Views on the news from Canberra’s top columnists
"The selection of our judiciary is quaint. The community might reasonably expect that applicants demonstrate a capacity to write a decision prior to appointment. That doesn’t happen." HUGH SELBY has some ideas to speed up slow judgments.
"After weeks or months in orbit, astronauts experience dramatic but short-lived symptoms. Many describe an overwhelming heaviness, as if their arms and legs are made of lead." Whimsy columnist CLIVE WILLIAMS looks at weightlessness.
"Disappointingly, the latest data reveals, again, that the ACT is not a high-performing jurisdiction when it comes to closing the gap," writes indigenous advocate JULIE TONGS.
Teachers' union chief Angela Burroughs finds herself in a relentless loop of circular argument with the Minister for Education and Dark Arts Rachel Slytherin-Smith. It's KEEPING UP THE ACT!
"Something basic is amiss when a national newspaper runs an error-ridden, unsubstantiated opinion piece that is intent on undermining community confidence in our judiciary," writes HUGH SELBY.
"Over the next five years the jobs forecast is for 500 new entrants through digital graduate and trainee programs, but with 1800 retirements. That creates a gap of 8190 digital government staff by 2030," say ALEX KOVACESKI & RICHARD CALVER.
"Why worry if a woman in custodial care gets $100,000 medical compensation. It’s only other people’s money," says letter writer ANTHONY HORDERN.
Suddenly everyone's talking about data centres, says cartoonist PAUL DORIN.
"The latest political spin presents the Albanese government as leaders in managing the new Digital Age. But the sad truth is that this government, when given the ball, kicked it into the long grass," writes HUGH SELBY.
As we proudly salute five years of the innovative KEEPING UP THE ACT comic strip, its mysterious creator – Shush Capital – reveals how the strip is technically assembled and the intense human creativity behind it.
"While smart glasses offer genuine benefits in daily life, they also raise a challenging question: How do schools maintain fair examinations when AI becomes almost invisible?" Letter writer DONALD THOMAS raises an interesting issue.
Meet new columnist HAMOUDI AL-SAGHIR, a remarkable young Syrian refugee with a terrible story of survival. In his first column, he shares a glimpse of his confronting past and his youthful optimism as he thrives at studying law at the ANU.
Almost one in five Australians who smoke report going without essentials because of the cost. CORAL GARTNER and ARA CHO explain why cheaper cigarettes aren't necessarily the answer.
The Medicare breach wasn't carried out by a conventional hacker but by an AI agent. MEENA JHA explains what the incident reveals about protecting government systems in the age of AI.
"But beyond imagination and storytelling, what does science tell us? Is time travel possible – even in principle," asks Whimsy columnist CLIVE WILLIAMS.
First the iconic bus shelters are heritage listed, now our time-weathered chief has been heritage protected from removal, reports KEEPING UP THE ACT.
"The Greens had an opportunity to demonstrate that their concern about the ACT's finances was serious enough to sit across the table from people they disagreed with and find common ground. And they chose not to," writes GWYN REES.
"The latest awful idea to 'improve' our legal system is to use the recorded interview by police of adult sexual assault complainants as the evidence-in-chief at a later trial." Legal columnist HUGH SELBY explains the problems.
Impending changes to the law will make it harder for employers to impose non-compete clauses in employment contracts. But why, asks industrial lawyer RICHARD CALVER.
