This week it landed like a bitter punchline: the first person to apparently lose their job in the month or so since Australia’s reckoning with misogyny and assault in toxic workplaces started — kicked off by Brittany Higgins’ accusations of being raped in Parliament, further fuelled by historical rape allegations against Attorney-General Christian Porter — was a woman, who protested her law firm taking on Porter as a client. Kishor Napier-Ramen gave an in-depth and nuanced look at the simmering office politics at legal behemoth MinterEllison which led to the departure of that woman, managing partner Annette Kimmitt.

Meanwhile, Michael Bradley gave us his insights from a week at the eye of a media storm, and what it told him about the (largely male) press gallery. Madonna King looked at a petition that outpaces the government on sexual assault action, and Georgia Wilkins at the glowing, glowing, gone coverage of Australian billionaire Lex Greensill.

Elsewhere, Chris Warren dissected the culture of fear around British tabloids, and Stephen Mayne marked Rupert Murdoch’s 90th birthday the only way he could — by telling him to retire.

KISHOR NAPIER-RAMAN 4 minute read

The mess at MinterEllison is part of a bigger problem rippling through workplaces all over Australia.

GEORGIA WILKINS 3 minute read

The AFR has been pumping up Lex Greensill's tyres for the past three years. That's now come crashing to a halt.

JANINE PERRETT 4 minute read

It's not just men who are out of sorts over the sudden sexual politics furore. Some senior feminists are finding it hard to empathise with their younger peers.

MADONNA KING 3 minute read

This is a national issue that demands leadership. And it’s highlighted, in spectacular fashion, the vacuum in that leadership that now exists in Canberra.

WILLIAM BOWE 3 minute read

The WA Liberals' plea for mercy in the state election may spare them the humiliation of losing opposition status to the Nationals, but little else. Will they go quietly into the night?

STEPHEN MAYNE 4 minute read

At 90, Rupert Murdoch is the longest-serving CEO in the world. And he's more powerful and hated than ever.

GEORGIA WILKINS 3 minute read

The former Nationals leader was once a fairly traditional moderate, but he's since taken a sharp right turn.

BERNARD KEANE 3 minute read

Wages growth is crucial to Australia's economic trajectory in coming years. Yet Scott Morrison completely ignored it in a facile speech to a business circlejerk.