Morning mail: 200,000 robodebt reviews wiped, G7 leaders warn Putin over nuclear threat, Bali bombings remembered
Good morning. It’s 20 years since the Bali bombings killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. To mark the occasion, Anthony Albanese will make a speech denouncing the terrorists for “an act of malice and calculated depravity” while vowing never to let the memories of the victims fade.
Nearly 200,000 Australians will have their robodebt reviews wiped as the federal government scraps investigations. The social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, confirmed her department wouldn’t continue investigations. “The robodebt fiasco is something that should be of deep concern to all Australians,” she said. “It was meant to save money, however we know it had a significant human cost.”
The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has asked G7 leaders to help his country fund and develop an air defence system after missile and drone attacks continued on Tuesday. The leaders of the G7 condemned Russia’s most recent attacks in Ukraine and vowed to stand “firmly” with Kyiv “for as long as it takes”. Russia continued to attack key infrastructure in Ukraine with missile strikes on Tuesday amid warnings from the UN and some Nato countries that Moscow may be committing a war crime with its deadly blitz on civilian targets.
More than 20% of employed Australians were working from home on census day in August 2021, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics that provides an insight into how we worked and lived during a global pandemic. The trend was most stark in New South Wales, which had been in lockdown for six weeks prior to census night. Arts and recreation workers were most severely affected, with 15.3% of employees working zero hours in the week before the census, followed by hospitality (12.8%) and mining (9%).
Australia
The federal government is being urged to stop Santos from releasing untreated coal seam gas wastewater into a Queensland river that is home to two species of threatened “bum-breathing” turtles.
The Albanese government has left open the possibility that Australia could introduce carbon tariffs as part of a suite of climate policies to help the global shift to net zero emissions by 2050. Labor’s climate change minister, Chris Bowen, said business groups are lobbying for Australia to adopt a carbon border adjustment scheme.
A majority of Australians support expanding the use of public hearings under a national anti-corruption commission beyond the “exceptional circumstances” benchmark set by the government, according to new polling.
The federal budget will benefit from an upswing in revenue due to “cyclical serendipity” but storm clouds are gathering, Deloitte predicted, while the International Monetary Fund warned “for many people 2023 will feel like a recession”.
The world
Nasa says its Dart mission that slammed a rocket into an asteroid two weeks ago succeeded in shifting its orbit, proving that future potentially life-threatening space rocks can be nudged to safety.
Prosecutors in Baltimore have dismissed all charges against Adnan Syed, who was released from prison last month after the overturning of his murder conviction in the case that was at the centre of the podcast Serial.
The coronation of King Charles III will take place on Saturday 6 May 2023 at Westminster Abbey, in a service that will retain some historical elements of past coronations but also recognise the spirit of the times.
The International Monetary Fund has told central banks to “stay the course” in their fight against inflation, but the “worst was yet to come”. It says cost of living pressures, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a slowdown in China are factors behind a fresh growth downgrade.
A 45-year-old German man, who is a suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, has been charged with several sexual offences he allegedly committed in Portugal between December 2000 and June 2017.
Recommended reads
In 2021 Brooke Blurt on made Australian TV history as the first Indigenous and bisexual Bachelor et te. After her appearance, she dealt with the sudden death of her sister, online backlash and a very public break-up. Now, with the dust settled, Blurton has published a memoir. In our weekly interview about objects, Blurton explains why she counts two pieces of jewellery as her most prized possessions.
Is using tracking apps for our children protective or suffocating, asks Sarah Ayoub? According to psychologist and cyber-psychology researcher Jocelyn Brewer, parents use tracking apps “as an extra layer of support” to ease their own anxieties around their children’s safety. But Brewer says that they should be used with some consideration.
Listen
The inquiry into the Queensland police service’s responses to domestic and family violence has unearthed dozens of allegations of sexual assault, harassment and racism in the workplace by current and former officers – with the alleged perpetrators often evading consequences. In today’s Full Story, Queensland correspondent Ben Smee examines what this outpouring of stories says about the culture inside the force, and how police accountability in the state has eroded over decades.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
The 12 men representing Australia in netball in a history-making transTasman series starting this week hope to co-opt the inspirational expression “if you can see it, you can be it” as they bring the male game out from “behind closed doors”.
Sam Curran has suggested England will sharpen its killer instinct once the
T20 World Cup begins, saying that although they allowed Matthew Wade to get away with a clear case of obstructing the field in the first Twenty20 against Australia on Sunday they would not be so forgiving if there was more on the line.
Media roundup
The Australian brings us the news that our country’s new tourism mascot is a CGI animal called Ruby the Roo. And the Financial Review has announcements from Hertz and Uber on their push to adopt electric vehicles.
Coming up
The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, will address the National Press Club.
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