News update for Mon 23 June 2025

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

Jun 23, 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 the news and views you need to know today…

TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here

BREAKING NEWS: Australian government backs US strikes on Iran but urges ‘peaceful settlement from here’ - The Guardian

Why the US strikes on Iran are illegal and can set a troubling precedent - The Conversation

After the United States bombed Iran’s three nuclear facilities on Sunday, US President Donald Trump said its objective was a “stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror”.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed this justification, saying:

The president authorised a precision operation to neutralise the threats to our national interest posed by the Iranian nuclear program and the collective self-defence of our troops and our ally Israel.

Is this a legitimate justification for a state to launch an attack on another?

I believe, looking at the evidence, it is not.

Why Trump Bombed Iran, and What Happens Next - Lamestream Podcast

In this special episode of Lamestream, Os and Scott react to the news that the US has taken the extraordinary step of joining Israel's war against Iran by bombing the country. They discuss the details of the US attack, why Trump made the decision to support Israel and what could happen next. Plus, they look at how the media reacted to the bombing, including the bizarre decisions from the ABC to interview Scott Morrison, and examine how little expertise there is in Australian newsrooms on this issue.

Listen to the Lamestream Podcast

Also >

Trump Bombs Iran: What Happens Now? -The Rest Is Politics Podcast
Cameron Leckie on U.S. Imperialism, AUKUS, and Australia’s Path to Sovereignty - Bogan Intelligentsia Podcast
Shameless cheerleaders for the Iraq War roll out the same arguments 20 years later on Iran - Crikey (paywall)
Trump’s rap sheet is long, but this may be his worst crime - Geoffrey Robertson for The SMH/Age (paywall)

Amy Remeikis: If events around the world are sending you insane you’re not alone, and there’s a name for it - The New Daily

If you feel like you are going a little insane at the moment, you’re not alone.

Social media screens show the breakdown – an ad for something you don’t need, a cat video, aid workers talking about the devastation in Gaza and the lack of basic necessities, including infant formula.

Another cat, people screaming in Gaza, an influencer talking about meal replacements, a Palestinian child’s last breath, a satirical headline, an ad for weight loss, Israeli forces firing on and killing Palestinians as they search for ‘aid’.

To pretend this is not having a detrimental impact on the mental health of people is to pretend that this is normal, and everything is just business as usual.

There’s a word for that – ‘Hypernormalisation’.

Also read > ‘You don’t brag about wiping out 60‑70,000 people’: the men who dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki - The Guardian

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Robert Reich: The Dogs of War - What's really going on

Trump is being advised on Iran by a close-knit group of political advisers and ideologues, none of whom has deep knowledge of Iran or the Middle East. All are totally loyal to Trump. (They include JD Vance; Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Chief of Staff Susie Wiles; Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller; Steve Witkoff, Trump’s envoy to the Middle East who was formerly a luxury real estate developer; lieutenant general Dan (Razin’) Caine, now serving as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs; Erik (“The Gorilla”) Kurilla, the head of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM); John Ratcliffe, CIA director who served in the first Trump administration and was previously a Texas congressman and a mayor of a small town; and Steve Bannon.)

As a result, he’s probably getting decent advice about what’s good for Trump but not about what’s good for America or the world

Robert Reich: Palantir - The Most Dangerous Corporation in America

In March, Trump signed an executive order requiring all agencies and departments of the federal government to share data on Americans. To get the job done, Trump chose Palantir Technologies.

Palantir is now busily combining personal data on every American gleaned from the Department of Homeland Security, Defense Department, Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration, and Internal Revenue Service, including their bank account numbers and medical claims.

Thirteen former Palantir employees signed a letter this month urging the corporation to stop its endeavors with Trump. Linda Xia, a signee who was a Palantir engineer until last year, said the problem was not with the company’s technology but with how the Trump administration intended to use it. “Combining all that data, even with the noblest of intentions, significantly increases the risk of misuse,” she said.

