News

Killing the Great Barrier Reef

“The empirical evidence of more frequent and severe damage to the world’s reefs is overwhelming, as is the evidence that emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels is the cause of it.”

Mike Seccombe As the Great Barrier Reef suffers record bleaching, Malcolm Turnbull courts a mining giant that will only hasten its death.

News

News

Housing affordability divides Turnbull and Morrison

Karen Middleton Debate within the government about housing affordability underscores a rift between the prime minister and his treasurer.

News

Pardon call over ‘flawed’ Kevin Henry murder case

“During police questioning, Henry was refused legal assistance twice, and the tape was stopped three times during the recording. A large portion of the confession was thrown out at trial by the judge, who determined it had not been obtained ‘voluntarily’. ”

Amy McQuire An Aboriginal man has spent the past 25 years in jail for a murder he says he did not commit, his only link to the crime a dubious 1991 confession.

News

Restoring the National Film and Sound Archive

Steve Dow Budget cuts to the National Film and Sound Archive have left it struggling to complete critical restoration work and in need of new purpose.

News

China’s ‘One Belt One Road’ project a new journey to the West

Hamish McDonald China is attempting to reshape global trade through massive development projects across the old Silk Road of central Asia. But some fear it will bring economic disaster.

World

Seoul searching as Trump, Kim face off

Hamish McDonald US and North Korea face off; Reaction to Syria’s chemical attack; Australia helps Japan with new spy agency: Novel ideas on Chinese diplomacy.

Opinion

Opinion

Nicholas Gruen
Making the Reserve Bank a “people’s bank”

“Right now the Reserve Bank could provide us all with cheap, basic “exchange settlement accounts” enabling us to make payments to each other as we do today using our banks’ online facilities. It would be faster – instant, instead of 24 hours or more – cheaper and safer than the electronic cobweb connecting banks today. The central bank could also lend to people and businesses that provide super-safe collateral. They could fund your home up to, say, 65 per cent of its value, or 45 per cent for prime business real estate. ”

Opinion

Paul Bongiorno
Malcolm Turnbull, Gautam Adani and the Carmichael mine

“Turnbull is caught between the wily billionaire Gautam Adani and the hyperventilation of the Nationals prepared to give the businessman whatever he wants to get the giant Carmichael mine project in Queensland going. And, by the way, assist other billionaires such as Clive Palmer and Gina Rinehart develop their stakes in opening up the Galilee Basin as a gigantic new coal precinct.”

Diary

Gadfly
Downer and out in Dublin and London

Richard Ackland A treat is in store for the cavalcade of Australian barristers sweeping through London and Dublin in July on their two-yearly overseas knees-up. It looks like a pretty flatout affair, kicking off with drinks at Scarfes Bar, at the Rosewood London, named because of Gerald Scarfe’s artwork and his inspiration for the cocktails.

Letters, Cartoon & Editorial

Cartoon

Read

Editorial
Life and debt

It’s almost as if Centrelink set out to design the worst system possible. It’s as if the department worked at finding the most vindictive and imprecise arrangements through which to pursue the people it is supposed to serve, then put out a tender to see if they could be made more cruel.

Letters

Looming disaster of Adani coalmine

Vaishali Patil’s article (“Carmichael brunt”, April 8-14) provides a disturbing insight into Adani, the company that wants to build a giant coalmine in the Galilee Basin in Queensland. …

Held to account on climate change

Karen Middleton has drawn our attention to the somewhat startling economic implications of climate change and the extreme weather events that seem to be associated with it (“Industry takes …

Read More

Culture

Profile

Author George Saunders on learning about mortality

Simon Webster Acclaimed short fiction author George Saunders – whose debut novel Lincoln in the Bardo deepens his interest in mortality and grief – talks about youth, fame, and the pleasure of every minute in which you’re not dead.

Film

Kristen Stewart and Olivier Assayas’s ‘Personal Shopper’

Christos Tsiolkas Although at times a slightly confused ghost story, Personal Shopper trades on the talent of Kristen Stewart and her connection with director Olivier Assayas.

Portrait

Dance psychotherapist Liz Foster

“Liz Foster watches her group of dancers carefully. She’s a teacher, clearly, and one deeply invested in the progress of her students. She stands at the edge of the class with her fingers pressed just above her clavicle, that universal sign of quiet pride. ”

Christopher Currie

Food

Read

Food

Gougères

Andrew McConnell I never tire of this recipe. I started cooking it when I started my apprenticeship. It was one of the first things I learnt to cook. This week in the restaurant we cooked the same recipe as a snack at the bar. Admittedly, the one I cooked 25 years ago used local cheddar. The one we cooked this week used 18-month-aged Gruyere de comté.

Books

Sarah Schmidt
See What I Have Done

Omar El Akkad
American War

Jason Rekulak
The Impossible Fortress

Life

Travel

The cats of Kuching, Malaysia

Ricky French In Malaysia’s ‘city of cats’, Kuching, the author finds a feline museum surprisingly lacking finesse.

Life

Singer and song-collector Jessie Lloyd

Karen Middleton Musician Jessie Lloyd’s Mission Songs Project aims to open up a forgotten Indigenous musical history to a mainstream audience.

Sport

Pursuit force: Sam Welsford, 21, cyclist

Richard Cooke Newly crowned world champion cyclist Sam Welsford on winning team pursuit silver in Rio, funky tan lines and his relationship with Lycra.

The Quiz

1. Boston is the capital of which US state? (Bonus point for spelling the name correctly.)
2. Sally McManus is the new secretary of which Australian organisation?
3. Who is directing the production of My Fair Lady that’s touring Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney this year?
4. Which Australian winner of nine Olympic medals and seven world titles was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame last month? 
5. Which novel ends with the line, “He drew a deep breath. ‘Well, I’m back,’ he said.”?
6. Knot is the collective noun for a group of which animals?
7. Name the world’s second-highest mountain.
8. What is the German word for dog?
9. Andrei Bolkonsky and Natasha Rostova are characters in which novel?
10. Where in the world would you buy Murano glass?

Click through for answers.

Quotes

HOUSING

“It’s not something you’re meant to get – the two-car garage – when you’re 22.”

Derryn HinchThe senator reminds young people that home ownership is only a dream. Speaking of greed: Hinch has four ex-wives and someone else’s liver.

WAR

“I was sitting at the table. We had finished dinner, we’re now having dessert. And we had the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake.”

Donald TrumpThe United States president describes the moment he bombed Syria. It was no doubt a delicious cake, but nothing tastes as good as military aggression feels.

PRESS

“I made a mistake. There’s no other way to say it.”

Sean SpicerThe White House spokesman apologises for saying that Bashar al-Assad is worse than Hitler. Despite the beliefs of some Trump supporters, it’s not a competition.

CRIME

“They should be apologising to me for the shell in the oyster shot, the overpriced food and the lobster was overcooked.”

Terry PeckThe Gold Coast man who fled into the sea rather than pay for $621 worth of lobster mornay, oyster shooters and baby octopus complains about the quality of the food. He was charged with stealing, assault and rapping under the name 2Pec.

AVIATION

“I apologise for having to re-accommodate these passengers.”

Oscar MuñozThe chief executive of United Airlines apologises for a man being beaten near unconscious after he refused to get off an overbooked flight. Re-accommodate is an ugly word, but it still doesn’t quite do the situation justice.

DEATHS

“We always knew we were lucky; we always felt lucky. He was a great dad.”

Lorin ClarkeThe daughter of John Clarke mourns the death of her father. He was 68.