The week Australia rejected divisive rightwing politics at the ballot box

Last weekend was a singular moment for Australian progressives as Anthony Albanese led the Labor party to a crushing victory and became the first Australian prime minister to win re-election since John Howard in the early 2000s — and with an increased majority.

Labor’s win – and the collapse of the rightwing Liberal-National Coalition led by Peter Dutton, who lost his own seat – saw voters reject Trump-style culture wars and, wrote columnist Julianne Schultz, gives Albanese an opportunity to act with boldness on his stated key issues of raising workers’ rights, housing, gender equality, childcare, disability benefits and Indigenous reconciliation.

Tom McIlroy, Guardian Australia’s chief political correspondent, looked at the Coalition’s failures amid the global mood music of the US administration (“Along with sections of the Australian media, they pushed for a version of Donald Trump’s unapologetic politics … But Albanese’s remarkable victory showed voters aren’t interested in appeals to the fringes.”). For the Full Story podcast Tom spoke to Nour Haydar about the “bloodletting” inside the party, which is now facing a full-on existential crisis, and former Liberal minister Arthur Sinodinos wrote that the result in Australia was proof that grievance politics (which might include labelling the Guardian and national broadcaster ABC “hate media”) aren’t enough for an opposition party to take power.

There was further encouragement for progressives around the globe beyond just the result in Australia. Margaret Simons looked at the diminishing influence of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp on the nation’s politics, while Adam Morton noted the public mandate for a huge shift to renewable energy. I’ve also enjoyed following our coverage of the campaign from here in London, especially Matilda Boseley’s explainer videos and comic James Colley’s Surviving the Election video series, which have brought a new lens (and audience) to how we cover politics.

Labor’s big win in Australia came a week on from Mark Carney’s Liberal triumph in Canada. In this interesting piece, Jonathan Yerushalmy asked if the long shadow of Trump could prove the saviour of centre-left politics. But while those on the centre and left were celebrating (or just plain relieved) in Australia and Canada, in Britain they were left worried after Reform, led by Trump cheerleader Nigel Farage, surged in English local elections (though the Greens and Liberal Democrats also performed pretty well). Reform is now in control of 10 local councils and on course to be a national force come the next general election. On our Politics Weekly UK podcast, John Harris, Polly Toynbee and Gaby Hinsliff asked if Reform has upended British politics for good. We’ll be watching closely to find out.

Finally, you may have noticed an updated look to our app and homepage this week. If you haven’t already, please do download or update the relaunched app and explore its new features, including audio articles and new and improved puzzles. We think it’s by far the best way to read, listen to and watch Guardian journalism. You can find out more here.

As Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would seize territory in Gaza and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said the population would “leave in great numbers”, Bethan McKernan and Malak A Tantesh spoke to Palestinians suffering under the renewed military assault and a nine-week blockade on food and medical supplies. Jason Burke and Malak also reported on the wave of looting in Gaza as Palestinians become more desperate. Writing from Washington DC, Andrew Roth explored how Trump’s walk-away diplomacy has enabled Israel’s worst impulses. On Today in Focus, Bethan drew on four years of reporting from Israel and the Palestinian territories to give her assessment of the worsening conditions in Gaza and the diminishing prospects for peace. Aya Al-Hattab, a writer in Gaza, provided a terrifying first-hand account of conditions there.

When India launched its reprisal for the Kashmir terrorist attack with missile strikes in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the Pakistani province of Punjab, Aakash Hassan in Kashmir and Shah Meer Baloch in Islamabad gathered first-hand accounts of panic and fear. South Asia correspondent Hannah Ellis-Petersen asked who will talk the two sides down now that the US seems unwilling to get involved. In an exclusive interview, Shah spoke to Pakistan’s deputy prime minister, Ishaq Dar, who told him the country would go to “any extent” to defend its dignity, while defence and security editor Dan Sabbagh explained how India’s strikes show warfare has been normalised again.

Reporters Angela Giuffrida and Harriet Sherwood were waiting for white smoke at the Vatican as Robert Francis Prevost became Pope Leo XIV. Sam Jones profiled a moderate, good-humoured first American pope, while Catherine Pepinster made the case that Prevost’s choice of name is indicative of a progressive reformer.

Two investigations from Shaun Walker and Pjotr Sauer revealed how Russia is using online recruits for its sabotage campaign in Europe, and previously unreported details of the plot to bring down DHL cargo planes with exploding parcels. And in an exclusive reported from the Chornobyl exclusion zone in Ukraine, Dan Sabbagh looked at the likely tens of millions of pounds worth of damage caused by a Russian drone attack to the containment structure over the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster. Julia Kochetova’s photographs are haunting.

