News update for Thur 10 April 2025
Your trusted guide to the top independent news and views of the day...
23 days until the May 3 federal election
Welcome to your TrueNorth news update where every weekday afternoon we share curated articles from Australia’s independent news media sector.
Please share with friends, family, colleagues - as good journalism is always worth supporting.
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 - Amy Remeikis for The Australia Institute here - and through 6 News here
Tim Dunlop: Why can't people admit the Liberal Party is falling apart? - The Future of Everything
Just thinking about Dutton as a type. Former Queensland cop; long-term real estate developer and landlord; long-serving MP and Minister; and now leader of the Liberal Party. Stitched together from ideological parts developed over years in the Liberal Party's Frankenstein laboratory. Patriarchal. Monocultural. Jolted to life by the soggy lightning strike of there being no-one else left in the party to do the job.
Mr Menzie's bastard child.
Read more from Tim Dunlop for The Future of Everything
Also >
Adam Bandt says the Greens can deliver ‘real change’ – but the party should choose its battles more wisely - The Conversation
Can the Greens hold their own? - The Tally Room Podcast
Australia urgently needs to get serious about long-term climate policy – but there’s no sign of that in the election campaign - The Conversation
The federal election should be an earnest contest over the fundamentals of Australia’s climate and energy policies.
Strong global action on climate change is clearly in Australia’s long-term national interest. But it has fallen prey to US President Donald Trump’s disruption of the world order, which has drained global attention from other crucial issues, including climate change.
The Trump administration’s anti-climate actions might energise some to counteract it, but its overall affect will be chilling.
Also read >
Dutton’s energy plan could make Australians pay more for gas, not less, expert warns - The Guardian
Coalition nuclear plan will plough $58bn wrecking ball through renewable energy projects, analysis warns - The Guardian
Dutton worse on renewables and climate than Abbott or Morrison, Bowen warns - Renew Economy
Greg Jericho: Trump’s tariffs could push Australia into recession town. So why is the RBA waiting until May to meet? - The Guardian
Our central bank continues to act as though nothing out of the ordinary has happened. In fact, the opposite is true,
In the past week, the global economy has changed and not for the better. But apparently we will have to wait until after the election for the Reserve Bank of Australia to bother doing anything.
In 2020, when the Covid pandemic took hold in Australia, the Reserve Bank board met on 3 March to cut the cash rate by 25 basis points to 0.5%. Within a week it was clear this was not enough. The world had changed and waiting until April would be negligent. And so the RBA board met on 19 March, cut rates again and also announced further measures.
Read more from Greg Jericho for The Guardian
US tariff policies strengthening China's position in Asia - Pearls and Irritations
Sycophants say Trump’s tariff U-turn is genius. All it proves is his boneheaded stupidity on China - Bernard Keane for Crikey (paywall)
David Hardaker: Trump’s mad, mad, mad, bad world - The Politics
Tariffs, shares, bonds and China's 'nuclear option'. Making sense of Trump mayhem - Michael West Media
Donald Trump has declared a trade war, the share market is down, and US t-bond yields are rising. But how did it all start, and what’s next?
They say that truth is stranger than fiction, and when it comes to what Trump and his acolytes are doing to world markets, they are not wrong! Donald tanked the economy based on a book his son-in-law found on Amazon.
Donald Trump told Jared Kushner to find him an economic advisor – someone who could make him “look tough” and talk tough on China. Jared searched Amazon, saw a book called Death by China, and thought the title was “cool.” So he cold-called the author, Peter Navarro, and gave him a job.
Read more in Michael West Media
Also read > Tigger-Happy and Trust Torched: How the US has Shot Itself In the Foot - Lyrebird Dreaming
Hugh White on what the next PM should tell Trump and defending Australia – without the US - Politics Podcast with Michelle Grattan
Defence expert Hugh White says Australia should leave AUKUS and plan to "take responsibility for our own security", without relying on the US coming to our aid.
Listen to Politics Podcast with Michelle Grattan
Kylea Tink: As the Australian election promises rain down I can’t help but wonder: how much is a vote worth these days? - The Guardian
If you promise it, you should be able to deliver it. And if you don’t deliver it, you should not expect to be returned.
As a child of the 80s I’m surrounded by friends who will routinely throw out the old TV advertising line “But wait! There’s more!!” to indicate they are expecting some other gem to drop from the mouth of the person speaking.
With just over 21 days until our next federal election, I’m pretty sure that line is going to be well used as both major parties try and sweeten their electorate appeal by offering all of us opportunities to benefit financially.
