US request for more Iraq support wrongfooted Australia
A misfired directive from the US Defence Department led to the Australian government’s unusual public refusal to contribute more in Iraq.
News
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The men hijacking family law reforms
“Christensen talks about the ‘victims’ of family law. He speaks about the fiction of ‘false claims’ to ‘shut husbands out of family life’.”
A coalition of men’s rights activists has captured the ear of the crossbench and is rewriting the Family Law Act by stealth.
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Who foots the bill for open-cut mine rehabilitation?
There’s a new vogue in mine rehabilitation: sell the mine for nothing, and let someone else sort it out.
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Workers’ warrior and ITUC head Sharan Burrow tackles injustice
As head of the world’s largest trade union federation, former ACTU president Sharan Burrow is waging war on international youth unemployment and ‘modern slavery’ in the Gulf states ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
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The lawful truth of the High Court’s offshore detention decision
“It would be particularly cruel to rip these kids from their classrooms, wake these babies in their sleep, and condemn them and their families to a life in limbo.”
The High Court’s ruling that offshore detention is legal has cruelly condemned 37 Australian-born babies to a life of uncertainty on a bleak island. What was the government's ‘sleight of hand’ that protected our immigration policy?
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Iowa poll favourite Trump can’t take a trick against Cruz
Syria strategy; elections in Vanuatu, Myanmar and Vietnam; Putin anxiety.
Opinion
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Koraly Dimitriadis
Speaking with one voice
“White, male power not only doesn’t tolerate criticism, but enters into defence mode. You don’t have to work in politics to experience politics. ”
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Paul Bongiorno
Turnbull weighs up double-dissolution election
“The longer the GST option is left hanging, the more ingrained becomes the perception that the conservatives really, really want to do it. ”
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Gadfly
Is Brandis suffering drain damage?
Diarist-at-large Richard Ackland flys about the nation.
Letters & Editorial
Culture
Grayson Perry’s pretty art career
Turner Prize-winner Grayson Perry talks about art, religion, and how he began cross-dressing at a young age.
Food
Life
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Finding family in Salt Lake City
Thanks to its vast genealogical archives in Salt Lake City, the Mormon Church provides a peerless facility for tracing ancestry.
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Wild ride: Toby Price, 28, off-road motorcycle racer
Dakar Rally winner Toby Price on the thrill of racing and the pain of broken bones.
Books
The Quiz
1. On which Caribbean island was singer Rihanna born?
2. What is the world’s largest flightless bird: (a) ostrich, (b) emu, or (c) cassowary?
3. Which team won the 2016 Big Bash League championship?
4. The BART public rail system operates in which United States city?
5. How many films are nominated for this year’s Best Picture Oscar?
6. In electronics, what does the abbreviation LCD stand for? (Bonus point for naming what LED stands for.)
7. Which extends further north: (a) Turkey, (b) Japan or (c) North Korea?
8. Which physicist stated, “God is subtle, but He is not malicious”?
9. What is the name of Scout’s brother in To Kill a Mockingbird?
10. What, beginning with “l”, is the practice of shaping and polishing stones?
Quotes
WEALTH
“I had four $5 notes and I was counting to see whether I could get a pizza... It’s like I’m Scrooge McDuck.”
The miner explains why he was photographed counting fivers in question time. And here we were thinking he was just tallying unpaid worker entitlements.
CULTURE
“Who’s to say she wasn’t wearing an invisible tracksuit?”
The Port Stephens mayor defends a stubby holder included in a welcome pack for new citizens, featuring a seemingly naked woman holding an Australian flag. The excuse also holds for his 1997 charges of negligent driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.
RACE
“If I stood as an advocate for the liberation of the golliwog and for probably culling possums, I think I’d be overwhelmingly re-elected.”
The former Victorian premier explains his love of racist children’s toys, of which he has 50. It’s almost as offensive as that time he likened gay football coaches to paedophiles.
CHURCH
“The fundamental mistake I made was failing to understand the long-term repercussions that arise from child sexual abuse.”
The former archbishop of Brisbane apologises for allowing a paedophile to be harboured in his church. Which seems like a bit more than a “mistake” – all things, such as human decency and the law, considered.
MARRIAGE
“This was a case of democratic innovation.”
The prime minister maintains the need for a plebiscite on same-sex marriage. By “democratic innovation” he means, “outsourcing the work of the parliament to the people, at great expense, because I am without the courage to do my job”.
