News update for Thur 26 June 2025

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

Jun 26, 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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TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here

BREAKING NEWS: Australian consumer watchdog takes gas company to court alleging it misled consumers over renewables claim - The Guardian

Howard oversaw $500,000 to “Advance” - The Klaxon

Former Prime Minister John Howard and his former senior minister Richard Alston oversaw a $500,000 payment to MAGA-style lobby group “Advance”, specifically to fight the Greens.

The payment by Liberal Party-linked entity Cormack Foundation — which was by far Advance’s biggest funder last financial year — was to fund Advance’s “Greens Truth” attack campaign, it can be revealed.

The $500,000 donation was approved by Cormack Foundation’s eight-person board, including long-time directors and Liberal Party luminaries Howard and Alston.

In an exclusive interview with The Klaxon, Cormack Foundation chair Charles Goode said the foundation had made the payment specifically to fund Advance’s “Greens program”.

Also read > Tony Abbott tells Advance supporters bequeathing money to rightwing group will ‘protect’ Australian values - The Guardian

Antoinette Lattouf wins against the ABC - Full Story Podcast

What started as five casual radio presenter shifts has turned into one of the most closely watched court battles in Australian media. In 2023, Antoinette Lattouf was removed as a fill-in host of an ABC radio programme after she shared a Human Rights Watch post on the Israel-Gaza conflict on her social media that stated Israel had used starvation as a ‘weapon of war’. Lattouf sued the national broadcaster for wrongful termination and – after a costly legal fight – a verdict has finally been delivered. Media correspondent Amanda Meade and senior reporter Kate Lyons tell Matilda Boseley what this verdict means for Antoinette Lattouf, the ABC and the Australian media

Listen to the Full Story Podcast

Also >

Lattouf’s win over ABC a big victory for freedom of expression - Greg Barns for Pearls and Irritations
Deep in the 185-page Lattouf judgment is a forensic critique of the ABC’s top brass - The Guardian
Lattouf vs the ABC Means For Journalism. Plus, Accuracy In Iran War Reporting Goes Missing - Lamestream Podcast
Lattouf’s Victory, Our Fight: Standing Firm Against Intimidation - Sue Barrett
The ABC squandered trust with its multicultural audience when it sent Antoinette Lattouf packing - The Guardian

The Goldstein campaign was brutal. Our friendship came out stronger - Women’s Agenda

The 2025 campaign was brutal.

Zoe was the target of a coordinated effort to smear her through misinformation, disinformation and personal attacks. Third parties spread deceitful material, hate and division. I saw her spat on, abused, threatened, stalked and doxed.

Politics can be a ‘dirty business’ but this was so much more than that.

After a partial recount granted by the Australian Electoral Commission, it came down to just a handful votes.

Having had a chance to reflect over this past month, the overwhelming feeling I have is one of pride.

Also read > Who else do independent voters vote for? - The Tally Room

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Australia's support for Trump 'dangerous', warns foreign policy expert - DeepCut

Expert and Greens warn Labor is undermining international law and Australia's interests by backing US strikes on Iran.

Australia is heading down a "dangerous" path if it continues to offer unwavering commitment to the US alliance with Donald Trump at the helm, warn a foreign policy expert and a Greens senator.

Anthony Albanese's shock endorsement of the US strikes on Iran this week, which the government claims was to "prevent" Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, signals a pressing dilemma for decision-makers between Australia's loyalty to the US and its national interest in preserving international law.

‘Democratic Leadership Is Way Out of Touch’: Bernie Sanders on Zohran Mamdani’s Win - Politico

The independent senator and democratic socialist discussed the meaning behind a stunning outcome in the New York mayoral Democratic primary.

“Take on the billionaire class, take on oligarchy. That’s how you win elections,” he said in a wide-ranging interview with POLITICO Magazine.

Sanders said the Democratic Party that he has long allied with but never joined should take serious lessons from Mamdani’s victory — but he was skeptical it would. He also weighed in on whether incumbent Democrats should be worried about a Tea Party of the left, Larry Summers’ concerns about Mamdani and what the young socialist can learn from Sanders’ own experience decades ago as mayor.

Nuremberg revisited. David McBride's final chance for fairness - Michael West Media

Afghanistan war crimes whistleblower David McBride files special leave application to the High Court, claiming a core tenet of human rights law. Stephanie Tran reports.

In a last bid for justice, David McBride’s legal team has filed a special leave application to the High Court, arguing that Australia must not ignore the lessons of Nuremberg.

“Our key argument in the High Court is that there have to be some circumstances where disobeying orders is in the public interest and is the moral and legal thing to do,” said his lawyer, Eddie Lloyd.

The widening gaps in Albanese’s climate promises - 7am Podcast

Cyclone Alfred should not have tracked as far south as it did. But in March it tore through Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Northern Rivers, affecting about four million people. One of them was climate scientist and IPCC lead author, Joëlle Gergis. She says the storm’s freak southward drift, driven by record-warm ocean temperatures, shows the climate crisis is outrunning politics. Today, Joëlle Gergis on how far governments have fallen behind their climate promises – and the bold action Australia must take before the next disaster strikes.

Listen to the 7am Podcast

Also >

Greg Jericho: Super tax debate highlights everything wrong with Australia’s media and economic system - The Guardian

The way superannuation is mostly covered by the media in Australia is about how to avoid paying tax and how to use it to fund inheritance.

The reason why we don’t have free dental in Medicare is because we subsidise the inheritance of the wealthiest people in Australia.

I know it might shock you to see it written plainly, it might even annoy you. But it is the truth.

The way superannuation is mostly covered by the media in this country is about how to avoid paying tax and how to use it to fund inheritance.

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We’re soon giving America another US$500m for submarines. But are we pushing on string? - Crikey

The US is throwing money at rapidly building more submarines. But amid its hostility to migrants, it also faces a ‘workforce crisis’.

The question of how realistic the government’s belief in AUKUS is will depend less on whether the Trump administration is committed to it than on whether the money being thrown at submarine production in the US will actually shift the dial on the number of Virginia-class boats being made.

Submarine construction of the Virginia-class vessels is mired at 1.2 a year — to furnish Australia with the second-hand vessels promised under AUKUS, it needs to be 2.3 by 2030. With the US focusing increasingly on production of the new Columbia-class submarine to replace its strategic nuclear missile platform, the Ohio-class, there is no doubt the Trump administration, picking up where the Biden administration left off, is throwing money at trying to build more boats.

Also read > ABC and others fail to mention close AUKUS connection of Sinodinos and Fitzgibbon - Crikey (paywall)

ALP’s lucky win masks a rotten electoral system - Independent Australia

The Albanese Government’s landslide win was built on just a third of the vote, reminding us that Australia’s electoral system is broken and overdue for reform, writes Dr Klaas Woldring.

AN IMPORTANT DISCUSSION on proportional representation was heard on the ABC when the former leader of the Greens was interviewed recently by Paul Barclay of the Australia Institute. Ms Christine Milne, stressing the need for “one vote, one value”, gave an outstanding explanation of the widespread use of proportional representation, particularly in European countries.

The Greens in Australia have been denied this essential value of democracy in the lower houses of Parliament. Although they are in a relatively strong position in the Senate.