December 3 – 9, 2022
News
Comment
Comment
Olivia Muscat
International Day of Disabled Joy and Rage
“Today marks the 30th anniversary of the celebration of International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD). On December 3 every year we amplify, celebrate and make space for disability and disabled people. But how much has really changed in the past three decades?”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
Nationals pull ‘tragic’ reversal on Voice
“The last sitting week of the federal parliament at the end of a momentous election year was overshadowed by a jarring intervention in the process to enshrine recognition of First Nations people in the constitution. The Nationals on Monday spectacularly announced they would oppose the Voice to Parliament referendum.”
Comment
John Hewson
We need Covid-19 mandates
“A recent poll suggested as many as two-thirds of Australians think the pandemic is over. This is far from true. A false impression has been created, as a result of poor messaging by governments and health officials and the progressive relaxation of key health protections.”
Letters, Cartoon & Editorial
Culture
The Influence
Nadine Sierra
For opera star Nadine Sierra, the role of Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto has been an emotional touchstone since she was a young woman.
Fiction
Needles
“There’s some commotion outside the entrance to the suburban general practitioner’s waiting room. The manual sliding door of the converted weatherboard house is open, a woman halfway through, beckoning two children to follow her outside. They wince at the brittle, Melbourne-winter wind. She grabs one of them by the hand and they all leave together. Inside, a young girl screams. It is unearthly, primal, painful.”
Books
Life
Puzzles
Quotes
Colleagues
“He was woeful, the worst prime minister I have covered.”
The veteran political journalist comments on Scott Morrison following the launch of her new book on the former prime minister, Bulldozed. He clearly improves on closer acquaintance as his workmates described him as “messianic, megalomaniacal, and plain mad”.
Politics
“We’re meeting because we are prime ministers.”
The Finnish leader responds to a journalist, at a joint press conference with Jacinda Ardern, who asked if the pair were meeting because they are both young and female. Understandable really, since Albanese and Xi Jinping clearly bonded because they are both men who like neckties.
Empathy
“For those who wish to add their judgement today on my actions … have you ever had to deal with a crisis where the outlook was completely unknown?”
The former prime minister justifies secretly holding multiple portfolios and defends himself against Tony Burke’s censure motion. The answer, of course, is: yes, we were all there.
Conservation
“If the Great Barrier Reef is in danger, then every coral reef in the world is in danger.”
The Environment minister objects to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee singling out Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to add to its “in danger” list. The committee’s attempt to set an example for conservation using the world’s largest living organism, visible from space, is undeniably petty.
Sport
“I truly believe that the Socceroos are the team that unites the country.”
The Socceroos coach proudly reflects on the jubilant scenes back home after the team’s astonishing win against Denmark, putting Australia into the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup for just the second time in history. We’re not crying, it’s just the flare smoke.
Books
“… the idea of using an auto-pen was suggested to me, along with the assurance that this kind of thing is done ‘all the time’ …”
The reclusive musician is forced to apologise for his publisher’s use of a machine to “sign” copies of his new book that sold for $US599 each. You’d have thought he’d learnt his lesson after the Electric Dylan controversy.
