“I think we need to talk about extremism more generally, not limit it to certain groups … It’s got to start at the leadership level. There’s a big role for the media as well. ”
Following the killing of 50 Muslims by an Australian terrorist, local security agencies face questions of whether they overlooked the threat posed by white extremists.
News
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Shooters party set to wield power in NSW
With NSW facing the possibility of a hung parliament, fear grows that the state’s gun laws – already eroded by two decades of deal-making with the Shooters party – will be further traded away.
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The public service code of conduct
A Canberra public servant’s anonymous posts on social media led to her sacking and now to the High Court in a free speech case with far-reaching consequences for the federal government.
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The Coalition and the race issue
“When you look at Jacinda and then you look at Scott, the contrast is so stark: between the one who seeks to unite us and to find a space where we come together in a sense of love, compassion and inclusion, and one who has sought to do the opposite, and spread fear, disunity and paranoia. ”
Scott Morrison’s words following the Christchurch massacre were sensitive and well chosen, but how can they be read as ingenuous when they follow on from almost two decades of his party deliberately cultivating disunity and fear?
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Wider laws to allow Victoria Police to take DNA samples
“You’ve got to balance human rights and civil liberties alongside our judicial system. There is a right of presumed innocence, and we can’t let this law and order campaign trample on our human rights and our civil liberties.”
Privacy fears surround Victoria’s new DNA laws, which would allow police to take samples from suspects before they are charged with any crime.
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Grand debate quiets Macron detractors
Italy moves to join Belt and Road Initiative. Taiwanese leader wooing independence allies. Prayuth Chan-ocha recasting his image for Thai election. The Macron Show tours France to assuage protesters.
Opinion
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Judy Courtin
Fixing the National Redress Scheme
“The toppling of a senior Catholic cardinal for child sexual assault no doubt deserves media attention. But we cannot let the news itself suck the oxygen from other critical issues facing survivors. Namely, the uphill battle they continue to face in seeking fair redress for the abuses perpetrated against them.”
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Paul Bongiorno
The politics of hate
“The cowardly, hate-filled attack has shaken both nations to their core, and exposed the lethal consequences of Australia’s political obsession with playing to people’s fears and prejudices. This is a dramatic shift, more potent than the demonising of the Tampa mercy ship with its cargo of 443 asylum seekers in 2001.”
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There’s so much that can make people physically sick. Army wallah and boonies Nasty Party senator Linda Reynolds told ABC viewers she was “almost physically ill” when the medivac legislation was passed by parliament. After all, it was Muslims who were on the attack in Bali, if you follow her drift. She’ll make a fine addition to Team Schmo. Other citizens were just as ill with news from New Zealand.
Letters, Poem & Editorial
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Maxine Beneba Clarke
Lenticular Cloud – for Christchurch
across the tasman
through a westerly
in ōtautahi, aotearoa
land of the long
white
Read
There is an urgent desire to blame internet forums for Brenton Tarrant’s bent interpretation of the world. The bigger concern is that many of the thoughts expressed in his manifesto have appeared, in one form or another, on the opinion pages of most mainstream publications in this country. Tarrant is an aberration, as is all terrorism. But he is produced by a culture that has normalised hate, that is built from division, whose politics routinely exploits fear and whose press caters enthusiastically to it.
Culture
Indigenous activist Thomas Mayor’s clear statement
For months, Indigenous activist Thomas Mayor carried the Uluru Statement from the Heart around Australia, rolling out the canvas as he told its story. With Labor and mining companies now on board, the push continues for a First Nations voice. “We have bipartisanship on the influences of the Australian public, left, right or centre. That’s the mindset we’re transferring to – fighting for the referendum to win.”
Hans and Nora Heysen: Two Generations of Australian Art
While father and daughter Hans and Nora Heysen both became renowned Australian artists – he for bush landscapes, she for portraits and still lifes – their work had become, until recently, somewhat overlooked.
Life
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The beverage director for Andrew McConnell’s restaurants recommends her favourite drinks as the weather cools.
Read
Recent calls for a stricter AFL drug policy have again fomented debate around changing societal values, mental health and harm reduction. So can a perfect balance be struck between protecting players and safeguarding the integrity of the game?
Books
Puzzles
1. Saul Zaentz and which Hollywood actor were the producers of the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest? (Bonus point for naming the author of the book on which the film was based.)
2. Which Italian city is home to the Uffizi Gallery?
3. What is the main alcoholic ingredient of a Manhattan cocktail?
4. Which fictitious libertine is known as the “Seducer of Seville”?
5. Ascorbic acid is also known as…?
6. Lebanon has land borders with two countries. Name them.
7. What is the practice called of growing very small examples of trees and shrubs?
8. Who, according to the United States congress, is “the first lady of civil rights”?
9. Which cricketer scored the most runs in the recent ODI series between Australia and India: Virat Kohli or Usman Khawaja?
10. What word starting with ‘h’ refers to the side of a right-angled triangle opposite the right angle?
Quotes
TECHNOLOGY
“If you can write an algorithm to make sure that the ads they want you to see can appear on your mobile phone, then I’m quite confident they can write an algorithm to screen out hate content on the social media platforms.”
The PM offers a practical solution to online hate speech, which experts say could only have come from the government that thought fibre-to-the-node would make the NBN better.
BUDGET
“The government is considering the submissions to its consultation paper.”
The treasurer backs down from his promise to tax the social media giants, to the tune of $200 million. Privacy policy writers the world over have marvelled at the Kooyong MP’s ability to disguise such a huge change behind veiled language.
PRESENCE
“Except the problem with that is that Greg Hunt did not attend the meeting.”
The journalist confronts Scott Morrison over reports he proposed using fear of Muslims to win votes, which he labels a “repugnant lie”. It is defamatory to suggest Hunt cannot be in two places at once.
RELATIONSHIPS
“It felt like a layer of the world turning on us about saying, essentially, ‘We just want to be nice to each other and stay a family.’ It was brutal.”
The goop founder on her use of the term “conscious uncoupling” to describe the end of her marriage to Chris Martin. Anyone who has listened to a Coldplay song might also describe the decision to separate as “a good idea”.
CHRISTCHURCH
“He is a terrorist. He is a criminal. He is an extremist. But he will, when I speak, be nameless.”
The New Zealand prime minister responds to the mosque attacks. Australian Google searches for “how to become a NZ citizen” hit levels not seen since news broke Keith Urban is a Kiwi.
SPORT
“Here’s a pic of me at work… think about this before your derogatory comments, animals.”
The AFLW star tweets out a picture of her playing, which Channel 7 took down after it received a flood of negative comments. Harris’s trolls were shocked by her response, arguing it was nice of them not to level full-blown death threats at her.
