June 15 – 21, 2019
News
Comment
Comment
Richard Cooke
Free speech, censorship and media raids
“The Australian Federal Police raids on the offices of the ABC and the home of a News Corp journalist keep being described as ‘unprecedented’. They are certainly a degeneration, though these goonish interventions have always been there. Only their targets and locations have changed. An unbroken chain of raids, prosecutions, bannings, destructions, libel suits, intimidation and blacklistings drags its way through our history, all the way to the early colony.”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
All quiet on the Morrison front
“Scott Morrison is assiduously doing nothing much of consequence. In fact, this week he appeared to have taken a leaf out of the opposition leader’s book and, like Anthony Albanese, is doing a lot of listening. He has apparently decided this is the safest way of dealing with the press freedom brouhaha that has engulfed his government since its unexpected return to power.”
Letters, Poem & Editorial
Culture
Profile
Queering the air with musician and producer Paul Mac
Paul Mac has gone from playing the organ at church to forming a band with Daniel Johns, remixing tracks by Kylie Minogue and recording his latest album, Mesmerism. Here, he discusses his art, his love of trains and his political activism. “Unless we are continuously vigilant about the rights that we’ve gained, they can quite easily disappear again.”
Visual Art
TarraWarra International 2019: The Tangible Trace
The Tangible Trace, the TarraWarra Museum of Art’s new exhibition, has works of subtle beauty, but ultimately asks too few challenging questions of its audience.
Portrait
Author Meg Wolitzer
“The beauty of fiction is that people take their whole histories into reading a book, and you can’t control what they think, what they like, what they don’t like, what they respond to. They might like something because they had an experience like it, or they might hate a character because it’s frightening to them because of something that happened. So, it’s a conversation that you are not really privy to.”
Books
Life
Puzzles
Quotes
REAL ESTATE
“I’m not saying he’s got enemies … I’m just saying people still think that Lleyton Hewitt owns this house.”
The owner of an Adelaide mansion sold by Hewitt in 2014 says he believes a firebombing of the property was “tennis-related”. Real estate agents across the country shudder at the thought of trying to resell Nick Kyrgios’s place.
ADANI
“Our state has some of the most rigorous environmental protections in the country and we do not apologise for that.”
The Queensland environment minister comments on approvals for the Carmichael coalmine. Really, why would you apologise for something you can overlook.
GENDER
“… it’s ludicrous and I think it’s an example of somebody whose leadership role really needs to be challenged.”
The 2015 Australian of the Year comments on John Setka’s reported criticism of her. Setka says he was taken out of context, which is a polite way of looking at his career.
TRANSPORT
“Australian governments have adopted a forward-looking approach to ridesharing and future transport technology.”
Uber’s regional manager announces plans for Uber Air, a flying taxi service that will take passengers from Melbourne’s CBD to the airport for $100. This is still more likely than a train line.
MUSIC
“I don’t think anyone is really that attached to it because the song’s just not that good.”
The rapper suggests Paul Kelly and Dan Sultan could write a new national anthem. A nice idea, but everyone already knows Briggs and Kylie Minogue are the only duo for the job.
DREAMS
“I want to see a coal-fired power station built in Australia … I want to see the Bradfield Scheme to ensure water security in Australia.”
The One Nation leader lays out demands she will be making of the Morrison government. Taken in full, her policy platform is an oddly detailed blueprint for time travel.
