May 1– 7, 2021

World

Covid-19 variants cause surge in Indian deaths

Jonathan Pearlman Australian bureaucrat uses Anzac Day to warn of ‘drums of war’.  Rescue mission for bodies of Indonesian submariners. ASEAN summit falls short on Myanmar military crackdown.

Image for article: Covid-19 variants cause surge in Indian deaths

Australian of the Year Grace Tame speaks at the National Press Club.

News

Exclusive: Government review follows Tame appointment

“The federal government has ordered an urgent review of the board structure and operations of the National Australia Day Council amid private criticism of this year’s appointment of outspoken sexual assault survivor Grace Tame as Australian of the Year.”

Karen Middleton The Morrison government has launched an urgent review of the Australia Day Council but denies a link to the 2021 win of outspoken advocate Grace Tame.

News

News

US carbon tariff offers opportunity for Australia

“Australia is a laggard in terms of emission reductions. We are not only the world’s largest exporter of coal (by calorific value) and liquefied natural gas but among the world’s greatest per capita emitters of greenhouse gases.”

Tim Flannery Analysis: News Joe Biden is eyeing a carbon border adjustment scheme doesn’t bode well for Australian exports – unless key industries including beef and aluminium move to embrace green technology breakthroughs.

Image for article: Asylum seekers attacked in Port Moresby

News

Asylum seekers attacked in Port Moresby

Rebekah Holt Refugees formerly held on Manus Island have been robbed at gunpoint in Port Moresby. With Covid-19 cases rising in Papua New Guinea, advocates fear for these men and the others still awaiting resettlement after years in detention.

Image for article: Film productions move to Australia

News

Film productions move to Australia

Rick Morton As the pandemic rages overseas, scores of major film and TV projects are moving production to Australia. But will this gold rush bring any lasting benefits to the local industry?

News

‘Visceral’ response to Pezzullo in Defence

“Home Affairs Department secretary Mike Pezzullo looks set to be denied his dream job in Defence and is now in the mix for promotion to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.”

Karen Middleton Despite bellicose Anzac Day remarks, Mike Pezzullo may not head to Defence, but could replace Phil Gaetjens.

Image for article: Health key to Tasmanian election

News

Health key to Tasmanian election

Danielle Wood As Tasmanians go to the polls this weekend, the outcome remains surprisingly uncertain, balanced precariously on a crumbling health system and preferential voting that favours personalities over parties.

News

Extremism and clear terminology

Lydia Khalil New terminology introduced by ASIO to describe violent extremist groups carefully avoids ‘right- or left-wing’ descriptors. But in not calling out right-wing extremism, is the national security agency guilty of double standards and bowing to the conservative side of politics?

Image for article: Extremism and clear terminology

World

Covid-19 variants cause surge in Indian deaths

Jonathan Pearlman Australian bureaucrat uses Anzac Day to warn of ‘drums of war’.  Rescue mission for bodies of Indonesian submariners. ASEAN summit falls short on Myanmar military crackdown.

Image for article: Covid-19 variants cause surge in Indian deaths

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Opinion

Opinion

Kim Rubenstein
Stranded citizens an international disgrace

“On Tuesday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a pause on direct passenger flights between India and Australia, with consideration of further flights to be made by May 15. Australians stranded in India, who make up almost a third of those now stuck overseas for more than a year, now have no way to return home. No other democratic country has placed such extreme measures on its citizens.”

Opinion

Paul Bongiorno
Politics, Morrison and faith

“It may console some Australians to know that their prime minister is doing God’s work. Millions of others are more likely to be confused, and even flabbergasted. Yet courtesy of a scratchy YouTube video, shot at a Pentecostal conference on the Gold Coast last week, Scott Morrison has given us a window into the soul he has otherwise kept shut, sharing with fellow Pentecostals how he sees his beliefs as a mission statement for his prime ministership.”

Diary

Gadfly
Are you there, God? It’s me, Morrison

Sami Shah It has long been believed that when God speaks, it is only to prophets, poets and madmen. Now we can add Australian prime ministers to that list. While attending the Australian Christian Churches conference on the Gold Coast last week, Scott Morrison revealed that he and Jenny have been called upon to do God’s work.

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Letters, Cartoon & Editorial

Cartoon

ReadCartoon image, links to full cartoon page

Editorial
Hint and miss for climate targets

There is nothing clever about hinting at a target. Scott Morrison can smile and insinuate, but to the climate it makes no difference. His audio can be muted at a summit and it doesn’t matter because he’s not saying anything. This is how he governs.

