 Cover of November 2014 issue | |
| Editor | Rebecca Weisser |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Founded | 1956; 70 years ago (1956) |
| Company | Quadrant Magazine Ltd. |
| Based in | Sydney, Australia |
| Language | English |
| Website | quadrant |
| ISSN | 0033-5002 |
| Part ofa series on |
| Conservatism in Australia |
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Quadrant is aconservative[1] Australianliterary, cultural, and political journal, which publishes both online and printed editions. As of 2019[update],Quadrant mainly publishes commentary,[2] essays and opinion pieces oncultural,political, and historical issues, although it also reviewsliterature and publishespoetry andfiction in the print edition. Its editorial line is self-described "bias towards cultural freedom, anti-totalitarianism andclassical liberalism".[3]
The magazine was founded inSydney in 1956[4][5] byRichard Krygier, aPolish-Jewish refugee who had been active insocial-democrat politics in Europe, andJames McAuley, a Catholic poet known forErn Malley, an anti-modernist hoax. It was established in an attempt to counter the increasingly strong national and international influence of the highly successful literary magazineMeanjin,[6] which continues to be Australia's leading literary journal. It was originally an initiative of the Australian Committee for Cultural Freedom, the Australian arm of theCongress for Cultural Freedom, ananti-communist advocacy group funded by theCIA.[7] The nameQuadrant was suggested by the publisher Alec Bolton, husband of the poetRosemary Dobson; she had declined to join the editorial board ofQuadrant, not wanting to be seen as "part of the right".[8]
Quadrant has had many notable contributors, includingLes Murray, who was its literary editor from 1990 to 2019,[9]: 240 Peter Ryan, who wrote a column from 1994 to 2015,Heinz Arndt,Sir Garfield Barwick,Frank Brennan,Ian Callinan,Hal Colebatch,Peter Coleman,Sir Zelman Cowen,Anthony Daniels,Joe Dolce,David Flint,Lord Harris of High Cross,Paul Hasluck,Dyson Heydon,Sidney Hook,A. D. Hope,Barry Humphries,Clive James,John Kerr,Michael Kirby,Frank Knopfelmacher,Peter Kocan,Christopher Koch, Andrew Lansdown,John Latham,Douglas Murray,Patrick O'Brien,Sharon Olds,George Pell,Pierre Ryckmans,Roger Sandall,Roger Scruton,Clement Semmler,Greg Sheridan,James Spigelman,Sir Ninian Stephen,Tom Switzer, andAlexander Voltz, as well as severalLabor andLiberal political figures, includingBob Hawke,John Howard,Tony Abbott,Mark Latham, andJohn Wheeldon. After the publication of the 1997Bringing Them Home report about theStolen Generations,Quadrant published a number of articles critical of the report's methodology and conclusions. ProfessorRobert Manne, who edited the magazine from 1990 to 1997, claimed that theHoward government's response toBringing Them Home was influenced by and "collusive with"Quadrant's position.[10]
As of 2017[update], commentators describe the magazine as having a strongright-wing bias and even engaging inextremism.[11][12] In the week following theManchester Arena bombing,Quadrant's online editorRoger Franklin wrote an article titled "The Manchester Bomber's ABC Pals",[13] referring to theQ&A TV program. In it he wrote: "Had there been a shred of justice, that blast would have detonated in an Ultimo TV studio [later amended to, 'What if that blast had detonated in an Ultimo TV studio?'] ... none of the panel’s likely casualties would have represented the slightest reduction in humanity’s intelligence, decency, empathy or honesty."[14][15]ABC Managing directorMichelle Guthrie called for the article to "be removed and apologised for".[16]Quadrant editor-in-chiefKeith Windschuttle acknowledged that the article was "intemperate" and "a serious error of judgment" and apologised for the offence it had caused.[12] The article was removed from the website.[17]
In October 1992, DameLeonie Kramer, then the chairman of the magazine's board of directors, discussed the "deep values" ofQuadrant:
In 2007,Quadrant's mission was described by its editor as:
To defend the great tradition of free and open debate, to make possible dissent, while at the same time insisting on both civilised discourse and rational argument. This mission is not the same as atQuadrant's founding, but it is not dissimilar. For while the communist dictatorship is no more, the love of anti-democratic dictators still survives among many intellectuals, as does their determination to impose their own strange beliefs on the population as a whole.[19]
In March 2008, the magazine was describing itself as sceptical of "unthinking leftism, orpolitical correctness, and its 'smelly little orthodoxies'".[7] Regular contributors often supportconspiracy theories such as thatCOVID-19 has a mild impact and thatglobal warming is a hoax, and the2020 US election was fraudulent.[12][20][21] As of November 2019[update], the magazine describes itself as "Australia's most open minded publication",[22] while its home page includes articles critical of climate scientists, the ABC, and "the Left's triumphal anti-clericalism".[23]
In January 2009,Quadrant unknowingly published a hoax article. Its author, writer, editor and activist Katherine Wilson, stated that she aimed to show that the magazine and editorKeith Windschuttle hadright-wing politics bias. Wilson claimed Windschuttle andQuadrant would publish an inaccurate article and not check its footnotes or authenticity if it met his preconceptions. Using the pseudonym "biotechnologist Dr Sharon Gould", Wilson submitted an article claiming thatCSIRO had planned to produce food crops engineered with human genes.[24][25][26]
| Order | Period | Editor | Background / comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 1956–1967 | James McAuley | Catholic poet |
| 2. | 1964–1966 | Donald Horne | Writer |
| 3. | 1967–1988 | Peter Coleman | Writer, journalist, and former New South Wales and FederalLiberal politician |
| 4. | 1988–1989 | Roger Sandall | Writer, anthropologist, Senior Lecturer atUniversity of Sydney |
| 5. | 1990–1997 | Robert Manne | Lecturer atLa Trobe University; resigned after repeated disputes with the magazine's editorial board[27] |
| 6. | 1997–2007 | Paddy McGuinness | Journalist and self-described contrarian |
| 7. | 2008–2015 | Keith Windschuttle[28] | Writer and historian |
| 8. | 2015–2017 | John O'Sullivan[29] | Political advisor and editor |
| 9. | 2017–2024 | Keith Windschuttle[17] | Writer and historian |
| 10. | 2024– | Rebecca Weisser[30] | Journalist |
Keith Windschuttle says the article failed to meet Quadrant's standards and he has ordered it be deleted from its website
