Good morning. An Australian climate scientist says the national science agency has been turned into a “very extravagant consulting company”. US President Joe Biden’s $33bn request for more aid to Ukraine is likely to be approved. Scott Morrison will be campaigning in Sydney, while Labor leader Anthony Albanese will be in Brisbane. Housing, social care and electric car charging are expected to be on the election agenda.
The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, made a pitch for a “better future” at his official campaign launch in Perth, outlining new policies to try to capture voter attention. The party has veered away from the big-spending and revenue-raising promises of the last election campaign. But Albanese pledged on Sunday that if he wins the 21 May election “the work of building that better future will start the very next day”. Here are the five key policies unveiled by the Labor party on Sunday. Notably, Labor has promised to reduce the cost of medicines on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme, roll out new charging infrastructure for electric vehicles and focus on improving pay equity for women. Some believe Albanese presents as a leader who wasn’t born thinking he was owed the prime ministership.
Joe Biden’s $33bn request to Congress for more aid for Ukraine is likely to receive swift approval from lawmakers, a senior Republican said on Sunday, as the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, made a surprise visit to the war-riven country. The US president on Thursday had asked for the money for military and humanitarian support for Ukraine as it fights to repulse the Russian invasion now in its third month. Meanwhile, Russia has bombarded Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, as part of its renewed push in the east of the country, while claiming the “draft of a possible treaty” between the two countries is being discussed on a daily basis.
A leading Australian climate scientist says the national science agency, CSIRO, has been turned into a “very extravagant consulting company” under the Coalition, with its scientists barred from speaking publicly about government policy. The warning from Prof David Karoly follows his retirement from the Commonwealth Science and Industry Research Organisation in February after more than 40 years as one of the most respected voices in climate science. Karoly says scientists at CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology are routinely blocked from speaking publicly and have their work suppressed if it could be interpreted as at odds with government policy.
Australia
An area of heritage-listed bushland that formed part of the environmental offset for the western Sydney airport has been bulldozed for a car park at a new defence facility. The clearing was revealed in an independent audit of the federal government’s progress in delivering the offsets required to compensate for the destruction of endangered habitat for the new travel hub in Badgerys Creek.
Irrigation issues dominate the federal election in Coalition-held Nicholls, the nation’s sixth-safest seat, with Liberals, Nationals and an independent all in the running.
The Reserve Bank of Australia finds itself in a strategic and political bind. Will the RBA lift the cash rate this week to counter inflation – or wait until after the election?
In the central highlands north-west of Melbourne, farmers are fighting plans to install 85-metre towers through their properties.
We asked Guardian readers across Australia what mattered to them at the local level. These are some of their responses.
A report released in April by BirdLife Australia reveals the economic impact of birdwatching tourism, with domestic birding trips contributing an estimated $283m to the Australian economy annually, much of this in regional communities.
John Coates, the vice-president of the International Olympic Committee and outgoing president of the Australian National Olympic Committee, said “to a large extent” Sydney was awarded the summer Olympic Games in 2000 because it “bought the Games”.
The world
Jacob Zuma has been accused of systematic and “unlawful” efforts to give business allies control of billions of dollars worth of state assets by the judge charged with investigating wrongdoing during the former president’s years in power in South Africa.
Ministers are under increasing pressure to help free a retired British geologist at risk of facing the death penalty in Iraq over smuggling allegations. A petition urging the release of father-of-two Jim Fitton, has received more than 95,000 signatures in the three days since it was launched.
The United Kingdom government faces intense pressure from its own MPs and opposition parties to take action over misogyny and harassment in Westminster after a senior minister denied institutional problems, saying the issue was simply “some bad apples”.
Recommended reads
In the final minutes of the final episode of the genre-defining mockumentary The Office, our favourite disenchanted worker, Tim (Martin Freeman), neatly summarises the banal rhythms of the early 2000s workplace. “The people you work with are people you were just thrown together with,” he muses, noting that he spends more time with colleagues than his own friends or family. “But probably all you’ve got in common,” he adds, “is the fact that you walk around on the same bit of carpet for eight hours a day.” From The Office to Severance, Amelia Tait writes about how the fictional workplaces went from bad to worse.
At the beginning of each month, Guardian Australia editors and critics pick out the upcoming book titles they’ve already devoured – or can’t wait to get their hands on. From Janine Mikosza’s Homesickness to Isobel Beech’s Sunbathing, here are the best Australian books out in May.
Losing someone you love dearly is devastating, but the bond couples shared in life is vital to those who live on. “In my work I have seen many examples of how love continues, transforms even, when the loving object is gone,” writes Juliet Rosenfeld. “Eventually, someone becomes defined, not by loss, but by love.”
Listen
The announcement last week that the Tesla chief executive, Elon Musk, had secured the funding to buy Twitter sent shockwaves across the internet. Rightwing free speech absolutists celebrated the acquisition, while many on the left sounded alarm bells about the implications of one wealthy man taking control of such an influential communication platform.
The Guardian’s UK technology editor, Alex Hern, tells Michael Safi that Musk’s acquisition of Twitter is a classic case of a billionaire splurging on a hobby.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.This story originally aired on Today in Focus.
Sport
Australia’s Daniel Faalele is set to become the heaviest player in the NFL after being drafted by the Baltimore Ravens. For Melbourne-born Faalele, 22, selection with pick No 110 completes a wild journey since he left Australia at age 16 with a rugby and basketball background.
Media roundup
Voters have cut their support for the Coalition from 35% to 33% and marked down prime minister Scott Morrison on his personal performance, giving Labor a strong lead at the halfway point in the federal election campaign, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The national broadcaster ABC is caught in a pincer movement of ideological attacks from conservatives and criticism from progressives, writes the WAToday. Is it warranted?
Coming up
The Greens will announce their gender pay policy at a Labour Day rally. The federal court is set to deliver its judgment over the Bob Brown Foundation’s injunction application in relation to a Tasmanian mine expansion.
And if you’ve read this far …
They were one of television’s most popular couples, and now they’re getting back together, especially for you – or at least for viewers of Neighbours. Scott and Charlene, played by Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue, will return after more than 30 years for the show’s finale.
Get in touch
If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com.
Discover Australian 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.
