News update for Tue 25 Feb 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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TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here
Peter Dutton's nuclear accounting trick #4: Assume climate change has no cost - Renew Economy
This is the final part of a five part series of articles examining the four accounting tricks that the Liberal-National Party employed in the costing of their energy plan to slow the roll-out of renewables and rely instead on nuclear power. The first article, which provides the overarching context is published here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here, and part 4 is here.
These four accounting tricks act to mislead voters that the Liberal-National Party could lower energy bills through a shift to nuclear when in reality it is likely to increase power bills.
This article focuses on number four and the last of the accounting tricks covered: Assume climate change is not an important and urgent problem that is worthy of costing.
Also read >
Fossil fuel lobby shares global "toolbox of tactics" to fight Victoria's gas phaseout - Renew Economy
Peter Dutton's Dizzying Spectacle: A Dance of Backflips, Sidesteps, & Broken Promises - Sue Barrett
Carbon time bomb: Dutton's nuclear plan will blow up Paris and emissions targets, CCA says - Renew Economy
Nuclear path would blow out Australia's emissions targets, new modelling shows - ABC News
Farmers, investors, miners and parents: how unconventional climate advocates can reach new audiences - The Conversation
Calling for a magic wand: Dutton’s nuclear policy to add 2 billion tonnes of CO2 - Crikey (paywall)
Amy Remeikis: The two decisions that show the Albanese government's priorities - The New Daily
Australia has long been conned that the fossil fuel industry is the reason for its prosperity, and that to threaten any part of it would be to doom the country, so it makes sense that Albanese, on the cusp of a federal election is ensuring it knows he stands with it.
It’s easier to send that message via salmon farming than through a coal mine, but it amounts to the same.
It’s subtle, but once you see it, you’ll recognise it everywhere.
Governments choose priorities. How they signal them though, is not always obvious.
Read more from Amy Remeikis for The New Daily
Also read > How did we wind up with duds like Albanese and Dutton? - Bernard Keane for Crikey (paywall)
Michael Pascoe: The fine (housing) print. RBA's election campaign opportunity for Labor - Michael West Media
Last week’s rate cut and the argy-bargy over how hawkish or indecisive the RBA remains overshadowed important details in our central bank’s statement on monetary policy.
With the Coalition matching Labor’s bulk-billing announcement, blunting a Mediscare campaign, the Albanese Government needs a major differentiator to halt its slide in the polls. The Reserve Bank pointed to one last week: housing.
Read more from Michael Pascoe for Michael West Media
Also read > The charts have it. Australian economy on the mend - Michael West Media
China didn’t violate any rules with its live-fire naval exercises. So, why are Australia and NZ so worried? - The Conversation
In recent days, the Chinese Navy conducted two live-fire military exercises in waters near Australia and New Zealand, sparking concern in both countries.
The Albanese government lodged a diplomatic protest with Beijing. China responded by saying it was “deeply surprised and strongly dissatisfied” by Australia’s response.
What exactly happened?
Also read > A Chinese own goal? How war games in the Tasman Sea could push NZ closer to AUKUS - The Conversation
Jack Waterford: Silence is golden for a smart independent - Pearls and Irritations
Any Teal or independent standing for the House of Representatives at the election would be well advised to keep schtum about their cards in the upcoming poker game. All will depend on the numbers and negotiations with the major parties and each other following the election. Indeed, any one of them who cannot resist the temptation “to come clean with the electorate” on their intentions may be dealing themselves out of any bargaining process.
Read more from Jack Waterford for Pearls and Irritations
Also read > Climate 200’s Mandela moment - Pearls and Irritations
Dr Victoria Fielding: Manipulated media: The weapon of the Right - Independent Australia
The re-election of Donald Trump is proof that the Right's most powerful weapon is media manipulation, ensuring the public sphere is not engaged in rational debate, writes Dr Victoria Fielding.
I ONCE HEARD someone say that when the Left and the Right became polarised – when they divorced from each other – the Left got all the institutions of truth including science, education, justice and democratic government. The Right got the institution of manipulation: the media. This statement hit me for six at the time because it seemed so clearly true.
Read more from Dr Victoria Fielding for Independent Australia
Also read >
Q&A: What's the role of Journalism in the Age of Trump? - Media Confidential
What the Murdoch kids said on the stand in Project Harmony trial - Pearls and Irritations
Foxy Lara, the newest star in Trump’s galaxy - David Hardaker for The Politics
Today’s cartoon by Matt Golding
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here
Malarndirri McCarthy on closing the gap - 7am Podcast
The results in the latest Closing the Gap report are grim. Only five of the 19 targets are on track, and Indigenous incarceration rates are rising. But is the policy itself part of the problem? Critics like independent senator Lidia Thorpe argue that Closing the Gap hasn’t delivered change and should be scrapped. Meanwhile, the government has announced hundreds of millions in new spending, including major investments in remote communities and initiatives to reduce grocery prices in the Northern Territory. Today, Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy on whether Closing the Gap is still working.
