May 16 – 22, 2020
News
Comment
Comment
Bill Bowtell
The risks as lockdowns loosen
“This weekend, Australians are emerging from the lockdown that placed the country into quasi-hibernation for almost two months. The emergence of coronavirus has ignited an economic conflagration on a scale only comparable with the disruption caused by the Great Depression and World War II. How these health and economic crises now interact with one another as they play out will deeply change and affect the lives, health and prosperity of us all.”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
Chokehold on the economy
“If anybody needed reminding, the Australian economy is in deep trouble, much deeper than either the treasurer or the prime minister realised at the beginning of last month. Then, the talk was of a ‘snapback’ from the damage of the coronavirus pandemic; now it is of a ‘sobering’ economic impact in ‘very difficult’ and ‘uncertain times’. Making these times even more uncertain is our biggest trading partner, China, none too subtly firing the first shots in a trade war.”
Letters, Cartoon & Editorial
Culture
Profile
Singer-songwriter Moses Sumney
During his early career, the music industry was intent on fitting Moses Sumney into boxes. But as his latest album, græ, attests, he is an artist determined to seek his own truths beyond the confines of expectation and identity. “I’m really interested in the collapse of identity politics, increasingly. I want us to get to a place where we can seek equality for ourselves without having to define as anything that’s simple. It feels really petrifying, the idea that you explain yourself to someone in order to gain their respect [and that] in doing that, you’re kind of solidifying your identity in a way that feels quite limiting.”
Fiction
The river mouth
“It was believed a whale had gone mad at the mouth of the river. Several fishing boats had been destroyed in acts of violence so extraordinary they were deemed inhuman. Each attack had come at dusk, while the boats were passing the heads on their way back to port – the same area where plumes of spray had been seen erupting from the water. Large transport ships reported strange and powerful vibrations ringing through their hulls. Gulls flew strangely, cormorants seemed skittish. Ocean swimmers’ strokes were thrown out of rhythm by a high, ancient melody that rose through the salt. A fluked tail had been seen troubling the waves.”
Books
Life
Puzzles
Quotes
ORATION
“Sorry. I’m lucky I’ve got some water.”
The treasurer, attempting to stifle a coughing fit in the middle of a key speech about the economic impact of Covid-19, sips forlornly from the smallest bottle of water in human history.
SACRIFICE
“If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.”
The Tesla founder “risks” jail time by illegally reopening his car factory. With their employer bravely shielding them from the law, all Musk’s workers have to worry about is potentially catching coronavirus.
PHILANTHROPY
“At the moment they are not useful.”
The Australian National University immunology expert says the 1.5 million antibody kits purchased by the Australian government to test for Covid-19 are incapable of testing for Covid-19. The government clarified it only ended up buying one million tests, so, basically, they saved money, if you think about it.
ADIEU
“Like Bradman and Menzies, Alan Jones is going out on top. No one ... provided so much well-researched, edifying information to the public, a wonderful service to his nation.”
The One Nation MLC overlooks Jones’s cash for comment scandal and his landmark defamation payouts to sing the praises of the broadcaster, who has announced his retirement.
LEADERSHIP
“It has blown me away. I’ve been thinking, ‘Oh my goodness me.’ ”
The Tasmanian senator laments the lack of Covid-19 testing in parliament. Lambie said she thought politicians were meant to lead by example, which is a common misconception.
TRAVEL
“I guess it would be a grand opening or reopening of the Northern Territory.”
The Alice Springs Major Business Group chairman proposes reopening the Uluru climb to boost tourism in the territory. If idiots who want to climb Uluru are our only hope to restart the economy, we really are doomed.
