“We’re seeing a new argument, about the importance of gender and how ‘radical gay activists’ are supposedly trying to erase it. That is the current intellectual thrust of their campaign.”
Led by established and co-ordinated conservative voices, the ‘No’ case breaks down into three key arguments, under which sits the backbeat of homophobia.
News
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Exclusive: Dead refugee asked to go home
“According to one friend on Manus Island, Hamed was frequently taunted by local Manusians and sometimes beaten by police. His brother Ahmad is certain it was the conditions on Manus that led to his psychological breakdown. ”
Before refugee Hamed Shamshiripour took his own life on Manus Island, he had made repeated requests to be sent home to Iran.
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History wars and monument politics
The defacement of a statue of Captain Cook has sparked a fresh debate about the value and meaning of colonial monuments.
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The influence of political donations
“Recent analysis found that the source of only 12 to 15 per cent of donations to the major political parties was fully, transparently identified, while more than 50 per cent of the money went ‘entirely undisclosed’.”
A senate inquiry will consider how donations to political parties influence policy and how they’re hidden, calling on representatives from the biggest donors in the mining and banking industries to explain what they’re buying.
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ADF actions and the Criminal Court
Redacted documents leave open the possibility that the International Criminal Court made contact with the government about the involvement of ADF special forces in civilian deaths in Afghanistan.
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Rex Tillerson stepping back from Trump?
Trump pardons sheriff; Samsung heir jailed; China’s trouble finding military recruits.
Opinion
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Bob Brown
Malcolm Turnbull caves in to Tasmanian loggers
“Turnbull effectively signed the death warrant on forests in a whole brace of reserves. He also endorsed logging of 159 forest coupes already listed by Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgman for clear-felling in other Tarkine forests, including in the headquarters of the Frankland River where protesters up trees have held off logging during the past year. ”
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Paul Bongiorno
Turnbull and the greasy poll
“To appeal to the Hansonites, Turnbull and his ministers are trying to out-Pauline Pauline. To get at Labor they have hit the nuclear button on political hyperbole. Both tactics reek of political desperation but after 18 consecutive bad Newspolls – the past six diabolical – you can almost understand it. None of it is designed to inspire the nation, it has only one base purpose: survival.”
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Gadfly
Total eclipse of the sane
After Grouper Greg Sheridan’s great burst of God-bothering in last weekend’s Catholic Boys Daily, it’s only natural to find him listed as the guest speaker at Father Lyle’s Australian Christian Lobby annual dinner on Friday, November 17.
An insider’s outside view
A new podcast from Schwartz Media
Join Richard Denniss, The Australia Institute’s chief economist, as he tackles Australia’s most important political and economic issues in a new weekly podcast.
Find The Lucky Country on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.
Letters & Editorial
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It is this man who is touted as a future leader of the Liberal Party. The Australian has written a draft of the speech he would give. It draws on family values and a celebration of his simplicity. There is nothing to see in Dutton except the worst of what this country could be. We can only be thankful that the court he so criticises stops him from taking us there with him. He plays politics as if it were a game but there is nothing to win, only losses.
Culture
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Death-defying actor Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe’s dark charisma has helped him build a career on complicated, often villainous roles, but for his latest film he narrates a documentary about adventurers who climb and throw themselves off mountains. Such people push themselves to the edge, as Dafoe does. But he says he is not so brave – “I don’t even want to go in a hot-air balloon” – and admits to vertigo.
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While Yorkshire-born director Francis Lee brings authenticity to the screen with his depiction of rural labours, he fails to find honesty in God’s Own Country’s idealised central relationship.
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‘Anaesthesia’ author Kate Cole-Adams
“In a small waiting room, I’m lying on a metal hospital trolley. I am alone. Through the swing doors into the operating theatre, where they are running an hour late, I can hear them preparing for me: muffled voices, clanging and scraping, the sound of metal. Watching the clock above the doors, I begin to think about Kate Cole-Adams. Twice we’d been together at The National Writers’ House. For two weeks I’d heard stories from her book: people waking under anaesthesia, pain and paralysis, time lost, memories that were confused or warped; or memories intact but disbelieved.”
Food
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Whole roasted baby cauliflower with tahini yoghurt and toasted cumin
“What brought me to cook this for the page was stumbling across these perfect little cauliflowers in the local vegetable shop. These, roasted with a knob of butter and a good pinch of salt, were quite possibly the nicest thing I’ve eaten this winter.”
Life
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The psychology of anti-vaccination
While anti-vaxxing myths have been universally debunked by experts, altering the psychology that fuels them is proving more challenging.
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Héritier Lumumba’s ‘Fair Game’
A new documentary on footballer Héritier Lumumba calls out systemic racism in the AFL but also holds a mirror up to endemic problems in Australian society.
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Career goals: Jamie Maclaren, 24, soccer player
As the Socceroos strive to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, striker Jamie Maclaren talks about putting in the hard work and never giving up.
Books
The Quiz
1. In which US state is the city of Chattanooga?
2. Who was the second man to walk on the moon’s surface? (Bonus point for naming the total number of men to walk on the moon.)
3. Which French monarch was known as the Sun King?
4. What two films did Elizabeth Taylor win Best Actress Oscars for?
5. Which cricketer was nicknamed The Little Master?
6. Name the deputy leader of the National Party of Australia?
7. In what year did Abel Tasman first sight Tasmania?
8. Which novel by Kate Grenville was shortlisted for a Miles Franklin Award and Man Booker Prize in 2006?
9. Which tradesman would use a jig, a horse and a mitre gauge?
10. What colour is celadon pottery?
Quotes
MARRIAGE
“I think it would be a good thing if we get to have more specificity on that before we vote.”
The former prime minister expresses concern that religious freedoms will not be protected before a postal vote on same-sex marriage. Marriage is very important to Howard: it allowed him to move out of home at the age of 32.
COURTS
“This is an essential and accepted part of any democracy.”
The NSW District Court judge rules that it is not illegal to call Tony Abbott a “cunt”. Nor, presumably, is it untrue.
CLIMATE
“I don’t believe Hurricane Harvey is God’s punishment for Houston electing a lesbian mayor. But that is more credible than ‘climate change’.”
The conservative commentator responds to a storm that displaced 30,000 people and destroyed swaths of Texas. Wait until she finds out the actual mayor is black – and a Democrat.
VISA
“We’re not going to issue a visa for this particular individual.”
The immigration minister blocks a visit from anti-vaccination advocate Kent Heckenlively. The American would have had more luck if he described himself as a “Whooping cough pick-up artist”.
ART
“You can guess what many people would rather hang 58 metres over George Street… and it’s not a Cloud Arch.”
The broadcaster continues his push for the public killing of prominent women. In this instance, it is Clover Moore for the crime of supporting public sculpture.
MASSAGE
“What they were offering was not what I was seeking. I’ll make that very clear. And that’s when they started to get feisty.”
The NSW Liberal MP explains how he came to be blackmailed by two men, one of whom was apparently a minor, after ordering a massage in his hotel room in New York. Checks out.
