News

Inside the NSW plan: Now live with the virus

“All through the worsening Covid-19 crisis in New South Wales, Gladys Berejiklian has insisted her government’s response accorded with medical advice. Except that’s not true. ”

Mike Seccombe

As other states enter lockdown, NSW has abandoned plans to return to Covid Zero. It intends to begin opening up in a month.

News

News

Legal loss a blow for Morrison secrecy

“The prime minister may no longer be able to use a special one-man cabinet committee to so readily conceal government advice from public view, after a judge rejected it as a way to keep national cabinet’s deliberations secret. ”

Karen Middleton A scathing rebuke in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal could have far-reaching consequences for Scott Morrison’s secret committees.

News

IPCC climate report author: our final plea to the world

Joëlle Gergis For the first time, the IPCC has been able to emphatically conclude that human influence is responsible for almost all global warming experienced since pre-industrial times. All model scenarios show a breach of the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 degree Celsius target in the early 2030s.

News

Brutal cuts to NDIS see some plans halved without consultation

Rick Morton The National Disability Insurance Scheme is cutting services without consultation, leaving those with disabilities in a continued fight for funding, while fraudulent providers face little scrutiny.

News

New powers to spy on Australian citizens criticised for overreach

“Parliament’s Liberal-dominated security watchdog committee has warned the government it must not give Australian law enforcement agencies “extraordinary” and intrusive new surveillance powers without clearly defining their reach and dramatically increasing oversight. ”

Karen Middleton The government’s new security powers have been harshly criticised for overreach and the vagueness of their drafting.

News

Scott Morrison and the women’s movement

Kristine Ziwica This weekend marks six months since the Brittany Higgins allegations broke. How much political capital has Scott Morrison expended on issues of concern to women, particularly their safety and economic security?

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World

Abbott’s India trip sends signal to China

Jonathan Pearlman Fiji seeks to vaccinate 12 to to 17 year olds to quell Covid-19 outbreak. The Taliban capture more regions of Afghanistan as US troops leave. Lebanon’s economic collapse leads to fuel shortages, power cuts and soaring food costs.

Opinion

Opinion

Kevin Rudd
The four stages of Sky News

“Before the past couple of years, most Australians were either unaware of Sky News or considered it a bit of a joke. The consensus was that nobody watched it, and the people who did were out on the fringe. Anyone who maintains this today is simply not living in the present.”

Opinion

Paul Bongiorno
The madness of KingGee George

“Morrison said if others wanted to undermine the government’s job looking after the health of the nation, ‘it’s up to them’. But, he said, ‘We do not support misinformation in any way, shape or form.’ What he does support is Christensen remaining on the government benches.”

Diary

Gadfly
IPCC you

Sami Shah

It seems there’s very little that humanity cannot achieve when we put our mind to it. In the past 100 years we’ve landed on the moon, created a global information superhighway, and crossbred poodles with every animal we could get our hands on. Our greatest achievement yet, however, may be the dedication we have shown to destroying our planet.

Letters, Cartoon & Editorial

Cartoon

Read

Editorial
Fear of a black planet

The argument from the coal lobby is simple. It says that burning Australian coal helps lower carbon emissions. Burning Australian coal is good for the planet.

Letters

Vaccination rollout is a race now

I am more insulted by Scott Morrison’s incentive to encourage me to gamble than I was about Labor’s $300 bonus (Karen Middleton, “Morrison approached Tabcorp for Covid-19 lottery”, …

Watching where the money goes

Yet another example of the need for a federal integrity commission, and one with teeth (Mike Seccombe, “Smoke and mirrors”, August 7-13). This is not saying that we expect more from …

Read More

Culture

Books

Tony Birch
Dark as Last Night

Carol Leonnig
Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service

Christine Ball
The Chloroformist

Life

Food

Clementine marmalade with star anise and black pepper

O Tama Carey

Health

Kakadu mining and radiation

Max Opray New analysis of the Ranger uranium mine in Kakadu National Park casts doubt on government claims it is not linked to high rates of cancer and stillbirth in nearby Indigenous communities.

Life

Bureaucracy of ‘compassion’

Steven Amsterdam

Writer Steven Amsterdam tried over and over for a travel exemption to leave Australia. In the end, caught up in the bureaucracy of ‘compassion’, it was too late.

Sport

Covering the Tokyo Olympics

Kieran Pender After a major wobble on the blocks, the Tokyo Olympics finally began, offering cheer and distraction to a Covid-ravaged world and the experience of a lifetime to those in the inner sanctum.

Puzzles

The Cryptic

Crossword No. 362

The Quiz

1. Name the author of the feminist work Backlash and the memoir In the Darkroom?
2. Using sleight of hand for conjuring magic tricks is also known by what 16-letter word?
3. Duroc, Berkshire and Wessex saddleback are all breeds of which animal?
4. What is the first name of the Portuguese explorer Magellan (1480-1521)?
5. The hardness of a mineral is determined by what scale? (Bonus point for naming the softest mineral on Earth according to this scale.)
6. Who captained the Australian T20 cricket side for their five-game series in Bangladesh this month?
7. Was Moonlight Sonata composed by: (a) Mozart; (b) Chopin; (c) Beethoven; or (d) Brahms?
8. The Australian company Afterpay is subject to a takeover offer by which US payments giant?
9. A Tokyo 2020 athlete from which country refused an order to return to her homeland after she criticised her Olympic team’s officials?
10. Scrumpy is what type of alcoholic beverage?

Click through for answers.

Quotes

Politics

“I know how George’s mind works. If you start prodding the bear, you’re going to make the situation worse for us.”

Barnaby JoyceThe deputy prime minister explains why he will not confront George Christensen over Covid-19 misinformation. Somehow both these men were elected to parliament.

Immigration

“The family has a number of other ongoing legal matters. It is therefore inappropriate for me to comment further.”

Alex HawkeThe Immigration minister declines to assist the Muruguppan family in their efforts to return home to Biloela. It’s almost like he’s not solely responsible.

America

“I do hug and kiss people casually — women and men. I have done it all my life. It’s who I’ve been since I can remember.”

Andrew CuomoThe governor of New York resigns over multiple allegations of sexual harassment. He said there were some “cultural differences” that led him to grope women.

Health

“I think that’s all. Oh, and there have been some deaths as well.”

Brad HazzardThe NSW Health minister refers to the death of five people as a casual afterthought at the end of a shambolic press conference. In fairness, he’s only the Health minister.

Technology

“I think he’s the one that stole my computer ... The dealer and his two guys.”

Hunter BidenThe United States president’s son reveals he had another laptop containing footage of him having sex stolen by a Russian drug dealer – making the claim in a video of him having sex, found on a third missing laptop. The man is as careless as he is strangely attractive.

Law

“There will be additional testimony about that from the same woman, but from some other women, too.”

David BoiesThe lawyer for Virginia Roberts Giuffre files a lawsuit in New York accusing Prince Andrew of raping her when she was 17. Although Andrew claims he can’t sweat, he’s probably sweating now.