News

WhatsApp leak: ministers shut out of  NDIS redraft

“Stuart Robert is taking all of the King Henry VIII powers,” one legal source said. “You cannot get a more pure power grab. That is a God power.”

Rick Morton

State and territory disability ministers have been sidelined from plans to strip back the NDIS. The legislation will hand the federal minister ‘God powers’ over the scheme.

News

News

Exclusive: While women marched, the PM was doing factional deals

“In the same week thousands of people rallied around the country to protest against the sexual assault, harassment and discrimination of women, the prime minister’s office was firmly focused on a far less public crisis. ”

Karen Middleton As questions grow about the government’s handling of both sexual assault claims and the vaccine rollout, Scott Morrison has been focused on shoring up his numbers.

News

Morrison’s new cabinet

Rachel Withers Scott Morrison’s ministerial reshuffle included a few surprises, and not a small amount of controversy. Ultimately, though, the faces remain the same.

News

The state of vaccinations

Royce Kurmelovs Australia has fallen short of its Covid-19 vaccination targets by millions of doses, but who is to blame? As the federal and state governments point fingers at each other, the nation waits for a vaccine rollout that has failed to deliver.

News

Poverty and the end of JobKeeper

Mike Seccombe The federal government has reduced or removed the supports that helped millions of Australians survive the pandemic. JobKeeper’s end could cut 150,000 jobs and push millions into poverty, particularly women and children.

News

Rental stress and evictions

Elle Marsh As moratoriums that barred landlords from evicting tenants during the pandemic come to an end across the country, housing experts fear a homelessness crisis is looming.

World

Violence worsens as Myanmar edges towards civil war

Jonathan Pearlman

PNG begins vaccine rollout starting with Prime Minister James Marape. Woman’s death in Mexico mirrors George Floyd incident.

Opinion

Opinion

Kevin Rudd and Thom Woodroofe
A foreign policy for the climate

“Acting on climate change not only makes economic sense for Australia, it makes diplomatic sense as well. Our refusal to act meaningfully on climate change will increasingly be a thorn in the side of our relations with all of the world’s advanced economies. ”

Opinion

Paul Bongiorno
Government reset on women

“All governments have horror stretches; the Morrison government is certainly no exception, as the past six weeks attest. But it is how governments deal with these political crises that can seal or save their fate. The Americans have a colourful turn of phrase to describe how politicians in similar fixes often resort to ‘putting lipstick on a pig’. In other words, they do not address the underlying problems but rather hope a few cosmetic flourishes will persuade the public they are on to it. So on Monday we had the ‘new look’ Morrison cabinet rolled out. Except it wasn’t.”

Diary

Gadfly
Reshuffle kerfuffle and Hillsong scuffle

Sami Shah

Until now, the rarely seen but oft-referenced Jenny Morrison was considered the grand vizier behind the prime minister on all issues related to women. Reports suggest she spent her time guiding Scott Morrison away from the rocky outcroppings of misogyny and towards the open seas of empathy, like a reverse siren. Based on recent performances by the PM, though, it’s starting to seem as though her calls are going unheard.

Letters, Cartoon & Editorial

Cartoon

Read

Editorial
Home without a heart

“You have every right to come home,” the prime minister told the more than 30,000 Australians stranded overseas in December last year. He promised to get as many as possible – if not all – home by Christmas. In the months since, the numbers have hardly fallen.

Letters

Empathic PM needed

Your call (Editorial, “Taking the lead”, March 27–April 2) is timely. But if PM Scott Morrison is to change the poisonous culture that now reigns inside Parliament House, he must renounce the …

Labor women ready and waiting

Following your editorial I’d like to add a few words of advice to Anthony Albanese and Richard Marles. If you want to win the next federal election, get out of the way and make room for Penny …

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Culture

Profile

Comedy trio Aunty Donna

Elizabeth Flux With a Netflix show and a headline at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, the surreal troupe Aunty Donna has come a long way from their Ballarat days.

Theatre

Stop Girl

Bri Lee Foreign correspondent Sally Sara’s semi-autobiographical play at Belvoir, Stop Girl, captures the quotidian anguish of suffering a breakdown.

