Latest news with #Salvo
The National
01-06-2025
- Politics
- The National
Meet the woman pushing to have Scotland 'decolonised' by the UN
Her years in the trenches fighting the decidedly unfashionable cause have left her exhausted, she tells the Sunday National. But she wouldn't be where she is – at the forefront of an organisation which claims 17,000 members and which she says can raise £40,000 in cash within a week – without drive and optimism. The 67-year-old, a former TV producer who lives outside Dunfermline, Fife, believes that the focus on the Scottish independence movement should be on the international stage. To this end, the campaign group Salvo, which she helped found, has backed a push by Liberation Scotland to present a petition to the UN to have Scotland recognised as a 'non-self-governing territory'. This would open the door to a UN-mandated referendum, in which neither the Scottish Parliament nor Westminster would have any say. (Image: PA) Critics say this is a cop-out which prefers a legal solution to a political problem. But Salyers insists that getting the UN to recognise Scotland as a colony is merely the first step, one which will open the political floodgates. People are divided, she says, into two camps. Either they believe that the international argument is 'irrelevant' and it is about domestic politics or they believe that appealing to the international community is a silver bullet which will make Scotland independent virtually overnight. 'That's completely wrong,' she says. 'In every single case of independence, decolonisation requires a democratic event,' she says. For her and her fellow travellers, the appeal to the UN is the route to that democratic event. 'We will keep going till it happens,' says Salyers. 'We're optimists – if we weren't we wouldn't be where we are now. I'm hoping for a miracle.' It perhaps reveals a sense of the scale of the challenge Salvo and Liberation Scotland have set themselves. During our interview, Salyers refers to her desire to change Scots 'grooves of thinking' about the country. She references the work of the psychiatrist Frantz Fanon, who examined the impact of colonisation on the psyches of colonised people. Scots, she believes, have suffered many of the same indignities the Algerians did under French rule. A controversial statement, no doubt, but it is not an argument Salyers shies away from, stressing her profound belief that Scotland is as much of a colony of Britain as was, say, Ireland or Trinidad. It is in reference to the latter country – where she lived with her father who ran a power plant during that country's passage to independence – that one of Salyers's most provocative arguments arises. Trinidad and Tobago became independent through negotiation with the UK Government, but had it been down to a referendum, Salyers argues, her father should not have had a vote as he was not from there. (Image: Colin McPherson) So must it be for 'passers-by and temporary residents or people with two homes who happen to come up to Scotland sometimes', she says, in the event of a second Scottish independence referendum. Salyers would prefer the template provided by the New Caledonia referendum, where voters had to prove they met one of eight criteria to cast a ballot for or against remaining part of France. That cast a fairly wide net, though did require voters or their parents to have been born in the territory. If Liberation Scotland's push at the UN is successful, the path to independence is still by no means clear. But if it is rejected, Salyers seems unlikely to want to throw in the towel. 'We're kind of conditioned by a referendum that you win or lose, to see everything in those terms,' she says. 'It's not always like that, in fact, it very rarely is. It's very rarely like the verdict in a court or a black-and-white outcome.' Salyers says that neither she nor her colleagues draw a salary from their campaigning work, 'and nobody gets expenses, I'll tell you that'. Their motivation comes down to a sense of hope that she says is absent from the mainstream Scottish independence movement, who have 'packed up their bags and gone home', in her words. Instead, they hope to offer an alternative to the arguing with 'that big, blank wall of Westminster', says Salyer. At the moment, much 'stock' is being put in the UN General Assembly meeting in New York this September, which may provide the point at which Liberation Scotland hands over their petition to officials to have Scotland recognised as a colony. (Image: NurPhoto) Salyers is hoping that things fall into place once that hurdle is overcome. Labyrinthine bureaucracy at the UN means that something as simple as changing the mineral water sold in its Manhattan headquarters can take 'four years', says Salyers. 'However, it can also turn on a dime.' The grandmother-of-one certainly hopes that Scotland's case will be a sea change moment. 'My ambition is to have done my part, seen this happen and sit back and actually be retired and spend some years of my life learning to keep bees and go for walks and being able to stop,' she says. 'I'd be very discouraged if I thought this was going to take a decade.' Salyers may be waiting some time. In her New Caledonia example, the territory had been on the UN's decolonisation list since 1986. To date, the South Pacific islanders have had four independence referendums, the first in 1987. At the most recent, held in 2021, New Caledonians voted by 96.5% to 3.5% to remain part of France.
