Morning, everyone. We had to wait until about 11.15pm last night but the Senate passed the world’s first attempt at legislation banning young people’s use of social media. Along with migration and housing measures it was quite the night, and may go a long way to defining this government. We have news and analysis, plus how Nature Positive laws were stymied, echoes of Joh Bjelke-Petersen in Queensland’s crime crackdown, and Vladimir Putin saying Donald Trump will “find a solution” to the Ukraine war.
Australia
Exclusive | Tanya Plibersek struck a deal in writing with both the Greens and independent senator David Pocock on supporting her nature positive legislation before Anthony Albanese vetoed it hours later in a private meeting with Adam Bandt and Sarah Hanson-Young.
Labor’s bill bonanza | A late final sitting in the Senate for the year has seen more than 30 bills pass the upper house, including controversial migration laws that allow the government to pay third countries to take non-citizens and ban travellers from specified countries. The world’s first attempt to ban under-16s from social media platforms went through as well, although much of the detail is yet to be worked through. Despite the trade-offs, the marathon effort in the upper house has done a lot to cement Labor’s first-term agenda with wins on housing especially.
Privacy breach | A property investment company breached privacy laws by sharing the names and addresses of people going through a divorce or financial distress with its clients, the information watchdog found.
Safer Queensland? | The new state government has acknowledged that its signature youth crime legislation will “directly discriminate” against children, by limiting their protection from “cruel treatment”. A veteran human rights lawyer who took on Joh Bjelke-Petersen sees shades of those times in David Crisafulli’s crackdown.
Rubbish deal | Macquarie Bank has launched a near-$1.4bn offer to buy the London-listed waste management company Renewi in its latest tilt at UK assets.
World
Putin praise | Vladimir Putin has threatened to strike “decision-making centres” in Kyiv with powerful missiles, and has praised “intelligent” Donald Trump as someone who will “find the solution” to the Ukraine war.
Trump caution | A political scientist who predicted Trump’s election win says voters were disgruntled about a weak economy and have not necessarily given the president-elect a mandate to make radical changes. Trump’s putative defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, has placed anti-Muslim rhetoric at the centre of several of his published books, according analysis of his output.
‘Hands on the trigger’ | Hezbollah has vowed to continue resisting Israel and is monitoring the Israeli army’s withdrawal from south Lebanon “with [our] hands on the trigger”, the militia said as a fragile truce held.
Spy trap | A former British soldier whose prison escape sparked a huge manhunt in 2023 has been convicted of spying for Iran but cleared of carrying out a bomb hoax. But was he an amateurish fantasist or a consequential spy?
Survival story | A 20-year-old hiker given up for dead has been found alive by two oil workers after surviving 50 days in the Canadian wilderness.
Full Story
Newsroom edition: do voters still care about the climate during a cost-of-living crisis?
Bridie Jabour talks to Mike Ticher and Patrick Keneally about the challenges the Labor government faces when selling its climate credentials at this time.
In-depth
The political classes may have been more focused on the passage or otherwise of legislation yesterday, but the huge dump of information about how the government is managing the climate crisis is arguably just as important. Our environment editor has been sifting through the data and comes up with six things you need to know about what is happening – from emissions on a downward trend (but not enough) to why the government needs to set even more ambitious targets.
Not the news
From the nitty gritty of politics and climate to the unabashed pleasures of an increasingly popular fiction genre: “romantasy”. Emily Mulligan explains that books such as the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas “know exactly what the girls want”, including “detailed descriptions of outfits and interiors, hundreds of pages of crackling sexual tension, and the notion that in the right circumstances we too would be good at archery”.
Sport
Football | Brazil crashed Clare Polkinghorne’s farewell match for the Matildas with a 3-1 win in Brisbane but Australia have another crack at the visitors on Sunday night.
Rugby union | Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii has won his battle to be fit for Australia’s final Test of their British Isles tour and will hope to bow out against Ireland in the spectacular fashion that he began on his debut against England.
AFLW | Brisbane Lions will back their strong collective identity as they head into a sixth grand final – even if they are considered underdogs against North Melbourne.
Tennis | Five-time grand slam champion Iga Swiatek has accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine but will be able to play in the Australian Open in January.
Media roundup
An emergency US funding plea for Virginia-class submarines is sparking fresh Aukus concerns, the ABC reports. NSW has removed targets on results and attendance for public schools, the Sydney Morning Herald claims. The Commonwealth Bank is using AI to resolve payment disputes and its boss, Matt Comyn, tells the Financial Review there is a lot more to come. And the Courier-Mail has called the Queensland government’s axing of the path to treaty a “heartless, destructive decision”.
What’s happening today
Sport | A parliamentary inquiry will examine decisions made about the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Shopping | Black Friday sales are under way.
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Brain teaser
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
