February 8 – 14, 2020
News
Comment
Comment
Osman Faruqi
Christmas Island and the rise of mandatory detention
“On Monday, Australia’s director of human biosecurity issued the dryly named Biosecurity (Human Health Response Zone) (North West Point Immigration Detention Centre) Determination 2020. The legal instrument designated the detention centre on Christmas Island a ‘human health response zone’ – no one is allowed to enter the facility unless they have been sent there due to concerns about the spread of coronavirus.”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
Climate wars return amid Coalition chaos
“The old tautology ‘deja vu all over again’ has become a jarring reality for the Coalition. And shattering the promised peace and stability are all the same factors that destroyed the prime ministership of Malcolm Turnbull: climate change, energy policy and competing egos. The big difference this time is that hostilities broke out among the Nationals rather than the Liberals. But the collateral damage is much the same.”
Letters, Cartoon & Editorial
Culture
Profile
Actress Tilda Swinton
Tilda Swinton has often been drawn to roles that explore transformation – a fascination that led her to become one of the world’s finest actresses. She speaks about her unconventional career, her love for Scotland and her upcoming trip to Australia, where her mother was born. “For me, the whole joy is working in collaboration, working in conversation … I love dreaming things up with my friends and I’ve always been lucky enough to work with people who are interested in this stuff and continue to find new people who are interested in this sort of shapeshifting.”
Film
A Hidden Life
Through the story of a farmer who refuses to swear allegiance to Hitler, Terrence Malick’s A Hidden Life reckons with the horrors of the Nazi regime in a quiet, powerful way.
Books
Life
Puzzles
Quotes
EFFICIENCY
“Meritless political referrals to key law-enforcement agencies waste resources that could be allocated to the investigation of serious matters, such as homicides.”
The attorney-general joins calls for Labor to apologise to Energy Minister Angus Taylor after the AFP dropped its investigation into him. Presumably someone will apologise to Annika Smethurst, Dan Oakes and Samuel Clark any day now.
BACKSPIN
“Whatever I thought of a person, I would never say, ‘Hey, you should take their name off a building.’ ”
The grand slam winner objects to any talk of renaming her arena. She would also, of course, never say that a fellow tennis great shouldn’t have kids with her female partner.
SEMANTICS
“Our headline was in no way intended to single out Chinese people.”
The Daily Telegraph editor deflects criticism of his newspaper’s headline “China kids stay home”. A simple misunderstanding: the tabloid isn’t racist; it just hates children.
SACRIFICE
“The boil has been lanced, let’s move on.”
The Nationals MP reflects on his failed bid for the party leadership this week. He should really come up with a nicer nickname for himself.
FEEDBACK
“I tore it up.”
The Democrat is asked for her thoughts on Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. The president raved that the speech was the most torn-up SOTU in American history.
APROPOS
“I just want to ask them to apologise properly, that’s all.”
The Yolngu man says Sunrise hosts Samantha Armytage and David Koch should apologise in person over a discussion of the merits of the Stolen Generations. When they said it was a good thing, they meant for ratings – except they were wrong about that, too.
