News update for Wed 19 June 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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TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here
BREAKING NEWS: Richard Boyle appeal fails. Another deep blow for whistlebower protections - Michael West Media
Peter Dutton names seven potential nuclear power station sites but avoids questions on cost - The Guardian
Peter Dutton has announced the Coalition proposes to build seven nuclear power plants and two proposed small modular reactors, but dodged questions about the cost of the plan.
A snap Coalition party room meeting on Wednesday heard the opposition proposes that Tarong and Callide in Queensland; Mount Piper and Liddell in New South Wales; Collie in Western Australia; Loy Yang in Victoria; and the Northern power station in South Australia host nuclear power plants.
The plan has been panned as more expensive than firming renewable energy and guaranteed to increase emissions due to increased reliance on fossil fuels until nuclear power is ready, which the Coalition claims could be as soon as 2035 in contrast to expert advice.
Tim Dunlop: Dutton’s Atomic Lie - The Future of Everything
This morning, Peter Dutton announced his alleged plans for an Australian nuclear energy industry and in so doing he has set a test for all Australian media: are they willing to do their job as a fourth estate and call this out for the nonsense it is, or they all going to play games until the next election pretending this is some sort of legitimate alternative that deserves to be taken seriously?
Read more from Tim Dunlop for The Future of Everything
Also read >
Big-government Dutton STILL can’t say how he will build seven nuclear reactors - Bernard Keane for Crikey (paywall)
Dutton’s petrostate and the global far right - Lucy Hamilton for AIMN
Peter Dutton’s nuclear power push does not address the urgency of the climate crisis we now find ourselves in - Alan Finkel for The Guardian
The Coalition’s nuclear power plan offers the worst of all energy worlds: higher emissions and higher electricity costs - Malcolm Turnbull for The Guardian
‘Raises red flags’: Coalition nuclear power plan met with widespread scepticism from business groups - Peter Hannam for The Guardian
Peter Dutton has promised to solve our energy problems – but his nuclear policy still leaves Australians in the dark - The Conversation
If regional communities don’t want a windfarm, why would they accept a nuclear power station? - Gabrielle Chan for The Guardian
Peter Dutton’s plan to cut the 2030 climate target would be an own goal for Australia’s Pacific ambitions - The Conversation
The current visit to Australia by China’s Premier Li Qiang may have taken the heat out of recent tensions between the two nations. But Australia remains embroiled with China in a tussle for influence in the Pacific – a fight in which climate ambition is key.
That’s why, at a diplomatic level, we should be concerned about Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s suggestion the Coalition would abandon Australia’s 2030 emissions target should it win the next election. Such a move would be damaging on many levels.
Also read > Is David Littleproud prepared to switch off rooftop solar to jam nuclear into the grid? - Renew Economy
Senator Fatima Payman: Australia must recognise Palestine to promote peace - Pearls and Irritations
Such a move would support the peace efforts, not undermine them, as some have argued.
Over the last eight months, we have witnessed the mass killing and displacement of Palestinians and the devastation and destruction of Gaza carried out by Israel under the guise of “self-defence”. As the Israeli government continues to disregard its obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and cease genocidal acts, it is imperative for influential nations to take a definitive stance.
Australia, with its global standing and democratic values, is in a strong position to facilitate peace. An important step in this direction is recognising a Palestinian state. It is also a moral and ethical imperative.
Read more from Senator Fatima Payman for Pearls and Irritations
Peter Hannam: What’s next for interest rates? Even RBA governor Michele Bullock admits she doesn’t know - The Guardian
It seems everybody wants to know what the Reserve Bank is going to do with interest rates, not least politicians and the Canberra press gallery itching for a federal election.
Might the RBA shove the economy into a recession with a 14th rate hike to ensure the inflation threat is firmly back in its box? Or, still more likely, will the central bank spare the many households struggling to repay debt with a rate cut this year?
The short answer, frustrating as it is for pundits and punters alike, is nobody knows.
Read more from Peter Hannam in The Guardian
Also read >
Please stop obsessing over words. It’s quite simple: the RBA thinks inflation is too high - The Conversation
Reserve Bank playing with fire — beware of the creeping recession - Stephen Koukoulas for Independent Australia
Michael Pascoe: Housing and the small steps without reward - The New Daily
Like the Pope’s religion and where the sun rises, it’s a sure thing politicians faced with a housing crisis will ignore expert advice and give tax breaks to first-home buyers.
