Crikey Worm: Queensland has the blues

QUEENSLAND HAS THE BLUES

The NSW Blues have taken the first 2018 State of Origin game 22-12, knocking out returning champions the Queensland Maroons in front of 87,122 fans at the MCG.

The Sydney Morning Herald, as well as most other metros today, reports that NSW fullback James Tedesco helped nab the standout try with just 11 minutes to go, slipping the ball between QLD’s Cameron Munster and Michael Morgan for a try from winger Josh Addo-Carr, who took the team to a 10-point lead. Although as the ever-passionate Courier-Mail front page makes clear, there were some questionable calls from the refs involved. 

This could now be a long-overdue series championship for the Blues; they have won just one series from the past 12. The teams are now headed to a bizarrely-timed Sunday night Game 2 in Sydney, June 24.

BROCK TURNER JUDGE RECALLED

In what’s being hailed as a breakthrough for the #MeToo movement, a judge has been voted out of office for sentencing Brock Turner, a 20-year-old convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, to a sentence largely seen as paltry.

The ABC reports that North Californians voted to recall Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky for sentencing Turner in June 2016 to just six months jail and three years probation for three counts of sexual assault. Reportedly, this is the first time a judge has been recalled in California in this way since 1932.

The news came within a day of a similarly historic brief hearing over Harvey Weinstein’s rape and criminal sex act charges, to which the former producer pleaded not guilty.

BLAZE IT

A controlled burn across a south-east WA forest has accidentally destroyed a cannabis crop.

PerthNow reports that Parks and Wildlife officers stumbled upon destroyed cannabis equipment after conducting the burn in Boddington, a South West forest, on Sunday. Forensic officers have confirmed the crops as marijuana and, while investigations continue, Boddington Police have rather unsportingly gloated about the “win” via Twitter.

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THEY REALLY SAID THAT?

If he was to call, I’d tell him to get stuffed.

Anonymous Nationals MP

Amidst news that disgraced Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce was personally calling NSW colleagues to vent over new exclusion zones preventing harassment at abortion clinics, one anonymous MP truly speaks up for their constituents.

CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF YESTERDAY

Government’s malware backdoor confirms global village idiot statusBernard Keane

“The government has partially unveiled its long-awaited plans to establish backdoors in encrypted communications despite insisting it will not seek such backdoors. This slip-up happened via a clumsily reported version of a speech by junior minister Angus Taylor that hinted at the government’s preferred approach to undermining encryption.”

Australia’s gender recognition laws are a mess. It’s time for radical change.Liz Duck-Chong

“While passports are managed at a federal level, most ID documents such as birth certificates are still issued by the states. The laws and requirements around them vary widely, particularly in regards to how they deal with gender and sex reassignment surgery (SRS). Affirming surgery is a major barrier of entry to recognition and documentation for many transgender people — a population that, even when seeking access to such surgery, has long have had trouble financially accessing it.”

Introducing the Crikey Awards for Excellence and Hilarity in Political InterviewsEmily Watkins

“As part of our series on the art of the political interview, we’ve been looking at some of the most memorable interviews over the years. Some, of course, are more memorable than others — whether that’s for the skill of the interviewer or interviewee, or lack thereof, depends on the subjects. We’ve scoured our memories and the archives to hand out some overdue awards to the best, worst, most embarrassing and just generally funny political interviews.”

READ ALL ABOUT IT

World-leading research a ray of hope for Aussies living with dementia

Melania Trump makes her first public appearance since May 10

Ship docks as lost cargo fills more than 30 skips on beaches near Port Stephens ($)

Budget 2018: Car registration cost could be cut for same price of interest on Queensland debt ($)

State overturns approvals, quashes rumours of ‘Roe 8 by stealth’

Ominous news for Northern Territory: cyclones getting deadlier ($)

National party comments on drought and climate ‘a disservice’ to farmers

Facebook confirms data sharing with Chinese companies including Huawei

It’s a ute-led recovery as the economy surges 3.1%

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Canberra

• An inquiry into naval shipbuilding industry will hear from Austal, Naval Group, AMWU, the Defence Department and other relevant groups.

Adelaide

• InDaily will present the “40 Under 40 Awards” for young SA businesspeople.

• ABC CFO Louise Higgins will speak at an Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce business lunch.

• The University of South Australia will host its monthly Teaching and Learning Breakfast Series, which today features Swinburne University Associate Professor Simone Taffe discuss ten principles students require for the workplace.

Melbourne

• University of Melbourne employees are expected to begin work bans over a dispute about pay and conditions.

• Chief Executive and Commissioner of the National Mental Health Commission Dr Peggy Brown to make the keynote address at a CEDA talk on mental health reform and innovation.

• Victorian Greens MP and Indigenous Affairs spokesperson Lidia Thorpe will speak at a doorstop on the state’s treaty legislation.

Sydney

• NSW Auditor-General Margaret Crawford will publish a report on HealthRoster benefits realisation.

Toowoomba, Queensland

• Federal Minister for Regional Development, Territories and Local Government Dr John McVeigh, BIS Oxford Economics Associate Director Adrian Hart and Toowoomba Mayor Paul Antonio will speak at a showcase for the Queensland Major Projects Pipeline Report.

Hobart

• Start of preview week events for Dark Mofo, set to run until Sunday June 10 before week one of the festival officially commences Tuesday June 12.

• ABC senior commissioners Amanda Isdale and Brett Sleigh will hold a special presentation for people interested in creating for the Tasmanian screen industry.

• Historian and author Alison Alexander will present “Utopia in Tasmania”, a public lecture on the idea and history of the state as “utopia”, at the Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts.

Brisbane

• Author Josepha Dietrich will discuss her memoir In Danger, a look at her journey through life with breast cancer, at Kenmore Library.

Darwin

• Opening day for Fecund, an exhibition showcasing work on the relationship between humans and the natural world, at the Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts & Culture Centre.

Perth

• Preview night for Burrbgaja Yalirra (Dancing Forwards), a triple bill of performances examining Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultures across dance, music and storytelling, at The Perth Institute Of Contemporary Arts.

THE COMMENTARIAT

Meanjin debacle: erasing Aboriginal words in order to highlight white women’s appropriation — Karen Wyld (SBS/NITV): “Meanjin’s winter edition cover stirred up a different type of conversation than what the editor had hoped for. Meanjin literary journal has known the origins of the Aboriginal word they use for their title since 1940, so a cover design which scribbles it out to make way for contemporary pop culture was rather thoughtless. ‘Meanjin’ is the Turrbal name for the section of Turrbal Country that Brisbane was built on. Whilst protocol dictates any comment on the use of Turrbal language be provided by Turrbal peoples themselves, the unintended symbology of this cover had a wide impact.”

‘Sign of a stronger economy’: Why ScoMo loves more utes on Aussie streets — Jennifer Hewett (Australian Financial Review): “As he celebrated better than expected economic growth figures, an ebullient Scott Morrison was keen to single out the significance of utes. ‘Every time an Australian sees a ute driving around a suburb of one of our metro areas or regional towns with a phone number on the side, that’s the sign of a stronger economy,’ he says.”

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