When a politician says ‘Trust me’, it already sounds like the end of a bad joke. But this—this was something else. After weeks of a rolling snafu whose signature aspect has been parliamentarians fucking up, here was a parliamentarian saying it was unfair to assume that parliamentarians might have fucked up.

Embrace Australia’s finest writers

Meanjin is open again for subscriptions! Thank you all for your patience as we’ve undertaken the transfer of the journal to its new home.

The next edition of Meanjin will be available from December 2026. Information on the purchase of single editions – in print or ePub formats – will be available closer to time.

To stay in touch with our latest news, please sign up here.

Your account

An Englishman, a Kiwi and an Australian walk into a Parliament …

Embrace Australia’s finest writers

Search Meanjin