August 9 – 15, 2025
News
Comment
Comment
Jacinta Masters
How to ease the trauma of sexual assault testimony
“Pretaped testimony allows victim-survivors to give evidence much earlier on, enabling them to move on with their lives and focus on their wellbeing. Seeking justice should be a healing path, and prerecorded testimony aims to safeguard against the reopening of wounds.”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
Calls for justice in Gaza and progress on Closing the Gap
“Neither Anthony Albanese nor any of his ministers joined last Sunday’s ‘March for Humanity’ across Sydney Harbour Bridge, which garnered international attention. Instead, the prime minister and a group of his senior cabinet colleagues attended Australia’s largest Indigenous cultural gathering in north-east Arnhem Land.”
Letters, Cartoon & Editorial
Culture
Profile
Choreographer Yolande Brown
Choreographer and former Bangarra dancer Yolande Brown is bringing all her senses and a deep knowledge of time to her debut work for Queensland Ballet.
Fiction
A name for your order
“‘Name for your order please?’ The girl behind the counter has no idea what she’s asking of me. She is young and hip and so sure of herself that she only displays half a name on her badge. I remove an AirPod from my ear to speak. ‘Bri, is it?’ She eyes me and I take it as confirmation that I pronounced her half-name correctly – like the cheese. Bri, short for virtuous Brianna. ‘Bri, how about you take my order first. Then we’ll be slightly better acquainted and I’ll feel much more comfortable giving you my name.’”
Books
Life
Puzzles
Quotes
Innovation
“It is about winning the second space race.”
An official for the United States government agency comments on interim NASA administrator and former Fox News host Sean Duffy’s plans to build a nuclear reactor on the moon. It’s unclear why the second competition would be about toxic waste – this is space, not a season of The Bachelor.
Climate
“In the Wurundjeri calendar, there were six seasons … And when you think about it, it makes sense.”
Melbourne’s lord mayor suggests recognising six seasons instead of four. It’s bold, given the Victorian government is one “budget black hole” headline away from cutting our seasons to three.
Media
“The Post will play a crucial role in engaging … readers, who are starved of serious reporting and puckish wit.”
The News Corp chief executive launches the California Post, a west coast version of the New York tabloid. After raging wildfires, widespread Immigration raids and a couple of earthquakes, a new Murdoch rag might not seem so bad.
Retirement
“Minister Burke has done the right thing in bringing it back together.”
The former opposition leader breaks his pledge of silence in the wake of his election defeat to praise Labor’s decision to reintegrate the Home Affairs super-portfolio. How we’ve missed him.
Politics
“I’ve seen things like, ‘you need to get back in the kitchen’, ‘go and make me a sandwich’, ‘what’s this child doing in parliament?’ That’s politics.”
The Labor senator shares some of the criticism she’s faced since she was elected to office, three months ago, on her 21st birthday. Age is so wasted on the elderly.
Law
“Kathleen has not only lost 20 years of wages, she has lost her four children, her home and her employability. She has racked up legal costs… ”
The Greens MP slams the $2 million compensation payout for Kathleen Folbigg, who was released after two decades in jail on a wrongful conviction of killing her four children.
