March 3 – 9, 2018
News
Comment
Comment
Behrouz Boochani
Policy of exile
“Anti-Australian sentiment grows among Manusians, as they believe Australia exploits their tiny island with a colonial mentality that never retreated. People in the forest villages beside Hillside and West Haus are kind towards refugees, but they have held demonstrations outside the camps to voice their opposition to this profound disruption to their lives.”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
The Coalition after Barnaby Joyce
“The fate of the Turnbull Coalition government depends on McCormack holding his party together. It is no easier task than Turnbull has with his party – although the Liberals seem to have come to the realisation that Tony Abbott is no longer the answer to their problems, nor is anyone else on offer. The government’s one-seat majority makes every member – Liberal and National – capable of bringing down the whole show. ”
Letters, Cartoon & Editorial
Culture
Profile
‘Single Asian Female’ writer Michelle Law
Michelle Law is a prolific writer, working across stage and screen, whose biggest achievement is in telling the stories of an unrepresented migrant experience. “A lot of people would come out and be like, ‘I’ve never seen a story that I could relate to in that way’ and ‘That was me growing up’ or ‘That’s me now’.”
Music
Dick Stusso’s ‘In Heaven’
Nic Russo’s second album as ramshackle country bluesman Dick Stusso delivers melancholic wisdom found at the bottom of a bottle.
Portrait
Artist Ato Ribeiro
“Ato shows me his hands, palms up, with the kind of tenderness of a man about to hold a baby for the first time: ‘My calluses have calluses on them.’ Or a man wounded: ‘I’m killing myself. It’s all kinds of fucked up.’ He talks with grim satisfaction. His jeans and shirt are covered in pale dust, his cornrows and beard threaded with silver, though he is my age.”
Food
Seafood salad with potatoes and fennel
“This recipe comes from the experience of standing in pintxos bars in the Basque country and eating cold seafood marinated in vinegar. There is something very hospitable about a bar top loaded with morsels of seasonal food. It’s up there with my favourite things about travelling to Spain: little bars overfilled with people and hospitableness.”
Books
Life
Travel
Portland, Maine
The tidiness and folksy veneer of Portland, Maine, lends a Truman Show feel to the seaside city they call ‘Vacationland’.
The Quiz
Quotes
RHETORIC
“I’ve had a few zingers myself from time to time.”
The new deputy prime minister compliments his own wit. He wasn’t drawn on whether those zingers included the time he advocated for the death penalty or when he called gay men “sordid” and “unnatural” or likened women’s football to an “egg and spoon” race.
SECURITY
“I’m not a particularly avid reader… They seem to have an unhealthy obsession.”
The head of Home Affairs complains in Senate estimates about The Saturday Paper’s coverage of his office. To be fair, he seems to have a pretty unhealthy department.
JOKES
“It’s not being facetious. Accusing someone of being a Nazi is a very serious thing, it’s appalling.”
The senator expresses upset at Kim Carr suggesting he would fit in with the Hitler Youth. The Coalition youth arm is actually the IPA, but the confusion is sometimes understandable.
RACISM
“The jigaboo runs riot and out of control. The ’boo needs the lash. The ’boo wants the lash. Deep, deep down the ’boo knows the lash provides the governance and stability.”
The head of Victoria Police’s Professional Standards Command posts racist abuse online under a pseudonym. Some people just can’t help taking their work home with them.
TELEVISION
“It’s interesting how many people have been counting back to the conception.”
The 60 Minutes reporter asks New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern about conceiving a child. It’s not interesting, Charles; no one is asking; please stop; please.
APOLOGIES
“Yes. I am more than happy to withdraw the comments unreservedly.”
The minister for jobs and innovation withdraws comments musing on the sex lives of Bill Shorten’s staff. Cash does not know the difference between an apology and a stubborn withdrawal and hiding behind a whiteboard.
