News update for Mon 8 April 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 selected 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
Why some Australians listen when Senate becomes a forum for conspiracies - The New Daily
When politicians stand up and use the Senate as a forum for conspiracy theories, worryingly, some Australians listen.Pauline Hanson, railing against the Albanese government’s digital ID bill last week, claimed it was a “step towards the 15 minute cities already being imposed in the United Kingdom,” which is “heavily penalising anyone trying to travel outside their community”.Dr Naomi Smith, a digital sociologist at the University of the Sunshine Coast, said that politicians are helping legitimise conspiracy theories by putting them into the parliamentary record.
Read more from Parker McKenzie for The New Daily
The fossil fuel approval that wasn’t published - 7am Podcast
The Albanese government was elected on a sense of optimism for the climate movement. But nearly two years later, there’s a growing sense of unease from the climate movement and traditional owners towards the government in Canberra. So, what’s going on? How has this distrust emerged? And will it practically change how we all live with the consequences of climate change?
Peter Dutton’s nuclear power policy is a ‘suicide note’ - Pearls and Irritations
Peter Dutton thinks the Coalition is on a winner by promoting nuclear power but unbiased opinion polls find that support for nuclear power in Australia falls short of a majority, that Australians much prefer renewables, and most do not want nuclear reactors built near where they live.
Read more in Pearls & Irritations
Australia’s big supermarkets could face penalties of up to $10m under proposed mandatory code - The Guardian
Australia’s big supermarkets could face hefty fines as part of a federal government plan to make the grocery code of conduct mandatory and give it teeth.A report ordered by the government – to be released on Monday – warns changes are needed to redress “a heavy imbalance in market power between suppliers and supermarkets in Australia’s heavily concentrated supermarket industry”.
Also read > Labor’s supermarket code of conduct will likely inflate grocery prices - Bernard Kean for Crikey
How do we protect students from ballooning HELP debts? A fixed maximum indexation rate would help - The Conversation
The indexation of student debt is arguably the federal government’s biggest political problem when it comes to universities where community pressure is building.An online petition started by independent MP Monique Ryan is calling for a change to the way debts are indexed. It has amassed more than 230,000 signatures. Other independent, Greens, Liberal and backbench Labor MPs are also raising the issue in federal parliament.
Cartoon by Jon Kudelka for The Saturday Paper
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here
‘Cried real tears that day’: How Centrelink’s poor service unfairly impact women - Women’s Agenda
The latest figures show Services Australia including Centrelink and Medicare have unacceptable levels of unanswered calls, call wait times and back logs of claims adding to the long list of stressors families face on a daily basis. Women, who are more likely to manage the household, are often the ones accessing welfare and health services.
The voters who brought you Scott Morrison want stronger anti-corruption protections - Crikey
Voters in Scott Morrison’s former electorate of Cook want a stronger anti-corruption watchdog and a ban on deceitful political ads, new polling has found.
A voter survey commissioned by the Australia Institute ahead of Saturday’s by-election found 84.6% of respondents were in favour of truth in political advertising laws being put into place before the next federal election. Seven in 10 respondents also said the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) should be able to hold public hearings under any circumstances, rather than just in exceptional cases.
Read more from Anton Nilsson for Crikey
The fog of politics - The Politics
The Liberal Party is rubbishing our own government’s attempts to seek accountability for the death of an Australian, even if it means standing with a foreign regime that Australians are increasingly appalled by? It’s clear that the Israeli government, having been allowed to kill civilians with impunity over the past six months, has lost sight of what is proportionate and reasonable. And so too has the Liberal Party, which is increasingly willing to defend the indefensible in the fog that is Australian federal politics.
Read more from Rachel Withers for The Politics
How to secure an exclusive interview with a credibly accused rapist - The Shot
We may have had all our worst fears realised about the dark depths commercial TV is prepared to plumb to chase questionable stories from demonstrable dickheads, but their sordid contribution to the Lehrmann imbroglio – whilst illuminating – has little bearing on the key defences of truth and reasonableness being relied on by Channel 10 and Lisa Wilkinson.
Read more from Jo Dyer for The Shot
News and views from the weekend…
Why is it legal for politicians to lie? - The Saturday Paper
The loss of faith in politicians and the political system has been the most conspicuous aspect of the hollowing out of democracy in this country. The time to fix it is now – with possibly less than a year before the next federal election – by attempting to restore trust with a program of genuine political reform.
Read more from John Hewson for The Saturday Paper
Seven West Media has even bigger problems than Bruce Lehrmann - The New Daily
It may seem unlikely given the attention it’s received this week but Channel Seven has much bigger problems than the reputational damage resulting from its Lehrmann/Spotlight dirty linen being hung out in the Federal Court.
The Kerry Stokes-controlled Seven West Media (SWM) is a company that largely exists on the basis of its intangible assets
Read more from Michael Pascoe for The New Daily
A new crisis in Gaza, fair politics, immigration law and Liberal’s preselection fail - New Politics
In this episode Eddy and David explore a series of pressing global and domestic issues that have unfolded recently. They start with a development in Gaza, where the killing of Zomi Frankcom, an Australian working for the food charity World Central Kitchen, has sparked international controversy. Initially attributed to Hamas by Israeli forces, evidence later revealed the Israeli Defense Forces’ actions were responsible.
Listen to the New Politics podcast
Australia claims it is a multicultural success story. So why does it want to use godlike laws to ringfence the nation? - The Guardian
Australians are rightly proud that the White Australia policy, once described as our Magna Carta, withered and finally died 50 years ago.
But the constitutional power to deport “aliens” that gave the exclusionary policy its real clout endures.
The parliament, as it has done repeatedly since 1901, is again tinkering with laws to better “ring fence” the nation. This month yet another Australian government will turn itself in knots as it seeks to convince the high court that it can detain unverified refugees who fail to cooperate with their involuntary removal.
Read more from Julianne Schultz for The Guardian
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Alan Kohler: For a local solar industry to restart there would have to be tariffs - The New Daily
Hiking international student visa fees is on the table – but could it also pay your rent? - The Guardian
Propaganda Blitzkrieg: Israel followed Australia’s textbook on how to respond to war crimes allegations - Michael West Media
“Massive new industry:”Fortescue opens 2GW factory to build its own hydrogen electrolysers - Renew Economy
The Coalition is siding with a foreign power that murdered an Australian - Bernard Kean for Crikey
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 Monday the 8th of April. See you tomorrow!
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here