Read more from Kylea Tink for The Guardian
Also read > Labor made plenty of promises at the last election. Did they deliver? - The Conversation
Today’s cartoon by Harry Bruce
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - Amy Remeikis for The Australia Institute 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.
Is the Atlas Network hosting an Australian conference in 2025? - Lucy Hamilton
Usually the main event for the Australian regional Atlas Network partners took place in Sydney, where important American figures like Tom Palmer, Atlas’s Executive Vice Chair for Regional Programs, might attend to speak or Grover Norquist, founder of Atlas partner Americans for Tax Reform, might attend.
In 2024, the event merged with two others and took place in regional Albury as the more modest Triple Conference.
Are politicians required to tell the truth? - The Daily Aus Podcast
Election ads are everywhere. On TV, social media, newspapers and in your letterboxes at home. So, does that mean all ads you’re seeing are true? Are they legally required to be true? Well, that’s what we’re going to answer in today’s podcast, unpacking how political communication occurs during an election, what politicians can say during this time, and whether or not they’re allowed to lie.
Listen to The Daily Aus Podcast
Abul Rizvi: If I was immigration minister, I would develop a population plan - Pearls and Irritations
If there is one thing politicians should have learnt in the last three years, it is that Australians expect them to manage long-term net migration and thus our rate of population growth.
That might seem like a statement of the obvious but neither the Coalition Government (prior to COVID when international borders were closed) nor the Labor Government have been prepared to determine a long-term net migration target; to publicly explain the rationale underlying that target; and to put in place an administrative framework with a single responsible minister to manage things in order to reach that target.
Read more from Abul Rizvi for Pearls and Irritations
Also read > Peter Dutton's migration cut numbers don't add up - Independent Australia
Peter Brent: Notes on a resurgence - Inside Story
Pollsters are giving Labor a winning edge, but the government has reasons to be cautious.
s we approach the two-week mark since Anthony Albanese visited Government House, the opinion polls are favouring the Labor leader and his government in two-party-preferred terms, averaging around 52 per cent, their best numbers since around this time last year. And opposition leader Peter Dutton, after ending the year with the Coalition at around 51 per cent, finds himself struggling — so much so that he dropped a major plank of his party’s platform that would have slashed the number of public servants and forced those remaining to return to the office five days a week.
Why the Labor recovery?
Read more from Peter Brent for Inside Story
Also read > Peter Dutton’s challenge - Is electoral history about to assert itself once again? - Inside Story
Rachel Withers: Grifters or true believers: Will minor right-wing parties surge this election? - Crikey
Pollsters don’t give right-wing grifters much of a chance in this upcoming election. But with major party support reaching all time lows, is the moment ripe for a right-wing boost?
We are in danger of being swamped by right-wing minor parties this election, all eager to capitalise on the return of Donald Trump with their own unique MAGA flavour.
Clive Palmer is once again spending big on misleading ads with his latest vehicle, Trumpet of Patriots, a renamed Australian Federation Party, of which he is now chair. The branding is much the same as 2022’s United Australia Party (i.e. offensively yellow), though the message is less about freedom from lockdowns and more overtly
Read more from Rachel Withers for Crikey (paywall)
Inspired by a local group of people in Sydney's north who were looking for t-shirts to wear on their regular walks, Democracy Walks champions, supports and actively engages in our democracy.
CLICK here to see Democracy Walks’ t-shirt designs - and join the democracy walkers today!
See a list of the 38 community independents - who have (so far) announced their candidacy in the upcoming federal election. Subscribe, volunteer, donate to support their campaigns.
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.
Quick Links…
Elon Musk’s plan to take over NASA - 7am Podcast
Where is Assad now? And why do the world's worst men get away with it? - Pearls and Irritations
How Australian education was captured by arms dealers - Pearls and Irritations
Poorest urban fringe electorates gain most from Labor’s first-term tax and welfare reform, ANU research shows - The Guardian
Federal election: Time to hold MPs accountable for stance on genocide - Greg Barns for Pearls and Irritations
Current major party policies fall short for Indigenous communities. Here’s a better path forward - The Conversation
Healthcare leaders call on political candidates to ensure abortion access in Australia - Women’s Agenda
What would – and should – happen to the ABC under the next federal government? - The Conversation
Big changes are planned for aged care in 2025. But you’d never know from the major parties - The Conversation
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - Amy Remeikis for The Australia Institute 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 Thursday the 10th of April. See you tomorrow!
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - Amy Remeikis for The Australia Institute 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.
Discover independent news media. See the clear difference.
