News update for Wed 6 Mar 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 fight disinformation by sharing selected articles from Australia’s independent news media sector.
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Scroll down for today’s news and views…
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here
Penny Wong rattles the China can - Pearls & Irritations
When the Albanese government was elected, the first decision it should have taken was to dismiss Burgess, Andrew Shearer and Mike Pezzullo. In the event, Pezzullo shot himself but, unbelievably, Burgess and Shearer still remain at the centre of a Labor government’s security apparatus. This says more about the government than it says about them.
Read more from former PM Paul Keating for Pearls & Irritations
Peter Dutton’s climate denial is morphing into a madcap nuclear fantasy. The ban should stay - Renew Economy
The energy tropes on social media are getting so bizarre it is sometimes hard to imagine how anyone would take them seriously.
Welcome to the Trumpian world we now live in: Say something often enough and people may end up believing it. And just when you think it could not get any more weird, up pops the federal Coalition with a plan for nuclear power.
Also read > Talk of nuclear power plant sites ‘conjecture’, says Liberal MP amid internal division on Dutton’s policy - The Guardian
Dutton’s new form of climate denial - Pearls & Irritations
Dutton’s nuclear push a ‘dumb idea’ and decades too late - Crikey
Facebook pulls plug on ‘News Media Bargaining Code’ – what’s next? - Michael West Media
Meta’s Facebook has declared they’ll stop paying Australian media outlets for content when current agreements expire. It’s sparked the ire of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and consternation within the Government.
Kim Wingerei asks what may happen next for Michael West Media
Also listen to > The uncertain future of news on social media - The Daily Aus Podcast
The Australian teachers quitting over Andrew Tate - 7am Podcast
An alarming number of Australian boys are engaging with, and looking up to, the misogynistic influencer Andrew Tate. Tate’s influence is warping classroom conversation, driving female peers to the fringe of discussion and even causing some teachers to quit. So why are misogynistic influencers reaching so many young men? And how is it forcing teachers to walk away?
Abortion is key to women’s autonomy. Why are our politicians still so silent about it? - Women’s Agenda
Despite now being legal in all states and territories, abortion is not publicly available in Australia’s otherwise celebrated universal public health system.
If you live in NSW and turn up to any of the 220-odd public hospitals and request a surgical abortion, you are likely to be turned away (thank you Wagga Wagga and Hunter New England Hospitals for bucking that trend). Heaven forbid you turn up to a Catholic hospital.
Cartoon by Cathy Wilcox for the SMH/Age
Also read > The Guardian view on starvation in Gaza: Palestinians need solutions, not symbols
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here
Cars sold in Australia in 2023 emitted as much CO2 as 156 coal mines, analysis shows - The Guardian
Cars sold in Australia by just five companies emitted as much carbon dioxide in 2023 as 156 standard coal mines, analysis shows, as advocates eager for the government’s proposed fuel efficiency standard warn of a loophole for SUVs.However as the Albanese government considers the views of industry players on its proposed fuel efficiency standard, tensions are firming between auto manufacturers and environmental groups about how strict the new rules should be.
Also read: Tesla accuses Australian car lobby group of making ‘false claims’ about Labor’s vehicle emissions plan - The Guardian
EVs are still too expensive for most Australians – so why are some carmakers and the Coalition standing in the way? - The Guardian
Wanted – a government game to try this housing fix - The New Daily
Another day (or week or month or whatever), another series of disheartening and depressing housing stories and statistics, all pointing to there being absolutely no end in sight to the crisis and no solution contemplated by any government.Oh, there are Band-Aids of one sort or another, some of them helpful for some people, but no government can even pretend their policy bibs and bobs will make a significant difference.
Read more from Michael Pascoe for The New Daily
Also read: What is negative gearing and what is it doing to housing affordability? - The Conversation
I’ll be dead before the worst of it, but I’m fearful for those who won’t - SMH
I fear for my five grandkids’ future (as I may have mentioned before) but, to tell the truth, I’m glad I’ll be dead and gone before it reaches its worst. What we must do, like all those who voted teal at the last election, is to press both major parties to speed up our efforts and make Australia a leader rather than a laggard in the global push to limit how bad it gets.
Read more from Ross Gittins for the SMH
The Sofronoff saga has shattered whatever confidence we had in our legal system. Here’s what went wrong - The Guardian
Millions of dollars were spent on the failed inquiry. But things were awry from the start.
The law was not the only important institution shown to be flawed – so was the fourth estate, our free press. Not only did the commission bellyflop, it went down together with our “national broadsheet”, the Australian.
Read more from Geoffrey Watson for The Guardian
Housing on the hill - The Politics
Everyone agrees housing is a massive issue. But very few seem willing to admit that something radical needs doing, and that the private market is never going to solve a problem that it has a vested interest in maintaining. “Let’s give solving the housing crisis a crack together,” the Property Council chief said vaguely today, calling for a “grand housing partnership”. But until developers agree that profit is not the point, it’s hard to see how that grand partnership will get us out of this crisis, because at the moment no one builds houses unless there’s something in it for them.
Read more from Rachel Withers for The Politics
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Traditionalism: the belief that could doom us all - Lucy Hamilton for the Aust Independent Media Network
NBN Co bombshell: High-speed, affordable broadband at last - Independent Australia
Bob Brown on a life of activism - Phillip Adams for ABC’s Late Night Live Podcast
Why have Anthony Albanese and other politicians been referred to the ICC over the Gaza war? - The Conversation
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here
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You’re up to date for Wednesday 6th March. See you tomorrow!
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here