News update for Tue 17 Sept 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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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
Adam Morton: The environment was meant to be ‘back on the priority list’ under Labor. Instead, we’ve seen a familiar story - The Guardian
There have been moments of modest progress, but the Albanese government has not lived up to its early rhetoric.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Back in the heady new government days of July 2022, Tanya Plibersek told the National Press Club that change was coming for environmental protection in Australia after a decade of disaster and neglect.
Releasing the five-yearly state of the environment report, which the previous Coalition government had received months earlier but put in a drawer until it was turfed from office, the new environment minister said it told a “story of crisis and decline in Australia’s environment”.
Read more from Adam Morton for The Guardian
Robert Reich: Trump’s hate is no joke
The second apparent attempt on Trump’s life — yesterday at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida — occurred just over two months after he was wounded during an attempt on his life at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. “They’re not coming after me, they’re coming after you,” Trump said after the first attempt. “I’m just standing in the way.”
“They” should not be coming after anyone. There is no place in our democracy for violence, nor for threats of violence.
Which brings me to Trump’s claim in last week’s debate that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are “eating the dogs … eating the cats. They’re eating — they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”
Also >
Can the Secret Service keep Trump safe? - The Daily Aus Podcast
The Vance Dance - The VP candidate has morphed into a dangerous MAGA extremist - Dan Rather
Jim Chalmers, Angus Taylor and the future of the Reserve Bank - 7am Podcast
When Jim Chalmers said that interest rate hikes were “smashing the economy” he was either stating the obvious or starting a war, depending on who you ask. For weeks – in question time and in the news – a picture has been forming of an aggrieved treasurer, angry at the governor of the Reserve Bank. At the same time, senior unnamed Labor insiders have called Michelle Bullock a “nutter” and the RBA board “weirdos”. But behind the apparent breakdown between the government and the Reserve Bank, there’s a much more bitter feud going on: between Jim Chalmers and Angus Taylor, who has recently walked away from a bipartisan plan to fix the Reserve Bank. Today, special correspondent for The Saturday Paper Jason Koutsoukis on how the deal unravelled and what it means for the future of the Reserve Bank.
Simon Holmes a Court: A new hope - Pearls and Irritations
Australia can graduate from a ‘dig it up and ship it out’ quarry to a leader in the global transition to clean energy. Our vast array of minerals-in-high-demand processed with our low-cost clean energy can secure prosperity for generations of Australians.
An excerpt from the 2024 Manning Clark Lecture delivered by Simon Holmes à Court on 10 September 2024, on the topic The Politics of Energy Transition.
For many in the climate movement, the 2019 election was supposed to be the climate election. But it wasn’t to be.
On election night a victorious Scott Morrison stood before the nation and proclaimed “I have always believed in miracles”. Victory was more likely due to a string of Labor missteps and Clive Palmer’s $94m advertising blitz.
Read more from Simon Holmes a Court for Pearls and Irritations
Also read > Seal of approval for the Teals? - Pearls and Irritations
Police violence at Land Forces, extreme media distortions, a shame on Victoria - Michael West Media
What I saw at the Land Forces protest was the antithesis of good policing – which should aim to de-escalate. Richard Barnes reports.
I was there when the Land Forces 2024 International Land Defence Exposition (to use its full, banal title) began in Melbourne/Naarm on Wednesday — yes, as a demonstrator.
I was there to protest against the violence perpetrated around the world by some of the people inside the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, violence that is carried out using the weapons the delegates would be proudly displaying, buying and selling. By the end of the day, I saw and experienced a level of violence — almost entirely from the police — that I never imagined would occur in Melbourne.
Read more in Michael West Media
Who will tame Australia’s political corruption? - The Politics
It hasn’t been the happiest of beginnings for the National Anti-Corruption Commission but maybe, just maybe, that’s about to change.
