News

Morrison ruling by ‘Henry VIII’ clauses

“The federal government has embedded special powers in new Covid-19 laws to make unilateral changes to non-pandemic-related legislation, using what are known as ‘Henry VIII clauses’ – named for the unchecked power they involve.”

Karen Middleton New concerns surround the government’s increased use of legislative powers to bypass the parliament and create laws that cannot be amended or overturned.

News

News

Cold War: ‘Grey zone’ to define relations with China

“We’re dealing with a spectrum between co-operation, contestation and conflict. It’s a sliding scale. There is no hard demarcation, except when somebody physically pulls a trigger.”

Karen Middleton A strategic defence update highlights ‘coercive tactics’ that skirt the threshold of armed conflict but justify a huge weapons build-up by Australia.

News

Young people with disabilities still living in aged care

Rick Morton Of the thousands of young people with disabilities living in aged-care facilities, only a few hundred have been moved into the community since the NDIS rollout began in 2013.

News

The flaws in the COVIDSafe app

“The really scary thing to me is that I could re-identify someone at multiple different locations, like a journalist whose phone was detected at certain locations and times … It shouldn’t be possible.”

Royce Kurmelovs When the COVIDSafe contact tracing app launched, tech-savvy experts went looking for flaws. It didn’t take long to find them.

News

Govt tight-lipped on ACCC Murray–Darling Basin water report

Margaret Simons Submissions to the ACCC’s inquiry into water trading in the Murray–Darling Basin reveal significant concerns about the possibility of market manipulation.

World

New law marks end of  ‘old Hong Kong ’

Jonathan Pearlman Beijing imposes security law on Hong Kong. Donald Trump queried on Russian bounty plot against US troops. Fiji wants billionaires to visit  ‘Bula bubble ’. Advertisers boycott Facebook over hate speech and content inciting violence.

Recession and government stimulus

Mike Seccombe The government quickly stepped in to prevent a potential collapse of the health system under the weight of Covid-19 cases. But will it go all in to head off economic disaster or let the market decide what happens come September?

Opinion

Opinion

Open letter
Relocate the Captain Cook statue

“What Cook represents, his continuing legacy in First Nations peoples’ dispossession and social injustice, perpetuates suffering. Public spaces such as Hyde Park should be welcoming to all. For this reason, and those further outlined below, the statue of Cook should no longer be displayed in the park, but conserved in a public museum.”

Opinion

Paul Bongiorno
Test for PM in Eden-Monaro

“Unfailingly, since World War II, the voters in the New South Wales seat of Eden-Monaro have picked the mood of the nation at every federal election. Well, almost every election – 2016 and 2019 were the exceptions. Today those of the seat’s 114,000 registered electors who haven’t voted pre-poll will play the part of political weathervane, if not their more traditional role of bellwether.”

Diary

Gadfly
Jackson thrives

Richard Ackland Where’s Kathy Jackson when you need her during a pandemic? It’s a cry Gadfly hears frequently as he gallivants around a boarded-up nation, so it’s timely to present a handy updated guide to events. Kathy was the national secretary of the Health Services Union of Australia, the outfit that represents a massive number of people who work in and around hospitals and nursing homes. As far back as August 2015, the Federal Court found Jackson had misappropriated union funds and ordered her to repay $1.4 million. Regrettably, she had been declared bankrupt two months earlier.

Letters, Cartoon & Editorial

Cartoon

Read

Editorial
Of public interest

The facts of the case are unfathomable, when you lay them out: the real prospect a journalist could be charged for reporting on credible allegations of war crimes committed by Australian troops. But this is where things now stand, with the Australian Federal Police sending a brief of evidence to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, detailing a case against ABC journalist Dan Oakes for his reporting on the “Afghan Files”.

