May 22 – 28, 2021 | The Saturday Paper

News

Morrison’s ‘unconstitutional’ crackdown on charities

“Under the changes, registered charities could be held responsible for summary offences – minor legal breaches – committed by their members or supporters.”

Mike Seccombe Sweeping new laws that could strip charities of their non-profit status for minor offences are intended to stifle protest, the sector warns.

News

US sidelined in Israel–Hamas ceasefire negotiations

Gregg Carlstrom After nearly two weeks of intense fighting, the two parties have agreed to a ceasefire brokered by Egypt.

News

Is a former Murdoch executive the ABC’s next best hope?

Rick Morton As yet another funding fight looms for the national broadcaster, the government has appointed three new members to the ABC board.

News

Government subsidises oil refineries

Max Opray A week after the federal budget, the government has revealed it will spend more than $3 billion to bolster Australia’s oil refining capacity, and a further $600 million to build a gas plant in the Hunter Valley.

News

Senator challenges cabinet secrecy

“The national cabinet arrangement relies on the controversial cabinet office policy committee that Morrison created upon becoming prime minister. He is its only permanent member.”

Karen Middleton Scott Morrison is using a special arrangement to keep the workings of his government secret, but independent senator Rex Patrick has launched a challenge to its legality.

News

Centres for working women at risk

Royce Kurmelovs Despite this month’s federal budget pledging $3.2 billion to women, a critical front-line service has lost much of its funding and will likely close before the end of the year.

World

IEA pivots from pro-fossil fuel to pushing net-zero pathway

Jonathan Pearlman

A Supreme Court ruling paves the way for Samoa’s first female prime minister. About 6000 asylum seekers cross by sea from Morocco into Spanish territory. A spike in Covid-19 cases across Asia.

Image for article: IEA pivots from pro-fossil fuel to pushing net-zero pathway

Opinion

Chris Wallace
Labor’s election chances

“Against this alarming backdrop, one significant question is being asked about the Albanese opposition: Is it capable of winning the election that’s due some time in the next year? ”

Opinion

Paul Bongiorno
Jumping on the campaign trail

“A government doesn’t spend $100 billion in a budget addressing every political problem, either of its own making or imposed on it, and leave anything to chance. Scott Morrison certainly didn’t this week. No sooner had parliament adjourned than he hot-footed it to Queensland – the state that did the most to save his government and without doubt holds the keys to the Lodge at the next poll. ”

Diary

Gadfly
The eye of the storm

Sami Shah It’s been a fairly quiet week for the Morrison government. In the limbo between the budget and next week’s session of parliament, everything’s gone a bit (more) dull in Canberra. We can expect several scandals to break simultaneously on Monday as everyone plays catch-up.

Letters, Cartoon & Editorial

Cartoon

Read

Editorial
Mass vax implosion

The Morrison government won’t say how much Covid-19 vaccine there is in the country. They won’t say to which states it has been sent or how much has been administered. When asked in private briefings, the answer is: “That’s information in confidence.” There is no public data to say why the rollout has stalled, or if it was hubs that produced a record day for vaccinations this week, or to show if that was related to supply. There is no data to say what is working and what is not.

Letters

A waiting game

The state of Josh Frydenberg’s supposed now open mind is very much a wait-and-see (Mike Seccombe, “What’s behind Frydenberg’s debt epiphany?”, May 15-21). Can we measure how far he’s …

Her choice of words

Amanda Stoker regards abortion as permitting women to avoid “the obvious consequences of their voluntary choices”, but she also wants to ban late-term abortions, even when a pregnancy was the result …

Culture

Profile

Artist Maria Fernanda Cardoso

Neha Kale For the past three decades, artist Maria Fernanda Cardoso has blurred the line between the natural world and human artifice, demanding that we look more closely at nature.

Dance

Impermanence

Pip Wallis A new touring work by the Sydney Dance Company, Impermanence, is a surge of energy and precision, urgent and unrelenting.

Exhibition

Disney: The Magic of Animation

Clem Bastow ACMI’s spectacular exhibition of Disney animation – chosen from an archive of more than 65 million works – pays tribute to the lesser known but striking talents that helped to create this cultural behemoth.