The National
25-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
Research group laid out best way for Scots to take back our nation
In particular, I'm wondering how I can do justice to the Saturday afternoon session in the main hall under the title Decolonisation & Self-Determination. This was an event that future historians will refer to as a pivotal moment in the campaign to restore Scotland's independence. That is how important it was. The speakers for this session were Sara Salyers (Salvo), Professor Alf Baird (Salvo), Craig Murray (Salvo/Liberation ambassador), Sharof Azizov (executive director of JPTi,), and Professor Robert Black QC (professor emeritus of Scots Law at the University of Edinburgh). The topic was the Salvo/Liberation initiative to have Scotland included on the UN's list of non-self-governing territories (NSGT). That is to say, territories recognised as having been annexed and now slated for decolonisation. Regular readers will be aware that I have expressed some reservations about the Salvo/Liberation initiative. There were, for example, concerns about the cost of failure. Should the initiative not result in Scotland joining the existing 17 NSGTs, this could be interpreted as validation of the Union. which would seriously undermine the 'case for independence' and deprive the independence campaign of a vital line of argument. When I held this view, I put the Salvo/Liberation initiative's chances of success at no more than 50%. Having attended the SSRG conference session on Decolonisation & Self-Determination, I now put the chances of success at 80% or higher. One cannot say better than that due to the vagaries of international relations. But the 'risk assessment' has been turned around by what I heard at that conference session. Not to diminish the contribution from the other speakers in any way, I suspect they themselves would allow that the most significant contribution was Professor Black's momentous legal opinion on Scotland's status within the Union. Having said that, I would urge everyone to listen to the entire session. I guarantee you will find doing so well worth two hours of your time. For the moment, this quote from an article in The National will give a flavour of Professor Black's perspective: 'The evidence, the facts on the ground support no judgement other than that Scotland ceased to exist as a state in international law and was absorbed into a still-extant England, cosmetically renamed 'Great Britain'. Scotland's legal status today, more than three centuries later, is therefore not that of a partner in a union – unequal, perhaps, but a union nevertheless – but is that of territory absorbed into a larger country. A territory with only limited self-government and with its resources exploitable and exploited by the larger country for its own benefit and purposes.' This together with the contributions from Sharof Azizov was enough to persuade me that the case for Scotland being recognised as a colony was unassailable, leaving only the factor of internationalised relations as a potential fly in the ointment. A couple of concerns remain. The first is the question of timescale. Nobody can put a timescale on the procedure for applying to have Scotland listed as an NSGT. If we regard Scotland's predicament as urgent – as we must – then we have to recognise the possibility (probability?) that a response from the UN may not come soon enough to be a factor in the campaign for the 2026 Scottish Parliament election. Recognising the urgency of the situation, we are obliged to treat every democratic event as if it were our last chance to get Scotland's cause out of the mire in which it has been stuck for a decade. We cannot rely on the UN's support in this effort. We can only hope their response to the Salvo/Liberation initiative is timely. The other remaining concern relates to the reality of what success for the Salvo/Liberation initiative will mean for Scotland's cause. The following from The Scotland Channel's Facebook page illustrates the point: 'Moves to have Scotland decolonised by the United Nations have moved up a gear with meetings set to take place with diplomats from more than 30 countries.' Scotland will not be decolonised by the United Nations. Only the people of Scotland can decolonise our nation. There seems a strong possibility now that the UN will support our efforts to liberate Scotland. But the effort must be made by us! What that unfortunate quote from The Scotland Channel illustrates is the tendency to regard success for the Salvo/Liberation initiative as a complete solution. Spend any time on social media and you will find this notion to be common. At the SSRG conference, I was graciously permitted a couple of interventions in which I sought to stress the importance of ensuring people are aware that having the UN onside is of little use if there is not an internal political and parliamentary process. The UN will provide support. But first, there must be something to which that support can apply. One may think of this UN support as them clearing the road ahead. We still require a vehicle to travel that road. And that vehicle must be built by us, the people of Scotland. We must ensure that there is a political/parliamentary process in place regardless of the outcome of the Salvo/Liberation initiative. But it would be tragic if the UN recognised Scotland's status as annexed territory of England-as-Britain and nothing came of it because there was no internal political/parliamentary process to exploit this new advantage. This is where the Manifesto for Independence comes in. It sets out the political/parliamentary process that is required. No other such process has been identified. The #ScottishUDI process works even without UN support such as will be secured if/when