News update for Tue 11 March 2025
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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Scroll down for today’s news and views…
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here
Independents took cities by storm last election. This time, they’ve got regional Australia in their sights - The Conversation
In 2022, the national vote for independents or minor parties was the highest in almost a century. A third of Australians voted for someone who wasn’t running for Labor or the Coalition.
This has been interpreted as a phenomenon largely playing out in inner-city electorates.
But this election, it will pay to keep an eye on independents running in regional and rural Australia. Growing grassroots support suggests they, along with minor parties, will pose a major challenge to the two-party dominance that’s slowly diminishing.
Also >
To win the bush, Australian politics needs to embrace its ‘curves’ - Nick Rodway for The Guardian
‘Correcting the imbalance’: New $100,000 Vida Fund created to support female independents - Women’s Agenda
A poll that answers Dutton’s dreams… - Inside Story
Whistleblower persecutions. The cost of ignoring those who dare speak out. - Michael West Media
Whistleblowers everywhere act for reasons of conscience and integrity. They are vital to protect our society against corruption and power abuse, yet they are often persecuted for speaking out. Whistleblower Tony Watson reports from experience.
Whistleblowers are compelled to speak out, most often against their own organisation, in order to maintain their self-respect. “How could I keep my head up, and look people in the eye, if I kept quiet?”
Read more in Michael West Media
Coalition’s nuclear plan most expensive option for Australia, former US climate official says - The Guardian
A longtime senior US climate official has weighed in on Australia’s energy debate, saying “very, very few people” internationally are building new nuclear power plants and, in most cases, the combination of solar and batteries delivers “higher reliability than gas”.
Dr Jonathan Pershing, a former US special envoy for climate change and climate negotiator under Democratic presidents, was in Sydney on Monday to speak at the city’s climate action week. Asked whether nuclear power as proposed by the Coalition was a viable option for Australia, he said “almost all the numbers that I have seen suggest that that’s a more expensive option than other choices”.
Also read >
A break down of new wind and solar projects: When will they blow, and when will they shine? - Renew Economy
As Trump attacks US science agencies, ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred ushers in a fresh wave of climate denial in Australia - Adam Morton for The Guardian
What if a Fukushima-sized nuclear accident happened in Australia? - Don’t Nuke the Climate
Experts fear nuclear plants would become war targets - The Canberra Times
The Trump Slump is now - Robert Reich
You can't take a battering ram to every major institution in America and expect the economy to do well.
Recall that Trump was elected largely because Americans thought the economy was lousy and believed him when he said he’d fix it.
Now, seven weeks after his inauguration, the bottom is falling out. Stocks are plunging. Treasury yields are falling. Consumer confidence is dropping. Inflation is picking up.
Over the weekend, Trump refused to rule out a recession this year, telling Fox News there will be a “period of transition, because what we’re doing is very big.”
Also read >
‘Columbia University Is Doing the Bidding of Israel, and Trump’ - Says Former Professor - Zeteo
The Bait-and-Switch President - Dan Rather
Trump and Musk's Power-Sharing Agreement Innovates the Authoritarian Playbook - Ruth Ben-Ghiat
Jack Wateford: Are America’s values our values anymore? - Pearls and Irritations
No issue in the forthcoming election is as important as Australia’s international identity and the crisis in the Western alliance about its senior partner, the United States. The alliance is fragmenting and, it appears, President Trump is daring Europe to defend Ukraine against Russian aggression independently. He wants NATO members to double their defence spending so they are no longer freeloading from America’s military spending. Other allies, including Australia, should do so too. At just the same time, he is beginning to wage economic war against most of Europe, Canada, and Australia,by swingeing tariffs, as a punishment, he claims, for stealing American jobs.
Read more from Jack Waterford for Pearls and irritations
Also read >
Former Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull says leaders must stand up to bullies after being lashed by Donald Trump - The Guardian
Universities Australia’s conflation of antisemitism with anti-Zionism is dangerous - Green Left
A Sydney caravan laden with explosives was a ‘fake terrorism plot’. Here’s what we know - The Guardian
Malcolm Turnbull is right. Silence won’t protect us from Trump - Bernard Keane for Crikey (paywall)
Instead of wasting more time on the flawed Aukus submarine program, we must go to plan B now - The Guardian
Today’s cartoon by Glen Le Lievre
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian 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.
