Exclusive: Australia enforces Nauru’s blacklist
“[The president’s office] convey their desire to the Australian government, and that’s how the action will be carried out.”
Documents reveal the Australian government was called on to enforce Nauru’s blacklist of political dissidents working in offshore detention.
News
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New domestic intelligence powers
“Other departments and agencies right across government will be enabled to effectively sidestep privacy laws and provide Australians’ personal information to ONI voluntarily, apparently without a warrant being required.”
A new Office of National Intelligence will have increased powers to access personal information and scrutinise online activities. But who will monitor the monitor?
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Queensland debates abortion law
Next month, Queensland will debate changes to pregnancy termination legislation. While many argue current laws disadvantage poorer women, particularly in rural areas, others are keen to maintain the status quo.
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Inaccessible classrooms in NSW schools
“I contacted the Education Department and was told that while it was policy to provide access for students with a disability, no such policy existed with regard to parents and carers.”
Among the thousands of demountable classrooms used in NSW schools, many are inaccessible to parents with disabilities. So why is the Education Department ignoring building codes that require higher standards?
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“At the state and local level, Wentworth voters show strong support for progressives and independents. They care about issues on which the Liberal Party is weak, such as climate change, Indigenous affairs and refugees.”
The range of candidates running in the Wentworth byelection reflects an electorate that has less and less in common with the Liberal Party, which has held the seat since the party’s foundation.
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Trump tells China: ‘You’re tariffed!’
Former general jailed in Philippines; backdown on new seasonal visa.
Opinion
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Harper Nielsen
Why I won’t stand for the national anthem
“I really wanted people to think about the anthem, and how we exclude First Nations people. I wanted people to think about racism and how it can look, sometimes in little ways we can’t see or didn’t think about. I hope that’s happened. I also hope people talk to each other about our anthem, and about how we can honour and show respect for Indigenous Australians. So I’m happy I did what I did. And even with the mean things some people have said about me, I’d do it again.”
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Paul Bongiorno
Morrison’s ‘momentum’ peters out
“In the government party room on Tuesday Morrison told incredulous members that “we have momentum”. One quipped later: “Yeah, the sort of momentum you get when you jump off a cliff.” Maybe Morrison was taking heart from the fact he was more popular than Bill Shorten in the latest Fairfax Ipsos poll, though not quite as popular as the man he replaced.”
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Last week the Saturday magazine that comes free with The Catholic Boys Daily celebrated its 30th birthday. The occasion was marked by interviews with 30 well-known Australians, including the likes of John Olsen, Toni Collette, Tim Winton, Alan Joyce, Ian Thorpe, Frank Lowy etc etc. They were all asked the same questions, about Australia, the outlook for the next 30 years, favourite people and so on.
Letters & Editorial
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What would you do if a powerful figure sexually harassed or assaulted you? Who should you tell? Rounding on a year since The New Yorker and The New York Times first broke the Harvey Weinstein story, any consensus on the right answers to these questions seems a hollow possibility.
Culture
‘Dark Tourist’ documentary-maker David Farrier
Where once he was Tickled, New Zealand documentary-maker David Farrier has most recently devoted himself to visiting ghoulish sites of so-called ‘dark tourism’. Here, he talks about murky ethics, Kiwi sensibilities and the pressure to react the ‘right’ way. “There’s one point where I’ve got a gun to my head and I laugh, because I’m sort of nervous. “Some people will say to me that it was really inappropriate to laugh at that point … [But] that’s what happened. It’s uncomfortable laughter. We wanted to leave all that in.”
Liars’ new album of oblique rock, TWTWF, finds Angus Andrew lyrically exploring the departure of his long-time songwriting partner and sonically drawing on his natural surrounds.
“We talk a lot about art, what art is, what his practice is, although like most artists he finds it difficult to define his practice in words. He believes strongly in the good art can do, fostering what he calls ‘radical empathy’, in our society where ‘it’s easier for hearts to close and for hope to be lost than for our childlike openness and wonder to remain at the centre of life’. He sees art as problem solving. ”
Life
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The beverage director for Andrew McConnell’s restaurants recommends the season’s top wines, and a bonus gin.
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Young people in aged-care homes
As the spotlight turns to conditions in aged-care facilities, attention is also being drawn to the problem of young people with disabilities being forced to live in residences with an end-of-life focus.
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Dragons’ slayer: Talesha Quinn, 29, rugby league player
St George Illawarra’s Talesha Quinn on why she loves the physicality of rugby league and the importance of being a good role model for younger sportswomen.
Books
The Quiz
1. What are the surnames of Edina and Patsy in the television series Absolutely Fabulous?
2. What word means both a fruit and a social engagement?
3. How many Australian prime ministers have died in office? (Bonus points for naming them.)
4. Housed in St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, The Pietà is a sculpture by which artist?
5. What does the musical instruction allegro mean?
6. The Plunket Shield is awarded in which sport?
7. Ancient Rome was built on how many hills?
8. Which three artists achieved EGOT status this month – having now won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award?
9. The town of Tom Price is in which Australian state or territory?
10. Who was sworn in as United States Secretary of State on September 22, 1973?
Quotes
MEMORIES
“My sisters and I would run away from the cantankerous old spinster next door who drowned newborn kittens in a bucket because she didn’t want to add to her clutter of cats, right into the hands of the old widow on the other side who would force feed us molasses.”
Facing an assault on his credibility from Peter Dutton, the former Border Force chief has clearly hired a PR expert to handle his closely followed Twitter account.
NICKNAMES
“I wouldn’t want to be called a ‘quota girl’.”
The New South Wales senator opposes gender quotas in the Liberal Party. She apparently takes no issue with filling the quota of LNP backbenchers needed to fill out Sky News’s nightly line-up.
IMMIGRATION
“I Stopped These.”
The inscription on a trophy the prime minister keeps in his office, shaped like a fishing boat. Tony Abbott allegedly has the same words on a marble sculpture in his office – a sort of miniature antipodean Mount Rushmore – with the faces of Malcolm Turnbull, Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd carved into it.
OPPORTUNITY
“A nobody from nowhere gets this sweet gig, free suit, new boots, just because I don’t like men.”
The Nanette comedian takes the stage to present an award at the Emmy Awards. According to the people who are angry at me on Twitter, this is also exactly how I got the job of editor of The Saturday Paper.
POLITICS
“67–68.”
The Greens MP cites the result of his failed vote of no confidence against Peter Dutton. It was close, almost as close as you need to be with the Home Affairs minister for him to save your au pair from deportation.
STRAWBERRIES
“I think you’re scum. I think you’re lowlife to have done this. You know, I don’t know why you’ve done it. Surely you’ve got family out there – brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles, aunts.”
Speaking on Facebook live, the One Nation leader copy-pastes her attack lines usually reserved for migrants and refugees and instead turns them on a worthy adversary – the “strawberry terrorists” who are tearing the fabric of Australian life apart.
