News update for Fri 14 March 2025
Your trusted guide to the top independent news and views of the day...
Welcome to your TrueNorth news update where every weekday afternoon we share curated articles from Australia’s independent news media sector.
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Scroll down for today’s news and views…
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here
Watch The Sunday Shot - LIVE STREAMED - this Sunday morning at 9am here - with Jo Dyer, Dave Milner, Ben Eltham, Claire Connolly and The Tally Room’s Ben Ruae
Cooler heads must prevail with Trump – Australia shouldn’t give up on the ‘special friendship’ - The Conversation
US President Donald Trump appears to have abruptly upended America’s most trusted alliances with European countries since taking office just two months ago. But are we misreading the cues?
In addition to putting pressure on Ukraine to secure a deal to end the war, he has suggested the US may no longer honour its commitment to protect NATO allies that aren’t meeting the bloc’s guideline of spending at least 2% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defence spending.
These tough tactics have had some results. European countries have committed to spending beyond 2%, as Trump has demanded.
Also >
The real impact of Trump’s tariffs on Australia - 7am Podcast
Cowardly Labor wants to bribe Trump — but who the hell gave them permission? - Crikey (paywall)
Like it or not, Donald Trump is now embedded in Australian politics. Both sides are struggling to deal with it - Michelle Grattan for The Guardian
Not yet time for a Plan B. Australia must stick with AUKUS – for better or worse - The Conversation
Does Peter Dutton have a policy problem? - Full Story Podcast
As the shadow election campaign marches inexorably towards the official one, Peter Dutton and the Coalition have started to face scrutiny. The opposition leader and his team keep contradicting themselves, ‘misspeaking’ and backtracking. Reged Ahmad talks to editor-in-chief Lenore Taylor, head of newsroom Mike Ticher and national news editor Jo Tovey about if Peter Dutton’s missteps and the Coalition’s policy problems will start to add up in the minds of voters.
Listen to the Full Story Podcast
Also >
Peter Dutton’s work from home policy has many in Coalition ranks worried - The Guardian
Peter Dutton on why he’s not Australia’s Trump – ‘I’m my own person’ - Politics Podcast with Michelle Grattan
‘Bad’ hate crime laws quickly passed after terror ‘con job’ must be reversed, crossbenchers insist - The Guardian
Flip-flop and it don’t stop: Peter Dutton’s approach to policymaking - Crikey (paywall)
John Menadue: Dutton has little faith in Medicare. Like Trump, he prefers culture wars - Pearls and Irritations
Peter Dutton does not really believe in Medicare. He is more interested in Trump-type culture wars than the health of Australians.
He matched the $8.5 billion the Australian Government pledged for Medicare, not because he cared about the health of Australians but because it was a way to neutralise government Medicare policy.
He refuses to come up with a credible health policy.
It is the same Dutton-type approach on health as it is on China. Change your mind and your policy if it is politically advantageous.
Read more from John Menadue for Pearls and Irritations
“Fossil fuel behemoth:” The climate cost of Australia’s bipartisan addiction to coal and gas - Renew Economy
Political bipartisanship across successive Australian governments has overseen a massive expansion of oil, gas and coal production despite promises to act on climate change over the last three decades, a new report suggests.
The report, Exporting Harm: The Climate Toll of Australia’s Fossil fuel Expansion, by the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, a diplomatic and civil society campaign to create a treaty to stop fossil fuel exploration, expansion and set up a managed phase-out of oil, gas and coal use, to examine Australia’s track record on climate change.
Also read >
Regulatory safety nets not fit for purpose as energy consumers fall victim to rapacious utilities - Renew Economy
Leonardo DiCaprio slams Australian government over mine expansion approval - Women’s Agenda
Girls and women most impacted by a rise in Islamophobic incidents in Australia: New research - Women’s Agenda
Islamophobic incidents in Australia have more than doubled in the past two years, with girls and women disproportionately targeted, new research shows.
Girls and women accounted for three quarters of all incidents, including physical attacks, verbal harassment and rape threats, and they were a third more likely to be physically attacked than boys and men.
These alarming statistics have emerged from the fifth Islamophobia in Australia report, looking at incidents between January 2023 and December 2024.
Also read > Islamophobia is on the rise across Australia, new report finds - ABC News
Elon Musk’s Starlink could be used to transmit Australian election voting results | Australian election 2025 - The Guardian
The Australian Electoral Commission is planning on using Elon Musk’s Starlink services as back up for transmitting voting results information in the upcoming federal election.
In a contract published late last year, the AEC appointed Telstra responsible for the agency’s fixed line and Starlink services until mid-2027, in a deal worth $1.38m. A spokesperson for the AEC confirmed Starlink could be used in the upcoming election for sensitive election data.
Read more from Josh Taylor for the Guardian
Today’s cartoon by David Rowe
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here
Join the new Boiling Point community - where we’re growing a group of politically informed Australians in the lead up to the 2025 federal election. See details and sign up here.
John Birmingham: Fascism? You're soaking in it - Alien Sideboob
This week just gone might be the week we look back on in years and say, “That’s when Peter Dutton lost it.”
Until now, I had good folding money on the horror spud winning in April or May because I hate myself and I hate life, but the median Australian voter seemed to be increasingly enthused by the prospect of electing a semi-sentient root vegetable that learned to mimic two or three basic human emotions from watching VHS tapes of 1980s action villains.
