Good morning. Reaction rumbles on to the extraordinary revelation of Scott Morrison’s extra ministerial powers while prime minister, as court documents reveal proponents of a gas project have accused him of bias after he allegedly used the powers to block it. And a new study of Australian homes on behalf of shivering, mould-battling renters has found our houses often fail to meet global health standards.
Scott Morrison’s decision to use extraordinary ministerial powers to block the controversial Pep11 gas project off the coast of NSW is being challenged in the federal court, with Asset Energy accusing the former prime minister of “bias” that denied procedural fairness. Morrison yesterday dismissed questions about reports alleging he secretly appointed himself to numerous ministry roles during his time as prime minister, saying he hasn’t “engaged in any day-to-day politics” since losing the May election. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, yesterday accused Morrison of running a “shadow government” and displaying “tinpot” behaviour. The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, said Morrison had behaved in a “dictatorial, but worst of all, secretive way”.
Malcolm Farr asks: “If there was a compelling justification for this strange arrangement, why wasn’t it revealed to the public at the time?”
Iran has denied having any role in the attack on Salman Rushdie but claimed the author had only himself to blame for crossing a “red line” over Islam in his writings. Rushdie spent nine years in hiding after the 1989 issue of a notorious fatwa authorising his killing. Alhough he will be loth to return to that kind of existence, Duncan Gardham writes, last week’s attack will most likely lead to a drastic rethink of Rushdie’s security.
(Meanwhile, the author’s grave fears for “the rapidly worsening situation for human rights in India”, written before the attack, have just been released in a PEN anthology. And if you missed it yesterday, read Margaret Atwood’s impassioned piece on why the world must stand by him.)
Australian rental homes are colder and more damp than is considered safe by the World Health Organization, with homes in New South Wales so humid as to promote mould growth, a new report has found. Tracking devices placed in Australian rental homes found that in four states they were routinely colder than the recommended 18C, with ACT beating Tasmania for the chilliest average temperature at just 7.5C.
Australia
Doctors are “gatekeeping” conversations around affordable access to healthcare, leaving nurses and their highly specialised skills undervalued and under-utilised, peak nursing bodies say. The comments come amid a surge of GPs limiting access to bulk billing or scrapping it altogether.
In “a small step to reconciliation”, the Hobart council voted last night to remove a statue of the former Tasmanian premier William Crowther, who mutilated the body of an Aboriginal man in 1869.
The NSW clubs’ lobby is using emails between whistleblower Troy Stolz and journalists at five major media outlets to argue he waged a campaign to “tarnish” its reputation.
Also in NSW, a war of words between ministers is proving a political distraction in Macquarie Street – read Michael McGowan’s analysis.
The world
Donald Trump has demanded the return of some documents seized by the US justice department in an FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago property last week. The former president “has to” announce a 2024 campaign in the next two weeks, a senior source close to Trump said, if he wants to avoid indictment. His former attorney Rudy Giuliani is now a target of the criminal investigation examining efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia.
Ukraine says it has struck a base used by the shadowy Wagner Russian paramilitary group as well as a bridge near the occupied city of Melitopol. Amid Russia’s invasion, Kosovo has stopped the import of electricity and begun energy rationing.
William Ruto has been declared the winner of Kenya’s presidential election, amid last-minute chaos as four senior election officials denounced the week-long count and disowned the result.
In the UK, the final vote is looming in the Tory leadership race – here’s a look at who the likely winner, Liz Truss, is likely to put in her cabinet if she’s victorious over Rishi Sunak.
In other appointments, the next UN climate chief will be Simon Stiell, Grenada’s environment minister.
Recommended reads
George Miller’s 1979 classic Mad Max is considered a violent film but it pales in comparison to Miller’s earlier work Violence in the Cinema … Part 1, his 1972 short film that had a rare screening on the weekend as part of the Melbourne international film festival. Its rudimentary production values can’t disguise Miller’s bravado, and it stands apart from others in that it’s absolutely disgusting. Guardian Australia’s film critic Luke Buckmaster watched it so you didn’t have to.
“It seems like almost everyone has a friend who has recently been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),” Melbourne GP Nicholas Hudson writes. “What had been an occasional topic patients broached is now a conversation I’m having multiple times a week. But with specialists overwhelmed, where should people turn?”
The iPhone photography awards have been celebrating the creativity of iPhone users since 2007. We take a look at a selection of the winners of the 15th annual competition.
Listen
Online dating existed more than a decade ago, in sites like match.com and OkCupid. But these services did not tend to attract younger users, and there was a stigma attached to using them. Apps such as Grindr, which launched in 2009, and Tinder, which launched in September 2012, have radically changed the landscape of online dating. Today on Full Story, author Emily Witt tells Nosheen Iqbal about how dating apps have completely altered the way we think about relationships, sex and love.
Sport
In the Premier league, Liverpool has drawn 1-1 with Crystal Palace.
A UK man has been fined and given a suspended prison sentence after sending a “hateful and racist” post aimed at the black footballers who missed penalties in England’s Euro 2020 final defeat.
The inaugural AFLW match between Essendon and Hawthorn has been shifted to the 53,000-capacity Marvel Stadium after tickets for the original venue sold out within 24 hours.
Media roundup
Per the AFR, there are reports China may temporarily suspend all meat imports from Australia and New Zealand because of concerns about foot-and-mouth disease. The Australian is reporting that Morrison warned Trump off inviting Vladimir Putin to join the G7 almost two years before its invasion of Ukraine. The Australian also reports on a little-known 27-year-old cryptocurrency casino owner who spent an eye-watering $80m on a mansion in Melbourne. And according to the Daily Telegraph, this year’s NRL grand final could still be moved to Brisbane.
Coming up
BHP, Seek and Seven West will release full year financial results.
A federal parliamentary committee will conduct hearings on the cashless debit card in Bundaberg.
There’s a skills round table ahead of the federal jobs and skills summit.
Extinction Rebellion is protesting at the Victorian parliament in response to the new forestry laws.
And there’s a rally in Queensland to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14.
And if you’ve read this far …
Feast your eyes on the filmed portraits of Robert Wilson, the famed New York theatre director and artist, whose subjects include Lady Gaga, Winona Ryder, Salma Hayek and Brad Pitt and more.
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