January 20 – 26, 2024 | The Saturday Paper

News

‘Julian would rather commit suicide than go to the US…’

Mike Seccombe Supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange say his last hope in avoiding extradition to the United States is to have Britain intervene in his case and prevent his removal.

News

News

Exclusive: Coles and Woolworths to face full ACCC inquiry

Rick Morton As the government launches another review of supermarkets’ conduct, the corporate watchdog is expected to announce its first full-scale supermarkets inquiry in 16 years.

News

Penny Wong urges two-state solution during Middle East visit

Jonathan Pearlman As Penny Wong visits Israel and the West Bank, Anthony Albanese says Australia will not take a position on South Africa’s genocide case in the International Court of Justice.

World

China’s reunification goal the loser in Taiwan’s elections

Linda Jaivin Taiwan has again voted to re-elect the Democratic Progressive Party, further inflaming cross-strait tensions with Beijing.

Politicians in bomber jackets wave to supporters as confetti falls around them

Comment

Kim Rubenstein
The test of Australian citizenship

“In 2008, as a member of the independent committee reviewing the Australian citizenship test, I asked if the committee could recommend all people resident in Australia be required to pass the citizenship test.”

Comment

Chris Wallace
Dutton delivers Trumpism to the suburbs

“Dutton is testing, and pushing out, the boundaries of acceptable public discourse as part of a new configuration in Australian politics, of which the ‘No’ campaign was the harbinger. There’ll be more of it. Much more.”

Comment

John Hewson
The era of the tradie

“I am concerned we have lost sight of the real purpose of education, and specifically university education. It has been an increasing weakness that a university degree is mostly looked at as an alternative in the spectrum of vocational training. It is much more.”

Letters, Cartoon & Editorial

Cartoon

Read

Editorial
Sleep paralysis demon

Looking at the Albanese government, it is not difficult to picture the figure at the end of the bed. It is the lumpen, wheezing outline of the stage three tax cuts. The prime minister lies in terrified inaction. The movements are obvious but remain somehow impossible.

Letters

Selfish approach

Anne Twomey is spot on with her observations of inappropriate spending by the Commonwealth government (“Stop unlawful spending”, January 13-19). However, hoping for any action seems naive in the extreme. …

Too complicated

Anne Twomey is a voice in the wilderness. There is an urgent need for the people, journalists and even politicians to get a broad working knowledge of our Constitution so participation in public discourse is more …

Culture

Image for article: Watch: <em>Dark</em> composer Ben Frost

Profile

Watch: Dark composer Ben Frost

Andy Hazel Best known for his soundtrack to the television series Dark, Melbourne-born composer Ben Frost has built a formidable reputation for his scores, operas and sound art.

Image for article: Yorgos Lanthimos’s <em>Poor Things</em>

Film

Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things

Christos Tsiolkas Emma Stone’s exhilarating performance is not enough to breathe life into Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things.

Poetry

Three poems

“I have almost no words for snow.

I wonder about the wavelength

and imperfections of snow

and snowing.

I contemplate snow-jobs.

The fractures on the outer glass

of the double-glazed skylight

keep me awake – noisy

in that interior way.”

John Kinsella

Life

Food

Clamato bloody Mary (bloody Caesar)

David Moyle

Sport

Why the world will be watching Jai Opetaia

Nick Feik Samoan–Australian cruiserweight boxer Jai Opetaia has been battered and broken but as yet has not lost a professional fight. Next month, the prodigious talent will step into the ring on the undercard of the most anticipated heavyweight bout in years.

Puzzles

The Cryptic

$link to this week\'s crossword$

Crossword No. 483

The Quiz

1. Did bubble tea originate in Taiwan, South Korea or Japan?

2. Name the debut novel of French author Gustave Flaubert.

3. Which director links the films The Bucket List, This Is Spinal Tap, A Few Good Men, The Princess Bride and When Harry Met Sally?

4. Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II abdicated this month after how many years on the throne? (Bonus point for naming the new monarch.)

5. Aylesbury, Muscovy and mallards are all breeds of which animal?

6. The lachrymal gland secretes what?

7. On the ATP tour, Alex de Minaur is currently ranked in the top 10. Name any one of Australia’s second-, third- or fourth-ranked men’s singles tennis players, who are all in the 40s?

8. Greek mathematician Euclid is considered the “father of [what]”?

9. True or false: according to a Resolve Political Monitor survey late last year, the four most “likeable” Australian politicians were all women.

10. Which British prime minister optimistically declared “peace for our time” in 1938?

Click through for answers.

Quotes

Tax

“I think his leadership’s over if he abandons the stage three tax cuts, because Australians have seen this movie before...”

Peter DuttonThe opposition leader warns Anthony Albanese against breaking election promises. Constant lying famously limited John Howard to only 11 years as prime minister.

Property

“... to start changing the rules about what you can do with your property … it is removing the rights of that individual.”

Barry JohnstonThe Real Estate Institute of New South Wales president invokes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in his submission to keep no-grounds evictions. Meanwhile, the Geneva Convention is silent about mould in Sydney rentals.

Law

“You just can’t control yourself in this circumstance, apparently.”

Lewis KaplanThe judge threatens to expel Donald Trump from court for interrupting during a damages hearing over his defamation of journalist and author E. Jean Carroll. Sharp as ever, Trump responded: “You can’t, either.”

Art

“There is no mystery. There are two paintings.”

Vittorio SgarbiThe Italian undersecretary for cultural heritage denies owning a stolen painting by Rutilio Manetti. He also boasts that he’s slept with hundreds of women, but there might be some forgeries in that, too.

Monarchy

“It was a comedy of errors.”

Andrew “Vern” StokesThe garrison sergeant major says a man was almost crushed during a rehearsal for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral. Of course, the queen was able to make it look like an accident.

Sport

“You’re kidding me. Really? Oh my god. This is the wokest tournament ever.”

Jordan ThompsonThe Australian tennis player complains about a new rule at the Australian Open allowing punters to enter the arena between games. There is nothing progressives like more than going to the bathroom during play.