BHP and Rio Tinto dictate terms to the Abbott governent
Twiggy Forrest’s failed bid to reset the iron ore price inadvertently shows who really tells the Abbott government what to do.
News
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Inside George Brandis’s Australia Council arts heist
The arts minister’s shock annexation of Australia Council funding is about long-running tension over the purpose of the humanities.
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Misery and lies for problem poker machine gamblers
Amid a maze of poker machines, time stands still for gamblers hankering after the next win as their cash slides ceaselessly into a void.
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Aboriginal future locked up by spiralling incarceration figures
“The community grieves for that person who’s been incarcerated. There’s also the shame. The stigma comes back to the whole community.”
A generation of Indigenous youth in remote and regional communities is growing up without parents and leaders because of ever-rising incarceration levels. The next generation isn’t even being born.
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Hockey’s changed song on budget
“You could almost be forgiven for thinking we’re in the middle of a boom ... no market economy in the world changes that dramatically. We need to call that out.”
From ‘debt and deficit disaster’ to ‘go out and spend’, is the government playing a reckless game with the national economy?
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Might of the West looks lacking against the Islamic State
Assad regime genocide fears; Rohingya crisis is a test of ASEAN strength.
Opinion
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Sean Kelly
Libs, ALP need courage under ire in face of opinion polls
“A complaint turns us all into comrades-in-outrage. They’re easy to agree with, even if you happen to like the person or party being complained about.”
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Paul Bongiorno
Post-budget polls reflect Abbott’s burning of economic principles
“Half a billion dollars has been saved by stopping the boats, says the budget. That’s dwarfed by the $913 million a year that implementing the policy is still costing.”
Letters, Poem & Editorial
Culture
A Fraction of the Whole, Quicksand author Steve Toltz talks to Leigh Sales
With his long-awaited second novel now released, Steve Toltz talks about writing Australia.
Nadia Tass directs Pulitzer-winning play The Flick
Red Stitch’s production of The Flick is a luminous and intimate examination of changing relationships.
Food
Life
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Searching for frogs in the Costa Rica jungle
Intrepid frog hunters brave the jungles of Costa Rica in search of herpetological heaven.
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Australia ticked off by Lyme disease
The recognition of Lyme disease still divides medical opinion in Australia.
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The trailblazer: Daisy Pearce, 27, Australian rules footballer
Ahead of this weekend’s exhibition match at the MCG, Demons captain Daisy Pearce talks about the growing appeal of women’s Aussie Rules.
Books
The Quiz
1. Name the premier of Tasmania.
2. Vichyssoise is a soup made primarily from which two vegetables?
3. Who was the first woman to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine? (Bonus points for naming the first man and the year the magazine launched.)
4. In which year did Cadel Evans win the Tour de France?
5. What is the national flower of Wales?
6. What city is home to the Petronas Twin Towers?
7. In which month do Americans celebrate Father’s Day?
8. What is Australia’s highest military honour?
9. Which club won last weekend’s A-League soccer grand final?
10. Limestone formations known as The Pinnacles are located in which Australian state?
Quotes
LAW
“He’s asked me to apologise to everyone, particularly his wife, for his behaviour.”
The Victorian defence barrister passes on a message from her client, Noel Mitchell, who was found guilty for the second time of having sex with horses. His marriage did not survive the tryst.
AGE
“We don’t discuss personal details of any of our clients.”
Rebel Wilson’s agent refuses to confirm to gossip websites that her client is not 29 but in fact a 35-year-old woman named Melanie Elizabeth Bownds. In other news Mark Twain’s real name is Samuel Langhorne Clemens and he will turn 180 this year.
TAX
“Their wives may have done it and they didn’t know.”
The treasurer explains how the wives of Mathias Cormann and Josh Frydenberg may have come to use the double-dipping parental leave schemes he had earlier called a fraud. Those tricksy women – when they’re not participating in the labour force they’re casting spells and deceiving their husbands.
CONSPIRACY
“I don’t know what the situation is, I don’t know how the courts work, but it just seems wrong.”
The shock jock outlines at least some of his limitations before calling for an inquiry into Ivan Milat’s imprisonment for the murder of seven backpackers. It was not immediately clear if he was offering his famed polygraph skills to the case.