But then—jump scare!—Donald Trump emerges out of the local billabong like a bloated orange tentacle monster to ravage the humble village folk of Australia’s aluminium cottage industry.
And the talking tuber blames Albo.
Read more from John Birmingham for Alien Sideboob
Also read >
What to Expect When You’re Expecting Catastrophe - Professor Timothy Snyder
Trump's anti-democratic mindset mirrors that of Hitler - Independent Australia
Australia’s top universities say U.S. funding at risk due to Trump crackdown - Reuters
Australia’s top universities said on Thursday the Trump administration had cut U.S. funding to some of its researchers and asked others who receive U.S. government financial support to prove their work was aligned with American interests.
The Group of Eight, a coalition of Australia’s most research-intensive universities, said the action could jeopardise crucial medical and defence research in the country.
Some researchers who receive funding from U.S. federal agencies had been asked to assess their work's compliance with U.S. President Donald Trump's agenda in a 36-point questionnaire, said the universities.
The survey included questions on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that the Trump administration has been seeking to end. In some cases, recipients were only given 48 hours to respond, the Group of Eight said.
Exclusive: Keir Starmer talks Trump and Russia with The News Agents - The News Agents Podcast
Keir Starmer has spoken exclusively to The News Agents in Hull on a big day in both domestic and international politics. In his speech today, the Prime Minister pledged to abolish the biggest quango in the world - scrapping NHS England, the body which manages the day to day running of the health service. In the wide ranging speech in Hull, the PM lamented a state over stretched, inefficient and not delivering security for Brits. As he spoke, Russia came forward to publicly reject the ceasefire proposals worked out by President Trump and agreed by President Zelenskyy. Jon and Lewis got his first reaction to that news - and discussed his vision for a smaller state.
Listen to The News Agents Podcast
Your rights are being eroded so Israel can commit genocide without criticism - The Shot
As sure as the sky being blue and Elon Musk being a waxy, heinous prick, Israel is colonising Palestine. That is not an anti-semitic slur, nor should it be a controversial thing to say. It’s not even an opinion. It is a statement of historical, political and cultural fact. It is the truth.
And though it appears to matter less than it once did, truth does still matter. The further we move away from it, the more danger we find ourselves in. Israel supporters are free to argue in favour of colonisation using political, racist, religious, or even moral arguments, but to deny that this is happening at all is ahistorical. It is cognitive dissonance. And it is an assault on the truth of this world. Yet somehow stating this reality is not without consequence, not without risk.
Read more from Dave Milner for The Shot
Australia goes backwards on First Nations justice - The Justice Map
The disproportionate incarceration of First Nations people is getting worse despite governments at all levels committing to change.
In 2019, the federal, state and territory governments committed to reduce the number of First Nations people in prison by at least 15% by 2031.
In the six years since this commitment, the number of First Nations people in prison in Australia has increased by 30%.
Read more from Denham Sadler for The Justice Map
David Hardaker: A bonfire of the vanities of mad King Donald - The Politics
It's all slash and burn for the shambolic US president — and the world is feeling the heat.
I’d like to begin the weekly wrap with a shout-out to George, an old acquaintance who contacted me last year after decades to tell me how disappointed he was that I had succumbed to TDS. As purveyors of conservative media will know, this stands for Trump Derangement Syndrome and is intended as an insult to the snowflakes among us who can’t cope with the thought of an (ahem) disrupter in the White House. If you’re still reading, George, how do you feel now?
Read more from David Hardaker for The Politics
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Quick Links…
A Letter to Us All: What Kind of Democracy Do We Want? - Sue Barrett
Rape is a theoretical Crime: Part 5 - Justice in the justice system - Jane Gilmore
UN experts accuse Israel of 'genocidal acts' and sexual violence as a war strategy in Gaza - ABC News
Palestinian speech and the trials of Mark Dreyfus - Pearls and Irritations
Pay increases for NSW nurses not nearly as big as claimed - AAP
Jacinta Price's Kempsey pub visit called off after protest by local Elders - News Of The Area
Government funding increases entrench private school resource advantage - Pearls and Irritations
US influencer who snatched a baby wombat and posted the video online has visa reviewed - ABC News
Maybe the inflation surge didn’t happen the way we’ve been told - Pearls and Irritations
Why a former president was arrested for his war on drugs - The Daily Aus
The rate of sports betting has surged more than 57% – and younger people are betting more - The Conversation
Punter's Politics takes on the WA petrostate - The Last Place on Earth Podcast
Government funding increases entrench private school resource advantage - Pearls and Irritations
Australians are obsessed with SUVs and huge utes, but experts say they are making our roads deadlier - The Guardian
Price fails to declare directorship related to family trust, blames ‘oversight’ - Crikey (paywall)
Australia’s sick housing joke - Dollars and Sense Podcast
Politics is Clive Palmer’s ‘golf’ – and he’ll keep pouring money into it as long as his wife will let him - The Guardian
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here
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You’re up to date for Friday the 14th of March. See you on Monday!
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here
Join the new Boiling Point community - where we’re growing a group of politically informed Australians in the lead up to the 2025 federal election. See details and sign up here.
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