This week, while Australia burned, conservative politicians spent a chunk of their time chiding the left for politicising a tragedy. Bernard Keane asked, if now isn’t the “right time” to talk about climate change, when the hell is?

Elsewhere, Amber Schultz examined Ben Roberts-Smith’s media war, and Michael Bradley explored possible outcomes for George Pell’s trip to the High Court. Plus, welcome to the right-wing “freedom paradox” — enter at your peril!

As always, we’d love to know what you thought of the week’s news. Write to boss@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name if you’d like to be considered for publication.

KISHOR NAPIER-RAMAN 3 minute read

David Elliott is in the headlines once again, this time after getting into a fight with a 17-year-old boy.

MICHAEL BRADLEY 4 minute read

Importantly, this outcome doesn’t tell us much about the prospects of Pell’s actual appeal. The High Court is unpredictable in its decisions.

AMBER SCHULTZ 4 minute read

While News Corp and The West Australian laud Victoria Cross winner Ben Roberts-Smith as a hero, their competitors at Nine continue to investigate allegations against him.

REBEKAH HOLT 3 minute read

Award-winning journalist Behrouz Boochani has been given a reprieve, albeit perhaps briefly, in New Zealand. It's a move that will strain trans-Tasman relations.

CHARLIE LEWIS 4 minute read

That so few cinemas were willing to play Martin Scorsese's latest gangster epic ahead of its release on Netflix later in the year says a lot about where the industry and the artform are heading.

GUY RUNDLE 4 minute read

Australia's biggest "commies" aren't raving greenies, but rather the freedom-loving right, like the bright boys and girls at the IPA.

BERNARD KEANE 3 minute read

The National Party has failed to move with its own base in accepting the need for climate action — because it simply can't.

AMBER SCHULTZ 2 minute read

Tennis Australia won't be rolling out the red carpet for Margaret Court this year. Let's see if we can figure out why...

MICHAEL BRADLEY 4 minute read

Gable Tostee's threat to sue an online feminist group for defamation highlights the conflict between the principle of free speech and a person's right to protect their reputation.

BERNARD KEANE and GLENN DYER 3 minute read

Despite the government's claims that wages growth is picking up, it fell in the December quarter. Scott Morrison's 'quiet Australians' face years of minimal pay increases.

KISHOR NAPIER-RAMAN 4 minute read

The journal has been as dogged in its defence of Pell as it has been in its attacks on the legal system that saw him convicted.

BERNARD KEANE 4 minute read

While Scott Morrison attacks "unaccountable internationalist bureaucracies", Josh Frydenberg lauds international institutions. Is Australia multilateralist or not?

GUY RUNDLE 2 minute read

U2 are the latest herald of a once-great paper's destruction.