Anthony Albanese prepares to launch countdown to voice referendum
Morning Mail: voice a choice of ‘two Australias’, climate report too hot to handle, TV’s great cancellation | The Guardian
30/08/2023
Morning Mail: voice a choice of ‘two Australias’, climate report too hot to handle, TV’s great cancellation
Martin Farrer
Good morning. The countdown to the Indigenous voice referendum begins formally today, with the announcement of the date of the vote. One of the leading yes advocates says Australia’s future can be “backward-looking, negative, pessimistic”, or “positive and forward-looking”. Today we’re also looking at a secret climate report that’s too hot to handle, how Chinese migrants feel about the media, and Amazon workers who have been told to work in the office or quit.
Australia
Drumgold challenge | WithShane Drumgold mounting a legal challenge to the Sofronoff inquiry’s damning findings against him, we look at what he alleges the inquiry got wrong and what might happen next.
‘Two Australias’ | The Indigenous voice referendum date is expected to be set for 14 October when Anthony Albanese addresses a rally today in Adelaide. It will leave 45 days for each side to have their say in a vote which, according to Indigenous academic Prof Megan Davis, amounts to a choice between “two Australias”.
Chinese worries | First-generation migrants from China believe Australian media reporting has fuelled unfriendly or suspicious attitudes towards them, new research shows. It comes as Meta shut down nearly 9,000 Facebook and Instagram accounts associated with a Chinese political spam network that had targeted users in Australia.
Jobless rise | Australia’s dream run with near record low unemployment is tipped to end due to weaker household consumption, with the jobless rate expected to increase from 3.7% to 4.5% by mid next year.
‘Cult of secrecy’ | The government has been accused of a “cult of secrecy” after refusing to release a secret report on how the climate crisis will fuel national security threats, even refusing to say when it was completed.
World
‘Past time to disagree’ | Amazon workers should look elsewhere for a job unless they are prepared to come into the office at least three days a week, the tech company’s chief executive has told them in a memo.
Prigozhin funeral | The funeral of Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin has been held at a private cemetery outside St Petersburg, hours after the Kremlin announced that Vladimir Putin would not be attending.
Trump trashed | Donald Trump has “the moral compass of an axe murderer”, a Republican opponent in Georgia said, as the former president faces legal jeopardy in the state.
Fossil fuels | China is approving new coal power projects at the equivalent of two plants every week, jeopardising its energy targets, while the Greece wildfires have been declared Europe’s biggest ever.
Cancer hope | Patients in England will become the first in the world to benefit from a jab that treats cancer in seven minutes, in a rollout that is expected to cut drug treatment times for some patients by up to 75%.
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After a hectic winter of Australians excelling at world championships in football, netball, swimming and athletics – not to mention the Ashes – new research has cast a more downbeat note about the cost-of-living pressures on elite athletes, along with challenges for their mental health. It found almost half earn less than $23,000 a year and warns that without philanthropic funding, some won’t be able to compete by the time of the Brisbane Olympics in 2032.
Not the news
Cash-strapped streaming services are axing finished shows without bothering to air them and deleting classics. In May, Disney+ announced a content removal plan designed to cut US$1.5bn worth of content, with the wreckage including the big-budget Nautilus, while HBO Max has cancelled the second season of feminist porn comedy Minx (pictured) just as it was finishing production. What next, asks Stuart Heritage – Game of Thrones? Succession?
The world of sport
Cycling | Australia’s Kaden Groves won stage four of the Vuelta a España overnight in a sprint finish after an early breakaway was reeled in before the finale.
US Open tennis | Men’s No 3 seed Daniil Medvedev is through to the second round at Flushing Meadows, while Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur won her opener. Follow the action live.
The yes vote has nudged ahead in the crucial battleground of South Australia, a poll in Adelaide Advertiserclaims today. A federal Labor MP has said police should be given metal-detecting wands to check teenagers for knives, the Age reports. And the SMH says the Snowy 2.0 mega project, announced by then PM Malcolm Turnbull with a $2bn pricetag, is now estimated to cost $12bn.
What’s happening today
Adelaide | The voice referendum date will be announced by Anthony Albanese.
Sydney | Directions will be given in a court case seeking the withdrawal of 29,000 Covid fines.
Tasmania | Boral has been accused of “interfering” with Aboriginal relics – 23 stone tools – at its quarry at Bridgewater, north of Hobart.
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day – with plenty more on the Guardian’s Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until tomorrow.
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