Afternoon Update: Labor criticised for lack of ambition on gas tax; freezing weather; and how to actually save money

Anthony Albanese has defended the ‘modest’ gas tax, saying ‘we want to support the [gas] industry’. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Good afternoon. The prime minister has admitted proposed changes to increase tax revenue from fossil fuel giants are “modest”, amid sustained criticism today that it barely scratches the super profits of the fossil fuel industry.

The changes will see the government collect $2.4bn more in petroleum resource rent tax over four years, which is far too little according to the teals and the Greens. “This is tinkering around the edges when we need more ambitious reform to capture record oil and gas profits,” the independent senator David Pocock said.

In other news, Victoria police have apologised for systemic racism against Indigenous people.

Top news

Independent MP Sophie Scamps describes the oil and gas lobby’s welcoming of the government’s tax changes as a ‘red flag’. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

• Labor canned for ‘modest’ gas tax | The Greens and teals pointed to the fact that the oil and gas lobby welcomed the government’s tax changes, which independent MP Sophie Scamps said “was a red flag”. Australia could add billions more to its budget each year if it taxed fossil fuel giants properly, she added. Anthony Albanese defended the “modest” changes, saying “we want to support the [gas] industry”.

• Single parenting payment reform | Single parents will now receive extra payments until their child turns 14 – boosted from its current eight years – as the government moves to wind back a controversial Gillard-era move which pushed parents on to lower welfare rates.

Snow falls in the Brindabella mountains outside Canberra on Sunday. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

• Freezing weather across eastern Australia | Every state except Western Australia and the Northern Territory experienced a minimum temperature below zero this morning, with at least 50 domestic flights cancelled due to the weather.

• Rockhampton youth crime tensions | A mob of about 30 people surrounded a home in the central Queensland city of Rockhampton on Sunday, after a series of angry online comments were directed at two Aboriginal young people believed to live at the house. Torin O’Brien, a former One Nation candidate, posted the names and photographs of the two young people, believed to be teenagers, on Facebook and called for locals to attend the property.

Victoria police’s chief commissioner Shane Patton apologises for system racism within the force against First Nations people. Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAP

• Victoria police apologises for systemic racism | Victoria’s chief police commissioner, Shane Patton, has unreservedly apologised for past and present actions of the force that inflicted trauma on First Nations people. Patton acknowledged that systemic racism and discriminatory action in the force had gone “undetected, unchecked and unpunished”. Patton said, over the past five years, 175 officers faced complaints of racism, with one dismissed for “racism-related matters”.

• Large-scale Russian strikes on Ukraine | Russia launched a wave of strikes on Kyiv and in other parts of the country, causing widespread destruction. At least five people were injured in attacks on Kyiv, while Russian missiles caused a huge fire at a foodstuff warehouse in the Black Sea city of Odesa.

The Arab world moves to normalise ties with Syria and its president, Bashar al-Assad. Photograph: Iranian Presidency/Zuma Press Wire/Shutterstock

• Arab League readmits Syria | Syria’s membership of the Arab League was suspended in 2011 after a bloody crackdown on street protests that led to a devastating civil war. The decision consolidates a push within the Arab world to normalise ties with President Bashar al-Assad.

• Vietnam records highest ever temperature | … at 44.1C. Scientists have said global warming is aggravating adverse weather, and neighbouring countries also registered record temperatures during a heatwave in Asia in April.

Full Story

Abdul Benbrika, an Algerian-born Muslim cleric, who remains in a Victoria state prison despite his 15-year sentence expiring in November 2020 due to Australia’s anti-terror powers. Photograph: AP

Is Australia misusing its anti-terror powers?

State and federal governments have wielded extraordinary powers to detain or control individuals for potential future crimes. These powers are designed to prevent terrorist attacks, but Guardian Australia has revealed that a terror risk assessment tool used by the government is flawed, and this flaw was kept secret for years. Listen to this 22-minute episode.

What they said …

The King grumbled ‘we can never be on time’ and ‘there’s always something’ following a hiccup at the start of his coronation on Saturday, a lip reader has alleged. Photograph: Toby Melville/PA

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“We can never be on time … This is boring.” – King Charles III at the coronation (allegedly)

A lip reader claims to have captured some complaining murmurs from the king as he sat in his diamond jubilee state coach. Watch the 30-second video.

In numbers

Westpac, like its big four counterparts, has been raising borrowing costs at a faster pace than deposits and banking the difference.

Before bed read

Inflation has peaked, but prices are still rising and the bills are unrelenting. So how can you actually save money in everyday life? How much can changing electricity suppliers actually save you? When’s the best time to buy groceries? And how can you save on petrol? We ask the experts.

Daily word game

Today’s starter word is: EWER. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.

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