News

Who’s about to get rich off the green energy revolution?

“The next frontier really is exporting renewables. We’ve got plenty of land and plenty of sun and wind. And many of our neighbours to the north don’t.”

Mike Seccombe A generation of Australian entrepreneurs is readying for a carbonless future, even as the Morrison government remains stubbornly committed to gas and coal.

News

News

Covid-19 leaks from hotel quarantine

Rachel Withers Despite numerous reviews by state and federal governments into hotel quarantine, the system continues to lead to Covid-19 transmission in Australia, with experts criticising the lack of a co-ordinated strategy around the country.

News

Crown’s casinos and the Bergin report

Rick Morton James Packer’s Crown Casino has been found unfit to hold a licence in NSW, following an 18-month inquiry. The findings call into question Crown casinos around Australia and have other state governments scrambling.

News

Wages war in Adelaide’s Chinatown

Royce Kurmelovs Video footage of an alleged assault at a tea house in Adelaide’s Chinatown has pulled focus onto the issue of wage theft and underpayment, especially among migrants and international students.

News

Experts raise concerns about vaccine messaging

Justine Landis-Hanley Vaccine hesitancy is climbing in Australia, as it decreases in the rest of the world. At the same time, the government has outsourced its health campaign to private consultancies instead of engaging experts.

News

Tanya Plibersek on post-Covid politics

Karen Middleton After confronting Craig Kelly over his coronavirus scaremongering, Tanya Plibersek says it’s time to hold the government to account.

World

Micronesian states quit Pacific forum over new leader

Jonathan Pearlman Ballot ignored regions’ agreement to rotate role. Chinese dam proposal in Tibet adds to India tension. Detained Australian journalist Cheng Lei alleged to have supplied state secrets overseas.

Melbourne enters ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown

Maddison Connaughton

Opinion

Opinion

Richard Denniss
The truth about Australia’s wages

“Like the dog that caught the car, Australian conservatives have succeeded in a decades-long quest to crush the bargaining power of unions and workers. And, in turn, they have succeeded in crushing average wage growth.”

Opinion

Paul Bongiorno
Nationals still hot on coal

“On Monday Scott Morrison walked into RAAF Base Williamtown near Newcastle to the soundtrack of the movie Top Gun. It may have been appropriate to his mission that day – lauding the progress of the Joint Strike Fighter program – but it was a parody of his helplessness in the endless climate war.”

Diary

Gadfly
Kick in the Ed for systemic racism

Sami Shah Stunning everyone and overturning centuries of tradition, Eddie McGuire has now become the first white Australian ever forced from his job due to a prolonged commitment to racism. This has confused a country accustomed to the established method of dealing with racism in Australia, wherein the victim is pushed out of their job, hounded in the press and media, labelled a “sook” because our discourse is just barely above “I’m rubber and you’re glue, and what bounces off me sticks to you”, before it’s claimed that racism is a thing that happens only in America.

Letters, Cartoon & Editorial

Cartoon

Read

Editorial
After Eddie

Eddie McGuire is not the end, as much as the AFL would like him to be. A culture as toxic as the one described in the report that finally ended his 22-year tenure as Collingwood president cannot be seeded and maintained by one man.

Letters

Not a super idea

If Tim Wilson was serious about housing affordability, he should take aim at dwellings as an investment (Rick Morton, “Inside Tim Wilson’s campaign against super”, February 6-12). Removing taxation …

The morals of the story

It’s interesting that Scott Morrison sees himself as a purely transactional leader (Mike Seccombe, “Why Scott Morrison finally cautioned Craig Kelly”, February 6-12). Presumably he interprets …

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Culture

In Progress

Nardi Simpson

Kate Holden For Yuwaalaraay singer and writer Nardi Simpson, author of Song of the Crocodile, a sense of place is fundamental to all her work.

