Karen Middleton A mailout from the federal government to age pensioners on the eve of the election campaign cost taxpayers $2.1 million and raised concerns about the timing of the correspondence.

Martin McKenzie-Murray The arrest of Julian Assange is just another chapter in a story of complications and contradictions.

Royce Kurmelovs Repatriating from foreign conflict zones the Australian women and children who became caught up in Daesh’s now-defunct reign of terror will require exacting planning and consideration.

Neha Kale Artist Janet Laurence explores the relationship between the metaphysical and the physical by giving voice to our fraught but soul-deep relationship with the world in which we live. “My first review read, ‘Janet Laurence deals with nature and the dark side of life and this is not where a woman should be.’ ” She dissolves into peals of laughter. “It was a female writer!”

Jill Abramson Of all his holdings, Murdoch has always loved his papers the most, even if some are money pits. His empire began with the inheritance of his father’s papers, Adelaide’s The News and its Sunday edition, The Mail. Now he controls two-thirds of daily newspaper circulation in Australia. He publishes the only national broadsheet, The Australian. As in the US, and in Britain too, he has used his papers in Australia as political bludgeons.

Paul Bongiorno Peter Dutton’s war chest to save his seat is believed to be in the vicinity of $1 million. He refuses to say how much he is spending but his face is splashed across every billboard in Dickson. A Labor insider says, ‘We are delighted to see his visage everywhere.’

Richard Ackland So good to see the Shortens among the shorthorns, baby goats and bottled preserves at Sydney’s Royal Easter Show. But it was on the Central Coast where the leader of the opposition made a lasting impression while participating with a whole pile of little kids in a “slip, slop, slap” awareness moment. Gadfly has been unable to get out of his mind Shorten’s eccentric use of his knuckles in applying sunscreen to his face. I suspect there’s a lot we don’t know about this man but the sunscreen incident was a valuable insight.

Scott Morrison is a man without promise or promises. It is not clear why he wants to lead the country. He has yet to lay out a plan for it and gives no sign that he will. When he talks about Bill Shorten, he warns Labor will change everything. His own undertaking is that he will not. His proposition is the status quo.

Julie Lambert Labor’s cancer plan, backed by a $2.3 billion pledge, has put the healthcare debate on the frontburner, and divided the medical profession.

Jonathan Pearlman Venezuelans suffering in superpower standoff. Red Cross reveals New Zealand nurse is a Daesh hostage. Joko Widodo looking the winner in Indonesia election.

Hamish McDonald

At the National Gallery of Australia, a new exhibition honours the power of tā moko, the Māori art of body-marking.

Shaad D’Souza

Although BTS’s latest album, Map of the Soul: Persona, is a bland attempt to cover all bases, the enormous appeal of this K-pop band is ultimately undeniable.

Eugene Yiu Nam Cheung

A chat about names, memory and The National 2019 with artist Abdul-Rahman Abdullah.

David Moyle

Matthew Clayfield A wee dram at the Laphroaig distillery in the Scottish Hebrides turns into an invocation of a whisky-loving soul.

Matt Stewart During an unprecedented period of scandal in Australian racing, one horse carried on her back the hopes and dreams of a sport-obsessed nation.

Cindy MacDonald Test your general knowledge with our weekly quiz.