JANUARY 19, 2019

GIVE THE GIFT OF CRIKEY | TIP OFF | VIEW IN BROWSER

This week, like many weeks of late, it seemed the earth was sending a message. Photos streamed from the continuing fish kill in the Menindee, then again from Queensland where we saw wheelbarrows full of dead spectacled flying foxes, which had been unable to survive last year’s heatwave. The issue of climate change and environmental management bobs up, again and again, like a floating Murray cod. We hope this year we can bring you more stories about how these disasters were made and how they can be fixed.

Please note Helen Razer’s FYI will be taking a break this weekend.

Have a great weekend,

Bhakthi Puvanenthiran
Managing Editor

How the states will shape a landslide Coalition loss

WILLIAM BOWE 3 minute read

Internal polling has indicated a wipeout loss for the Coalition in the upcoming federal election. But is it all doom and gloom for the government?

Is there a future for Australian music journalism?

JOSHUA MARTIN 7 minute read

As publishers slash arts sections and shutter whole publications, music writers wonder if anyone is left listening.

Forget Frydenberg, the housing bubble needs to burst

ADAM SCHWAB 3 minute read

The housing market is long overdue for some creative destruction. The question is when it will occur.

Why we should expect less from Marie Kondo

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I received Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, as a gift two years ago, I did not expect it to re-order my internal life; much less a lifetime’s accumulation of mess, filth and pointless household rot. It happened to do a little of both. Re-ordering my cupboards, most of which had served no other function but to mask evidence of behavioural fiasco, was a healthy mental exercise. — Helen Razer

No, the cult tidying expert’s method won’t save you but it is a salve for a hopelessly chaotic mind.

Morrison’s climate confusion caps off a disconcerting week

CHARLIE LEWIS 3 minute read

Heatwaves, coffee and coal: here's the cognitive dissonance of climate change policy playing out in real time.

Piracy of live sports the next big challenge for TV networks

EMILY WATKINS 3 minute read

Live sports — which television networks often pay extraordinary amounts for — are being pirated in increasingly sophisticated operations around the world.

Five things the Business Council can do if it really ‘supports action on climate’

NICKY ISON 4 minute read

The BCA says it wants "a workable plan for Australia”, but it's just shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.

This is an issue of national survival

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... whatever bipartisan commitment the river plan had was weakened during the Howard era, and has been travestied in the last six years. The difference between the two regimes is of significance. The Howard government played a double game on the environment, ostensibly acknowledging climate change (Howard later admitted he became a sceptic), while clawing back property rights and a developmentalist agenda. The Abbott-Morrison-Joyce era (Malcolm Turnbull was mere filler) has a different agenda: trash the joint. Be gleefully destructive. Make the water rights system unmanageable. Turn a blind eye to outright water theft. Undo any sort of systemic thinking about how we preserve agriculture and the environment in Australia at the same time. — Guy Rundle

The Murray-Darling fish kill is horrifying, but not surprising. It is the logical result of our toxic politics.

Yongah Hill detainees continue hunger strike over conditions

REBEKAH HOLT 3 minute read

Tensions in Melbourne and Perth detention centres have been high since last week.

Crikey’s updated pocket guide to the far-right (yes, there are more)

CHARLIE LEWIS 4 minute read

From hard-right nationalists infiltrating mainstream politics to grassroot organisations planning an "ethno-suburb", 2018 was a big year for Australia's fascists.

When the personal ID becomes political

LIZ DUCK-CHONG 4 minute read

When it comes to ID cards for transgender Australians, the political can't be removed from the personal.

Will Stan survive the global streaming wars?

CHRISTOPHER WARREN 3 minute read

This is going to be a huge year for Nine's newly acquired streaming service.

Calling someone a racist in public is complicated. Here’s why.

EMILY WATKINS 4 minute read

When can you call a person "racist"? And what stops news outlets and politicians from doing it even in the more obvious cases?

How to host a summer family barbecue

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It is polite to acknowledge the guests who brought a plate. This can be achieved one of two ways: by making a “joke” to those who you feel did this as an insult to your catering abilities (“I guess my salad isn’t up to your standards, ha HA!”) or passive-aggressively commenting on store-bought snacks (“Oh good, this small packet of Twisties won’t take up too much space on the table, thank you ever so much.”) — Deirdre Fidge

Planning a summer barbecue but unsure how to best alienate your loved ones? We have the guide for you.

Plibersek’s pledge to raise the teaching ATAR is nonsense

CRIKEY 4 minute read

Five concerned teachers explain why Labor's plan to increase the required ATAR to study teaching is not just wrongheaded, but regressive.

Will Dutton’s child sex offender register work in Australia?

KISHOR NAPIER-RAMAN 4 minute read

Australia isn't the first place to consider a sex offender registry. So what can we learn from the international experience?

Crisis watch: the various dead fish plaguing the Nationals

CHARLIE LEWIS 3 minute read

From sex scandals and in-fighting to accusations of environmental mismanagement, the Nationals have more than a few crises to sort out.

The true cost of the true crime phenomenon

EMILY WATKINS 4 minute read

Recent Australian true crime podcasts have reignited interest in cold cases and led to arrests. But what is the price for our obsession?

The first fast-food president

GUY RUNDLE 5 minute read

A photo of congealing fast food dished up stone cold may not do anything to Trump, but it sure symbolises where his presidency is at.