News update for Thur 25 July 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 curated articles from Australia’s independent news media sector.
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TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here
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“Watergate” links in question over mystery KPMG cash - The Klaxon
The $80 million “watergate” water buy backs scandal was central to the creation of the NACC. Now the Federal water department has spent tens of thousands on a secretive “NACC” contract – the only agency to do so.
The Department of Climate Change and Water has handed disgraced consultancy KPMG an opaque $62,800 contract in connection to the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
Investigations by The Klaxon reveal a string of irregularities around the deal, including the department inexplicably quietly changing the description of the contract in recent days.
Like fellow “Big Four” consultancy giant PwC, KPMG has been mired in string of major controversies, including charging taxpayers for non-existent work and its CEO Andrew Yates giving false information to a Senate inquiry.
Read more from Anthony Klan for The Klaxon
Shaking up the race - Democracy Sausage Podcast with Mark Kenny
US experts Emma Shortis and John Hart, along with historian Frank Bongiorno join Democracy Sausage to talk Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and the changes in the US election race. Biden has backed out of the presidential race, should he have withdrawn earlier? How will likely democratic candidate Kamala Harris change the campaign, the media narratives around Trump and the outcome of the election? And what will this change mean for Australia?
Listen to Mark Kenny for the Democracy Sausage Podcast
The era of privatisation is nearly over. But cleaning up the mess left behind will take years - John Quiggin
From the 1980s until recently, politicians saw privatisation as a way to get a big bucket of money to spend on popular projects
Among many other challenges in dealing with the failure of urban policy in Australia, the Minns government is faced with the task of renegotiating, or repudiating, the disastrous set of contracts for toll roads in New South Wales made by its predecessors (Labor and Liberal) with the Transurban group. As a review by Allan Fels and David Cousins has found, the government is at risk of being held hostage by toll operators. According to Fels and Cousins, immediate legislation is needed “as a backup to negotiations and to give the government power if necessary to determine final outcomes”.
Rebecca Huntley: For most young Australians, the dream of owning a home has moved into the realm of fantasy - The Guardian
Home ownership has always been deeply embedded in the Australian psyche. For decades, it has been considered the ultimate emblem of financial and personal security and independence.
Today, however, the housing market has become a subject of dread for young Australians. They’ve watched housing prices and rents boom at a time when wages have been flat and there are no signs of respite. This is a bit more serious than an unjustified lament from the so-called “smashed Avocado” generation.
Home ownership rates are falling, with a particularly sharp decline among people aged under 34, and a similar increase in the number of people renting.
The mismatch between supply and demand is biting – and biting hard.
Read more from Rebecca Huntley for The Guardian
Also listen to > Is Australia in a 'baby recession'? - The Daily Aus Podcast
Eric Beecher: Rupert is still the most incorrigible manipulator of power in moguldom’s long history - Crikey
Rupert Murdoch remains the mogul’s mogul, a brutal practitioner of the darkest arts of making money at all costs. Those dark arts now include a legal battle against three of his own children, in public.
When I decided to write a book about media moguls and their abuse of power — it’s called The Men Who Killed the News and is published next week — I thought this was a largely completed story about a largely faded era.
Today, that assumption was turned on its ear by the revelation in The New York Times that Rupert Murdoch is taking three of his children to court to attempt to prevent them from taking over his media empire when (or if) he dies.
Read more from Eric Beecher for Crikey (paywall)
Also read >
The Murdoch Family Is Battling Over the Future of the Fox Empire - The New York Times (paywall)
Rupert Murdoch in secret legal battle with children over media empire – The Guardian
Rupert Murdoch’s ‘Project Harmony’ shows just how vulnerable Lachlan is - Paddy Manning for Crikey (paywall)
Yes, Australia’s environment is on a depressing path – but $7 billion a year would transform it - The Conversation
The condition of Australia’s environment continues to decline. Many Australians wonder if it’s possible to reverse this depressing trajectory – and our landmark assessment released today shows the answer is yes.
Our report, launched today by the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, demonstrates how repairing Australia’s landscapes is not only achievable and affordable, it’s in the national interest.
Using the best available science and expert advice, we identified 24 actions worth A$7.3 billion each year over 30 years, which could repair much of the past two centuries of degradation.
Also read >
Australia’s environment could be fixed and threatened species saved for just 0.3% of GDP, experts say - The Guardian
The Albanese government has created a climate vacuum, and we will pay the price - Pearls and Irritations
Australia accused of drastically under-reporting methane gas emissions - ABC News
Sunday was earth's hottest day on record - Pearls and Irritations
Today’s cartoon by Cathy Wilcox
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here
Why Labor supports private school tax breaks - 7am Podcast
Recently, Mike Seccombe has been looking into the divide between Australia’s richest and poorest schools – to find out why this gap keeps widening. And what he found was a broken system. Rich parents are able to get huge tax breaks by donating to opulent building projects at their kids’ private schools. It’s a practice that goes way back – and many argue – is outdated. Today, national correspondent for The Saturday Paper and a proud state school boy, Mike Seccombe, on why we need an overhaul of the charitable giving system that delivers some kids castles.
