The failed factional campaign to unseat Bronwyn Bishop
Having seen off myriad interventions and a plan to parachute Kate Carnell into her seat, Bronwyn Bishop is not going anywhere.
News
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Closing the Gap a ritual of empty words
“In my working life, I have never seen Aboriginal affairs at such a low point. There is no engagement, there is no respect.”
Malcolm Turnbull’s first Closing the Gap address acknowledges shortcomings and delivers platitudes but fails to make progress.
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China cracks down on Hong Kong publishers
China’s abduction and arrest of publishers of scandalous books in Hong Kong is being seen as a brazen challenge to the ‘one country, two systems’ arrangement.
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Migrating bat colonies wreak havoc in northern NSW
NSW Northern Rivers residents are losing sleep as their towns succumb to chattering, defecating flying foxes. But rather than moving on the colonies, is the better answer to adapt to their existence?
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Stuart Robert and political donations
“The line between a payment which increases access to an elected official and a payment which influences the official conduct of an elected official is not always easy to discern.”
The Stuart Robert scandal highlights deep flaws in the system when it comes to political donations, accountability and influence.
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Vladimir Putin’s Aleppo air strikes a boost for al-Assad
North Korea causes security headaches for China; Sanders and Trump in New Hampshire.
Opinion
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Richard Ackland
Trans-Pacific Partnership to stall climate change action
“People who have read the TPP document in the search for safeguards have been disappointed to find that the term ‘climate change’ does not appear once.”
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Paul Bongiorno
Turnbull’s states of pay over GST and tax reform
“Tinkering with Medicare, or at least appearing to, is almost as dangerous for a conservative government as wanting to raise the GST. ”
Letters, Poem & Editorial
Culture
Charlotte Rampling’s Oscars debut for ’45 Years’
Charlotte Rampling, whose best actress Oscar nomination for 45 Years is her first, talks about her personal losses during a life on screen.
The 11th Australian Music Prize nominees
Chair of the Australian Music Prize judging panel Dave Faulkner provides a rundown of this year’s eclectic shortlist of albums.
Food
Life
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3D printing is revolutionising surgery, from implants to regeneration. Might organ donation become a thing of the past?
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A disco cruise to the South Pacific turns downbeat
What does it say about cruise-loving Australians when the buffet and booze take precedence over sight-seeing?
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Turning tables: Melissa ‘Milly’ Tapper, 25, table tennis player
Paralympian Milly Tapper’s dream to also compete in the able-bodied Olympics.
Books
The Quiz
1. Name the fastest man over 100 metres.
2. The Škoda automobile company was founded in which country? (Bonus point for naming the current parent company.)
3. The Pritzker prize is awarded in what field?
4. What is the currency of the Philippines?
5. The upcoming sequel to Finding Nemo is called Finding …?
6. The root word biblio refers to what?
7. A 40th wedding anniversary is traditionally associated with which gemstone?
8. Titania is the largest of the moons of which planet?
9. What are the given names of the artist Rubens?
10. Which highland clan massacred their MacDonald hosts in cold blood at Glencoe on February 13, 1692?
Quotes
HONOURS
“This is really an award for Australia.”
The environment minister is named “Best Minister in the World” at a cereal box of a gathering called the World Government Summit. Greg’s being modest, of course: he set back climate action, degraded the barrier reef, and pandered to coalmining interests all on his own.
TRANSPORT
“Fuck, that’s risky shit.”
Chairman of the senate rural and regional affairs and transport legislation committee shares with the parliament his concerns about cross-runway landings at Melbourne Airport.
TIMEPIECES
“Ian has worn his Rolex every day since its purchase to remind himself of the hard work it took to obtain it.”
The Liberal MP celebrates his watch in a third-person press release dedicated to the purchase. Ian really likes Ian’s watch.
LAW
“The Crown’s inserted inference is a very long bow to draw.”
The barrister representing Eddie Obeid in a case over contentious cafe leases employs a defence based largely on mixed metaphor.
NIGHTLIFE
“The main complaints seem to be that you can’t drink ’til dawn anymore and you can’t impulse-buy a bottle of white after 10pm.”
The NSW premier, whose main complaint is that he gets asked for ID every time he orders a Shirley Temple, defends his lockout laws. The same tough laws that forced his predecessor to set up a black market in home-delivered Grange.
STANDARDS
“Isn’t it the case the prime minister has one choice: sack the minister, or sack your ministerial standards?”
The opposition leader weighs into the Stuart Robert imbroglio. For a man whose entire career has been based on doing numbers – ruthlessly, brutally – you would think he could count to two.