There was, wrote economics editor Heather Stewart, relief for Keir Starmer as the UK signed a trade deal with the United States on Thursday, but warned of a limited wider impact on the UK economy. Annie Kelly broke down what the deal means for our First Edition newsletter. It was, argued Gaby Hinsliff, less a trade deal than as the end of a hostage negotiation. Donald Trump confirmed the deal via his social media platform Truth Social, something he increasingly does for most White House announcements and policy updates. Adam Gabbatt profiled Trump’s output on the platform and what it tells us about his mentality. Elsewhere, for the Guardian US’s featured essay series, Derek Beres asked if Maga politicians’ “only the strong survive” approach to illness, public healthcare and education is heralding an era of “soft eugenics” in the United States.

After last week’s local elections in England, former Conservative minister Justine Greening wrote that heavy losses by the Tories in last week’s local elections are proof that out-Reforming Reform does not work. Polly Toynbee agreed and called for Labour to recognise that what really matters are local issues and to see the threat from progressives in the form of the Liberal Democrats and the Green party. John Harris spent time in Lincolnshire, where Reform achieved great success, and drew a sobering picture of a country whose citizens have lost the ability to talk to each other.

An inquest in Sydney heard evidence from police and mental health workers who had contact with Joel Cauchi and his concerned parents before he went on to stab six people to death and injure others at Bondi Junction shopping centre in April 2024. Security guard Joseph Gaerlan also gave vivid evidence about the chaos and terror of the rapid attack on shoppers by a man who was finally shot dead by a lone police officer.

In this fascinating visual investigation, Ana Lucía Gonazález Paz, Rajeev Syal, Garry Blight, Harvey Symons, Lucy Swan and Paul Scruton revealed the extent to which the UK’s prison system is hampered by its historical infrastructure and the outdated philosophy behind it. The piece made a big impact.

We had some enjoyable reads in our lifestyle section: Chloë Hamilton, 34, took a long, hard look at millennials like herself and asked: “Are we really as uncool as gen Z say?” Sarah Miller posed another important question: why do some people not ask questions in conversation? Alyx Gorman investigated a curious row between two cooks in Australia, and asked on the Full Story podcast: does anyone really own a recipe? Jess Cartner-Morley wrote that glamour had trumped politics at the Met Gala, despite the tumultuous US national mood, and also not to be missed are Amelia Gentleman’s deep reporting on the first English city to try to ban smartphones for under-14s, and Rob Davies’s investigation into the scourge of 24-hour high street slot machine shops in the UK.

Our culture section was full of great reads this week: Donna Lu looked at how, after years of jarring Cockney-Kiwi accents, Hollywood has finally cracked Australian dialects; Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova proved a thrilling, if somewhat disillusioned and dejected interviewee for Philip Oltermann as she looked back at her last decade; Emma John went behind the scenes of Here We Are, the late Stephen Sondheim’s final musical, which has been completed, to the outrage of some fans. We had Jonathan Jones’s five-star review of the National Gallery rehang in London. Andrew Lawrence wrote in praise of Ryan Coogler’s ambitious vampire film Sinners, a Great Migration period piece that smartly captures the highs and lows of the Black experience, and Lucy Mangan was bemused at the first show to emerge from Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s $100m Amazon deal: a two-part documentary about the octopus …

And finally, do take a look at this beautiful project by our Saturday magazine and environment teams who asked 99 people – from Barack Obama and Billie Eilish to his cameraman and neighbours – for a message to send to David Attenborough on the occasion of the legendary natural history broadcaster’s 99th birthday.

Cook this | Georgina Hayden’s spring onion and spinach pakoras

Cooking seasonal vegetables quickly allows the vegetable to sing, and a simple pakora batter is light enough to let spring onions and spinach do just that. Serve as is with a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of sea salt, or with this addictive, punchy coriander and peanut chutney.

Watch this | Fox Chase Boy – the Guardian documentary

There is surprising nostalgia and humour in Gerad Argeros’s story of healing after child abuse by a Catholic priest. He was an altar boy at St Cecilia Catholic church in north-east Philadelphia when, at age 11, he became one of the victims of paedophile James Brzyski. Decades later, the actor and father developed the one-man stage show Fox Chase Boy. Performing it to his close-knit parish he speaks directly about a crime cloaked in silence, and brings welcome insight into their collective trauma

Listen to this | Sabotage and secret identities: Russia’s spy network – Today in Focus

Shaun Walker is the Guardian’s central and eastern Europe correspondent and author of The Illegals: Russia’s Most Audacious Spies and the Plot to Infiltrate the West. He tells Helen Pidd about the history of Russia’s ‘Illegals’ programme, and how Russian intelligence operates in western countries today.

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