August 30 – September 5, 2025
News
Comment
Comment
David Pocock
The lobbyists who control Canberra
“Before I decided to run for parliament, like many Australians I was frustrated and angry about the many decisions the government made that clearly weren’t evidence-based or in the best interests of Australians. Over the years I’ve served as the first independent member for the ACT, I’ve come to see why: a lack of transparency and broken lobbying rules.”
Comment
Chris Wallace
The cunning design of Labor’s housing policy
“The Home Guarantee Scheme was created by the previous Coalition government and was continued and this week dramatically expanded by the Albanese government. It has several cunning design features, none of which include relieving upward pressure on home prices. The guarantee helps first-home buyers by cutting the usual 20 per cent deposit of the sale price that banks require to consider a loan application to just 5 per cent, slashing the time needed to save the deposit.”
Comment
Stan Grant
A world of revolution or a world of rebellion
“One of the soft indulgences of my life is to spend time browsing in a bookstore, preferably one with a healthy second-hand section, better if it has timber shelves and a ladder, with jazz or classical music playing quietly. One such store is Henry Pordes Books on Charing Cross Road in London.”
Letters, Cartoon & Editorial
Culture
Profile
Filmmaker Eva Victor
For their acclaimed debut, Sorry, Baby, comedian and actor Eva Victor is the writer, director and star of a film about trauma that is both deeply moving and funny.
Theatre
STC’s The Talented Mr. Ripley
Sydney Theatre Company’s adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley is an entertaining two hours that comes with a geniunely unexpected twist.
Fiction
We don’t look like dorks
“Also, yes: we know the lighting could be better. But this isn’t Hollywood – it’s an elite dojo/school hall and neither we nor the school can spend our limited budgets on something so insecure as good lighting. And what are we going to do, have our hair sprayed? Are we going to dab on theatrical make-up? Are we newsreaders?”
Books
Life
Puzzles
Quotes
Race
“I have on many occasions punched blokes in the mouth.”
The member for Kennedy threatens a reporter who asked about his Lebanese heritage. The context was Katter’s intention to attend an anti-immigration rally at the weekend and the fact he is barking mad.
Film
“I’m like, scared to go to the movies. Y’all throwing me in the middle of shit that I don’t have an answer for.”
The rapper expresses anxiety at seeing same-sex couples in films he watches with his grandson. You want to be careful about role models when you’ve been convicted on cocaine and weapons offences and acquitted of first-degree murder.
Law
“Decisions like this must not be made without fundamental legal safeguards.”
The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre executive responds to legislation the government introduced this week to abandon procedural fairness for non-citizens. Someone needs to tell them Peter Dutton lost.
Defence
“We can confirm there was not a meeting. It was a happenstance encounter.”
The US Department of Defense downplays a photograph of Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles standing with US counterpart Pete Hegseth. It’s a strong response from an administration that’s fine with pictures showing the president hanging out with Jeffrey Epstein.
Politics
“I don’t take back the autocratic side of it … Perhaps words could have been chosen better in terms of Stalin.”
The Victorian Liberal MP qualifies her statements about former premier Daniel Andrews. A minor quibble but Stalin’s north face was more a Siberia thing.
Education
“I thought this might have been fixed in the first term of Labor.”
The vice-chancellor of Western Sydney University notes that students will be paying $50,000 for arts degrees until at least 2027. Again, someone needs to tell the government Peter Dutton lost.
