Accounting trick frames reef grant
“It’s a most cynical piece of accounting trickery. A piece of chicanery. That’s the only way I can describe it.”
The government’s surprise $444 million grant to a private foundation is allegedly being used to fudge its commitment to UNESCO on Barrier Reef protection.
News
Read
Federal government ‘colludes’ to nobble Walker inquiry
“We have now got a royal commissioner who is snookered between a federal government’s refusal to assist and the state government’s refusal to grant extra time.”
The South Australian government’s refusal to extend the royal commission into the Murray–Darling finds it accused of collusion with the federal government.
Read
Territory rights and assisted dying
David Leyonhjelm’s bill to permit the territories to pass assisted dying legislation was defeated despite argument it is as much about territory rights.
Read
Following a visit to crowded camps of displaced Rohingya in Bangladesh, Coalition and Labor MPs have suggested a special intake of refugees, similar to the deal for 12,000 Syrians and Iraqis, could receive bipartisan support.
Read
White nationalists and the ’Sky King’
“And so from his room of cables, computer screens and spent packets of modafinil, weev dreams – just as his mythic Sky King had dreamed.”
The man who stole a commercial aeroplane in Seattle, and took his life by crashing it, has become a folk hero to neo-Nazi groups and incels, drafted into a poisonous delusion that is becoming mainstream.
Read
Trump pulls the rug from under Erdoğan
Turkish lira collapses aft er Trump doubles trade tariffs. Joko Widodo names running mate. Youth protests in Bangladesh. Trump chides Harley-Davidson.
Opinion
Read
Ruby Hamad
Fraser Anning and racist politics
“There is no separating racism from the rest of Australian society. Exasperated as white people may be to hear about race, again, your frustration pales next to those forced to live it and fight it. As Labor MP Anne Aly tearfully admitted this week, we are tired of fighting. Tired of claiming our humanity. Tired of waiting for white people to change. Tired of reminding you of our worth. Tired of wondering what is wrong with you and why you still make excuses for this on your watch.”
Read
Sean Kelly
Red flags and crossing the line
“But let’s not celebrate too hard. It was “important always to call out racism”, Malcolm Turnbull told us. Those are words to live by, but they are certainly not words our prime minister lives by. This points to another problem. We are only able to see the danger posed by such views because we have lived through such horrors before. Even then we will not acknowledge the dangerous parallels with historical prejudice until the speaker helpfully labels them for us. So, what about a disaster we have not yet lived through?”
Read
Next Tuesday, Menzies “Research” Centre executive director and Queensland floods expert Nick “Goosebumps” Cater is hosting a massive spread at Old Parliament House in honour of the memory of Dame Enid Lyons, the first openly female member of the House of Representatives. The exciting part is that the Tasmanian Liberal Senate Team is hitching a ride on the event and at $2200 a head you could have the pleasure of Otto Abetz at your table or, better still, have him waiting on your table.
An insider’s outside view
Returning for a second season
The Lucky Country is an insider’s outside view of Australia’s most important political and economic debates. Hosted by The Australia Institute’s Chief Economist Richard Denniss, The Lucky Country is a weekly podcast from Schwartz Media which applies common sense to complex issues.
Find The Lucky Country on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.
Letters & Editorial
Read
There is a tendency in Australia to look at our history as a measured march towards some inevitable, fairer ideal. To indulge in the magical thinking that things just get better. The reality is that every step of progress in this country has been fought for, tooth and nail, and despite history’s affinity for rendering their leadership invisible, it has been disadvantaged minority communities that have started these movements for change.
Culture
Artist Sun Xun on truth and meaning
The work of Chinese artist Sun Xun explores concepts of time and space, truth and lies – always searching for answers. As the first solo exhibition of his work in Australia opens at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, he talks about the role of the artist. “We live in a lie, in a big lie system. People should jump out from the lie circle and touch the world. It is the modern world’s problem. Where is the truth? I don’t know. In my art, I want to make people think: ‘Don’t believe our world – it is a big lie.’ I am trying to open the door for people.”