the Salvo/Liberation initiative succeeds. With that UN support, it all becomes much easier and the restoration of independence is guaranteed. I said earlier that it was up to us, the people of Scotland, to build the vehicle that will travel the route cleared for us by the UN. We do that by combining in sufficient numbers that we can force the political parties to be the engine of that vehicle. They have an essential role as it is the political parties which should connect the people to the effective political power of the parliament. As things stand, they are failing abysmally to perform this function. We must join together so that our combined strength becomes an irresistible force compelling the politicians to do the things we elect them to do. The Manifesto for Independence Petition is the means of demonstrating our unity of purpose and instrument we wield in order to secure from the nominally pro-independence parties a cast-iron commitment to parliamentary action for the purpose of decolonising our nation. By means of the petition, we take back our government and direct it to take back our parliament. Then, with or without the aid of the UN, we take back our nation. Visit the Manifesto for Independence Petition page now! Sign the petition and then share it as widely and as often as possible. Do not squander this opportunity! There may not be another! Peter A Bell via email
NBC News
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC News
How the original 'Eternaut' comic presaged a nation's abductions, killings
'The Eternaut' series begins slowly, on a summer evening in Buenos Aires, with Juan Salvo (Ricardo Darín) meeting up with a group of friends to play truco, a popular card game in Argentina. Tension in the first episode builds after a blackout interrupts the evening. Salvo and his friends don't know it yet, but an alien invasion has begun. And a routine card night has just saved their lives — outside, toxic snow is killing millions of people. As the grim reality sets in, the friends work together to make protective suits for the deadly storm. Salvo dresses up in waterproof material and a mask. Then, he walks out first to search for his daughter Clara (Mora Fisz) and ex-wife Elena (Carla Peterson). Off screen, Salvo's harrowing quest to find his family resonates deeply with many survivors of the military dictatorship. Five decades after the regime ended, families in Argentina are still looking for the children of the women and men who disappeared after being abducted by the military dictatorship. 'It is estimated that 500 babies were appropriated by the dictatorship, of which 139 recovered their identities thanks to the work of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo,' said Nicolini. 'In fact,' Nicolini added, 'Elsa Sánchez de Oesterheld, Oesterheld's wife and mother of his four daughters, was part of this human rights organization until her death in 2015.' One of those 139 babies who learned as an adult who her parents really were is Belén Estefanía Altamiranda. ' I am the 88th granddaughter,' said Altamiranda in a phone interview, referring to the fact that she was the 88th person whose real identity was discovered by the work and activism of the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo. 'My mom and dad were from Buenos Aires. I disappeared with them, because when they kidnapped them, my mom was pregnant with me.' Altamiranda says she was adopted as a baby and moved to Córdoba at 10 years old, which is roughly 430 miles northwest of Buenos Aires. The paperwork at the adoption center later proved to be false. She confirmed the identities of her biological parents with a DNA test at age 29. By then, Altamiranda was already nine years older than her mother — Rosa Luján Taranto — and seven years older than her father — Horacio Antonio Altamiranda — when they disappeared in 1977. Altamiranda says her biological parents belonged to the Workers' Revolutionary Party. They were held at El Vesubio, a clandestine prison in the province of Buenos Aires where political prisoners were detained, tortured and murdered. Her mother was taken to give birth at a military hospital in Campo de Mayo, a large base that is featured in 'The Eternaut' series. Altamiranda, who now manages the Córdoba office for the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, says the human rights organization is currently looking into what happened to roughly 300 children who were taken from their parents. Altamiranda also pointed out that two of Oesterheld's daughters were pregnant at the time of their disappearance. And in a horrific twist, their children could be watching 'The Eternaut' on Netflix without knowing the tragedy of their biological family. Series' popularity leads to more searches, interest Nevertheless, Altamiranda calls the hit series a 'hopeful sign.' It has popularized the search for the children of the disappeared. It has also increased the number of requests the organization has received to connect possible matches with biological families. The week after the series premiered (May 1-7), the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo received 106 requests. This is six times the number of requests it received, 18, over the same period in 2024. At its core, 'The Eternaut' is a universal call to resistance. And while the comic shows how survival is costly, Sinay says, it also shows how humanity can come together as a heroic group. 'For my generation, growing up as a teenager in the '90s, 'The Eternaut' was already a super-mega-classic,' he said. 'It was always a very political story that defended this idea of a collective hero. In other words, it wasn't so much Juan Salvo as a stand-alone character, but Juan Salvo and his friends. And this made it an epic about ordinary people.'