Fiction

Two begging stories

“When he made his first billion, Samir bought the top half of the mountain. Once his grandparents had lived at its foot but now he had a view to the sea and the mountains beyond. His first point of business was the road. Bulldozers, excavators, trucks and workers battled a road to the top. He liked the appearance of dust but not how it clung to his clothes. They layered the gravel and then sprayed the asphalt. He thought, Now I can build my house. He flew in an architect, he flew in consultants recommended by his friends. The design would be Mediterranean: white walls, orange tiles, a palace equal to his life. The first night he spent in his palace, he lit up every light. He imagined people below looking up. Yes, the mountain has a king at its top. His sole regret was he could not be in two places at once: to see the mountain being lit for the first time while being the one who flicked the switch. Tomorrow he’d ask and his people could give him a detailed report. He thought to live at the top.”

Yumna Kassab

Books

Simon Winchester
Land

Adam Thompson
Born Into This

Pam Brown (ed.)
Minarets 11

Life

Food

Quail with nectarine and rose petals

Annie Smithers

Travel

An unplanned European break

Katrina Lobley Slowing down to take in every detail of a destination doesn’t always come naturally, but occasionally fate intervenes.

Sport

The real reason Kyrgios cops flak

Osman Faruqi Nick Kyrgios pushed the world number three to the brink at the Australian Open on Friday night, riding the raucous support of the crowd. But some still don’t like what he brings to tennis.

Puzzles

The Cryptic

Crossword No. 336

The Quiz

1. Julia Quinn’s novel The Duke and I spawned which period drama television series that debuted on Christmas Day 2020? (Bonus point for naming the show’s powerhouse executive producer.)
2. The Italian, Portuguese and Spanish word lago translates to what in English?
3. The 2021 Lunar New Year marked the start of the Year of the …?
4. What is the International Olympic Committee three-letter abbreviation for Switzerland?
5. The Coachella music festival, recently cancelled for a third time, is held in which US state?
6. Which year was the Queen’s annus horribilis?
7. What is 6/8ths as a percentage?
8. What beginning with ‘T’ is the name of the first part of the Jewish bible?
9. Löwchen, Lagotto Romagnolo and Havanese are all breeds of which domestic animal?
10. Which spelling is correct: ecstasy, ecstacy or extasy?

Click through for answers.

Quotes

Justice

“I’m here live. I’m not a cat.”

Rod PontonThe Texas lawyer struggles to switch off a filter that made him appear as a cat during a trial conducted via Zoom. The New Yorker’s staff likely wish Jeffrey Toobin had used a filter.

Accountability

“The Liberals treat taxpayer money as if it is Liberal Party money.”

Kristina KeneallyThe Labor MP lashes Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton over $880,000 awarded to the National Retail Association. To be fair, since the grant came after the NRA made a donation to the LNP explicitly for Dutton, wouldn’t it have been a bit rude not to?

Family

“Tell your girlfriend to get out of my box.”

Nick KyrgiosThe tennis player appears to instruct his brother to eject his world champion bodybuilder girlfriend, Alicia Gowans, from his player’s box at the Australian Open. Christmas dinner with the Kyrgios family should be fun.

Sport

“I don’t listen to women that much.”

Yoshiro MoriThe former Japanese president announces his resignation from the Tokyo Olympics organising committee after saying women shouldn’t be on committees because they talk too much. Always good to go down swinging.

Mea culpa

“I try my best and I don’t always get it right, but I don’t stop trying.”

Eddie McGuire

The Millionaire Hot Seat host steps down as Collingwood president after 22 years in the job. Former player Héritier Lumumba described this speech as “somehow even worse than his last press conference”, which is fairly generous.

Freedom

“Fox cannot be held liable for fairly reporting and commenting on competing allegations in a hotly contested and actively litigated election.”

Fox NewsThe media conglomerate hits back at a $US2.8 billion lawsuit from electoral voting machine manufacturers Smartmatic. Relying on the integrity of its newsroom for its defence, the broadcaster’s mission is clear: make QAnon seem relatively sane.