It’s just part of the housing policy mishmash that will maintain the crisis for as long as anyone dares guess.
Read more from Michael Pascoe for The New Daily
Today’s cartoon by Cathy Wilcox for The SMH/Age
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here
Trump at the Business Greedtable - Robert Reich
The Business Roundtable is an association of more than 200 CEOs of America’s biggest corporations, their most powerful voice in Washington.
Last Wednesday, its chair, Joshua Bolten, told reporters that his group planned to drop “eight figures” while “putting its full weight behind protecting and strengthening tax reform.”
Translated: It’s going to pour money into Trump’s campaign to ensure that Trump’s 2017 tax cuts — most of which benefit big corporations and the rich — don’t expire in 2025, as scheduled.
On Thursday, Trump met at the Business Roundtable’s Washington headquarters with over 80 CEOs, including Apple’s Tim Cook, JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, and Walmart’s Doug McMillon.
Also read > The Guardian view on the US and vaccine disinformation: a stupid, shocking and deadly game
Stabilisation, but deeper relationship stymied by Australian mass media sinophobes - Pearls and Irritations
Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s visit underscores the significance of the Australia-China relationship, especially given China’s status as Australia’s largest trading partner. A deeper relation should develop, but that will take time. Trust needs to be reestablished not only at diplomatic and business levels, but also in the Australian mass media, whose China opinion writers have almost all become Sinophobes arguing that China is trying to subvert and attack its neighbours – including Australia, writes Percy Allan in an interview with China’s Global Times.
Read more in Pearls and Irritations
Also listen to > Are Australia and China friends again? - The Daily Aus Podcast
Making childcare universal: Will it be an election secret weapon? - 7am Podcast
There’s no nice way to put it: Australian childcare is broken, and not just for those with children. It’s prohibitively expensive, getting the days you’re after is like winning the lottery and if you do get some government subsidy, you have the pleasure of hours on the phone to Centrelink. We’re at a critical point though. The government has promised a huge overhaul of the system and the prime minister is considering reducing the cost to just $10 per kid, per day.
Listen to Georgie Dent from The Parenthood on the 7am Podcast
Also read > Jane Hume reignites the ‘gender’ wars ahead of the election - Kristine Ziwica for Crikey (paywall)
Cam Wilson: Tucker Carlson’s Australian tour ticket prices have been slashed with hundreds of seats still available - Crikey
Tickets to Tucker Carlson’s Australian speaking tour have been cut to less than a quarter of their original price, with hundreds of tickets still available for next week’s events.
In April, United Australia Party chairman Clive Palmer announced he was bringing over Carlson for a country-wide tour called the Australian Freedom Conference, presented by Palmer’s mining company Mineralogy.
In a media release spruiking the event, the former Fox News host spoke of his excitement at coming Down Under. “I know many Australians feel the same way, and I’m excited to meet them,” he said.
Read more from Cam Wilson for Crikey (paywall)
Michael Bradley: The haunting of Parliament House - The Politics
If you were Anthony Albanese, you’d be asking yourself, is it me? Or is it him? Am I that boring, or is Peter Dutton’s charismatic presence catching fire?
Either way, there can be no news worse for a sitting prime minister than to be told that more Australians would now prefer Dutton to be doing your job than you – the man once so universally considered unelectable that his own wife had to publicly declare him “not a monster”.
Conventional wisdom says that Albanese has screwed the pooch; so successful has he been at making himself the smallest target possible, he has become entirely invisible, leaving everyone with nothing more than a vague memory of voting Labor last time because literally anything was going to be better than another three years of Scott Morrison.
Read more from Michael Bradley for The Politics
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The National Anti-Corruption Commission: a damp squib - Pearls and Irritations
Many sports are tightening their transgender policies – can inclusion co-exist with fairness, physical safety and integrity? - The Conversation
Can Rupert Murdoch still decide how Britain votes? - The News Agents
The Tories' 'taxtopia' attack, Macron's gamble, and the politics of football - The Rest Is Politics
Would face scanning technology keep Australian kids off social media? The UK regulator doubts it - The Guardian
Improving gender equality will help end violence against women, but it’s only part of the puzzle - The Conversation
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 Wednesday the 19th of June. See you tomorrow!
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here