The Advertiser
09-05-2025
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Working at Facebook would be fun, no? Ex-staffer gives it the thumbs down
New-release books include an erotic romance by Blanche D'Alpuget and an insider account of Facebook's inner workings. Sarah Wynn-Williams. Macmillan. $36.99. Anyone with even the slightest question about Facebook and its place in the world should read this book. Diplomat and New Zealander Sarah Wynn-Williams thought the social network could change the world in a positive way so she pitched hard for a job and ultimately became director of global policy. Things didn't end well. The book is, of course, only her side of the story, but it makes some startling claims about what goes on behind the like button. Facebook got a gag order, but this backfired when Wynn-Williams was asked to testify before the US Congress. A compelling read. Bob Crawshaw. Australian Scholarly Publishing. $49.95. On a cold, wet Canberra Saturday in August 1947, Australian prime minister Ben Chifley sent out a 42-word press statement, casually mentioning to newspaper reporters including the legendary Alan "Red Fox" Reid that he had "one or two things of interest for you today". The statement announced the Labor Government's intention to nationalise the billion-pound banking industry. The banks fought back with a monumental advertising and public relations campaign, with opposition leader Robert Menzies and his fledgling Liberal Party pouring fuel on the fire. The ALP lost the 1949 election and the playbook for industry attacks on governments was set. Daniel Reynaud. Signs Publishing. $29.95. Salvation Army brigadier William "Fighting Mac" McKenzie was a wowser. As a Salvo, it was in his job description. But despite his fervent opposition to grog, brothels, betting and bad language, McKenzie was the Army chaplain best-loved by the Anzacs, serving alongside them in Egypt, at Gallipoli and on the Western Front. McKenzie became a wartime celebrity for his efforts in supporting the troops, helping to lift their morale and campaigning for those at home to write to lonely soldiers. As Reynaud says: "If the original Anzacs revered him, then we who revere them should pay attention to his story." A.C. Grayling. Oneworld Publications. $32.99. What has happened to the quality of public debate around the world? A.C. Grayling turns his philosopher's eye to the politics of the culture wars and how debates about societal issues big and small can quickly deteriorate into incendiary and bitter exchanges. The combatants, Grayling writes, deploy new weapons: "cancelling' and "no-platforming" on one side and accusations of censorship and denial of free speech on the other. As a result, he says, the task of ending discrimination and promoting social justice is undermined by excesses on all sides. Grayling argues that there are better ways to resolve our differences. Jane Caro. Allen & Unwin. $34.99. Lyrebirds are brilliant mimics, so if they make the blood-curdling sound of a woman screaming in terror and begging for her life, what horrific crime has happened in this dense bushland in the Barrington Tops National Park? Researching for her PhD in ornithology at Newcastle University, Jessica Weston is horrified by the male lyrebird's mating song but police, despite the enthusiasm of newly appointed detective Megan Blaxland, aren't interested. Two decades later, when a woman's body is found near where Jessica heard the lyrebird, she joins Megan to unearth her identity. This thriller is commentator Jane Caro's second novel for adults after The Mother. Chris Flynn. Hachette. $32.99. This book's opening scene came to author Chris Flynn in a dream. He imagined families watching a junior footy game when the kids all freeze and begin singing. For his fourth novel, a supernatural horror, he turns that vision into a nightmare as children playing in a Saturday morning under-10s soccer match in the small Australian town of Gattan suddenly stop moving, sing a verse of Latin and then die. And the same thing happens to every nine-year-old on the planet at the exact same time. As grief and fear ricochet around the globe, Gattan families reckon with the fallout of this apocalyptic phenomenon. Blanche D'Alpuget. Popcorn Press. $29.99. At 81, Blanche D'Alpuget, the author of 15 books, including Robert J Hawke: A Biography and historical fiction like Turtle Beach and Winter in Jerusalem, takes a daring dive into the genre of erotic romance and mystery with this racy detective