Happy Friday! Housing is back in the political spotlight, with Anthony Albanese refusing to rule out a double dissolution election if the Senate refuses to pass the bill.
Labor says it will resubmit its $10bn housing fund bill to the lower house next week, unamended since it was last blocked by the Greens and the Coalition last month. The bill will be up for a vote in the Senate in October. The Coalition’s Sussan Ley accused the prime minister of “threatening” a double dissolution to pass the bill, while the Greens have urged the government to negotiate in “good faith”. Read this explainer and watch this video for a recap on why this is such a hot issue.
Top news
Labor minister ‘incredibly angry’ with Paul Keating | Pat Conroy, the minister for defence industry, said in our Australian Politics podcast (listen to it here tomorrow morning) that the former prime minister was “wrong on the strategic environment we face” and “wrong on the military solutions” and should not have mocked Penny Wong’s diplomacy in the Pacific.
Australia’s Antarctic program faces $25m cut | The federal government is flagging possible cuts to crucial scientific research and a dramatic reduction in outsourcing to expensive consultants. The Greens say the cuts “couldn’t possibly come at a worse time” given the Antarctic sea ice reached the lowest level on record earlier this year.
Two killed in Brisbane mid-air crash | A man and a woman, both in their 60s, were killed when the plane they were travelling in crashed with another aircraft at Caboolture airfield, north of Brisbane, about 10.30am. The other plane landed safely and the pilot, aged about 70, had no significant injuries.
Victoria bans gas connections to homes | Gas connections will be banned in Victorian homes and government buildings built from next year. The government estimates households will save up to $1,000 on their annual energy bills – or $2,200 if they have solar installed – and reduce household emissions under the change. Separately, the education department is to lose 325 jobs as the Andrews government looks for spending cuts to address the state’s ballooning debt – forecast to reach $171bn by 2027.
Queensland’s harsh youth justice approach exacerbating disadvantage | The Queensland government must listen to the voices of Indigenous people if it’s to reckon with its “oxymoronic” approach to youth justice and stop breaking its commitment to close the gap, advocates say. In a report this week the Productivity Commission cited changes to Queensland’s harsh bail laws as an example of “reform” likely to “exacerbate, rather than remedy” the disadvantage faced by Aboriginal people and reverse progress on closing the gap.
Singapore executes woman for first time in almost 20 years | Singapore has hanged Saridewi Djamani, 45, after being sentenced in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin. The Global Commission on Drug Policy, as well as the International Federation for Human Rights and Amnesty International had urged the Singaporean government to halt the execution.
Philippines ferry capsizes | At least 26 people have died and 40 have been rescued after a ferry capsized in Laguna de Bay in Rizal province, east of Manila, as the tail end of Typhoon Doksuri battered parts of the country.
US-Saudi grand bargain? | Washington is reportedly proposing a US-Saudi security pact and the normalisation of Saudi-Israel diplomatic relations, in which recognition of Israel would be exchanged, on Washington’s insistence, on some improvement in the plight of Palestinians in the occupied territories, such as a halt to Jewish settlement building, and a promise never to annex the West Bank.
Trump faces more charges in classified documents case | Federal prosecutors expanded the indictment against Donald Trump for retaining national security documents and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them, unveiling new charges against him and an employee over an attempt to destroy surveillance footage.
In video
Cartoonist Fiona Katauskas is no stranger to a “shitstorm” over a sex education book, as has been experienced this month by author Yumi Stynes, who saw her book Welcome to Sex pulled from Big W shelves. Watch her three-minute video.
What they said …
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“The government are increasingly isolated in their position [on the housing fund]. There is broad momentum building now to do a little bit more on the housing crisis. That doesn’t mean we’ll get everything we want but I think it’s irresponsible to try and force the bill back on for a vote when they refuse to make a single change.” - Max Chandler-Mather
In numbers
The interest rate hikes on top of inflation have worked – Australians have cut back their spending, Australian Bureau of Statistics data released today showed.
Before bed read
A few Australian nuclear experts have reviewed Oppenheimer and say it is epic, intense and compelling – but not always accurate.
“As a physicist watching the movie, I think they could have been much clearer on the science involved … I believe [Christopher] Nolan used such high-level jargon as a confusing element to the film intentionally,” said one scientist.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: INT. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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