June 27 – July 3, 2020
News
Comment
Comment
Bri Lee
Sexual harassment in the legal profession
“When news broke this week that an independent inquiry at the High Court of Australia found former justice Dyson Heydon had sexually harassed six associates during his decade on the bench, my non-law friends and colleagues were incredulous. To them, the allegations of a judge repeatedly breaking the law read as hypocritical. Within legal circles though, friends and colleagues are exchanging theories about who will be exposed next. And we are all wondering whether anything will change this time.”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
Injustices at the High Court
“The shorthand title was the trade union royal commission – and the highest-profile targets were a former Labor prime minister, Julia Gillard, and the then Labor leader, Bill Shorten. And everybody knew it. Undaunted by the howls of foul play from the opposition and the criticism of commentators, then Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott had high praise for the man he hand-picked for the job six years ago, former High Court judge Dyson Heydon.”
Letters, Cartoon & Editorial
Culture
Theatre
Belvoir artistic director Eamon Flack
The coronavirus crisis has left many in the arts struggling. But Belvoir artistic director Eamon Flack is determined to use the shutdown as a catalyst for positive change and to push ahead with bringing new Australian works to the stage. “Really early on in this – when we didn’t know how bad it was going to get – we decided that this was going to be a good time to rethink a whole lot of things. We wanted to come out of this crisis, however long it went on for, having fixed some things, and having made some deep, permanent changes.”
Fiction
And so to bed
“I was born at home. My mother was a hippie back then. Growing barrels of pot on the roof, and part of the Community of the Whole Person – an amateur psychotherapy thing. She told a story once about how I’d been a grounding force as a baby, while she was doing a therapy session with a high, damaged person, and she’d been glad I was there. My sister watched the birth, sitting beside the Great Dane. There’s a picture of me a few moments after I was born – dark hair, angel’s thumb on my forehead – lying on a bloodied sheet on my parents’ bed.”
Books
Life
Puzzles
Quotes
MEMORIES
“I’ve never heard it…”
The Collingwood president responds to former Magpies player Héritier Lumumba’s claim his teammates called him a “chimp”. Lumumba left Collingwood in 2014, a year after McGuire likened footballer Adam Goodes to “King Kong” live on radio.
PHILANTHROPY
“Firstly, I would like to thank you guys, especially you, Prime Minister, for listening … that was evident the other day when we jumped on that Zoom call.”
The 2003 Australian Idol winner appears alongside Scott Morrison at the announcement of the government’s $250 million arts support package, proving once and for all that Shannon Noll was robbed.
SELF-AWARENESS
“Life’s too short to be wading through mind-numbing pages of ill-informed, tendentious bilge.”
The Australian’s contributing economics editor launches into her argument against the Covid-19 lockdowns, which could double as an argument against her column.
TINY DANCER
“Getting this CD to Kim remained a high priority for several months.”
The former United States national security adviser details Donald Trump’s efforts to get a copy of Elton John’s song “Rocket Man” to Kim Jong-un and the US president’s failed attempts to forge a friendship with the English singer-songwriter.
STAKEHOLDERS
“No.”
The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet offers a frank response to a question about whether the Office for Women was aware of, or consulted about, a $150 million program to improve female participation in community sports.
DIPLOMACY
“I call on all organisations not to interact with citizens from Melbourne at this stage.”
The New South Wales premier dramatically escalates Australia’s long-running interstate feud, by encouraging Sydneysiders to continue ignoring people from Melbourne, as they have been doing for years.
