October 21 – 27, 2017
News
Comment
Comment
Richard Cooke
Australia’s welcome mat for right-wing trolls
“Milo’s year-ending whistlestop is called the Troll Academy Tour, and the baffled reaction of the Sunrise hosts recalled a more innocent time, when alt-right figures weren’t the warm-up act for the Cash Cow. You can chart the change in mood just through the nastier tabloids. ”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
Nervous energy on power plan
“There is an irony in all of this. Turnbull moved away from the CET because Abbott and many in the party room thought it was too close to Labor’s policy. Ditching it was to emphasise product differentiation and, according to government insiders, their best chance of getting back in the game. What happens if Labor accepts the worked-up version of the national energy guarantee?”
Letters, Cartoon & Editorial
Culture
Profile
Actress Pamela Rabe on tackling Ibsen
Following the success of her Glass Menagerie with Eamon Flack, Pamela Rabe reunites with the director to explore the knottiness of Ibsen’s Ghosts. “I’m never one to sit around and wait for the phones to ring,” she says. “I love working in the theatre, and I work a lot in the theatre.”
Theatre
Simon Stone’s ‘Yerma’
Billie Piper’s performance in Lorca’s tragedy Yerma caps a powerful production at the Young Vic for the ‘antipodean Orson Welles’, Simon Stone.
Portrait
Jane Shakespeare and the Fig Tree Children
“Jane, Jeremy, and their teenage son, Harry, have taken their role one step further: they have invited Sierra Leone woman Manjia and her five-year-old son Kingsley to live in their home. After working for 15 years as a nurse, including throughout the Ebola crisis, Manjia’s dream was to study a bachelor of nursing overseas and return to her country to train others.”
Food
Lamb cutlets and selected spring greens
“Green and pink. Pink and green. Two of my favourite spring colours. Whether it be the beginnings of the berry season, the soft downy centres of broad bean pods, or the subtlety of spring lamb, they are colours that keep reappearing in the palette of my spring dishes.”
Books
Life
Science
Memory systems and ancient knowledge
Studies of how cultures without writing maintained their scientific knowledge in ritual, dance and song have led to a better appreciation of their complex understanding of the world
The Quiz
Quotes
MARRIAGE
“This isn’t over. There are five million Australians yet to vote and the NO campaign is appealing to every one of them!”
The former prime minister responds to a count showing the “Yes” vote for marriage equality has all but been carried. The postal survey joins Matlock Police, B. A. Santamaria’s last broadcast and the year 1953 on the list of things Abbott refuses to accept are “over”.
TELEVISION
“For whatever reason she won’t be doing that anymore. It is safe to say we are all a little shocked.”
The Channel Nine host farewells his co-star, Lisa Wilkinson, who left after the network refused to pay her the same as him. Stefanovic gets an extra $900,000 in his contract for oafishness and pretending to care about gender equality.
GAMBLING
“Many laws have possibly been broken and the truth will not be uncovered without a parliamentary inquiry.”
The independent MP tables evidence of alleged exploitation at Crown casino. Apparently the poker machines were rigged to increase losses, even more than usual.
EXTREMISTS
“I thought getting involved in that kind of thing would be comradeship.”
The National Front organiser comes out as gay and Jewish. It’s like they always say: you can’t trust a Nazi.
RIGHTS
“I think it is better for countries to be on the council, to be subject to scrutiny, to be accountable and more transparent.”
The foreign minister celebrates Australia’s election to the UN Human Rights Council where the country is only the fourth-worst human rights abuser after Saudi Arabia, China and the Philippines.
EUTHANASIA
“Dying is a complex matter, and its complexity can never be solved by a single legislative bill, which of its essence, puts a low premium on life.”
The former prime minister makes the case against voluntary assisted dying laws in Victoria. In fairness, prime ministers are doomed in later life to extended resuscitation efforts and the kind of palliative care only offered in newspaper columns.
