“I go on the side streets instead and it takes me 10 more minutes. I often take the longer route to go anywhere anyway. Ten more minutes each way, Monday to Friday. One hundred minutes a week.”
There is a register of fear heard by women and gender nonconforming people, an ever-present call to vigilance never expected of men. As much as any murder, this reality should be on the front of newspapers.
News
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Death and dying in offshore detention
As the death toll on Manus and Nauru climbs to 12, the government maintains its merciless policy – now refusing a terminally ill man the right to die in Australia.
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“The concern is that if Anwar’s out of the limelight people might forget about him. In two years’ time they’d be wondering, why should he be the prime minister?”
Mahathir Mohamad’s spectacular return to the prime ministership of Malaysia – and its first overturning of government since federation in 1957 – was meant to pave the way for Anwar Ibrahim’s leadership. But will the 92-year-old Mahathir rush to fulfil that promise?
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Foreign influence bill pushed ahead
“We accept that a person could perceive that it is not ideal for them to be named in such a notice.”
As the government pushes ahead with its foreign influence bill, concerns have been raised about plans for ‘transparency notices’, permitting public naming of non-compliant individuals or corporations without explanation.
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How the Liberal Party is eating itself
“It tends to be the case that when groups that are contracting – and religion is contracting in Australia – the more it contracts, the more strongly its adherents hold on. I think that contributes to religious groups thinking they have to find ways of maintaining their influence. And they see a right-wing political party as a good vehicle for it.”
The Liberal Party’s federal council endorsement of privatising the ABC is a sign of the deep schism between the religious right of the party’s rank and file and its more pragmatic parliamentary leadership.
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Trump keeps families together – in custody
Trump relents on family separations. Merkel under pressure over asylum seekers. Rhetoric heats up for US–China trade war.
Opinion
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Omar J. Sakr
What is political correctness?
“On and on, everyday cruelties abound. Somehow, conservatives get away with running things exactly how they want, while complaining loudly that they’re unable to because of censorship. They are both underdog and victor, gagged yet constantly heard. What, then, is this confected Trumpian backlash really against? Thought? Ironically, this is what free speech warriors are fighting so valiantly against. It would be funny if it weren’t so tragic.”
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Paul Bongiorno
Turnbull’s aspirational targets
“As one Liberal lamented, no matter what happens, voters won’t have received any tax cuts in their pockets at the time of the next election. But according to the prime minister’s inner sanctum, Labor will do the Liberals a huge favour by promising to raise people’s taxes. It will, but not for the majority of workers – “only millionaires”, who Labor says it can’t afford to help for now, and onto whom it will reapply the deficit reduction levy. ”
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Benito Dutton is doing his level best to make sure visitors to his Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation are not infused with drugs. Even traces of Bex on someone’s sleeve may be enough to have their visitation rights cancelled. So far an ex-mayor, an elderly Catholic priest, a mature aged-care nurse and a Salvation Army pastor have flunked the MITA drug test. This involves blood-curdling Border Force operatives and Serco agents passing a magic wand over visitors’ clothing in the hunt for stashes of heroin and cocaine.
Letters, Poem & Editorial
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Eurydice Dixon (22), Qi Yu (28), Unnamed Woman (69), Caroline Willis (69), Unnamed Woman (46), Unnamed Woman (37), Karen Ashcroft (52)...
Culture
‘From the Wreck’ author Jane Rawson
Combining a real-life shipwreck and an alien octopus doesn’t seem an obvious way to explore the impact of mankind on the environment, but, for author Jane Rawson, the message in From the Wreck couldn’t be more imperative. “We’re very keen to look elsewhere and say, ‘Oh, this is terrible in developing countries’ … We seem to be blissfully unaware that some of the worst deforestation in the world is happening in Australia … We have one of the worst extinction records in the world.”
Through subtlety and its refusal to out a villain, Disobedience sees its three stars radiate passion and intensity – for their faith and each other – under the masterful direction of Sebastián Lelio.
“Movement is my first language, she says, and nimbly she tap dances across the floor, feet quick and sure; she shimmies to one side, the other, her limbs jogging so loose and deft under flowing black clothes. This woman has been moving like this for years: her body is her instrument, it’s strong and good and it springs like glee.”
Food
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Smoked oysters and chicken broth
“When done with consideration, cooking can be a great way to show the oyster’s flavour. In winter, especially, oysters tend to have more of a muscle, and rock oysters can be treated almost like clams to show this off. This recipe uses smoked oysters in a Chinese-style chicken broth that riffs on the meatiness of the oyster. Next to this is one of my favourite things of all time – buttered cabbage and turnip – which gives it a bass note. ”
Life
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As the National Library raises funds to preserve 19th-century fan scrapbooks, the author reflects on giving herself over to fandom – and how its obsessiveness is both critical and self-reflective.
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Endometriosis is an often excruciating condition that affects 700,000 Australian women. With a national action plan due next month, sufferers are finally hopeful better treatments will soon be found.
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Tall in the saddle: Emma Booth, 27, equestrian
After a horrific car accident left her unable to walk, Emma Booth had just one goal – getting back on a horse and representing Australia at the Paralympics.
Books
The Quiz
1. Who stars as Ally in the 2018 remake of A Star Is Born? (Bonus point for naming the film’s director.)
2. Abstract artist Piet Mondrian is from which country?
3. In what decade was the Federal Bureau of Investigation established?
4. Rapper Horst Christian Simco is better known by what stage name?
5. In text messages, what does the abbreviation TMI stand for?
6. What is the colour of the bottom stripe of the Russian flag?
7. What is the largest artery in the human body?
8. Which author and illustrator created the fictional character Blinky Bill?
9. What is a synonym for lassitude: (a) frugality; (b) lethargy; or (c) truthfulness?
10. How many French Open singles titles has Rafael Nadal won?
Quotes
BIRTH
“Welcome to our village wee one.”
The New Zealand prime minister announces the birth of her first child. No news yet on what Charles Wooley thinks but it’s probably creepy.
ART
“The work itself refuses to respond. It’s the null of the image.”
The artist describes his work Under the Bitumen the Artist, which saw him entombed beneath a Hobart street for 72 hours. Drunks jumped up and down on the road where he was buried, so that even under the earth he could know he was in Tasmania.
MEDIA
“I’m doing this so the girls feel empowered, and know their mum stood up and defended our fine name.”
The estranged wife of Barnaby Joyce agrees to an interview with the journal of record, Women’s Weekly. It’s a fine name to defend, except that it is also her husband’s.
COMEDY
“Clamping down on Winnie the Pooh comparisons doesn’t exactly project strength. It suggests a weird insecurity.”
The satirist becomes the subject of a Chinese ban on social media after mocking President Xi Jinping. A real leader would have just pointed out how much Oliver looks like a weird cross between Rabbit and Piglet and maybe Christopher Robin.
TAX
“You’ve heard it from the horse’s mouth!”
The One Nation leader explains that she is a supporter of workers. That is why she is backing tax cuts for the rich and a pay increase for herself.
AMERICA
“I have a much better apartment than they do. I’m smarter than they are. I’m richer than they are.”
The president chooses the occasion of caging children to boast about his apartment and explain why he is better than the liberal “elites”. The only guilt that interests him is on the frames around his mirrors.
