June 10 – 16, 2023
News
Comment
Comment
Ben Abbatangelo
Actions speak louder than the Voice
“Labor’s litany of recent political decisions continue to invalidate the promise of the Voice. Despite all it says about ‘closing the gap’, ‘reconciliation’ and ‘better outcomes being achieved when Indigenous people have input on the decisions that affect them’, there is not yet any proof this Labor government is curbing its contempt, no glimpses that it can in fact be cured.”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
Big business attacks wages and workers
“The economy roared back into view as the major focus of contention this week, with some weird developments adding extra drama to the pain and usual blame game that happens when the going gets really tough for millions of Australians. The pain came with the Reserve Bank of Australia continuing its aggressive round of interest rate hikes. The weird came with the nation’s biggest business and industry groups jumping at shadows.”
Comment
John Hewson
How Albanese is commanding the global stage
“Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s speech in Singapore last week deserves more attention. Not only was it his first major foreign policy statement on the global stage, it was a profound and nuanced expression of the challenges Australia faces in balancing diplomacy with its national interests and security in a reconfigured world order.”
Letters, Cartoon & Editorial
Culture
Profile
Actor and director Jada Alberts
Jada Alberts is a multi-talented artist whose work spans acting, writing, directing and visual art – and most recently a musical homage to Aretha Franklin.
The Influence
Marc Fennell
For broadcaster Marc Fennell, the cult hit Donnie Darko opened up the dark ambiguities of ordinary life.
Fiction
Holes
“That morning we had pasted virtual missing posters all over the internet. My first thought seeing her was: We should take those down. The whole thing had suddenly become so private. Remy looked up as I squeaked through the gate. We held each other with our eyes, through the hole in the wall. Later, when our baby was asleep, we sat and cried together.”
Books
Life
Puzzles
Quotes
Crime
“I care nothing, frankly, for the alleged crimes of Ben Roberts-Smith.”
The former senator explains why he still celebrates the courage of Ben Roberts-Smith. His mind is busy with bigger questions, like whether marriage equality will lead people to bestiality.
Business
“We believe this is a necessary and prudent step in light of the current circumstances.”
The acting chief executive of PwC announces there will be a pause on appointing new partners at the firm. Needless to say, there will be vacancies.
Politics
“I think there are a lot of questions that need to be answered.”
The opposition leader responds to leaked text messages describing Brittany Higgins’s meetings with politicians. For someone with no good questions he does talk a lot about questions.
America
“I have conversations with my father and my uncle about what I’m doing … I have a lot of conversations with dead people.”
The challenger for the Democratic presidential nomination explains his meditation practice. He didn’t say how many of the dead people he speaks to are on the roll.
Money
“… people can cut back spending or, in some cases, find additional hours of work …”
The Reserve Bank governor explains how people can move to a “positive cashflow position”. For context, Lowe is paid more than $1 million a year.
Technology
“We trusted the government not to screw us. But they did.”
The whistleblower reflects on technology a decade after he revealed the scale of government surveillance, some of it illegal. He has lived in exile since.
ISRAEL–HAMAS WAR
