Morning everyone. Some time in the early 2030s, Australia will take possession of its first nuclear-powered submarines. Then, around a decade later, we hope to deliver the very first nuclear-powered sub built on home soil.
It’s being described as a “new dawn” for defence policy and the journey is under way as Anthony Albanese meets Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak in San Diego. We’ve got full coverage of the announcement, and the reaction to this huge, expensive and globally consequential deal.
Back home, Indigenous leaders have voiced some sharp criticisms of opponents of the voice to parliament. And bank shares could come under pressure as the fallout from the biggest financial collapse since 2008 continues.
Australia
‘White saviours’ | Conservatives raising doubts about the voice to parliament have been accused of deliberately finding flaws with the proposal “just to stay in the spotlight”, according to a member of the government’s advisory group (pictured). Another group member, Prof Marcia Langton, called it a “relentless scare campaign”.
Aukus pact | Australian taxpayers will be on the hook for billions of dollars as the prime minister prepares to announce the new Aukus submarine deal with the US and UK in San Diego this morning. It will mean a “substantial” spending commitment over decades – Peter Dutton thinks it should come from NDIS cuts – and will also involve more “rotational” visits to Australia by US and UK submarines. The UK is itself getting Aukus subs, which should hit the water by the end of the 2030s. Here’s an explainer on all you need to know.
Emissions push | Independent MPs Allegra Spender and Zali Steggall are pushing the government to include an absolute cap or an explicit objective that emissions must come down under the safeguard mechanism.
Plastic plan | Thousands of tonnes of soft plastic that was collected and dropped off by supermarket customers and has been stockpiled since the collapse of a domestic recycling program could be be shipped to the US for processing.
‘It’s over’ | Conservationists are confident that a five-year hunt for the remaining feral fox in the Pilliga Scrub area of New South Wales – nicknamed Rambo – has ended in its death, paving the way for the greater bilby to flourish again.
World
China ‘irreversible’ | Xi Jinping has placed the issue of Taiwan at the centre of his third term in office and appeared to be asserting China’s “irreversible” role on the global stage in a speech in Beijing.
Ukraine struggle | Amid reports that Xi will start cementing that role with a visit to Russia as early as next week, Kremlin forces are still locked in a brutal struggle for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.
Paper problem | All toilet paper from across the globe checked for toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” contained the compounds, with the waste probably creating a significant source of water pollution, according to research.
Attenborough warning | Sir David Attenborough has warned that “nature is in crisis” and is being destroyed at a “terrifying rate”, but said the world had the solutions to solve the problem.
‘Surreal few days’ | Football fans in England can breathe a sigh of relief after the BBC and Gary Lineker agreed that the star presenter would return to present Match of the Day following his suspension for an anti-government tweet. But the row could still see Tory-supporting BBC chair Richard Sharp forced to quit.
Full Story
Israel, the West Bank and a week of rampage
Escalating violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories is happening amid unprecedented anti-government protests. It’s no coincidence, reports Bethan McKernan.
In-depth
Australian banking shares are likely to come under pressure today as financial stocks in the US and Europe fell sharply again in the wake of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, which has now been bought by HSBC for £1. Interest rates could stop rising sooner than thought because of the crisis, economists have said, with the US Fed already believed to be considering moderating its next expected hike to protect the markets. Here’s an explainer to help understand what’s going on, while our US columnist Robert Reich thinks deregulation is to blame.
Not the news
He has been described as “one of the greatest brains in the history of Australian sports administration”. But as he goes into his final quarter as boss of the AFL, Gillon McLachlan faces one of the game’s biggest ever threats as the complainants in the Hawthorn racism demand a reckoning. As Jonathan Horn observes wryly, with two days before the season’s first bounce, the suave McLachlan probably didn’t have “undertaking decolonisation” on his final to-do list.
The world of sport
Cricket | Australia have lost four Test series in a row against India after the fourth Test in Ahmedabad was drawn. They have an early chance for revenge in the world championship final in England in June, and their tenacity in India might prove decisive.
Baseball | Australia have made history by reaching the World Baseball Classic quarter-finals for the first time after beating the Czech Republic in Tokyo.
Ashes | David Saker, the renowned fast bowling coach, has agreed to work for England in this year’s Ashes series.
Media roundup
Leading children’s authors, Andy Griffiths and Jackie French, have condemned the “sensitivity” rewrites of Enid Blyton’s books, the Australian reports. Radio equipment that caused a meltdown on Sydney trains last week has been obsolete for a year, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, while in Victoria the Basketball League is set to allow a transgender player to compete in the women’s competition, the Herald Sun says. Brisbane has seen a medical “miracle”, the Courier Mail says, after the state’s first ever birth via a partial ovarian transplant.
What’s happening today
Education | The annual Naplan school assessments will begin with 1.3 million students set to take the test across Australia.
Sydney| Ukrainian ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko will give an address at the Customer XLR8 cyber security industry conference.
Melbourne | Closings continue in trial of former school principal Malka Leifer.
Sign up
If you would like to receive this Morning Mail update to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here. And finish your day with a three-minute snapshot of the day’s main news. Sign up for our Afternoon Update newsletter here.
Prefer notifications? If you’re reading this in our app, just click here and tap “Get notifications” on the next screen for an instant alert when we publish every morning.
Brain teaser
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day – with plenty more on the Guardian’s Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until tomorrow.
