News update for Tues 6 Feb 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 selected articles from Australia’s independent news media sector.
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Scroll down for today’s news and views…
The Conversation: ‘A deeply troubling discovery’: Earth may have already passed the crucial 1.5°C warming limit
‘Global temperatures have already exceeded 1.5°C warming and may pass 2°C later this decade, according to a world-first study. The worrying findings, based on temperature records contained in sea sponge skeletons, suggest global climate change has progressed much further than previously thought,’ says MProfessor Malcolm McCulloch of The University of Western Australia.
Read more in The Conversation here
ABC Nemesis: Episode 2 The Turnbull Years
With Malcolm Turnbull installed as Prime Minister, after bringing down Tony Abbott, hopes were riding high. But what followed was a Shakespearean drama resulting in another Prime Minister dispatched.
Watch the Nemesis replay on ABC's iView here
The Guardian: Reviews under way after 13-year-old autistic boy with Islamic State fixation targeted in undercover operation
Nino Bucci reports that ‘The Australian federal police have confirmed there are multiple reviews being conducted into an undercover counter-terror operation which targeted a 13-year-old autistic boy with a fixation on Islamic State, as calls grow for a public inquiry into the case.
‘The boy, known by the pseudonym Thomas Carrick, was granted a permanent stay on terror-related charges last October, after a magistrate found police further radicalised him during the operation and “doomed” his efforts at rehabilitation.’
Read more in The Guardian here
Independent Australia: News Corp’s Stage 3 tax cut coverage a deceitful political campaign
‘News Corp's coverage of Labor's altered Stage 3 tax cuts has unsurprisingly highlighted – yet again – its existence as a propaganda machine rather than news outlet,’ comments Dr Victoria Fielding.
‘WE OFTEN HEAR people complain that Murdoch media is biased towards right-wing causes. News Corp voices tend to justify their bias by claiming they’re just taking a position in news and commentary not taken by other outlets.
‘Right-wing bias – however – is the least of the Murdoch media's problems. The biggest problem with News Corp is that they are not a news organisation, they are a campaign platform for right-wing causes.’
Read more in Independent Australia here
The Guardian: The invisible Australians who die three decades prematurely – Full Story podcast
Chris Knaus speaks to experts, family members and support workers to find out why Australians experiencing homelessness are dying decades prematurely – and what can be done to stop these deaths.
Listen to The Guardian's Full Story podcast here
Cartoon by David Pope
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here
Crikey: Australia’s most toxic industries lead the annual political donor parade
Bernard Keane reports on the ‘annual day for what passes for accountability when it comes to political donations, and it’s once again a demonstration of how some of Australia’s most rotten industries spend up big to influence politicians.
‘The gambling industry was again dominant: it handed over $1 million to state and federal branches of the major parties, led by the various arms of the Australian Hotels Association, which gave $285,000 to politicians.’
Pearls & Irritations: Opportunity for real tax reform goes wanting
‘Anthony Albanese will be losing much sleep from opposition claims that he is a liar, or not to be trusted on anything after his volte face on tax cuts focused at higher income earners. That’s even if you regard as a lie an election promise which is subsequently not followed to the letter,’ writes Jack Waterford.
Read more in Pearls & Irritations here
NZ's SpinOff: Christopher Luxon’s Waitangi speech was so boring it became insulting
‘Thousands gathered at Waitangi this morning to voice their concerns directly to the new government as there are moves to wind back long term Tiriti and Treaty principles. And the prime minister made it clear he wasn’t listening,’ writes Madeleine Chapman.
Read more on NZ’s SpinOff here
The New Daily: Never-ever promises are nonsense and voters know it
Paul Bongiorno writes that ‘The redesign of the stage-three tax cuts hopefully is a watershed moment in the conversation the nation needs to have over expanding the revenue base to pay for the sorts of things that a modern, healthy, educated, secure and caring nation demands.
‘In other words, there may be just a chance that the mindless ruling out of any reforms that are desperately needed to the tax system will be seen for the nonsense that they are.’
Read more in The New Daily here
The New Politics: A cut above the res? The Coalition wants to have its tax cut and eat it too.
Following much speculation, the Coalition has made the call: it will try to amend Labor’s overwhelmingly popular changes to the Stage Three tax cuts but will ultimately pass them, in a move colourfully known in Canberra as a “bitch and fold”.
Read more from Rachel Withers for The Politics here
You’re up to date for Tuesday 6 February. See you tomorrow!
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here
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