Good morning. Flood waters are still rising in towns across three states, with evacuation orders issued in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Meanwhile, a new report exposes the level of poverty in Australia, and Russia has announced it will evacuate the occupied Ukrainian city of Kherson.
Areas of Victoria and Tasmania are facing the worst flooding in almost 50 years as communities banded together overnight to evacuate livestock and dig trenches as rivers burst. On Thursday evening people in the towns of Seymour, Carisbrook and Rochester had been ordered to evacuate immediately as flood waters threatened the towns. “It has been raining constantly now for well over 24-hours. There has not been a break in the rain,” one resident in the Goulburn Valley said. The rising Maribyrnong brought flooding to suburban Melbourne, with residents near the river told to leave their homes.
Social service groups say it would be “a source of shame” for the Albanese government to proceed with the stage-three tax cuts, as new research shows one in eight Australians lives in poverty. A new report says about 3.3 million people were living in poverty in the first year of the pandemic, including 761,000 children. The research comes as the government faces calls to shield those on low incomes from the cost of living crisis in the October budget.
Moscow has announced it will evacuate Kherson after an appeal from the Russian-installed head of the region, raising fears the occupied city at the heart of the south Ukrainian oblast will become a new frontline. Marat Khusnullin, a Russian deputy prime minister, told state television on Thursday that residents would be helped to move away from the region in south Ukraine, which remains only partly occupied by invading troops due to a successful Ukrainian counterattack in recent months.
Australia
The families of an Aboriginal man shot and killed by police at Uluru 90 years ago, have finally laid his remains to rest at the base of the rock in a deeply emotional ceremony, with his descendants calling for an apology and compensation from governments and police.
New electric vehicle sales within Australia have increased by 65% in 2022 but still represent only 3.39% of total new car sales, lagging far behind other countries.
The Albanese government will push ahead with a crackdown on payday lenders, with legislation to be considered by a Senate committee on Friday.
Australia’s deputy prime minister has held talks with National Rugby League officials to push the case for a Papua New Guinea team, declaring “now is the time” to expand the competition. Richard Marles, visiting PNG in his capacity as defence minister, said on Thursday that he had “personally spoken with the NRL a number of times about this”.
Greens senator Lidia Thorpe wants the Albanese government to make “concrete progress” on the other parts of the Uluru statement from the heart before publicly supporting Labor’s voice to parliament.
The world
Israeli forces have used live fire during confrontations with hundreds of Palestinian protesters throwing stones and firebombs in the worst violence in the contested city of Jerusalem in months, sparked by the search for a suspected Palestinian gunman.
A Florida jury on Thursday recommended life in prison for a former student who murdered 17 people in the nation’s deadliest high school shooting.
A hidden camera has revealed how an 88-year-old woman with dementia was physically and mentally abused at a luxury care home in the UK that charges residents close to £100,000 a year.
A military-controlled court in Myanmar has sentenced ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to a further three years in jail for corruption, according to reports, meaning she now faces a total of 26 years in prison.
Recommended reads
It’s a season of weddings and baby showers, so what can single people do to celebrate their lives? This is the question being posed in this week’s edition of Eleanor Gordon-Smith’s advice column.
“My local cafe has misidentified me as a Rachel and now I am trapped in a hilarious lie forever,” writes Rachel… sorry, Rebecca Shaw in her weekly column. “By avoiding a situation that would evoke minor social embarrassment I have contorted myself into a much bigger and much more complicated situation.”
Listen
The Australian tourism industry was hit hard by the pandemic. In an effort to bring international visitors back, the tourism board has unveiled a new mascot, Ruby the Roo. But many are questioning what this cartoon caricature says about us. In today’s Full Story, Gabrielle Jackson talks to Lenore Taylor and Mike Ticher about revitalising the tourism industry and how the world sees Australia.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
With only three rounds remaining in the regular season of the AFLW, this weekend’s Pride round is pivotal as teams make their last dash for the finals and look to cement their place in the top eight, writes Megan Maurice, describing how players and fans are making a strong stance for greater inclusion in the game through their guernsey designs.
Media roundup
Anthony Albanese and Dominic Perrottet have been caught on camera in a tense exchange over Sydney’s latest sports stadium row, the Daily Telegraph reports. And the Sydney Morning Herald says a huge data breach in Colombia has exposed details of 35 Australian Federal Police operations against drug cartels.
Coming up
The Bruce Lehrmann trial continues with Brittany Higgins due to resume her evidence.
It’s the second of two days of industrial action at Sydney universities.
And if you’ve read this far …
Find out why singer Shirley Manson once did something very bad to a bowl of cereal (but only if you’ve eaten yours already).
Sign up
If you would like to receive the Guardian Australia morning mail to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here.
Get in touch
If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com.
Discover Australia Weekend
Every Saturday at 6am, enjoy early access to the best journalism planned for the weekend in one elegant app, plus a curated selection of the week’s news and analysis from Australia and the world.
