Karen Middleton The death of a man in immigration detention has raised questions about the length of time people are being held onshore, and the impact of coronavirus on visiting and other rights.

Mike Seccombe The politics of dealing with coronavirus are beginning to come into view, as the stakes in each state become clearer.

Paddy Manning Divisions inside the parliament’s intelligence committee will ultimately decide where the government goes on the question of press freedom – but even Coalition members are split.

Andy Butler Through their new work for BLEED 2020, artists James Nguyen and Victoria Pham reanimate the Đông Sơn drum, an ancient instrument with great cultural significance for their Vietnamese heritage. “We wanted to build a body of knowledge around this instrument in a way that just isn’t possible in academia or museums.”

Bri Lee Community standards, particularly around gendered and sexual violence, have progressed to the point that, arguably, the older a law is, the less it is likely to represent the interests of the people it is supposed to protect. Yet this perspective runs counter to a profession built on hierarchical deference to precedent.

Paul Bongiorno Scott Morrison could have picked up the phone to two members of his much-vaunted national cabinet this week, to sort out what was truly a bizarre situation. But he didn’t, and his decision not to says a lot about his approach to the pandemic. Morrison’s reluctance to get involved in the six-day border standoff between New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory betrays a style of governance that oscillates between the passive and the reactive, always with an eye to quarantining himself from culpability.

Richard Ackland The ghost of Rex (The Strangler) Connor lives and breathes. Gough Whitlam’s hulking Minerals and Energy minister, who slept by the telex machine waiting for news of Tirath Khemlani’s $4 billion loan, has been reborn as a modern-day inspiration. The Strangler’s plan more than 45 years ago was for a nation crisscrossed with gas pipelines. It was believed his vision went further, and that he saw a future for a massive pipeline between Australia and Japan.

The same week Sussan Ley refused to give protection to the Djab Wurrung trees, she gave special heritage status to the Parkes radio telescope. This is how culture is preserved in Australia.

Rick Morton As the world doubts Russia’s Covid-19 vaccine announcement, there have been promising developments in trials from China and Britain.

Jonathan Pearlman Beirut’s port blast adds to economic problems and chronic corruption. Parliamentary and presidential elections begin in Bougainville. Senator Kamala Harris chosen as VP candidate by Joe Biden.

Christos Tsiolkas MIFF opening night film First Cow follows the austere and sophisticated path of director Kelly Reichardt’s previous works but is stymied by its small-screen showing and the underdeveloped ‘buddy’ relationship at its core.

Kate Holden The Guaia is three-and-a-half feet tall, with arms as long as she is high. The pads of her fingers are as dark and shiny as wet wood, and splayed like a tree frog’s. Her face is forever young yet strafed, all hollow and crag, sexless. She sleeps behind a screen of holy trees, away from the people. These trees are lacquered black and glistening, even in the lush damp sunlight that strains through the forest canopy above and dusts the groves with golden velvet. The black trees sway in a breeze that no one else can feel. At night the rancid scent of their leaves breathes from her skin. Her body is tattooed with these leaves, tendrils knotting around her skin like veins. In her hut she keeps wooden bowls of different leaves, crushed, pooling at the bottom with toxins. The walls are plaited branches, woven through with black feathers. There is a sleeping mat of reeds, a hanging tangle of bone charms over the door, and, in a corner, the rusted chainsaw she took from the last woodchopper she killed.

Annie Smithers

Manuela Callari For sufferers of chronic pain the uncertainty and stress surrounding the Covid-19 crisis is exacerbating their anxiety and contributing to their torment.

Cindy MacDonald Test your general knowledge with our weekly quiz.