We're thrilled with the number of people who've visited Guardian Australia this week, and how long you've spent reading, watching and talking to us about what we do. Thank you!
We've had some great exclusives:
• Firestorm, our incredible multimedia interactive of the bushfires in Tasmania in January, the first of its kind, which has caused waves worldwide.
• Our political editor, Lenore Taylor’s interview with Julia Gillard, in which the prime minister refused to commit to a future in politics after the election (later that day she did).
• The news that the mother of a 15-year-old shot dead by police in Melbourne is taking the case to the United Nations to force an overhaul of investigations.
We've had some great articles, reviews and blogs, including:
• David Marr's witness account of George Pell's testimony at the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child abuse.
• Katharine Murphy's unmissable Politics Live blog.
• Greg Jericho's first Grogonomics column, on the five myths of the Australian economy.
• Simon Jackman's first weekly blog analysing the polls, The Swing, on how bad the polls look for Labor.
• John Duerden on why the future of the Socceroos is in Asia.
• Brian Ritchie's review of Kraftwerk.
• What happens when AFL stars sing (not pretty), by Russell Jackson
• Van Badham on who should win her bogan vote.
• Anthony Loewenstein on the privatisation of immigration.
• The launch of our partnership with Indigenous X with an interview with Jason Glanville.
And we've had two global viral hits, on the prime minister's love of Game of Thrones (she then tweeted in its language, Dothraki, translated here), and the myth of the best female friend.
You told us that you thought we should call football football, and not soccer, so we've changed that (in almost all cases).
You've sent us your beautiful photos of the Australian autumn; you've engaged in our threads, followed us on Twitter, liked us on Facebook, signed up for our daily email. For us, it's been an incredible week and we couldn't have done it without you.
It’s early days for us; there’s lots more that we want to do, and this is just the beginning.
But how was it for you? What did you like? What didn't you like? What would you like us to do more, or less of? Tell us what you think, and Guardian journalists will respond.
Your questions and comments
@Shaun1 - we have comments open on many articles, so that readers can hace a conversation on the subject of the specific article.. there have been some brilliant interactions this way, often involving the writer of the article too, and sometimes its editor
I've mostly liked it, though it's a bit hard to sort domestic from international and some more state politics would be nice.
@onecuckoosnest - we're starting small but we hope to grow; so covering state politics in a very detailed way is not possible just yet. In the meantime we will cover important state events
A really good start. Looking forward to more. Are you going to be changing the electorate profiles on the side of political articles to Australian ones soon?
@Dylan Caporn - Thanks Dylan. We're going to have lots more coverage closer to the election, and we'll be signposting that from around the site.
A terrific start! The balance, independence and respect for reader intellect was clearly demonstrated in the writing and editing . No narrow agenda's and an obvious commitment to representing Australia for its diversity, emergence within Asia and optimistic outlook and place in the world. You even responded to the ways in which Australia is changing - be they big (an increasing intolerance for racism) or small (the embrace of the world's game of 'football'). Well done. The idea of comprehensive print journalism run by an independent charitable trust with a clear commitment to liberal democratic values is a revelation to Australian audiences. Long may it reign. Get an iPad version up and running and you have a guaranteed subscriber.
I'm grateful to the Guardian for the Oz Edition, and I love it. The only niggling issue I have is the whopper advertisement that occupies a big chunk of the screen at the top of the home page. Get out of my way, advertising!
I really want you to succeed but so far this week has just been like the SMH before it went off the rails. Now I'm happy enough to see the old SMH back but really the Guardian should be centre left, not centre right, and if you want to develop an audience there is a gigantic audience that is way way to the left of the ALP even if many of them hardly realise they are because it is so long since a mainstream media outlet put their feelings into words.
More straight down the line, just-the-facts reporting would be good and more genuinely leftish analysis - the political funding legislation for instance was ripe for that but it didn't really happen. So I'd give you a pass but not top marks, must try harder.
@Dustier - we really appreciate your feedback. We're very keen on facts too so will try to bring you more of those
Sadly looking like Sydney-centric Fairfax Lite. Catherine Deveny and David Marr! How about some new voices.
Given that you don't have any of the historical ties or cosey relationships with Australian institutions, have a go at some. Hold the AFL accountable - call the major parties hypocrites over funding - tell us we are a racist rabble. What have you go to lose?
Please.Finding myself going straight to the UK edition.
@Bastardo1 - Thanks for the feedback - it's early days yet and we're keen to feature new voices as well as established ones. Luke Pearson, Van Badham, Jason Glanville & Saman Shad this week just off the top of my head. Hope you find something more to your taste next week!
A great start and I'm sure it will become even better. However when I try to register for the daily email I keep keep getting an error message saying to "try again in a minute" - but I do so without success. Any idea why this is the case?
@clovisdm - There seems to be a problem with some versions of Chrome with the email sign up - are you using Chrome or a different browser?
