Karen Middleton Two years since its launch, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility has approved only four loans and is beset by at least 33 conflict-of-interest declarations.

Nina Funnell While the NSW government has announced a review of sexual consent laws, many believe the system that deals with sexual offences and their prosecution is in need of a complete overhaul.

Alex McKinnon The new head of the government’s ABC efficiency review is not as right-wing as some may fear. Still, his appointment suggests an agenda to further muzzle the broadcaster’s independent voice.

Miriam Cosic French conceptual artist Daniel Buren continues to charm and engage with his quiet, contagious ways of seeing the world in stripes. “My biography is very simple: Daniel Buren. Born 25 March, ’38. Works and lives in situ.”

Annie Smithers I think the basic technique of choux pastry is a prime example of why cooking never loses its shine for me. It reminds me of the continuous mirror images that fascinated me as a child, a constantly repeating effect. But with choux it is always tumbling and turning and becoming something slightly different but equally delicious.

Nyadol Nyuon These are the stories of our lives and they are being written without any chance for us to control or influence them. We are pawns in a larger game. That is the shameful carelessness of racism – some people are viewed simply as a means to an end. For politicians, we are not people with lives, with children whose dignity and worth we seek to preserve, with loved ones who will be denied employment, with mothers who will be called “black dogs” while going to a shopping centre, with brothers who are afraid they will be mistaken for gang members when they are out with their friends. To these politicians we are not people. We are not even fellow citizens.

Sean Kelly I have just returned to Australia from some months spent in London, and it was something of a shock to return to all this. Howard fighting culture wars, Hanson pulling stunts, Latham yelling – oh, and there was Abbott, too, trying to tear down a leader by talking about climate change. What was this hellish time machine that had somehow managed to gather together the worst bits of all recent eras? Beyond the generalised horror, two things struck me. The first was not a surprise but was more depressing for the recent distance: this is Australian politics now. A constant parade of novelty and spectacle; anything for attention.

Richard Ackland While Theresa May’s government was tottering on the brink of fracture, the toffs were at the Henley Royal Regatta quaffing champagne and Pimm’s from the boots of Range Rovers and Bentleys, rather in the manner of the shickered crowds that gather in Melbourne Cup marquees. Gadfly’s invitation must have been lost in the post, but fortunately our field agent was on hand.

On Twitter he is “Real Mark Latham”, as if the rest of the time it was an act. Unmasked, he is a Rivers catalogue of cruel misogyny and transphobic venom, a man who wears wraparound sunglasses and believes brown is colourful. He mocks schoolchildren and working mothers, disbelieves psychiatry and demands that everyone speak English. Mark Latham is a gout on our politics. But the whole Falstaffian body is set with pox. It is a picture of sad urges and failing organs. Its ills trace back to men such as Mark, to the basement out of which he now broadcasts, but they do not end there.

Martin McKenzie-Murray Miraculous good fortune came into play to locate the missing members of a Thai soccer team, trapped with their coach deep underground. Then, as the world held its breath, it took extraordinary expertise and cooperation to extricate them.

Hamish McDonald Donald Trump’s in Europe for NATO summit; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s new start for Turkey; US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo goes to Pyongyang.

Peter Craven Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ much-hyped Gloria is well executed by MTC, but its pretensions outweigh its eminence.

Ellen van Neerven

Filipino Wiradjuri musician Mojo Juju talks about her new project Native Tongue and getting ahead in a homogenous industry.

Annie Smithers

For one half of The Saturday Paper’s food editing team, the gruelling hours and stressful conditions of cooking for others eventually took its toll – both mentally and physically. Then she decided it was time to regain control.

Michele Tydd While children with a disability or chronic illness are seen as being in need of support, their siblings may be left struggling to cope with their complex family dynamic.

Richard Cooke Brandon “Claire” Nguyen on giving up a ‘normal life’ for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play eSports full-time.

Cindy MacDonald Test your general knowledge with our weekly quiz.