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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Antoun Issa

Afternoon Update: calls grow for government to ease student debt; Singapore executes man over cannabis; and Ardern off to Harvard

Illustration of a scale is shown, one side with Australian currency and the other with uni books and a graduation cap
Millions of Australians face a hike in their Help and Hecs loans when indexation is added on 1 June, the highest increase in decades. Composite: Alamy / Guardian design

Good afternoon. Inflation has eased at 7%, but that’s going to be little comfort to those with a Hecs debt facing a steep increase on their student debt.

The average Hecs debt sits at $22,636, which will jump by $1,584 when next indexed on 1 June in line with the consumer price index. Independent MP Zoe Daniel joined a growing Coalition call for the federal government to ease the student debt burden. The government has so far ruled out freezing the Hecs indexation.

In other news, Norway and Sweden are in a rare spat over a rocket mishap.

Top news

A screengrab from the yes to the voice to parliament campaign
A national ad campaign for the voice looks to cut through a debate dominated by dense legal arguments and political fights. Photograph: YES23
  • Yes campaign ads | The yes campaign for an Indigenous voice to parliament has launched an ad blitz that will seek to reset the debate and persuade Australians that the referendum is a simple choice about constitutional recognition.

  • Labor backbenchers call for jobseeker boost | Four Labor MPs added their names to an open letter calling on Anthony Albanese to stop leaving “people with the least behind”. The prime minister has rejected calls to raise the jobseeker rate in the upcoming budget.

  • Gas price cap extended | The Albanese government will extend the price cap on wholesale gas prices until at least mid-2025 in an attempt to limit soaring energy costs.

Stephanie Bennett outside court
A woman faces court over using the identity of a pilot who died in the Sea World helicopter tragedy to try to get out of a fine. Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP
  • Dead Sea World pilot’s identity misused | Stephanie Louise Bennett, 33, pleaded guilty to using Ash Jenkinson’s identity to dodge a traffic ticket. Bennett was trying to avoid the mandatory $1,078 fine when she went online to claim she was not at fault. Bennett used information from the death notice of Jenkinson, who died on 2 January in a helicopter collision, to claim he committed the offence instead.

  • Victoria’s youth suicides on the rise | In the first three months of 2023 13 young Victorians have killed themselves, with the state’s coroner saying the community needs to do more to intervene. “Family and parents are coming along and saying ‘I didn’t see the signs. I didn’t know what was going on,’” the coroner said. “Part of that has to be they didn’t know what they were looking for.”

Leela crying
Leela, sister of executed man Tangaraju Suppiah, sheds tears while speaking during a press conference in Singapore. Photograph: How Hwee Young/EPA
  • Singapore executes man over cannabis | Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, was hanged for conspiracy to smuggle 1kg of cannabis. Singapore ignored international protests against the execution amid concerns over the handling of his case.

  • Taliban kill mastermind of Kabul attacks | The Islamic State leader behind the 2021 Kabul airport suicide bombing that killed about 180 people including 13 US service members was killed in early April during Taliban operations against the group, according to US officials.

A model rocket
A research rocket was launched from the Esrange Space Centre near Kiruna in Sweden. Photograph: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images
  • Swedish rocket lands in Norway | The Norwegian foreign ministry has expressed irritation with Sweden for not immediately informing it of a research rocket that crashed in Norway. The rocket, which was launched from the Esrange Space Centre in Sweden, plunged into a mountainside in the Målselv municipality in Norway’s far north. No one was injured.

  • Jacinda Ardern goes to Harvard | The former New Zealand prime minister has taken up three new roles at the prestigious university, where she will study and speak on leadership, governance and online extremism.

Full Story

Australian defence force personnel run out of the back of a RAAF C-130J Hercules to perform tactical exercises during a showcase
The defence strategic review found the ADF is ‘not fully fit for purpose’ and recommended projecting military power further from its shores. Photograph: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

Australia’s plan to confront the changing face of warfare

What will the changes mean for the Australian defence force? Listen to this 18-minute episode.

What they said …

Richard Marles and Anthony Albanese
With the budget fast approaching and the cost of living continuing to hit the most vulnerable hardest, the Labor government is at a crossroads. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

***

“Defence spending will rise over the trajectory we inherited from the former government over the next 10 years … it will definitely be beyond 2%.” – Richard Marles

No for jobseeker, yes for military. Does Labor have its priorities right? A good time to listen to our Full Story podcast episode from last week where our editors addressed this very question.

In numbers

6 millions Africans were kidnapped and forcibly transported across the Atlantic by Portugal between the 15th and 19th centuries

Portugal’s president says the country should apologise and take responsibility for its role in the transatlantic slave trade, the first time a leader of the southern European nation has suggested such a national apology.

Before bed read

Bob Brown
Former Green’s leader and environmental campaigner Bob Brown in Hobart. Photograph: Andrew Wilson/The Guardian

Bob Brown, now 78, thought his frontline activism days were behind him. Then came Tasmania’s anti-protest laws, which have thrust the former Greens leader back into the spotlight.

“It is on the record that this legislation is to take out the Bob Brown Foundation,” he says about the legislation in this sit-down interview with our climate and environment editor, Adam Morton.

Daily word game

Screenshot of Wordiply

Today’s starter word is: FACE. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.

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