Newstart: the human cost of Morrison’s plan
“Scott Wilson, chief executive of the Aboriginal Drug and Alcohol Council (SA), is adamant that reductions in problem drinking have come not because of the card itself but because of the services that came in with it or around it. ‘You have to treat this stuff, not make life harder elsewhere,’ he says.”
With an expansion of the welfare crackdown signalled this week in parliament, experts warn the government’s measures will lead to collateral damage.
News
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Albanese attempts to pacify backroom disquiet
“Anthony Albanese had a singular purpose when he addressed a gathering of the Labor caucus and staff in the opposition party room on Wednesday night: to remind his party that they still had things to fight for – and against.”
While Labor faces a raft of legislation intended to split the party’s loyalties, the opposition leader has dismissed critics in his ranks who say he is capitulating to Scott Morrison’s agenda.
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Philip Lowe and Australia’s economy
Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe is flouting convention, publicly calling on the government and business to do more to save Australia’s foundering economy.
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Remembering Timor-Leste’s independence
“Yes, Australia had led the peacekeeping force that finally pushed out the Indonesian military and restored peace, and for that they were grateful, but for so many Timorese it came too late.”
The roots of the tension between the Australian government and the Timorese stretch far beyond the bugging scandal exposed by Witness K. Many believe John Howard’s peacekeeping initiatives at the end of the ’90s were too little and too late.
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Inquest into Tanya Day’s death in custody
Last weekend, Yorta Yorta grandmother Tanya Day would have turned 57. As the inquest into her death in police custody continues, her family is pushing for justice and holding the Andrews government to its promises for change.
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Boris grabs Brexit bull by the horns
Donald Trump cancels Taliban summit at Camp David. New Zealand TV’s plans to broadcast into Pacific. Boris Johnson’s options ahead of Brexit deadline. India’s attempted lunar landing.
Opinion
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Shaminda Kanapathi
From Manus Island to Port Moresby
“As the government of Papua New Guinea has vowed to remove all refugees from Manus Island, most of us who have been detained there for almost seven years are being transported to Port Moresby. It is a big change for us: disturbing and disruptive in many ways. I am in the Granville Motel. It has been fully booked for the Manus refugees. We have to use our boat ID numbers here too for all our needs. Our identity continues to be stripped away from us in PNG.”
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Paul Bongiorno
The politics of integrity
“The Morrison government is running away from a national integrity commission at breakneck speed. Its reluctance is made all the starker by its unrestrained willingness to seize on the embarrassment caused to its Labor opponents by Australia’s toughest anti-corruption body, the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption.”
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Gadfly
Legal eagles take to Sky
It was a star-encrusted night on Tuesday as the New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties held its annual knees-up at Sky Phoenix in Sydney. This was not just a few lefties munching on dim sum around a lazy Susan in a Chinese restaurant. Rather, it was a grand affair bursting with judges, lawyers, politicians, scientists, captains of industry, academics, public administrators, journalists and other worthies.
Letters, Poem & Editorial
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no rain in sight,
all hot south-westerlies
spring-tinder
grey smoke, coiled
around the cowering
sunshine coast
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This is what happens when your chief climate policy is prayer. Rainforests burn in the spring. Bushfires rage in two states before it is even summer. Rivers are silted with dead fish. Drought wrecks the inland.
Culture
The high notes of ACO violinist Satu Vänskä
As the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s principal violin, Satu Vänskä teases astonishing music from her centuries-old instrument. But away from the stage, Vänskä’s musical tastes march to a very different beat. “You know what’s really sad? You can go through your whole life without ever hearing ’90s grunge. Not to mention Bach or Mozart. Or 1970s popular music. If we want to keep our art form alive … we try to bring back music in everyday conversation, so you can encounter something and awake that curiosity.”
In Avalanche: A Love Story, Maxine Peake’s powerful and personal performance charts the pain and yearning – but also the wry humour – found in writer Julia Leigh’s account of undergoing IVF.
Making art public: 50 years of Kaldor Public Art Projects
In looking back at the 34 works commissioned by Kaldor Public Art Projects over the past 50 years, Making art public captures neither the energy of this medium nor the debate about its value.
AFL player and coach Danny Frawley
“Frawley made the decision to speak publicly about his mental health. About his anxiety, depression, the weeks of sleepless despair. In life, he was praised for it. It is strange that we might undermine that legacy by speaking so indirectly about his death.”
Life
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In Britain, a new treatment has given women the opportunity to delay menopause. But does this risk demonising a natural part of the ageing process?
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Wallabies look for touch ahead of World Cup
It’s been a roller-coaster Rugby World Cup preparation for the Wallabies – first came the sacking of star player Israel Folau, then a glorious victory against their nemesis, quickly followed by an ignominious defeat. So what are their prospects?
Books
Puzzles
1. The novel Picnic at Hanging Rock is set in what year? (Bonus point for naming the year the Peter Weir film of the same name was released.)
2. In Greek mythology, who is Eros’s wife?
3. Dian Fossey is best known for her study of what animals?
4. What is the largest of the Cook Islands?
5. Is the board on which an artist mixes colours: (a) a palette; (b) a palate; or (c) a pallet?
6. Who delivered the famous film line, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning”?
7. What colour is the number 1 on a roulette wheel?
8. Who shared Time magazine’s 1972 Person of the Year honour with Henry Kissinger?
9. Which Australian state or territory is home to the Glass House Mountains?
10. Who won the 2019 US Open women’s singles title?
Quotes
ACTIVISM
“I am a nerd. It gives me the time and energy to research all the boring facts.”
The teenage climate activist explains to Naomi Klein how to become a global household name by the age of 16.
SCIENCE
“I’m just a poor, humble bloke with a year 12 education, but I’m prepared to accept what our scientists are telling us.”
The water resources minister, who earns more than $200,000 a year, backs away from earlier comments that he has “no idea” whether climate change is man-made.
MEMBERSHIP
“If I can’t recall, I cannot be an active member of that council, can I?”
The Liberal MP tells Andrew Bolt she is unable to remember being on two provincial councils of the China Overseas Exchange Association between 2003 and 2015, as Chinese government documents indicate.
HORSE RACING
“I can’t wait to come to Melbourne, and I can’t wait to come to the Melbourne Cup. I’ve heard so much about the race.”
The singer announces that she will perform at the 2019 Melbourne Cup, continuing a long-held tradition for divisive American celebrities.
GAMES
“[It’s] a fun new take on the game that creates a world where women have an advantage often enjoyed by men.”
The game-maker announces the release of Ms Monopoly, a version of Monopoly in which women will collect $240 when they pass “Go” while male players collect the usual $200.
WELFARE
“I am really puzzled by the level of opposition to the government trying to tackle a problem of drug addiction for people who are not in work.”
The prime minister admits to being flummoxed by a national display of empathy and compassion.
