News

Biden adviser: ‘I don’t know whether Angus Taylor is an ideologue or an idiot’

Mike Seccombe As Scott Morrison attempts to balance his weak climate policies with US ambitions, a key Biden adviser is returning to Australia to help revolutionise state responses.

News

News

Who will replace Gladys Berejiklian?

Rick Morton Following the surprise resignation of NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, four men are jockeying for the job.

News

Exclusive: Australia’s most vulnerable ignored in plan to open up

“On Thursday, September 16, days after the third Aboriginal person died in the western New South Wales Covid-19 outbreak, the federal government entered into an emergency contract for $275,000 to help boost Indigenous vaccination rates.”

Rick Morton A rush of government tenders to outsource Covid-19 responses shows who is most at risk as lockdowns end. The 20 per cent who will not be fully vaccinated when states begin to open are not anti-vaxxers but rather the most vulnerable.

News

Lachlanland: the power shifts in the Murdoch dynasty

Paddy Manning With strategic acquisitions by Lachlan Murdoch putting News Corporation and Fox in a strong financial position, and a float of Foxtel expected next year, power is shifting in the media dynasty.

News

How remote hearings have changed the Family Court

“To be able to attend court in their own home and have distance from the courthouse and from the other party offers real respite for many clients.”

Sarah Price With the Family Court remaining open during Covid-19 lockdowns, a pivot to electronic hearings has actually led to greater efficiencies and a gentler process for the parties involved.

News

The activist facing jail for Macquarie statue protest

Amy Fallon Activist Stephen Langford is facing two years’ jail for sticking a piece of A4 paper to a statue of Lachlan Macquarie in Sydney’s Hyde Park.

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World

Germany waits for coalition after 16 years of Angela Merkel

Jonathan Pearlman Social Democratic Party leader Olaf Scholz appears most likely to be next chancellor. Vanuatu pushes for urgent action on climate change. US–China hostage diplomacy sends two Michaels and Meng Wanzhou home.

Opinion

Opinion

Cam Griffin
Impact statement. 2021. DPP. Draft 3.

“The first impacts of the abuse showed up soon after the first assaults. Almost overnight my optimism vanished. I began to withdraw and isolate from both family and friends. My grades began to tank. I stopped sleeping and I suddenly couldn’t engage with things I loved.”

Opinion

Paul Bongiorno
Is this Scott Morrison’s next miscalculation?

“Thirty-five thousand feet above the Rocky Mountains on his way home from Washington, DC, Scott Morrison indicated he had learnt little from the greatest miscalculations of his prime ministership, the ones about holidays and family.”

Opinion

John Hewson
Morrison must tell the truth on climate

“Some in the Coalition act as if we can wait until, say, 2049 to then move towards net zero 2050, but all evidence suggests policy adjustments have to be front-end loaded if goals are to be achieved. ”

Letters, Cartoon & Editorial

Cartoon

Read

Editorial
The journalist and the mumbler

Scott Morrison’s smile lasts four minutes. He is offended by a question on the Quad. If co-operation is needed between India, Japan, the United States and Australia, the journalist asks, who is it needed against?

Letters

What would Jesus do?

The Catholic Archbishop of Sydney paradoxically quotes Jesus putting the service of others over power and control, as Mike Seccombe reports in “Exclusive: George Pell returned to Australia ahead of church …

One family and the Christian Brothers

In Mike Seccombe’s article, Tracy McEwan, vice-president of Women and the Australian Church, stated: “I don’t think you ever stop being a Catholic.” Believe me, my husband …

Read More

Culture

Books

S. J. Norman
Permafrost

Delia Falconer
Signs and Wonders

Richard Powers
Bewilderment

Life

Food

Marinated eggs with pancetta vinaigrette

David Moyle

Science

A new alternative medicine: ‘honest’ placebos

Ellen Phiddian Australian healthcare workers are increasingly interested in prescribing placebos to patients, but the science to support their use is still being investigated.

Health

Has Covid-19 finally taught us to stop coming to work sick?

Melanie Cheng As we move towards a ‘Covid normal’ return to workplaces, the importance of sick leave has never been greater.

Sport

All guts, no glory: Brandon Jack exposes the ugly side of football

Martin McKenzie-Murray While most sporting memoirs paint a glossy picture of on-field moments, former Sydney Swans player Brandon Jack is not afraid to unmask the ugly side of his fleeting success.

Puzzles

The Cryptic

Crossword No. 369

The Quiz

1. Schapelle Corby was arrested in Bali on October 8 of what year: (a) 2000; (b) 2002; or (c) 2004?
2. What is the acronym name for the Indo–Pacific security pact struck last month between Australia, Britain and the United States?
3. What six-letter word beginning with ‘r’ can refer to any bird of prey?
4. The Cormoran Strike detective novels are written by which multimillion-dollar author? (Bonus point for naming the pseudonym used.)
5. Which British royal shares their name with a type of sponge cake?
6. Name South Australia’s longest river.
7. Grace is the only studio album of which American singer-songwriter and son of a musician who died age 28 in 1975?
8. Name the winners of this year’s Brownlow Medal and Dally M Medal.
9. True or false: Namibia is a landlocked country?
10. In what century was the first smallpox vaccine developed?

Click through for answers.

Quotes

Submarines

“Someone lied.”

Jean-Yves Le DrianThe French foreign minister offers his assessment of what went wrong with the country’s Australian submarine contract. Presumably he said “someone” because he too had forgotten Scott Morrison’s name.

Diplomacy

“When should we stop clapping?”

Paul KeatingThe former prime minister condemns Scott Morrison’s submarines deal as a retreat to “the sweaty armpit of the United States”. It sounds almost erotic until you remember that the armpit could soon belong to Donald Trump again.

Protest

“You had the Victorian police lined up like stormtroopers, eventually charging them with rubber bullets and tear gas.”

Tony AbbottThe former prime minister defends anti-vax protesters who occupied the Shrine of Remembrance in Victoria, littering it with beer cans and pissing on its walls. Without meaning to be rude, other former prime ministers spent the week discussing the implications of international nuclear deals.

Acting

“To play Jimmy Savile was not a decision I took lightly.”

Steve CooganThe actor announces he will take on the role of Jimmy Savile in a BBC One drama series. You can’t fault the man’s range: Alan Partridge, and Alan Partridge if he molested hundreds of children.

Voting

“That will be a matter between me and the ballot box.”

Malcolm TurnbullThe former prime minister refuses to say whether he will vote for the Coalition at the next election. A senior Liberal hasn’t been this coy about his intentions since Scott Morrison did the numbers against Turnbull and stole his job.

Climate

“Too many MPs are worried about being cool rather than the consequences of their decisions.”

Bridget McKenzieThe leader of the Nationals in the senate complains that some Coalition colleagues are too supportive of action on climate change. The emissions are not half as worrying if you put them in a colour-coded spreadsheet.