Morning everyone. It’s the day after an emotional and momentous announcement, of the detail of the proposed constitutional change that will establish an Indigenous voice. We have the news, the politics and the analysis you need.
Plus, Australia is facing a “public health emergency”, according to experts contributing to a review of laws around vaping. The smoking substitute was perhaps once seen as benign but now threatens a new generation of nicotine addicts, with health professionals calling for import bans.
Overseas, World Athletics has voted to exclude transgender women from female events. There’s still no sign yet of a Trump arrest. And what happened when the TikTok boss went to Washington.
Australia
‘We’re all in’ | Despite Anthony Albanese’s emotional announcement of the voice to parliament wording, Peter Dutton has again declined to state his position on the referendum but Indigenous leaders are glad that the prime minister didn’t wait to find out. We are also looking at what happens next.
‘I couldn’t think straight’ | An “overwhelming” number of health experts and authorities support tightening border controls around nicotine vaping products, with many wanting an import ban on non-nicotine vaping products as well, the drugs regulator has told the government after a major review.
‘Deeply unsettling’ | Labor and the Coalition have been accused by the Greens of taking a “deeply unsettling approach” to transparency around Aukus after the major parties blocked the publication of documents about nuclear safety and waste issues.
‘Pulverised’ | Independent senator Lidia Thorpe was knocked to the ground after a struggle with police and private security guards when she tried to disrupt an anti-trans protest outside Parliament House in the latest flashpoint caused by British ultra-conservative activist Kellie-Jay Keen.
Priced out | There is no longer a single local government area across metropolitan Sydney or Melbourne where houses are affordable for early career essential workers, with police commuting huge distances and nurses living in cramped share homes.
World
TikTok tested | The chief executive of TikTok was grilled by US lawmakers as the storm surrounding the China-owned social media platform intensifies. It’s the biggest test yet for former Facebook intern Shou Zi Chew as the Biden administration threatens to ban the app entirely in the US and the UK banning it from parliamentary devices.
France inflamed | Emmanuel Macron faced the full force of public anger as protesters gathered across France in opposition to the pension age being raised from 62 to 64. Strikers are also refusing to provide red carpets for King Charles’s visit on Sunday.
Gandhi jailed | A court in India has jailed the opposition leader Rahul Gandhi for two years for defaming the country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, by implying he was a criminal.
‘Entitlement, hypocrisy’ | A senior Nigerian politician and his wife have been convicted of organ trafficking by a British court after a conspiracy to exploit a man for his kidney that they could give to their sick daughter.
Exhausting argument | Germany’s three-party government is in crisis, after the Green party accused its liberal coalition partners of gambling away the country’s reputation by blocking a EU-wide phase-out of internal combustion engines in cars.
Full Story
Does Labor’s climate policy meet this critical moment?
Gabrielle Jackson talks to the climate and environment editor, Adam Morton, and live news editor, Patrick Keneally, about whether Labor’s key climate policy will address the urgent call to action from the IPCC.
In-depth
The New South Wales election is shaping up to be the closest for 16 years with Labor trying to muster the magic nine new seats required to form a government. Our state reporter, Michael McGowan, looks at the key targets for Labor such as Penrith, Parramatta and Heathcote, along with Dominic Perrottet’s must-holds such as Lane Cove and South Coast.
Not the news
How can someone get to adulthood having never tried a banana? Well, 10 of our valiant writers volunteered to explain why particular foods are their own kryptonite, but also to go one step further and actually try to eat them. So, while Ammar Kalia finds the hitherto unknown pleasures of Tomato Cup-a-Soup “surprisingly delicious”, and Arwa Mahdawi just about tolerates her banana, Emma Beddington’s fear of hard-boiled eggs remains intact: “I’d rather eat a fistful of cat litter.”
The world of sport
AFL v NRL | Brisbane will find out tonight if it is big enough for both football codes as the city prepares for its inaugural NRL derby and, in AFL, the Lions play host to the Demons. In Sydney, hope springs eternal that Wests Tigers can get “off the ground floor”.
Trans ban | The World Athletics council has voted to exclude transgender women from female events. The ruling, which will be enforced from 31 March this year, applies to elite competition transgender athletes who have transitioned from male to female after going through puberty.
Football | Gareth Southgate is hoping his England players can harness the pain of 2021’s Euros final loss when they face Italy in a Euro qualifier in Naples this morning. Meanwhile, Jürgen Klinsmann looks forward to his first outing as South Korea coach.
Media roundup
The Sydney Morning Herald and the Age both have pictures of independent senator Lidia Thorpe being knocked to the ground after she tried to interrupt an anti-trans rights rally in Canberra. The Herald Sun reports that Victoria police faces legal action unless it disciplines officers for failing to stop neo-Nazis from saluting at a rally in Melbourne last Saturday. A man was taken to hospital after being attacked by a bull shark off the Pilbara coast, the West Australian says.
What’s happening today
New South Wales | Final day of campaigning for tomorrow’s state election.
Courts | Case management hearing in ex-Commando’s defamation case against the ABC over Afghanistan war crimes reports.
Melbourne | Federal infrastructure minister Catherine King and Victorian deputy premier Jacinta Allan to speak at CEDA’s infrastructure conference.
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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.
