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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Antoun Issa

Afternoon Update: Labor blasted for jobseeker stance; tributes flow for Father Bob; and Melbourne’s endless suburban sprawl

People queue outside a Centrelink office in Preston, Melbourne
The government is not set to substantially lift the jobseeker payment, despite Labor’s Bill Shorten conceding he ‘couldn’t live’ on the current rate. Photograph: Stefan Postles/EPA

Good afternoon. The Labor government has been roundly criticised for ignoring calls from its own experts to substantially lift the jobseeker rate.

The Greens, members of the crossbench and anti-poverty advocates came out firing today, with Adam Bandt saying Labor was “becoming a centre-right government”.

And in sad news, Father Bob Maguire – the beloved Melbourne priest who defiantly and tirelessly advocated for the underdog – has died aged 88.

Top news

Independent senator David Pocock at a press conference at Parliament House
Independent senator David Pocock says Labor ‘won’t do more to protect the most vulnerable’ despite being able to find ‘extra money for just about anything’. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
  • Jobseeker row | The independent senator David Pocock has said voters will hold Labor to account for its failure to significantly increase jobseeker. “It appears that this Labor government can find extra money for just about anything – from inland rail cost blowouts to submarines – but it won’t do more to protect the most vulnerable,” he said. Labor’s Bill Shorten conceded he “couldn’t live” on the current jobseeker rate, but said the government had to be “responsible”.

  • Labor accused of stalling on EVs | More affordable electric car choices are coming, but not any time soon, if the federal government’s new EV strategy is any guide. The strategy promises fuel efficiency standards – in line with most OECD countries – that would improve the range of EVs in the Australian market, but only after a period of consultation, with legislation possible by the end of the year. John Grimes of the Smart Energy Council expressed concern “that the can just keeps being kicked down the road”, pointing to a “very concerted campaign by the fossil fuel car industry” to delay reforms that would boost EV uptake.

Father Bob Maguire is seen during a press conference at AAMI Park in Melbourne
‘Kick-arse dude in a robe’: Catholic priest Father Bob Maguire, who regularly butted heads with the church hierarchy, has died aged 88. Photograph: James Ross/AAP
  • Father Bob Maguire dies | “Our nation has just lost a hero,” the New South Wales premier Chris Minns wrote, as one of the many tributes flowing for the “social justice warrior”. Read our obituary for the priest who was loved by the poor, but not by the Catholic hierarchy.

  • Daniel Andrews defiant after Ibac finding | The Victorian premier has denied power is centralised in his office, after an anti-corruption inquiry found a $1.2m contract was awarded to a union due to pressure applied by Victorian government advisers. The Ibac investigation – dubbed Operation Daintree – did not make any findings of corruption against Andrews. But it found staff in the health minister’s and premier’s private office “improperly influenced” health department officials to award a training contract to the Health Workers Union.

  • Witness J’s secret jailing decision released | The long-sought sentencing remarks in the case of Witness J – a man who was trialled and jailed in complete secrecy for the disclosure of confidential information – reveal that not even his mother knew he was behind bars. Secrecy is “anathema to the rule of law”, the ACT’s chief justice Lucy McCallum said, amid calls for the federal government to change laws to prevent secret trials.

A map shows the locations of existing Chinese Antarctic stations and the Inexpressible Island site of a new station
Construction work on China’s fifth Antarctic base, which will be located at Inexpressible Island, has begun again, satellite images show. Photograph: CSIS/Hidden Reach/Reuters
  • China’s fifth Antarctic base | Satellite images show building work has resumed on the base for the first time since 2018 amid concern about Beijing’s growing polar presence. Western governments worry China’s increasing presence in the polar regions could provide it with better surveillance capabilities.

  • Iowa child labour | The Republican-controlled state senate has voted to allow children to work longer hours and serve alcohol. “No Iowa teenager should be working in America’s deadliest jobs,” said Zach Wahls, the senate minority leader. “Iowa Republican politicians want to solve the … workforce crisis on the literal backs of children.”

Cars are seen piled on top of each other at the scene of a partial collapse of a parking garage in the Financial District of New York
Cars are seen piled on top of each other at the scene of a partial collapse of a parking garage in the Financial District of New York, Tuesday, April 18, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) Photograph: Mary Altaffer/AP
  • NYC parking garage collapses | Concrete floors fell on top of one another in a parking garage in lower Manhattan, killing one person and injuring five. “We freaked out. Given the history of this place, it’s a little scary,” said a 19-year-old bystander.

  • Dominion wins but the public loses | Fox News has avoided a trial that would have opened the company to scrutiny. Who really gains as a result? Read this analysis.

Full Story

Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, 21, in an undated undated photo faces two criminal charges after posting classified Pentagon documents on social media
Jack Teixeira of the US national guard has been charged in an investigation of the leak of hundreds of secret defence documents. Photograph: Air National Guard/Zuma Press Wire/Shutterstock

The Pentagon leaks: how did US security files end up on Discord?

Hundreds of top secret Pentagon documents were posted on the social media platform Discord, creating a diplomatic headache for the US. How did this happen?Listen to this 29-minute episode.

What they said …

Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie
Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie has ramped up her criticisms of the stage-three tax cuts as Labor continues to hold fast to the policy. Photograph: ParlView

***

“It’s arse about face, giving money to people like me who don’t need it and giving nothing to the people who are screaming for assistance.” – Jacqui Lambie on the stage-three tax cuts

The Tasmanian senator has intensified her attacks on the stage-three tax cuts after new analysis showed the state will receive almost no benefit from the measure. Her stance was supported by fellow Tasmanian and independent MP Andrew Wilkie, who called the tax cuts – which the Labor government have so far refused to abandon – “fiscally irresponsible”.

In numbers

An infographic that reads ‘$13: What students sharing a typical two-bedroom flat and living on youth allowance are left with per day after paying rent’.

Youth allowance has increased by 10% to $562.80 over the last two years with CPI indexing, while the maximum rent assistance is $157.20. But rents have surged ahead by 24%. Since March last year, the national median advertised rent price increased from $450 to $500 to reach a historical high.

Before bed read

Panoramic aerial of Melbourne CBD skyline with suburban Melbourne residential area in the foreground at sunset
‘Covering almost 10,000 square kilometres, “Greater Melbourne” is six times larger than London and 12 times larger than Paris.’ Photograph: Charlie Rogers/Getty Images

Is Melbourne the largest city because it’s “the place to be”, or just terrible planning resulting in endless suburban sprawl that now spans more than 100kms?

“There’s a joke about Geelong being a suburb of Melbourne. In the old days, the two cities were separated by vast paddocks and bay views, but that’s no longer the case,” Anna Spargo-Ryan writes. “The hour-long stretch of freeway is residential from the West Gate to Little River, with three-bedroom houses on standard suburban blocks.”

Daily word game

Screenshot of Wordiply. Play now!

Today’s starter word is: BOR. You have five goes to get the longest word which contains the starter word. Play Wordiply.

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