September 8 – 14, 2018
News
Comment
Comment
Peter Greste
Speaking for freedom
“UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the international community ‘to do whatever it can’ to secure the release of the two Reuters journalists. The Netherlands, Britain, Norway, Denmark and the European Union all demanded that the journalists be freed. Canberra issued a statement expressing ‘disappointment’ over the verdict. Once again, it feels like a fatuously limp reaction to a flagrant violation of all those principles the Liberal Party apparently holds so dear.”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
Leaks undermine Scott Morrison’s image
“There is compelling evidence a vicious ‘Scuttle Scott’ campaign is under way and, unlike the ‘Kill Bill’ strategy, this one is being mounted from inside the government itself. The new prime minister faces parliament next week for the first time since the Liberal Party toppled Malcolm Turnbull, and most of the ALP’s ammunition against Morrison will come courtesy of internal Liberal leaks and undermining.”
Letters, Cartoon & Editorial
Culture
Film
Filmmaker Lynne Ramsay’s musical inspiration
Film director and screenwriter Lynne Ramsay frequently turns to books to find engaging stories, as with her adaptation of Jonathan Ames’ novella You Were Never Really Here, but it’s music that truly inspires her. “Sometimes you need to explain that sound is the bigger picture. I’m a frustrated musician at heart, because the mix to me is one of the most exhilarating parts to making a film.”
Television
‘Younger’
There is happily nothing to learn from Younger, the latest series from Sex and the City creator Darren Star. It is another enjoyable series about ‘void women’ and their glamorous material desires.
Portrait
Trumpet player Sarah Butler
“Growing up, the children who played brass instruments were muscular and solid. All of them – on trumpet, French horn, trombone, tuba – were boys. Every. Single. One. I can recall girls playing piano, flute and violin, but the brass section of our school band, our town’s marching band, the Scout band and the church band were all entirely male. There was something instinctively masculine about those instruments, and about how they were played. Or so I thought.”
Books
Life
Music
Troye Sivan’s ‘Bloom’
Troye Sivan’s album Bloom delivers polished, romantic pop music laced with an appreciation of longing and regret.
The Quiz
Quotes
FAITH
“I do pray for that rain. And I’d encourage others who believe in the power of prayer to pray for that rain and to pray for our farmers.”
The prime minister shares his feeling for farmers affected by drought. Because who needs a climate policy when you have God?
IMMIGRATION
“There has been some bizarre criticisms about the quickness that one of these cases was determined by the minister.”
The Senator applauds the speed with which Peter Dutton intervened to help rich people’s au pairs stay in the country. Without irony or a soul, he noted the alternative is “keeping someone in detention unnecessarily”.
AMERICA
“I’m draining the Swamp, and the Swamp is trying to fight back.”
The United States president rages on Twitter over an anonymous piece in The New York Times, written by a senior official from his administration. His determination to turn his presidency into a 1970s horror comic is almost admirable.
FREEDOM
“I’ve changed my mind. There is a better way to do this.”
The New Yorker’s editor explains why he disinvited Steve Bannon from an upcoming festival. Around Australia, white literary types breathed a sigh of relief, comforted by the knowledge they can keep their New Yorker tote bags.
POLITICS
“I have seen and witnessed and experienced some appalling behaviour in parliament.”
The former foreign minister addresses a culture of bullying and misconduct in politics. To think, only four years ago she didn’t “find the need to self-describe” as a feminist.
“Inaccurate (no ‘victory lap’), and only tells half the story. Panel of 4.”
The QC rejects The Saturday Paper’s perhaps gratuitous recounting of his recent tussle with IPA policy director Simon Breheny. No word yet on the reported wedgie.
