Good morning. Australia’s first Indigenous truth-telling commission will begin open public hearings from today, with Victorian elders to formally start sharing stories of the impacts of British colonisation. Election campaigning will be back in full swing after leaders took a pause on Monday to commemorate Anzac Day.
A Coalition MP praised a now-contentious trip to China featuring Labor’s deputy leader, Richard Marles, undermining the Morrison government’s attempts to discredit the opposition’s claim that the major parties are united on China policy. Marles said during the 2019 trip it would be a “profound mistake” to define China as an enemy, a comment the government has used to criticise the opposition. But it has now emerged the Liberal National party backbencher Ted O’Brien – who joined Marles and Labor’s Tanya Plibersek on the three-day study tour organised by the China Matters thinktank – praised the 2019 trip, calling it “an invaluable opportunity to have open and candid dialogue”.
Twitter has agreed to sell itself to Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, in a US$44bn deal. The deal puts the Tesla chief executive in charge of a company with 217 million users and an influential role in shaping the political and media agenda on both sides of the Atlantic. Musk has signalled that Twitter will be overhauled under his leadership, including changes in content moderation, having described himself as a “free speech absolutist”.
Conservative lobby group Advance is being threatened with legal action after featuring images of elite female swimmers on billboards it is using to campaign against trans women’s participation in sport. The ads feature three swimmers – Dawn Fraser, Emma McKeon and Emily Seebohm – who have all commented recently on trans women competing in female sports, along with the phrase “women’s sport is not for men”. McKeon and Seebohm are in their uniforms which feature the Olympic rings, intellectual property the Australian Olympic Committee claims is being used without permission. Seebohm – an Olympic champion – has criticised Advance for using her comments and image “as part of a political agenda without my consent”. The AOC will send a legal letter to Advance on Tuesday. The lobby group has already indicated it would not remove the billboards following another legal threat from Swimming Australia on Monday.
Australia
Voters in two key Western Australia seats are have expressed doubts over Scott Morrison’s proposed “better the devil you know” combination of himself and Labor’s Mark McGowan. Many voters in Swan and Hasluck say Morrison lacks the consistency to make the case over Anthony Albanese’s small-target approach. “Morrison and his personality” may be the best thing Labor has going for it, one person told Guardian Australia.
As aged care becomes a key election battleground, has access to home care improved since the royal commission last year told the government to act “urgently” to fix waiting lists? Guardian Australia looks at the case of Laurena Henschke who had been dead about 12 months when a letter from the Australian government turned up at her Adelaide home offering her care.
The Queensland police service appears to have balked at substantial reform to the way it handles officers who are accused of domestic violence, after promising to act on a “concerning increase” in the volume of complaints. Women’s advocates say it is problematic that a domestic violence victim seeking assistance could theoretically encounter an officer who is subject to a complaint, charge or conviction.
The world
Doctors carrying out postmortem examinations on bodies in mass graves in Ukraine say they have found evidence some women were raped before being killed by Russian forces. “We already have a few cases which suggest that these women had been raped before being shot to death,” said Vladyslav Pirovskyi, a Ukrainian forensic doctor.
Global stock markets fell sharply on Monday as fears of new lockdowns in China added to concerns over the health of the world economy. China’s benchmark share index posted its biggest one-day tumble since February 2020, after Beijing’s biggest district began mass testing for Covid-19 because of a rise in infections in the capital.
Emmanuel Macron is expected to announce a new prime minister in the coming days, as he turns his focus to legislative elections in June after his defeat of Marine Le Pen in the presidential runoff on Sunday.
A New York judge has held Donald Trump in contempt and fined him $10,000 a day, following the former president’s failure to hand over documents to prosecutors investigating his business practices.
Recommended reads
If you’re too tired to enjoy stressful telly after work then perhaps you need slow anime, writes Patrick Lum, in an ode to a genre in which the drama might only be someone forgetting their umbrella. “Episodes might be about picking apples, or going to the beach, or getting a (usually chill) part-time job, even visiting a cafe for (extremely chill) ghosts,” he says. “Despite such unexciting fare, these shows don’t feel boring so much as they do soothing. You might nod off to sleep, but it’s the sleep of someone who has had a hot chocolate under a warm weighted blanket. It’s simply nice.”
How can you tell if the clothes you’re buying are actually of a high quality? Lucianne Tonti has a few tips, from rubbing fabric on your neck to checking stitch size. “The reality is, the quality of our clothes has been in steady decline since the late 1990s, when fast fashion caused production and consumption to rise and prices to plummet. Despite this, well-made garments do exist, if you know what you’re looking for.” Here, in the first of a two-part series, experts explain how to tell if a garment has been made with care and skill before you take it into the fitting room.
Listen
Energy policy is taking centre stage in the election campaign, with the Coalition warning, without evidence, that Labor will drive up energy bills, and making a slew of new funding announcements for fossil fuels. But as the world shifts away from fossil fuels, is either party preparing for the transformational change ahead? In today’s Full Story, Guardian Australia’s environment and climate editor Adam Morton breaks down the major differences between the main parties’ energy policies and what that means for the future.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
Teenage sensation Jack Ginnivan has slotted a career-best five goals to help lift Collingwood to an 11-point win over Essendon in an enthralling Anzac Day encounter. In front of 84,205 fans at the MCG – the largest crowd since the 2019 grand final because of the global pandemic – small forward Ginnivan starred in his side’s 15.3 (93) to 12.10 (82) victory.
Media roundup
A decorated Queensland police officer with more than 20 years’ experience says he was humiliated for years trying to clear his name after being accused of vulgar conduct in his workplace, reports Nine News. And there are more lockdowns for elderly residents of nursing homes as South Australia’s health authorities deal with an alarming number of Covid outbreaks in aged care facilities, reports the Advertiser.
Coming up
Scott Morrison will be campaigning in Townsville. Labor frontbenchers will be out in far-north Queensland as Anthony Albanese isolates at home with Covid.
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