Theatre

Taming of the Shrew

Yen-Rong Wong

Queensland Theatre’s staging of William Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew nods to contemporary gender politics, but fails to address it in a meaningful way.

In Progress

Tony Albert

Maddee Clark Acclaimed Indigenous artist Tony Albert finally has his collections of kitsch objects – which he calls Aboriginalia – all in one place, but his current fascination is with fabrics.

Fiction

An internal sea

“His name was Edward, and he liked to be called Edward, not Eddie or Ed or some other diminutive that would make him more familiar. I had always thought the name Edward was rather beautiful, and it suited him. He had full, curly hair – dark brown, flamed with orange. His eyelashes were long, his eyes big. They sat wet in their sockets, betraying him.”

Laura McPhee-Browne

Books

Image for article: The Three Burials of Lotty Kneen: Travels with My Grandmother’s Ashes

Krissy Kneen
The Three Burials of Lotty Kneen: Travels with My Grandmother’s Ashes

Image for article: The Forgotten Menzies

Stephen A. Chavura and Greg Melleuish
The Forgotten Menzies

Image for article: Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray

Anita Heiss
Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray

Life

Food

Quince jelly

Annie Smithers

Travel

Tasmania’s steam trains

Katrina Lobley Although Tasmania’s last passenger train service ceased operations more than four decades ago, rail enthusiasts still have ample opportunities to enjoy living history.

Sport

Australia’s 3x3 basketball shot

Daniel Herborn As 3x3 basketball makes its way into the Olympic arena, the Australian women’s team is hoping to get a shot at a history-making medal in Tokyo.

Puzzles

The Cryptic

$link to this week\'s crossword$

Crossword No. 350

The Quiz

1. Which author wrote, “The world breaks everyone … It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially”?

2. Muslims use which Arabic word to describe food that is permissible?

3. Who plays the titular role in the film Cruella? (Bonus points for Cruella’s surname and naming the 1956 novel the character originated from.)

4. What is the largest inhabited island of the Whitsundays?

5. The Native American Geronimo, who fought in resistance to both the United States and Mexican military, was a leader of which people?

6. Which French expression is defined as a feeling of pride and mutual loyalty shared by members of a group?

7. Which university awards Pulitzer prizes?

8. The periodic table has how many confirmed elements: (a) 87; (b) 103; or (c) 118?

9. Name the countries in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance.

10. Which club made this month’s final of both the men’s and women’s UEFA Champions League?

Click through for answers.

Quotes

Priorities

“It’s an 11th order issue.”

Joel FitzgibbonThe Labor MP describes where he ranks climate change. Issues ordered 1 through 10 are all retaining his Hunter Valley seat in the heart of coal country.

Compassion

We’re relying, I think, too much on individual public servants’ judgement and also their natural empathy.”

Linda ReynoldsThe minister defends a controversial proposal to introduce independent assessments to the NDIS. If the independent assessors also prove too empathetic, the government can always outsource the job to robots.

America

“That corrupt motherfucker.”

Barack ObamaThe former United States president reacts to news that Donald Trump was speaking with Vladimir Putin without aides on the call, according to a new book by journalist Edward-Isaac Dovere. Upon reflection, it’s a fairly generous description of the 45th president.

Persecution

“It’ll eventually get to where straight white men are not allowed to talk...”

Joe RoganThe host, whose daily podcast is downloaded about 200 million times a month, and who just signed a $US100 million contract with Spotify, decries the silencing of straight white men by woke culture.

Tradition

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re visiting a ship, an army base or an air force base, this just doesn’t happen.”

Neil JamesThe executive director of the Australian Defence Association expresses his surprise that Scott Morrison received a red-carpet welcome to an Australian military base. He should see the greeting the prime minister gets at a Hillsong church.

Austerity

“It would have been a really good photo opportunity. You know, kind of like Boris and his NHS friends…”

Jenny McGeeThe New Zealand-born nurse explains why she declined to take part in a “clap for carers” event at Downing Street. McGee, who cared for the British prime minister when he was in intensive care with Covid-19, has resigned in protest at his government’s proposed 1 per cent pay rise for nurses.

May 22 – 28, 2021

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