News update for Thur 24 April 2025
Your trusted guide to the top independent news and views of the day...
9 days until the May 3 federal election
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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
How Atlas Network amassed a global network of free market think tanks and reached into Australia and New Zealand - ABC News
Australia is now in the thick of a federal election cycle, the United States just came out of one and in New Zealand, the fallout from the last national election has brought into focus a part of the political machine often out of view.
To a voter's naked eye, the impact of think tanks and so-called research centres on public policy and any public vote might be imperceptible.
In New Zealand, there is now a conversation about an organisation called Atlas Network and whether or not it has influenced the right-bloc government's agenda.
Atlas Network is a registered not-for-profit organisation headquartered in Washington DC and it is attracting attention because it receives donations from wealthy people and their foundations.
Also read >
Liberal Party's "Advance" in Indigenous hate rant - The Klaxon
Tim Wilson and the Atlas Network: shadowy influences damaging Australia's democracy - Lucy Hamilton
Bri Lee on the Liberal Party’s problem with women - 7am Podcast
When Scott Morrison lost his job as prime minister, it was women who sacked him. A review commissioned by the Liberal Party after the 2022 election found that a decline in support among women was a decisive factor in their loss. The report outlined ways the party might win women back. But three years on, that hasn’t happened. Today, contributor to The Saturday Paper Bri Lee, on what women want – and why they’re not getting it from the Liberal Party.
Also > When ‘equal’ does not mean ‘the same’: Liberals still do not understand their women problem - The Conversation
The major parties have announced their plans to address domestic and family violence. How do they stack up? - The Conversation
In the past week, at least seven women have been killed in Australia, allegedly by men. These deaths have occurred in different contexts – across state borders, communities and relationships. But are united by one truth: they are part of the ongoing national crisis of men’s violence against women and children.
While in the first four weeks of the election campaign there was silence from the major parties on this issue, now – with one week to go – both have released their commitments.
The Coalition announced its plan last night, following Labor’s promises earlier in the week.
Neither represent a commitment to ending gender-based violence.
Also read >
Coalition to reinstate ‘punitive’ activity test for parents accessing childcare - Women’s Agenda
Rape is a Theoretical Crime: Part 6 - 50 years of change and reform - Jane Gilmore
Greg Jericho: Australia needs more than hollow words about a fair go – we need brave policy-makers - The Guardian
I agree that Australia is great. But it could be much greater.
Google “Australian ballot” and tell me you don’t feel some pride that we led the way in ensuring everyone could lodge their vote in private. What about women’s suffrage? Does that not suggest a nation that can change the world?
It is not only conservatives who love our country and believe it is worth defending.
But what is it we love, what is it we want to defend? It’s all well and good to talk about a fair go, or our great natural resources and lifestyle. But talk is cheap and hollow words are weak.
Bravery in policymaking can ensure we are a free and equitable nation with a unique environment of which we can be rightly proud.
Most Australians would be concerned about nuclear power station built nearby, survey shows - The Guardian
A majority of Australians do not view nuclear power favourably, and would be concerned if a plant was built near them, according to a new survey shared exclusively with Guardian Australia.
The new figures come as the Coalition battles to regain momentum in the final two weeks of the election campaign. The Coalition has pledged to build taxpayer-funded nuclear reactors at seven sites around Australia in a bid for more “reliable” power than could be achieved with renewables firmed by storage such as batteries and pumped-hydro, using gas as a back-up.
Also read >
Exclusion zones: is Peter Dutton’s campaign avoiding proposed nuclear power sites? - The Guardian
New report: Peter Dutton's nuclear power plan to cost $4.3 trillion - Michael West Media
Today’s cartoon by First Dog on the Moon
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.
Tim Dunlop: When the government changes, the country...well, not so much anymore - The Future of Everything
As the last desperate days of the 2025 federal election unfold and the Liberal Party in particular shows just how unfit they are to govern—unleashing an avalanche of badly thought-through policy, peppered with abuse of independent candidates and scare campaigns aimed at dividing communities—we need to realise that the problem goes deeper than a single major party.
So, I want to come back to something I mentioned in passing a few weeks ago and give it a bit more consideration. The line I want to pull up from a previous post is this:
Any potential candidate with an ounce of integrity, let alone nous, is much better off running as an independent, and by gum, they are. This is true of the Liberals now and will be increasingly true of Labor.
