March 8–14, 2014

The burning coal pit at Morwell, in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley.

News

Why Morwell is burning

Martin McKenzie-Murray Though lit by an arsonist, the coalmine fire choking the town of Morwell is fanned by poor regulation and corporate cost-cutting.

News

Treasurer Joe Hockey checks the Mid Year Economic Forecast with Finance Minister Matthias Cormann at Parliament House.

News

Hockey’s inner cabinet strives to rein in Abbott on economy

“At one point in time, we dries were in a niche and were trying to drag the party in that direction. We’re now mainstream and Tony Abbott is pushing us to the extreme.”

Sophie Morris

Lawyer Bernard Collaery, left, speaks with Timor-Leste’s Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Luis Gutierrez at the International Court of Justice in January.

News

The Hague rules on Timor-Leste material seized in ASIO raids

Jonathan Pearlman With vast oil and gas reserves at stake, did the federal government use its espionage agencies to foil Timor-Leste’s case against it in The Hague?

News

Managing director Mark Scott knows his ABC

“The A is for Australian, and Australians understand that.”

Ramona Koval

News

Shoppies boss Joe de Bruyn bows out

Mike Seccombe A union stalwart stands down but his conservative views continue to influence Australian social policy.

Business

Medibank Private could be first sale of many

Kirsty Simpson As the Abbott government hunts for budget ballast in every nook and cranny, it is considering how best to sell Australia’s largest private health insurer.

World

Diplomacy required in Ukraine

Hamish McDonald Diplomacy in the Ukraine. US defence cuts. Submarine program. China’s Ukraine response.

Russian soldiers with their insignia removed march on a Ukrainian military base near Simferopol on Thursday.

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Opinion

Opinion

Mike Seccombe
Big Tobacco’s plan to stub out plain packaging

“At least one claim made by Philip Morris is true: the company is bigger than Uruguay ... Australia, with an economy 15 times bigger, had the means to meet Big Tobacco’s challenge. ”

Opinion

Guy Rundle
A collision course in the culture wars

“Who will rise to the challenge of defending the public sector and a progressive system?”

Opinion

Clem Bastow
I tweet, therefore I am …

“In the world of social media, when a life is ‘lived’ online, how authentic can it really be?”

Letters, Cartoon & Editorial

Cartoon

ReadCartoon image, links to full cartoon page

Editorial
Final call for the national carrier

Letters

Worse to come in Indonesia

Hamish McDonald’s observations that Tony Abbott and Julie Bishop would do well to muse on the SBY succession are timely. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has overseen some positive reforms in Indonesia which …

Still questions on lobbying company

Congratulations on a fantastic paper. I read it from cover to cover. It was interesting to read Tracey Cain’s statement (‘‘Yes, Senator’’) that her husband resigned …

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Food

Read
Image for article: Anchovy, garlic and celery salad and anchovies on toast

Food

Anchovy, garlic and celery salad and anchovies on toast

“Generally in Australia we get anchovies similar to the European variety but, in total, there are about 140 species in the anchovy family. ”

Andrew McConnell

Books

Image for article: William S. Burroughs: A Life

Barry Miles
William S. Burroughs: A Life

Image for article: The Last Word

Hanif Kureishi
The Last Word

Image for article: Beams Falling

P.M. Newton
Beams Falling

Life

Image for article: James and Imogen Tutton’s Mornington Peninsula home

Property

James and Imogen Tutton’s Mornington Peninsula home

Lucy Feagins A passion for Australian art melds with a love of wide open spaces.

Matthew Todd, whose Open Source Malaria project won an Accelerating Science Award in the US last year.

Science

Freeing the business of science

Brendan Shanahan Neither academics nor multinational corporations are generally given to sharing but with two Australian scientists championing ‘open science’, hopes are high for a research revolution.

Image for article: Fast company: Jessica Gallagher, 27, Paralympian

Sport

Fast company: Jessica Gallagher, 27, Paralympian

Richard Cooke Paralympic bronze medallist Jessica Gallagher knows how to master her fears and the importance of trust.

The Quiz

1. Which plant species was known only through fossil records and thought to be extinct, until it was discovered in 1994 in a NSW national park?
2. What is the term given to a positive number that can be divided evenly only by 1, or itself?
3. In Spanish, amarillo refers to which colour?
4. John and Maxwell are the first names of which Nobel prize-winning author?
5. Chevy Chase is a suburb of which US city?
6. A swimming naked baby featured on the cover of which seminal 1991 rock album?
7. For which film did Philip Seymour Hoffman win a best actor Oscar? (Bonus points for naming any of the three films for which he received a best supporting actor nomination.)
8. From which Balinese prison was Schapelle Corby released last month?
9. Which strait, formerly known as Hellespont, connects the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara?
10. Who was the only English cricketer to score a Test century during the latest Ashes series?

Click through for answers.

Quotes

TREES

“I don’t see people who are environmental bandits, I see people who are the ultimate conservationists.’’

Tony AbbottThe Prime Minister embraces the timber industry at a dinner on Tuesday, promising to overturn World Heritage listings on 74,000 hectares of Tasmanian forest.

WORLD

“In another world.”

Angela Merkel

The German Chancellor offers her opinion of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a telephone conversation with US President Barack Obama. The phone call, reported by The New York Times, followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

SPORT

“She screamed terribly and she yelled for help. It was something you can’t explain to someone else, how anxious those screams were.’’

Michelle Burger The first witness in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial explains what she heard the night the Olympian’s girlfriend was killed.

BALANCE

“Business is good right now, but now my personal life is a disaster.”

James Packer

The mogul muses over his new push into the Chinese film industry. Among other things, he tells Forbes magazine, “The last thing I think I am is perfect.”

CELEBRITY

“Don’t you fucking forget it.”

Cate Blanchett

The thespian celebrates becoming the first Australian to win two Oscars for acting. Blanchett won best actress for her performance in the Woody Allen film Blue Jasmine.

HARMONY

‘‘I’m not sure that Kevin is putting himself in a position of trying to broker peace there. I think this is a visit where he’s trying to enlighten himself.”

Richard MarlesThe Labor frontbencher seeks to explain the surprise appearance in Russia of two-time former prime minister Kevin Rudd. The trip was apparently planned months ago, suggesting foresight as well as helpfulness.

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