August 8 – 14, 2015 | The Saturday Paper

News

How Mohammad Nasim Najafi died in a detention centre

“We escape our country to be safe. They mix us with criminals. These people don’t care about anything because they will be deported anyway.”

Abdul Karim Hekmat Two weeks after being beaten and placed in a solitary cell, asylum seeker Mohammad Nasim Najafi was dead. These were his last days.

News

The hidden politics of family violence

“There was a rhetorical sleight of hand, practised collectively but unwittingly, to remove anything that distracted from the public's total focus on male attitudes. ”

Martin McKenzie-Murray The royal commission into domestic violence has replayed many received wisdoms. But there are certain things that cannot be said.

Hazelwood Power Station in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley.

News

Filthy secrets shroud Aust’s emissions reduction plans

Mike Seccombe Weak regulation is increasing Australia’s carbon emissions and allowing dirty power stations to survive.

News

South Australia’s future role in the nuclear industry

“South Australia’s Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission will facilitate debate on ‘what role our state can and should play in the fuel cycle for the peaceful use of nuclear energy’.”

Philip Dorling The South Australian government’s flirtation with nuclear energy threatens to turn its relationship with federal Labor into a ticking time bomb.

News

Teaching Indigenous culture in schools

Alana Rosenbaum An Indigenous school in Shepparton, Victoria, is leading the way in incorporating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander studies into the curriculum.

US President Barack Obama during a speech about the clean power plan at the White House this week.

World

Will US power plan put wind up Abbott?

Hamish McDonald Discord over TPP dispute provision; Sub smokescreen; Key latches on to British royalty

Comment

Richard Ackland
Open Court and the problem with suppression orders

“The Victorian Open Courts Act is in keeping with Orwellian traditions, and has exactly the opposite effect to that suggested by its title. The NSW model is more wordy and even less worthy.”

Comment

Paul Bongiorno
Bishop, entitlements and parliament’s Slipper-y people

“The Bishop saga is definitely a plague on all their houses. ”

Gadfly

Richard Ackland
Gadfly: Santa’s little helpers

Letters, Cartoon & Editorial

Cartoon

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Editorial
Industrial deftness and workplace reform

Letters

Crash and burn no surprise

Paul Bongiorno writes, “Who would have thought the Abbott government’s first year would be the hash it was…”(“Picking up the Bill”, August 1-7). Quite a few, …

Board members should have quit

I stayed at the Ayers Rock Resort the year after the land council purchased it. I enjoyed the experience, and thought it well worth the money paid (Mike Seccombe, “Ayers and disgraces”, …

Culture

Profile

Writer and editor Jessica Hopper on rock’s gender trap

Jenny Valentish

Pitchfork editor Jessica Hopper talks to Jenny Valentish about perceptions that ‘girl’ is a genre and women aren’t great critics.

Theatre

MTC’s Death and the Maiden

Peter Craven This stark new production sadly robs Ariel Dorfman’s modern classic Death and the Maiden of its considerable power.

Portrait

Sophia’s choices

Emily Bitto

Down the rabbit hole with performer and Supersense curator Sophia Brous.

Food

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Food

Truffle and parmesan tart

Andrew McConnell The earthy pleasure of truffles in a winter's tart.

Books

Harper Lee
Go Set a Watchman

Sonja Dechian
An Astronaut’s Life

John Tranter
Heart Starter

Life

Gardening

Growing raspberries, strawberries and berries

Helen Razer Their claim to being true berries is curiously spurious but, when homegrown, raspberries and strawberries leave other summer treats in the shade.

Travel

A pilgrimage to Detroit’s Grande Ballroom

Darren Hanlon Darren Hanlon clambers among the ruins of Detroit’s Grande Ballroom, home of the legendary hard rockers MC5.

Sport

In it for kicks: Bernard Foley, 25, rugby player

Richard Cooke Ahead of the Bledisloe Cup, Wallaby Bernard Foley talks about the challenge of facing the mighty All Blacks.

The Quiz

1. Which international airport’s code is FUK?

2. Which actor voiced Donkey in the movie Shrek? (Bonus points for naming who voiced Shrek and Princess Fiona.)

3. Which US state is home to the headquarters of Apple?

4. Lisa Alexander is the coach of which Australian national sporting team?

5. In computer technology, what does HDMI stand for?

6. In the Leonard Cohen song Suzanne, where did the tea and oranges come from?

7. Which animal represents a sharemarket in which prices are rising?

8. In the Catholic Church, what title is given to the overseer of a diocese?

9. Is a dolphin a mammal or a fish?

10. How many points are on the largest star of the Australian flag?

Click through for answers.

Quotes

MEDIA

“To ‘weak’ and ‘contemptible’ I now add ‘vindictive’.”

Andrew Bolt

The right-wing columnist plays celebrity heads with The Australian, upset it identified the racist booing of Adam Goodes as racist. Bolt maintains it was only half racist because Goodes is only half Aboriginal.

LITERATURE

“It’s really about intrigue – how does a poet become a multimillionaire mining magnate? What journey does that take?”

Annie Te WhiuThe co-director of the Queensland Poetry Festival expands on why she programmed Clive Palmer for the event. Palmer, like most poets, was only ever one iron ore deposit away from obscene wealth.

HISTORY

“He did some really positive things but he also did participate in, you know, the deportation of the Jews, which is really... there’s no excuse for that whatsoever.”

Peter AbetzEric Abetz’s brother explains his “mixed” feelings about their great uncle. The family is notoriously accepting of gays, environmentalists and Nazi war criminals.

FAMILY

“Whenever things like this arise, there is a price to pay … and I dare say there will be a little personal price for me.”

Tony AbbottThe prime minister reflects on Bronwyn Bishop’s departure from the speaker’s chair. Given her love of weddings, it is a shock he was only ever her love child.

REFUGEES

“We have been able to stare down these evil people smugglers.”

Peter DuttonThe immigration minister celebrates the turning back of 20 asylum-seeker boats in the past 18 months. Language in the portfolio has gone from militaristic to straight-out witchcraft.

AVIATION

“Today, 515 days since the plane disappeared, it is with a heavy heart that I must tell you that an international team of experts has conclusively confirmed that the aircraft debris found on Reunion Island is indeed from MH370.”

Najib RazakThe Malaysian prime minister confirms part of the missing plane has been found on a French island in the Indian Ocean.