Marginal seats unlikely to deliver a hung parliament
“‘A hung parliament is unlikely,’ a senior Coalition strategist said. ‘If you had to put your money on it right now, it would be a Coalition win with a reduced majority.’”
Despite a scare campaign over a hung parliament, the election is tending to a narrow Coalition victory, with the Greens as everyone’s enemy.
News
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The real story on the Great Barrier Reef
“Unless we wake up and deal with climate change sincerely and deeply then we really will have a Great Barrier Reef not worth visiting.”
As Australia interferes with UN reporting of threats to World Heritage sites, the Great Barrier Reef’s fate is increasingly dire if not already sealed.
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Mooball community divided over cancer cluster claims
While some residents of Mooball in northern NSW believe sandmining tailings have caused a cancer cluster, others think it’s a scare campaign to prevent development.
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Steady rise in number of women in NT jails
“The defence lawyer’s argument that violence to women is begetting violence by women seemed to gather strength. ”
A sharp rise in female imprisonment in the Northern Territory has highlighted the broader consequences of men’s violence against women and children in Indigenous communities.
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Timor-Leste pushes Australia to conciliation
Australia has yet to enter into compulsory conciliation talks with Timor-Leste over maritime boundaries, but it has already disputed the legality of the process.
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Strange bedfellows in battle for Fallujah
Fairfax Sinos on; Chewing the Fat; Trying to reset the spinster cycle
Opinion
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Dorothy Wainwright
’Template campaigns’ dumbing down elections
“Former federal director of the Liberal Party Brian Loughnane was a champion of the template campaign and its focus on fundraising. General consensus was that this is all he could handle.”
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Paul Bongiorno
Parties adjust rhetoric after Turnbull-Shorten TV debate
“If business is miffed that the Coalition is going softly on tax cuts, they’re not showing it. But on the Coalition’s own timeline, it’s not at all certain they’ll be in power long enough to deliver the whole plan.”
An insider’s outside view
Returning for a second season
The Lucky Country is an insider’s outside view of Australia’s most important political and economic debates. Hosted by The Australia Institute’s Chief Economist Richard Denniss, The Lucky Country is a weekly podcast from Schwartz Media which applies common sense to complex issues.
Find The Lucky Country on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.
Letters & Editorial
Culture
’Secret City’ director Emma Freeman
Director Emma Freeman's filmography includes some of Australia’s best-loved TV dramas, but her greatest challenge came at a much earlier age.
Werner Herzog’s ‘Queen of the Desert’
Queen of the Desert plays it safe and fails the story of Gertrude Bell, the pioneering woman who guided the British during the emergence of the modern Middle East.
Food
Life
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El Niño, La Niña and flowering annuals
With the Bureau of Meteorology declaring El Niño over, the time is ripe for gardeners to replant.
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AGWA launches Aggie, the humanoid robot gallery guide
The latest guide at the Art Gallery of Western Australia is on a mission to change perceptions with her strangely beguiling ways.
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All around the world: Bailey Wright, 23, soccer player
Socceroos defender Bailey Wright on Ange Postecoglou and the challenges of playing World Cup qualifiers.
Books
The Quiz
1. Dilma Rousseff has been deposed as president of which country?
2. Tennis player Bernard Tomic’s career-high ranking is: (a) 7; (b) 17; or (c) 27? (Bonus point for naming the country in which Tomic was born.)
3. Name any two of the six countries that border Mozambique.
4. What word beginning with ‘b’, and often used in regard to political seats, means one that leads or indicates trends?
5. Sword lily is another name for which well-known flower?
6. Which Australian artist’s new album is titled Ripcord?
7. Which English writer penned the essay Politics and the English Language?
8. What word represents the letter P in the NATO alphabet?
9. Which city has the higher population: Hobart or Darwin?
10. The physicist Niels Bohr was born in which country?
Quotes
RACE
“I’m definitely not a racist. I’ve got friends who are Aboriginal and family who are Aboriginal.”
The Woy Woy chiropractor claims a Facebook hack led to him sending messages to Nova Peris calling her a “black cunt”. He was later charged by police.
HUNTING
“Humans have a right to eat meat if they choose to do so, it’s as simple as that.”
The NSW Legislative Council member from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party confirms he ate the elephant he shot in Zimbabwe. He later confessed he did not eat all of it.
DISCOURSE
“Dear outraged, the article I linked to is interesting in light of events of last week. It doesn’t mean I endorse author’s other views.”
The Liberal senator responds to criticism after sharing an article from a “legal rape” advocate. There is no joke to add to this item.
ANIMALS
“My son fell in with the gorillas. There’s a male gorilla standing over him. I need someone to contact the zoo, please.”
The mother of a boy who fell into a gorilla enclosure at Cincinnati Zoo calls police. Zoo officials later shot the silverback that picked up the boy. Gregg posted on Facebook that society was too “quick to judge how a parent could take their eyes off of their child”.
EDUCATION
“Mark is ready, willing and able to bring the fruits of his immense experience to the benefit of the entire NSW community.”
The NSW premier appoints Mark Scott as education department head. The former ABC managing director has extensive experience in children’s programming and politicised funding cuts.
SPORT
“It was a bit like losing your virginity. It wasn’t very nice but we got the job done.”
The Maroons forward celebrates the State of Origin win. As is de rigueur in rugby league, the rest of the team was there as well.