Given the generally appalling quality of the press in Australia it is a welcome addition but I object to the automatic default to the Australian addition just because I'm opening the paper in Australia. Yes give me the option of the Australian edition but give me back the UK default.
@MotorcycleMan - Hi - you should be able to switch back to the UK version using the dropdown menu on the top left, and it ought to remember your selection. If it doesn't, let me know and I'll raise it with our help team.
Sorry to be a pain...but the reason I liked going to the guardian UK website was because I wanted to read their particular journalists and stories. Andrew Rawnsley for instance.....The Guardian Australia is simply the Sydney Morning Herald in disguise. I Know I can get some UK news on here, but generally I am bitterly disappointed.
Is there a way I can go to the UK website if I so desired? As presently I dont appear to have a choice....can whoever is responsible please give us the option of going to the proper UK website is we so desire?
One unhappy camper.
@lennypascoe - Hi. You should be able to switch back using the little drop-down menu at the far top left - it'll say AU at the moment, but you can pick from the UK or US editions, and it ought to remember your preference.
I think you've made a great start.
However, I was particularly disappointed by Simon Jackman's "Opinion polls tell us Labor can't win". The first minor issue was the quality of the graphs, which I think anyone would agree are not up to The Guardian's usual standard.
But the larger complaint I have is that while the piece provided some useful analysis of the polling figures, the overall tone was more suited to a News Corp or Fairfax publication, where the election result is reported as a fait accompli Coalition victory. Jackman even follows the trend of suggesting that the election is imminent ("There is less than sixteen weeks until the scheduled date of the federal election…"), whereas for most people, nearly four more months of de-facto campaigning seems like eternal damnation.
The news media does not get to elect the next government – the voters do. So while it's fine to report a predicted election result based on polling analysis, reporters should at least acknowledge that unforeseen events may occur; I for one do not appreciate the predicted outcome being reported as fact.
I welcome polling analysis, but would prefer more insight and less opinion.
I ahve always loved reading the Guardian, and all the great links to environmental, social and arts stories (and also excellent blogs) but would urge you to consider a more 'Australiasian' approach to this particular version or edition. The great weakness of both existing versions of the Guardian (UK and US), in my view, is the rather weak coverage of Asia, even if the Guardian UK has had some excellent stuff on India and occasionally on China. This coverage could be extended and included in this edition, and could be greatly strengthened here and would put the G apart from our mostly Ozzy centric local papers. It would also encourage a more loyal following, since many of us need to know what is going on in our big neighbours. Most Murdoch papers do Asia, including China, but not very well. This could become one of your strengths. Australia is much more conscious of our place on this side of the world now than it was even twenty years ago, and these linkages are constantly growing. While the Age dumbs down, this could be what sets you apart.
@ID928709 - thank you for your interesting comment. I agree that a more 'Australiasian' approach is a great idea and it's definitely something we're looking at for the longer term. In the meantime, we will be bringing you stories from our fantastic correspondents in India, Pakistan, China, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and the rest of the region: the Guardian is a news organisation which still invests in international news coverage, and it's very important to us.
I've got to leave the thread to join a call to London right now, but thank you for all your interesting and thoughtful comments. Best wishes KV
Sorry to be the voice of dissent but I hate it. I can understand the US edition to a degree but tbh I preferred the global strategy of previous years rather than this regional one which is being rolled out.
My major gripe is that guardian.co.uk redirects me to /australia. Yes, I can then click through to the UK but over a year that is a lot of time and a lot of reloads (ask Monbiot how much energy the www consumes). I don't want my IP impacting on what content I want to access: its Google's schtick but with news. As I said in another thread, if I want to access Le Monde I don't expect to be redirected to the Courier Mail. Users need the option to select a default version.
With regard to content: David Marr is everywhere and frankly I'm fed up with hearing his opinion (which is why I read the Guardian). The same with the rest of the small cabal of commentators who comprise Australia's op-ed pages.
Unless GMG is prepared to actually fund some full time journalists here to investigate some of the real issues which afflict this country but never get attention (and I could generate a substantial list) then you are going to be simply reheating and rehashing stories - as some of this weeks stories have already done eg poor regional health services.
Editorial direction is also important. I read the Guardian foremost to get an idea of what is going on the world. Yet, the Australian edition led consistently with Tony/Julia whereas the UK edition led with Syria. IMHO we Australians need less parochialism, not more; the comment about centre-left/centre-right is a good example of the Gordian knots this country is bound by.
@creekwhore - thanks for this. Anyone you'd like to read in the op-ed section in particular? I'm hoping to commission writers who might not necessarily be as "well known" as the people you mentioned, and I'm all ears. But we also have established writers who I think we could all hear more of, because they're great (Antony Loewenstein and Van Badham, published this week, come to mind).
@creekwhore - Ironically I'm finding the opposite! I still haven't seen anything by David Marr, and I would love to! As I say below, the whole thing is hard to navigate at the moment for an Australian...
Love it, but navigating is a bit tricky. Is there a letters page? The letters are one on my favourite Guardian interests, but I can't find the letters page.