A lifeline for New Matilda. Like Lazarus, New Matilda has, again, risen from the grave. Soon-to-be former owner (and incoming Crikey ed) Marni Cordell told readers yesterday that a saviour had been found, in the shape of Walkley-winning former Tracker and National Indigenous Times editor Chris Graham. From Cordell’s letter:

“Chris stood out among a handful of potential successors because he has a clear vision for NM and a strong track record as an investigative journalist. He’s not planning to change the basic ingredients that make NM what it is — but he will be adding his own flavour, as well as upping the quota of Aboriginal affairs coverage.”

It’s the second time New Matilda has been revived from death. In 2010, the site was pronounced deceased after funding and advertising dried up. A crowdfunding campaign and opt-in subscription revenues revived it, but the site looked like it would close again last week after Cordell said she could no longer afford to keep it running after the defection of staff to rival publications. However, as she told Crikey the next day, she was then sent several offers to take the site over from her, including, one presumes, one from Graham.

Graham has a reputation for provocative writing, particularly on media standards and Aboriginal issues. His previous source of employment, Tracker, was funded by the NSW Aboriginal Land Council, and some have mused it was shut down because of a front-page attack on Tony Abbott. That article, a booth-by-booth analysis of the Australian election results by Graham that argued few Aboriginal voters had voted Liberal at the last election, was criticised by New South Wales Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Victor Dominello, who told New Matilda in March that he had hoped to work with the federal government in delivering good reforms for the land rights network in New South Wales. “Having an article attacking the federal government makes our job a bit harder from day one when they’ve barely been there a day,” he said.

Graham starts at NM on Monday. — Myriam Robin

The member for Fairfax’s afternoon nap. The late nights and early mornings of budget week proved too much for Clive Palmer, who fell asleep during question time yesterday. The Daily Telegraph couldn’t resist a punny headline:

While The Courier-Mail used the opportunity to dredge up a previous pic of Clive sleeping on a plane, which was apparently worthy of being front-page news at the time:

The man himself was unapologetic for his nanna nap:

Front page of the Day: Julia Gillard’s upcoming memoir is to be titled “My Story”, and will be published on October 1 2014, publisher Penguin Random House revealed last night.