The Nation

ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact Local Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has come under fire this week for repeatedly being unable to resist the urge to be wined and dined by a dreadful, parasitic industry that she's allegedly trying to reform. Most recently, Responsible Wagering Australia (which represents Ladbrokes, Bet365, and SportsBet) took Ms. Rowland out for lunch in Melbourne to...

WENDELL HUSSEY | Cadet | CONTACT A young man from the North of Italy is today in the Intensive Care Unit at Betoota Base Hospital. Marco Giovanni (27) was rushed to hospital a short time ago after receiving what doctor's say was a 'critical shock to the nervous system.' The young Milanese man is currently in the Channel Country undertaking his farm work at...

CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT Holiday season is here! That's what residents of the Sunshine Coast town of Argybargy were saying today, after some spectacularly festive drama outside the surf club last night. As a once squarely middle class coastal community currently in the goldilocks zone of a tourism-driven economic renewal, Argybargy is home to generational families who are now feeling the pinch of...

CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT The Beatlemania of Taylor Swift continues in Australia this week, months before the American pop singer even arrives for her 'Eras' tour in late February. A new bundle of tickets for the Sydney show was released for sale at box office this morning at 10am, and newly available tickets to the Melbourne concerts will be on sale from 4pm...

CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT Embattled Australian telco provider Optus has gone above and beyond in their efforts to acknowledge the "patience and loyalty" of their customers after a nightmare week. Optus announced yesterday that they will provide eligible customers with a handful of magic beans as compensation for the nationwide outage on Wednesday that impacted more than 10 million Australians and lasted for...

CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT Fitzroy River man, Graeme Kidston (59) has spent the last week in Sydney giving his waterpoof tan-coloured Echho sneakers a work out. As the husband of a devout Beatlemaniac, Graeme surprised his darling wife Louise with tickets to the Paul McCartney gig at Allianz Stadium for their 40th wedding anniversary. "I thought we'd give the Brisbane show a miss and...

ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact A French Quarter veterinarian pretty much made up the cost to fix a dog this morning after being put on the spot by the receptionist. In his own words, local vet Murray Dudley said he wasn't sure exactly how much it cost to remove a size 10 Havaiana thong from inside a 7-year-old French Bulldog,...

CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT One of Australia's largest telecommunications providers is experiencing a massive nationwide outage on mobile and broadband devices, with no timeline for when the network might be back online. Optus users began reporting outages at 4.05am this morning, as the night shift was clocking off and early risers were struggling to activate their Strava apps. Train lines, banks, hospitals, and businesses...

EFFIE BATEMAN | Lifestyle | Contact A poor Betoota Heights woman has this week come to the conclusion that a lot of movies beloved by blokes seem to include a lot of painfully long scenes where guys just shout at each other a lot, which she’s unfortunately had to experience a lot of in a small succession, after dating a ‘film bro.’ Though this type...

ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact A French Quarter hypocrite is today putting the finishing touches on a series of draft posts aimed at drawing attention to the animal cruelty associated with horse racing industry ahead of the Melbourne Cup. The racing industry's day of days, the Melbourne Cup has fast become a lighting rod for those in society who think...