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| | | | 12/06/2025 Aukus in doubt as Pentagon reviews pact; Beach Boy Brian Wilson dies, Australia fight back at Lord’s |
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| Martin Farrer |  |
| | | Morning everyone. The Pentagon dropped a metaphorical bomb this morning, with the news it is launching a review of the Aukus pact, central to Australia’s defence policy for the next 50 years, to check whether it is “America first”. Meanwhile the mayor of Los Angeles has accused the Trump administration of provoking six days of unrest as part of an “experiment”, as other American cities prepare for protests. And the world is mourning the death of Brian Wilson, the creative force behind the Beach Boys. At home, Choice has exposed the shortcomings of some suncreen brands, and research shows we’re listening to less homegrown music. Plus: Australia’s men’s cricket team fought back strongly at Lord’s. |
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Australia | |
| Tuned out | The international success of acts such asthe Kid Laroi and Amyl and the Sniffers (pictured) is not translating into more listens for homegrown talent, new research shows, with only 8% of the top 10,000 artists streamed in Australia in 2024 from these shores. | AI push | Australia must “lean in hard” to the benefits of artificial intelligence or else risk ending up “on the end of somebody else’s supply chain”, according to the new industry and science minister, Tim Ayres. | Methanol hope | Australian researchers have developed a prototype methanol “breathalyser” capable of detecting small concentrations of the toxic substance in alcoholic drinks or on someone’s breath. | Zero sum | The financial cost to reach net zero by 2050 may shape the Coalition’s decision on whether to retain or abandon the target, says the new shadow minister, Dan Tehan. | Screen test | Some of Australia’s most popular sunscreens, including some made by Bondi Sands, Banana Boat and the Cancer Council, are falling short of the level of skin protection on the bottle, a Choice investigation has found. |
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World | |
| Vale Brian Wilson | Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys musician, songwriter and producer who created some of the greatest pop music ever made, has died aged 82. Wilson was the creative force behind songs such as California Girls, Good Vibrations and God Only Knows. | Aukus review | The Pentagon has launched a review of the Aukus submarine and defence agreement to make sure it is aligned with Trump’s “America first” agenda, throwing the $240bn defence pact with Britain and Australia into doubt. | Trump ‘experiment’ | US immigration officials have increased “enforcement activity” in California’s agricultural heartland and the mayor of Los Angeles accused the White House of trying to test federal power as the conflict between the state and Donald Trump’s administration intensifies. Follow developments live as other US cities brace for protests. Trump’s show of force in LA was years in the making, experts have claimed, while the rightwing media has stepped behind the administration to attack the protesters as “invaders”. | China deal | Donald Trump has endorsed the US-China trade deal struck in London that will ramp up supplies of rare earth minerals and magnets needed for the automotive industry, saying it will take total tariffs on Beijing to 55%. | Gaza tragedy | A Palestinian doctor whose husband and nine of her 10 children were killed by an Israeli strike has been evacuated from Gaza, bound for Italy with her only surviving child. |
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Full Story | |
| The shocking death toll from inaction in prisons Ariel Bogle and Christopher Knaus speak to Reged Ahmad about why warnings about ligature points in prisons are still being ignored and what it will take to stop preventable deaths. | | |
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In-depth | |
| In today’s Grogonomics column, Greg Jericho delivers an impassioned plea that Labor’s attempts to change superannuation tax concessions should be just the start of a concerted effort to reduce wealth inequality. With his illuminating graphs, Jericho argues that wealthy people oppose the changes because they’re worried the rest of us will realise the system is rigged. |
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Not the news | |
| When he became involved in setting up an animal sanctuary in the Indonesian jungle, Warren Ellis was a bit concerned he might come across as a “Bono-like, grandstanding” figure. But the legendary musician need not have worried as a new film about the project reveals his life from Ballarat to sanctuary in Sumatra. |
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Sport | |
| Cricket | Australia endured a topsy-turvy opening day of the World Test Championship at Lord’s after they were skittled for 212 in two-and-a-half sessions before Mitchell Starc helped reduce the Proteas to 43-4 in reply. | Football | The expansion of the World Cup means more teams from the Asian section in the US – and, as Australia’s dramatic run shows, it has made for a more exciting qualifying competition. Plus, how Jordan qualified for the first time. | Rugby union | The British & Irish Lions are confident the veteran tighthead prop Tadhg Furlong will be fit for their Australian tour despite some injury concerns. |
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Media roundup | Investors, lawyers and governance experts say three major issues at Monash IVF require answers from management, the Age reports. A pizza maker in western Sydney can claim to be the best in the world after wining an international competition, the Telegraph reports. The city of Adelaide claims there is more parking than ever, but traders tell the Advertiser they think the council is waging a “war on cars”. |
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What’s happening today | Business | Asic chair Joe Longo gives a speech and Q&A to the American Chamber of Commerce in Sydney at 12pm. | Prisons | ABS figures on adult prisoners and community based corrections. | Sydney | Speech on “Trump and the West” at the Lowy Institute by John Hamre of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. |
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Brain teaser | And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. | |
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A message from Lenore Taylor, editor of Guardian Australia I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask whether you could support the Guardian’s journalism as we face the unprecedented challenges of covering the second Trump administration.
As the world struggles to process the speed with which Donald Trump is smashing things, here in Australia we regularly wake to more shocking news. Underneath it is always the undermining of ideas and institutions we have long deemed precious and important – like the norms and rules of democracy, global organisations, post-second world war alliances, the concept that countries should cooperate for a common global good or the very notion of human decency.
This is a moment the media must rise to, with factual, clear-eyed news and analysis. It’s our job to help readers understand the scale and worldwide ramifications of what is occurring as best we can. The global news-gathering and editorial reach of the Guardian is seeking to do just that.
Here in Australia, our mission is to go beyond the cheap, political rhetoric and to be lucid and unflinching in our analysis of what it all means. If Trump can so breezily upend the trans-Atlantic alliance, what does that mean for Aukus? If the US is abandoning the idea of soft power, where does that leave the strategic balance in the Pacific? If the world descends back into protectionism, how should a free trading nation like Australia respond?
These are big questions – and the Guardian is in a unique position to take this challenge on. We have no billionaire owner pulling the strings, nor do we exist to enrich shareholders. We are funded by our readers and owned by the Scott Trust, whose sole financial obligation is to preserve our journalistic mission in perpetuity.
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| Lenore Taylor
Editor, Guardian Australia |
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