News update for Tue 9 April 2025
Your trusted guide to the top independent news and views of the day...
24 days until the May 3 federal election
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 the news and views you need to know today…
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - Amy Remeikis for The Australia Institute here - and through 6 News here
George Megalogenus: Australia’s Trump Election - The Monthly
Beyond the deals that will be needed to form Australia’s next government, the outcome of this federal election will be determined by a wildcard influence from outside our politics – the Trump presidency
There was a time when the leaders of Australia’s Labor and Liberal parties refused to entertain the question of minority government, and no one seemed to mind. It was just about the final taboo in our politics, and it relied on the assumption that Australians crave stability above all else. To entertain the possibility of a hung parliament was to concede two disempowering things at once: that your side couldn’t win in its own right, and that you accepted the competing mandates of third parties and independents. Acknowledging a role for the crossbench in deciding who runs this country risked giving voters permission to punish both major parties.
Read more from George Megalogenus for The Monthly
Also >
Right-wing media forsakes Australian loyalty to placate Trump - Independent Australia
The right was once the bastion of fiscal responsibility. Now it’s smashing capitalism and destroying wealth - Bernard Keane for Crikey (paywall)
Is a Financial Crisis Looming? Trump's Market Panic - The Rest Is Politics Podcast
Market Mayhem - The Money Café Podcast with Alan Kohler and Stephen Mayne
Bucking the precedent - Democracy Sausage Podcast with Mark Kenny
Historian Frank Bongiorno joins Democracy Sausage to tell us what we can learn from precedent, and what's unusual about this federal election. How will Trump’s tariffs sway this campaign and Australia’s relationship with the US? Has Labor flipped the worldwide incumbency disadvantage trend? And how much campaigning is landing with a disengaged populace? On this episode of Democracy Sausage, Professor Frank Bongiorno joins Professor Mark Kenny and Dr Marija Taflaga to discuss elections past and present.
Listen to the Democracy Sausage Podcast with Mark Kenny
Also read >
No major gaffes and no knockout punch: the first leaders’ debate was a pedestrian affair - The Conversation
Chinese-Australian voters were key to Labor’s win in 2022. Are some now swinging back to the Liberals? - The Conversation
Adam Bandt says the Greens can deliver ‘real change’ – but the party should choose its battles more wisely - The Conversation
Not enough water available for Coalition’s nuclear proposal to run safely, report finds - The Guardian
Analyst says nuclear is the ‘thirstiest’ energy source, as report commissioned by Liberal supporters throws doubt on plan’s feasibility.
About 90% of the nuclear generation capacity the Coalition proposes to build would not have access to enough water to run safely, according to a report commissioned by Liberals Against Nuclear.
The report authored by Prof Andrew Campbell, a visiting fellow at the Australian National University, assessed nuclear energy’s water needs and the available supply across the seven sites where the Coalition has proposed new reactors.
Also read >
Coalition's nuclear plants could be forced to shut in drought - The Canberra Times
Are there quick wins for power prices? We asked some energy experts - ABC News
“Fiscal vandalism:” Queensland doubles down on coal and gas after transmission, hydro cost blowouts - Renew Economy
It’s up to each of us to help save life on Earth – I love this challenge - Bob Brown for The Guardian
REPORTING ON WAR CRIMES IS NOT A CRIME - Declassified Australia
The Zionist Federation of Australia has filed a formal complaint against journalist Mary Kostakidis in the Federal Court after accusing her of antisemitism for her reporting on X/Twitter.
Prominent journalist Mary Kostakidis is the subject of a formal complaint filed last week in the Federal Court in Melbourne by the Zionist Federation of Australia, which has accused her of antisemitism for her reporting on Israel’s genocidal actions in Gaza.
Read more in Declassified Australia
Also read >
Gaza and Aukus nuclear sub deal divide Labor and grassroots groups - The Guardian
What is the Israel lobby – and why is it so anxious? - The Conversation
‘Selling a pup’: Is this election a populist contest after Trump? - Pearls and Irritations
In 2025, after nearly 50 years of global neoliberalism since Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, the rich have got richer and inequalities have grown.
The feeling that “things are crook in Tallarook” has only intensified with worldwide inflation, political instability and invasion wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Is Peter Dutton’s anti-woke election campaign a case of trying to “sell a pup” to ordinary voters? It’s a simple question with a complicated answer.
One response to the rising inequality has been populism, beginning in Australia with the maverick Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party in 1990s Queensland.
Read more in Pearls and Irritations
Today’s cartoon by Fiona Katauskas
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - Amy Remeikis for The Australia Institute 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 grab bag of campaign housing policies. But will they fix the affordability crisis beyond the election? - The Conversation
Secure and affordable housing is a fundamental human right for all Australians.
Therefore, it is unsurprising the election campaign is being played out against a backdrop of heightened voter anxiety about rental stress and housing affordability. A growing number of people are unable to access housing that meets their needs.