novel set in Sydney's wealthy eastern suburbs and the posh manor houses of the NSW Southern Highlands, where long-time morning television host Evelyn Sinclair is found dead in a shocking bondage scene. Who was her mystery lover? Why were long-stemmed yellow roses delivered to her by someone dressed in PPE? And what's with the group with plush pink bunnies attached to their backpacks? Emily Henry. Viking. $34.99. Everyone has a story to tell, but when the story is coming from a famously reclusive heiress, you know it's going to be a page turner. With a rockstar husband and a media magnate family that has attracted almost as many headlines as their publications produced, the life story of Margaret Ives is one any writer would love to tell - especially Alice Scott, an up-and-coming journalist who is striving for her big break. There is just one problem: Pulitzer-winning Hayden Anderson is also vying for the memoir of the century. As both writers try to untangle the tantalising history of Ives, they begin to realise that their own story could be a mystery, tragedy or romance. Love books? Us too! Looking for more reads and recommendations? Browse our books page. Bookmark the page so you can find our latest books content with ease. New-release books include an erotic romance by Blanche D'Alpuget and an insider account of Facebook's inner workings. Sarah Wynn-Williams. Macmillan. $36.99. Anyone with even the slightest question about Facebook and its place in the world should read this book. Diplomat and New Zealander Sarah Wynn-Williams thought the social network could change the world in a positive way so she pitched hard for a job and ultimately became director of global policy. Things didn't end well. The book is, of course, only her side of the story, but it makes some startling claims about what goes on behind the like button. Facebook got a gag order, but this backfired when Wynn-Williams was asked to testify before the US Congress. A compelling read. Bob Crawshaw. Australian Scholarly Publishing. $49.95. On a cold, wet Canberra Saturday in August 1947, Australian prime minister Ben Chifley sent out a 42-word press statement, casually mentioning to newspaper reporters including the legendary Alan "Red Fox" Reid that he had "one or two things of interest for you today". The statement announced the Labor Government's intention to nationalise the billion-pound banking industry. The banks fought back with a monumental advertising and public relations campaign, with opposition leader Robert Menzies and his fledgling Liberal Party pouring fuel on the fire. The ALP lost the 1949 election and the playbook for industry attacks on governments was set. Daniel Reynaud. Signs Publishing. $29.95. Salvation Army brigadier William "Fighting Mac" McKenzie was a wowser. As a Salvo, it was in his job description. But despite his fervent opposition to grog, brothels, betting and bad language, McKenzie was the Army chaplain best-loved by the Anzacs, serving alongside them in Egypt, at Gallipoli and on the Western Front. McKenzie became a wartime celebrity for his efforts in supporting the troops, helping to lift their morale and campaigning for those at home to write to lonely soldiers. As Reynaud says: "If the original Anzacs revered him, then we who revere them should pay attention to his story." A.C. Grayling. Oneworld Publications. $32.99. What has happened to the quality of public debate around the world? A.C. Grayling turns his philosopher's eye to the politics of the culture wars and how debates about societal issues big and small can quickly deteriorate into incendiary and bitter exchanges. The combatants, Grayling writes, deploy new weapons: "cancelling' and "no-platforming" on one side and accusations of censorship and denial of free speech on the other. As a result, he says, the task of ending discrimination and promoting social justice is undermined by excesses on all sides. Grayling argues that there are better ways to resolve our differences. Jane Caro. Allen & Unwin. $34.99. Lyrebirds are brilliant mimics, so if they make the blood-curdling sound of a woman screaming in terror and begging for her life, what horrific crime has happened in this dense bushland in the Barrington Tops National Park? Researching for her PhD in ornithology at Newcastle University, Jessica Weston is horrified by the male lyrebird's mating song but police, despite the enthusiasm of newly appointed detective Megan Blaxland, aren't interested. Two decades later, when a woman's body