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TUESDAY 23 OCTOBER 2018

A group of 11 critically ill refugee children and their families has been flown from Nauru to Australia.

Speaking at Senate estimates on Monday, Australian Border Force surgeon-general Parbodh Gogna said there had “been an unprecedented jump in the number of people presenting to facilities in the last couple of months”, as well as “other worrying red flags where children weren’t going to school”. Department of home affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo conceded that the recent five-year anniversary of offshore detention meant that “people are genuinely ideating that absent resettlement in Australia”.

“What are white people afraid of now? Well, they are afraid the date of ‘Australia Day’ will change; Aboriginal youth are dying but it’s white people who are afraid. White people are afraid of boats; detained child refugees have stopped eating and drinking but it is white people who are afraid.”

“In the very specific sense of perfectly aligning the 54 coloured tiles of a Rubik’s cube, Zemdegs is the fastest man in the world. He has been called the Usain Bolt of the puzzle, though the combination of iron discipline and dazzling mental and physical agility might instead make one think of a concert pianist or virtuoso violinist.”

“We need to address the very real and understandable worries people have about the future without denying ourselves the broader benefits of technological change. Future governments will have to deal with a world in which artificial intelligence and automation will creep into every occupation, from bricklayer to teacher. We, in turn, will need to prepare for a working life that even a few years ago was unthinkable.”

“The Liberal Party had never lost the seat of Wentworth, but all that changed when voters elected independent Kerryn Phelps in Saturday’s by-election. Since the party’s formation in 1944, the two-party preferred vote illustrates just how safe this Liberal seat has been.”

“Tony Abbott was among those who criticised Turnbull for not being active enough in the Liberals’ campaign. ‘I know he doesn’t want to get too involved with Australian politics, I understand that’, he told radio station 2GB last week. ‘I know he is probably enjoying a bit of R&R with Lucy in New York, but I reckon he owes it to the party and the people of Wentworth to give Dave Sharma a solid, clear personal endorsement this week in particular.’ ”

“In the deep, dark Southern Ocean encircling Antarctica lies a creature so bewildering and elusive, it hasn’t been filmed for a year. Behold, the ‘headless chicken monster’, which has been filmed casually swimming near East Antarctica, the first time it’s been filmed in the region.”