Morning Mail: All eyes on the Matildas, more scrutiny over consultants, anger as centuries-old tree felled in Tasmania

Good morning. Have you heard? The biggest football match in Australia’s history kicks off at 8pm tonight, with all eyes on the Matildas as they face England’s Lionesses in their Fifa Women’s World Cup semi-final. The Matildas say they have been taking things one day at time at this tournament, but with each win the ground around them has shifted as Australians have embraced the team in spectacular fashion. Matildas fever is now giving way to sweaty palms and heart palpitations as the nation holds its collective breath.

Meanwhile, there’s fresh scrutiny over the use of consultants by the government following revelations that PwC did not disclose any real or potential conflicts of interests before being awarded a multimillion-dollar aged care contract that has been suspended since June amid a continuing investigation. The firm did not respond to questions about why no real or perceived conflicts of interest were disclosed given its paid work in the sector. It referred to an earlier statement that said the firm was “unable to comment on client engagements”.

Plus: there’s an outcry over the felling of a tree estimated to be hundreds of years old, after photos emerged of the giant eucalyptus being trucked out of Tasmania’s Florentine Valley.

Five down, two to go. The Matildas have gone to the highest high but are now back on earth, facing forward, with eyes on the prize of Women’s World Cup glory ahead of tonight’s semi-final against England. Australians are willing their team to go all the way. Since the Matildas beat France on Saturday night to secure their spot in the semi-finals, desperate fans have combed official and unofficial platforms. But with seats at the biggest football match in Australian history hard to come by, scammers move in to exploit World Cup demand.

The Brisbane Ekka has long been billed as a meeting of the bush and the big smoke. The state’s largest event – formally the Royal Queensland Show – is experiencing a renaissance amid record crowds, with organisers predicting that 55,000 people will go through the gates on Wednesday. As an increasingly metropolitan city grows around the event, not too much has changed since the original Intercolonial Exhibition of 1876 – where the event gets its moniker. After 147 years the Brisbane show is still a rollicking good time.

The Age reports that Victoria’s parliament has been sitting on a plan for more than two years to make it safer for MPs and staff, meaning a proposed independent commissioner to examine complaints levelled at MPs won’t be established until later this year – at the earliest. Despite grim housebuilding forecasts, Australian voters are rejecting the idea of going to the polls before 2025 even if the deadlock over federal housing policy continues, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. Schools are training teachers as “lay therapists’’ to help anxious students “have a go’’, as principals criticise “helicopter parenting’’ for stoking high anxiety among primary school children, reports the Australian.

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