May 11 – 17, 2019
News
Comment
Comment
Danielle Wood
Major parties diverge on economy
“In any other election, Australia’s headline economic figures would have the incumbent popping champagne corks. Twenty-eight years of uninterrupted economic growth, unemployment at 5 per cent, record-low interest rates and a budget in balance are close enough to a beautiful set of numbers. But the disconnect between the economic data and people’s sense of economic wellbeing has rarely been larger. And this economic ennui is proving fertile ground for both parties to push very different visions for the Australian economy and what the government’s role in it should be.”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
Murdoch papers give Shorten his moment
“Labor has been the frontrunner in the published opinion polls for the past three years. This week was no different, with the tightening since the election was called reaching a plateau. But Bill Shorten has supplied a powerful campaign moment in an otherwise lacklustre affair. He spoke emotionally about his mother Ann’s life and its key motivating force for him. It was in response to an attack on him, and her career, in several Murdoch papers. And it is a development that has rebounded badly on his opponents.”
Letters, Poem & Editorial
Culture
Profile
Herbie Hancock’s chord of appeal
At the age of 79, Herbie Hancock has had a long and fruitful career, but the legendary jazz pianist remains forward-thinking. “There’s so much division happening globally and I actually believe that this is one of the final stages we need to solve, and fix, and learn from in order to be able to tackle climate change. That’s either going to do us in or we’re going to fix it.”
Visual Art
The Essential Duchamp
At the Art Gallery of New South Wales, The Essential Duchamp casts the work of the iconoclastic artist Marcel Duchamp in a contemporary light.
Portrait
Director and writer Jocelyn Moorhouse
“Pictures can communicate very strongly and it’s a wonderful way to reach non-verbal people or people whose verbal abilities are very impaired. It’s ironic that this is my strength (and [husband] P. J. [Hogan]’s) – our kids actually depend on that imagery because they like to look at calendars and have picture schedules to tell them what’s going to happen. I think that’s how they share memories with us.”
Books
Life
Puzzles
Quotes
ZENITH
“Small men with small ideas.”
The shadow foreign minister shares her opinion of Tony Abbott, Barnaby Joyce, Scott Morrison and Michael McCormack at the Labor launch. To be fair, Joyce is about 6'1" with his tallest Akubra on.
HEALTH
“If you want me to remove the weeds from my garden, one option is to use a nuclear weapon. Yeah it would remove the weeds from the garden, but it would have a lot of consequences.”
The United Australia Party candidate explains why his party is “undecided” on whether vaccines are effective. In doing so, he highlighted something else more dangerous than vaccines – politicians attempting to use analogies.
STRATEGY
“Politics isn’t about tactics; politics is about what you believe.”
The prime minister denies speculation about the passing of the franking credits overhaul during this week’s leaders’ debate. Poll numbers suggest his best tactic at this stage is believing a deus ex machina is imminent.
MEDIA
“He neglected to mention that Mrs Shorten, who sent him to Melbourne’s elite Xavier College, graduated with a law degree from Monash University.”
The Daily Telegraph’s state political editor launches a roundly criticised barb at Bill Shorten’s mother, Ann. Australia’s political media descending into “your mama” jokes feels at once inevitable and apocalyptic.
LOYALTY
“He’s a good man, he’s an incredible person. I love him.”
The actress visits Julian Assange in jail. You would think a former Baywatch star declaring her love for the WikiLeaks founder would be the most bizarre twist in this story, but it probably doesn’t even break into the top 10.
ENVIRONMENT
“They don’t know where Adani is! They don’t! I asked someone the other day and they said, ‘It’s on the Great Barrier Reef.’ Actually, it’s not.”
The senior Labor MP decries left-wing groupthink or, as some might call it, believing the expert consensus of the world’s climate scientists.
