Inside Bill Shorten’s party war room
Despite a quiet start to opposition, Labor has a plan to win back government, and it relies on one man: Tony Abbott.
News
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Government pledges to act on domestic violence have failed to stop the spate of family murders.
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SA’s Edinburgh RAAF base to host drones fleet
The government plans to buy a fleet of unproven unmanned aerial vehicles to patrol for asylum seekers and illegal fishing boats. Basing it in Adelaide suggests a political agenda.
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Federal budget talk all about when cuts will bite
Budget buzz; pensioners and health targeted; good news for some on costs.
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Cricket Australia and the AFL fight for best and brightest
The AFL is out-muscling Cricket Australia in attracting our multitalented young sportsmen.
Read
“
[GVK is] a company with ridiculously grand plans … I just can’t see how they’re going to pay Gina Rinehart, let alone build the mine.
”It was set to be Australia’s biggest mine, but the simple rules of supply and demand mean the coalfields of Queensland’s Galilee Basin may never be excavated.
Read
Xi Jinping ups power grab with anti-corruption drive
Power plays; Chinese navy's video takes off; new broom sweeps away Snowden leaks; DFAT goes back to the ’80s on Burma.
Opinion
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Tony Windsor
A word of advice to the senate’s wildcards
“Take your time: don’t be bullied by Abbott, Shorten or Abetz ... Don’t be bullied by those destroyers of democratic process – tell the bastards to get lost.”
An insider’s outside view
Returning for a second season
The Lucky Country is an insider’s outside view of Australia’s most important political and economic debates. Hosted by The Australia Institute’s Chief Economist Richard Denniss, The Lucky Country is a weekly podcast from Schwartz Media which applies common sense to complex issues.
Find The Lucky Country on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.
Letters & Editorial
Culture
Monkey Baa and Windmill Theatre wow young imaginations
Two clever companies keep audiences in their thrall, as children’s theatre comes of age.
Food
Life
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The revolution will be flat packed
A new approach to furniture opens up the market for Australian design.
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Fashion brand Dion Lee gets down to business
New emphasis is being placed on up-and-comers’ financial and strategic wherewithal.
Read
Taking his breaks: Neil Robertson, 32, snooker player
How our top snooker player's career came together right on cue.
Books
The Quiz
1. Rob Ford, who has admitted to having used crack cocaine, “probably in one of my drunken stupors”, is mayor of which Canadian city?
2. The Battle of Midway was fought during World War II in which ocean?
3. Set in Iceland, Burial Rites is the debut novel of which Australian author?
4. In regards to the American cable and satellite television network, the acronym HBO stands for…?
5. What is the nickname of the Australian women’s cricket team, which won its third straight World Twenty20 title this month? (Bonus points for naming the team the women beat in the final and the winner of the men’s tournament.)
6. Which nation’s capital city is, in English, an anagram of its former capital city?
7. In the NATO phonetic alphabet, which girl’s name is used to signify the letter ‘J’?
8. What breed of animal is a Belted Galloway?
9. Name the former Tasmanian independent politician who served in the senate between 1975 and 2005 and died, aged 79, this month.
10. Lachlan Murdoch and James Packer were directors of which telco that collapsed in 2001?
Quotes
DEATHS (1)
“Dementia is a cruel fate and I have been grieving the loss that comes with it for some years.”
Neville Wran’s wife mourns his death, aged 87. The former NSW premier is survived by national parks, random breath testing, the Land and Environment Court, legalised gay sex and the Sydney Entertainment Centre.
ENERGY
“Coal is not like the sunroof on a car, something we can choose not to have if we don’t want it. Coal is necessary for modern society.”
The NSW Mineral Council CEO, confusingly named for Queensland’s coal-rich basin, in defence of standard car roofs.
‘‘Together with the Super Hornet and Growler electronic warfare aircraft, the F-35 aircraft will ensure Australia maintains a regional air combat edge.”
The prime minister announces he will spend more than $12 billion on 58 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.
DEFENCE (2)
“It’s a dud decision. No one has had the balls to call a halt to it.”
The Liberal MP criticises Abbott’s purchase of more fighter jets. Jensen spent years as a defence analyst, studying the Joint Strike Fighter. This week, Abbott sat in the cockpit of one.
MONEY
“Nothing is free – someone always pays.”
The treasurer lays the ground for a harsh May budget, expected to be tough on pensioners and the causes of pensioners.
DEATHS (2)
“Kerry once asked me to slander Nifty in my Bulletin column so he could sue ACP. Kerry’d settle out of court. The perfect payoff. I declined.”
The broadcaster recalls his former boss Kerry Packer organising to bribe Neville Wran. He later recalled walking in on Packer and Wran doing a dodgy deal on Lotto, calling the former premier “Australian politic’s greatest fixer, in a world before ICAC”.
