August 2019
lifestyle
25
A Tangled Web of Intrigue OPHELIA (M) ALEX FIRST I thoroughly enjoyed the modern interpretation of Shakespeare’s Ophelia, in which she is painted as a strong willed, moral and virtuous woman in a court full of vipers. She first enters the Queen’s orbit as but a child. The monarch admires her pluck and takes her in as a lady in waiting. Although the Queen “cleans her up”, her spirit will not be tamed. Ophelia thinks nothing of throwing off her finery and taking a dip in the river near the castle. Whilst she is not popular among her fellow female attendants, Ophelia has learned to read (her brother taught her, even though women are forbidden from entering the library) and as a result the Queen prevails upon her to do just that for her one night. Mind you, the Queen’s choice of reading matter is rather salacious, not the religious text Ophelia was expecting. The Queen, though, is a troubled woman in more ways than one and relies upon a potion from a purported witch who resides well outside the castle grounds to put her to sleep at night. She sends Ophelia to that sorceress to collect the drug and the more she does so, the more Ophelia learns about and from the woman, who bears a striking resemblance to the Queen. Nothing if not intelligent and resourceful,
Ophelia also catches the eye of the Queen’s son, Hamlet, but the path to true love is far from a straight forward one. When the Queen’s power-hungry brother assumes the throne, the obstacles will be greater than ever. In fact, both Hamlet and Ophelia are in mortal danger. I was totally captivated by Daisy Ridley’s strong performance in the lead, as Ophelia has to find a way through all the manipulation, betrayal and subterfuge that is taking place around her.
First Speech in Parliament FROM PAGE 14
of good companies which employ technology in their operations; we don’t yet have a lot of good technology companies. In Australia we have a highly skilled workforce. We have great research institutions and universities. We have deep and sophisticated capital markets. We have not yet got the policy settings right, however, or made this a sufficient national priority, to help combine all these elements together, so that we commercialise and scale more Australian ideas in Australia, so that we create an environment which is more supportive of start-ups and disruptive, technology-oriented companies. If my time as ambassador to Israel taught me one thing, it is how valuable a thriving technology sector can be for the dynamism and health of the rest of the economy. This isn’t about job losses … it’s about capturing the jobs of the future – in areas such as quantum computing, cyber, artificial intelligence, space, clean energy, defence technology, and automation. The nature of value creation is changing, and the Australian economy needs to keep up. Of equal importance is making the best use of the assets we have, including our workforce. The reality of modern family life is that both partners usually work. Once children come along, the cost and availability of childcare, the interaction between the tax and transfer systems, and the norms of workplaces, usually force one parent to make a choice. My wife Rachel and I have faced such a choice ourselves. One parent — usually, the mother — either cuts back their hours, takes a job
for which they are overqualified but which offers flexibility, or opts out of the workforce altogether. This is not just a tough reality for those who would like to continue working and pursuing their career. It is also a lost economic opportunity for the country. The rate of female participation in the Australian workforce is ten percentage points lower than it is for men. Halving this gap between male and female workforce participation would be one of the most impactful and meaningful economic reforms we could pursue. During my time as Australia’s ambassador to Israel, I dealt with only one Israeli Prime Minister, but I served four different Australian Prime Ministers. This level of political instability has not served Australia well. It has eroded public trust in the political class. It has made crafting effective and responsible policies on long-term challenges like climate change more difficult. I hope we have now, through internal party reforms, put this behind us. If we are serious about preserving the stability of our political system, however, and encouraging better governance, then four-year parliamentary terms should be our goal. With three-year terms, a federal election is always just around the corner. The steady drip of opinion polls and a relentless media accelerates this cycle. Good policies often do not have the time to yield visible results, and political survival takes precedence. All state parliaments now have four year terms, as do most benchmark international parliaments. Constitutional change would be required to effect this, and I do not underestimate the difficulty involved in doing this. But as part
It is quite clearly Ridley’s movie. Hers is the driving force, while Naomi Watts assumes the twin roles of the Queen and the witch. Clive Owen is cast as the Queen’s dastardly brother, who cares for naught but satisfying his own desires. George MacKay is Hamlet, all het up about extracting revenge. Semi Chellas, who produced The Romanoffs’ TV series and co-wrote one episode takes writing credits, adapting
Lisa Klein’s book. Australian Claire McCarthy, who wrote and directed The Waiting City in 2009, is in the director’s chair and makes sure we all know there is more than a little rotten in Shakespeare’s Denmark. Never mind that the language has been updated, a new generation can surely appreciate a new take on a classic.
of a broader set of constitutional reforms, I believe it is worth considering. Wentworth has produced some esteemed parliamentarians, and I do wish to pay tribute to one predecessor in particular, Malcolm Turnbull, who served the community of Wentworth, and his nation, with passion and distinction. I stand here not only as a representative of Wentworth, but also as a member of the Liberal Party. Though no political party enjoys a monopoly of wisdom or virtue, I believe that in our party’s support for the rights and aspirations and dignity of individuals, in our view that we should seek to govern for all Australians, and that the country succeeds when we all do well, in the priority we place on economic management and national security as the foremost duties of any government, we remain the party most relevant to the demands and needs and aspirations of modern Australia. No partnership could be more important to me than that I have shared with my wife, Rachel, for almost 15 years. Together we have seen much of the world, brought into being three wonderful daughters — Diana, Estella and Daphne — and shared many an adventure along the way. We have enough tales – of drama, tragedy, comedy and sheer excitement – to already fill a book, but my love for her, and indeed our marriage, feels as fresh as the day we married not far from where I am standing now, in the rose garden of Old Parliament House. In addition to being an accomplished practitioner of international law and a wonderful mother, Rachel’s claims to Wentworth are, in fact, better than mine. It was one of her ancestors, Owen Cavanaugh, who dragged Captain Phillip’s launch ashore
at Camp Cove as dark approached on the 26th of January, 1788. She frequently drags us all out to Ebeneezer, the family burial place, to pay homage to this lineage. The result in Wentworth was hard fought, with two elections held within the space of seven months. I cannot thank enough the many volunteers who turned up and turned out to support me as a candidate throughout this long campaign. From the Prime Minister to the Treasurer and other senior Ministers, federal and state MPs and Senators, local party members, and the party organisation. We had literally hundreds of volunteers — many politically active for the first time in their life; some from interstate, some even from overseas — involved in this campaign. They gave unstinting support, without qualification. I thank them all from the bottom of my heart. I said to friends and supporters at my campaign launch, many of whom are here this evening, “let’s get it done, Wentworth”. Well, we did get it done. And I promise to work tirelessly to repay the trust the voters of Wentworth have placed in me I must also make a special thanks to the Australian Indian community, who have embraced me warmly, despite my poor command of Hindi and below-average cricket ability, and who have made such an enriching contribution to our national fabric. I am conscious that many of my colleagues here leave this place and go on to become ambassadors. I seem to be undertaking the journey in reverse. Perhaps they know something I don’t. Perhaps I know something they don’t. Regardless, I hope my transition to parliamentary life is as seamless as theirs to diplomatic life. Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Rated M, Ophelia scores a 7½ out of 10.