June 13 – 19, 2020
News
Comment
Comment
Tarneen Onus-Williams, Crystal McKinnon and Meriki Onus
Why we organised Melbourne’s Black Lives Matter rally
“As Black, Brown, Indigenous people and allies in the United States and across the world collectively rise up to end systemic racism and violent police practices, it was necessary for us here in Australia to also rise.”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
Scott Morrison faces a dilemma
“There’s nothing like the prospect of voters about to mark their ballot papers to focus the minds of politicians. And as parliament resumed this week, the spectre of the Eden-Monaro byelection hung over the place, jolting it out of its brief coronavirus togetherness. Make no mistake: even though the byelection in three weeks’ time will not weaken the government’s numbers on the floor of the house if it loses, there is a strong view that a Liberal win will reinforce Scott Morrison’s druthers to go to a general election early. And you don’t have to look very far to find the reasons why.”
Letters, Cartoon & Editorial
Culture
Profile
Oscar-nominated screenwriter Tony McNamara
Before becoming a playwright, screenwriter and showrunner, Tony McNamara was a stockbroker who had failed year 11 English. Now, after being nominated for an Oscar for The Favourite, he brings his acerbic dialogue and honest storytelling to his new TV series, The Great. “I saw a lot of Pinter, a lot of Mamet, Caryl Churchill … I was struck by how visceral it was, how you could get a rhythm going that really carries an audience along.”
Fiction
There in spirit
“If they had given me a choice in who I’d want to haunt for the rest of their mortal life, it would have been a toss-up between a celebrity – a real celebrity, although I don’t really mind which one, they all kind of homogenise after a point – and my spinster aunt. I can see myself floating around her sprawling Federation cottage, dressed in a romantic, billowing white dress, doing kind and lovely things like leaving flowers on the windowsill, or gently rustling the curtains as she drinks tea and thinks about her poor niece, dead at 32, such a shame, so young, so beautiful, what a tragedy.”
Books
Life
Puzzles
Quotes
REVISION
“It was a pretty brutal place, but there was no slavery in Australia.”
The prime minister responds to Black Lives Matter protests by erasing Australia’s history of blackbirding and indentured labour that stretches back to when Captain Cook didn’t circumnavigate the continent.
TRAVEL
“I don’t want to be complacent, I want to see lots more.”
The former MP celebrates the number of women who have followed her into federal politics and spruiks her plans for future helicopter trips.
TELEVISION
“Times have changed since Little Britain first aired.”
The broadcaster seeks to explain the removal of the comedy series from its streaming service by suggesting blackface wasn’t racist in the early 2000s.
EQUALITY
“Even when you look at pop culture, some of the most successful and popular people have got a diverse background, such as on MasterChef at the moment.”
The acting minister of Multicultural Affairs says Australia doesn’t have a racism problem because there’s a judge from a Chinese background on this season of the reality TV cooking show.
OZ
“Let me tell you something, Dorothy didn’t tap her shoes together and say, ‘There’s no place like childcare.’ ”
The Queensland senator says unaffordable childcare is actually a good thing because it will mean one parent has to stay home, which will “halve the congestion on our roads”.
PROSE
“I write this without any desire to add to that toxicity.”
The Harry Potter author pens a 3700-word screed defending her comments about trans women, which she proceeded to tweet out with the placatory caption “TERF wars”.
