June 3 – 9, 2017
News
Murrawah Johnson and the Indigenous fight against Adani
Leading the Indigenous fight against Adani’s proposed Carmichael coalmine, Murrawah Johnson is continuing the advocacy her grandfather started.
Quadrant and its slide into deluded extremism
“Most people would never have heard of online editor Roger Franklin before this latest incident. But he has a long history of floridly offensive commentary.”
Once seen as a journal of intellectual weight, today’s Quadrant has gone off-leash to become a ranting voice of the reactionary right.
What we’ve learnt from Schapelle Corby
“Whether we like it or not, Schapelle's verdict kicked the guts of our culture. ‘Schapelle Corby was a cultural event of monumental proportions, an event that, like so many others, would test the mettle of the Australian-Indonesian relationship.’”
While Australians made Schapelle Corby a celebrity following her conviction, the media’s discovery that interest had since waned didn’t avoid an unedifying spectacle.
Terror spokesman Abu Sulayman al-Muhajir on a new Islamic state
While Australian Abu Sulayman al-Muhajir says he is no longer spokesman for Jabhat Fateh al-Sham in Syria, he describes its goal as a new independent Islamic state, without the doomed Daesh.
Europe must control its own fate: Merkel
Merkel steps up in EU and Germany; Trump returns to family crisis; More Australian troops to be sent to Afghanistan.
Comment
Comment
Imran Mohammad
The situation on Manus
“We don’t expect any hope from the Australian and PNG governments. It has always been felt that we would never leave this island alive and it has become apparent the abuse and torture implemented by both countries is unending. All we want to say to both governments is we would rather die than suffer to such an extent. ”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
Frydenberg’s carbon capture pipe dream
“Seven years ago Malcolm Turnbull’s assessment of CCS was that it was an industrial pipedream. He said it was sobering that “as of today, there’s not one industrial-scale coal-fired power station using carbon capture and storage – not one”. This week Josh Frydenberg pointed out that government has invested $590 million in CCS and said it is now being successfully employed in three overseas power plants. But a closer look shows the lessons learnt from those plants mean its use has already peaked.”
Letters, Cartoon & Editorial
Culture
Profile
Australian Ballet’s Leanne Stojmenov on motherhood and ‘Nutcracker’
Leanne Stojmenov is once again featuring in Graeme Murphy’s Nutcracker, and having recently returned to dance after having a baby, the Australian Ballet’s principal artist says new priorities in her life help her bring a greater depth to the role.
Visual Art
Tracey Moffatt at the 2017 Venice Biennale
While the photography in Tracey Moffatt’s exhibition at the Venice Biennale bears touches of the knowing melodrama of her early work, her film work comes with a disaffected Hollywood air.
Portrait
Artist Yhonnie Scarce
“When Yhonnie Scarce’s ‘Thunder Raining Poison’ showed at the Art Gallery of South Australia, she was told by security guards that many viewers got so angry they were in tears. ‘Why weren’t we told?’ was a repeated phrase. Yhonnie’s glass tells. It’s clear and malleable and has a sharp edge. She didn’t set off to deceive, but her art tends to ‘bite people in the arse’.”
Books
Life
Travel
Wheelchair hitchhiking in west Texas
For a wheelchair-bound traveller in the US, getting around can be relatively easy. That is, until you get stuck on the side of a Texas highway.
The Quiz
Quotes
CLIMATE
“They claimed that penises cause climate change. I’m very concerned about some of the peer-reviewed papers.”
The One Nation senator continues to dement estimates with his climate change conspiracy. No conclusive study on this yet, but it’s possible intelligence is held in the inch or so of fabric missing between his shoes and the hem of his tiny little trousers.
SPORT
“That’s all the devil ... but that’s what Hitler did and that’s what communism did – got the mind of the children.”
The former tennis player complains of a gay agenda indoctrinating children. Speaking of insidious agendas, here’s her sport’s governing body, borrowing from the devil’s playbook: “Tennis Hot Shots is a fun way for kids to learn how to play tennis – on the right size court using racquets that are perfect for small hands.”
AMERICA
“The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant.”
The White House spokesman explains a strange tweet in which Donald Trump said something about “covfefe”. Presumably what he meant is he has small and vulgar fingers and the child lock was off on his phone again.
TERRORISM
“The only safe jihadi is one who’s been lawfully killed, lawfully imprisoned, or thoroughly converted from Islamism.”
The former prime minister muses on the state-sanctioned killing of Australian citizens. He also proposed special courts with a lower threshold for evidence and maybe a special parliament where he mattered.
IMMIGRATION
“If people want to criticise this government in relation to the refugee program, criticise me.”
The man locking up innocent people in island camps acquaints himself with ministerial responsibility. That’s how it works, champ.
AVIATION
“They’d probably still be on the plane now.”
The Victorian police commissioner defends the time it took to free passengers from a plane where a man had threatened to detonate what turned out to be a speaker, saying it would have taken longer in Europe. That’s probably true, but the weather is also nicer this time of year.
