March 24 – 30, 2018
News
Comment
Comment
Chris Wallace
The case against Malcolm Turnbull
“There is a moral case for moving Malcolm Turnbull on. If principles of right and wrong mean anything, using one standard to unseat a rival and another to hold on to the job you stole from him while failing to meet that standard yourself is hypocrisy on a very grand scale. It is the marker of a weak, untrustworthy person. ”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
Bill Shorten’s strategies paying off
“The atmosphere was electric when Labor’s victorious Batman candidate, Ged Kearney, entered the room flanked by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. You would think they had just won the general election rather than retained a seat they had held for the past 50 years. But this was no ordinary byelection result. ”
Letters, Cartoon & Editorial
Culture
Profile
Armando Iannucci in the Bolshevik of it
Satirist Armando Iannucci has turned from his hit TV comedies Veep and The Thick of It to mining the lethal absurdities of the Soviet Union for his film The Death of Stalin. He talks about the comedy of power. “It seems strangely topical with all the talk about facts and alternative facts, new truths and old truths, and the authoritarianism too. It’s frightening.”
Television
Breakfast television’s no-news news
Where once viewers tuned in fondly to breakfast television, personality-driven dross and offensive opinions now make some wish the format – and its Cash Cow – would be put out to pasture.
Portrait
Sailing in South East Asia
“Even before she got on the boat, Amanda Johnston had done her fair share of travelling: 54 countries at last count. She was in the military for 25 years, deployed to Timor, Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea and the Middle East. In 2016, when an army colleague sent her a text message asking if she was interested in buying a boat, she thought, ‘Why not?’ ”
Books
Life
Health
Misunderstanding chronic migraine
Chronic migraine puts stress on families and relationships and costs the economy in lost productivity, but a widespread underestimation of its severity may mean it is being overlooked for research funding.
The Quiz
Quotes
MEDIA
“Some of the crazy lefties at the ABC and on The Guardian, Huffington Post, express concern and draw mean cartoons about me ... They don’t realise how completely dead they are to me.”
The home affairs minister complains about the reaction to his special treatment of white farmers. This adds the free press to the list of things dying on his watch.
MUSIC
“If you were a good journalist you would’ve done proper research instead of talking out of your ass.”
The singer criticises Channel Nine reporter Richard Wilkins for suggesting she snubbed Australian audiences to appear on American television. We checked, and that is actually his face.
BUSINESS
“As soon as I lied, I mean I never lied, but as soon as I stretched the truth, you’re in all sorts of trouble.”
The former Fairfax editorial director explains his role in downsizing newsrooms. He complained journalists were a “miserable bunch”, which seems like a fair response to working for him.
WORK
“We should not judge his achievements through the lens of these most recent events.”
The home affairs secretary farewells Roman Quaedvlieg, fired for his work in the office affairs department. To be fair, almost no one working in a department once charged with welcoming migrants could be happy when judged on recent events.
TECHNOLOGY
“A breach of trust between Facebook and the people who share their data with us and expect us to protect it.”
The Facebook founder responds to news of a right-wing political outfit mining the data of millions of social media users to manipulate election outcomes. Which is kind of like a weapons manufacturer complaining about wars.
GAMBLING
“Mr Packer is suffering from mental health issues.”
Consolidated Press Holdings announces James Packer has stepped down from the board of Crown Resorts. The company prefers to confine mental illness to the problem gamblers on whom its profits are dependent.