Also > To run, or not to run - Blaksiders Podcast
Germany election: Merz says it’s ‘five to midnight’ for Europe - The Guardian
The man expected to be Germany’s next chancellor has said Europe must act swiftly to increase its defence capability in the face of a US administration whose motto is moving towards “America alone”, adding: “This is really five minutes to midnight for Europe.”
In a wide-ranging press conference after his conservative alliance’s victory in Sunday’s federal election, Friedrich Merz made it clear his focus was on the turbulent geopolitical landscape, saying that although he would seek good ties with the US he was also ready for “the worst-case scenario”.
Also read >
Who is Friedrich Merz, the man now most likely to lead Germany? Eight things to know - The Conversation
Trump, Putin and Musk all share a leadership style – we’ve figured out what it is - The Conversation
German far-right surges as the crisis of the West accelerates - Owen Jones
The far right is rising in the land of “never again” - Inside Story
Trump’s Most Dangerous Move Yet? Politicising the Military - Dan Rather
Simon Longstaff: When our possibilities seem to collapse - The Ethics Centre
In recent years, I have had an increasing number of conversations with people who feel overwhelmed by world events.
They describe the world as wracked by multiple crises of a magnitude such that efforts to reform or repair what is broken is simply futile. This attitude is not confined to those who are poor, oppressed or marginalised. This particular feeling seems to be divorced from personal circumstances – with even the privileged experiencing the same grim outlook.
Read more from Simon Longstaff for The Ethics Centre
Tim Dunlop: Catch phrases are for cartoon characters, not political leaders - The Future of Everything
Anthony Albanese often trots out these pre-prepared phrases either to make a point or to get him through a difficult moment. We are all aware of his propensity for pointing out that he was raised by single mum in public housing, though that has become less of a go-to response as the housing crisis has intensified and he and his partner invest in luxury seaside property.
He also likes to tell us how much everyone underestimates him, oblivious, apparently, to the fact that this is less of a flex than he seems to think.
Read more from Tim Dunlop for The Future of Everything
Ita Buttrose's explosive letter blasting David Anderson over Lattouf - Crikey
Former ABC chair Ita Buttrose has launched a remarkable set of allegations at ABC managing director David Anderson. Here’s her letter to the ABC’s lawyers.
Former ABC chair and Australian media legend Ita Buttrose last week fired off a remarkable letter to Seyfarth Shaw Australia, the lawyers representing the ABC in its current case involving the sacking of journalist Antoinette Lattouf, about the evidence provided by outgoing ABC managing director David Anderson.
In the letter, Buttrose referred to “an audio-visual teleconference meeting” between herself and the firm earlier in the week in which, she claimed, “we discussed evidence I had that completely refuted Mr Anderson’s affidavit”.
Read more from Bernard Keane in Crikey (paywall)
Louise Adler: From Creative Australia to Sydney writers’ festival, the direct threat facing the arts is coming from within - The Guardian
All around the world, a succession of arts organisations across all sectors have come under pressure from artists – surely their first and most important stakeholders – to “take a stand” on a range of topical issues from the climate crisis to Israel’s war on Gaza. If artists engage with the issues of the day, what is the appropriate response of the boards and managers of arts organisations?
On Monday we saw the resignation of Kathy Shand, chair of the Sydney writers’ festival. Obviously individual board members, like donors, have every right to decide the values of an organisation do not align with their own.
Read more from Louise Adler for The Guardian
John Lyons: As Donald Trump upends geopolitics what happens to Five Eyes and AUKUS? - ABC News
As Donald Trump sets about overturning many of the assumptions of global politics, for Australia the key national security question is clear: what will Trump's new world mean for the Five Eyes alliance and AUKUS?
Since 1945, the bedrock of Australia's defence and intelligence framework has been the alliance with the US.
Under the Five Eyes agreement, the US, Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand share most of their intelligence.
Read more from John Lyons for The ABC
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David Shoebridge grills Parliament Services on China tweeter - Michael West Media
How much influence will Elon Musk have over Australia’s proposed new mobile service system? - Crikey (paywall)
Dispensing with the tech bros - John Quiggin
Australia’s birth rate is at a historic low – are grandmothers retiring later to blame? - Women’s Agenda
Should Australia’s GPs and patients be excited about the Medicare pledge? Yes and no - The Guardian
Pete Evans is back on Facebook and Instagram. Meta knows but isn’t doing anything - Crikey (paywall)
Why six Jews accuse Mark Leibler of antisemitism - Independent Australia
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 25th of February. See you tomorrow!
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here