Front Page Archive

Sydney pole dancers win national title

Australia’s Got Talent’s  Matthew Shields shot to fame overnight for his creative Aboriginal dance style on the pole and his performances have encouraged men to get involved in the female-dominated pole dance. But not many people know he now has a dance partner. …
Review: Queen of Spades, Tchaikovsky

Review: Queen of Spades, Tchaikovsky

Renowned conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy breaches the divide to the master in this concert version of the Tchaikovsky opera last enjoyed by Sydney audiences in the 1979 Australian Opera production. The chilly despair of Tchaikovsky’s dark masterpiece, set in the aristocratic salons of …

Gurruwiling Eclipse Festival

While tens of thousands of people headed to Cairns to chase the total solar eclipse on November 14, the Yolngu communities around Gurruwiling, East Arnhem Land, hosted a smaller but magnificent event. Gurruwiling, better known as the Arafura Swamp, is where the …
Review Elton John: The bitch is back

Review Elton John: The bitch is back

Resplendent in purple sequins and high-heeled boots, 65-year-old Sir Elton John still cuts a dashing figure. He is perhaps the only 5’7” gay man capable of inciting mass hysteria by tarting it up atop a piano in top hat and tails. The enigma …
China welcomes Australia’s vision

China welcomes Australia’s vision

Australia’s Asian Century White Paper was welcomed as a great gift for China’s new president Xi Jinping in the Chinese media which also dubbed Australia a “Reform Vanguard” in the second Industrial Revolution led by Asia. The White Paper, which aims to …
Protests against austerity measures erupt in Europe

Protests against austerity measures erupt in Europe

Europe is united more than ever, in protest: Spain, Portugal, Greece and now Italy. Thousands of European workers, trade unions, pensioners and students moved to oppose all governments that support austere policies in response to the economic crisis, without “first depriving themselves …
TB disaster on our doorstep

TB disaster on our doorstep

Medical experts are warning the Australian mainland is at risk of being invaded by a deadly strain of tuberculosis (TB) from Papua New Guinea (PNG), report Matt Garrick and Mark Roy in the Torres Strait. An outbreak in PNG’s Western Province of an …