AUKUS and the pride of politicians - Pearls and Irritations
With AUKUS, the pride of politicians has become an obstacle to reaching the best solution to the ‘national security’ conundrum. In the end, it could be that ego-driven reluctance to shift from entrenched positions results in the Australian people being delivered a disaster.
For my own purposes, I have been keeping a record of articles I have read under the topic ‘AUKUS’. There are now some 300 such items on my spreadsheet – nearly all of them finding fault of one kind or another with this extraordinary project.
Read more in Pearls and Irritations
Discovery of poliovirus in Gaza ‘incredibly alarming’, Unicef executive director says - The Guardian
The “incredibly alarming” discovery of the poliovirus in Gaza only adds to the besieged territory’s status as one of “the most dangerous places to be a child right now”, the head of the UN children’s agency has warned.
The executive director of Unicef, Catherine Russell, said during a visit to Australia that Gaza was increasingly lawless.
As the Israeli military offensive continued, humanitarian workers were “risking their lives every day” to help Palestinian civilians.
In her only Australian interview, Russell raised alarm about the impact of conflicts in Sudan and Ukraine. She also said youth in low-lying Pacific island countries were “impatient with the world” for failing to act on the climate crisis.
Tech outage hits prison visits - The Justice Map
Prison visits across the country were cancelled over the weekend due to the global tech outage impacting many millions of Microsoft devices.
A faulty update issued by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike on Friday afternoon took down about 8.5 million Microsoft devices around the world, bringing airlines to a standstill and forcing stores to close.
The tech issues also had a major impact on those in prison and their friends and families, with all visits - both in-person and on video - cancelled across multiple states.
Read more from Denham Sadler for The Justice Map
Political donations entrench corporate control of the party duopoly. The fix is easy. - Michael West Media
Political donations, better called political payments, should be banned. They are nothing more than a legal protection racket. Corporate mobsters rule.
American comedian Bob Newhart died last week. He was best known for his deadpan humour; and his iconic ‘Stop It’ gag describes perfectly what needs to be done with political donations. Just stop it!
Once upon a time, there was a reason for donations. It was a rubbish reason, but it had a weak logic to it. Political parties needed to pay for newspaper ads and TV space to get their message across. Ads cost money.
Also read > When it comes to political advertising, is AI ever OK? - The Conversation
A second Trump presidency would send Australia down a dark economic path. Here’s how it might play out - Greg Jericho for The Guardian
While Kamala Harris has restored some hope for Democrats in November, the likelihood of a Trump presidency still remains very strong. And if that happens, Australia may find itself more damaged than any other major country.
Seven years ago during Trump’s first term, Rabobank economist Michael Every gave a presentation at a conference in Canberra that freaked the audience out. He investigated how bad things could get if Trump began a serious trade war. The worst case did not eventuate, but like a company’s bad second product, a second Trump presidency looks likely to send us down a dark path that we had avoided in his first attempt.
Read more from Greg Jericho for The Guardian
Also listen to > "We're Not Going Back!" Kamala Harris Takes On Donald Trump - TransitZone podcast with Peter Clarke, Margo Kingston and Tim Dunlop
Georgie Dent: ‘Life-changing’: Imagine a $10 cap on quality childhood education and care - Women’s Agenda
In my job as CEO of The Parenthood I’m often invited to speak on TV about topics affecting the parents and carers in our community. Often, it’s about paid parental leave or being able to afford and access quality early learning and care, or finding a job in which it’s possible to work and raise a family.
And so it was, a few weeks back, that I found myself, ahead of a segment on The Today Show, sitting in a make-up chair while two wizards set about weaving their magic.
Mon, aka the Hair Wizard, asked what I was going to talk about.
‘A new report that proposes every child in Australia should be entitled to access at least 3 days a week of quality early learning for either no cost or $10 a day,’ I explained.
She stopped and stared. “Oh…wow.” she paused. “That would be … life changing.”
Read more from Georgie Dent for Women’s Agenda
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Quick Links…
Inside the campaign to take down Gina Rinehart’s portraits - The SMH/Age (paywall)
How social media is luring men into the Manosphere – Josh Taylor for The Guardian’s Podcast
Bonza's demise. Playing football on the edge of Putin's business matrix - Michael West
Big names chopped as News Corp redundancies hit newspapers and national reporting team - The Guardian
Republican immigration policies foretell mass deportations, tent cities and razor wire - Pearls and Irritations
Tech Titans - The Money Café Podcast with Alan Kohler and Stephen Mayne
Peter Dutton: Australia’s uncomplicated Trumper - Pearls and Irritations
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian 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 25th of July. See you tomorrow!
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here