Good morning. Our exclusive lead story hears a bitter complaint from an Aboriginal corporation that its views have been misrepresented in the government’s Future Gas plan, which was launched yesterday to mixed reviews. We have a special report on Australia’s campus protests, there were fiery clashes as Donald Trump’s lawyer tried to discredit Stormy Daniels, and Apple has landed in hot water over a new ad that portrays the “destruction of the human experience”.
Australia
‘An extraordinary achievement’ | A guide to the Indigenous voice to parliament, written by Thomas Mayo and Kerry O’Brien and published before last year’s ill-fated referendum, has won book of the year at the Australian book industry awards.
Gas fail | An Aboriginal corporation has accused the Albanese government of twisting and misrepresenting its clear position against developing more gas in its new Future Gas strategy document and said “they should take our quotes out of the report”. Also unhappy are five inner-city Labor MPs who have criticised the government’s plan, arguing it will overshadow progress on clean energy.
Exclusive | One of Australia’s largest super funds, Cbus, will review its investment policy after the construction union urged it to divest from companies supplying Israel with weapons and military technology.
Budget offer | The federal government is poised to expand rebates and concessions available to jobseekers in next week’s federal budget, which is also expected to increase rent assistance.
Overdose deaths spike | Australia is seeing an “alarming and devastating” rise in the number of drug-induced deaths, with many of them preventable and being driven by opioids, including a 40% surge in heroin-related fatalities.
World
‘You wanted money, right?’ | Donald Trump’s lawyers sought to undermine Stormy Daniels’ credibility, pressing on her motivations for agreeing to a hush-money payment as the adult film star continued critical testimony in the former president’s criminal trial. Our columnist Emma Brockes enjoys seeing Daniels return some of Trump’s low tactics and sexist tropes in kind.
‘Transactional’ | Donald Trump promised US oil bosses that he would scrap climate laws and give free rein to drilling in the Gulf of Mexico in exchange for a $1bn election campaign donation, according to an explosive report in the Washington Post. It came as the UN warned the world is on the verge of a climate abyss and as a new report warns of record CO2 levels in the atmosphere.
Rafah exodus | More than 100,000 people have fled Rafah after Israel intensified its bombardment, UN officials have said, in the largest movement of population in Gaza for many months. Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed Israel will “fight with our fingernails” if necessary despite the US putting arms supplies on hold.
‘Eunuch maker’ | A Norwegian man who was the leader of a “grisly and gruesome” extreme body modification network streaming mutilations on his “eunuch maker” website has been jailed for life at the Old Bailey. One former friend recalls seeing him sell penises and other body parts out of a fridge in his living room.
‘Destruction of the human experience’ | Apple has faced an online backlash over an advert for its new iPad that features an industrial-sized hydraulic press crushing a collection of objects and gadgets including musical instruments and books.
Full Story
Newsroom edition: how Labor is trying to sell the 2024 budget
With the budget almost upon us, Bridie Jabour speaks with editor-in-chief Lenore Taylor and deputy editor Patrick Keneally about which narrative the Albanese government will be trying to tell.
In-depth
The growing number of pro-Palestinian encampments on Australian university campuses has brought with it a much greater level of scrutiny – and accusations of antisemitism from Jewish groups and federal opposition politicians. The protesters say their movement is peaceful but the Australasian Union of Jewish Students claimed this week that Nazi salutes had been seen at the ANU camp in Canberra. Our reporters have spoken to both sides to gauge the mood.
Not the news
At 65, Mick Harvey is at a stage when he can look back at a career that has taken him from Melbourne to the rock’n’roll heights as Nick Cave’s righthand man. With a new record out called Five Ways To Say Goodbye, he talks about surviving in the business, staying off hards drugs and why he can’t stand Michael Bublé.
The world of sport
Surfing | George Pittar is the new star of surfing after making his mark on the Challenger Series this year. He tells Kieran Pender about everything from growing up on isolated breaks in Vanuatu to now having a plumber for a coach.
A-League Men | After a disastrous start to the A-League Men season, Central Coast Mariners are now just three games away from an unlikely treble.
Football | Bayer Leverkusen take on Roma in the Europa League, and Aston Villa try to overturn a 4-2 deficit against Olympiakos in the Europa Conference.
Media roundup
Australian defence companies risk being “crushed” by American rivals cashed up thanks to the Aukus submarine pact, the Australian reports. The Daily Telegraph publishes a list of the top-earning public servants and notes that many earn more than the prime minister. Pro-Palestine protesters at Adelaide University are standing firm despite allegedly being subjected to two attacks with fireworks, the Advertiser reports. A Sydney GP is selling a 35,000-hectare virgin slice of the Northern Territory known as Silkwood, NT News reports.
What’s happening today
High court | Judgment in the case of Iranian asylum seeker ASF17 who declined to co-operate with the commonwealth over being deported.
New South Wales | A 45-year-old man will face court over an alleged stabbing of a woman at gym in Sydney.
Perth | Strategic conference in the defamation case between Linda Reynolds and David Sharaz and Brittany Higgins.
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Brain teaser
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
