“Refugee advocate Michelle Bui spoke to Amini on the phone and he told her he was in a car hiding in the bush but did not disclose his whereabouts. He said he feared going back to detention.”
In the three years before his suicide, Hazara asylum seeker Khodayar Amini says he was twice assaulted by police and was the victim of continual harassment.
News
Read
Malcolm Turnbull versus the Coalition’s social conservatives
For the new prime minister, it’s time to keep his enemies close and the conservatives closer.
Read
Life in the Manus Island detention centre
“There’s hardly anyone outside. Most will be in their dorms avoiding the sun, or in the mess hall. He’s thirsty but bottles are banned in the compound.”
Within the Manus Island detention centre, daily life is a dull routine in the company of guards and increasingly disturbed fellow detainees, endlessly playing out in the oppressive heat and humidity.
Read
Q&A with Brian Schmidt, Nobel laureate and ANU’s new vice-chancellor
As incoming vice-chancellor of the Australian National University, Nobel prize winner Brian Schmidt has a clear vision of how to take Australian achievements into the stratosphere.
Read
How the Minerals Council of Australia has govt’s ear on coal
“The influence of the coal lobby on the government will end up costing Australia billions of dollars because of the delays in acting on climate change and pollution, says Ian Dunlop.”
Heavily represented and funded by the biggest polluters on the planet, the all-powerful Minerals Council of Australia continues to spruik the benefits of coal to a largely compliant government.
Read
Conservatives reel as Justin Trudeau wins Canadian election
Fresh Taliban threat; US looks to do deal with Pakistan; Jokowi’s first year.
Opinion
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Lucia Osborne-Crowley
A bill of rights to rein in the rogues
“Perhaps the Abbott years and the recklessness that defined them are testament to the fact that some principles should be enshrined beyond the reach of political expediency.”
Read
Paul Bongiorno
Resolving doors and Malcolm Turnbull’s spat with Mike Baird
“Two weeks ago there were flashes of the old Turnbull in a heated phone confrontation with NSW premier Mike Baird. ‘A leopard can’t change its spots,’ was the reaction of one MP.”
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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Actress and playwright Kate Mulvany survived a rare childhood cancer resulting from her conscripted father’s exposure to Agent Orange.
Read
Colin Farrell and Léa Seydoux in Yorgos Lanthimos’s ‘The Lobster’
Yorgos Lanthimos’s surrealist film The Lobster, punctures cherished myths about love and marriage in an absurdist alternative universe.
Read
Novelist Charlotte Wood’s natural ways
Shedding light on the darkness that informs Charlotte Wood’s latest work.
Food
Life
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How Knut’s disease is leading to medical breakthroughs
The death of famous polar bear Knut and revolutionary research into the psychiatric effects of autoimmune disease.
Read
The Australian Fashion Chamber’s global mission
Building the reputation of Australian designers overseas poses tantalising challenges for the local industry’s prospective governing body.
Read
Going the distance: Lisa Weightman, 36, marathon runner
Melbourne Half Marathon winner Lisa Weightman on her campaign for Rio.
Books
The Quiz
1. Which two artists wrote 1985’s “We Are the World”?
2. Is the font for the new Google logo serif or sans serif? (Bonus points for naming the colour of the two ‘o’s in Google.)
3. In the United States Navy, sea, air and land teams are commonly known as what?
4. What material is the Eiffel Tower built from?
5. Who wrote the novel American Psycho?
6. David McAllister is the artistic director of which Australian dance company?
7. Aztecs were native to which current-day country?
8. Wrasse, drum and halibut are all types of what?
9. By area, what is the largest national park in Australia?
10. Which driver this month won his sixth Bathurst 1000 title?
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.
