Is it all over for Clive Palmer and PUP?
“The overall financial picture remains clouded given the labyrinthine and secretive structure of Palmer’s private corporate empire.”
During the past two years, Clive Palmer’s Queensland Nickel donated $21 million to the Palmer United Party. Now it can’t afford to pay its workers.
News
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Reza Barati witness on Manus warned: ‘It’s very easy to kill you’
“No one can ever imagine how it feels to think every time that someone might kill you. Every second I have to be alert at nights. When someone passes here I have to be prepared.”
The key witness in the Reza Barati murder trial remains on Manus Island, frightened for his life and receiving death threats from the guards against whom he has testified.
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Lateral damage counting domestic deaths
“If she’d had her way, he would have been paraded on national television with his crimes tattooed across his forehead. ‘Let the public know exactly what I’ve been through,’ she begged. ‘Give me a real social autopsy.’”
As the deaths of women such as Deanne Bridgland go uncounted, the true toll of domestic violence remains hidden.
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Turnbull’s change of tone in foreign affairs
Malcolm Turnbull’s visits to Washington and elsewhere continue his reshaping of the tone of Australia’s foreign policy, away from Tony Abbott’s bullish moralising.
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Holiday surprises for Malcolm Turnbull
Traditionally, Christmas and new year marks a flat spot for political news. But the past few weeks have thrown up their share of woe for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
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Ominous crackdown on Hong Kong publishers
Taiwan elects first female leader. Iran free to reopen oil markets.
Opinion
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Frank Moorhouse
Rethinking ASIO’s role with a Citizen’s Compact
“What is almost as damaging to civil society as random and irrational or organised acts of violence is the hounding and persecution, jailing, the bending of the law against innocent people.”
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Sean Kelly
Abetz and Andrews’ petty politicking dogs statesman Turnbull
“It is the worst type of cynicism to use the battle against Daesh as some kind of proxy for the fight between Liberal moderates and conservatives.”
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Gadfly
Media gathers at Jurassic waterhole
Diarist-at-large Richard Ackland flys about the nation.
Letters & Editorial
Culture
Arcadia actor Ryan Corr puts personal drama behind him
Holding the Man star Ryan Corr is following his success on the big screen with a turn on the stage.
Mother nature in ‘Carol’ and ‘Room’
After Carol’s tender yet suffocating tale of sexual repression, comes Lenny Abrahamson’s emotionally dishonest Room.
Food
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Yoghurt panna cotta with caramelised figs and pistachio nuts
The textural delights of perfect panna cotta.
Life
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China’s digital natives behind with the Great Firewall
While China’s young generation know their way around online censorship, they aren’t necessarily against it.
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The small town of Marfa, Texas, where James Dean starred in Giant, is now an improbable modern art mecca where the desert wears Prada.
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Green energy: Danny Green, 42, boxer
Danny Green on what boxing has taught him about human nature, and the Mundine rivalry.
Books
The Quiz
1. What is the fifth letter of the Greek alphabet?
2. Janet Yellen, Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan have all held which senior post in the United States?
3. Alphabetically, what is the last element on the periodic table? (Bonus point for naming the first.)
4. What is the currency unit of Thailand?
5. The skeleton of an adult human body comprises how many bones?
6. Which volcano is known as the “Lighthouse of the Mediterranean”?
7. On what date do the Rio Olympic Games begin?
8. What is the name of the latest album by Adele?
9. Name the disgraced former federal MP who has been ordered to pay more than $458,000 for misusing union funds?
10. Who wrote the music and lyrics for Matilda the Musical?
Quotes
COURTS
“If you’re going to drink yourself into oblivion, we would prefer you stayed in Adelaide.”
The magistrate admonishes a 37-year-old South Australian man who was found asleep on the Garden Island naval base after drinking with his mother. He got lost after arguing with a taxi driver.
IMMIGRATION
“The department has already moved very quickly to tidy this situation up.”
The immigration minister celebrates the cancelling of Jeff Allen’s visa. Which is great if you’re a pick-up artist; for children in detention, “quickly” is about 445 days.
POLITICS
“Are you ready for the leader to make America great again? Are you ready to stump for Trump?”
The former US vice-presidential Republican nominee endorses Donald Trump in a jumble of hillbilly rhymes. It is difficult to say whether this is a step up or down from dancing children.
SCIENCE
“I know everyone in the media is saying, ‘Hey, man, it’s a head transplant on a monkey’ … The important news here is that the critics have been totally disproven.”
The Italian scientist boasts that he has successfully decapitated two monkeys and switched heads on one of them. The “critics” in question, are “blood flow” and “brain function”.
MARRIAGE
“I was told, ‘No, that’s not one of the drop-down options on the computer.’ ”
The British man explains that his name was left off his husband David’s death certificate and it was marked “never married” after David died in a freak accident during their honeymoon in Adelaide.
ELECTIONS
“You just wanna tell them: ‘Shut up, close your eyes, sleep for half an hour, and we will be at Grandma’s soon.’ ”
The Australian political strategist, who ran the latest Tory campaign in Britain, explains his approach to the media. Which only works if Grandma has increased child poverty, cut tax credits, demonised the poor and once had her way with a pig.
