Good afternoon. Nearly two million Australians tuned in to Seven on Thursday night to catch the Matildas in their opening Women’s World Cup match against Ireland, where the Australians won 1-0, despite shock over the loss of captain Sam Kerr just before play got under way. It was the most popular program on Thursday, beating out the Ashes.
But the broadcaster is facing criticism for commentator David Basheer’s remarks about midfielder Katrina Gorry, where he said “motherhood has not blunted her competitive instincts”.
You can follow our live coverage of the World Cup here.
Top news
Australian art dealer Tim Klingender found dead in Sydney Harbour after boating incident | The Australian art world is in shock after the body of art dealer Tim Klingender was recovered from waters off Sydney’s Watsons Bay on Thursday morning. NSW police’s Marine Area Command found a man’s body floating among debris at about 10.20am on Thursday, after what is believed to be a boating accident.
Pro-voice Liberal Andrew Bragg calls to delay referendum | Bragg, one of the few Liberal MPs who support the Indigenous voice to parliament, has appealed to the government to delay the referendum to next year, saying not enough “middle ground” had been established and he feared that lack of consensus had doomed the referendum to failure. It was time to recalibrate to “save the concept”, he said, before running a referendum in mid-2024.
Commonwealth Games cost blowout known by Victorian government for months | The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, said he has been aware for months that the cost of Victoria hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games had increased beyond the original $2.6bn budget, but would not confirm if state Treasury officials rejected a bid to increase it to $5bn. He said the government was not aware at the time that the Games would cost an estimated $6-7bn, which has been blamed for their cancellation.
Nine confirms talks with Andrew Probyn | Five weeks after his political editor role at the ABC was made redundant, Andrew Probyn is in talks with rival Nine for a joint newspaper and TV role in the company’s supersized new press gallery bureau. Nine’s news director, Darren Wick, confirmed the talks, describing the reporter as a good news breaker. “He is a big personality but we can handle big personalities: we had Laurie Oakes and Chris Uhlmann.”
Big W ditches in-store announcements supporting Indigenous voice to parliament | The retail giant has dropped in-store announcements that expressed support for the Indigenous voice to parliament, citing responses from customers and staff. The announcement included an acknowledgment of country and affirmed support for the constitutional change to be voted on at an upcoming referendum.
Gender Queer book ban rejected | Australia’s Classification Review Board has rejected calls to restrict access to Gender Queer, a memoir by non-binary writer Maia Kobabe about gender identity that has been the target of conservative campaigns to have it banned in the United States, finding the content is appropriate for its intended audience. The push to ban the book in Australia had followed in the footsteps of the campaigns in the US.
Full Story
Newsroom edition: why can’t we face the reality of global heating?
The world is now hotter than ever before in recorded history. Heatwaves are sweeping across Europe and fires are raging across Canada, leaving parts of the world choking in smoke. In response, James Hansen, the US scientist who first alerted the world to the greenhouse effect, said ‘we’re all damned fools’ for not acting on his warnings sooner. But such warnings continue to fall on deaf ears.
Gabrielle Jackson speaks to Guardian Australia editor Lenore Taylor and national news editor Patrick Keneally about the reality gap between the promises and actions on global heating.
What they said …
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“It was very good sailing on that full moon. The boat was moving fast. It was a clear night. The winds were strong. I was amazed how the boat moved and it felt so good to sail under that moon and perfect direction. It was so easy to make the decision. I wanted to keep sailing.” – Timothy Shaddock.
The 54-year-old Australian quit his corporate job to pursue a solo sailing dream but a sudden storm left him battling to survive.
Before bed read
If you’re having trouble keeping up with the growing number of indictments and potential prosecutions of former US president Donald Trump, you’re far from alone.
Here is an excellent breakdown of the cases against Trump across New York, and Florida, with more expected to come in the coming days from Georgia and Washington DC.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: MIL. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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