While Australia’s parliamentarians were frocking up for the Midwinter Ball last week, representatives of the nation’s authors, musicians and artists were in Canberra pleading for assurances that the government would not water down copyright laws, as part of a deal with giant tech firms to build $50bn worth of new data centres across the country.

The Academy Award-nominated animated film sails into its live action debut in Moana, directed by Tony- and Emmy-winner Thomas Kail (Hamilton).

This year’s festival celebrates some of the most vital and impactful storytelling in Australian literature, with a dedicated program of First Nations writers whose work spans historical fiction, picture books and Indigenous knowledge and whose voices are reshaping how this country understands itself.

Sunlight sparkles on the sea, where lazy swells gather momentum to form perfect waves before playing out onto the deserted shore.

On 13 July I am four years sober. I am one of a growing number of people who decided to quit alcohol. It’s one of the best decisions of my life. My only regret is I didn’t do it sooner.