The Lambie interview: inside her power play
“Pauline Hanson’s all about the ‘here, look at me for a few seconds’ … I just want to get the job done. I want mass support and I want respect, and respect has to be earned.”
With her crucial vote, Senator Jacqui Lambie wields untold influence over Scott Morrison’s government. How does she plan to use this power?
News
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Exclusive: Key NDIS emails held on private bank server
“Concerns about a lack of transparency have stalked the rapidly growing National Disability Insurance Agency, which is running behind schedule on original timelines to deliver the NDIS.”
As a royal commission begins on the disability sector, correspondence reveals NDIA chair Helen Nugent has used an email account owned by Macquarie Bank to direct the $22 billion agency.
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The murky ethics of political donations
As Gladys Liu faces questions about raising $1 million for the Liberal Party, a repentant Sam Dastyari is calling for an end to the ‘arms race’ of political donations.
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NSW abortion bill dividing Liberals
“The spill never had any prospects. It was called off the next morning after senior Liberals – including some who oppose the bill – lined up to rubbish the spill and its proponents. But the threatened coup may be just a harbinger of more trouble. ”
The decriminalisation of abortion threatens a schism in the NSW Liberal Party, with opponents of the reform putting Gladys Berejiklian’s leadership in peril.
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Robo-debt class action launched
As prominent lawyer Peter Gordon launches a class action against Centrelink’s controversial robo-debt scheme, the minister in charge claims it’s all a political stunt.
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Israel deadlock sees Bibi set for bye-byes
Second poll unlikely to save Benjamin Netanyahu. Donald Trump’s mixed approach on Iran. The Solomons switches allegiance to China. New IRA looking to add recruits with bomb plots.
Opinion
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Ruby Hamad
Protecting the white body politic
“There are no accidents in the rhetoric of protection: it intends to seal off white Western society from the remainder of the world’s population both biologically and geographically. The white female body was, and often still is, regarded as in need of protection, not for the sake of the women but because they function as stand-ins for white society itself. Of course, this alleged protection does not apply to non-white women.”
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Paul Bongiorno
Entering Trump’s dinner circle
“The duchessing of Scott Morrison in Washington begins today with one of the most colourful ceremonies Donald Trump can muster. The United States Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, resplendent in their 18th-century uniforms and playing antique instruments, will perform in the prime minister’s honour on the South Lawn of the White House. This will be followed by the rare privilege of a white-tie official state dinner … But the hoopla in America for this Morrison visit will do nothing to help him manage the strained relationship with Beijing.”
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Schmo Morrison was in full marketing-man mode as he batted away accusations against forgetful Comrade Gladys Liu. Membership of a strange Chinese state propaganda machine; squillions of dollars raised at great fundraising feasts; agitation to amend the foreign investment regime so Chinese business can snap up swaths of agricultural land – nothing to see here, move on, says Schmo.
Letters, Poem & Editorial
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on fridays,
our children are bursting train carriages
backpacked full of hope
wielding placards bedroom-made
from flattened cornflake boxes
and upcycled tomato-stakes
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No one could accuse Pauline Hanson of being a fair-weather critic of the Family Court. For the past 20 years, she has agitated for an inquiry into family law. This week, finally, she got her wish. In her parliamentary career, Hanson has never attempted to hide her views about this system: she considers it stacked against men.
Culture
The fiery resistance of journalist Mona Eltahawy
Journalist and activist Mona Eltahawy has dedicated herself to fighting what she calls the most dangerous ideology in the world: patriarchy. “The quickest way for these men in power to show their power, to flex their muscles, is over the bodies of women … History is not linear. Just because we achieve progress in something, it doesn’t mean that it’s going to continue progressing.”
Despite some missed opportunities in its storytelling, Animals is sustained by riveting performances from its two leads, and by Sophie Hyde’s generosity as a director.
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
Although rebooting Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal may seem a strange choice, the Netflix prequel Age of Resistance is technically impressive and speaks to contemporary concerns.
Trans rights activist Rebekah Robertson
“The amount of oversight in our lives was extreme. So, I think when I hear people fanning the flames of doubt and fear about the amount of scrutiny that families like ours go through in order to access treatment for our young people, they seriously don’t know what they’re talking about.”
Life
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Australian cyclist Amanda Spratt had her best season yet in 2018 – but fell just short of the world title. Can she go one better this year?
Books
Puzzles
1. Wilhelmina “Mina” Wylie and Sarah “Fanny” Durack were champions of which sport?
2. Zucchero is the Italian word for which common pantry item?
3. What is the currency of South Africa?
4. “The quality of mercy” is a monologue from which Shakespeare play? (Bonus point for naming the character who delivers it.)
5. How old was former Zimbabwean prime minister Robert Mugabe when he died this month?
6. What does the Latin phrase omnia vincit amor mean?
7. Quokka, Waltzing Matilda, Skippy and Great Southern Land are all names of what?
8. What 11-letter word beginning with ‘b’ is the name for a short musket with an expanded muzzle?
9. Australia’s minister for trade, tourism and investment shares his name with which English city?
10. “I guess I should’ve known/ By the way you parked your car sideways/ That it wouldn’t last” is the opening lyric to which song?
Quotes
INFLUENCE
“I nearly died of shock when I found out who I was sitting next to.”
The founder of Katter’s Australian Party expresses surprise at realising he is sitting next to Gladys Liu after rushing into the chamber to vote against Labor. He later discovered the motion would have required Liu to explain her past membership of groups linked to the Chinese Communist Party.
CLIMATE
“Don’t invite us here to just tell us how inspiring we are without actually doing anything about it because it doesn’t lead to anything.”
The teenager tells the United States congress to try harder to address climate change.
PARLANCE
“I’ve always treated people with respect.”
The union leader defends his record, which includes calling his wife a “weak fucken piece of shit”, a “treacherous Aussie fucken cunt” and a “fucken dog”; telling the Labor Party to “suck me off”; and referring to Rosie Batty’s activism as a denial of rights to men.
BRITAIN
“I deeply regret the outcome and accept that my approach failed. The decisions I took contributed to that failure. I failed.”
The former British prime minister waits until a week before the publication of his memoirs to apologise for unleashing Brexit.
SENATE
“These people need to move on with their lives. Get over the hate, the pain of a break-up, it’s about working together to find the answers to all this.”
The senator, recently appointed co-chair of a family law inquiry, suggests women lying about domestic violence is a widespread problem, citing her son’s experience as evidence.
HERESY
“I called the royal commission because I wanted to shine a light on the aged-care industry.”
The prime minister takes credit for the aged-care royal commission, first put forward by the Greens and Labor, which he fought for months.
