Just a regular Joe (or Bill or ScoMo) - how our leaders work hard at being "ordinary"

Editor's note

Whether it’s talking about their kids, tweeting from the footy or mentioning cost of living pressures on mums and dads, Australian political leaders have long been asked to walk a fine line: to be at once ordinary and little bit extraordinary. Their determination to be “ordinary” and “relateable” extends to their names: right now we have ScoMo and Bill facing off but it could just as easily have been Scott Morrison and William Shorten.

As Frank Bongiorno writes, such matters have long been front of mind for our political leaders, from Stanley Bruce asking to be referred to as “Mr S.M. Bruce” to Paul Keating claiming to follow Collingwood after he became PM – a claim that fooled precisely no one.

(And let’s not get started on the rise and fall of Malcolm Turnbull’s leather jacket.)

Amanda Dunn

Section Editor: Politics + Society

Top story

Wes Mountain/The Conversation

Just a regular Joe (or Bill or ScoMo): how our leaders work hard at being ‘ordinary’

Frank Bongiorno, Australian National University

Australian prime ministers have long been interested in the names they go by, and how others should address them. But will the "ordinary Joe" approach pay off for ScoMo and Bill?

Arts + Culture

Mike Wheeler (Sam Smith) and his taxi driver (Sher Alam Miskeen Ustad) in Jirga.

The Australian war film Jirga is a lesson in Afghan forgiveness

Ehsan Azari Stanizai, National Institute of Dramatic Art

Jirga has a clear message to the Taliban, Westerners, and other Afghans - even in the horror of warfare you can’t escape moral accountability.

Business + Economy

The shocking truth about insurance. We pick bad policies even with good information

Justin Malbon, Monash University; Harmen Oppewal, Monash University

Product disclosure laws are meant to help insurance buyers make informed rational decisions. Our research shows more must be done to protect consumers.
Fees for no service: how ASIC is trying to make corporate misconduct hurt

Elise Bant, University of Melbourne

If ASIC succeeds in its action against two subsidiaries of the National Australia Bank, the rest of the industry will be put on notice.

Health + Medicine

Your Apple Watch can now record your ECG – but what does that mean and can you trust it?

Shane Nanayakkara, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute; Anna Beale, Monash University

The new Apple Watch is making waves for being able to record an electrocardiogram (ECG) and share it. An ECG can tell you what's going on with your heart.
How our residential aged-care system doesn’t care about older people’s emotional needs

Lee-Fay Low, University of Sydney

Older people living in residential aged care often have few friends, no meaningful interactions and feel socially isolated. Most people are depressed and some may no longer wish to live.

Cities
A community fix for the affordable housing crisis Peter Mares, Swinburne University of Technology Much of the innovation in providing social housing is coming from community housing providers around the country. And it's desperately needed given the state of housing inequality in Australia.

Environment + Energy
We’ve cracked the cane toad genome, and that could help put the brakes on its invasion Peter White, UNSW; Alice Russo, UNSW; Rick Shine, University of Sydney New genetic knowledge about cane toads could give us the knowledge we need to throw some more roadblocks in front of this persistent invader as it marches across Australia.

Science + Technology

‘Walking into a headwind’ – what it feels like for women building science careers

Robyn Moore, University of Tasmania; Meredith Nash, University of Tasmania

Parliament has a problem retaining experienced women – and so does science. Working in STEMM places women in an ideological dilemma that is exhausting to confront, and feels impossible to change.
It’s teamwork: how dolphins learn to work together for rewards

Stephanie King, University of Western Australia

Dolphin pairs had to learn to push buttons at the same time to get a reward. So what happened when one dolphin figured that out, while the other still had to learn?

Politics + Society

Dutton back in spotlight after split Senate report on au pair affair

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

The Greens will try to move a no confidence motion against the home affairs minister, but the numbers are not there for it to succeed - proving government members are united.
Strawberry sabotage: what are copycat crimes and who commits them?

Claire Ferguson, Queensland University of Technology

Copycat criminals are inspired by media depictions of previous crimes. But they also have to have a criminal mindset to start with.
Media Files: On the Serena Williams cartoon – and how the UK phone hacking scandal led to a media crackdown in South Africa

Andrew Dodd, University of Melbourne; Matthew Ricketson, Deakin University

The news of Mark Knight's Serena Williams cartoon broke while we were at a conference in South Africa. We showed it to some local academics to gauge their reactions. And journalist and researcher Glenda Daniels explains how the African National Congress government reacted to the UK phone hacking scandal.
Why New Zealand was the first country where women won the right to vote

Katie Pickles

125 years ago today women in New Zealand were the first to win the right to vote. Why did this global first happen in a small and isolated corner of the South Pacific?

Arts + Culture

Mother’s Ruin is a stellar, gin-soaked cabaret

Trevor Jones, Griffith University

This cabaret show about a beverage incorporates politics, feminism, history and some rousing singalong numbers.
As we celebrate the rediscovery of the Endeavour let’s acknowledge its complicated legacy

Natali Pearson, University of Sydney

As the first European seafaring vessel to reach the east coast of Australia, the Endeavour – much like James Cook himself – has become part of Australia’s national mythology.