November 25 – December 1, 2017
News
Comment
Comment
Rodney Syme
The state and the right to die
“This is a victory of the people over the church, of secular views over dogma, of human rights over religious constraint, and of empirical evidence over fear and doubt. The bill allows, very simply, for people who are terminally ill and suffering intolerably to ask a doctor for assistance to die.”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
Queensland MPs threaten revolt
“The Turnbull government’s overdraft with the Australian electorate is well and truly spent. And the prime minister’s desperate attempts to keep his creditors at bay have only served to worsen his precarious position. His decision to cancel next week’s sitting of the house of representatives is akin to shutting the doors to stop a run on the bank. It cannot work and it won’t.”
Letters, Cartoon & Editorial
Culture
Profile
Actor and director Kenneth Branagh
Well known for playing some of Shakespeare’s most flawed characters on stage and screen, Kenneth Branagh is now searching for the emotional truth behind a famous detective. Here, he talks about embodying and directing Poirot. “I was incredibly concentrated in both ways: as Poirot I was listening and looking for the lie, and as director, I was in a way, listening and looking for the lie. Both things operated at the same time.”
Film
‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’
Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a dark parable about eye-for-an-eye justice. But at the heart of the film is the view that children are never innocent.
Portrait
Fighting the good fight for veterans
“For 20 years, Terry O’Connor has advocated for the rights of service personnel to access their lawful entitlements, including the sought-after Gold Card, which grants unlimited access to medical services, or to gain compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder. ‘Cases are complex jigsaws,’ he says, ‘requiring the chasing down of witnesses, detective work and knowledge of military history, and can take years to appeal from the date of the original primary decision.’”
Food
“It was some of Charles Fourier’s wilder notions that created the fodder for my banquet menu. In my research I found lovely stories about old hens, his love of a funny little cake called a mirliton, and his much discussed notion to re-engineer the Earth’s climate in order to change the sea from an unpalatable brine to lemonade. And hence this appetiser or entree of cured kingfish. Salt and sugar in the cure, sprinkling a little on the fish afterwards to give a little crunch, the coldness of the fish’s flesh, the slight hint of lemon and a little garnish of mint. Pure, simple and redolent of a sea of lemonade. ”
Books
Life
Health
Online mental health services
Online mental health services, including self-guided tools and live therapy sessions, address problems of access for people in rural and remote areas as well as cost-effectiveness of treatment.
The Quiz
Quotes
DYING
“The same-sex marriage debate has very much distracted us from this bid to legalise a doctor assisted dying.”
The former prime minister complains that his attempt to frustrate the wishes of the Australian people on one issue distracted from an attempt to frustrate the wishes of the Australian people on another. His career confirms he doesn’t believe in ending things or dignity.
MONEY
“A dedicated, understanding and enthusiastic minister … a real Aussie country boy.”
The mining magnate gives Barnaby Joyce a $40,000 “prize” for his contribution to the agricultural sector. Joyce accepted the award but then realised he wasn’t really eligible because it sort of divided his allegiances, which is kind of like his parliamentary career.
RHETORIC
“It astounds me that a member of our parliament would roll out the red carpet to a white supremacist and paedophilia apologist.”
The Greens senator objects to David Leyonhjelm hosting a Parliament House event with human garbage bag Milo Yiannopoulos. The red carpet in question is usually rolled out by voters.
QUEENSLAND
“She actually needs to get out of the sandpit and be the leader for this state.”
The One Nation leader opines that Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is acting like a “spoilt brat” by ruling out forming government with her after this weekend’s election. In fairness, sandpit construction hasn’t started but Adani is keen.
POLITICS
“More than 20 years ago I told crude and inappropriate jokes, which were completely unacceptable and I apologise unreservedly.”
The Liberal candidate for Bennelong apologises for telling offensive jokes while fraternising with the cast of hit show Gladiators. Embarrassingly Australian behaviour for a British citizen.
DEATHS
“Gone in the sky the dead but never die.”
The cult leader and murderer makes a final phone call from prison before dying at the age of 83. He leaves behind too many apologists and a completely offensive place in popular culture.
