Good morning. The election campaign is in full swing, with new health announcements from Labor and the Greens. Overseas, Boris Johnson is again under pressure after being fined for Covid breaches, and 20 people have been injured in New York after a gunman opened fire on the subway.
NSW Liberal senator Hollie Hughes justified claiming a taxpayer-funded travel allowance on the day she attended the Melbourne Cup by saying the alcohol company that gave her a spot in its marquee had employees in her home state, making her attendance parliamentary business. The Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority accepted the explanation but also told the senator that she would need to be prepared to publicly justify her claim.
In election news, Labor and the Greens will release major health commitments. Anthony Albanese is set to announce $135m to trial 50 new urgent care clinics meant to ease pressure on hospitals. And the Greens will announce a $7.5bn-a-year policy to include dental in Medicare, which could be funded by billionaires and large corporations paying their “fair share of tax”. “The Greens will make Clive Palmer pay more tax so you can fix your teeth,” says the Greens leader, Adam Bandt. Christian lobby groups are pressing both major parties to recommit to the unamended religious discrimination bill.
Boris Johnson has rejected calls to resign after being fined for breaking his own Covid laws by attending a party for his birthday. His wife, Carrie, and the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, were also given penalty notices. Johnson and Sunak are thought to be the first sitting UK prime minister and chancellor to be criminally sanctioned, and were also accused of misleading parliament by previously denying they attended parties during lockdown. Johnson and Sunak have both issued apologies and paid the fines, but families of Covid victims say they are “disgusted”. “You paid a fine,” said the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice. “Our loved ones paid with their lives.”
Civilians have fled eastern Ukraine as Russian forces closed in on the ruins of Mariupol – where 21,000 civilians have reportedly died – and Vladimir Putin said Moscow’s invasion would proceed “calmly” and to plan until its “noble” goals have been achieved. Putin also dismissed Ukrainian testimony that Russian troops had killed civilians in Bucha as fake.
Australia
Australia’s new gas export developments are likely to struggle economically after 2030 if the world lives up to commitments to limit global heating to 1.5C, according to a warning to major investors.
Domestic travellers are being warned to arrive at airports early as staff shortages and Covid-related measures cause long queues across the country. Sydney airport warns delays will get worse before they get better as airlines and government health departments work to fix the problem.
Australia’s official unemployment rate is predicted to fall below 4% as soon as Thursday, the lowest rate since 1974, as employers say finding workers is their ‘No 1 issue’, despite offering higher wages.
There are fears health problems in babies could be going undetected as checks remain suspended in parts of Melbourne due to Covid-related workforce shortages, forcing some parents to rely on blogs to find health information.
The world
Ten people have been shot and more than 20 injured on the New York City subway after a gunman pulled a gas canister out of his bag, filled the train with smoke and began shooting at people in the carriage and on the platform. No one was considered to have life-threatening injuries and the shooting was not being investigated as terrorism.
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has been questioned about why the country’s armed forces bought 30,000 Viagra pills. The navy and air force claim the drug is being used to treat pulmonary hypertension.
Sunscreen chemicals are accumulating in Mediterranean seagrass, with fears the UV filters absorbed by Posidonia oceanica may have damaging effects on ecosystems, scientists warn.
Recommended reads
In 2017, as Australia was debating marriage equality, Jason Om struck a chord with a personal story about his father’s 16-year struggle to accept his sexuality and how his dad eventually came to vote yes in the plebiscite. A piece he wrote for the ABC is the basis for Om’s memoir, All Mixed Up. Om now lives in Sydney but once called Adelaide home, where he had an enviable collection of mid-century furniture. Only one piece, a Danish-designed armchair, made it with him in the move. He tells us why he’d scramble to save that chair in a fire, as well as the story of two other important personal belongings.
“The only people in Australia who can boost wage growth are employers and the only way they can do that is by giving people pay rises,” writes Richard Denniss. “The whole point of abandoning what was once called ‘centralised wage fixing’ and deregulating the labour market over the past 30 years was to put employers in charge of deciding how much they pay their employees. And, guess what, on the whole Australian employers have decided to boost their profits rather than boost their workers’ wages.”
After 15 years of deep friendship, Patti Miller was dumped – and she never found out why. Her resulting book felt dangerous, like venturing into taboo. “Two things struck me as I started work,” she says. “One was how little had been written about friendship breakups, compared to the outpouring in films, plays, songs, poems and novels about romantic breakups. The other was the illusory nature of memory in relation to friendship, how unreliable it was.”
Listen
New activist groups are on the rise, with a series of climate protests blocking roads, bridges and coal ports. In response, the NSW government has passed new laws that could see such protesters spend up to two years in jail. In today’s Full Story, Sam Noonan and Violet Coco, members of Fireproof Australia, speak about why they joined the radical group, and the journalist Royce Kurmelovs explores the rise in anti-protest laws.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
Sam Kerr’s first-half brace has driven the Matildas to a win against New Zealand in their first match in Canberra since 2013. It meant back-to-back wins for the Matildas in their two-game series, having won 2-1 in Townsville on Friday night.
Media roundup
Queensland MP George Christensen has backflipped on his decision to leave politics, revealing he has joined Pauline Hanson’s One Nation and is seeking re-election, reports the Courier-Mail. The ABC says Warriors winger Marcelo Montoya has received a four-game NRL suspension after using a homophobic slur on-field. And the Daily Telegraph has a video of Scott Morrison being confronted for the second time in a week, this time by a “social activist” who gatecrashed a private function held by the PM in western Sydney.
Coming up
Adam Bandt will address the National Press Club.
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