Hello and welcome to the new Afternoon Update. I’m Antoun Issa, the newsletters editor at Guardian Australia, and I’ll be keeping you up to speed with the day’s news every weekday.
To get straight into the news, the royal commission into the robodebt scandal is already unearthing important details only one day into its inquiry. The revelation? That a government department was aware of legal concerns around the scheme way back in 2014 – almost five years before the Coalition government deemed it unlawful. The botched Centrelink scheme saw hundreds of thousands of people issued unlawful social security debts.
Top news
Australian identified in Seoul deaths | The Australian who was killed during a crowd crush at Halloween festivities in South Korea has been identified as 23-year-old Sydney woman Grace Rached. The crowd crush caused the death of more than 150 people in Itaewon, Seoul on Saturday night. Two other Australians who Rached was with are now being treated in intensive care.
Robodebt inquiry | On the first day of hearings, it was revealed the Department of Social Services and the Department of Human Services had sought internal legal advice “before and during its implementation” of the robodebt scheme in 2015. That advice “raised significant questions about the legality of the scheme”.
Victoria backs netball | The Victorian government has signed a $15m, four-and-a-half year sponsorship deal with Netball Australia, replacing Hancock Prospecting’s now defunct sponsorship agreement for the same amount.
DoD cyber-attack | A communications platform used by the Department of Defence has been hit by a ransomware attack. The government says it’s taking the attack on the ForceNet service – which is held by an external provider – “very seriously”. Up to 40,000 records were potentially targeted in the attack.
Queensland schools review | Queensland has announced an independent review of the accreditation framework for independent schools following backlash against the actions of large Queensland Christian schools, particularly with regards to treatment of LGBTQ+ students.
Lula wins | Brazil’s veteran leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has sealed an astonishing victory against the far-right incumbent, Jair Bolsonaro, in one of the country’s most significant elections. With 99.97% of votes counted, Silva, a former factory worker who became Brazil’s first working-class president exactly 20 years ago, had secured 50.9% of the vote. Bolsonaro, a firebrand who was elected in 2018, received 49.1%. World leaders were quick to congratulate Lula out of fears Bolsonaro might dispute the legitimacy of the results.
Greta skips UN summit | Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg will be skipping next month’s Cop27 talks in Egypt, criticising the global summit as a forum for “greenwashing”. She joins the new UK PM, Rishi Sunak, on the sidelines, who angered world leaders when he decided not to attend the summit to focus on “other pressing domestic commitments”.
Malcolm X | New York City will pay US$26m for the wrongful convictions of Muhammad Aziz and the late Khalil Islam in the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X. A Manhattan judge last year dismissed the convictions of Aziz, now 84, and Islam, who died in 2009, after both men spent decades behind bars.
Crimea drone attack | Dramatic footage has been released showing Russia’s Black Sea flagship vessel, the Admiral Makarov, damaged and possibly disabled during an audacious Ukrainian drone attack over the weekend on the Crimean port of Sevastopol. Watch the 1m29s video.
Full Story
The rise of Europe’s far-right parties
The leader of the Brothers of Italy party, Giorgia Meloni, was sworn in this month as the country’s prime minister. She has pledged to crack down on migrant boats and limit abortion rights, and opposes same-sex marriage and parenting. Why are far-right parties becoming more influential in European politics? Jon Henley, our Europe correspondent, takes a closer look in this 29-minute episode.
What they said …
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“We will fight for zero deforestation in the Amazon … Brazil and the planet need the Amazon alive.” – Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president-elect.
After four years of far-right rule, Lula da Silva said his priorities are poverty, housing and the Amazon. Andrew Downie, writing from São Paulo, analyses the challenges ahead for the leftist leader.
In numbers
The crackdown last week, dubbed Operation Athena, led to 86 arrests.
Before bed read
Is the Melbourne cup the race that stops or segments the nation? Even before Covid stopped the crowds turning up to Flemington, attendance numbers were dwindling. There’s no doubt in recent years the event has become increasingly controversial – and not just because of animal welfare and gambling concerns.
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