Exclusive: Aged-care sector at risk of collapse
“The two ministers in charge of the system knew they had a terrible problem. In short: without a bailout, the industry’s key operators could go under. Tens of thousands of elderly people would be left without care.”
Funding cuts made when Scott Morrison was treasurer have left parts of the aged-care sector on the brink of insolvency, propped up by a government bailout.
News
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Trump call pulls Morrison into US scandal
“ ‘They’ve probably done a risk assessment on the options and the option of not co-operating with the Trump administration was more damaging to Australia’s interests,’ says John Blaxland, professor of intelligence studies at the ANU.”
As Donald Trump faces the threat of impeachment, Scott Morrison is carefully balancing his responses to the US president’s request for assistance.
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National security laws impeding journalism
Despite Christian Porter’s new ‘safeguard’ for journalists, experts warn that Australia’s national security laws continue to impede public-interest reporting, as whistleblowers are increasingly afraid to come forward.
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The cost of increasing the super rate
While the proposal to increase the superannuation rate to 12 per cent has bipartisan support, the reform is likely to be a significant economic burden that exacerbates inequality.
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Hong Kong chaos eclipses China celebrations
Australia’s link to Trump inquiry. Protests continue in Indonesia. Beijing celebrations overshadowed by Hong Kong protest shooting. Mohammed bin Salman on Khashoggi murder PR offensive.
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Gadfly
Removing the Downer cover
#Thighgate and #Arcurigate have gripped the Sceptred Isle, while at the same moment Washington is flooded with subpoenas issued to President Bone Spurs’ posse of hit men, and Hong Kong celebrates the 70th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party with its own special fireworks.
Opinion
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Matthew Evans
The need for sustainable farming
“The IPCC report is no easy reading. Criticisms are couched, references extensive. What it did not say was that meat is the only culprit. In fact, it says that farming – the way we’ve done it for the past 100 years in particular – is unsustainable.”
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Jane Gilmore
The untold stories of family violence
“White Ribbon was the most visible organisation in Australia dedicated to ending men’s violence against women. Yet its actions repeatedly frustrated the domestic violence sector, survivors and their supporters. Those actions demonstrated a fundamental failure to understand the problem that White Ribbon was meant to be fixing.”
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Paul Bongiorno
Coalition flailing on drought
“The Morrison government is scrambling to persuade the nation it really knows what it is on about and how it will achieve it. The drought and a stubbornly sluggish economy aren’t helping. Nor is Morrison’s new best mate, Donald Trump.”
Letters, Poem & Editorial
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Maxine Beneba Clarke
Spring break
the bell rings at two thirty,
an hour too early:
playground a-teeming,
kids whooping with glee
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It is a dangerous thing, a government that refuses to govern. So much of the apparatus of governing is dedicated to the appearance of action: doorstops, press conferences, site visits, overseas trips and speeches; committees and estimates hearings; inquiries and royal commissions. It is easy to see all of this general busyness and mistake it for the doing of something. With some political sleight of hand, though, it can easily come to naught.
Culture
Chinese cultural hero Yang Liping
At age 60, dancer and choreographer Yang Liping is still going strong, determined to keep the cultural traditions of China’s ethnic minorities alive. She speaks about her 50-year career and her striking new version of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. “I want to fill the movement with traditional culture and art to make it more solid, more relevant, and more how I think contemporary dance should be.”
Tegan and Sara’s Hey, I’m Just Like You
Even though the songs on Hey, I’m Just Like You were written more than two decades ago, Tegan and Sara’s new album feels contemporary and joins a growing canon of queer pop.
Life
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Rediscovering a love for food in Abruzzo
Burnt out by working long hours as a Melbourne chef, the author headed to Italy to study art and regroup. In the process, she found her passion for food was reignited.
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From humble beginnings in 1971, rugby league’s Koori Knockout has become a key event on the Australian sporting calendar. But the ad hoc running of the tournament has led to urgent calls for professional governance.
Books
Puzzles
1. In the Australian senate, which senators’ names come first and last alphabetically?
2. Is a capybara: (a) a rodent; (b) a flowering plant; or (c) a South American dance?
3. Which AFL player won this year’s Brownlow Medal? (Bonus points for naming the award given to the NRL’s best and fairest, and the 2019 winner.)
4. Name the actor who played villainous Hans Gruber in Die Hard.
5. In which United States national park is the Old Faithful geyser located?
6. Who topped the list of Australia’s highest-paid chief executives for 2018?
7. Which composer wrote the operas La bohème, Tosca and Turandot?
8. What five-letter word beginning with ‘s’ is given to a flock of geese or similar birds in flight formation?
9. People with the eye condition strabismus are commonly referred to as what?
10. True or false: killer whales (orcas) are actually dolphins.
Quotes
OLIGOPOLY
“If she gets elected president, then I would bet that we will have a legal challenge … And does that still suck for us? Yeah.”
The Facebook founder tells staff he will “go to the mat” fighting Senator Elizabeth Warren’s plan to break up the tech giants if she is elected president.
WELFARE
“Probably all it would do is give drug dealers more money and give pubs more money.”
The Families and Social Services minister outlines her arguments against an increase to Newstart.
COSTUMES
“The Force is strong in my family.”
The first daughter shares a photo of one of her children dressed as a Stormtrooper, which is of course a soldier for the authoritarian demagogue Darth Vader.
IMMIGRATION
“Instead we will introduce an Australian-style points-based immigration system.”
The British home secretary outlines her Brexit mission “to end the free movement of people once and for all”.
DIPLOMACY
“I have been right about Downer from the beginning. A wannabe spy and Clinton errand boy who is about to get exposed on the world stage.”
The former Trump aide revisits his favourite conspiracy theory in the wake of the Morrison–Trump call revelations.
ROYALTY
“I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditised to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person.”
The Duke of Sussex sues The Mail on Sunday for publishing a letter his wife, Meghan Markle, sent to her estranged father.
