Bad news for coal fans, Clive Palmer's mounting court challenges, and Venice introduces a 'no fatties' rule. Catch up with the news you may have missed this week with Andrew P Street.
Are you gonna take it, Clive?
Clive Palmer has been all over the…

Clive Palmer still set to face the music (and other news you may have missed)

South Australia finds itself once again cut off from the tantalising wonders of the east coast. So let’s just spend the day in our pyjamas, literally and metaphorically, and get weird.
As Victoria’s situation continues to deteriorate into a state of…

Cut off from our cool neighbours, South Australia may as well embrace cultural cabin fever

The unsupported hunches that led to uni course fee hikes, the Coalition's "zombie projects" still getting government money, and other news that slipped through the cracks.
We don’t need no education (funding)
Hey, remember how Education Minister Dan…

Are uni fees based on Dan Tehan’s vision board? (and other news you may have missed)

Handled well, the scandal could have been knocked on the head. But avoidance tactics and rumours led to a domino effect, knocking down three MPs.
You know how a small tickle in the throat can rapidly turn into a full-blown, respirator-assisted…

Mishandling of SA’s comedy of errors results in a full-blown rorts investigation

As you read this, the US re-election campaign for Donald Trump is probably using the Rolling Stones’ ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ for another ill-advised and socially undistanced event, despite the ongoing legal efforts of the band to prevent…

What happens when a politician you hate starts using your music in their rallies?

South Australian MPs get their travel expenses sorted out, Adani is doing just fine, thanks, and did you want an ecological catastrophe to freak out about?
Wherever I lay my travel expense claims, that’s my home
Hey, do you remember a couple of weeks…

Everyone’s a country member (and other news you may have missed)

The ICAC argument that someone doesn't want you to see, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation does... something, and other news you missed this week.
The Twitter effect
It’s depressingly common to hear about the diminished power of the media -- at least,…

When old political scandals attack! (And other news you may have missed)

The long overdue release of the Palace Letters make one thing clear: Australia needs to become a republic if it wants to save itself from political traitors seeking to undermine our democracy.
Let’s jump straight to the end: thanks to the release of…

God, lose the Queen

It’s easy – very, very, very easy – to be pessimistic about the state of Australian music in the Age Of COVID. After all, venues have been shut for months and are gradually reopening under difficult and often uneconomic restrictions. And social…

Why you should be excited about Australian music post-COVID

Australia's 'sovereign citizens' movement is having a moment under lockdown, South Australia finds a terrible way to fix truancy, and countries are starting to open their borders.
Sovereign citizens hit the road
Dear reader, do you hear the people…

Oh great, the sovereign citizens have returned (and other news you may have missed)

Catch up with the news from the week you may have missed, from byelection conspiracies to SA political intrigue...
You’ve got mail
Bill Gibson is not a resident of the Eden-Monaro electorate, but maybe the scammer who sent him an email regarding the…

The Eden-Monaro conspiracy emails are even wilder than you’d think (and other news you may have missed)

The effects of the devastating 2020 summer bushfires are still wowing scientists. Plus other stories that slipped through the cracks this week.
It’s grim up north
The speaker of the Northern Territory Parliament has resigned after being found to have…

Scientists are enchanted by Australia’s horrifying murder-clouds (and other news you may have missed)

As Adelaide edges back to something resembling its pre-COVID self, is anyone else getting the feeling the stage is actually set for some dystopian fiction?
2020 has already been pummelled with grim jokes about being “the darkest timeline”, the idea…

Post-COVID Adelaide is like a low budget episode of Black Mirror

The future of Australian wine is shiraz (if we don't do something about climate change). Plus other stories you may have missed this week.
When my baby lies to me, I go to Rio (Tinto)
Rio Tinto is having a nightmare 2020, even by 2020…

Australia’s winemaggedon is upon us (and other stories you might have missed)

COVID-19 has been bad news for the illicit drugs business, Woomera gets a (mysterious) billion-dollar upgrade, and please just answer the question, Phil.
The brief(est)
Here’s a question which doesn’t seem remotely interesting: when did the…

Blame COVID for the price of meth (and other news you may have missed)

I
n Australia social gatherings are back on the agenda, intrastate travel is permissible; playgrounds have reopened, and so have restaurants.
At the beginning of lockdown, we were told Shakespeare wrote King Lear while sheltering from a plague; we…

From going grey to hand washing: 12 lockdown habits we're going to keep

As the nation entered lockdown in March, the internet exploded with think pieces about how people living separately from their partners might deal with intimacy and sex — remotely.
And the general consensus appears to be that while the socially…

As live music turns to socially distanced gigs in the wake of COVID-19, musicians and punters need to adapt

There’s a horrible truth that’s only just starting to dawn on lovers of music: among all the cautious plans to reopen the country – parks, playgrounds, shops, even pubs and restaurants with strictly limited numbers – no-one in power has started…

When will we get to go to a goddamn gig again?

The government goes all-in on defence spending, and Qantas eyes off a regional monopoly. Catch up with the news that slipped through the cracks.
Show me where it hurts
South Australia has been quite the little achiever in the whole stifling the…

Everybody’s (presumably) getting a helicopter! (And other news you may have missed)

There was a very clearly defined moment where I fell in love with 30 Rock.
It’s seven glorious seconds early in the second season, when comedian Tracy Jordan (played by Tracy Morgan) performs his Monster Mash-inspired novelty song Werewolf Bar…