December 4 – 10, 2021  |  No. 378

News

Omicron variant: What happens now

“By the time scientists in southern Africa discovered a new strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus with an ‘unprecedented’ 30-plus mutations in the crucial spike protein, the pathogen was already quietly circulating in Europe.”

Rick Morton New details have emerged regarding the spread of Omicron to Europe, but it is still not clear how significant the Covid-19 strain will be.

News

News

Independents: Inside the insurrection of the centre

Mike Seccombe A string of independents who have broken away from conservative politics could define the next parliament.

News

Pun times: A dispatch from the protests

John Safran The protests against Victoria’s pandemic legislation are larger – and stranger – than people realise.

News

Exclusive: Barnaby Joyce warns drunk MPs after Jenkins report

Karen Middleton As Barnaby Joyce warned his colleagues against getting caught when drunk in public, it has emerged Scott Morrison removed references to respect from the ministerial code of conduct.

News

Territory Covid-19 outbreaks highlight housing failures

Anna Krien Recent Covid-19 outbreaks have prompted Territorians to get vaccinated, but the cases tearing through Indigenous communities highlight broader inequalities – and the damage done by deliberate misinformation.

World

‘Worst yet to come’ for rioting in Solomon Islands

Jonathan Pearlman China pledges to supply an extra one billion vaccine doses to Africa as Omicron takes hold. India repeals farming laws that led to year-long protests. Barbados removes Queen as head of state and becomes a republic.

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Opinion

Opinion

Kieran Pender
Inside Bernard Collaery’s trial

“Secret evidence, secret hearings and secret judgements. Each step in the prosecution of Bernard Collaery comes with another layer of opacity. If it were not so serious, the accumulation of secrecy in this case would be comedic. Secrecy heaped upon secrecy for secrecy’s sake. A secrecy onion? But this case is no laughing matter. At stake are transparency and accountability.”

Opinion

Paul Bongiorno
Symptoms of decay expose Morrison’s old and tired government

“If the last fortnight of parliament for the year is any guide, Labor has its tail up and the government is in the doldrums. The lack of engagement from the Coalition backbench as the prime minister and his ministers slugged it out with the opposition was one thing, but the dead giveaway was the sitting schedule for next year.”

Opinion

John Hewson
Jacqui Lambie did what John Howard and the Liberal Party wouldn’t

“Now the various independents’ movements are gaining genuine momentum in a number of key seats, having identified good, strong, community-based candidates and launching their campaigns for the next federal election, it is instructive to contemplate how different our politics and government would be if they were successful and indeed may hold the balance of power, at least in the lower house.”

Letters, Cartoon & Editorial

Cartoon

Read

Editorial
The smallest man in the room

In February last year, Mike Seccombe reported what at the time seemed incredible: Australia had a net-zero emissions target for 2050. This was in spite of the Morrison government. The story added up the commitments of every state and territory and found that Australia would reach the global target irrespective of Scott Morrison’s then refusal to endorse it.

Letters

Unforgettable calls from Nauru

I wept on reading the editorial (“The Nauru rapes”, November 27–December 3). Six years ago, Martin McKenzie-Murray documented the brutal rapes of the refugee girls on Nauru. Even after …

Working to improve aged care

Rick Morton (“Old habits”, November 27–December 3) summarises correctly the seemingly intractable difficulty of properly funding and administering aged care. The essential problem …

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Culture

Books

Kate Moore
The Woman They Could Not Silence

David Hunt
Girt Nation

Robyn Annear
Adrift in Melbourne: Seven Walks with Robyn Annear

Life

Food

Avocado mole

David Moyle

Technology

How AI is revolutionising coding

Mark Pesce The promise of artificial intelligence is fast becoming a reality, revolutionising the process of coding.

Travel

Sent (back) to Coventry

Mark Dapin It may have been named Britain’s 2021 City of Culture, but Coventry’s dark past as a hotbed of racism and violence will not be easily erased.

Sport

What the ghostwriters really think about sports memoirs

Martin McKenzie-Murray The supposedly candid memoirs of elite athletes serve as a money-making promotional tool. Despite the name on the cover, they are usually written by someone else.

Puzzles

The Cryptic

Crossword No. 378

The Quiz

1. Which actress links the films Monster, Mermaids and Bel Ami?
2. What is the nickname of Western Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest? (Bonus point for naming the company he founded, of which he is now chairman.)
3. The Atlas Mountains are on which continent?
4. Name the author best known for his Discworld novels.
5. Which Chinese tennis player was feared missing after making sexual assault allegations against a former Chinese vice-premier?
6. Which two homophones can be used to describe the characteristic quality of a sound and is a spoken warning, as given by a lumberjack?
7. What does the ‘A’ in DNA stand for?
8. Who succeeded Richard Nixon as United States president?
9. Released in 1995, what was the first feature-length film created entirely by CGI?
10. Which Australian senator last month declared, “Being held accountable for your own actions isn’t called discrimination. It’s called being, you wouldn’t believe it, a goddamn bloody adult”?

Click through for answers.

Quotes

Equality

“It’s time for more marinas large enough to cater not only for small and medium yachts, but larger ones, too.”

Gina RinehartIn a video call from the deck of her super yacht, the mining magnate complains of a lack of ports available for boats like hers in Queensland. Not all heroes wear capes but some resort wear gets dangerously close.

Politics

“I did not make a ‘noise’ I spoke when making an interjection & I certainly did not make any kind of animal noise at all.”

David VanThe Liberal senator denies allegations he impersonated a dog while Jacqui Lambie was speaking in the chamber. He said he was “doing an angry voice”, which does make him sound like a four-year-old recounting a disagreement with his father.

Retirement

“It’s sad and wrong that a capable person’s contribution can be curtailed in this way.”

Tony AbbottThe former prime minister laments Christian Porter’s decision to retire at the next election. For legal reasons, there is no joke on this item.

Technology

“It was more of a technical snafu, me being a bit of a boomer rather than anything calculated!”

Amanda StokerThe assistant minister for Women is caught using an anonymous social media account to praise her own work. The self-catfish is becoming a specialty of this government.

Retirement II

“No more brilliant mind, no greater friend, no person of greater integrity … someone with a massive heart.”

Scott MorrisonThe prime minister farewells Greg Hunt, who is not recontesting his seat. For all those qualities, the Health minister somehow always looks as though he is wearing an empty suit.

Opposition

“We said we wouldn’t allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good.”

Anthony AlbaneseThe opposition leader ends the parliamentary year saying the Labor Party supported every piece of legislation put up during the pandemic. Certainly, perfection never once seemed to get in their way.