Good morning. The federal election campaign finish line is approaching and the Australian Greens believe they are in a position to gain up to three seats in the Senate. Israel will not launch a criminal investigation into the killing of a US-Palestinian journalist. And Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have ordered all female TV presenters to cover their faces on air.
Australians go to the polls tomorrow but not everyone will be able to have their say due to an AEC anomaly preventing thousands of Covid-positive people from voting. A high-profile independent, Monique Ryan, who is running against the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, in Kooyong, is planning a federal court challenge over the issue. On the final day of the campaign, Labor is pledging to establish an independent environment protection agency to enforce national conservation laws and collect data on the plight of the country’s wildlife. Despite the independents taking media attention away from the Greens, the minor party is in a position to gain up to three seats in the Senate, with a potential, though unlikely, addition of another lower house seat in Brisbane. And the United Australia party may have more support than we realise, analysts say, with people too embarrassed to publicly admit they will vote for them.
