September 17 – 23, 2022
News
Comment
Comment
Chris Wallace
How government can pass the Covid test
“National cabinet met virtually this week with the chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, in attendance. Kelly was absent from the previous meeting, on August 31, which cut mandated Covid-19 isolation from seven to five days – a decision not supported by expert health advice. National cabinet’s decision that day, made without the benefit of documentation including the CMO’s views, was noted as unusual by journalists at the time.”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
Uneasy lies the head of a republican prime minister
“Australia’s most ardent monarchist prime minister – not Tony Abbott or John Howard but Robert Menzies – would have been very impressed with the response of our avowed republican leader, Anthony Albanese, to the passing of our borrowed head of state, Queen Elizabeth II.”
Comment
John Hewson
Albanese’s budget reality check
“As the government moves towards its first budget in October, uncertainties about our economic outlook are mounting. That’s partly because it is increasingly difficult to read the world economy, and there’s a growing belief that our interest rates must be getting close to a peak with the Reserve Bank of Australia’s increases. It’s also unclear just how long the impact of those moves will take to flow through.”
Letters, Cartoon & Editorial
Culture
The Influence
Greg Lehman
For art historian Greg Lehman, a colonial painting by Benjamin Duterrau reveals Tasmania’s duplicitous treatment of First Nations people.
Fiction
Eyes and teeth (Part 1)
“Lou thinks no future document will ever be able to capture the truth as we see it – ‘because’, and Lou gets a tone when she says this, an impertinence that I can barely stand, ‘how we see the world will never be of any importance again. Besides,’ she always adds, ‘from the moment truth exists, it begins to spoil.’ She is quoting me, a cruel look in her eyes, which obviously I can barely stand. We used to do this, tear strips off each other’s work, particularly the most acclaimed. It was a necessary humility. A way of ensuring that yes, we were mere dumb animals even if the world outside our door was fawning.”
Books
Life
Puzzles
Quotes
Monarchy
“Every stinking time.”
The new monarch expresses genuine frustration with a leaking fountain pen. The longer this goes on, the more obvious it is that satirist Armando Iannucci has written it.
Politics
“I don’t agree with all of Pauline’s tweet … but I do agree that the attitude on show here is pretty disgraceful.”
The senator qualifies her support for Pauline Hanson’s view that Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi should “piss off back to Pakistan”. Faruqi had noted the Queen presided over a “racist empire” – which is a point Hanson expertly underscores.
Police
“I don’t know.”
The Homicide Squad consultant says he’s not sure if anyone followed through on the idea to fit pig carcasses with tracking bracelets and running shoes and throw them into the ocean to help determine what happened to Melissa Caddick’s body. The thing is, pigs wouldn’t steal from their own family.
Media
“It became apparent that as my businesses were growing I couldn’t provide the time that a director needed to commit to for SBS.”
The former Liberal candidate, who was hand-picked by Scott Morrison for a seat on the SBS board, resigns. He will go back to calling journalist Ben Eltham a “cunt” in his private capacity.
Business
“This is another way we’ve found to do our part.”
The Patagonia founder announces he has restructured the business so all profits go to environmental causes. As the website says, “Earth is now our only shareholder” – and it now apparently has a massive conflict of interest.
Deaths
“He was a king among men in his nobility and charm and dedication to his community.”
The theatre director remembers the actor and activist Jack Charles, who died this week at the age of 79. Vale.
