Cannon-Brookes and the new climate guard
“As renewable energy projects proliferate, Cannon-Brookes says, so do jobs. Some 5000 in Queensland alone at latest count, up from 3500 the previous year. Potentially, there could be hundreds of thousands.”
As the Coalition stalls on emissions reduction, moneyed climate activists are turning to direct investment, led by tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes.
News
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‘The act is a dog’: whistleblower shields too weak
“It’s one thing to have legal protections for whistleblowers; it’s another to have a culture where an individual would not feel intimidated from using them.”
After last week’s AFP raids, public servants speak out about Mike Pezzullo’s hypocrisy, the government’s culture of secrecy and whistleblower protections.
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Centre Alliance barters on gas prices
As the government works to get its tax cuts through the upper house, Centre Alliance senators Rex Patrick and Stirling Griff have put a condition on their support, calling for adjustments to the domestic gas security mechanism.
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Student leaders accused of university assaults
“According to the AHRC, more than 14 per cent of female students at UNE were victims of a sexual assault across 2015/2016. Over a third of those students were sexually assaulted in a university setting.”
At the University of New England – reputedly the ‘most dangerous university for women’ in Australia – college student leaders have been themselves accused of sexual offences.
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Since retiring from the judiciary, former High Court justice Michael Kirby has been busier than ever – lending his lofty intellect to, among other things, campaigns for a bill of rights and an Indigenous voice to parliament.
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Protests erupt over Hong Kong extradition bill
Hong Kong protests. Macron messages unheeded. Samoa sinks Rocketman. Military raids Sudan camp.
Opinion
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Richard Cooke
Free speech, censorship and media raids
“The Australian Federal Police raids on the offices of the ABC and the home of a News Corp journalist keep being described as ‘unprecedented’. They are certainly a degeneration, though these goonish interventions have always been there. Only their targets and locations have changed. An unbroken chain of raids, prosecutions, bannings, destructions, libel suits, intimidation and blacklistings drags its way through our history, all the way to the early colony.”
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Paul Bongiorno
All quiet on the Morrison front
“Scott Morrison is assiduously doing nothing much of consequence. In fact, this week he appeared to have taken a leaf out of the opposition leader’s book and, like Anthony Albanese, is doing a lot of listening. He has apparently decided this is the safest way of dealing with the press freedom brouhaha that has engulfed his government since its unexpected return to power.”
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Senior members of the Commonwealth’s cop squad have been working overtime on coming up with fresh meanings for the phrase “national security”. To paraphrase Humpty Dumpty, it really means just what the government chooses it to mean, neither more nor less. Certainly it covers things such as bugging the Timor-Leste ministerial offices, or soldiers shooting the wrong people in Afghanistan, or plans by spooky public servants to spy on the entire population. All of that comes under the Humpty Dumpty definition, which really has nothing to do with national security at all, but more to do with government embarrassment.
Letters, Poem & Editorial
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first, the Ministry of Truth doctored language
their words weaponry, loaded and aimed:
asylum seekers became illegals
they said detention centres, not jails
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Editorial
Setting the record straight
The first missive from Sally McManus was brief. So veiled in its construction, the statement obscured the deeper issue with Setka. And in pushing to expel the union boss from the Labor Party, Anthony Albanese skirted the detail entirely.
Culture
Queering the air with musician and producer Paul Mac
Paul Mac has gone from playing the organ at church to forming a band with Daniel Johns, remixing tracks by Kylie Minogue and recording his latest album, Mesmerism. Here, he discusses his art, his love of trains and his political activism. “Unless we are continuously vigilant about the rights that we’ve gained, they can quite easily disappear again.”
TarraWarra International 2019: The Tangible Trace
The Tangible Trace, the TarraWarra Museum of Art’s new exhibition, has works of subtle beauty, but ultimately asks too few challenging questions of its audience.
“The beauty of fiction is that people take their whole histories into reading a book, and you can’t control what they think, what they like, what they don’t like, what they respond to. They might like something because they had an experience like it, or they might hate a character because it’s frightening to them because of something that happened. So, it’s a conversation that you are not really privy to.”
Life
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Disability and natural disasters
When natural disasters strike, their impact on people with disability is even more diabolical. So what measures are being put in place to assist those affected?
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Mixed martial artist Damien Brown’s toughest mission
Soldier turned prison guard Damien Brown is a man used to staring down danger. But his bid to become a UFC fighter posed one of his greatest challenges.
Books
Puzzles
1. In what year did Apple release iTunes?
2. Tony Manero is the lead character in which 1977 film?
3. What type of animal is a serval?
4. In what year did the Australian children’s television series Mr Squiggle first air?
5. Murdoch University is based in what Australian city?
6. Bahrain is situated in which body of water? (Bonus point for naming the island nation’s capital.)
7. In Australian English, which spelling is correct: (a) subpoenaed; (b) subpoeaned; or (c) supoenaed?
8. Who was the most recent Australian athlete to compete in the Olympics in two different sports?
9. Is a reflex angle larger or smaller than an obtuse angle?
10. Which politician has daughters named Cassia Peaches and Lara Lettice?
Quotes
REAL ESTATE
“I’m not saying he’s got enemies … I’m just saying people still think that Lleyton Hewitt owns this house.”
The owner of an Adelaide mansion sold by Hewitt in 2014 says he believes a firebombing of the property was “tennis-related”. Real estate agents across the country shudder at the thought of trying to resell Nick Kyrgios’s place.
ADANI
“Our state has some of the most rigorous environmental protections in the country and we do not apologise for that.”
The Queensland environment minister comments on approvals for the Carmichael coalmine. Really, why would you apologise for something you can overlook.
GENDER
“… it’s ludicrous and I think it’s an example of somebody whose leadership role really needs to be challenged.”
The 2015 Australian of the Year comments on John Setka’s reported criticism of her. Setka says he was taken out of context, which is a polite way of looking at his career.
TRANSPORT
“Australian governments have adopted a forward-looking approach to ridesharing and future transport technology.”
Uber’s regional manager announces plans for Uber Air, a flying taxi service that will take passengers from Melbourne’s CBD to the airport for $100. This is still more likely than a train line.
MUSIC
“I don’t think anyone is really that attached to it because the song’s just not that good.”
The rapper suggests Paul Kelly and Dan Sultan could write a new national anthem. A nice idea, but everyone already knows Briggs and Kylie Minogue are the only duo for the job.
DREAMS
“I want to see a coal-fired power station built in Australia … I want to see the Bradfield Scheme to ensure water security in Australia.”
The One Nation leader lays out demands she will be making of the Morrison government. Taken in full, her policy platform is an oddly detailed blueprint for time travel.