is found near where Jessica heard the lyrebird, she joins Megan to unearth her identity. This thriller is commentator Jane Caro's second novel for adults after The Mother. Chris Flynn. Hachette. $32.99. This book's opening scene came to author Chris Flynn in a dream. He imagined families watching a junior footy game when the kids all freeze and begin singing. For his fourth novel, a supernatural horror, he turns that vision into a nightmare as children playing in a Saturday morning under-10s soccer match in the small Australian town of Gattan suddenly stop moving, sing a verse of Latin and then die. And the same thing happens to every nine-year-old on the planet at the exact same time. As grief and fear ricochet around the globe, Gattan families reckon with the fallout of this apocalyptic phenomenon. Blanche D'Alpuget. Popcorn Press. $29.99. At 81, Blanche D'Alpuget, the author of 15 books, including Robert J Hawke: A Biography and historical fiction like Turtle Beach and Winter in Jerusalem, takes a daring dive into the genre of erotic romance and mystery with this racy detective novel set in Sydney's wealthy eastern suburbs and the posh manor houses of the NSW Southern Highlands, where long-time morning television host Evelyn Sinclair is found dead in a shocking bondage scene. Who was her mystery lover? Why were long-stemmed yellow roses delivered to her by someone dressed in PPE? And what's with the group with plush pink bunnies attached to their backpacks? Emily Henry. Viking. $34.99. Everyone has a story to tell, but when the story is coming from a famously reclusive heiress, you know it's going to be a page turner. With a rockstar husband and a media magnate family that has attracted almost as many headlines as their publications produced, the life story of Margaret Ives is one any writer would love to tell - especially Alice Scott, an up-and-coming journalist who is striving for her big break. There is just one problem: Pulitzer-winning Hayden Anderson is also vying for the memoir of the century. As both writers try to untangle the tantalising history of Ives, they begin to realise that their own story could be a mystery, tragedy or romance. Love books? Us too! Looking for more reads and recommendations? Browse our books page. Bookmark the page so you can find our latest books content with ease. New-release books include an erotic romance by Blanche D'Alpuget and an insider account of Facebook's inner workings. Sarah Wynn-Williams. Macmillan. $36.99. Anyone with even the slightest question about Facebook and its place in the world should read this book. Diplomat and New Zealander Sarah Wynn-Williams thought the social network could change the world in a positive way so she pitched hard for a job and ultimately became director of global policy. Things didn't end well. The book is, of course, only her side of the story, but it makes some startling claims about what goes on behind the like button. Facebook got a gag order, but this backfired when Wynn-Williams was asked to testify before the US Congress. A compelling read. Bob Crawshaw. Australian Scholarly Publishing. $49.95. On a cold, wet Canberra Saturday in August 1947, Australian prime minister Ben Chifley sent out a 42-word press statement, casually mentioning to newspaper reporters including the legendary Alan "Red Fox" Reid that he had "one or two things of interest for you today". The statement announced the Labor Government's intention to nationalise the billion-pound banking industry. The banks fought back with a monumental advertising and public relations campaign, with opposition leader Robert Menzies and his fledgling Liberal Party pouring fuel on the fire. The ALP lost the 1949 election and the playbook for industry attacks on governments was set. Daniel Reynaud. Signs Publishing. $29.95. Salvation Army brigadier William "Fighting Mac" McKenzie was a wowser. As a Salvo, it was in his job description. But despite his fervent opposition to grog, brothels, betting and bad language, McKenzie was the Army chaplain best-loved by the Anzacs, serving alongside them in Egypt, at Gallipoli and on the Western Front. McKenzie became a wartime celebrity for his efforts in supporting the troops, helping to lift their morale and campaigning for those at home to write to lonely soldiers. As Reynaud says: "If the original Anzacs revered him, then we who revere them should pay attention to his story." A.C. Grayling. Oneworld Publications. $32.99. What has happened to the quality of public debate