How authenticity will decide the election
“Voters are looking for statements of principled leadership … it could be the last nail of the coffin if Scott Morrison doesn’t play it well.”
As the government and opposition make sense of the NSW election result, it is clear the federal poll will be a contest between an unpopular leader and an unknown one.
News
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Legal gambit to cut charity funding
The federal government claims it lacks the constitutional power to fund advocacy activity, although it refuses to release its advice and legal experts uniformly reject the assertion.
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Mark Latham’s success in the NSW election buoyed One Nation, but the exposé of its bid for donations from the US National Rifle Association may have shot the party in the foot in the run-up to the federal poll.
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Students sexually harassing teachers
“A recent survey of almost 2000 members of the Australian Education Union found just over 50 per cent of respondents had ‘experienced, witnessed or supervised someone subject to sexual harassment’ while working in the education sector.”
As the Me Too movement continues its march, an Australian Education Union survey reveals that teachers face extreme levels of sexual harassment in the workplace, often by students.
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Intergenerational trauma and Indigenous suicides in WA
“It’s a lack of cultural competence of service providers, a lack of specialist services around suicide prevention and intervention. And it’s racism.”
A recent coroner’s report into the deaths by suicide of Indigenous children and young people in remote WA, linked to intergenerational trauma and racism, mirrors the findings of a 2008 inquiry. With little achieved in the interim years, experts claim the government is not only misdiagnosing the problem but is also unable to come up with productive solutions.
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Foreign policy challenge next for Jacinda Ardern
Donald Trump oversells Mueller investigation findings. NZ prime minister heads to China. Serious questions about Thailand’s election. Benjamin Netanyahu in surprise TV interview.
Opinion
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Barry Jones
The death of political debate
“We now have a sharply reduced political agenda. There is a widespread refusal to analyse and explain complex ‘wicked’ problems. On major issues – taxation, national security – we see policy convergence, largely out of fear, while on trivial issues, toxicity abounds – a sideshow of personal attacks and ‘gotcha!’ moments. ”
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Paul Bongiorno
Morrison gears up for last-ditch budget
“The budget will be Scott Morrison’s attempt to buy his way back to the Treasury benches. But many of his troops believe it is too late. One MP who is battling hard to hold his marginal seat says, ‘Nothing can save us now.’ Not even massive tax cuts, which are sure to be the budget’s centrepiece, nor the promise to build roads, bridges and rail in every marginal seat in the country.”
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Gadfly
Howard makes his points
There they were, Little Winston Howard and Fabulous Phil Ruddock, like two grizzled Muppets at the Liberal Party’s party at the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth hotel on Saturday night. Howard has engaged Pig Iron Bob’s personal groomer to try to train his eyebrows to levels of imperial magnificence. On Pig Iron, the tufts looked impressive. On Winston they resemble small furry bush insects that have fallen asleep on his face.
Letters, Poem & Editorial
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and by the end
no one dared to say his name
so we called him
nineteen
because of how they said
it all began
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Editorial
Rise of the outsiders
In 2002, Mark Latham delivered the Menzies Lecture at London’s Kings College, canvassing the rise of Pauline Hanson, among other things. Pointing to the growing divide in our politics, he sought to explain her accumulation of power. “I would argue that the political spectrum is best understood as a struggle between insiders and outsiders,” he said, “the abstract values of the powerful centre versus the pragmatic beliefs of those who feel disenfranchised by social change.”
Culture
The perpetual motion of choreographer Amrita Hepi
For First Nations choreographer and dancer Amrita Hepi, the body is the first point of memory. Her new show, The Tender, interweaves oppression and connection. “Dancing is about being unashamed in our physical forms, and that’s tough shit when you’re a person of colour ’cause we’re constantly being looked at.”
Despite a valiant performance from Nicole Kidman in Destroyer, Karyn Kusama’s feminist take on film noir ultimately shies away from true darkness.
Billie Eilish’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Popstar Billie Eilish offers moments of macabre brilliance on her uneven debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Theatre director Jessica Arthur
“A lot of my direction is asking questions that kind of lead to a point that makes sense – it’s like digging … or kind of diagnosing. You do want to get everyone on the same page when it comes to the world of the play, but you don’t want to set up too many rules. You want the actors to play within that realm – it’s so much more interesting to have the people in the play pushing it in every direction until it falls into place.”
Life
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The tricks of the taxidermy trade were once held tight by older, male enthusiasts. But today a new generation of young women are lending their artistic and scientific talents to preserving dead animals in the most lifelike manner.
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Bodyboarder Lewy Finnegan’s battle back to good health
When Lewy Finnegan became gravely ill in 2016, doctors delivered a startling diagnosis. Now, after at one point fearing he might die, the professional bodyboarder has regained his strength – both physically and mentally.
Books
Puzzles
1. Which South American country is home to the Atacama Desert, the world’s driest non-polar desert?
2. The show tune “Hernando’s Hideaway” features in which musical?
3. Name the winning driver of the 2019 Australian F1 Grand Prix. (Bonus points for naming the winner’s nationality, which team he drives for and the second and third placegetters.)
4. What is the name for a young male horse?
5. Which author links A Farewell to Arms, Death in the Afternoon and Islands in the Stream?
6. Niacin is also known by what vitamin name?
7. What are the colours of the flag of Belgium?
8. The Giant Murray Cod is situated near the railway station of which Victorian township?
9. Nomophobia refers to a state of anxiety brought on by what?
10. Who plays Galadriel in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films?
Quotes
EQUALITY
“Women always want the spoils of victory without the fight.”
The Liberal Party vice-president makes her Q&A debut. Undermining her own maxim, McQueen fought tooth and nail to try to win the title of worst guest in the show’s history.
POWER
“You’d have the whole government by the balls.”
The One Nation Queensland state leader contemplates how $US10 million to $US20 million from the United States gun lobby could change Australian politics. Turns out all you need is two senate seats.
SPACE
“Mission managers decided to adjust the assignments, due in part to spacesuit availability on the station.”
The US space agency cancels the first all-female spacewalk due to a lack of appropriately sized spacesuits. Unfortunately female astronauts cannot use male spacesuits, as without the built-in corsets their bones will just fly off into space.
HISTORY
“I have read the book on it, Port Arthur. A lot of questions there.”
The One Nation leader suggests the 1996 mass shooting was a government conspiracy. Aides have warned Hanson off ever reading the comments under any YouTube video.
MEMORY
“I have no recollection of that.”
The prime minister claims to not remember proposing a $9 billion plan to detain people on bridging visas. When you’ve floated so many different policies to undermine the freedoms of migrants and refugees over the years, who can keep them all straight?
BREXIT
“I am prepared to leave this job earlier than I intended in order to do what is right for our country and our party.”
The British prime minister offers to resign, if conservative MPs agree to back her Brexit deal. David Cameron has asked her to stop stealing his moves.
