October 1 – 7, 2022
News
Comment
Comment
Kieran Pender
The status of free speech in Australia
“Thirty years ago this week, something extraordinary happened. In two judgements issued on the same day by the High Court, a central democratic principle – the implied freedom of political communication – was explicitly recognised for the first time. ”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
Bill Shorten and the robo-debt inquiry
“Shorten had flown to Brisbane for the first day of hearings at the royal commission into the robo-debt scandal. He had been relentless in his determination to expose the full extent of what he calls the ‘greatest failure of public administration and social security’. ”
Comment
John Hewson
Coalition objections to the Voice
“The appalling allegations of racist behaviour towards Indigenous players at the Hawthorn AFL club are a stark and disturbing reminder of the latent racism that unfortunately seems to underlie the attitudes of some Australians and many institutions right across our society.”
Letters, Cartoon & Editorial
Culture
The Influence
Ewan McEoin
For curator Ewan McEoin, Bruce Mau’s book Massive Change opened a new perspective on the very definition of design.
Fiction
Signs
“I am the black silhouetted man on the signs in your town. I didn’t plan for life to pan out this way. But life just happens, doesn’t it, and before you know it, you’re at the mercy of a higher power. The first signs were simple enough. I was desperate for cash and responded to a vague ad in the newspaper looking for ‘Signage representatives. No experience required’.”
Books
Life
Puzzles
Quotes
Politics
“We don’t have policies. We’re in opposition.”
The former minister for Women’s Economic Security responds to a question about whether the fuel excise cut should be continued. She’s copping a lot of flak but both statements are undeniably true.
Technology
“Obviously that’s on the internet, but no one’s picked up the phone and called us, so to speak.”
The head of corporate affairs at Optus responds to the theft of personal data from millions of customers and the subsequent extortion attempt. The comments display the company’s unique grasp on information security and the world wide web.
Music
“We got carried away and paid too much.”
The founder of Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art confirms he paid $334,958 for the handwritten lyrics to David Bowie’s 1972 song “Starman”. But who is to say what is too much for a rhyme like “Didn’t know what time it was, and the lights were low / I leaned back on my radio”?
Retail
“If you want to get something done, the best system is the Chinese one … they don’t give a fuck what the people say.”
The furniture tycoon laments the direction of Australia’s democracy. It’s not clear just how much rorted JobKeeper it would take for him to love what he already has.
Tax
“I made a mistake.”
The senator expresses her regret at supporting the Coalition’s stage three tax cuts. While we’re talking about being wrong, there’s still no detail on the secret national security deal she did to sell out refugees’ medical rights.
Science
“Now we know we can aim a spacecraft with the precision needed to impact even a small body in space.”
The NASA administrator confirms the agency was able to crash a shuttle the size of a vending machine into an asteroid, to see if it could protect the Earth from collisions. At this point, though, don’t we want the peace the dinosaurs knew?