around the world? A.C. Grayling turns his philosopher's eye to the politics of the culture wars and how debates about societal issues big and small can quickly deteriorate into incendiary and bitter exchanges. The combatants, Grayling writes, deploy new weapons: "cancelling' and "no-platforming" on one side and accusations of censorship and denial of free speech on the other. As a result, he says, the task of ending discrimination and promoting social justice is undermined by excesses on all sides. Grayling argues that there are better ways to resolve our differences. Jane Caro. Allen & Unwin. $34.99. Lyrebirds are brilliant mimics, so if they make the blood-curdling sound of a woman screaming in terror and begging for her life, what horrific crime has happened in this dense bushland in the Barrington Tops National Park? Researching for her PhD in ornithology at Newcastle University, Jessica Weston is horrified by the male lyrebird's mating song but police, despite the enthusiasm of newly appointed detective Megan Blaxland, aren't interested. Two decades later, when a woman's body is found near where Jessica heard the lyrebird, she joins Megan to unearth her identity. This thriller is commentator Jane Caro's second novel for adults after The Mother. Chris Flynn. Hachette. $32.99. This book's opening scene came to author Chris Flynn in a dream. He imagined families watching a junior footy game when the kids all freeze and begin singing. For his fourth novel, a supernatural horror, he turns that vision into a nightmare as children playing in a Saturday morning under-10s soccer match in the small Australian town of Gattan suddenly stop moving, sing a verse of Latin and then die. And the same thing happens to every nine-year-old on the planet at the exact same time. As grief and fear ricochet around the globe, Gattan families reckon with the fallout of this apocalyptic phenomenon. Blanche D'Alpuget. Popcorn Press. $29.99. At 81, Blanche D'Alpuget, the author of 15 books, including Robert J Hawke: A Biography and historical fiction like Turtle Beach and Winter in Jerusalem, takes a daring dive into the genre of erotic romance and mystery with this racy detective novel set in Sydney's wealthy eastern suburbs and the posh manor houses of the NSW Southern Highlands, where long-time morning television host Evelyn Sinclair is found dead in a shocking bondage scene. Who was her mystery lover? Why were long-stemmed yellow roses delivered to her by someone dressed in PPE? And what's with the group with plush pink bunnies attached to their backpacks? Emily Henry. Viking. $34.99. Everyone has a story to tell, but when the story is coming from a famously reclusive heiress, you know it's going to be a page turner. With a rockstar husband and a media magnate family that has attracted almost as many headlines as their publications produced, the life story of Margaret Ives is one any writer would love to tell - especially Alice Scott, an up-and-coming journalist who is striving for her big break. There is just one problem: Pulitzer-winning Hayden Anderson is also vying for the memoir of the century. As both writers try to untangle the tantalising history of Ives, they begin to realise that their own story could be a mystery, tragedy or romance. Love books? Us too! Looking for more reads and recommendations? Browse our books page. Bookmark the page so you can find our latest books content with ease. New-release books include an erotic romance by Blanche D'Alpuget and an insider account of Facebook's inner workings. Sarah Wynn-Williams. Macmillan. $36.99. Anyone with even the slightest question about Facebook and its place in the world should read this book. Diplomat and New Zealander Sarah Wynn-Williams thought the social network could change the world in a positive way so she pitched hard for a job and ultimately became director of global policy. Things didn't end well. The book is, of course, only her side of the story, but it makes some startling claims about what goes on behind the like button. Facebook got a gag order, but this backfired when Wynn-Williams was asked to testify before the US Congress. A compelling read. Bob Crawshaw. Australian Scholarly Publishing. $49.95. On a cold, wet Canberra Saturday in August 1947, Australian prime minister Ben Chifley sent out a 42-word press statement, casually mentioning to newspaper reporters including the legendary Alan "Red Fox" Reid that he had "one or two things of interest for you today". The statement announced the Labor