ALP plans to temper Brandis security powers
Labor is working on a plan to force oversight onto the national security legislation it waved through.
News
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Professional hardman Mick Gatto’s gangland style
“There’s a lot of erratic people out there. One of them might think it a big deal to bring down Mick Gatto. All I can do is hope they miss.”
He’s one of Melbourne’s most colourful characters, made famous throughout the land in the Underbelly TV drama. Here, Mick Gatto talks royal commissions, Brynne Edelsten and charity work.
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With South Australia already reeling from impending manufacturing job losses, calls grow to sink the PM’s plan to send submarine building offshore.
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The death of a political icon made Education Minister Christopher Pyne’s push for deregulation of university fees even harder to sell.
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Whitlam’s China coup incomparable
Balibo Five case a bipartisan albatross. Death penalty in Asia.
Opinion
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Identity withheld
Open letter: Living in the hell called Nauru
“Do you know what the meaning of hopeless and helpless is? Do you know what is the meaning of I got tired of being alive?”
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Paul Bongiorno
Claiming Gough’s political legacy
“The irony here is that so many on this government’s front bench have spent so long at war with Whitlam’s legacy ... Ardent bashers now raise their voices to praise him.”
Letters, Poem & Editorial
Culture
Missy Higgins’ eclectic homage to artists from Oz
Shy Missy Higgins returns to the spotlight by sharing it with others.
Gunter Christmann exhibition outside the box
The German-born gleaner and Darlinghurst institution in a retrospective at Heide.
UTS gives pees a chance with urine-diverting toilet trial
How a group of Sydney researchers' funny dunny could boost world crop yields.
Food
Life
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Why spend a fortune on herbs at the supermarket only to watch them decay in your crisper drawer? Get hooked on growing your own.
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Cancer-eating bacteria a throwback to old-time medicine
Cancer researchers have turned to a largely forgotten treatment developed in the 1890s, injecting bacteria into tumours.
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Wind in his sails: Mathew Belcher, 32, sailor
Is this man the world's best sailor? Many think so.
Books
The Quiz
1. Which literary character first appeared in The Mysterious Affair at Styles (published in 1920)?
2. What is the name of the straw-coloured liquid component of blood?
3. How many seasons were made of the television comedy Friends? (Bonus points for naming three of its six stars.)
4. What was the name of the first space shuttle, launched in 1981?
5. Brass is an alloy made of which two metals?
6. Due to negative connotations following World War I and II, the German shepherd dog breed was known by what other name?
7. What is the name of the fault line that runs through the US state of California?
8. Amal Alamuddin recently made headlines for marrying…
9. World No. 4 tennis player Simona Halep is from which country?
10. Which Perth-born model recently made a comeback to the industry as the new face of Country Road?
Quotes
WHISTLEBLOWERS
“The lower end of seriousness.”
The barrister acting for Freya Newman, who pleaded guilty to revealing details of an undisclosed scholarship granted to Tony Abbott’s daughter, describes her offence. She will be sentenced next month.
TERROR
“I don’t believe there is any evidence to suggest that that is a likely course of action.”
The vice-admiral responds in senate estimates to Jacqui Lambie’s concern that Ebola-infected “suicide agents” may breach the country’s borders.
SPORT
“This is a very proud day for my family. My father had a long history and association with Souths.”
The gaming mogul announces he will continue to invest in his father’s appetites, buying into the South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby league team. Expect further investments in steak and chips and sweet and sour pork.
LAW
“Collateral damage.”
The lawyer acting for University of Sydney poetry professor Barry Spurr describes his client as a victim of an anti-government plot after the leaking of emails in which he showed contempt for “Chinky-poos” and “Mussies” and anyone who wasn’t an old white poetry professor. He won a “whimsical” injunction against further publication.
INQUESTS
“Why am I having to defend the decisions I made about our son? Isn’t it unfair that I’m having to be the one to answer for all this?”
The mother of Luke Batty, who was killed by his father earlier this year, responds to questions at an inquest into his death.
RHETORIC
“The problem that the Labor Party has today is that Bill Shorten is an economic girlie man.”
The finance minister explains why the opposition leader has not passed the budget. He later explained that the statement was not at all sexist. This week, as in any week, most would rather be a girlie man than a Cormann.
