrote a book on the subject. Such irony. feedback@thepunch.com.au (David Donovan) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/elites-cling-to-the-monarchy-real-people-want-a-republic/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/elites-cling-to-the-monarchy-real-people-want-a-republic/#item5684 Tue, 26 Apr 2011 20:00:42 +0000 David Donovan | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/brisbane-its-reasonably-close-to-the-gold-coast/ If there is one thing I like about Twitter, it’s hashtags. In case you aren’t part of the Twitterati, hashtags refer to the “#” that allows debate or discussion on particular topics in Twitter between users who would probably otherwise never get in contact with each other. For example, there is the #AusPol hashtag that discusses Australian politics and the #qanda one that discusses the ABC’s Q&A programme every Monday and a million other hashtags on every topic under the sun. I often use them when I post Independent Australia articles on Twitter to get them out to a wider audience, for instance. But they can also be on frivolous matters as well — and this is where the fun really starts. Yesterday a hashtag arose called #rejectedbnetourismslogans, which, as the name suggests it is all about creating slogans to poke fun at the city of Brisbane. I’m not sure why or who suggested it, or why, but it has gone viral with thousands of contributions, most of them quite funny: feedback@thepunch.com.au (David Donovan) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/brisbane-its-reasonably-close-to-the-gold-coast/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/brisbane-its-reasonably-close-to-the-gold-coast/#item5539 Fri, 01 Apr 2011 19:55:17 +0000 David Donovan | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-republic-debate-is-about-more-than-just-the-royals/ On April 29 this year, Prince William will marry Kate Middleton. In October, the Queen will visit Perth for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. As the person responsible for media at the Australian Republican Movement (ARM), I predict that these will be my two busiest times of the year. Whenever anyone mentions royalty in an Australian context, the media then thinks “republic” and more often than not gives me a call. This is as it should be, since the media knows that the majority of Australians want Australia to be a republic now or at the end of the Queen’s reign - at least 60 per cent, according to most polls. On the other hand, it means that the ARM sometimes spends more time talking about royal personalities and personages rather than the things that really matter to us - why an Australian Republic is so important to Australia. The fact is, we have nothing against the personalities - it is the institution that is the problem. feedback@thepunch.com.au (David Donovan) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-republic-debate-is-about-more-than-just-the-royals/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-republic-debate-is-about-more-than-just-the-royals/#item5034 Tue, 08 Feb 2011 19:30:22 +0000 David Donovan | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/who-are-you-julia/ What does Julia Gillard believe in? Let’s start by considering her history as a guide. Julia Gillard started her political career in student politics at the Labor Club at Adelaide University. After moving to Melbourne, she worked assiduously to rise to become the head of the peak student union body, the Australian Union of Students, by 1983. Unsurprisingly, given student Labor politics is largely characterised by more radical left-wing ideology than the mainstream Labor Party, Gillard was also secretary of the Socialist Forum at university. The parliamentary register of interests indicates that Gillard remained a member of this Forum until 2002, which included her first four years in Parliament. Looking at this, you might be led to believe that Gillard strongly favours the left-side of politics. And it is true that Gillard had, at least up until 2009, been a member of the Labor Party’s left faction. But, in fact, when Gillard wrested power from Kevin Rudd earlier this year, she did so with the backing of the dominant right faction of the Labor Party, the hard left favouring Rudd. feedback@thepunch.com.au (David Donovan) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/who-are-you-julia/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/who-are-you-julia/#item4328 Mon, 25 Oct 2010 19:40:01 +0000 David Donovan | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/south-pacific-poms/ Australia has its own identity, there is no question of that. What it doesn’t have, while we have this umbilical cord link to a foreign power, is its own unambiguous Australian identity. Try to explain Australia’s current arrangements to an Indian or a Greek person and you can see them struggling to keep a straight face. One of Australia’s most distinguished diplomats, the former Indonesian Ambassador Richard Woolcott,  once wrote that when Australian diplomats are received at official functions overseas, the anthem that is played is ‘God Save the Queen’ and the Queen is toasted at the end as head of state. feedback@thepunch.com.au (David Donovan) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/south-pacific-poms/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/south-pacific-poms/#item3934 Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:30:13 +0000 David Donovan | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/abbott-losing-his-own-election-referendum/ If the election was a referendum on the Government then the Coalition has lost. Opposition leader Tony Abbott may have fond memories of referendums because of 1999, but his statement at 1.56 am on election night that the 2010 Federal ”…election has been a referendum on the political execution of a Prime Minister” could come back to bite him. If the Independents take his advice he’ll probably remain in Opposition for the foreseeable future. The media and the Opposition are suggesting that the country rejected the current Government: “a humiliating rebuff” was the way ABC Radio National’s breakfast presenter Fran Kelly framed it in her interview with Federal minister Tony Burke on Monday morning. feedback@thepunch.com.au (David Donovan) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/abbott-losing-his-own-election-referendum/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/abbott-losing-his-own-election-referendum/#item3881 Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:30:25 +0000 David Donovan | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/an-accountants-view-the-nonsense-being-spouted-on-mining-tax/ As someone who has worked as an accountant or financial analyst for most of the last couple of decades, including in the mining sector, I have been watching the debate about the mining resources super profit tax with some bemusement. People like me understand tax and why businesses make – or don’t make – investment decisions. It is becoming disturbingly apparent that ordinary punters are not getting the information they need to make a reasonable assessment about the merits of this proposal. Frankly, there is a lot of nonsense being talked at present. Firstly, you can discount almost everything that has been written by journalists, since virtually none of them seem to know anything about business or economics. Most appear to be simply regurgitating other people’s words. I put most business and economics writers into this category, by the way. feedback@thepunch.com.au (David Donovan) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/an-accountants-view-the-nonsense-being-spouted-on-mining-tax/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/an-accountants-view-the-nonsense-being-spouted-on-mining-tax/#item3306 Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:55:23 +0000 David Donovan | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/prince-williams-australia-tour-who-cares/ On Tuesday 19th of January, Prince William – the 2nd in line to various thrones – will visit Australia for just the second time. It has been reported that he is doing this to “get to know Australia”. Since this tour was announced in December, as Media Director for the Australian Republican Movement (ARM), I have been busy with requests from English broadcasters and newspapers. The interest should have been surprising, since William is only stopping in on Australia for three days for a “semi-official” tour on his way to New Zealand. Moreover, he is visiting only two cities: Sydney and Melbourne. However, given that there has been a massive PR campaign by the Palace to present William as the youthful – cuter – face of the monarchy, it was inevitable that the English press would be awash with expectation about whether Australia would warm to the Prince like good little subjects. feedback@thepunch.com.au (David Donovan) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/prince-williams-australia-tour-who-cares/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/prince-williams-australia-tour-who-cares/#item2175 Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:50:38 +0000 David Donovan | Author bios | The Punch