August 22 – 28, 2020
News
Comment
Comment
Bob Brown
The end of the environment
“The prime minister’s post-Covid-19 plan is to roar ahead with a slate of mega-projects that would be delayed by any proper consideration of their environmental and Indigenous heritage impacts. While the EPBC Act rarely leads to any project being given the thumbs down, it does require environmental impacts to be assessed, and this takes time. The government’s solution? Get rid of the federal assessment.”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
Inquiry sinks ministerial responsibility
“Any notion that ministers, state or federal, are responsible for anything much appears sunk in the wake of the Ruby Princess. And the ramifications are significant for the quality of our democracy and what we as citizens can rightly demand of our elected representatives and the governments they form.”
Letters, Cartoon & Editorial
Culture
Profile
Indie folk icons Bright Eyes
Ten years after their previous album, Bright Eyes’ latest release brings a new lightness to their apocalyptic imagining. “Lyrical and generous, it feels like a new beginning for Oberst and co on their own terms, despite the weight of its conception, and despite the pain that it holds.”
Books
Life
Puzzles
Quotes
United States
“Joe and Kamala can win by three million votes and still lose. Take it from me.”
The former presidential hopeful offers a very personal warning to voters in her speech to the Democratic National Convention. To forgive is human; to reform the electoral college divine.
Inclusion
“An ultimate destination for talent.”
The embattled AMP Capital chief executive outlines the purpose of the company’s Inclusion and Diversity Council. Facing allegations he repeatedly sexually harassed a female colleague, Pahari has appointed himself the council’s chair.
Technology
“I don’t really know how Wikipedia works.”
The Department of Social Services secretary, who recently claimed not to know what robo-debt was, says neither she nor anyone in her department removed references to robo-debt from her Wikipedia page.
Careers
“There is scant acknowledgement in the report that free-to-air TV employers simply aren’t hiring culturally diverse employees because they’re not applying.”
Channel Seven’s news director blames journalists of colour for recent findings that only 11.4 per cent of on-air talent in Australian news and current affairs come from a non-Anglo-Celtic or non-European background.
Gambling
“They had interacted with several staff members by the time they were discovered.”
The Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority investigator comments on the $90,000 fine issued to Sydney’s Star casino after a 12-year-old girl was caught gambling and a 17-year-old boy played 42 rounds of roulette.
Explanation
“The Australian, and Johannes, opposes racism in all of its guises.”
The editor-in-chief defends the newspaper’s most recent controversial cartoon. “In all of its guises” appears to exclude cartoons, opinion pieces, editorials, racially divisive reporting and comments made by contributors on Sky News.
