With our fifth year of blogging under the belt, it's time for The Interpreter to close up shop and wish you all the very best for Christmas and the new year. Normal blogging resumes on 7 January.
But I can't let this occasion pass without noting the enormous contribution Graeme Dobell has made to The Interpreter. We posted Graeme's last Canberra Column earlier today.
Over the last four years, Graeme has been a voice of authority and maturity in the manic age of 'Kevinism'. We will miss his wit, his sceptical (but never cynical) eye on the Canberra foreign policy sausage-maker, and his deep knowledge of Australian political history. In a town where memories resemble those of goldfish, there aren't many who can so effortlessly cite a Casey or a Spender or an Evatt to illustrate an argument about the latest political crisis. In the process, Graeme implicitly cured us of our 'parochialism of the present', reassuring us that this too shall pass. I'm certain our readers will join me in wishing Graeme well at ASPI, and we will follow his work there.
The same goes for Nick Bryant, another valued Interpreter contributor moving on to new challenges. A former BBC Washington correspondent, Nick wrote some great pieces on US politics this year, though my favourites were always his Englishman's insights into the Australian psyche.
As always, my thanks to our growing roster of outstanding contributors; to Alex, Fergus, Theo and the lads from Twisted Pear for their help during the year; and most importantly to the readers. We look forward to seeing you back here in 2013.