Letters

Defence and Dutton

On past performances, Peter Dutton’s new gig as Defence minister could be at least as alarming to domestic fans of democracy as he hopes to be to any foreign foe (Karen Middleton, “How Peter Dutton will …

Slow to act on climate

The common theme running through Paul Bongiorno’s perspective piece on the Morrison government (“Lean times for ineffective Morrison”, April 24-30) is lack of urgency. Despite the “Paris …

Read More

Culture

Geoffrey Robertson.

Profile

Barrister Geoffrey Robertson

Miriam Cosic After a lifetime spent defending human rights, Geoffrey Robertson’s faith in international law is fading. But he is fighting on.
Image for article: Umurangi Generation

Games

Umurangi Generation

Jini Maxwell

Naphtali Faulkner’s first-person photography game Umurangi Generation is a fun dystopian romp that develops into an insightful exploration of the insidiousness of fascism.
Image for article: Amy Shark’s Cry Forever

Music

Amy Shark’s Cry Forever

Shaad D’Souza

As with her earlier work, Amy Shark’s new album, Cry Forever, trades on her struggles to succeed – but she’s no longer an underdog.

Books

Image for article: Gunk Baby

Jamie Marina Lau
Gunk Baby

Image for article: The Shape of Sound

Fiona Murphy
The Shape of Sound

Image for article: Hold Your Fire

Chloe Wilson
Hold Your Fire

Life

Image for article: Dancing grass crumpets

Food

Dancing grass crumpets

David Moyle

Image for article: Supporting international students

Health

Supporting international students

Melanie Cheng When we think of international students in monetary terms, we are ignoring their very human needs and challenges. Australia’s Covid-19 recovery will require these foreign visitors, but we need to rebuild trust and care.

Image for article: Shooting star Jhaniele Fowler

Sport

Shooting star Jhaniele Fowler

Linda Pearce As West Coast Fever’s goal-shooting machine, Jhaniele Fowler hopes to push her club to one spot higher in the domestic netball league. But the Jamaican’s ambitions don’t stop there. She also wants to be the best player in the world.

Puzzles

The Cryptic

link to this week\'s crossword

Crossword No. 347

The Quiz

1. What deadline has the United States government set for the withdrawal of all American troops from Afghanistan?
2. True or false: iron-rich haemoglobin makes blood red?
3. “But I have promises to keep, / And miles to go before I sleep, / And miles to go before I sleep” is a line from a poem by Robert …? (Bonus point for naming the poem.)
4. Name five of the seven von Trapp children from the film The Sound of Music?
5. In Scrabble, each player starts with how many tiles?
6. According to the saying, a fool and his money are soon …?
7. On May 1, 1931, the Empire State Building opened in New York City. How many storeys is it: (a) 85; (b) 102; or (c) 144?
8. The mathematical equation (-12) - (-6) = …?
9. Name the Western Australian tennis player who won her maiden WTA Tour title in Charleston, South Carolina, last month.
10. Which actress is named in the first verse of the Mark Ronson song “Uptown Funk”?

Click through for answers.

Quotes

Percussion

“In a world of perpetual tension and dread, the drums of war beat – sometimes faintly and distantly, and at other times more loudly and ever closer.”

Mike PezzulloThe Home Affairs secretary warns Australia to brace for “the curse of war”. He’s requested people now call him the “Keith Moon of bureaucratic middle management”.

Medicine

“It’s only one shot, rather than two.”

Jane HumeThe Superannuation minister incorrectly states that Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine is only a single dose. Sky News issued no correction, but the channel’s fact-checker is still playing catch-up from Craig Kelly’s last interview.

Internet

“My linktr.ee has also been disabled.”

Craig KellyThe crossbench MP and noted vaccine aristarch is deplatformed from the link-sharing website. After being banned from Facebook, twice, for spreading misinformation, and from Instagram, you know it’s this one that really hurts.

Credentials

“As a medically trained person, I really genuinely just had no idea that ADHD and hyperactivity was an adult condition.”

Andrew LamingThe Liberal MP announces he’s been diagnosed with ADHD and now understands his behaviour towards women was inappropriate. Luckily the condition did not affect his ability to get three master’s degrees.

Cinema

“I have always found goodness in the people I’ve met everywhere I went in the world.”

Chloé Zhao

The Nomadland director accepts the Academy Award for Best Director, becoming the first woman of colour to win the prize. Finding the goodness even in Amazon’s exploitative conditions for factory workers truly is a feat.

Dobbing

“You just can’t sit on the JobSeeker payment and expect your neighbours to cover that lifestyle.”

Stuart RobertThe Employment minister defends a new hotline that allows employers to report job applicants who don’t accept work offers. In a fair world, this hotline would just ring through to a message bank recording that politely told the caller to get a life.

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