Vol 28 No 23

18 November 2018

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ARTS AND CULTURE

A bad trip to the pits of human experience
- Tim Kroenert
- 29 November 2018
3 Comments
The cast of mostly unknowns is multiracial and spans the spectrum of sexual orientations and gender identities. Not long ago that might have seemed transgressive, but these days it seems like the least that could be hoped for from a piece of mainstream entertainment.
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AUSTRALIA

Now more than ever, the personal is political
- Neve Mahoney
- 28 November 2018
7 Comments
Witnessing the sense of relief from Australian-African activists at the outcome of the Victorian state election, I was not sure why I had a sense of déjà vu. Then I realised this collective exhale reminded me vividly of the sentiment from the LGBTQ community after the marriage equality survey results were announced.
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MEDIA

Press wake in fright to Assange prosecution
- Binoy Kampmark
- 28 November 2018
6 Comments
With the evidence of a cobbled prosecution case against Julian Assange irrefutable, the at times previously mute press has become concerned. To get at Assange, goes this fear, is not to punish a narcissist keen to make etches in history; it is, by its very spirit, to attack the entire vocation, cause, and role of journalism proper.
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AUSTRALIA

Two sides to Morrison's Rohingya tears
- Andrew Hamilton
- 28 November 2018
7 Comments
Many who are appalled by the sufferings inflicted on people who seek protection in Australia under a policy for whose design and administration Morrison was responsible, saw his tears over the plight of Rohingya refugees as hypocritical. Both Morrison's tears and his critics' varying responses to them merit reflection.
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CARTOON

The (far) right stuff
- Fiona Katauskas
- 27 November 2018
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AUSTRALIA

Movember lessons about being men
- Tim Hutton
- 27 November 2018
2 Comments
Movember has a clear goal: stop men dying too young. The foundation aims, in particular, to reduce preventable deaths resulting from prostate cancer, testicular cancer and suicide. While the goal is noble, Movember is also a sad reminder of a truth not universally acknowledged: men are often our own worst enemies.
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AUSTRALIA

Deciding to disclose an invisible disability
- Fiona Murphy
- 27 November 2018
6 Comments
Most people don't realise that I am deaf unless I tell them. My deafness is invisible. I don't wear hearing aids and my voice (though distinct enough to prompt people to ask 'where are you from?') isn't a typical deaf voice. Every day I make small calculations, assessing every interaction to determine if I need to reveal that I have a disability.
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ENVIRONMENT

The inequity of this silent killer
- Cristy Clark
- 26 November 2018
11 Comments
Airborne pollution is an issue of environmental justice, because it disproportionately affects those with the least capacity to move — the poor, the marginalised, and those, such as Indigenous peoples, with a significant relationship to place.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

God is love, so milk that dairy cow
- Peta Yowie
- 26 November 2018
2 Comments
As I sit in the Paris end of Collins street, I touch a poor woman's shoulder, and she looks up, her head wrapped in a veil, and I hand her some money. She clasps my hand, says thank you. Fingers count the rosary of coins. How will she know she is loved?
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ECONOMICS

Common good key to reversing trust deficit
- Joe Zabar
- 26 November 2018
7 Comments
Whenever institutional interests are put ahead of the legitimate concerns of others, including the poor and marginalised, there develops a trust deficit. This deficit is gripping institutions here and overseas. Its impact is deep and destructive. Facets of Catholic Social Teaching point the way to reversing the downward trend.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

The trouble with JK Rowling
- Eleanor Harrison-Dengate
- 26 November 2018
5 Comments
This is the first time so many characters with major screen time have been from diverse backgrounds in a Harry Potter film. But it’s not enough to just plonk them into an already bursting script.
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AUSTRALIA

The cost of efficiency in Family Court merger
- Alexandra O'Sullivan
- 23 November 2018
1 Comment
It is imperative that the courts examine all the evidence thoroughly with expert analysis and allow time for perpetrators of violence to show their true colours, before any potentially life-changing decisions are made. Efficiency and cost cutting shouldn’t be the goal.
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AUSTRALIA

The Left is not immune to the patriarchy
- Celeste Liddle
- 23 November 2018
10 Comments
The Victorian state election is on this Saturday and if I’m being honest, I don’t think I could be less inspired about it if I tried. I want readers to understand just how much of a statement this is coming from me. I loathe our political system and most of our politicians but being an Aboriginal woman who works in the union movement and writes opinion, I am deeply invested in it all.
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ECONOMICS

Women's economic security plan is no safety net
- Eliza Berlage
- 22 November 2018
1 Comment
The government finally released its women's economic security statement. The package is built around three pillars — workforce participation, earning potential, and economic independence — totalling $109 million dollars over four years. It is a drop in the ocean compared to what is needed to address the crisis of gender violence and substantial inequality.
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AUSTRALIA

Law works within darkened understanding
- Andrew Hamilton
- 22 November 2018
5 Comments
Debate about the independence and the dignity of the law has always been present. Nevertheless most societies take pains to reinforce trust in those who administer justice. Some elements in our culture, however, put that trust at risk. They deserve reflection.
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AUSTRALIA

Time to stop punishing the unemployed
- El Gibbs
- 21 November 2018
10 Comments
Australia’s income support system and employment services have shifted to an ever harsher regime of compliance and penalty, while failing to find work for hundreds of thousands of people.
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ENVIRONMENT

Extinction Rebellion taking bold action
- Kate Galloway
- 21 November 2018
15 Comments
The movement is not secretive: it declares itself publicly, and openly. It announced in advance to police and emergency services: 'We are bold. We will not hide. We are all in open rebellion.'
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CARTOON

The visionary
- Fiona Katauskas
- 20 November 2018
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INTERNATIONAL

Will Facebook own up to Myanmar?
- Erin Cook
- 20 November 2018
Social media drove the Arab Spring, the story goes. If it weren’t for viral posts in Tunisia setting off a cascade of dominoes across the region change would never have arrived. For a brief period, the arrival of social media giant Facebook in countries with low connectivity or strict freedom of the press and internet meant change was afoot.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Cue God's applause
- Barry Gittins
- 20 November 2018
8 Comments
I am holy, no, to discriminate? But by doing so, I self-incriminate. I doubt the loud denouncing will dissipate before the promised election falls.
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INTERNATIONAL

The implications of loneliness
- Tim Robertson
- 19 November 2018
14 Comments
Loneliness is framed in a quintessentially liberal way: as a health-related issue affecting individuals. But loneliness is a by-product of the liberal social order; by elevating the market above all else and reducing notions of freedom to individual rights, notions of value are now boiled down to crude forms of economic reductionism.
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RELIGION

Softening the pontifical secret
- Kieran Tapsell
- 19 November 2018
14 Comments
It is understandable that canonists would try to find a kinder interpretation for the pontifical secret, given that the cover up caused more children to be abused, but in the canonical system, you cannot get away from the plain meaning of the words and the interpretation placed on them by the Roman Curia.
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Vol 28 No 23