A few weeks ago, I stood on the beach and watched the most perfect scene: my twin sons paddling for a wave, crouching, standing, then catching it towards the shore. The sun was high, the ocean like velvet – except for the rolling breaker and its fraying white fringe. On the horizon, a container ship … Read More
Sydney grandmother Alice Chan is small, petite and softly spoken. A delicate jade pendant hangs around her neck. She’s one of the last people you’d expect to be working up a sweat on a bench press or a lat pulldown in the gym. But two years ago, a regular bone scan showed she had osteoporosis … Read More
About 20 years ago, as a young journalist, I covered a court case concerning two teenage boys accused of savagely murdering one of their mates. They were aged 16 or 17 at the time, and they came from what we like to call “good families”. There were no drugs and no family violence involved, and … Read More
Risdon Prison just outside Hobart is one of the country’s most notorious jails. It’s known for its infamous inmates, including Port Arthur killer Martin Bryant and criminal-turned-celebrity Mark ‘Chopper’ Read. It’s frequently the scene of riots, sieges and suicides, and prisoners’ groups claim that human rights abuses happen on a daily basis – from food … Read More
In his Booker Prize-winning novel The Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes’ grey-haired anti-hero takes the train to London for a spot of shopping. On his list? Cord for restringing blind, kettle descaler and those patches you iron on to trousers when the fabric wears thin. ”It’s hard to find this stuff locally any more,” … Read More
When I was eight years old, our family dog died. He was a black labrador named Black Dog who had been my father’s best friend long before he met and married my mother. In those days, dogs were not always walked on leads. Black Dog, who must have been 12 or 13 at the time, … Read More
Recently, I interviewed for a role with an all-female, fully remote consulting firm. It was less an interview and more of a conversation. The intro to the firm came via a colleague and although the firm wasn’t hiring, we wanted to explore possibilities. It was unlike any other job interview. The senior partner spoke about … Read More
Annette Noble’s first child was four months old when she boarded an international flight for a week-long business trip. “I got on the plane and breathed a sigh of relief. I thought, ‘No one can contact me for at least 24 hours,’ ” she says. No one could question Noble’s dedication to her marketing job. She … Read More
As a little girl, Frances Rings was both disconnected from her Aboriginal heritage and painfully aware of it. In the street, people would stare at the dark-skinned girl walking alongside her blue-eyed, blond-haired father. At school, both black and white kids would ask where her Aboriginal family was. Her only connection to country was when … Read More
I prepared for the birth of my identical twin sons with all the precision of a military operation. I had a roster of friends and family staying with me for three months and a food circle that would keep me in evening meals for six weeks. I hired a cleaning lady, a mowing man, and … Read More