March 9 – 15, 2019
News
Comment
Comment
Arthur Moses, SC
Suppression orders and open justice
“Much has been said in recent weeks about the operation of suppression orders in high-profile cases. A common element in these discussions has been vigorous debate over whether the use of suppression orders impermissibly jeopardises the long-held principle of open courts and open justice. At its core, this issue involves striking the right balance between open justice including the public interest in court reportage, and an individual’s right to a fair trial. ”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
Outgoing Liberals and parliamentary pensions
“The perception surrounding the Coalition’s late announcers is that they have waited until the eleventh hour in the hope the Morrison government’s fortunes would start looking up. More worrying for the government, though, is that its highest-profile female MP, Julie Bishop, is clearly not going to leave politics without taking the opportunity to hold accountable the men in the party who cruelled her leadership aspirations.”
Letters, Poem & Editorial
Culture
Profile
Ellen Burstyn variations
Ellen Burstyn, in Melbourne to star onstage in 33 Variations, has a film career spanning six decades and including such cinematic touchstones as The Exorcist and The Last Picture Show. She talks tabout Beethoven, spirituality and recruiting Scorsese to direct her in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. “I asked that he be the director. He had already made Mean Streets, but it hadn’t been released and he was deeply grateful that I wanted him. This doesn’t mean that I gave him his start. And there was no stopping him, anyway – he would have got there in any case. But, you know, there was never any sense with Marty of working with a monster, with a master in the nasty sense. He’s marvellous, he’s an original. He’s smart and fiery and rough and excitable and alive.”
Film
Everybody Knows
After a shift in setting to Spain for Everybody Knows, Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi squanders a brilliantly tense kidnapping drama in an attempt to provide social commentary.
Portrait
Musician Rhye
“Milosh says he’s not trying to sell a record ‘through a distinction between sex as a commercial aspect of music versus sex as an extension of an intimate and vulnerable space, where there’s love and that love includes sex within it’. He isn’t coy about where his songs come from – about his relationship with his wife, their break-up and his experiences finding love again. ‘I’m really interested in something that’s real. I don’t like things that are by nature a gimmick, which just doesn’t feel true to me.’”
Books
Life
Puzzles
Quotes
PERSONALITY
“Every time that people smugglers see me, they see a brick wall.”
The prime minister boasts about his cruelty and imperviousness on the matter of seeking asylum. If the choice is between Scott Morrison and a brick wall we know which one we’d rather speak to at a party.
RIVALRY
“He’s this combination of Frank Spencer and Frank Underwood, isn’t he?”
The senator shares his opinion of outgoing Liberal Christopher Pyne. Unlike most of Bernardi’s public statements, you have to think about this one for a moment before deciding if it’s homophobic.
LEGACY
“I prefer to be judged on what I do in pursuit of gender equality, rather than how I may self-describe.”
The former deputy leader explains her legacy in the Liberal Party. She remains uncomfortable being called a “feminist” or “prime minister”.
PLANTS
“They joined the Liberal Party as left-wing entryists, precisely to cause trouble and it just goes to show how organised the GetUp! campaign is.”
The former prime minister explains that his anti-science and anti-renewables platform has made campaigning difficult in Warringah. It’s the first time since entering parliament he’s shown an interest in plants.
FAITH
“Notify the schools not to ask the priests to provide their working-with-children check.”
The bishop of Armidale directs Catholic schools in his diocese to stop asking priests if they have cleared their police checks. It’s embarrassing for the priests and it makes it harder to molest children.
PAYMENT
“I realise it’s still taxpayers’ funds.”
The acting managing director at the ABC reveals a $1.64 million settlement paid to Michelle Guthrie after she was sacked by the broadcaster. The sum seems less daunting when you think about it in increments of 11c a day.