Where Spike Lee’s films usually brim with passion and intellect, his portrayal of black activism and racism in BlacKkKlansman becomes more slapstick than sinister.
“We order coffee and find a table. He rests his hands on his lap. We talk about the risk of using his name, and the hospital’s name, in this piece for the paper. We decide the risk is too great. I ask him, ‘What would you like to be called? A family name, maybe?’ After pausing, he says, ‘Tony. You can call me Tony.’ He looks at me intently for the first time. ‘It is a good thing,’ he says, ‘telling your story. People need to know what is happening … and it might help other people to have a better life.’ Tony tells me his story. He grew up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he studied medicine. ”
Food
Read
“The window in which to pick artichokes is very short. They go from being young, tender and a joy to prepare to a stringy and tough time-waster, which makes absolute sense considering they are a thistle. This recipe is based on a French preparation – à la Barigoule – which is essentially a preserve cooked in wine, vinegar and oil with the addition of bacon or mushrooms. It’s a very subtle preserve – not quite a pickle – and it can be served as almost a dish on its own.”
Life
Read
Where once live music thrived in sticky-floored, inner-city pubs, musicians are now being booked for gigs in suburban homes.
Read
As well as writing prescriptions for medicine, Australian GPs are being encouraged to follow the lead of New Zealand and Britain in “social prescribing”, where formal directions are provided on diet, exercise, meditation and more.
Read
Kicking goals: Justin Westhoff, 31, Australian rules footballer
Port Adelaide’s Justin Westhoff on the machine that is AFL football, the evolution of the game and finding his social conscience.
Books
The Quiz
1. Who wrote The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club?
2. What is the square root of 324?
3. The Mamanuca Islands comprise part of which country?
4. Bernie Taupin is best known for his long-term songwriting collaboration with which artist? (Bonus point for naming whether he wrote the music or the lyrics.)
5. Who is known as the “father of geometry”?
6. Tim Cook is the chief executive of which multinational company?
7. Is a peccary: (a) a pig-like animal; (b) a relatively minor fault or sin; or (c) a hardwood tree?
8. Which famous tapestry depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England?
9. The documentary Wayne centres on which world champion sportsman?
10. Which two-time Oscar winner did United States president Donald Trump tweet was “a very Low IQ individual”?
Quotes
LAW
“If a retraction and apology is not issued by close of business today, I will instruct my lawyers tomorrow.”
The Home Affairs minister threatens Philip Dalidakis with legal action after the Victorian Labor politician accused Dutton of proposing a “discriminatory immigration policy”. The Saturday Paper is urgently pulping its past 217 editions.
MUSIC
“I waited around all weekend while grimes coddled her boyfriend for being too stupid to know not to go on twitter while on acid.”
The rapper details an unpleasant weekend with Grimes’s boyfriend, Elon Musk. The Tesla owner denies he took acid or that he knows Banks, but his decision to open a candy factory and promise of a line of short shorts strongly supports her version of events.
RHETORIC
“The simple fact is that this Leader of the Opposition is no Tom Cruise.”
The minister for trade finally finds Bill Shorten’s weak spot. The question, for those trying to follow, was about affordable energy.
POLITICS
“There has been no leaking, there has been no briefing against the government.”
The former prime minister claims he has not worked behind the scenes to undermine the government. He has done it out in public.
RACE
“You know, I think that asking people where their forebears come from or commenting upon it is the height of bad manners.”
The member for Kennedy responds poorly to being asked about his Lebanese roots. How his colleague Fraser Anning is expected to rebuild White Australia without the question was not clear.
BANKS
“That’s right.”
The executive general manager at Colonial First State admits to 13,000 breaches of laws regarding fees on superannuation accounts. The figure is astounding, and was later revised to 15,000.
