December 9 – 15, 2017
News
Comment
Comment
Tony Windsor
Fighting the Santos pipeline
“It has often been said there will be wars over water. In its own way, the scene I was watching was a skirmish in what has the potential to become a war and rewrite the politics of water, land use and energy in this country. It was also an insight into how threatened the farm community felt and demonstrated how it would be difficult to fight these farmers’ guerilla tactics. It was a warning they were serious players.”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
Is Bill Shorten running out of luck?
“Maybe Bill Shorten’s luck is running out. Complicating Labor’s campaign in Bennelong is Senator Sam Dastyari’s highly controversial dealings with Chinese billionaire Huang Xiangmo. Turnbull slammed Dastyari as an ‘agent of foreign influence and you can’t have an agent of foreign influence sitting in the senate’.”
Letters, Cartoon & Editorial
Culture
Profile
Choreographer Lucy Guerin
Choreographer Lucy Guerin says ballet’s physical perfectionism may see off young girls from their passion for dance, leaving headstrong boys to take the reins in later life. “Women have really defined dance through the ages, especially in America, with a lot of female choreographers, and in Europe. Yet it feels like it’s going backwards a little bit.”
Visual Art
Gerhard Richter: The Life of Images
The techno-fascism of Nazi Germany and the West’s postwar mass consumerism have been the subject of painter Gerhard Richter’s decades-long career, whether in photorealism or abstraction.
Portrait
Tim Jennings and Aboriginal art
“Since he first started travelling to Utopia, Tim Jennings has been collecting paintings by various artists. His gallery, Mbantua, now has a permanent collection: 30 years’ worth of art from Utopia. ‘I thought it could be very important to see how the artists change over time, evolve over the years. We’ve got about 1000 paintings. In this collection you can see part of the evolvement of the artists.’ ”
Food
“Christmas is a time when many of us feel compelled to give people gifts and, as the year starts to collapse in on itself, the urgency builds. Where to go shopping? What to buy? Will they like it? Can I afford it? My advice? Forgo those sterile shopping centres, avoid the packed high streets, and do a little shopping at your local fruit and nut shop. Then, head home to your kitchen, crank up Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and get baking. ”
Books
Life
Life
Heatwaves, infrastructure and resilient cities
Summer heatwaves can trigger a domino effect of infrastructure failures in major cities. So, how resilient are Melbourne and Sydney?
The Quiz
Quotes
AWFULNESS
“I really loved the ’60s and ’70s when life was so simple and you could slap a woman on the butt and it was taken as a compliment, not as sexual harassment.”
The former member of INXS defends sexual assault. It requires a potent level of male privilege to believe this to be true or that Pengilly’s moustache is a good idea.
COURT
“I can’t comment. I’m living a private life now. All the best.”
The former parliamentarian avoids raids after complying with a court order to turn over documents relating to his failed business, Mineralogy. His life has become the sad final act in a low-budget remake of Jurassic Park.
MARRIAGE
“We are in unchartered waters.”
The lead opponent to marriage equality marks the passing of legislation to allow for same-sex marriage. Except that at least 25 other countries have “chartered” these waters quite well.
FILM
I was sodomising Jacqui McKenzie on the set of Romper Stomper.
The actor tells a joke at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards. It was not good.
DISCOURSE
“My new man-crush. Bradley Cooper out, Milo in. Loved every moment of my day with him yesterday.”
The former Labor leader shares his affection for Milo Yiannopoulos. Finally, a person who has lost almost as many jobs as him.
LOVE
“I am, you are, we are Australian.”
Those present in the federal parliament for the vote on marriage equality break into song as the legislation is passed. Online, three simple words were trending internationally on Twitter: “Eat shit, Lyle.”
