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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Charlotte Graham-McLay

Morning Mail: Homeless deaths investigation, Lowitja O’Donoghue mourned, supermarket review to begin

Family photos of Roger Davies, a homeless man whose body was found, showing signs of violence, in an abandoned house three years after he died
Family photos of Roger Davies, a homeless man whose body was found, showing signs of violence, in an abandoned house three years after he died Composite: Supplied

Good morning. Today Guardian Australia launches Out in the Cold, a 12-month investigation into homelessness deaths, which found these vulnerable Australians die, on average, three decades prematurely.

Our examination of 600 cases begins with Roger Davies, 42, a rough sleeper and army veteran who died with fractures to nine ribs. Despite this, police concluded there was “no evidence of suspicious circumstances” and he was sent to a pauper’s grave without his family being notified for more than two years.

There is “never going to be any closure”, Davies’ family says. His treatment in life and death exposes the indifference to Australia’s homeless life expectancy crisis – fuelled by critical housing shortages and failures of the justice system.

We also have the latest from the Middle East, and new details of a government review of alleged supermarkets’ price gouging.

Australia

A homeless man waits for charity in the rain in Sydney’s CBD.
A homeless man waits for charity in the rain in Sydney’s CBD. Photograph: Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images

World

Houthi tribesmen gather to show defiance after US and UK air strikes on Houthi positions near Sanaa, Yemen.
Houthi tribesmen gather to show defiance after US and UK air strikes on Houthi positions near Sana’a, Yemen. Photograph: Khaled Abdullah/Reuters

Full Story

People attend the Waitangi Day dawn service in Waitangi, New Zealand on 6 February 2019.
People attend the Waitangi Day dawn service in Waitangi, New Zealand on 6 February 2019. Photograph: Phil Walter/Getty Images

The fight over Māori rights

New Zealand’s coalition government has announced it will repeal or review at least a dozen policies that provide for Māori, saying services should be provided on the basis of need, not race. But critics say the move is using fear to roll back decades of progress for Indigenous people. On the eve of Waitangi Day, the Guardian’s New Zealand correspondent Eva Corlett, along with Professor Margaret Mutu from the University of Auckland, explain why the government has chosen this moment for reform – and how Māori are pushing back.

In-depth

Psychiatry experts agree that while the past decade has seen a vast proliferation of new mood-boosting tools, trackers and self-help apps, there has been little in the way of hard evidence to show that any of them actually help.
Psychiatry experts agree that while the past decade has seen a vast proliferation of new mood-boosting tools, trackers and self-help apps, there has been little in the way of hard evidence to show that any of them actually help. Illustration: Observer Design

The market for digital mental health apps is a rapidly growing one, with the need for sophisticated digital alternatives to conventional face-to-face therapy well-established.

While tech companies hope to address some of the barriers that prevent people from seeking therapy, there’s growing worry about privacy issues and ineffectiveness, and the UK is examining whether such tools need regulating.

Not the news

Alex Kurzem (centre), pictured with members of the Latvian battalion who are said to have adopted him.
Alex Kurzem (centre), pictured with members of the Latvian battalion who are said to have adopted him. Photograph: SBS

When a Melbourne man claimed he survived the Holocaust by becoming a child mascot for the Nazis, he attracted worldwide attention – and scepticism. Now a documentary reveals new startling truths about the life of Alex Kurzem, the former TV repair man, who was retired and eking out a life on the poverty line in a Melbourne suburb when his story emerged. Kelly Burke’s review of the upcoming SBS premiere examines the new evidence – and unanswered questions.

The world of sport

England batsman Zak Crawley drives.
England batsman Zak Crawley drives. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images

Media roundup

The NSW treasurer warned that Sydney could experience the type of poverty seen in San Francisco, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The Australian’s Newspoll says Anthony Albanese has yet to see a bounce from voters for his revised stage-three tax cut plans. Five people were killed in a horror night on Northern Territory roads, NT News says.

What’s happening today

  • Stage three | Grattan Institute analysis says the one-third of Australians who don’t pay tax – the group most struggling financially – miss out on cost-of-living relief in the federal government’s tax plan.

  • Wildlife | A man accused of throwing a live chicken to an alligator in front of families at a Hunter wildlife park is due in court.

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Brain teaser

And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day – with plenty more on the Guardian’s Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until tomorrow.

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