Art

The National 2021

Tristen Harwood In its third showing, The National – which exhibits new Australian art across three major Sydney galleries – highlights uncertainties about our national identity.

In Progress

June Jones

Maddee Clark Working under lockdown on her new album, while contending with a diagnosis of ADHD, meant a wholly different process for musician June Jones.

Fiction

All that matters

“It’s so exciting you’re here to stay. I remember when I was the new one. A lifetime ago. You’re going to love it here. Our friend is so amazing. All friends are… Well, almost all. But ours is the best. When I was new there was an old one already here. They were lovely, so kind. They taught me everything I needed to know: where to go, how to ask for in and out, what kind of games to play until I came up with some of my own. Then they and our friend played those games with me. I was so proud. They’ve gone now, the old one, long ago. I miss them. One came from the place with strange, sharp smells. Not all places are happy. That one brought some of those bad scents along and the old one left. Their smell was so different the moment they went and our friend cried, so hard, for so long. I did everything I could to help, but sometimes pain is simply there until it’s not. ”

Alan Baxter

Books

Anwen Crawford
No Document

Sara Haghdoosti
Sunburnt Veils

Madeleine Ryan
A Room Called Earth

Life

Food

Smashed cucumber salad

David Moyle

Drinks

Sober so good

Leanne Altmann The beverage director for Andrew McConnell’s restaurants celebrates her favourite alcohol-free drinks.

Sport

Melbourne Storm forecasts

Adam Burnett During a chaotic few years, Melbourne Storm remained the NRL’s benchmark side. But can the reigning premier retain its dominance following the retirement of Cameron Smith?

Puzzles

The Cryptic

Crossword No. 343

The Quiz

1. Which Cold Chisel song features the lyrics: “There’s no change, there’s no pace Everything within its place/ Just makes it harder to believe that she won’t be around”?
2. Who is credited with discovering gravity?
3. Which of these Japanese cities is closest to Mount Fuji: (a) Tokyo; (b) Kyoto; (c) Nagoya; or (d) Yokohama?
4. What aircraft has not been flown commercially since October 2003?
5. For the first time in Oscars history two women have been nominated for the Best Director Academy Award. Name them.
6. Which country last month won the 36th America’s Cup?
7. The Project’s Lisa Wilkinson became editor of which women’s magazine in 1984?
8. True or false: the last convict transport ship arrived in Australia in the 1850s. (Bonus point for the naming the state it docked in.)
9. What is Shakespeare’s longest play?
10. Which gas solidifies to form dry ice?

Click through for answers.

Quotes

Politics

“I would kill to be sexually harassed at the moment.”

Teena McQueenThe Liberal Party vice-president says there are lower rates of sexual harassment among “women my age”. She later apologised for the “attempt at humour”.

Promotions

“When someone does a good job ... then they show that they can take on responsibility.”

Scott MorrisonThe PM makes a “merit” argument for giving Stuart Robert the Small Business portfolio, in spite of robo-debt, billing taxpayers $2000 a month for home internet use and Rick Morton’s story on the front page of this paper.

Realism

“I have no doubt we won’t retain the seat.”

Gladys BerejiklianThe New South Wales premier adopts Zak Kirkup’s fatalistic approach when asked about the byelection in the wake of Nationals MP Michael Johnsen’s resignation. As long as she doesn’t lock down NSW though, it seems she could get away with anything.

Quandary

“Either the prime minister is ignorant of the cultural issues at hand, or he understands them completely and is making calculated moves to perpetuate them.”

Grace TameThe Australian of the Year calls out the decision to elevate Amanda Stoker to assistant minister for Women. The senator controversially defended Bettina Arndt interviewing Tame’s abuser, which Stoker points to as proof she supports women.

Future

“The fact is that unless we have a policy to shape the future, then we’re captured by events beyond our control.”

Anthony AlbaneseThe Labor leader chastises the Morrison government’s rhetoric on electric vehicles, following the announcement of its own EV policy. No word yet on where Labor landed on Albanese’s plan to ban fruit in beer if he becomes prime minister.

Persona

“You don’t really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you?”

Amazon NewsThe tech giant’s PR team takes a direct approach to hosing down bad press, tweeting at a United States congressman. An employee thought the tweet so strange they were compelled to make a formal report fearing the account had been hacked.