News update for Fri 4 Oct 2024
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
Rachel Withers: Peace broker or capitulator? Why David Pocock is willing to go slow - Crikey
“My experience on the crossbench has been that when the crossbench has the balance of power, we end up with better legislation,” he says. “Sure, it may be slightly slower than the government would like, just ramming bills through. But I genuinely think we end up with policy that is better thought out, that reflects more what the majority of Australians want.”
Read more from Rachel Withers for Crikey (paywall)
Amanda Meade: Australia’s media concentration ranked second-worst in world as experts call for levy on tech firms - The Guardian
The communications, media and internet concentration in Australia report, which tracked the country between 2019 and 2022, found it has the second-highest media concentration in the world. Its newspaper sector alone is dominated by four companies who control 84% of the market.
The international study examined the economic dominance of key players in 15 markets across the world. Only Brazil had a higher media concentration than Australia.
Read more from Amanda Meade for The Guardian
Also read > ABC’s assembly of ableist tropes - The Shot
The right to protest and Peter Dutton’s strongman politics - The Full Story Podcast
After protests against strikes on Lebanon on the weekend included some people holding the Hezbollah flag, Peter Dutton suggested parliament should be recalled to enact new anti-terror laws that would cover such actions if it was not already illegal. Anthony Albanese and the Labor government accused the opposition leader of seeking to ‘raise the temperature’ of public debate over conflict in the Middle East. Then the debate turned to protests planned for 6 and 7 October after police in NSW attempted to block the pro-Palestinian rallies from taking place.Nour Haydar speaks to deputy editor Patrick Keneally and deputy editor Gabrielle Jackson about how Peter Dutton is dictating the terms of the political debate and the role of protests in our democracy
Listen to The Full Story Podcast
Gathering storm - Inside Story
As the risk of region-wide war grows in the Middle East, the United States looks increasingly like an ineffectual bystander.
This latest chapter in the Middle East’s bloody history raises a basic question: what is the end game? As Israel contemplates its response to Iranian missile attacks that have exposed the limitations of its air defence systems, the region teeters on the edge of a wider conflict. With Israeli bombing raids on strategic targets in Iran risking a much wider and destructive conflagration, the stakes have rarely, if ever, been higher.
Read more from Tony Walker for Inside Story
Pitfalls Australia’s offshore wind industry must avoid - Renew Economy
The Asia Pacific (APAC) offshore wind industry is starting to gain serious traction. To date, the industry has created over 40GW of offshore wind capacity and is predicted to acquire a whopping 215GW of capacity between 2024 and 2033, according to the Global Wind Energy Council’s latest estimates.
However, while countries like Taiwan, Japan, Korea and China have established themselves as major offshore wind centres, other key markets, such as Australia, India, Philippines and Vietnam, are still in the early stages of development – and taking a stop-start approach.
Also read > Gap in Albanese government’s new fuel efficiency rules means ‘biggest, dirtiest polluters’ exempt - The Guardian
Today’s cartoon by David Rowe for The AFR
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here
Ties that bind. Australians who serve the Israeli war machine - Michael West
According to PM Albanese and Foreign Minister Wong, “Australia is not a central player in the [Middle East] region,” but the ties between Israel and Australia are significant.
Australia is much more than a bit player in relations with Israel, as a closer examination of the extensive connections between the two countries illustrates. These links go under the radar of the general public most of the time.
Read more in Michael West Media
On nuclear weapons, how long will Australia continue to be out of step with its nearest neighbours? - Pearls and Irritations
Last week, Indonesia, our biggest and closest neighbour, deposited its instrument of ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) at the UN. This was a major international and regional development, a good-news story with a very positive impact on international security, but we’ve heard virtually nothing about it from our government and very little in the media.
It should be treated as major news.
Read more in Pearls and Irritations
Tara lost her teeth ‘one by one’ and can barely eat. She’s not alone, an Australian dental study says - The Guardian
Almost one in five adults delay or don’t see a dentist due to cost, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found.
Only one in two adults visited a dental professional in the last 12 months, the report said – a figure which had remained stable over the past 10 years.
These numbers echo the 2023 Senate inquiry into access to dental services, which found Australia has a two-tiered oral and dental health care system. “Around half of Australians have acceptable oral and dental health, and adequate access to services, and the other half do not,” the report said.
Also read > Grin and bear it? More than a third of lower income Australians are uncomfortable with how their teeth look - The Guardian
NSW will remove 65,000 years of Aboriginal history from its syllabus. It’s a step backwards for education - The Conversation
The NSW Education Standards Authority has announced that teaching of the Aboriginal past prior to European arrival will be excluded from the Year 7–10 syllabus as of 2027.
Since 2012, the topic “Ancient Australia” has been taught nationally in Year 7 as part of the Australian Curriculum. In 2022, a new topic called the “deep time history of Australia” was introduced to provide a more detailed study of 65,000 years of First Nations’ occupation of the continent.
Also read > ‘An idea whose time will come’: Megan Davis on the way forward after voice referendum loss - The Guardian
John Birmingham: Will it matter when the last newspaper dies? - Alien Sideboob
About a year ago, during a quick run for a caffeine hit, I spied an abandoned copy of The Australian in a café and picked it up out of morbid curiosity. I’ll never get back those two minutes of my life.
I don’t know if Rupe even owns newspapers in the US, but he famously owns most of the papers here, and it’s partly why I can’t find much sadness in my heart when I contemplate their inevitable demise.
The thing I loved died long ago.
Read more from John Birmingham for Alien Sideboob
Also read > Fake X accounts fool Sky News Australia – twice - The Guardian
A house divided - Capital Brief
With Labor's latest housing policy stuck in the Senate, how would the crossbench treat the issue if given the balance of power after the election?
While Albanese eventually declared he has “no plans” to make changes, a hung parliament, which is a growing likelihood, may eventually give him no choice. As Julia Gillard discovered, even ironclad guarantees can evaporate as prime ministers cobble together 76 lower house votes.
So where would the crossbench push on housing and tax reform if given the balance of power?
Read more in Capital Brief (paywall)
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Queensland authorities seeking 'further information' as it looks into retirement villa sales - ABC News
Glenn Druery encourages speculation Fatima Payman will launch her own political party - The Guardian
How can we improve public health communication for the next pandemic? Tackling distrust and misinformation is key - The Conversation
Labor to introduce public school funding bill after states ignore ‘arbitrary’ deadline - Crikey (paywall)
Protesters wouldn’t have to fight for police permission if NSW had less ‘undemocratic’ system, expert says - The Guardian
Exclusive: States abandon federal terrorism ‘clusterf--k’ - 7am Podcast
How is the NDIS changing? - The Daily Aus Podcast
Musk’s millions in rightwing gifts began earlier than previously known – report - The Guardian
Will the January 6 evidence against Trump sway American voters? - The New Daily
Anti-corruption officers raid Parliament House but remain tight-lipped on target of ‘ongoing investigation’ - The Guardian
Is big tech harming society? To find out, we need research – but it’s being manipulated by big tech itself - The Conversation
Teachers will keep quitting - The Last Place on Earth
Seven in ten Australian women say they have insufficient education on contraception - Women’s Agenda
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here
Share your views on Australia’s media landscape through TrueNorth’s short survey
You’re up to date for Friday the 4th of October. 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