Karen Middleton As more details emerge of how the government handled Brittany Higgins’ alleged rape, crossbenchers are calling for a permanent independent body to examine abuse accusations.

Rick Morton Afterpay produced Australia’s youngest self-made billionaire. The company is yet to report a profit, but has ambitious plans to grow overseas and outrun regulators here.

Mike Seccombe When Facebook flexed its muscles and temporarily banned Australian news content, negotiations around the media bargaining code took a dramatic turn.

Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen Koa Beck’s new book examines how white feminism’s commodification and systematic exclusions are rooted in a knotted history of racism.

Siyavash Doostkhah As Queensland reels from the deaths of a number of innocent people as a result of car theft by teenagers in recent weeks, community members are, understandably, desperately seeking answers to how such needless deaths can be prevented. But the Queensland Liberal National Party and the Queensland Police Service have successfully used the community anger and grief associated with the recent tragic road incidents to once again push their antiquated ideas on to the government.

Paul Bongiorno Craig Kelly’s fulsome praise of Scott Morrison as Kelly quit the Liberal Party this week was akin to the Mafia sending roses to its next victim. Kelly said he sincerely hoped Morrison would ‘go on to be one of Australia’s greatest and longest-serving prime ministers’. Make no mistake, though, the departure to the crossbench of the outspoken salesman of Covid-19 snake oil remedies is a sickening blow to the Morrison government’s stability and authority.

Sami Shah Prime Minister Scott Morrison has a complicated relationship with boats. We all know he loves stopping them. He even has a trophy on his desk shaped like a boat with “I stopped these” written on it, lest he ever forgets how much he loves stopping boats. But he also likes making boats go faster, it seems. Once the boat is moving, if he hasn’t stopped it already, he hates things that slow down the boat. Or at least that’s the impression hydroxychloroquine spokesperson Craig Kelly got, as evidenced in his resignation letter handed to the PM this week, which read, “Some of my conduct over recent months has not helped the boat go faster.”

The prime minister says he didn’t know that Brittany Higgins had accused a colleague of sexually assaulting her. He says he didn’t know until February 15 this year, three days after a media inquiry came into his office. But he knows now. This is the moment when a leader would stand up, take responsibility and then face the questions that need to be answered. Instead Scott Morrison’s only concern, it seems, is to avoid at all costs any of this sticking to him.

Jon Faine Victoria’s construction industry managed to stay open and productive during the long, hard lockdown of 2020, thanks to compromises made by unlikely allies.

Rachel Withers The government announced this week it would boost the base rate of JobSeeker by $50 a fortnight once the Covid-19 supplement ends. Welfare advocacy groups warn such a token amount will only throw the unemployed into abject poverty.

Jonathan Pearlman

Covid-19 cases are rising in PNG with quarantine staff stretched. Daily rallies continue in Myanmar despite crackdown. Israel criticised for its failure to vaccinate Palestinians.

Debbie Zhou Chloé Zhao’s majestic film Nomadland is an epic and gentle lament for a vanishing America.

Fiona McGregor No Show, Carriageworks’ lively group exhibition of emerging and experimental art, is full of unexpected gems.

Patrick Marlborough Covid-19 restrictions have forced this year’s Perth Festival to focus on local artists – and the result is a communal joy.

Annie Smithers

Andy Hazel For a visitor to Marrakech, one good trick deserves another, but the lesson learnt when dealing with the locals is sometimes it pays to walk away – especially when scissors are involved.

Daniel Herborn Where once elite athletes were encouraged to show no chinks in their armour, today’s sporting heroes are keen to share their vulnerabilities in the hope of reducing the stigma surrounding mental health challenges.

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