Welcome to Crikey Weekender.

This week the question of which Australian institutions will fall in the great COVID-19 disruption turned to something grimmer: which will survive? And more importantly, which ones would we want to survive in their present form?

What’s now clear is that those industries suddenly requiring lifelines — from higher education to aviation — will look altogether different at the end of the crisis, and in some cases they must.

Elsewhere, our writers looked at conservative ideologues’ disturbing calls for a return to business-as-usual, continued their ongoing pre-post mortem the US’ economic free-fall, and continued to pile pressure on the NSW government over its role in the deadly disaster of the Ruby Princess.

So many questions, so few weekends.

BERNARD KEANE 4 minute read

The pandemic has exposed the flawed funding model on which universities relied. A major reassessment, rather than a return to business-as-usual, is needed for a post-virus world.

DAVID HARDAKER 5 minute read

As more and more questions emerge each day, the NSW government's 'powerful and independent' inquiry into the Ruby Princess debacle must look at the role of the government itself.

KISHOR NAPIER-RAMAN 4 minute read

Right now we're doing everything we can to fight the physical impact of the coronavirus. But what about the effect it's having on our mental well being?

KISHOR NAPIER-RAMAN 4 minute read

The government's coronavirus wage subsidy package fails to take into account the fragmented nature of employment for an increasing number of people in this country.

STEPHEN BROOK 4 minute read

The passing of Tim Brooke-Taylor offers a chance to reflect on just how influential the comedy of The Goodies was on a generation of Australians.

MICHAEL BRADLEY 4 minute read

Giving the authorities the ability to track our movements to help fight the spread of COVID-19 seems to make a lot of sense. But taking back our privacy when the crisis is over may not be so easy.

ADAM SCHWAB 4 minute read

There are ways the government could easily account for the $130 billion JobKeeper package — and create a fairer tax system in the process.

TIM 2 minute read

After spending tens of thousands of dollars to study and live in Australia, an international student explains why he refuses to go home.

JASON MURPHY 5 minute read

Can we really put a cost on human life? The answer is yes, and it happens more often than you think — as the pandemic has proved.

MICHAEL BRADLEY 4 minute read

Australia is in a war, but conservative reactionaries only want to know when their favourite restaurants will be reopening.

GLENN DYER and BERNARD KEANE 4 minute read

More data from the US reveals that the American economy is facing a truly extraordinary contraction, as major banks make provision for tens of billions of dollars in bad debt.

BERNARD KEANE 4 minute read

For all the claims that the world has changed, the same patterns of tribalism, self-interest and abuse of power are persisting through the pandemic.

KISHOR NAPIER-RAMAN 4 minute read

The coronavirus crisis has smoothed over some political divisions, but under the surface-level bipartisanship, fault lines remain.

BERNARD KEANE 3 minute read

It is crucial that Australia's domestic aviation market continue to access the benefits of competition. If Virgin is allowed to go under, that can only be achieved through strict regulation.