March 15 – 21, 2025
News
Comment
Comment
Judy Courtin
The Catholic Church’s legal loophole for abuse
“The Catholic Church is at it again. The decision in Bird v DP has the privileged, affluent and braggadocious church publicly thanking the High Court for a ruling that pierced the hearts of thousands of survivors who were, as children, raped or sexually assaulted by Catholic clergy.”
Comment
Stan Grant
An America without aces
“As for the global order, Trump may in his own oafish way be telling us an inconvenient truth: there is no global order. Whenever I hear talk of a global order, it brings to mind something the neuroscientist Abhijit Naskar once said: ‘Order is nothing but friendship with chaos.’”
Letters, Cartoon & Editorial
Culture
Fiction
La Cappella dal Salt
“For what do you pray, in La Cappella dal Salt? For what and to whom? You come upon it by accident (still believing in accidents) veering from the old mule track during a thunderstorm, taking shelter from the rain sweeping the mountainside and beating the piode roof. Inside green bracken ferns knuckle up through the flag floor, the stone benches still holding warmth from the morning.”
Books
Life
Puzzles
Quotes
Efficiency
“When we took the keys to the place, it was pretty woke…”
The New Zealand prime minister says he’s open to adopting Trump-style proposals to scrap diversity targets. He’s also cracking down on waste – this statement is recycled from his Airbnb review of a guesthouse in Byron.
Education
“It’ll be a fantastic evening featuring … Highland and Indigenous dancers, and a spectacular light and fireworks display.”
The Sydney private school’s alumni announce a celebration for the long-delayed open of the student centre modelled on a Scottish baronial castle and described as a “cut-price” Hogwarts. At a cost of over $60 million, this is clearly unfair.
Trade
“Buy Bundy rather than some of the American products … You can make a difference.”
The prime minister encourages Australians to respond to the United States imposition of 25 per cent tariffs on our steel and aluminium by boycotting American products. The truly patriotic will swap Coke for Passiona.
Campaigning
“He’s so mid fr.”
Peter Dutton’s party chases the youth vote on TikTok with a reel of low-resolution photos of Anthony Albanese. It’s not a negative campaign if most of the voting public doesn’t have a clue what you’re saying.
Activism
“If Leonardo DiCaprio knows where a bauxite mine is in Western Australia, I’d be very surprised.”
The prime minister dismisses criticism from the actor over the government’s decision to allow mining company South32 to clear native forest in WA’s jarrah forests for bauxite mining. It’s true DiCaprio isn’t known for his fondness for old bush land.
High Court
“Justice has been served for my people and the people of north-east Arnhem Land.”
The Gumatj leader celebrates the High Court decision in a landmark native title case that confirms the Commonwealth’s liability for up to $700 million in compensation for bauxite mining at Gove in north-east Arnhem Land.
