| Power independent journalism |
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| | | | 26/06/2025 ‘Cruel joke’ of school tax perk, Trump praises Nato, Abbott spruiks Advance bequests |
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| Martin Farrer |  |
| | | Morning everyone. We’re reporting on calls for the Albanese government to end tax breaks for private school donations and a huge survey on teenagers and social media. Meanwhile, Tony Abbott is spruiking a drive to encourage people to bequeath money to the rightwing lobby group Advance in order to “protect the values and country that we cherish for the next generation”. Overseas, Hamas has killed seven Israeli troops and Donald “Daddy” Trump praises Nato. |
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Australia | |
| ‘Cruel joke’ | The Albanese government has been urged to end an “outrageous” and “cruel joke” that incentivises donations to Australia’s richest private schools in return for a tax deduction. In 2023, $106m was donated to 60 schools. | ‘Freedom fight’ | Advance will court donations from deceased estates with the blessing of longtime supporter Tony Abbott as part of its latest fundraising efforts. The rightwing lobby group says bequests will help fight for “freedom, prosperity and security”. | ABC ‘panic’ | Four of the key ABC figures involved in the decision to take Antoinette Lattouf off air have since left – but their “panic” has been examined by justice Darryl Rangiah’s forensic 185-page judgment on her unlawful termination case. Away from the bureaucratic machinations, Lattouf’s post-case speech suggested the issue came down to being able to talk about the suffering of the people of Gaza. | Breaking ranks | The Labor MP Ed Husic yesterday suggested the Israeli strikes on Iran that sparked the latest Middle East conflict were not justified, breaking ranks from his senior colleagues to criticise the Netanyahu government. | Levy call | The New South Wales opposition will call for cuts to levies that add to the cost of building homes in the state and likely propose changing government fees to try to improve the viability of major residential projects. |
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World | |
| ‘Daddy’ Donald | Donald Trump praised Nato countries for being willing to lift defence spending to 5% in his first public remarks at the military alliance’s annual summit in The Hague. The mood shift was helped by the Nato chief, Mark Rutte, defending to Trump over his four-letter outburst the day before, saying “Daddy has to sometimes use strong language”. Trump also made more positive noises about support for Ukraine after meeting Volodymyr Zelenskyy. | Hamas attack | Seven Israeli soldiers have been killed in a Hamas attack in the southern Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said, after militants planted a bomb in their vehicle. A Palestinian surgeon has described how his 16-year-old nephew was killed at a food point in Gaza, leaving his body mutilated as health officials said Israeli attacks have killed 74 people in the Palestinian territory over the past 24 hours. | Iran doubts | Trump and his defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, have admitted to some doubt over the scale of the damage inflicted on Iran’s nuclear sites by the US bombing at the weekend. An independent assessment will be harder after Iran’s parliament agreed to suspend all cooperation with the UN nuclear inspectorate. | Kenya clashes | At least 16 people have been killed and 400 injured in Kenya as a nationwide demonstration to honour those killed during last year’s anti-government protests turned chaotic, with police clashing with protesters. | Grand theft | A huge theft of cable near Lille has caused severe disruptions on Eurostar services between France and the UK, with passengers advised to cancel or delay their trips. |
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Full Story | |
| Antoinette Lattouf wins against the ABC Our media correspondent, Amanda Meade, and senior reporter Kate Lyons talk to Matilda Boseley about the Antoinette Lattouf verdict means for her, the ABC and the Australian media. | | |
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In-depth | |
| Australian teenagers who spend between one and three hours on social media a day report similar or better mental health outcomes compared with those on for less time, a new survey shows. It’s perhaps a slightly counterintuitive finding and contrasts with a column today by Van Badham, who describes mobile phones as “handheld doom machines”. She argues they are causing young people to invent what she feels is a misplaced nostalgia for the 90s. |
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Not the news | |
| The comic Dan Rath is this week’s provider of the 10 funniest things he has ever seen on the internet, and clips of standups from Zach Galifianakis to Joan Rivers, and Damien Power to Robby Hoffman provide some light relief today. |
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Sport | |
| Cricket | Australia’s new-look top order has been blown away by the West Indies pace attack as they slumped to 180 all out on the first day of the first Test in Barbados. The England and Wales Cricket Board has joined forces with the Board of Control for Cricket in India to try to thwart a new global Twenty20 league backed by Saudi Arabia. | Tennis | The 19-year-old Maya Joint fought off a strong comeback by home favourite Emma Radacanu to claim a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4) victory and move into the quarter-finals at Eastbourne. | Rugby union | We’ve had Bazball, and now there’s Fazball as British & Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell vows that his team will not step back from their commitment to attacking rugby despite their setback against Argentina. |
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Media roundup | The Sydney Morning Herald reports from “inside the Qantas nerve centre” trying to cope with chaos in the skies in the wake of the Israel-Iran conflict. The father of a young girl who died after a lifelong struggle with skeletal dysplasia tells the Geelong Advertiser he hopes the world can learn from her death. Tasmania’s proposed Mac Point stadium could become the “state’s Opera House”, according to a report on a planning hearing in the Mercury. And according to the Australian, Anthony Albanese, Richard Marles and Jim Chalmers are “actively considering” increasing defence spending. |
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What’s happening today | Sydney | NSW treasurer to address Property Council of Australia about the state budget. |
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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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