CSIRO steps back on Adani approval
“CSIRO and Geoscience Australia were not provided with copies of Adani’s full revised plans until after they had made their responses to the environment department.”
As Scott Morrison readied to call the election, Melissa Price rushed to give federal approval to Adani’s Carmichael mine, citing support from the CSIRO.
News
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Election 2019: welcome to the age war
“Across a broad range of political issues, from Muslim immigration to climate change, younger, better-educated voters take the progressive view. ”
While older Australians reap the benefits of the government’s fiscal policies, it is millennials who are fast becoming the nation’s largest voting bloc, but they are not becoming more conservative as they age.
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After the Christchurch massacre, the Coalition and Labor passed a bill prohibiting the sharing of abhorrent material on social media, but experts argue the new law will achieve little.
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Delays in citizenship applications
Under the Coalition government, the processing of citizenship paperwork has increased to often upwards of 300 days, causing a huge backlog of applications and infuriating refugee groups.
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Sliding house prices and negative gearing
“The impact of negative gearing on the property market has been ‘exaggerated’, says AMP Capital’s chief economist, Shane Oliver. He adds that reforms are necessary, but restricting the policy to new buildings may distort the market. ”
As house prices fall around Australia, opinions are divided about the impact of the Labor Party’s proposed reforms to negative gearing.
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Likely fifth term for Benjamin Netanyahu
Libya after Gaddafi. Indonesians choosing not to vote. Nine guilty over Occupy movement. Israeli election results.
Opinion
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Paddy Manning
The funding gap on education
“Melbourne’s Caulfield Grammar is building a pool with a moveable floor, while Presbyterian Ladies College will soon have an orchestra lift – which would all be fine, if it wasn’t part-funded by taxpayers.”
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Paul Bongiorno
PM sets tone for May 18 election
“The prime minister seems to have decided the best way to win over voters is to treat them like mugs. ‘Their problem,’ one Labor strategist says of the government, ‘is the voters aren’t as dumb as they think.’”
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Gadfly
The A-Team’s heroes for hire
There’s a sense of relief that the nation is now in caretaker mode – a nice change from the usual arrangement where the affairs of state are conducted with unremitting carelessness.
Letters, Poem & Editorial
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Maxine Beneba Clarke
The Changemakers
the pollsters are gleeful
saying
abbott’s time has come
things, they are about to change
around warringah way
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Eryn Jean Norvill never wanted to be there. And yet there she was, sitting in the front row of the packed Sydney courtroom, waiting for the judgement to be handed down in Nationwide News Pty Limited v Rush. There she was, against her wishes, waiting to hear Justice Michael Wigney label her an incredible witness, one “prone to exaggeration and embellishment”.
Culture
Rosslynd Piggott’s sense of self
As Rosslynd Piggott prepares for I Sense You But I Cannot See You – the second retrospective of her career at the National Gallery of Victoria – she reflects on her childhood in Frankston, her ambition as a young artist and her life’s work. “I did a year of teaching in 1981 in the remote Victorian country at Werrimull. I’d just come out of post-punk Melbourne, thrust up there in the middle of nowhere. I was never going to do three years up there. After that, I just ran away, basically, to St Kilda, doing dishwashing and waitressing. I knew I wanted to be an artist.”
In Transit, Christian Petzold transposes a story of World War II refugees into a contemporary setting. By pulling off this feat, he confronts viewers with their complicity in the treatment of asylum seekers today.
Life
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While old-style public housing apartment blocks conjure fond memories of the ‘real’ Hong Kong, a flawed system has seen them unable to keep up with demand, leading to near-intolerable living conditions for many tenants.
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Ash Barty’s rise to world tennis’s top 10
While the bad boys of Australian tennis have been grabbing the headlines and squandering their talent, Ash Barty has been quietly climbing the rankings by way of hard graft, deft skills and old-school modesty.
Books
Puzzles
1. The Seychelles is located in which ocean?
2. Where in the body is the ulnar nerve?
3. In nautical terms, what does avast mean?
4. Who are the two main stars of the 1985 film Out of Africa?
5. The MMR vaccine immunises against which three illnesses?
6. Which singer links the albums Erotica, Bedtime Stories and Rebel Heart?
7. Tirana is the capital of which south-eastern European country?
8. In which fictional town is the TV series Postman Pat set? (Bonus point for naming Pat’s cat.)
9. What does the Latin phrase tempus fugit mean in English?
10. Tennis player Ash Barty recently claimed the biggest singles title of her career by defeating whom to win the Miami Open women’s final?
Quotes
SPORT
“Drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists, idolators…”
The Australian rugby union player tells everyone fun to repent. And the Lord did offer advice unto him: consider retirement.
SPELLING
“No, Huang, H-U-A-N-G.”
The Labor senator corrects Ian Macdonald after he asked if Penny Wong is related to Chinese billionaire Huang Xiangmo. All assembled were pleasantly surprised when Macdonald didn’t bow his head and say “arigato” in reply.
LOBBYING
“Did you know @billshortenmp is my father? Hi dad, love you!”
Advance Australia launches its new mascot. The conservative lobbyists said the character was “political satire”, though it could also be described as a waste of $400,000.
SOLIDARITY
“We are going to stand by our tradies and we are going to save their utes.”
The small business minister vows to protect apprentices from Bill Shorten’s electric vehicle push. One can only assume said tradies are not unionised.
WIKILEAKS
“Julian Assange did not ‘walk out of the embassy’. The Ecuadorian ambassador invited British police into the embassy...”
The organisation tweets news of its founder’s arrest in London. Ecuador said it requested he not be extradited to a country where he could face the death penalty.
POLITICS
“To pay someone more, you’ve got to sack someone else to do it.”
The prime minister and former treasurer displays his economic acumen. To give a go, you’ve got to take a go.
