Good morning. Sweden and Finland will formally submit simultaneous requests to join Nato today, though Turkey maintains it will not support the applications.
As the election campaign enters its final days, Labor maintains an advantage over the Coalition but the contest has tightened in Scott Morrison’s favour, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll. Labor has a two-point lead in the poll’s two-party preferred “plus” measure with the opposition on 48% and the Coalition on 46%. Seven per cent of respondents are undecided. A fortnight ago, Labor was ahead of the Coalition 49% to 45% with 6% undecided. So what is likely to sway voters? Surveys consistently show that aged care, climate change and education are among voters’ top concerns, but you wouldn’t necessarily know it by watching politicians’ press conferences or reading some media coverage. We also take a close look at the Victorian seat of Corangamite, lost to Labor in the last election, and the Coalition is pulling out all stops to get it back.
The fate of hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers who have ended weeks of resistance at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol remains unclear, after the fighters surrendered and were transferred to Russian-controlled territory. Ukraine’s deputy defence minister said they would be swapped in a prisoner exchange, but some Russian officials said on Tuesday they could be tried and even executed. Eight people have died and 12 wounded after Russia launched a missile strike on the village of Desna and peace talks have stalled, according to both sides.
Australia has fared better than many countries throughout much of the pandemic, but despite high vaccination rates and the availability of antiviral treatments, people are still dying every day and case numbers are rising. While the new treatments offer hope, Australia must not become complacent, experts say. Now, two years into the pandemic, can Australia still say it is faring well against Covid?
Australia
Australian tech company Canva has continued operating in Russia despite outrage from Ukrainians, who say Canva’s actions were “inconsistent with what we believe an ethical company’s response should have been”.
Health experts are calling for voluntary mask-wearing in Victoria, as the state records more cases of the flu so far this year than the whole of 2020 and 2021 combined. There have been more than 5,000 flu infections this year, while 13,654 new Covid cases were reported on Tuesday.
Signs of life are returning to Brisbane’s CBD, but small businesses have been hit hard by the pandemic, with a 15% reduction in the number of food licenses in the city over the last two years.
The world
The European Commission has raised the spectre of an economically damaging trade war with the UK, pledging to respond with “all measures at its disposal” if Liz Truss presses ahead with a plan to rewrite the Northern Ireland protocol.
A China Eastern Airlines plane that crashed in March, killing 132 people, appears to have been intentionally flown into the mountainside below by someone at the controls, according to reports.
Joe Biden has condemned those who spread white supremacist lies “for power, political gain and for profit” during a visit to Buffalo, New York, where 10 people were killed in a racist shooting last Saturday.
Recommended reads
For some years, Yorta Yorta man Jason Tamiru’s job was to help secure “thousands of bones, hundreds of people” from museums, institutions and private collectors around the world. As a cultural heritage officer for Indigenous nations in north-west Victoria, Tamiru would organise burial ceremonies and inter the remains back on Country. “It’s a duty, mate,” says the theatre director. “A role I took on with honour.” It is “heartbreaking” for First Nations people when their ancestors’ remains are withheld, says Tamiru, whose experiences in repatriation inform a new play, The Return, which Tamiru is directing at Melbourne’s Malthouse theatre as part of the Rising festival.
Liane Moriarty is hot property. Screen rights to all nine of her novels have sold – Big Little Lies was given the HBO treatment in 2017, Nine Perfect Strangers became a miniseries in 2021 and several more adaptations are on the way, with A-listers like Nicole Kidman and Blake Lively optioning the remainder of Moriarty’s back catalogue. To keep the page-turners coming, Moriarty commits to writing a new novel every two years (or so). The trick to staying on schedule is an hourglass that she keeps on her desk. She tells us about the romantic appeal of that tool, as well as the story of two other important personal belongings.
Remember the old friendship trope “if we’re both single when we’re older, let’s get married” seen in films like My Best Friend’s Wedding? The modern version of that seems to be “if we’re both homeless when we’re older, let’s live in our cars”, writes Deirdre Fidge. Or more realistically: when, not if. Most property listings begin with a description such as “A wonderful investment to add to your portfolio!” ... “A must-see for any savvy investor!” Even the language around home ownership has morphed into a complete acceptance that chances are, anyone looking to buy is already in the market. Homes are not a human right but an opportunity for investment. The rich get richer, the poor live in hatchbacks (if they have one).
Listen
Home to some of the most culturally diverse communities in Australia, the seats of Reid, Parramatta and Lindsay in western Sydney are a tantalising prospect for the major parties. Traditionally Labor heartland, the demographic changes have resulted in marginal seats that can be flipped by the right candidate. So will the pitch of either of the major parties be effective this election? In today’s Full Story, Guardian Australia reporters Michael McGowan and Mostafa Rachwani talk to voters in the marginal seats about issues they care about and explain to Laura Murphy-Oates why western Sydney is the “golden goose” of the election.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
If Ellie Carpenter was a teenage world-class full-back in the making, she has realised that status as a young adult. These days she is starting for Lyon, the global point of reference for women’s club football. And she credits an opposition coach who tried to put her off as a 16-year-old with putting the fire in her belly early on.
Media roundup
The Sydney Morning Herald reports on research finding only 5% of aged care homes surveyed have the minimum staff ratios to exceed new rules both sides of politics have pledged to bring in next year. In Queensland, taxpayers have been forced to pay $127m for variations to major projects across the state with bureaucratic bungles and poor planning leading to cost blowouts, says the Courier Mail.
Coming up
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese will address the National Press Club.
And if you’ve read this far …
A Canadian painting that was swapped 50 years ago for a grilled cheese sandwich has sold at auction for an “astounding” C$350,000. Black Truck by the folk artist Maud Lewis sold for 10 times its assessed value.
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