And it’s not just low-income earners who are affected by housing pressures. It is also the millions of people who make up middle Australia; the very group that will help determine the election outcome.
The solution to Australia’s housing problem is complex. We need to start thinking differently about what reform might look like.
A Punter & A Press Conference with The Only Politician Who Gives a S#!t About Gas - Punters Politics Podcast
A candid conversation with Senator David Pocock about Australia's gas export crisis and why both major parties continue to serve corporate interests over everyday punters.
Listen to the Punters Politics Podcast
Stressed, scared, overwhelmed: the election issues weighing on young Australian voters - The Guardian
More than 900 young people tell Guardian Australia they worry about money, housing and healthcare – and feel a sense of dread about the climate emergency, social cohesion and rise of the far right.
“There is a general sense – it sounds melodramatic – of, well, the world is ending, we have no way to deal with that, so we are just going to get on with life,” Axel says.
The 25-year-old is describing a feeling shared by his friends in their mid-20s.
“I know that I need to prepare for the future but also it doesn’t feel like there is much of a point … when we don’t know what the impact of climate change is going to be in five years’ time, let alone 10”.
Also read > Labor’s $1 billion for mental health is good news for young people in particular – but leaves some gaps - The Conversation
Where is the ‘national crisis’ of violence against women in this election campaign? - Women’s Agenda
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition leader Peter Dutton debated each other at a Sky News leaders forum last night in front of 100 undecided voters. The issues of domestic and family violence, as well as violence against women, didn’t get a mention.
That’s despite Albanese declaring violence against women a “national crisis” less than a year ago, and Dutton suggesting a royal commission was needed to determine the solutions ahead.
Is it that women are no longer getting murdered? Sadly, no.
Read more from Angela Priestley for Women’s Agenda
A DOGE-like report called Indigenous health research ‘wasteful’. Now the Coalition wants to cut it - Crikey
Coalition attacks on a $1 million grant to improve Indigenous breastfeeding rates are at the centre of a campaign by right-wing group ADVANCE shown to millions of Australian voters.
The Coalition is attacking research on improving Indigenous breastfeeding rates as a “wasteful spending spree”, after a right-wing think tank put it on a wishlist for Elon Musk-like “government efficiency” cuts.
The government-funded study — which tasks a health policy not-for-profit and two Aboriginal health services with creating a program to improve the health of Indigenous mothers and their children — has become the centrepiece of a campaign by right-wing lobby group ADVANCE, which is targeting millions of voters with digital advertisements about the research in the past week.
Read more from Cam Wilson for Crikey (paywall)
Savage cuts to foreign aid leave vulnerable bleeding - The Politics
When the Trump administration took a chainsaw to USAID, the world went into shock. But not enough to increase its budget for the world's poorest and neediest.
Is foreign aid dead? Some experts say so, and the prognosis certainly looks bleak.
The Albanese government’s budget did little to help, but it’s the Trump administration’s massive cuts to USAID that have commanded headlines. The State Department confirms 83% of its projects (5,200 out of 6,200) have been cancelled.
Inspired by a local group of people in Sydney's north who were looking for t-shirts to wear on their regular walks, Democracy Walks champions, supports and actively engages in our democracy.
CLICK here to see Democracy Walks’ t-shirt designs - and join the democracy walkers today!
See a list of the 38 community independents - who have (so far) announced their candidacy in the upcoming federal election. Subscribe, volunteer, donate to support their campaigns.
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.
Quick Links…
Human Rights Watch slams WA for highest forced Aboriginal child removals - Green Left
Reality check: coral restoration won’t save the world’s reefs - The Conversation
From Debate Stage to Town Hall: Where True Political Leadership Takes Root - Sue Barrett
Former Army officer turned MP Andrew Hastie says women should not serve in combat roles - The ABC
Yes, we are worse off – will Dutton or Albanese make it better? - Full Story Podcast
Six teals fighting against history, safe seats to change Qld politics - ABC News
Dutton's ABC War - Truth, Lies and Media Podcast
Curtin's Cast interview with Fowler’s Dai Le - Curtin’s Cast Podcast
Politics aside, new research shows there are good financial reasons to back working from home - The Conversation
AUKUS on track? No, Australia needs Plan B now - Pearls and Irritations
As the US slashes health funding and measles re-emerges, Australia must urgently invest in our public health system - The Guardian
How the map changed from 2007 to 2022 - The Tally Room
Fact-check: 710,000 new electoral voters aren’t migrants ‘imported’ by Labor - Crikey (paywall)
Australian government gave $2.7m to Elon Musk’s X for advertisements in billionaire’s first year as owner - Josh Taylor for The Guardian
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - Amy Remeikis for The Australia Institute here - and through 6 News here
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You’re up to date for Wednesday the 9th of April. See you tomorrow!
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - Amy Remeikis for The Australia Institute 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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