| | | 27/02/2024 Big gender pay gaps revealed, Coalition pulls ahead in poll, police told to sit out Mardi Gras |
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| Martin Farrer |  |
| | | Morning everyone. Data released today reveals big gender pay gaps at many leading Australian companies, with airlines and banks among the worst offenders. We have all the data for you to dig into. As Labor faces a fight to hold the Victorian seat of Dunkley at the byelection this weekend, our latest Essential poll puts the Coalition ahead of Labor nationally. Plus: police are being asked not to take part in the Sydney Mardi Gras parade. |
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| Sign up for The Crunch newsletter | | Get the most important charts and dataviz direct to your inbox every fortnight. | | Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties | | |
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 | Australia | | Gun call | Civil liberties advocates are calling for an independent review of how police weapons are used in New South Wales after a constable allegedly used a service gun to murder two people. And the organisers of Sydney’s Mardi Gras have asked police not to join in this Saturday’s parade in light of the charges against Beau Lamarre-Condon. | Gender gap | The individual gender pay gaps at nearly 5,000 businesses paint a stark picture with some of the country’s biggest employers posting a disparity of 30-40% in favour of male employees, landmark data shows today. Organisations such as Qantas (37%) and Commonwealth Bank (29.9%) have a high proportion of well-paid men. | The Wanted | A woman who lost 14 relatives in the Rwanda genocide comes face-to-face with the man who she says carried out the attacks in the latest instalment of Ben Doherty’s gripping series The Wanted. | Essential poll | The Coalition has pulled narrowly ahead of Labor for the first time since the election in the Guardian Essential poll, with a big hit to Anthony Albanese’s trustworthiness a further cause for concern to the government. | Housing question | The Queensland government’s new policy of paying council taxes for developers is “probably not a particularly effective policy” and has already failed in New Zealand, an expert says. |
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| World | | Navalny claim | Alexei Navalny’s allies have alleged Vladimir Putin had the opposition leader killed in jail to sabotage a prisoner swap in which Navalny would have been exchanged for a convicted Russian hitman jailed in Germany. | Hunter’s battle | In a rare interview, Hunter Biden says his battle to stay sober is unique because failure would be used against his father as he seeks a second term as US president. A Democratic operative has admitted he commissioned a robocall which featured an AI-created imitation of Joe Biden giving a message to voters. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is appealing his $454m New York civil fraud judgment. Follow US developments live. | Tory rift | The Islamophobia allegations gripping the UK Conservative party have deepened with the party’s internal former deputy chair, Lee Anderson, doubling down on remarks aimed at London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan. | ‘Fixated with violence’ | A cat killer has been jailed for life with a minimum of 24 years after being convicted in court in England of murdering a man as part of a sexual fantasy. | Defence pact | Hungary’s parliament has approved Sweden’s accession to Nato, giving the Scandinavian nation which used to hold to a policy of neutrality the unanimous support of all member states that it needed to join the security alliance. |
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| Full Story | | The high-stakes political fight for Dunkley Sarah Basford Canales has been to the seat of Dunkley in outer Melbourne as it prepares for a byelection in which Labor’s Jodie Belyea is hoping to fight off a challenge by Liberal candidate Nathan Conroy this Saturday. She joins Benita Kolovos for today’s podcast to talk about what’s at stake for the major parties. You can read more about the candidates, both political novices, here. | |
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| In-depth | | There was a time in the postwar period when chicken was reserved for a luxurious Sunday roast or a Christmas dinner. Industrial-scale chicken farming and cheap supermarkets have changed all that, making it the cheapest meat protein around. But, writes Gabrielle Chan, the complexities of the modern food chain have turned the chicken market – at least in New South Wales – into “regional monopsony environment”, a market dominated by a single buyer with the power to influence prices. And that’s a headache for farmers seeking a better deal for their produce. |
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| Not the news | | From mangy lunatics on speed to the guy who would only mime what he wanted, David Goodwin was suspended for years in a fluorescent Dalí painting from midnight to sun-up as he worked the nightshift at servos across Melbourne. His new book, Servo: Tales from the Graveyard Shift, recounts his experiences of an unusual window on life. |
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| The world of sport | | Cricket | Ben Stokes insisted he was proud of how his England players had thrown everything at India despite a third straight loss resulting in his first series defeat since taking over as captain two years ago. | Cycling | US women’s cycling team Cynisca has been punished by the sport’s governing body for asking one of its mechanics to dress up and take the place of a sick rider so that it could field the right number of participants. | Premier League | Everton have received a lift in their fight to avoid relegation after a record 10-point deduction for a breach of profit and sustainability rules was reduced to six points on appeal. |
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| Media roundup | Julia Gillard is the model for post-PM life, Scott Morrison tells the Age in an interview on the eve of his valedictory speech to parliament. Another former prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has won the licence along with his wife to develop two pumped hydro projects, the Australian says. |
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| What’s happening today | Economy | Employer gender pay gap data release. | Brisbane | Inquiry into deaths of four ADF members in Taipan helicopter crash. | Canberra | Universities Australia solutions summit. |
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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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| | | Lenore Taylor | | Editor, Guardian Australia |
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| | I hope you appreciated this newsletter. Before you move on, I wonder if you would consider supporting Guardian Australia. As we look ahead to the challenges of 2024, we’re aiming to power more rigorous, independent reporting.
In 2023, our journalism held the powerful to account and gave a voice to the marginalised. It cut through misinformation to arm Australians with facts about the referendum and exposed corporate greed amid the cost-of-living crunch. It sparked government inquiries and investigations, and continued to treat the climate crisis with the urgency it deserves.
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