October 12 – 18, 2019
News
Comment
Comment
Jamie Williams
I fought with the Kurds; they are not the enemy
“The Kurds have been an invaluable ally in the fight against Daesh. For five years, they fought alongside troops from the United States and its allies. In these terms, Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw US support for the Kurds in northern Syria can only be seen as a betrayal.”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
The hot topic of climate change
“The ghosts of leaders past are haunting the political firmament as climate change, the one issue that played a major role in their demise, flares spectacularly. While Malcolm Turnbull, Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten ruminate on their contributions to and prescriptions for the nation, fierce unseasonal bushfires are offering a brutal reality check.”
Letters, Poem & Editorial
Culture
Profile
Fantasy bestseller Philip Pullman
Philip Pullman found fame in the 1990s with the His Dark Materials fantasy trilogy. Now, the children who grew up with the heroine, Lyra, can revisit her as an adult in The Secret Commonwealth. The author talks about having his work adapted for the small screen, the dangers of single vision and the allure of dust. “We know we’re conscious, but philosophers are still struggling with what David Chalmers calls ‘the hard problem’ – how do we get from matter to consciousness? Once you accept that consciousness is a normal property of matter, and that everything is, in however dim and rudimentary way, conscious, everything becomes clearer. This is the question towards which The Book of Dust is working.”
Theatre
Mentalist Scott Silven
Relying on more than sleight of hand and psychological manipulation, mentalist Scott Silven elicits wonder and delight from his audiences by connecting them through his performances.
Portrait
Australian Brandenberg Orchestra’s Paul Dyer
“You need to take the risk and get lost in it. I will change tempo at a moment’s notice. I will take things faster or slower depending on the mood I gauge. I can hold and suspend things by getting lost, and I can feel, or zone inside, the person or the music.”
Books
Life
Puzzles
Quotes
BUDGETING
“Well, they’re maintaining its operational status.”
The Home Affairs Department’s immigration detention group manager explains why at least 125 staff were employed at the Christmas Island detention centre, which housed no detainees, at a cost of more than $22 million.
ROYAL WELCOME
“It is disappointing.”
The royal family enthusiast expresses her dismay at being the only person who showed up to greet Jeffrey Epstein associate Prince Andrew on his visit to Perth’s Murdoch University.
OBSOLESCENCE
“I just feel like it’s better to do the apology and patch things up rather than let it drag on and become a bigger issue.”
The mayor of Hindmarsh Shire is genuinely contrite for describing Nationals MP Emma Kealy as “the best-looking politician in Victoria” at the opening of a skate park in Nhill.
SHOWBIZ
“I don’t see them. I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema.”
The veteran director admits he has never watched a Marvel film, though that didn’t stop him from declaring them “not cinema”.
IMPEACHMENT
“Perhaps Downer is always completely oblivious to international news. Perhaps he spends too much time drinking with 28-year-olds.”
The right-wing American columnist theorises why Alexander Downer should be considered an unreliable source in impeachment investigations against Donald Trump.
TITLES
“It is not so much reform but restoration.”
The former prime minister asserts that reintroducing a peerage system of “knights and dames” is still very much on his political agenda.
