‘There was political support for this…’: Inside the horrors of Don Dale
“An inquiry, Turnbull said, would ‘expose the culture that allowed it to remain unrevealed for so long’. But what occurred at Don Dale was not ‘unrevealed’. ”
Abuse and tough rhetoric on crime are part of the same volatile equation, the former NT child commissioner explains.
News
Read
US and Australia in stalemate over NT defence bases
“‘We didn’t attack them at Pearl Harbour,’ one Australian observer says. ‘We didn’t declare war on them in the Second World War.’”
Plans for more American troops to be based in the Northern Territory have stalled as battlelines are drawn over who should foot the bill.
Read
How rooftop solar energy became a political issue
“Climate change is so often portrayed as being principally a concern of young, educated, wealthy, urban lefties. Yet those doing the most about it at a personal level are the demographic opposite.”
A potentially influential, unclaimed political constituency is lurking in our suburbs.
Read
How Chechens became key Daesh fighters
“I first encountered these Chechens in Sadr City in 2004. They were like ghosts, urban myths.”
How did the Georgian-born Chechen Omar al-Shishani, killed in Iraq this month, come to be one of Daesh’s key commanders in the ‘caliphate’ in Syria and Iraq?
Read
Q&A with international peacemaker José Ramos-Horta
At the forefront of Timor-Leste’s fight for independence, José Ramos-Horta remains an active figure in world politics. He shares his thoughts on Kevin Rudd, hypocrisy over maritime borders and making another bid for the Timorese presidency.
Read
Clinton v Trump campaign begins
Conciliatory Akihito to stand down; Tony Jones blunders on myth of ‘Croatian Six’; Always smile at a crocodile; Jokowi restores tough minister
Opinion
Read
Richard Ackland
Cascade falls as ICAC vindicated
“You know when the captains of industry and their cabin boys in parliament call for hearings to be held in private that what they are really hoping for is a Clayton’s corruption commission.”
Read
Paul Bongiorno
Decisive Turnbull faces tiny majority government
“Christensen’s fit of pique on superannuation only reinforces just how precarious is the Coalition’s hold on government.”
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
Francesco Clemente’s Encampment at Carriageworks
The spiritual and political world views of Italian contemporary artist Francesco Clemente.
Diane Arbus: American Portraits
Diane Arbus’s intimate portraits are the work of a transgressive artist seeking to portray the almost invisible human truth.
Sharing a banquet with MasterChef Adam Liaw
Adam Liaw, 2010 MasterChef winner, on his passion for keeping things simple in the kitchen.
Food
Life
Read
The international rise of drone racing
The fledgling sport of drone racing has pilots viewing the course through cameras mounted on their stripped-down, supercharged craft.
Read
Mogul conqueror: Matt Graham, 21, moguls skier
Winter Olympian Matt Graham on the inspiration to be drawn from watching his Summer Games compatriots.
Books
The Quiz
1. Wild Turkey bourbon is made in which US state?
2. Paul Dyer is co-founder and artistic director of which baroque orchestra?
3. Who was the last man to walk on the moon?
4. How many episodes of the television series Fawlty Towers were made?
5. Does Libya border Egypt?
6. John Denver wrote the hit song “Leaving on a Jet Plane”. In what year did he die in a two-seater plane crash?
7. In which city is Australia’s tallest building? (Bonus point for naming the building.)
8. Who resigned earlier this month as leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP)?
9. In which century was Leonardo da Vinci born?
10. From the opening ceremony until the closing ceremony, for how many days does the Rio Olympics run?
Quotes
CHURCH
“The cardinal calls for an investigation to assess whether any actions of elements of the Victoria Police and the ABC program amount to a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.”
The office of George Pell accuses the ABC of perverting the course of justice by reporting child sexual abuse allegations against him. His church is a world expert in both fields.
DEPARTURES
“When the left-wing media and GetUp! and the unions get together with the Melbourne-based feminists to have a go at you ... what more can they do?”
The former member for Indi enumerates the forces arrayed against her. She fought bravely on a platform of disengagement, arrogance and general unpleasantness, but it was not enough.
AMERICA
“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails.”
The presumptive leader of the free world encourages a foreign power to conduct espionage against former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. There is no joke to go with this item.
POLITICS
“Any cursory glance at Mr Rudd’s temperament and capacity would show that Mr Rudd is poorly qualified for this role.”
The Liberal senator cautions against endorsing Kevin Rudd’s bid for the leadership of the United Nations. Abetz has previously dismissed the UN as “the last resort of those that can’t argue their case domestically” – which is an almost perfect description of Rudd’s campaign.
COUNCIL
“In my culture the housewife is the queen.”
The deputy mayor of Ryde in Sydney explains why he told a senior bureaucrat that she would be “better as a housewife”. Some of his best friends are housewives etc.
DEATHS
“The most painful goodbyes are the ones that are never said and never explained.”
The father of Thomas Kelly, killed in a one-punch assault four years ago, mourns the death of his other son, Stuart, who was found dead this week.
