The August issue of The Monthly is on newsstands, and there’s no shortage of enquiry and challenge to the second-term Albanese government as parliament sits for the first time since the election. Our cover story interrogates the power and influence of Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles. From the ubiquity of conversations about his portfolio – which encompasses AUKUS – to his key role in factional skullduggery earlier this year, Marles is one of the more impactful members of this government. So, when Martin McKenzie-Murray spoke to his parliamentary colleagues, why were many of them so candid with their dislike and their assessment of his limitations?
Don Watson turns his keen attention to Anthony Albanese’s much postponed meeting with Donald Trump, and looks to history to make a case for how the PM might achieve the much-desired cut-through. What words might be necessary for both the public perception and the lasting impact he desires? And Max Ogden reminisces about the 1983 Prices and Incomes Accord, arguing that a failure to learn its lessons might doom the union movement to greater irrelevance.
Outside federal politics, Katherine Wilson looks into the messy story and even messier motivations of the Northern Territory’s saltwater-crocodile trade, Madison Griffiths explores attempts to address a gap in medical training, and Peter Craven reflects on the 25th anniversary of Peter Carey’s True History of the Kelly Gang.
Plus there’s new writing from Robert Skinner, Kate Mildenhall, Monica Dux and more. Available to subscribers now or available for purchase widely.