Government's intention to nationalise the billion-pound banking industry. The banks fought back with a monumental advertising and public relations campaign, with opposition leader Robert Menzies and his fledgling Liberal Party pouring fuel on the fire. The ALP lost the 1949 election and the playbook for industry attacks on governments was set. Daniel Reynaud. Signs Publishing. $29.95. Salvation Army brigadier William "Fighting Mac" McKenzie was a wowser. As a Salvo, it was in his job description. But despite his fervent opposition to grog, brothels, betting and bad language, McKenzie was the Army chaplain best-loved by the Anzacs, serving alongside them in Egypt, at Gallipoli and on the Western Front. McKenzie became a wartime celebrity for his efforts in supporting the troops, helping to lift their morale and campaigning for those at home to write to lonely soldiers. As Reynaud says: "If the original Anzacs revered him, then we who revere them should pay attention to his story." A.C. Grayling. Oneworld Publications. $32.99. What has happened to the quality of public debate around the world? A.C. Grayling turns his philosopher's eye to the politics of the culture wars and how debates about societal issues big and small can quickly deteriorate into incendiary and bitter exchanges. The combatants, Grayling writes, deploy new weapons: "cancelling' and "no-platforming" on one side and accusations of censorship and denial of free speech on the other. As a result, he says, the task of ending discrimination and promoting social justice is undermined by excesses on all sides. Grayling argues that there are better ways to resolve our differences. Jane Caro. Allen & Unwin. $34.99. Lyrebirds are brilliant mimics, so if they make the blood-curdling sound of a woman screaming in terror and begging for her life, what horrific crime has happened in this dense bushland in the Barrington Tops National Park? Researching for her PhD in ornithology at Newcastle University, Jessica Weston is horrified by the male lyrebird's mating song but police, despite the enthusiasm of newly appointed detective Megan Blaxland, aren't interested. Two decades later, when a woman's body is found near where Jessica heard the lyrebird, she joins Megan to unearth her identity. This thriller is commentator Jane Caro's second novel for adults after The Mother. Chris Flynn. Hachette. $32.99. This book's opening scene came to author Chris Flynn in a dream. He imagined families watching a junior footy game when the kids all freeze and begin singing. For his fourth novel, a supernatural horror, he turns that vision into a nightmare as children playing in a Saturday morning under-10s soccer match in the small Australian town of Gattan suddenly stop moving, sing a verse of Latin and then die. And the same thing happens to every nine-year-old on the planet at the exact same time. As grief and fear ricochet around the globe, Gattan families reckon with the fallout of this apocalyptic phenomenon. Blanche D'Alpuget. Popcorn Press. $29.99. At 81, Blanche D'Alpuget, the author of 15 books, including Robert J Hawke: A Biography and historical fiction like Turtle Beach and Winter in Jerusalem, takes a daring dive into the genre of erotic romance and mystery with this racy detective novel set in Sydney's wealthy eastern suburbs and the posh manor houses of the NSW Southern Highlands, where long-time morning television host Evelyn Sinclair is found dead in a shocking bondage scene. Who was her mystery lover? Why were long-stemmed yellow roses delivered to her by someone dressed in PPE? And what's with the group with plush pink bunnies attached to their backpacks? Emily Henry. Viking. $34.99. Everyone has a story to tell, but when the story is coming from a famously reclusive heiress, you know it's going to be a page turner. With a rockstar husband and a media magnate family that has attracted almost as many headlines as their publications produced, the life story of Margaret Ives is one any writer would love to tell - especially Alice Scott, an up-and-coming journalist who is striving for her big break. There is just one problem: Pulitzer-winning Hayden Anderson is also vying for the memoir of the century. As both writers try to untangle the tantalising history of Ives, they begin to realise that their own story could be a mystery, tragedy or romance. Love books? Us too! Looking for more reads and recommendations? Browse our books page. Bookmark the page so you can find our latest books content with ease.