Letters

Aunty stands alone

Rick Morton analyses the problems of the ABC with clarity (“Exclusive: New govt report targets ABC”, June 27–July 3). Why should a report into the ABC, owned by the people, be written by a recent …

No chance for Murdoch

I can assure Rupert Murdoch that even if the ABC did not exist, I would not access his media. I would, however, be happy to pay for an ABC Australian-only content streaming service for my entertainment. Then …

Read More

Culture

Profile

Actor Toby Schmitz’s live wire

Peter Craven For actor Toby Schmitz, there’s nothing like the exhilaration of being on stage, but for the past week he’s replicated some of that feeling in a series of live-streamed performances of Will Eno’s Thom Pain. He speaks about playing Hamlet, the vitality of theatre and keeping his ‘art spark’ alight in the Covid-19 lockdown. “The audience is the final director that teaches you things you would never have thought of. You know, if one person moves their leg it may mean nothing, but if four people do, then you’ve lost them somehow.”

Art

22nd Biennale of Sydney: NIRIN

Andy Butler Focusing on the perspectives of First Nations artists from Australia and around the world, the 22nd Biennale of Sydney, NIRIN, invites audiences to fight for greater justice and equality. It’s a triumph.

Life

Food

Pot-roasted chicken

Annie Smithers

Sport

Hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup

Joe Gorman For Jenna McCormick, a defection from AFLW to soccer was all about wearing the national colours. Now, as Australia and New Zealand win the right to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023, the green and gold icing is really on the cake.

Books

Brit Bennett
The Vanishing Half

Darleen Bungey
Daddy Cool

Andrew Kwong
One Bright Moon

Puzzles

The Cryptic

Crossword No. 308

The Quiz

1. The United States Declaration of Independence was ratified on July 4: (a) 1766; (b) 1770; (c) 1776; or (d) 1780. (Bonus point for naming the city in which the ratification took place.)
2. What oranges are most commonly used in marmalade?
3. Name the Irish author of the novel Normal People.
4. Which city in New Zealand is home to the University of Otago?
5. English television personality Jo Frost is also well known by what nickname?
6. Who painted The Golden Fleece and Shearing the Rams?
7. How many pairs of ribs are in a human body?
8. What is Australia’s current official cash rate as determined by the Reserve Bank?
9. What was the last musical to win the Best Picture Oscar?
10. What is the English transliteration of the number three in Mandarin and Japanese?

Click through for answers.

Quotes

RHETORIC

“That period of the 1930s has been something I have been revisiting.”

Scott MorrisonThe prime minister invokes the rise of Nazi Germany to justify spending billions of dollars on missiles. He really could have just gone with “jobs and growth”.

MARKETING

“Woolworths failed to act even after the ACMA had warned it of potential compliance issues.”

Nerida O’LoughlinThe Australian Communications and Media Authority chair announces a $1 million fine for the supermarket over millions of spam emails. It’s unclear what’s more surprising: the size of the fine, or the fact thousands of people were able to work out how to unsubscribe from a marketing email.

PANDEMIC

“You would have to have been on Mars not to understand that the chief health officer’s restrictions apply in these 36 suburbs.”

Shane PattonVictoria’s top cop rejects suggestions language barriers may be hampering compliance with Covid-19 health information, contradicting the chief health officer who days earlier said the state had failed to engage with linguistically diverse communities.

MODERNITY

“This is not a wowser approach. This is based on real problems we’ve seen around the world.”

Stephen WadeThe South Australian Health minister defends state law that makes nightclub patrons choose between drinking or dancing. Nothing says cutting-edge policy quite like the term “wowser”.

COURTS

“While we respect the findings of the Full Court the Rush case exposes the inadequacies of Australia’s defamation laws.”

Ben English

The Daily Telegraph editor responds to the Federal Court rejection of his paper’s appeal against Geoffrey Rush’s successful defamation proceedings. The actor will receive $2.9 million in damages.

FRONT LINE

“Five minutes.”

Anonymous security guard

A guard who worked at one of the Melbourne hotels linked to the city’s latest Covid-19 outbreak tells Today how much training he was given before looking after quarantined guests. A clear failure, although still more training than most security guards have.