July 1 – 7, 2017
News
The dispute over climbing Wollumbin-Mount Warning
To the Bundjalung people, Wollumbin-Mount Warning is a sacred site. It is also a major Tweed Valley tourist attraction and the centre of a debate over who should be allowed to visit its summit.
Inside the bitter Greens civil war
“Both Lee Rhiannon and Richard Di Natale acknowledge this battle is about more than a piece of paper.”
The suspension of Greens NSW senator Lee Rhiannon is less about Gonski than it is about ongoing animosities and a federal push to reform the party’s decision-making processes.
Growing homelessness in Washington, DC
As low-cost housing in America’s inner cities is routed by gentrification, and unemployment and feeble wage growth dogs workers, homelessness is booming – including in the nation’s capital.
“The harmful effects of incarceration are embedded in the physical facilities themselves, creating a toxic environment where staff and kids are inevitably caught in their roles of guard and prisoner.”
Expert testimony from a US juvenile corrections director about his transformation of Washington’s notorious Oak Hill facility provides the Northern Territory royal commission with possible prescriptions for the failures of Don Dale.
Saudi ultimatum for Qatar has echoes of war
Xi Jinping visits Hong Kong on 20th anniversary. Brandis and Dutton push 'Five Eyes' on encryption. Australian Defence secretary candidates.
Comment
Comment
Marcia Langton
Adani, native title and risky strategies
“Fortunately, common sense has prevailed with the McGlade amendments passed in the senate. As a result, one or a few native title applicants are now not able to disqualify a lawful agreement settled by the majority of the members of their group by playing green lawfare politics.”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
Pyne and Abbott deliver Turnbull a rough ride
“Bolt invited renegade Liberal senator Cory Bernardi on his show to begin what is now a Pyne pile-on. Bernardi, who betrayed the Liberal Party to form his own Australian Conservatives, claimed “Christopher Pyne is the most untrustworthy person he has ever met in politics”. He said he was cooking something up to get same-sex marriage off the agenda, “but the price of that will be it will destroy the Liberal Party.” ”
Letters, Cartoon & Editorial
Culture
Profile
‘Fight Club’ producer Ross Grayson Bell
When no studio wanted to touch Fight Club, producer Ross Grayson Bell fought hard to get the film green-lighted. Now, he’s back home in Australia and pulling no punches with budding storytellers.
Food
Crème brûlée with poached rhubarb
“Crème brûlée is not really a difficult recipe and not overly challenging to master. Understanding the temperature of your oven helps, as does removing the custard from the oven just as it sets. Left too long in the oven it will slowly start to curdle. The most challenging thing at home is caramelising the thin layer of sugar on the top of the set cream.”
Books
Life
Health
Hormonal therapy for autism
Developments in autism research suggest hormonal treatments could make expensive and time-consuming early behavioural therapies more attainable and successful.
The Quiz
Quotes
DECORATING
“We couldn’t comment on the decor at Trump Golf clubs one way or another.”
The White House spokeswoman declines to remark on a fake and self-serving Time cover seen on the walls of several Trump golf clubhouses. Being fake and self-serving helped the cover fit in among the other decorating choices.
POLITICS
“I mean the public did vote for him, but he’s got to do the right thing.”
The former premier of Queensland encourages Malcolm Turnbull to resign. The best advice comes from mayors who were so terrible as state leaders they lost their seats in their first term.
CRIME
“Victoria Police Chief Graham Ashton desperate for a distraction from the crime epidemic he’s incapable of stopping #HuntingCatholics.”
The News Corp columnist criticises the charges made against George Pell for alleged historic child sexual offences. Charging the third-highest-ranked Catholic in the world with alleged sex crimes does seem like an extreme way to distract from an imagined gang of Sudanese children, but who are we to judge?
SPORT
“I’m embarrassed and I’m sorry for that.”
The jockey apologises after testing positive for a banned substance at a race in Swan Hill. Unfortunately for Payne, the appetite suppressant in question was not the food in Swan Hill.
LAW
“If you want to call him names, call him names. Just don’t call him guilty.”
The lawyer representing pharmaceutical investor Martin Shkreli in a fraud trial confronts his client’s deep unlikeability. It goes with the territory when you are best known for cynically pricing HIV sufferers out of treatment and generally being a jerk.
DEATH
“He was as kindly, dignified, charming and lovable as the immortal Paddington Bear he gave us.”
The broadcaster marks the death of Michael Bond, the creator of Paddington Bear. Bond was 91 and enjoyed marmalade.
