Honi Soit

Fresh off a breakthrough run at South by Southwest (SXSW), where Rolling Stone named them “one of the best new acts this year”, Adelaide indie four-piece Swapmeet are riding a wave of momentum. Their debut album, Mount Zero, due for release on 17th July, has quickly become one of the year’s most highly anticipated releases. On an evening in early May, I found myself at my first Swapmeet gig. The show was sold out, and I didn’t have a ticket.

Jewish pro-Palestine student activist Yasmine Johnson told the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion that her Jewish identity demands her “to say never again anywhere, and right now that means opposing the genocide in Gaza.” The Royal Commission is holding its fourth hearing block in Melbourne from Monday, 13 July 2026 to Friday 17 July 2026.

Novelist Anna Dorn’s latest book is a humorous and unsettling look at pop stardom and the strange online communities that form around famous women, with notable nods to Taylor Swift, and most explicitly, Lana Del Rey. The book’s dedication “To Lizzy Grant” was an instant eyebrow raise. If you are unfamiliar, Lana Del Rey’s real name is Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, or Lizzy Grant.

First Light opens in near darkness. Several nuns move quietly through the candlelit corridors of a four-hundred-year-old convent in northern Luzon, following an unfamiliar sound before discovering a colony of bats nesting within its walls. The sequence evokes the grammar of Gothic horror: ancient architecture, flickering light and unseen presences lingering beyond the frame. Yet James J. Robinson’s debut quickly dispels the suggestion of the supernatural. The bats are incidental.

Content warning: This review contains discussions of domestic violence. The Removalists is a giant of Australian theatre, and an absolute monster of a production to tackle, yet UNSW’s Theatre Society (NUTS) production of the play did not disappoint. Despite the play’s approaching 55-year anniversary, The Removalists’ satirical depiction of police corruption and misogyny has never resonated more, considering the emergence of red pill content, the manosphere, and continued police brutality in 2026.

The National Indigenous Art Fair (NIAF) has entered a new chapter. Now in its seventh year, the fair ran from 3–5 July, coinciding with the beginning of NAIDOC Week. This year’s edition saw the relocation of the fair to The Cutaway, a large new venue in Barangaroo, located on unceded Gadigal land. The move marked a significant milestone for both the fair and its new home.

On Sunday, July 5th at 11 am, approximately 35 people rallied at Town Hall. The demonstration was organised by the Australian Uyghur Association (AUA). After an Acknowledgement of Country, the group held a minute of silence for persecuted Uyghurs, followed by speeches.

International students will face another increase in visa costs after the Federal Government raised the application fee for the Subclass 500 Student Visa from $2,000 to $2,500, prompting criticism from the National Union of Students (NUS), who state that  the decision will place further financial strain on students already struggling with rising living expenses.

An equally hilarious, progressive, and introspective film, The Invite marks Olivia Wilde’s latest directorial feature since Don’t Worry Darling in 2022. Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz, and Edward Norton join Wilde in the starring cast, an odd bunch that surprisingly harmonises naturally throughout the film. “One should always be in love. That is the reason one should never marry.” is a quote from Oscar Wilde that is displayed at the beginning of The Invite.

University of Wollongong Chancellor Michael Still resigned effectively immediately, days before he was due to give evidence at the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). The corruption probe is investigating whether Still influenced the award of a contract to consultancy firm Aspirall and failed to manage former interim Vice-Chancellor John Dewar’s conflict of interest. Dewar was, and remains, a partner at the consultancy firm KordaMentha.