After the flood
Of course you must stay with us, I assured my suddenly homeless son. For as long as it takes to rebuild. Which could be weeks, I thought, looking at the muddied wreck that had been home for the family of four. We’d seized as many of their possessions as we could, splashing through the rapidly […]
A new way of doing politics?
“Weird” was former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s description of the Liberal National Party bombshell in Queensland. “Either the smartest thing the LNP ever did or the dumbest thing they ever did,” said former Queensland Labor premier Peter Beattie, seemingly with grudging respect at the chutzpah of the deed. For Campbell Newman had suddenly quit as […]
Review: The Secret Love Life of Ophelia
Fractal Theatre (Metro Arts Theatre, Brisbane) Reading between the lines of Shakespeare’s Hamlet there is little doubt that the prince of Denmark had his way with the daughter of the king’s minister, Polonius – or at least tried to. Steven Berkoff speculates about the possibilities in this clever parallelquel to Hamlet, reminiscent of Tom Stoppard’s […]
Tough guy Schwarto is Minister for the Roses
After two straight hours sledging his opponents in the bear pit of Queensland Parliament and copping warnings from the Speaker, you’d think Minister for Public Works Robert Schwarten would be panting in the corner, getting a massage and towel-down from his support team. But no, head-kicker “Schwarto”, as he’s known, was in the parliamentary rose […]