March 16 – 22, 2019
News
Comment
Comment
Nayuka Gorrie
Sobering statistics
“In 2001, Victoria’s own inquiry into public drunkenness recommended decriminalisation, citing that ‘for historic, cultural and instrumental reasons the impact of the criminalisation of public drunkenness has a disproportionate effect and impact upon Indigenous communities’. The committee pushed for the establishment of sobering-up centres across the state, including specific centres for Indigenous people, which would form part of a ‘holistic treatment service’.”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
Joyce’s war on metropolitan Liberals
“This week began with the Coalition government recording its 50th consecutive Newspoll loss, and that by a margin of eight points. A National Party source has no doubt it was that result that triggered Barnaby Joyce’s declaration of war on metropolitan Liberals, as he demanded the government underwrite a coal-fired power station in north Queensland. Prompting his outburst was his assessment that the government is doomed. It is now everyone for themselves.”
Letters, Poem & Editorial
Culture
Profile
The high life of Claire Denis
While Claire Denis seeks to avoid metaphor in her films, the French director’s sci-fi prison drama High Life, starring Juliette Binoche and Robert Pattinson, can’t help but raise big questions about the universe, the nature of time and even the meaning of life. “Everything in screenwriting is painful and yet it’s great. It’s great because the pain is the price you have to pay to be allowed to dream things, to make them real.”
Music
Karen O and Danger Mouse’s ‘Lux Prima’
Karen O and Danger Mouse’s collaboration has delivered in Lux Prima a brilliant album of dark pop, with a hint of Pink Floyd grandeur.
Portrait
Activist Jean Hinchliffe
“Jean Hinchliffe suggests we meet after her speech in Hyde Park at a rally to fix the New South Wales transport system. I stand back as people shake her hand, have a word. Uncle Raymond, who earlier gave the Acknowledgement of Country, stops us as we’re leaving and asks Jean and her fellow climate strike leader Daisy Jeffrey for a picture with his little girl under the park’s giant fig trees. Celebrity has seeped into the 15-year-old’s life since she ‘super insanely’ emailed the Melbourne organisers of School Strike 4 Climate late one night last year, offering to run a Sydney event.”
Books
Life
Puzzles
Quotes
CAMPAIGNING
“You put your hand up and say, ‘I’m Indigenous’ and you get a letter from a community group.”
The One Nation candidate proposes DNA testing for Aboriginality, claiming people are able to rort the system. And yet it seems the current checks and balances are still more rigorous than the vetting process for One Nation candidates.
EMERGENCY
“Police are saying please don’t call Triple 0.”
The Sunrise newsreader reports a flood of calls after a global outage of Facebook and Instagram. It’s arguable whether there is any greater emergency than being unable to read the latest vaguely racist post from one of your distant relatives.
POLITICS
“I understand what it takes to have a successful marriage.”
The deputy prime minister responds to Barnaby Joyce’s comment that the Nationals are not married to the Liberals. McCormack’s advice is to prioritise your current relationship and completely ice out previous partners, just as the Nats have done to farmers in favour of miners.
LEADERSHIP
“The house needs to face up to the consequences of the decisions it has taken.”
The British prime minister upbraids her parliament over its Brexit deal no-deal. As one conservative MP said, it’s hard to know whether this is a “pig’s ear, a dog’s dinner or a cat’s arse” – or if there’s a way to think about it in human terms.
POLITICS
“As soon as I saw the shirts I knew the entire operation was a circus.”
The former Home and Away actor quits Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party after discovering campaign shirts are made in China. If anyone appreciates the quality that goes with locally made, it’s someone who’s worked on an Australian soap opera.
LAW
“I do not see the difference between getting a kid into school by bribing the building committee, and by bribing someone else. But, apparently, the second is against the law.”
The screenwriter defends Felicity Huffman over her alleged role in a $25 million scam to get wealthy children into elite colleges. To be clear: it’s “against the law” to bribe officials for better test scores.
