Good morning. An investigation by the Guardian reveals how the New South Wales government rejected calls by legal groups to replace Covid fines issued to children about 3,000 children with cautions. And in the UK, the Conservative leadership battle has been whittled down to the final two contenders.
The NSW government privately suggested children as young as 10 could be placed in an unpaid work program or on “extended payment plans” to help them pay off fines of about $1,000 for breaching Covid rules, prompting outrage from the state’s community legal centres. Revenue NSW has confirmed that work and development orders (WDOs) – which allow participants to reduce fines through unpaid work, counselling, courses or treatment programs – had been used for those under the age of 18 for Covid rule breaches. Earlier this year, an alliance of legal groups wrote to the premier calling for Covid fines to be withdrawn for children aged 10 to 17 and replaced with cautions. The chief commissioner of state revenue said Revenue NSW would instead seek to work more closely with vulnerable young people, suggesting children could be put on payment plans or work orders to help repay the debt.
The Centrelink system is open to exploitation by perpetrators and doesn’t recognise nuances of family, domestic and sexual violence, survivors have said, leaving people fleeing violent partners at risk of poverty. One domestic violence victim-survivor and mother of three was left without vital Centrelink payments for six weeks after the perpetrator exploited social security rules and the fraud tip-off line, a legal centre says. Federal, state and territory ministers will meet today to discuss the new 10-year National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children. The draft national plan released by the former Coalition government this year did not reference the social security system, while a stakeholder consultation report published last week also made few references to the issue.
Liz Truss will face Rishi Sunak in the final round of the UK Conservative leadership contest, after a dramatic fifth day of voting by MPs that saw Penny Mordaunt knocked out of the race, despite coming second in every previous round. Her supporters blamed hostile briefing after an intense media onslaught. Despite coming second among MPs, Truss is the favourite among Conservative party members, according to polling, with Sunak described as the underdog. Sunak and Truss face a vote by party members in early September to decide the successor to Boris Johnson as prime minister. Here’s how it will work.
Australia
Ben Roberts-Smith was “prepared to lie under oath” in his defamation trial, lawyers for the newspapers he is suing have told the federal court, accusing him in closing submissions of being the “architect or the knowing beneficiary of … dishonest collusion”. Roberts-Smith’s lawyers are yet to make their closing submissions.
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, has said his “preference” is to pass Labor’s climate bill, but said the government must be prepared to negotiate to improve the legislation and its “weak” 43% emissions reduction target.
Australia has close to zero chance of getting a submarine from the United States’ current program, experts say, as yet another report shows the US is struggling to meet its own needs.
The Albanese government must invest in clearing the lengthy visa application backlog, or else home affairs will remain known as the department of “human misery and economic carnage”, Labor MP Julian Hill says.
The NSW government has fallen uncomfortably silent as the spotlight shifts to its own woes, and after 12 years and a roll-call of Icac scalps, the Coalition’s lines about the “bad old days” of Labor don’t hit the way they used to, writes Michael McGowan.
The world
The Ukrainian first lady, Olena Zelenska, appealed to US lawmakers on Tuesday to provide more help to her country as it struggles against a five-month-long Russian invasion she called “Russia’s Hunger Games”, saying US weapons could help assure a “joint great victory”. Elsewhere, Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said Moscow wants to permanently occupy broad swaths of southern Ukraine in the clearest signal yet that the Kremlin is preparing to launch a new round of annexations.
A judge in New York has ordered Rudy Giuliani to appear next month before a special grand jury in Atlanta that is investigating whether Donald Trump and others illegally tried to interfere in the 2020 US election in Georgia.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of the Facebook parent company Meta, will face a six-hour deposition over the way the company handled user data relating to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, according to new court filings.
Sri Lanka’s prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has been elected as president to replace the ousted Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a result that is likely to provoke turmoil among protesters who have been calling for weeks for him to resign.
Italy’s prime minister, Mario Draghi, is expected to confirm his resignation after three key parties in his broad coalition did not participate in a confidence vote on the conditions he set for his government continuing.
Residents of an Indonesian island threatened by rising sea levels have begun legal action against the cement producer Holcim.
Recommended reads
Helen Zaltzman and Martin Austwick take us through the 10 funniest things they’ve ever seen on the internet, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as a true crime podcast and #portmantNOs. “The human urge to crash half of a word into half of another word is absolutely out of control,” says Zaltzman. “The Guardian is responsible for a lot of portmantNOs.”
Polenta is a low-cost, shape-shifting ingredient and is always a treat – whether it’s baked into a cake or fried until crisp. Natascha Mirosch guides you through six ways to maximise this foodstuff, once a staple in the diet of Italian peasants and today found in top-shelf pantries and first-class restaurants.
“Is the system broken?” asks Greg Jericho, as he ponders why wage growth isn’t skyrocketing on the back of Australia’s low unemployment. “The current low level of unemployment is a superb real-world test for Australia’s labour market. If we can’t get strong wages growth now, then it will be impossible to avoid acknowledging the system is broken, and the government’s job summit in September is the perfect time to begin fixing it.”
Listen
A new scientific report says Australia’s environment has deteriorated at an alarming rate over the past five years, with more than a dozen ecosystems showing signs of collapse, and hundreds of threatened species in dramatic decline. In today’s Full Story, environment editor Adam Morton explains to Jane Lee how the report’s findings present Labor with a real opportunity to end Australian politics’ longstanding indifference to the decline of our land and wildlife.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
Novak Djokovic’s hopes of playing in the US Open suffered another blow, after the tournament said it would respect the US government’s rules on the Covid-19 vaccine. The US requires non-citizens to be fully vaccinated against coronavirus to enter the country, meaning Djokovic, who has made it clear he will not take the vaccine, will not be allowed entry.
Quidditch, a sport created for the fictional world of Harry Potter before spreading to US college campuses, is changing its name to quadball because of JK Rowling’s “anti-trans positions”. Major League Quidditch and US Quidditch will now be known as Major League Quadball and US Quadball respectively. The International Quidditch Association is expected to change its name in the near future.
Media roundup
Anthony Albanese has said the Greens’ push to ban new coal and gas could increase global emissions – as Australia’s trading partners would source lower-quality resources from other countries, reports the Australian. And the Sydney Morning Herald reports the pilots of a Qantas passenger jet were forced to declare a “mayday” on a transcontinental flight after running low on fuel as they were put in a mid-air queue with other planes near Perth.
Coming up
Emergency Management Australia will give a high risk weather briefing after devastating flooding along Australia’s east coast.
Queensland’s independent commission of inquiry into police responses to domestic violence will have a hearing in Townsville.
And if you’ve read this far …
Check out Joel Meyerowitz’s acclaimed photo series, which captures diving boards and motels in Florida and Cape Cod at that mysterious moment when the sun goes down.
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