Read more from Tim Dunlop for The Future of Everything
Also read >
Over five decades, here’s how voters have shifted away from the major parties - The ABC
‘Sick of being ignored’: galvanised by Gaza, Australian Muslims aim to exert new political power at the election - The Guardian
Could Labor win big? - Inside Story
Leadership Void Fuels Violence and Disinformation in Australian Politics - Sue Barrett
Resurrections and reversals - Democracy Sausage Podcast with Mark Kenny
Data analyst Simon Jackman joins Democracy Sausage to chat about the polls, swing seats and how the global uncertainty is impacting this election. When did Labor’s recovery start? How has uncertainty in the US influenced the framing of this election and left the Coalition vulnerable? And does this election cycle point to any changes in how the major parties operate? On this episode of Democracy Sausage, Professor Simon Jackman joins Professor Mark Kenny to talk about polling data and the AUS-US relationship.
Listen to the Democracy Sausage Podcast with Mark Kenny
Another day, another gas approval as Labor caves on big dirty Barossa - Michael West Media
Australia’s offshore oil and gas regulator is stepping on the gas ahead of the election, with two project approvals in as many weeks.
The Albanese government’s fossil fuel approval tally has risen to 18 after Australia’s offshore oil and gas regulator approved Santos’ controversial Barossa project.
The project, about 285km north-northwest off the coast of Darwin, is expected to come online in a matter of months, after the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) approved the gas project on Tuesday.
Read more in Michael West Media
Also read > Albanese government announces $1.2 billion plan to purchase critical minerals - The Conversation
Australia needs bold ideas on defence. The Coalition’s increased spending plan falls disappointingly short - The Conversation
Just as voting has begun in this year’s federal election, the Coalition has released its long-awaited defence policy platform. The main focus, as expected, is a boost in defence spending to 3% of Australia’s GDP within the next decade.
If elected, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says a Coalition government will spend A$21 billion over the next five years to bring defence spending to 2.5% of GDP. It would aim to reach 3% five years after that.
This sounds impressive, but as shadow Defence Minister Andrew Hastie notes, this isn’t a huge increase, given it’s over many years.
Also read > The Coalition’s defence plans are a kneejerk, impossible dream when what we need is achievable policy - The Guardian
Rachel Withers: Can the 2022 ‘teal’ incumbents ward off their Liberal challengers? - Crikey
Lobby groups like Advance, Better Australia, Australians for Prosperity and News Corp have spent months attacking the teals, but no-one really knows which seats the Libs could win back next week.
The Liberal Party seems confident of winning back some of its former heartland, but demographic changes are not on its side.
When the 2022 “teal” wave swept through Australia’s richest seats, many presumed the climate-led indies would stay awhile. Along with Zali Steggall, who won Warringah in 2019, Allegra Spender, Sophie Scamps, Kate Chaney, Monique Ryan and Zoe Daniel (plus Kylea Tink, had North Sydney continued) seemed likely to be returned, bolstered by the fact the Liberals chose Peter Dutton as their new leader, his sights set on Labor’s heartland.
Read more from Rachel Withers for Crikey
Also read >
Could Berowra be in play? Leeser campaign dismisses any turn to teal - Crikey (paywall)
All eyes should be on Dickson, reports health expert from the electoral frontlines – Croakey Health Media
Hot water's lapping at Dutton's door - THE POLITICS
The 'I'm not a scientist' opposition leader will feel the heat even more as his lack of — and derision of — climate action policies burns his electoral chances.
Climate change haunts this cost-of-living and Trump-madness election like a ghost on the policy staircase. Even a holy ghost …
It takes a special kind of ultra-conservative genius to turn the death of the Pope in Rome into an Australian election attack on Anthony Albanese’s climate positioning. But Andrew Bolt was up for the task on Sky News “after dark” this week.
Read more from Murray Hogarth for The Politics
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Quick Links…
TALK: The Murdoch Empire & Real Life Succession PART ONE - Big Small Talk Podcast with Hannah Ferguson
Memory shapes China's response to Trump’s tariffs - Pearls and Irritations
The online influencers urging Dickson voters to ditch Dutton - The New Daily
The new content creators who could swing this election - Full Story Podcast
Trump, Markets & A Federal Election - The Money Café Podcast with Alan Kohler
Mental health experts concerned about Coalition plan to scrap workers’ right to disconnect - The Guardian
News Corp early voting exit poll and Ipsos leadership polling (open thread) - The Poll Bludger
South Australian councils 'irresponsible' for promoting vaccine scepticism - ABC News
Applying a rural lens to Labor’s election commitments on mental health – Croakey Health Media
What to know about your vote and making sure it counts - Women’s Agenda
Playing the numbers game for the Senate - InDaily
Dutton’s trainwreck defence announcement was everything that is wrong with his campaign - Bernard Keane for Crikey
Journalist Antoinette Lattouf wins court case over racist, online abuse from 61yo man - Women’s Agenda
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
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You’re up to date for Thursday the 24th of April. See you on Monday.
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.
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