Good morning. The US, UK and Australia’s defence deal has upset not only China and France, but climate experts too. Labor’s national secretary has appealed to Google over misinformation concerns ahead of the federal elections. And the controversial British journalist Piers Morgan has joined News Corp.
China has denounced Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine deal with the United States and the United Kingdom, raising the question of nuclear proliferation. The criticism from Beijing came as Morrison said he expected a greater US military presence in the Indo-Pacific and deeper UK defence ties.
The three countries are battling to contain an international backlash over the pact amid concerns the alliance could provoke China and prompt conflict in the Pacific. France has described Australia’s surprise decision to scrap its submarine deal in favour of nuclear-powered subs from the US as a “stab in the back”. The timing of the Aukus deal has also dismayed climate experts, who fear it could have a negative effect on hopes of a deal with China on greenhouse gas emissions ahead of vital UN climate talks in November.
Labor’s national secretary, Paul Erickson, has demanded Google explain which steps it has taken to ensure the company’s platforms and advertising capabilities are not “exploited for misinformation” in the run-up to the next federal election. In a letter seen by Guardian Australia, Erickson raises objections to recent interventions by Clive Palmer and Craig Kelly – activity he says undermines confidence in Australia’s public health response to Covid-19.
Australia
The strip search of an Indigenous female prisoner inside a Canberra prison earlier this year breached the territory’s Human Rights Act, according to a damning review that also found the ACT’s policies around mandatory searches did not have a legal basis.
In 2020, the Australian Bureau of Statistics registered the largest inflow of Australians moving to regional areas from capital cities since records began. The lockdowns of 2020 hit the cities much harder than the regions, which recovered quicker. A better lifestyle, the boom in home working and growing job opportunities in regional areas are drawing younger people away from cities, Natasha May reports for the Rural Network.
Queensland has passed laws that will allow voluntary assisted dying for people with a terminal illness, with an overwhelming majority of MPs voting in favour. The state – often perceived as Australia’s most socially conservative – becomes the fifth Australian jurisdiction to allow voluntary euthanasia.
The world
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has identified a previously unknown work by the artist. It is a pencil drawing of a broken old man, head in hands, looking utterly exhausted, and has been in a private collection in the Netherlands since around 1910. It goes on display at the museum until 2 January, after which it will return to the owner.
Rupert Murdoch has hired outspoken British presenter Piers Morgan for his new television station, talkTV, which will be a rival to the floundering rightwing channel GB News. Announcing the new deal, Murdoch said: “Piers is the broadcaster every channel wants but is too afraid to hire.”
A little over a week before the German federal elections, two candidates who want to fill Angela Merkel’s shoes have faced what has been described as their toughest grilling of the campaign trail – at the hands of two 11-year-olds. Questions varied from “What would you be called if you were a dragon?” to hard-hitting probing of the candidates’ positions on Russian foreign policy, civil protest and dealing with radical delegates in their own ranks.
British pupils taking GCSE and A-level English literature will be able to study more books by writers of colour, after one of the UK’s leading examination boards announced new texts aimed at increasing diversity in the school curriculum. The 2019 Booker prize-winning novel Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo is among new works.
Recommended reads
Everyone is listening: cafe waiters, baristas, cleaners, Uber drivers, pedicurists too. And loyal hairdressers have decades of stories to share. In Liane Moriarty’s new novel, Apples Don’t Fall, a mystery unfolds in snippets and whispers – a suspected murder, a missing body – but every witness has their own story: exams to sit, bills to pay, Tinder dates to preen for, the loneliness of widowhood. They hear what they hear because, in service jobs, they’re treated as invisible – as inert and functional as furniture. Our loose-lipped cast might not notice them, but Moriarty sure does, writes Beejay Silcox.
That emotional problems caused physical illness was a common belief in the nascent wellness industry of the 1980s and 90s. Just as writer Louise Hay pushed the line that various diseases signified a personal defeat and negative feelings, the modern-day wellness industry pushes a similar philosophy that a powerful natural immune system is the best defence against Covid, not a vaccine. But from Hay to the current crop of social media wellness influencers, there is a common thrum of neurosis underneath the bravado: that is, the need to feel in control, writes Brigid Delaney.
Listen
Rural communities are at the coalface of the biggest issues facing the nation, including the immediate and lasting impacts of global heating, and the ongoing effects of the pandemic. But across Australia, regional newspapers have closed, leaving a gap in reporting and information. On today’s Full Story podcast, Lenore Taylor and Gabrielle Chan speak to Gabrielle Jackson about the need to stay in touch with regional Australia.
How do we bridge the gap between rural and urban Australia? – with Lenore Taylor
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
For today’s Australia Reads podcast, Guardian Australia’s head of news, Mike Ticher, picked this piece by Naaman Zhou about Tveeder, a no-frills live TV transcript, and its little-known founder, Franco Trimboli, who still runs it from his Melbourne bedroom in his spare time, out of his own pocket.
Meet the man behind Tveeder, the no-frills live TV transcript that became an Australian media hero
Listen to the best of Guardian Australia’s journalism on Australia Reads podcast on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
Quade Cooper’s performance in the Wallabies’ memorable win over South Africa was arguably one of the greatest comebacks in Australian rugby history. But by virtue of his outstanding showing, Cooper will be under greater pressure to perform again in Saturday’s return match in Brisbane, writes Bret Harris.
Media roundup
Two unvaccinated nurses who worked at a Sydney hospital while infectious with Covid-19 have forced several cardiologists into isolation and the cancellation of multiple surgeries, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Australia has asked the World Trade Organization to establish a dispute settlement panel on anti-dumping duties imposed on Australian wine by China, reports the Canberra Times. Meanwhile, Australian allies including the US and Canada are profiting from Beijing’s trade sanctions on Australian goods, filling the void left by local exporters of coal, copper, beef, barley, wood, wine and shellfish, writes the AFR.
Coming up
Home quarantine for people arriving in Australia from abroad will be discussed at today’s national cabinet meeting. Queensland and South Australia are already testing mobile applications for home quarantine.
And if you’ve read this far …
From the medieval fashion for pointy shoes to Victorian waist-squeezing corsets and modern furry onesies, what we wear is a window to our past. Now researchers say they have found some of the earliest evidence of humans using clothing in a cave in Morocco, with the discovery of bone tools and bones from skinned animals suggesting the practice dates back at least 120,000 years.
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