The defamation wars, Chris Minns, frozen ham and neo-Nazis.
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Saturday Dec 9
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This week our Northern Territory correspondent Julia Bergin and reporting partner Damien Williams from ICTV brought you an investigation into the state of food security in remote central Australian Indigenous communities.

Elsewhere we took a closer look at the culture warriors wielding defamation law, wondered what a former Liberal MP is doing campaigning against offshore wind farms, and reminisced on a wild year in NSW politics.

Plus we asked more than a dozen newsrooms for their editorial policies on sponsored trips in the Middle East.

We hope you're having a wonderful weekend.
Gina Rushton Gina Rushton,
Editor
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Labor tells the many it can do nothing for them, while championing elite causes. Winning!
GUY RUNDLE

The Albanese government enforces military submission, market rule and progressive obsessions. No wonder the polls are tanking.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (Image: AAP/Lukas Coch)
 
Messages from Gaza: ‘We are not just content to be shared’
RACHEL COGHLAN

Gazans continue to tell tales of unfathomable misery and crushed histories. But with Israel renewing its bombardment, some Palestinians are asking: what's the point of telling our stories if it doesn't keep us safe?

Palestinians in a house destroyed during an Israeli bombardment in Rafah, Gaza Strip (Image: AAP/AP/Fatima Shbair)
 
‘Image has been digitally altered’: Inside the army’s monster Halloween brainstorm
CAM WILSON

Internal chat logs show how Defence staff crafted the perfect fake monster picture to share on social media this Halloween.

A Halloween social media post from the army (Image: X/Australian Army)
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Don’t confuse neo-Nazis being present for being powerful
CAM WILSON

You should instead look at these groups as social outcasts who won't show their faces and spend their time posing for photos.

The neo-Nazi National Socialist Network group in Ballarat at the weekend (Image: X/@randal_m_smith)
 
Defamation is the new battleground of the culture wars
BERNARD KEANE

Politicians have always pursued defamation cases, but it's hard to avoid the sense right-wing figures use defamation to pursue culture wars too.

Peter Dutton, Moira Deeming and Ben Roberts-Smith (Images: AAP/Private Media)
 
A 500g tin of Nescafe Blend 43 = $40. Meet the companies feeding remote communities
JULIA BERGIN and DAMIEN WILLIAMS

General stores in remote communities control the quality, quantity, range and cost of what's on the shelves. As the only shop in town, they wield a lot of power over Indigenous lives.

(Image: Julia Bergin/Zennie/Private Media)
 
A wild year in NSW politics: Minns under pressure, Berejiklian challenges ICAC, Latham gets booted
ANTON NILSSON

It's been a big year in NSW politics — from the scandal-plagued final months of a 12-year-old Coalition government to the rocky start of a new Labor reign. Oh, and there was also the ICAC report into Gladys Berejiklian.

NSW Premier Chris Minns, NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen, and former NSW premiers Gladys Berejiklian and Dominic Perrottet (Images: AAP/Private Media)
 
Legacy of fear: Andrews outdid Morrison in politicising his public service
BERNARD KEANE

The Andrews government has instilled a culture of fear and intimidation in the Victorian public service, a shocking report from the Victorian Ombudsman has found.

Former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews (Image: AAP/Joel Carrett)
 
Australian newsrooms make different calls on journalists taking Middle East trips
DAANYAL SAEED

Media companies have come under scrutiny for editorial positions on covering the Israel-Hamas war — but what are their actual policies?

Guardian Australia editor-in-chief Lenore Taylor and ABC news director Justin Stevens (Images: AAP/Private Media)
 
Labor is in a heap of trouble on indefinite detention and needs a reset
BERNARD KEANE

The government needs a way out of the situation it's found itself in, regardless of what Peter Dutton and left-wing critics say.

The High Court of Australia (Image: AAP/AP/Rod McGuirk)
 
Is AUKUS a blessing or a curse for Australian universities?
WANNING SUN

Both sides of politics seem more interested in using universities to deliver policy agendas rather than guarantee academic freedom.

A Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (Image: AAP/Richard Wainwright)
 
Georgie Purcell had two abortions. Does that make her unworthy of fellow MPs’ respect?
MADISON GRIFFITHS

In her Parliament House office, the Victorian MP explains why she kept her second abortion hidden from public discourse. 

Victorian MP Georgie Purcell (Image: AAP/Diego Fedele)
 
Anti-offshore wind farm fishing group is chaired by a former Liberal MP
CAM WILSON

The Australian Fishing Trade Association says it's non-partisan after a Greenpeace investigation found links to the Liberal Party.

Former Liberal MP and anti-wind farm campaigner Bob Baldwin (Image: AAP/Lukas Coch)
 
Labor’s frozen ham, Lehrmann lawyer’s weird tweets, and the AFR spits in our faces again
CHARLIE LEWIS

From the bunker this week: Murray Watt endorses ham caps, the sporadic and strange tweets of Steve Whybrow, and Sussan Ley's grand delusion.

Agriculture Minister Murray Watt, plus ham (Image: AAP/Lukas Coch)
 
Wieambilla-linked Christian conspiracy theorist allegedly threatened police, public officials
CAM WILSON

Court documents show Donald Day Jr, who interacted with Gareth, Stacey and Nathaniel Train on YouTube, allegedly made violent threats online after the trio were killed by police.

Christian conspiracy theorist Donald Day Jr in a video days after the Wieambilla terrorist attack (Image: YouTube)