The NACC barely makes a sound. But last week it let it be known that it had been looking at corruption allegations involving six members of parliament. It is the most nebulous of statements. Are they current or former MPs? Federal or state? How serious and/ or real are the allegations?
It is supremely frustrating that an organisation so well armed for a singular purpose hasn’t yet made a public hit. And it needs to because too much damage has been done without accountability – hence the public anger at the NACC’s decision not to pursue the Robodebt scandal..
Read more from David Hardaker for The Politics
Today’s cartoon by David Rowe
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here
NSW council election results - The Tally Room Podcast
Ben is joined by Leo Puglisi from 6 News to analyse the results of the NSW local government elections.
Listen to Ben Raue and 6 News’ Leo Puglisi for The Tally Room Podcast
Also read > NSW councils – post-count - The Tally Room
Gaza at The Hague - Inside Story
Housed in the ornate Peace Palace in The Hague and sometimes referred to as the “world court,” the International Court of Justice, or ICJ, was created after the end of the second world war as the “principal judicial organ” of the United Nations. It can adjudicate disputes between states (under its “contentious” jurisdiction) or provide opinions on matters of international law (under its “advisory” jurisdiction). Its fifteen judges from different countries currently include Australian lawyer Hilary Charlesworth.
Since January, the Court has delivered orders and decisions in three Palestine-related cases. Together they give an insight into how international law sees the violence and how countries including Australia are obliged to respond.
Was the housing crisis caused by the Howard government’s policies? - The New Daily
The housing crisis plaguing Australia is the direct result of Coalition taxation policies that favour individuals with capital and assets, and disadvantages individuals on wage incomes.
In 1999, John Howard reduced Capital Gains Tax (CGT) liabilities by 50 per cent for individuals, after Labor had introduced the CGT in 1985.
The reduction resulted in a boom in investment in existing housing (an instant earning asset), and it prompted richer individuals to transfer income into capital gains to reduce personal tax liabilities.
Truth in political advertising laws work. Why don’t all states and territories enact them? - Crikey
South Australia, having operated its political advertising law since 1985 without impeding freedom of speech, is an inspirational example, one researcher said.
Truth in political advertising laws are currently in place in South Australia and the ACT. But why don’t other states and territories follow suit?
According to one researcher, South Australia in particular, having operated its law since 1985 without impeding freedom of speech, should be an inspiration to other jurisdictions.
“My findings have debunked some major concerns about truth in political advertising laws, and show that there is strong support for these laws in South Australia by the political establishment,” Monash Associate Professor Yee-Fui Ng told Crikey.
“[I also found the] laws do not chill free speech, and that the South Australian Electoral Commission’s reputation for impartiality remains untarnished by administering these laws for the past 39 years.
Read more from Anton Nilsson for Crikey (paywall)
Google is worth more in Australia than major news outlets. Here’s how it could better fund journalism - The Conversation
The Global Media Internet Concentration Project examines the concentration of the communications and media in countries around the world.
The latest data for Australia have recently been released, and they show just how big Google is here.
Alphabet (Google’s parent company) had 2022 revenue in Australia of A$7.9 billion.
That revenue is only exceeded by Telstra, and is bigger than Optus and NBN Co. It’s also bigger than the revenues of News Corporation and Nine Entertainment combined.
Read more from The Conversation
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Niki Savva's Canberra, Iran's feminist uprising and opal mining under threat - ABC’s Late Night Live podcast
Criticism of sacred site decision shows we have learned nothing from Juukan Gorge - The Guardian
Why did we call Peter Dutton racist? And does it matter? - Crikey
A beacon of hope: SA’s renewable revolution - The Guardian’s Full Story Podcast
Opposition plans to scrap worker safeguards - Independent Australia
How the media’s ‘sane-washing’ is driving crazy racism (and the rest of us just plain crazy) - Crikey (paywall)
Former Labor foreign minister Gareth Evans says Australia won’t have sovereignty over Aukus submarines - The Guardian
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 17th of September. See you tomorrow!
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here