Good morning. It looks likely that a federal election will be called by the end of the week after the NSW court of appeal on Tuesday confirmed Scott Morrison’s preferred candidates were valid.
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, says he pursued his contentious captain’s picks – sparking a destructive internal Liberal party brawl culminating in election-eve legal challenges – because he wanted to stand up “for the women in my team”. Morrison told the ABC he intervened in the process because “I’m asked all the time why won’t the prime minister do more about getting good women in parliament and stand up for the women in parliament”. Conservative stalwart Concetta Fierravanti-Wells dismissed Morrison’s suggestion he was protecting women. “Morrison is simply using the ‘gender card’ to conflate captain’s picks to trash democratic processes in NSW,” she told 7.30 in a statement.
The Morrison government has been accused of sitting on The Australia State of the Environment report, which it received more than three months ago, to avoid “more bad news”. The report, published every five years, was handed to the environment minister, Sussan Ley, in December, and is required to be tabled in parliament within 15 sittings days. But with an election expected to be called within days and parliament having sat only briefly this year, the government is not legally required to release it until the next parliament forms. Despite calls to table the report before the election so voters know the “official state” of the environment, a spokesperson for Ley said she would comply with her statutory obligations.
Australia will team up with Britain and the US to develop nuclear-capable hypersonic weapons, after Russia used the deadly high-speed missiles in airstrikes last month during the war in Ukraine. The military agreement is a new element in the Aukus pact, originally announced to provide nuclear-powered submarines to Canberra.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has demanded that Russian leaders be “brought to justice for war crimes”. In an address to the UN security council he said there should be an international tribunal similar to the Nuremberg trials of Nazis after the second world war. Speaking of Russian forces, he said: “There is not a single crime that they would not commit there.”
Australia
Australia’s first-homebuyers are being urged to enter the scheme “with eyes wide open” and build a financial buffer to withstand increased mortgage repayments due to a “plausible” interest rate rise this year.
Australian federal police members are demanding the next government establish “a far-reaching anti-corruption body”, saying the current anti-corruption regime is unequal, holding law enforcement to a far higher standard than politicians.
The federal government has drawn criticism for allocating an additional $168.5m to a private company to build the Emu Swamp Dam in Queensland without any explanation for the cost blowout.
Outgoing MP George Christensen spent more than $20,000 on Facebook ads to promote his personal website and email list just weeks before quitting politics. Labor has questioned whether taxpayers or Christensen paid for the ads, concerned that the retiring MP “appears to be promoting his own website for his career after politics”.
Expectant mothers are being left out of pocket for some antenatal consultations, prompting doctors to call on the federal government to raise the Medicare rebate.
The world
Suspected Russian mercenaries participated in an operation with Mali’s army in which about 300 civilians were allegedly executed, Human Rights Watch says.
The world economy may be on the cusp of a new inflationary era due to the retreat of globalisation, a leading central bank chief has said.
Former US president Donald Trump has admitted he did not win the 2020 election in a video interview with a panel of historians.
A prominent Nigerian humanist has been sentenced to 24 years in prison after pleading guilty to blasphemy charges, in a landmark case that has put a new focus on the threats to freedom of expression in the country.
Recommended reads
Puberty Blues holds a special place in the heart of many Australians. The book is the work of Kathy Lette and Gabrielle Carey, who co-authored it as young adults while living together in a shared Sydney flat. Even though she now lives in London, Lette will always be a “Shire girl” at heart. After many years navigating the beach, the Cronulla expat has come to consider one item essential for hitting the sand – a terry-towelling poncho. “No middle-aged mum wants to be seen naked by strangers – mainly because, well, our birthday suits probably need a little ironing. The tide would take one look at my bare arse, go out and refuse to come back in again.”
“It is estimated that roughly 10% of [aged care] residents require some form of sedation to preserve their wellbeing but far, far more are prescribed drugs to make them more pliant … Last week, the Australian Senate approved legislation mandating the round-the-clock presence of a registered nurse in every nursing home. But given the protean vulnerabilities of residents, it is hard to imagine one nurse shouldering the whole burden of supervising sedation. Could there be a better model of care?” asks Ranjana Srivastava.
“If cinema is meant to make us feel something, then the Safdie brothers want us to have a stress-induced aneurysm with 2017 thriller Good Time,” writes Adam Fleet. “Good Time is not the best choice if you are looking to relax on a Friday night. But what’s the point of relaxing anyway? If you’re not chewing off your fingernails and screaming into a sofa cushion, how do you know you’re even alive?”
Listen
China and Solomon Islands are preparing to sign a historic security agreement that could be a stepping stone to a future Chinese naval base, less than 2,000km from Australia’s east coast. Today’s Full Story features Laura Murphy-Oates and defence correspondent Daniel Hurst discussing China’s growing influence with Pacific Island countries, and why Australian politicians and security experts are concerned about this deal.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
Trevor Bayliss, the World Cup-winning former England head coach, has held talks with Cricket Australia over the vacancy left by Justin Langer’s post-Ashes departure in February.
Media roundup
Police are calling for information from the public about a luxury boat found unoccupied in the sea between Kangaroo Island and Yorke Peninsula connected with a South Australian cocaine seizure worth more than $250m, reports the ABC. The Courier Mail reports that the Queensland police service accidentally used a picture of Hitler instead of a police officer in a domestic violence online training module.
Coming up
The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, is scheduled to deliver an address to the National Press Club of Australia.
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