‘A serious wake-up call’: Cyclone Alfred exposes weaknesses in Australia’s vital infrastructure - The Conversation
Thousands of residents are mopping up in the wake of ex-Cyclone Alfred, which has damaged homes and cars, flooded roads and gouged out beaches.
I write from Brisbane, where rain has fallen for several days. Most of it is draining to a coastline already swollen and eroded by Alfred’s swell.
Flood warnings are current in southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales. Many communities are in danger – some of which have faced multiple floods in recent years.
Despite all this, the damage could have been so much worse – and we may not be so lucky next time. Australia must use Cyclone Alfred as a serious wake-up call to bolster our essential infrastructure against disasters.
Also read >
Give us a break, Alfred - Pearls and Irritations
Josh Butler: Alfred may have blown Albanese’s election plans off course, but now the PM can show he has the common touch - The Guardian
Anthony Albanese might have expected to have been on his campaign plane on Monday, flying between marginal seats on the first day of the election trail proper.
Instead he’s sloshing around in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred – the weather event that was meant to bear his name and blew his election announcement plan right off course.
But the change of plans could also, ironically, prove to be a blessing in disguise for his re-election bid.
Also read > Peter Dutton repeatedly charged taxpayers for flights coinciding with fundraisers - The Guardian
NSW’s first pill-testing trial - The Daily Aus Podcast
NSW has become the latest Australian jurisdiction to carry out a pill testing trial at a music festival, with the service debuting at Wollongong’s Yours and Owls festival. On today’s podcast, TDA journalist Achol Arok reports back from the festival about how the service was run on the day, why it came to be, and how attendees felt about it.
Listen to The Daily Aus Podcast
Taking weapons makers' 'dirty money' not a problem for war memorial chairman Kim Beazley - ABC News
The Australian War Memorial has dismissed calls to stop taking money from the world's largest weapons manufacturers, despite outrage from critics and historians that it defiles the commemoration of the nation's war dead.
A Four Corners investigation has also found that the memorial's chairman, and former politician, Kim Beazley has paid roles with two multinational arms companies.
Those links are not disclosed on the war memorial's website.
Also >
'Sacrifice': Four Corners looks at the Australian War Memorial's weapons ties - Undue Influence blog
Watch - Sacrifice on 4 Corners
‘Terrorism’, ‘massacre’: How Australian press covered the fake terrorist caravan plot - Crikey
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and NSW Premier Chris Minns immediately described the event as terrorism. We now know that was never true.
An abandoned caravan found laden with explosives earlier this year was part of a “fabricated terrorism plot”, and what the federal police (AFP) is now calling a “criminal con job”, the force’s deputy commissioner has revealed.
Police were first tipped off on January 19 about a suspicious caravan in the outer Sydney suburb of Dural. Inside it they found what was later described by various media outlets as enough explosives to “create a 40-metre blast wave”.
Read more from Charlie Lewis for Crikey (paywall)
Lies, Damned Lies and Elections - The Politics
The dark art of pumping out lies for votes becomes a corrosive superpower at election time. And the Teals are the first in the firing line.
Prepare yourselves for an onslaught of lies, disinformation and vicious bullshit. It’s election season in Australia.
In suburbs and towns across the nation, alongside burgeoning numbers of election billboards featuring candidates with unnaturally sparkly teeth, is an underbelly of dirty tricks which the public rarely gets to see. It’s usually the upstarts who get the most egregious treatment, impertinent as they are in upending the major party dominated old boys’ club.
Read more from for The Politics
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Quick Links…
5 years since COVID was declared a pandemic, we’re still poorly prepared for the next one - The Conversation
The vote-casting hurdle these Australians face: 'Too hard to access' - SBS News
Attack Dogs - Truth, Lies and Media Podcast
Australia’s economy has turned the corner, and consumer spending was a big help - Pearls and Irritations
Greenland faces ‘fateful choice’ says island’s PM as it prepares for election - The Guardian
SA farmers calls for more support during drought conditions - ABC News
Replacing stamp duty with a land tax could save home buyers big money. Here’s how - The Conversation
Blue Mountains residents to launch class action over PFAS contamination - The ABC
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 Tuesday the 11th of March. See you tomorrow!
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian 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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