Why Big Tobacco’s ‘so no to a nanny state’ campaign should go up in smokeBig Tobacco have used a range of tactics to fight Labor’s proposed plain packaging legislation. But governments should encourage healthy choices and the term ‘nanny state’ has been associated with our best health reforms, writes Rob Moodle.
June, 2011
theatre reviews 
Faust — Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne
Faust, even in this English translation, is not for the faint of operatic heart, with its dense score and satanic setting. Melbourne Opera brings some light to the darkness, even if it falls under the bar it sets itself, writes Jason Whittaker.
Volcano plume forces further flight cancellations
If you are making a day trip between any of the SE capital cities today, cut your losses and go home now, or, pack a change of clothes and a toothbrush, warns Ben Sandilands.
Respect the science (and the scientists)
A new website that updates the amount of greenhouse gases in Australia monthly was launched yesterday, as over in Canberra 200 scientists descended on parliament to call for the public to ‘respect the science’, reports Amber Jamieson.
Is TV dead? Cable chief talks future of the idiot box
During the weekend’s US National Cable Show, Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt claimed “there is no such thing as TV anymore.” TV blogger Dan Barrett discusses Britt’s remarks and the future of TV and online distribution.
Newspoll: 54-46 to Liberals in SA
The latest quarterly state Newspoll for South Australia offers Labor something they have become unaccustomed to: a result less bad than the last. The Liberal two-party lead is now at 54-46, down from 56-44, writes William Bowe.
Another study damns media coverage of health, so how are journalists responding?
How do journalists respond to critiques of media coverage of health matters? Often very well, as Gary Schwitzer explains.
Volcanic ash risk predicted for SE Australia
Visible concentrations of volcanic ash from the Chilean Mt Puyehue eruption are predicted to enter airspace over Adelaide early tomorrow morning and then track across SE Australia, reports Ben Sandilands.
Essential: no support for Malaysian solution, Coalition’s biggest lead
Voters would far prefer asylum seekers to be transferred to Nauru rather than Malaysia and nearly a third don’t like either option, new polling from Essential Research reveals.
Lord Monckton participation ruffles feathers at mining gabfest
The CSIRO and Geoscience Australia have rejected conflict of interest concerns over their $6,000 sponsorship of a conference addressed by notorious climate change denier, the Third Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, Christopher Monckton.
Guy Rundle: With the Greens in charge, there’s no hope for Labor
The vacuum of leadership in Labor has been filled by the Greens, which is now setting the political agenda. Nobody believes this government can retain power in two years.
Peter Reith may be the answer, but what’s the question?
If you ever wanted a demonstration of the chaotic nature of the Liberal Party’s factional landscape, the fight for the federal presidency should do it.
Labor needs to shut up, but it can’t stop talking
Labor’s lack of resilience is directly feeding the traditional press gallery obsession with personality politics.
Innovation in Journalism: real news … power to the people
Acts of journalism by the citizenry are powerful, important, and will not go away.
Credit union wars break out in Maleny
CUA has already merged with two Victorian-based credit unions without a hitch. But its next target — Maleny Credit Union (MCU) in Queensland — has all the hallmarks of a bruising battle, says John Addis, Crikey director and founder of Intelligent Investor.
Parkinson: pride and prejudice on solar scheme
If the Labor government had wanted to further distinguish its clean energy policy from its predecessor’s, then it would have got a fair bit of traction from the choices made in the first round of the $1.5 billion Solar Flagships program, writes Giles Parkinson, of Climate Spectator
War on terror: how to calculate if it has been worth it
There’s a way to calculate how much value we’ve got from our war on terror spending. The result isn’t encouraging.
Last Bets: a gambling palace through the dealer’s eyes
Boozed-up punters are regular fixtures on the gaming room floor despite laws banning gambling while drunk. But dealers say training is inadequate, writes student journalist Esther Ooi.
Currency for thought … bitcoins: a primer
Bitcoin is a unit of money that exists solely in the online world. Bitcoins are, in short, and by a significant margin, the most valuable currency on the planet, writes Luke Ryan, a freelance journalist.
Has Four Corners fallen for the gambling industry’s tactics?
Like with tobacco reform, there are numerous Liberal MPs who privately agree with their conservative allies that something has got to be done on pokies reform. But tonight’s Four Corners missed the point.
Uncover Australia’s secret history
Filmmaker Haydn Keenan has spent the past five years pouring through secret files that ASIO kept on potential enemies of the state in the 1960s and 1970s. The result is a fascinating exhibition of files in Sydney, writes Kate Horowitz.
Morning Market Report: Greece’s economic woes continue
European governments have failed to agree on releasing a loan payment to spare Greece from default
Daily Proposition: Nine’s ratings comeback to start tonight
Nine’s comeback (so it hopes) starts tonight with the first of the 7pm episodes of The Block.
Media briefs: Media briefs: Age of treason … Oz’s Moran-ic error … Mangos falls from Sky …
The Age’s deputy arts editor Kylie Northover doesn’t appear to dig the hollow celebrity guff on her own paper’s website. Plus, the unfortunate news graphic of the day and other media news.
