Cathy McGowan had the edge in her electorate thanks to her following basic rural etiquette: show up, and be nice

The chief judge in the wool-classing division at our local agricultural show hails us excitedly as we come through the main gates. “When you get a chance, get down and see the entries in the wool pavilion,” he says. “They’re just top quality ... …

“Mum says you better get inside right now.” Louise is already getting ready for the photo: she has one big hot-roller pinned to the top of her head and two small ones at each side, and she’s applied the skin-tinted Clearasil to the faint outbreaks …

Steven Amsterdam’s award-winning 2009 debut, Things We Didn’t See Coming, heralded the arrival of a richly comic, original and utterly assured new voice. In his second book, Amsterdam again deploys a discontinuous narrative technique, presenting …

Craig and Jarrod Boord are in their studio showing me footage of their film, Fast, Feathered and Fearless – a full-length feature documentary about pigeon racing. Onscreen, a middle-aged man is standing in front of a pigeon loft. “My name …

Rhys Gloury is checking through some large clip-lock plastic storage boxes in his shed. Except for the neatly symmetrical holes drilled in their lids, the stacks of boxes could just as well contain old tax returns. “Here we go,” he says, lifting …

It’s one minute past midnight and we are gathered, hushed, in our thousands across the country, trembling in anticipation like a coven of die-hard cultists. Or perhaps that should be Twi-hard, because the altar at which we are here to worship is one …

Perry Bros Circus has set up again at the showgrounds in town, its familiar red and yellow striped tent rising like a rare winter flower behind the Saturday footy match. Its two elephants, Minyak and Saigon, don’t perform anymore; they’re just for …

Once Kevin Rudd’s $10.4-billion bonus found its way into Australians’ bank accounts, malls and mega-marts across the land were reportedly swamped with eager spenders in the days leading up to Christmas. Sure, we grasped the implications of the global …

Dave's late for the morning rehearsal because he has to shift a fallen branch off a fence in the far paddock before any cattle escape onto the road, but finally his ute pulls up outside. He kicks off his boots and comes in brushing dirt and bark off his …