News update for Wed 28 May 2025

Your trusted guide to the top independent news and views of the day...

May 28, 2025

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 - and through 6 News here

BREAKING NEWS:

Labor approves extension of Woodside’s contentious North West Shelf gas development - The Guardian
Coalition frontbench named after parties reunite - The New Daily

Earth is heading for 2.7°C warming this century. We may avoid the worst climate scenarios – but the outlook is still dire - The Conversation

Is climate action a lost cause? The United States is withdrawing from the Paris Agreement for the second time, while heat records over land and sea have toppled and extreme weather events have multiplied.

In late 2015, nations agreed through the Paris Agreement to try to hold warming well under 2°C and ideally to 1.5°C. Almost ten years later, cutting emissions to the point of meeting the 1.5°C goal looks very difficult.

But humanity has shifted track enough to avert the worst climate future.

Hannah Ferguson: The Woodside boss’s attacks on my generation are blatant scapegoating – and we see straight through them - The Guardian

Meg O’Neill’s comments that young people are ‘ideological’ about fossil fuels while ordering from Temu are a blatant attempt to shift responsibility away from her industry.

Also read >

The drought is back – we need a new way to help farmers survive tough times - Pearls and Irritations
The Safeguard Mechanism helps gas companies take the piss - Ketan Joshi for TAI
Industry slams axing of $1 billion wind farm as “highly political,” as doubts raised over objections - Renew Economy
Woodside CEO slams young people for "zealous" views - Women’s Agenda

Class is in session - Democracy Sausage Podcast with Mark Kenny

The hosts of Democracy Sausage are joined by political scientist Jill Sheppard and ANU students to gauge the current state of politics. Will the tensions between the Liberal and National parties be a shot in the foot or an opportunity to reshape the parties? What questions and issues linger for Australia’s young people after the federal election? And what will it take for a Liberal party to connect with young people?

Listen to the Democracy Sausage Podcast with Mark Kenny

Defence chiefs buried leak investigation while pursuing David McBride - Michael West Media

Senior Defence officials “buried” an investigation into a major national security breach from the Brereton war crimes inquiry while pursuing whistleblower David McBride for the same crime.

David McBride will know today if his appeal against his conviction for leaking classified material to ABC’s Four Corners ‘Killing Fields‘ program in 2020 will be successful, or if he has to continue to serve time for blowing the whistle on war crimes in Afghanistan.

We now know that McBride wasn’t the only one.

Also read >

ATO whistleblower Richard Boyle pleads guilty to four charges - The ABC
ATO whistleblower Richard Boyle avoids jail in controversial plea deal - Crikey (paywall)

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Leading tax expert calls out ‘confected outrage’ of wealthy Australians over Labor’s $3m super plan - The Guardian

Former senior Treasury official Paul Tilley says it is ‘well understood’ equity issues with superannuation need to be addressed.

The man who wrote the history of tax reform in Australia has called out the “confected outrage” surrounding Labor’s plan to trim concessions for wealthy Australians with super balances over $3m.

Paul Tilley, the author of Changing Fortunes and a former senior Treasury official, said it was “well understood” that there were equity issues within the super system that needed to be addressed.

Our retreat from Asia has become a rout - Pearls and Irritations

On almost every measure, Australia has gone backwards on engaging with our region, and particularly with China, and it is time to do something about it.

As a settler society we cling to our history with the UK, Europe and now the US. We are fearful of our geography. We have failed so far to reconcile our history and geography.

We remain reluctant to embrace our region. For example, Australian and Chinese histories, cultures and systems of government are different, so we must learn about each other. If we don’t, we will make mistakes again and again.

We need to be much more Asia-literate.

Today’s cartoon by Cathy Wilcox

TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here

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First Nations author vows to 'keep speaking up' for Palestine after Queensland grant revoked - DeepCut

The State Library of Queensland pulled the $15K award over pro-Palestine advocacy. Now, K.A. Ren Wyld tells Deepcut why they’re not backing down.

For Martu author K.A. Ren Wyld, the last week has been "a little bit hectic".

On Tuesday May 20, Wyld revealed on X that the State Library of Queensland (SLQ) had abruptly rescinded their place in the prestigious black&write! writing fellowship program for First Nations authors, which included $15,000 in prize money.

That afternoon, the Queensland arts minister, John-Paul Langbroek, told parliament he had "serious concern over the recent decision by the Library Board of Queensland to award a black&write! Writing Fellowship" to Wyld.

Also read >

‘Surge in anger’ as grassroots Labor members urge Albanese to impose sanctions on Israel over Gaza blockade - The Guardian
Australia still doing little as the Gaza genocide gets worse - Pearls and Irritations
In the Face of Genocide: If Albo Won’t Sanction Israel, We Can - LyreBird Dreaming
Most Australians find Israel’s denial of aid to Gaza unjustifiable. Here’s how you can help - Women’s Agenda

Post-Election Fallout and What Comes Next - Curtin’s Cast Podcast

In the final post-election Curtin's Cast wrap Kos Samaras and Nick Dyrenfurth discussed the on-off again Coalition partyroom divorce, why the Liberals stand to gain from a trial separation from the Nationals, the hysterical opposition from some Liberals and right-wing commentators to Labor's tightening of multi-million dollar superannuation tax concessions, and Nick looks ahead to some of the big issues which will dominate the next term of parliament including Artificial Intelligence, while Kos gives us a rundown on the remaining hotly contested electoral contests.

Listen to the Curtin’s Cast Podcast

Also read >

Let’s stop pretending the Coalition split wasn’t about gender - Women’s Agenda
Ley’s impossible task – Leading a party at war with its future - Pearls and Irritations
Blue rinse vs blue heeler: Libs and Nats bark at the moon - Murray Hogarth for The Politics

The fall of Healthscope: bad luck, bad decisions, or is Australia’s private health model sick? - The Guardian

Rising costs, the Covid pandemic and an ageing population all played a part in the hospital giant’s collapse, which has prompted debate about the sector’s future.

Investing in hospitals is viewed as a safe bet. People regularly get sick and the population ages.

Australian private hospitals have the added advantage of being backed by a government-supported private healthcare system.

But on Monday, a huge private equity-backed hospital deal officially soured, sending Healthscope into the hands of receivers, and raising questions over whether Australia’s private healthcare system needs to be overhauled.

Liz Allen: As an ANU employee, I call on the government to investigate the university - Crikey

Universities are no longer fit-for-purpose, and the ANU is leading the charge.

Australian universities have been making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Systemic problems plague the sector on everything from underpayment to sexual assault and racism, excessive executive pay, jobs for mates, misleading the Senate and governance issues.

And this is just the Australian National University, where I work as a senior lecturer.

‘Behind locked doors, a long way from home’ - The Justice Map

Skyrocketing prison populations have seen people incarcerated far away from their homes and communities, something which is having a devastating impact, particularly on First Nations people.

An “unprecedented population growth” in prisons in Western Australia has seen First Nations people incarcerated thousands of kilometres away from their Country.

This has also occurred in the Northern Territory, where all women held at a prison block in Alice Springs were transferred to Darwin, more than 1500km away.

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