Good morning. The RBA’s decision to increase the official interest rate to 0.35% surprised many economists. One described it as “a radical revision” and said “the RBA has completely changed their view on the outlook for inflation”. It also raises questions over what lies next for the already plateauing property market. Meanwhile in NSW, thousands of teachers will go on strike today over pay and workload.
The ALP has held the NSW seat of Hunter – where coal is king – at every election since 1910. But with seismic changes under way, the valley’s miners are eyeing the future with unease. Both the Coalition and Labor are telling the Hunter some variation of “if the world wants to buy our coal, we’ll sell it”, but both sides also spruik the Hunter as a potential global hub for clean energy, hydrogen, green steel and aluminium. If you’re looking to hear more from Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese head to head, you’ll have to wait until after Big Brother on Channel Seven next Wednesday, as the PM snubbed an offer by the ABC for a debate in an earlier time slot.
One Nation was still scrambling to find people to run for this month’s federal election just hours before the close of nominations, internal emails reveal. One prospective candidate was told One Nation didn’t “require you to do anything or campaign at all”, and Rob Sinclair said after seeking to run in his local electorate of Parramatta, the party instead asked him to nominate for a range of other seats, including some as far away as Victoria and South Australia.
The US supreme court is poised to overturn Roe v Wade, the most fundamental rulings in US law that enshrined the right to abortion nationwide, according to a leaked draft opinion. Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed the authenticity of the document and announced an investigation into the leak. Publication of the draft opinion sparked demonstrations outside America’s highest court, condemnation from Joe Biden and fears the judiciary has suffered profound damage to its reputation for independence. Biden has said he is “not prepared” to support ending a Senate filibuster to pass abortion rights law. More than half of US states will outlaw abortion immediately or as soon as practicable, if the law is overturned.
Australia
An expert radiologist says Australian federal police continued to use wrist X-rays to prosecute children as adult people smugglers after he had given unequivocal evidence of the technique’s unreliability, something he now says was “just wrong” and akin to “child abuse”.
Amid allegations of war crimes, of murder and of domestic violence, the death of a dog has dominated days of evidence in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial. The identity of an Afghan special forces member who shot the stray dog during an SAS mission in July 2012 could prove critical in an allegation of murder made against Roberts-Smith in the newspapers’ defence.
A one-size-fits-all model of accessible housing is “a disaster on so many levels” for Australians with a disability, with affordable and appropriate housing in short supply, forcing families to search on the private market.
The Coalition has been accused of stalling a ban on imports of goods made using slave labour. The government has cited “practical challenges” and insisted it needs more time to consult business and upgrade IT systems.
Oyster fisheries sustained First Nations communities for up to 10,000 years prior to colonisation, even under intense harvest, according to new research. The study calls for Indigenous knowledge to be incorporated into managing oyster reefs today.
The world
The aim of EU sanctions is to “break the Russian war machine”, with measures on Kremlin oil now imminent, the president of the European Council has said. Meanwhile, Russia has launched an attack on the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol after a ceasefire broke down.
People who have been hospitalised with Covid may be left with difficulties in thinking comparable in magnitude to ageing 20 years, research suggests.
An obesity “epidemic” in Europe is causing 200,000 cancer cases and 1.2 million deaths a year, according to the World Health Organisation.
Three children in Indonesia have died from a mysterious type of acute hepatitis of “unknown origin”, identified in almost 170 children across 11 countries in recent weeks.
Recommended reads
The cost of living is rightly centre stage in the federal election campaign, and lately we’ve been hearing more about (some of) the challenges of housing affordability from our politicians. “When will our politicians launch a fearless public conversation about housing affordability for people who don’t have a skerrick of a chance of stepping on any rung of any mortgage ladder?” writes Jennifer Beveridge.
Alex Garland’s next film, Men, is due for release in June. If you’re intrigued by the mysterious trailer, then Garland’s directorial debut, Ex Machina, is well worth investigating. “With this tense, psychological thriller, Garland asks the biggest question of all: what does it mean to be alive? Ex Machina is essentially 108 minutes of three people sitting around talking to each other, but this existential grappling is so compelling that it is impossible not to be drawn into both the story and the bigger questions that motivate it,” writes Adam Fleet.
The Kid Laroi was the big winner at the Australian Performing Rights Association (Apras) awards, taking home three awards – including the top gong in the song of the year category for his collaboration with Justin Bieber, Stay. It has been a meteoric year for the Kamilaroi rapper. The 18-year-old was nominated for best new artist at the Grammys and VMAs, performed on Saturday Night Live with Miley Cyrus, and signed – then split – with Bieber and Ariana Grande’s music manager Scooter Braun.
Listen
With the MP for Nicholls, Damian Drum, retiring, the very safe Nationals seat where conservative meets rural is now set for a showdown. It could swing to the Liberal party or to the prominent independent Rob Priestly, who claims the Nationals are no longer delivering on the interests of Nicholls. In today’s Full Story, Guardian Australia’s rural and regional editor, Gabrielle Chan, speaks to residents and candidates in the Victorian seat about irrigation issues, jobs, healthcare and what voters want from their elected representatives.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
The AFL has acknowledged it “could have” publicly shared a leaked report detailing what it called “unacceptable experiences” of sexual harassment alleged by female umpires across Australia.
Media roundup
WorkCover claims from Queensland teachers have increased by almost 90% in the last six years, with more than $322m paid out in workers’ compensation, reports the Courier Mail. In the NT News, the lawyers for a Darwin man shot at six times by police after allegedly threatening them with a spear are yet to see statements or body-worn camera footage from the officers involved.
Coming up
Josh Frydenberg and Jim Chalmers will debate at the National Press Club.
And if you’ve read this far …
Residents in several neighbourhoods in northern Rome have imposed a nightly “curfew” after a spate of attacks by wild boars.
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