The Nation

ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact Being a 24-year-old youngest of four, Dennis Schumann has more nieces and nephews than one could poke a stick at. While his older siblings are enjoying married life, punctuated with the joy of children, Dennis isn't ready for that type of commitment yet - and would rather spend his weekends putting things into his body...

ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact Getting separated from your friends, dealing with other friends who've bitten off more MDMA than they can chew and finding your way home through a sea of charged up backpackers and unincarcerated perverts -- these are just some of the reasons why Australia's chief scientific bureau has concluded that New Year's Eve is the...

26 December, 2016. 15:34 ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact Just appalled at what he's let himself become over the silly season, a West Betoota software developer casually began browsing through a list of local gyms - looking to choose one until he goes off the cardio rails again at the end of next month. Not wanting to lie to himself anymore,...

GREG PONCHO | Polite Socialist  | Contact Greens Leader Richard Di Natale has today called for Australian parents to reconsider giving their children coal for Christmas and has even asked state politicians in his home of Victoria to consider banning the practice. "It's definitely giving the wrong message," he says. "For one, these kids learn from a young age that even if they fail...

CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT Dodgy cousin, Bryce, has just made mention of something that the entire family had buried over ten years ago. It has been confirmed. While often known for getting a bit too excitable on the piss, Bryce has just torn open a dark family secret - one that the younger cousins don't know too much about. " remember when uncle...

ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact Departing Adelaide for the Paris of Australia, Dennis Rollins said he loves coming to Melbourne this time of year. Wife Donna left Fitzroy in the early 90's to take up a position cutting, trimming and processes hydroponic marijuana plants in a bikie-owned stash house in Tea Tree Gully in Adelaide's cosmopolitan northeast. Since marrying in 1995, they've...

CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT With all of her children in town, Betoota mum Sandra Pershorn (58) is finally content with the amount of alcohol in her shopping trolley. While not much of a bigger drinker most of the time, Mrs Pershorn tends to develop quite an interesting relationship with alcohol during Christmas. As like many Australians, she has trouble separating celebration and...

21 December, 2016  15:45 ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact Speaking candidly to The Advocate in the lead-up to the holiday break, local Betootan Buddhist Angyo Genryu wanted to wish the townsfolk a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - but paused suddenly to reflect on an aspect of his faith that's been bothering him for some time. "You know, I'm...

21 December, 2016. 13:23 ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact Down from eleven knife crime incidents last year to only seven, the cheery Brisbane satellite town of Ipswich has celebrated their annual Carols by Meth pipe festival overnight. To enormous fanfare, the Ipswich Regional Choir worked their way through a vast lexicon of traditional Christmas Carols as well as a few more...

20 December, 2016. 13:23 ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact As the old saying goes, the best parts of a film are often left on the cutting room floor. The same can be said for the latest advertisement produced by the NSW State Government to highlight the breathtaking activities Sydney has on offer in the post-lockout era. Shunning the old conventions of...