Good morning. Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese will go head-to-head tonight in Brisbane for the first leaders’ debate. The pair are likely to face questions about national security, a federal anti-corruption watchdog and the post-Covid recovery from 100 undecided voters.
The aged care staffing crisis is so acute that services cannot be delivered to people relying on home care in some areas, according to providers. Despite the federal government’s $6.5bn pledge to fund an extra 80,000 home care packages, the delivery of services is being compromised by ongoing staffing shortages. Aged & Community Services Australia chief executive, Paul Sadler, says whichever party wins the next election must prioritise “the creation and training of an Australian workforce via real wage increases and training to assist people into aged care”.
Labor appears to have lost ground in the opening week of the federal election campaign, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll – but a majority of respondents still think Anthony Albanese will be the next prime minister. Meanwhile, several Coalition politicians have backed a controversial bill that would allow transgender women to be excluded from female sports, as the Liberal party grapples with comments made by the party’s Warringah candidate, Katherine Deves, on the issue.
Australia’s 2022 Covid-19 death toll has reached more than double the deaths from 2020 and 2021 combined. Federal health data shows 4,547 deaths have occurred this year to date, compared with 2,239 during 2020 and 2021. Health experts say the figures are unsurprising given the high transmission of Covid as the country moves from the emergency response phase into a disease control phase. New South Wales and Victoria are expected to ease the seven-day isolation requirement for household contacts within days.
Russia has launched its long-anticipated offensive in Ukraine’s east and seized the city of Kreminna in the Donbas region. Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from the city, the regional governor said. Moscow announced that its forces had launched one of its largest barrages since the beginning of the invasion. A total of 1,260 military targets were hit by rockets and artillery, according to Russian officials. Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said “a significant part of the entire Russian army is now concentrated on this offensive”.
Australia
The Australian Christian Lobby is targeting moderate Liberals who crossed the floor to strengthen protections in Scott Morrison’s religious discrimination package, distributing leaflets in their electorates showing a mocked-up image of MPs driving a wrecking ball into religious schools.
The Australian government said it was “deeply disappointed” by the signing of a security agreement between China and Solomon Islands, arguing the pact has been negotiated in secret and could “undermine stability in our region”.
The Greens’ plan for a tax overhaul on offshore gas mega-projects could reap more than $90bn over the next decade, according to costings into reforming the petroleum resources rent tax.
Queensland’s sex workers are being forced into unsafe situations due to “outdated” legislation that allows accommodation providers to discriminate against them, say advocates who are calling for reform.
Fox Resources says it will “pursue all avenues” to overturn the Queensland government’s decision to reject its coal exploration licence, sparking calls for the federal candidates in the region to outline their positions before the election.
The world
UK MPs will vote tomorrow on whether Boris Johnson should be formally investigated over whether he misled them about his knowledge of Covid law-breaking parties. The prime minister addressed MPs for the first time since being fined for breaching lockdown rules to repeat an apology.
Shanghai is preparing to ease its lockdown with authorities hoping Covid transmissions in the city of 25 million will mostly be limited to quarantine facilities.
One person has died and several people are in a critical condition in Sri Lanka after police opened fire on a crowd who were protesting against rising fuel prices and the country’s economic crisis.
Jupiter’s moon Europa may contain water, according to researchers who believe there could be promising spots to search for signs of life.
Recommended reads
To prepare for Robert Eggers’ new Viking vengeance flick, The Northman, check out his unsettling horror debut, The Witch: a folk horror movie that worms its way under your skin. “Eggers’ meticulous attention to detail goes a long way to making The Witch work … the dialogue is cribbed from genuine diary entries and documents from the period,” writes Adam Fleet. “While the characters’ manner of speaking may take a little getting used to at first, the payoff is an immersive and authentic experience.”
“Labor’s price surge,” yesterday’s Daily Telegraph shouted. “Bill shock war,” said the Herald Sun, reporting on government modelling that estimated an average annual power bill would leap by $560 over the next decade if Labor was running the show. Yet no modelling was produced – and the energy minister, Angus Taylor, did not publicly claim there was any, writes Adam Morton. “This will all be familiar to anyone traumatised by scare campaigns run in Australia’s decade-plus climate wars. This is how lies and doubt get seeded – an easy-to-understand claim about cost based on ‘modelling’, an outraged page one headline, questions that ‘need to be answered’.”
If you’ve watched TV at all over the past five decades, you will have spent time with Belinda Giblin, a staple in classics including Sons and Daughters, The Sullivans and Heartbreak High. Ever since she was a teenager, Giblin has been a faithful keeper of journals. She now has six decades’ worth – a collection she would rush to save in a fire. She tells us why those “jottings” are a vital tool for self-reflection, as well as the 27 (and counting) items in her handbag, and explains the mystery of the missing goblin costume.
Listen
The Australian Electoral Commission has voiced alarm at scaremongering about potential election fraud spreading via social media. With some candidates saying they’re simply giving voice to voters’ concerns, Guardian Australia political reporter Josh Butler examines what’s behind these posts and what the AEC can do in response in today’s Full Story.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
The NRL could be on the verge of an American dream – a season opener with the potential to make rugby league relevant in the US. The Hollywood pull power of the Rabbitohs owner Russell Crowe and the Sea Eagles supporter Hugh Jackman could be key in taking an NRL game to the US, three years after plans fell through. But it is not the first time Australian sports have tried to gain exposure and relevance in the lucrative US market.
Ash Barty will return to the world stage of sport wielding a golf club rather than a tennis racket in a teams exhibition event in New Jersey alongside some of sport’s biggest names.
Media roundup
South Australia’s former Liberal deputy premier Vickie Chapman will quit politics at the end of May, triggering a byelection, the Advertiser says. The Northern Territory education department is considering guidelines that would encourage gender-neutral language and events in schools, including “non-gendered” sporting teams, physical education activities and sports days, the NT News reports. The majority of Western Australia’s Covid-related deaths are occurring outside hospitals, WA Today reports.
Coming up
The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release official Covid statistics.
And if you’ve read this far …
A merino sheep named Shrekapo is now 18.6kg lighter after its first shave after evading capture for several years. The four-year-old is the latest in a series of elusive sheep to have developed overgrown fleeces, entering an unofficial trans-Tasman leaderboard of shaggy heavyweight champions including: Chris, Shrek, Ewenice, Baarack and Shaun the Sheep.
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