Good afternoon.
Pauline Hanson says two nuclear reactors should be built on Australia’s east coast, in remarks at odds with One Nation’s official policy.
Speaking in Victoria ahead of the November state election, the One Nation leader said “the reactors need to happen”, while also calling for taxpayer funding to keep coal-fired Loy Yang power station outside Traralgon operating, as part of a push for a “diversity” of power supply.
Hanson insists the policy is nothing like Peter Dutton’s failed push to build plants during his unsuccessful election campaign.
The party’s own official policy calls for $6.8bn to be spent on construction of one east coast nuclear reactor, to be built at a site supported by community consultation.
Top news
-
Man who murdered Molly Ticehurst will not face life in jail, judge says
-
Victorian prisoners to be sent out to repair roads under Labor’s pothole plan
-
Newborn baby’s body found in Sydney rubbish bin as police hold ‘serious concerns’ for mother
In pictures
Guardian Australia’s Cait Kelly is reporting from Nepal as the country continues to reckon with the humanitarian crisis caused by Nepal-Tibet flood disaster.
The first thing Kelly noticed is the noise: “Chopper blades cutting through the air as helicopters come and go from the main army response centre, at the entrance to Nepal’s flood zone. Then, there is the smell. A putrid, iodine smell. Blood and bone. The severe heat beating down on bodies packed into white bags – being carried off in helicopters and laid in an area so families can identify them.”
You can read more of her reporting here, and read everything we know so far about the Australians still missing in Nepal.
What they said …
***
“These algorithms prey on people.” – Kellie Sloane
The NSW opposition leader says she has written to Anthony Albanese after a 16-year-old girl died from a suspected sexual strangulation incident.
Sloane said certain types of pornography should be placed into the most restricted category and pressure should be applied on porn companies and social media giants to “just make sure wherever we’re at, we can block it”.
Podcast
On the ground in decimated Nepal flood zone
Rescue efforts are continuing in Nepal and Tibet after flash floods that have killed hundreds and left many more missing. But fears that a lake formed by the landslide could overflow and cause fresh flooding, along with difficulty accessing disaster-hit areas, are hindering rescue and recovery missions.
Lucy Hough speaks with south Asia correspondent Hannah Ellis-Petersen, who is in Nepal, about the situation on the ground.
You can listen here, and watch on YouTube here.
Before bed read
How did the US Open become obscenely expensive? Record crowds, $100 chicken nuggets and an unchecked resale market are transforming the self-styled people’s slam – and leaving ordinary fans fighting to get through the gates.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: MUSE. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
Sign up
If you would like to receive this Afternoon Update to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here, or start your day with a curated breakdown of the key stories you need to know with our Morning Mail newsletter. You can follow the latest in US politics by signing up for This Week in Trumpland.
