News update for Thur 19 June 2025

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

Jun 19, 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

Owen Jones: The warmongers were wrong about Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. Now watch them make the same mistake about Iran - The Guardian

As the G7 issues a statement declaring that Israel has a “right to defend itself”, you have a right to ask if you are losing your mind. Israel launched an unprovoked onslaught on Iran. Its excuse – that Tehran may acquire a nuclear weapon – renders its attack illegal under the UN charter, which forbids wars justified by the claim of a future threat.

You may indeed feel like you are losing your mind. After all, Israel’s military has reportedly committed every war crime under the sun. It attacked Iran without evidence or provocation. The same cheerleaders for past bloodbaths strut around advocating yet more slaughter as though recent history never happened, while opponents of dropping bombs on terrified civilians are once more smeared as dangerous extremists. Yet western states issue a statement portraying the genocidal, expansionist, nuclear-armed Israeli state as the victim, and our government refuses to rule out military support for Tel Aviv.

The truth is you are not losing your mind. The actual mad men are those in power. And unless they finally face a reckoning, the abyss awaits.

Also read >

Is Iran ‘very close’ to building a nuclear bomb as Trump claims? - Al Jazeera
Chaos, violence and war become the norm as the US empire collapses - Bernard Keane for The Guardian
Australian citizens in Iran and Israel are desperate to leave. Is the government required to help? - The Conversation

How the Media Helped Israel Bomb Iran, the ABC’s Future, and the State of Australian TV - Lamestream Podcast

With the US on the brink of joining Israel's war against Iran, likely causing mass civilian deaths and plunging the region into chaos, Os and Scott look at the way media outlets actively helped lay the groundwork for this new conflict. They discuss how the war is being reported, and which civilians are humanised more. They revisit the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and compare how the same narratives are being rolled out by the media to justify war and regime change. Also in this episode they discuss the future of the ABC after the organisation's latest restructure and cuts. They unpack the public broadcaster's pivot away from digital and back to TV and radio, and the gutting of arts and culture reporting. Plus, they discuss what the Logies reveal about the state of Australian TV, the sale of the 7am podcast and (briefly) the discourse around Sabrina Carpenter's new album cover.

Listen to the Lamestream Podcast

Also > Did Fox News Just Scam Trump into Embracing War with Iran? - THE DAILY BLAST with Greg Sargent

Exclusive: data reveals pro-Israel bias in ABC coverage since October 7 - DeepCut

New analysis by Newscord and Deepcut finds ABC reporting repeatedly privileges Israeli perspectives over Palestinian voices.

ABC News consistently gave more prominence to the Israeli perspective and more frequently humanised Israelis than Palestinians in its Gaza coverage, according to a joint analysis by Deepcut and media watchdog Newscord.

The quantitative study – the first focusing on Australian news stories on Israel and Gaza – suggests ABC online news coverage has favoured Israel over the course of what numerous legal experts, human rights organisations and UN officials have described as a genocide.

Are Israel’s actions in Iran illegal? Could it be called self-defence? An international law expert explains - The Conversation

Israel’s major military operation against Iran has targeted its nuclear program, including its facilities and scientists, as well as its military leadership.

In response, the United Nations Security Council has quickly convened an emergency sitting.

The right to self-defence is not a blank cheque.

Anticipatory self-defence remains legally unsettled and highly contested.

So were Israel’s attacks on Iran a legitimate use of “self-defence”? I would argue no.

I concur with international law expert Marko Milanovic that Israel’s claim to be acting in preventive self-defence must be rejected on the facts available to us.

In a volatile world, preserving these legal limits is essential to avoiding unchecked aggression and preserving the rule of law.

The hazards of Albanese's 'progressive patriotism' - Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue is absolutely right to point to regrettable omissions in Prime Minister Albanese’s 10 June speech at the National Press Club – its failure to say anything about reinvigorating a needy Australian democracy.

And that’s not all that’s missing.

While Putin and Netanyahu continue to demonstrate the existential threats they pose to other countries and the AUKUS farce further frays at its edges, Albanese’s speech contains nothing about foreign affairs and defence policy, save for a couple of words on strengthening “defence capability”.

Meanwhile, the government seems only to be able to urge restraint about Israel’s egregious attack on Iran.

Greg Jericho: What could Albanese do to improve productivity? Here is a short, non-exhaustive list - The Guardian

Improving living standards is really what productivity is about – not growing the profits of large companies.

In his address last week at the National Press Club, the prime minister announced a “productivity roundtable” in concert with the Productivity Commission’s latest inquiry into the issue. I won’t be at the roundtable but I do have a few ideas.

First off, remember that productivity is the amount you produce with the hours and equipment you have. Work better with what you have or (usually) get better equipment to do your work faster, and productivity increases.

Also read > Jim Chalmers is dreaming of big economic reform. But is history – or even Albanese – on his side? - The Guardian

How Trump could make Australian medicines more expensive - 7am Podcast

Medicine in Australia could soon become more expensive and harder to come by. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme – the safety net that keeps our prescriptions cheap – has been drawn into Donald Trump’s trade war, after the US president signed an order saying the United States should not pay more for medicines than its peer countries. Drug companies have now paused new PBS listings and warn some treatments may never reach Australian patients. Today, special correspondent for The Saturday Paper, Jason Koutsoukis, on how one decision in Washington could force Australians to pay more for vital drugs – and whether Canberra has the leverage to stop it.

Listen to the 7am Podcast

Also >

Trump and RFK’s path of destruction through America’s healthcare system - Crikey (paywall)
Americans face higher interest rates for longer thanks to Trump - Crikey (paywall)

Canstruct allegations: AFP set to probe millions spent protecting Nauru offshore detention company luxury - The SMH/Age

An Australian firm that made huge profits running the federal government’s offshore detention regime is suspected of defrauding taxpayers of millions of dollars to insure designer jewellery, expensive art, investment properties and luxury vehicles – including a $600,000 supercar and a 40-foot cruising yacht.

A secret federal police inquiry has also gathered damning testimony from a high-ranking Department of Home Affairs official who has accused the Nauruan government of corrupt and improper practices and attacked the federal government for its willingness to bend to the Pacific island nation’s will to maintain Australia’s controversial offshore asylum seeker processing regime.

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The spiralling death of Australian opposition. Part 1: How it happens - Crikey

The opposition parties of Australia are in a dire position at both state and federal levels. Here’s how a party spirals into chaos, and what the impact is on our politics.

The Liberal Party has suffered back-to-back drubbings at the federal level, while opposition parties in Victoria and Western Australia endured wipeouts at three consecutive state election. Meanwhile Tasmanian Labor will have lost five times in a row if July goes badly for them.

At the territory level, the Liberals haven’t held government in the Australian Capital Territory for just shy of a quarter of a century, while last year in the NT Labor was obliterated by the Country Liberal Party.

Revealed: the astonishing greenhouse gas emissions that will result from the North West Shelf project - The Guardian

Woodside’s North West Shelf gas project on the Burrup peninsula in Western Australia is one of the world’s largest liquified natural gas ventures.

In May the Labor government approved an extension for the project to run for an additional 40 years, from 2030 to 2070.

The extension is expected to be responsible for about 87.9m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent every year in the decades ahead, after the gas has been exported and burned, according to Woodside’s own numbers.

Despite the North West Shelf contributing “almost nothing” in terms of Australian tax dollars, it will be responsible for emissions greater than dozens of countries and many of the world’s biggest companies.

It can be hard to get your head around numbers this big.