Les Murray and the FIFA scandal
“‘I was a supporter of his, I even liked him, years before that when he championed Australia’s entry into Asia. But that was before I found out he was a crook.’”
As corruption arrests shake global football body FIFA, Australia’s unwavering support for the organisation is in question.
News
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Citizenship-stripping and Abbott’s jihad on civil rights
“The people we’re talking about are not deterred by blowing themselves up or being shot down by jet fighters, so they’re not going to be deterred by being deprived of citizenship.”
The practical results of revoking citizenship are yet to be seen, but the threat has already served its purpose in the party room.
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“‘It is very simple,’ says Swan. ‘If you deny a large sector of the population a decent living wage, then what drives demand?’”
As the US applauds the success of Australian economic policy, former treasurer Wayne Swan is sitting on a commission that may yet become a ginger group for Labor.
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Mining downturn hits FIFO mental health
Inquiries into fly-in fly-out workers reveal hidden depression and an industry in denial. With the weakening mining sector now delivering redundancies, it will only get worse.
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The fight to expunge historic convictions for gay sex
In 1981, Tim was convicted of a gay sex offence for an act between consenting adults. Despite the laws later changing, the infraction remained on his record and haunted his work life. Three years ago, Tim decided to take on the system.
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Right’s Rand Paul talks down data laws
Bernardi speaks against Abbott’s ‘power creep’. Terror talk of citizenship oath unsettles migrants. Nuclear Iran deal affects IS fight. Emboldened Eurosceptics evoke ‘Anglosphere’.
Opinion
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James Brown
China building islands, not bridges
“Chinese land reclamation is really about creating new facts on the ground … and extending potential PLA military control southwards.”
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Paul Bongiorno
PM Tony Abbott calls out the cabinet Judases
“One voterland issue finding its way into Canberra is same-sex marriage. Do not be fooled by reports the issue has become an inevitability.”
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Gadfly
Gerard Henderson and the word of George Pell
Diarist-at-large Richard Ackland flys about the nation.
An insider’s outside view
A new podcast from Schwartz Media
Join Richard Denniss, The Australia Institute’s chief economist, as he tackles Australia’s most important political and economic issues in a new weekly podcast.
Find The Lucky Country on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.
Letters & Editorial
Culture
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Partisan director Ariel Kleiman’s brave new worlds
Thirty-year-old director Ariel Kleiman’s turns the Mornington Peninsula into Eastern Europe.
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Normie Rowe shakin’ all over again
Normie Rowe, Australia’s undisputed king of pop in the ’60s, gets a retrospective Frenzy!.
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Catherine Deveny’s comedic weals take time to heal
What Catherine Deveny realises she was really wrong about.
Food
Life
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Augmented reality promises to alter our perception of the world and ourselves, leaving us hanging on by our fingernails to what’s real.
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Auroville, with its futuristic golden ‘golf ball’ temple at its centre, has attracted spiritual seekers and poseurs since the '60s.
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Heavy hitter: Daniel Geale, 34, boxer
Ahead of his bout against WBC middleweight champ Miguel Cotto, boxer Daniel Geale talks about family life and honing his killer instinct.
Books
The Quiz
1. In December 1968, Apollo 8 became the first space mission to do what?
2. What is the capital of the US state of Texas?
3. What does a lepidopterist collect?
4. How old was Lleyton Hewitt when he became the youngest ATP-ranked world No. 1 tennis player: (a) 18; (b) 20; or (c) 22?
5. Who succeeded Simon Crean as the federal leader of the Australian Labor Party?
6. The first novel of author Richard Yates was … Road?
7. Name two of the five countries that border Syria. (Bonus points for naming the remaining three.)
8. Which soccer team won this year’s FA Cup final?
9. The resin used to produce turpentine comes mainly from which type of tree?
10. What is the name for the top edge of the side of a boat: (a) gunwale; (b) bulkhead; (c) hull; or (d) keel?
Quotes
SEX
“These are people who can’t grow potatoes, they’ve got a mutant lawn weed as their national symbol...”
John Howard’s former chief of staff voices concern at Ireland’s same-sex marriage referendum. Australia’s national symbols are a much better example: a bird who abandons her eggs to be incubated by a partner who starves half to death in the process and a marsupial who births a neonate six months premature in order to get back on the shag.
HOUSING
“As someone who, along with the bank, owns the house in Sydney, I do hope that our housing prices are increasing.”
The prime minister celebrates the housing affordability crisis. He remains happy to traduce the value of the other house he co-owns along with the Australian people.
GENDER
“I’m not doing this to be interesting. I’m doing this to live.”
The former Olympian announces her gender transition with a cover story for Vanity Fair.
POLITICS
“You don’t even need a punchline. I promise you it works. At the next party you’re at, just walk up to someone and say, ‘Vice-President Joe Biden.’ ”
The Republican wheels out an old gag for party faithful in Michigan. Cruz apologised after realising the punchline was “Vice-President Joe Biden, whose son died of brain cancer a few days ago”.
CONVENTION
“I think that is the worst thing you could possibly do.”
The education minister expresses his contempt for cabinet leakers. Pyne speaks with unique expertise on the subject of “worst things you could possibly do” and must be taken seriously.
SPORT
“That this House condemns Mr Eddie Macguire, the President of the Collingwood Football Club, for… (b) being a continual boofhead.”
The NSW upper house passes a motion condemning Macguire [sic] for comments about Adam Goodes. We’re all for misusing parliament to mock Triple M presenters, but it is worth spelling their names correctly.