"Admit it, and let's move on": Rex Patrick on Australia's East Timor spying - Michael West

It’s 21 years since the Howard Government spied on Timor-Leste’s sea boundary negotiation team, but the National Archives is refusing to even say whether they hold documents relating to the spying. Rex Patrick puts to bed any doubts about the fact that the spying took place.

In 2004, the Australian Secret Intelligence Agency spied on Timor’s sea boundary negotiating team, seeking to defraud the world’s newest and most impoverished country of its right to access and benefit from its own resources.

The spying occurred despite a 2002 written commitment by the Australian government to negotiate the sea boundary in good faith.

‘A very dangerous man’: How Alex Antic is shaping the Liberals - 7am Podcast

Having fought his way to the top of the South Australian Liberal ticket, Alex Antic is working to reshape the party as a radical outfit more interested in ideology than governing. The Liberal senator calls himself an irrelevant backbencher, but he’s installed allies, toppled moderates and is pushing the party’s politics to the edge. His playbook mirrors Donald Trump’s: dominate the narrative, fight the culture wars and never aim for the centre – and moderates fear he will keep the Liberal party unelectable. Today, special correspondent for The Saturday Paper, Jason Koutsoukis, on the rise of Alex Antic and the fight for the soul of the Liberal Party.

Listen to the 7am Podcast

Hannah Ferguson: Federal Labor approved Woodside's climate destroying extension - Cheek Media

This North West Shelf gas extension, part of the Woodside’s Burrup Hub mega-project, was approved under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) (‘EPBC Act’), which has no regulatory mechanisms which consider climate change or greenhouse gas emissions as factors in decision-making. Minister Watt acknowledged that the EPBC Act does not allow him to refuse a proposal based on this damage.

If you’re thinking, ‘this is absurd’, that’s because it is. It is also preventable, changeable, actionable. The EPBC Act is hopelessly insufficient for protecting our environment. The Albanese government prepared draft legislation in its last term, which would begin to reform the EPBC Act. However, that was stopped by WA Labor Premier Roger Cook who lobbied the government to drop the reforms.

Also read >

Murujuga traditional owners 'sidelined' in government's North West Shelf approval - ABC News
Budget reveals WA oil and gas royalties shrinking as North West Shelf earnings drop - The ABC
International survey shows 81% back forcing big oil to pay for climate destruction - Pearls and Irritations

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Cam Wilson: Teen social media ban tech trial is supposed to provide answers, not political cover - Crikey

The government’s age-assurance tech trial was supposed to provide solutions to a tough question. It seems designed to convince, rather than prove, that it works.

I spoke to some of the experts who’ve been advising the trial. If you look at the minutes of their meetings, they’ve been pretty forthright with their concerns throughout. In private, some are even more scathing.

Several have raised these issues outside of the meetings with the trial organisers. Some are considering quitting, worried about having their names associated with the report. These aren’t just people who’ve already been sceptical of the ban’s benefits, but include people who would love age-assurance technology to be implemented if it works.

Tim Dunlop: Deja vu all over again - The Future of Everything

Remember in the immediate aftermath of the 2025 election, the media filled up with endless stories about how in rejecting Peter Dutton we had rejected Donald Trump and all his works and pomps? We were told that Anthony Albanese and Labor—and therefore us—were the beneficiaries of a worldwide turn against Trumpism and that Labor had played it beautifully.

Well, played is right. We have been played. Because if anyone thinks our government is anything but all the way with Donald J, then I have a bridge you might be interested in.

Also read >

What was Australia’s role in Trump’s attack on Iran? You’re not allowed to know - Bernard Keane for Crikey (paywall)
Trump’s decision to bomb Iran exposes fissures in US politics - The Conversation
Trump steals the show but Bibi writes the script - David Hardaker for The Politics
Albanese Government endorses Trump’s ‘Red Wedding’ diplomacy - Bogan Intelligentsia

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