February 9 – 15, 2019
News
Comment
Comment
Clementine Ford
The demise of independent media
“I hadn’t realised the depths to which a once proudly independent news organisations had sunk in its attempts to appeal to the right wing. Some have argued this shift to the right is a result of Fairfax’s merger with Nine, a deal that was completed in December last year. But the change in political culture at Fairfax began long before the television network set its sights on establishing a newspaper presence, and my story is just a small example of it. ”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
The beginning of the end game
“Morrison’s hyperbolic warning – that any show of compassion to the 1000 or so refugees still holed up on Manus and Nauru will destroy the border protection regime and lead to a new influx of boats – is of the same genre as his repeated warnings against a banking royal commission. And while he can chalk up ‘stopping the boats’ as an achievement, the government’s handling of the banks is an entirely different matter.”
Letters, Poem & Editorial
Culture
Profile
Metal singer Karina Utomo’s roar history
Whether singing about the bloody past of the country of her birth in metal band High Tension, or in the wordless growls and screams of Speechless, a new opera about the Forgotten Children, Karina Utomo finds catharsis in unleashing her powerful voice. Etched into her memory is the burning down of a music store, which sold cassettes because CDs remained a luxury item. The shop, she says, was targeted because it was owned by Chinese Indonesians, the long-time targets of racist scapegoating. “Buying music with my father was a treat. That was somewhere we had gone every week and it symbolised access to music, to engage in a culture with which I connected.”
Television
Escape at Dannemora
Ben Stiller’s small-screen directorial debut, Escape at Dannemora, a dramatisation of a real-life prison break, invites viewers’ sympathy for two violent criminals and then churns it into a grim vision of Trump’s America.
Portrait
OzHarvest founder Ronni Kahn
“We are at OzHarvest headquarters in Sydney’s Alexandria, overlooking the industrial space where donated food is stored, cooked and distributed. Downstairs, outside the kitchen, the walls are painted yellow, the fridge is yellow, the delivery van parked on the concrete floor is yellow. There are yellow signs saying: ‘Did you know? OzHarvest saves 100 tonnes of food from landfill each week’, and, ‘If food waste were a country it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gas after USA and China.’”
Books
Life
The Quiz
Quotes
FAMILY
“Geoff and Tim do share a mutual love for the mighty Melbourne Demons.”
The embattled MP explains his relationship with fund manager Geoff Wilson. Some would say using your parliamentary committee chairmanship to help a relative is a sign of bad judgement; others would say the same thing of supporting Melbourne.
PROFITS
“No wonder the share prices of the big banks are on the up.”
The Australian columnist reflects on why traders may have snapped up stocks in the Big Four before the banking royal commission’s report was released. Insider trading, we can be assured, had nothing to do with it.
CHARITY
“This does my heart and my soul good. This is real.”
The Aerosmith singer, who once took guardianship of a 16-year-old, only to impregnate her, opens a refuge for abused girls.
MORALS
“I don’t want to give a dollar to Adani.”
The shadow treasurer explains Labor will allow the Adani mine to proceed because it doesn’t want to compensate the company for a breach of contract. Which makes about as much sense as letting a national magazine do a “gym-themed” photoshoot with you, just because you agreed to a profile piece.
BANKING
“It’s very important to remember that going to the bank is not like going to the doctor.”
The journalist says banks have a duty to their shareholders. Unlike doctors, banks can keep charging after you die.
HINDSIGHT
“I behaved like an idiot on a parliamentary exchange last year and I recognise how inappropriate my actions were.”
The Liberal MP apologises for his actions towards a female RAAF member. Described as a “known hugger”, Buchholz last made news for offering Kelly O’Dwyer unsolicited breastfeeding advice.
