August 18 – 24, 2018
News
Comment
Comment
Ruby Hamad
Fraser Anning and racist politics
“There is no separating racism from the rest of Australian society. Exasperated as white people may be to hear about race, again, your frustration pales next to those forced to live it and fight it. As Labor MP Anne Aly tearfully admitted this week, we are tired of fighting. Tired of claiming our humanity. Tired of waiting for white people to change. Tired of reminding you of our worth. Tired of wondering what is wrong with you and why you still make excuses for this on your watch.”
Comment
Sean Kelly
Red flags and crossing the line
“But let’s not celebrate too hard. It was “important always to call out racism”, Malcolm Turnbull told us. Those are words to live by, but they are certainly not words our prime minister lives by. This points to another problem. We are only able to see the danger posed by such views because we have lived through such horrors before. Even then we will not acknowledge the dangerous parallels with historical prejudice until the speaker helpfully labels them for us. So, what about a disaster we have not yet lived through?”
Letters, Cartoon & Editorial
Culture
Profile
Artist Sun Xun on truth and meaning
The work of Chinese artist Sun Xun explores concepts of time and space, truth and lies – always searching for answers. As the first solo exhibition of his work in Australia opens at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, he talks about the role of the artist. “We live in a lie, in a big lie system. People should jump out from the lie circle and touch the world. It is the modern world’s problem. Where is the truth? I don’t know. In my art, I want to make people think: ‘Don’t believe our world – it is a big lie.’ I am trying to open the door for people.”
Film
Spike Lee’s ‘BlacKkKlansman’
Where Spike Lee’s films usually brim with passion and intellect, his portrayal of black activism and racism in BlacKkKlansman becomes more slapstick than sinister.
Portrait
A Congolese doctor in Sydney
“We order coffee and find a table. He rests his hands on his lap. We talk about the risk of using his name, and the hospital’s name, in this piece for the paper. We decide the risk is too great. I ask him, ‘What would you like to be called? A family name, maybe?’ After pausing, he says, ‘Tony. You can call me Tony.’ He looks at me intently for the first time. ‘It is a good thing,’ he says, ‘telling your story. People need to know what is happening … and it might help other people to have a better life.’ Tony tells me his story. He grew up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he studied medicine. ”
Food
“The window in which to pick artichokes is very short. They go from being young, tender and a joy to prepare to a stringy and tough time-waster, which makes absolute sense considering they are a thistle. This recipe is based on a French preparation – à la Barigoule – which is essentially a preserve cooked in wine, vinegar and oil with the addition of bacon or mushrooms. It’s a very subtle preserve – not quite a pickle – and it can be served as almost a dish on its own.”
Books
Life
Life
Parlour gigs
Where once live music thrived in sticky-floored, inner-city pubs, musicians are now being booked for gigs in suburban homes.
The Quiz
Quotes
LAW
“If a retraction and apology is not issued by close of business today, I will instruct my lawyers tomorrow.”
The Home Affairs minister threatens Philip Dalidakis with legal action after the Victorian Labor politician accused Dutton of proposing a “discriminatory immigration policy”. The Saturday Paper is urgently pulping its past 217 editions.
MUSIC
“I waited around all weekend while grimes coddled her boyfriend for being too stupid to know not to go on twitter while on acid.”
The rapper details an unpleasant weekend with Grimes’s boyfriend, Elon Musk. The Tesla owner denies he took acid or that he knows Banks, but his decision to open a candy factory and promise of a line of short shorts strongly supports her version of events.
RHETORIC
“The simple fact is that this Leader of the Opposition is no Tom Cruise.”
The minister for trade finally finds Bill Shorten’s weak spot. The question, for those trying to follow, was about affordable energy.
POLITICS
“There has been no leaking, there has been no briefing against the government.”
The former prime minister claims he has not worked behind the scenes to undermine the government. He has done it out in public.
RACE
“You know, I think that asking people where their forebears come from or commenting upon it is the height of bad manners.”
The member for Kennedy responds poorly to being asked about his Lebanese roots. How his colleague Fraser Anning is expected to rebuild White Australia without the question was not clear.
BANKS
“That’s right.”
The executive general manager at Colonial First State admits to 13,000 breaches of laws regarding fees on superannuation accounts. The figure is astounding, and was later revised to 15,000.
