News update for Fri 7 Feb 2025

Your trusted guide to the top independent news and views of the day...

Feb 07, 2025

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

BREAKING NEWS: Follow the Antionette Layoff/ABC hearing

Tim Dunlop: The sound of three hands clapping - Further comments on why we need to rid ourselves of two-party politics - The Future of Everything

As I discussed in Voices of Us, there are more and more examples of state capture, of government departments and agencies, as well as the major parties, acquiescing to the demands of large players in various sectors at the expense of the common good. We see the politicisation of public services so that, at least at the SES level, managers and department bosses happily fall into line with their political masters, the most egregious example being #robodebt. We see the mainstream media either playing the dead bat of false balance or openly allowing themselves to be agents of political mischief (again, see the report of the Royal Commission into #robodebt).

You can certainly make the case that, despite this convergence, a Dutton-LNP government would be worse than an Albanese-Labor government—and I would agree—but this lesser-evil position misses a much bigger point.

We no longer have to choose between these two options.

Feel the liberation of that!

Also read > Teal election pivot is a sign of taxing times - The AFR (paywall) - It says something about the dire state of the economic policy debate when the teal Independents have more sensible things to say about tax than either major party.

Parliament is back. Trump Trump Trump Trump Trump - 7am Podcast

Peter Dutton is making a bold move – aligning himself with Donald Trump. Dutton’s colleagues have been quick to draw the comparison, pitching him as strong and decisive. But it’s a political strategy not without its risks. Trump’s return to the White House is already causing global instability, from a new trade war with China to extraordinary announcements on Gaza. With the federal election looming, Dutton is hoping a strongman approach will resonate with the electorate during a time when cost of living is the priority. Today, columnist for The Saturday Paper, Paul Bongiorno on how the chaos in the US encroached on the first sitting week of the year – and how both leaders are coping.

Listen to the 7am Podcast

It’s official: Australia’s ocean surface was the hottest on record in 2024 - The Conversation

Australia’s sea surface temperatures were the warmest on record last year, according to a snapshot of the nation’s climate which underscores the perilous state of the world’s oceans.

The Bureau of Meteorology on Thursday released its annual climate statement for 2024 – the official record of temperature, rainfall, water resources, oceans, atmosphere and notable weather.

Among its many alarming findings were that sea surface temperatures were hotter than ever around the continent last year: a whopping 0.89°C above average.

How Australia’s CANDU Conservatives Fell in Love with Canadian Nuclear - Drilled

Ontario, Canada is the only place in the world to tear out wind turbines and embrace nuclear power. Australia’s conservatives have been taking notes.

If there is a Holy Land for nuclear energy, Australian Shadow Climate Change and Energy Minister, Ted O’Brien, seems to think it's Ontario, Canada.

Within a convergence of pro-nuclear activism, internationalist conservative political ambition and new media ecosystems, companies within Canada’s nuclear industry have also been positioning themselves to take advantage should the prevailing wind change in Australia.

Josh Butler: Is Albanese really a ‘pale imitation’ of Dutton on national security? The Coalition wants you to think so - The Guardian

Labor has found itself once again dancing to the tune of Peter Dutton’s drumbeat on national security issues. And the wider Coalition is cheering on the show.

First, Labor executed an abrupt U-turn on not only its own legislation to further criminalise hate crimes, but also its own longstanding party policy against mandatory minimum sentencing.

Then the shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, issued transcripts from his morning interviews, claiming victory as he listed one of the topics of his discussions as “Labor capitulates to the Coalition’s demands on tougher laws”.

Also read >

Australia morphs to whatever size suits the moment - Polly Hemming for Crikey (paywall)
Trump has thrown out the global economic playbook. It’s time for Australia to write its own rules - The Guardian

Misleading and false election ads are legal in Australia. We need national truth in political advertising laws - The Conversation

The highly pertinent case of a little-known independent candidate in the Victorian seat of Wannon has exposed a gaping hole in Australia’s electoral laws, which allow for misleading political advertisements in the lead-up to an election campaign. It’s all entirely legal and is already being exploited to try to shape the outcome of the coming federal election.

Conservative activist group Advance Australia has widely distributed digitally altered flyers attacking independent Alex Dyson, who is challenging senior frontbencher Dan Tehan.

John Menadue: The weaponising of ‘antisemitism’ is to hide the genocide - Pearls and Irritations

As expressed in the UN General Assembly, the vast majority of the world’s governments and peoples agree that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and now the West Bank. The main supporters of Israel — the US, Canada, Australia and NZ, the settler colonial states — have all expropriated their indigenous populations and find little disagreement with Israel doing the same.

Only the US veto in the Security Council prevents full disclosure of the barbarity of the IDF, supported by the people of Israel. We have been lied to time and time again that the IDF was only targeting Hamas and not civilians.

Would a U.S. "take over" in Gaza be legal? - The Daily Aus Podcast

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced plans for an American “take over” in the Gaza Strip. The proposal, which would move around two million Palestinians to other countries, has drawn criticism from world leaders and the United Nations. In today's deep dive, we’ll unpack what Trump said, what the international reaction has been like, and whether or not his plan could, or will, actually happen.

Listen to The Daily Aus Podcast

Also read > World media lambasts Trump’s Gaza proposal, but News Corp praises idea as ‘worth a try’ - Amanda Meade for The Guardian

Joel Jenkins: No one feels safe in Zionist Australia - The Shot

A well respected sports journalist has been sacked from his position at SEN for retweeting factual posts about Israel’s assault in Gaza. In a land where sport is a religion, Peter Lalor is regarded as one of the best cricket commentators in the country, standing on his own as one of the old guard, highly respected among his peers.

Not enough is being said about the employment, reputation, and financial safety of Australian citizens who hold views counter to narratives hammered into polite society by powerful Zionists promoting an inhumane agenda on behalf of a belligerent foreign nation. For the crime of expressing compassion over a genocide, employers now terminate their employees.

Also read > My grandmother watches with dismay as Australia’s response to Trump’s Gaza comments is tepid at best - The Guardian

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This is where Peter Dutton sketched his blueprint for election victory - Crikey

The opposition leader never thought he'd walk come across a battle-tested strategy that could see him succeed in the upcoming election.

For Peter Dutton, a seasoned performer, depravity is always the feature — never the exception. He has spent decades exploring its boundaries and the scope of its utility.

During the Voice referendum, he was a defining factor in its defeat, deftly flexing the lessons acquired from a career of punching down and failing forward. Although the Voice to Parliament was designed to appease the constitutional conservatives and further entrenched our structural inferiority, Dutton chose self-gain over bipartisanship, blindsiding his colleagues when he confirmed the Liberal Party would campaign for No.

The opposition leader knew it was the prime setting for a bald-faced opportunist to claw back some ground politically.

The Year in Media Transition - Double Take Podcast

Privacy and media ethics specialist Sacha Molitorisz chats with the ACMA’s former Deputy Chair Creina Chapman and ABC's former Media Watch host Paul Barry on the state of news media in Australia and who should regulate it - their answers might surprise you!

Listen to the Double Take Podcast

The Weight of the World: Addressing Moral Injury in an Age of Outrage - Sue Barrett

If you feel the world is too painful right now, with so many things being up for grabs and certain people behaving very badly, you are likely experiencing a form of moral injury. It’s that deep, gut-wrenching feeling when you witness blatant harm, corruption, and injustice—and no one seems to stand up against it. It’s not just about sadness or frustration; it’s the psychological distress that arises when our sense of what is right and just is violated.