Welcome to Afternoon Update.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, said today Australia should not accept any Palestinians fleeing from Gaza “at the moment” due to an unspecified “national security risk”.
His escalation in rhetoric was immediately rejected by senior Albanese government figures, who noted security checks were the same as when the Coalition was in power.
The Albanese government is looking for ways to allow Palestinians who fled to Australia to stay longer, with the new home affairs minister, Tony Burke, declaring that no country should send people back to Gaza right now.
The independent senator David Pocock slammed Dutton’s comments, saying they were “completely hypocritical” and “only exacerbate the tension on our social cohesion”.
Top news
Seven’s profits plunge amid allegations of toxic work culture | Seven West Media’s full-year profits plummeted 69% to $45m in what the chief executive, Jeff Howard, conceded was “a tough year” for the conglomerate. Reflecting a decline in advertising revenue across the media industry, Seven’s group revenue dipped 5% to $1.4bn on the previous full year as net debt climbed to $301m.
Gold Coast mother charged with murder of daughter | The mother of a 10-year-old schoolgirl, found dead in a Gold Coast unit on Tuesday evening, has been charged with her murder. A police detective leading the investigation said the discovery of the girl’s body at a home in the exclusive Emerald Lakes area of the Gold Coast suburb of Carrara, was “one of the most confronting scenes I have seen”.
Optus and Telstra delay 3G network shutdown | Both major carriers have delayed the shutdown of their 3G mobile networks by two months after concerns potentially hundreds of thousands of mobile phones and other connected devices could be suddenly cut off. The two companies were due to shut down their networks at the end of August, but have now delayed the shutdown until 28 October 2024, they announced on Wednesday.
Victorian premier urges Melbourne council to reconsider e-scooter ban | Jacinta Allan hasn’t ruled out intervening to force the Melbourne city council to reverse its ban of rental e-scooters, but says she hopes the council will “come to their own commonsense decision”.
Commonwealth Bank records $9.8bn cash profit amid rising mortgage stress | The Commonwealth Bank has defied a slowing economy to post a $9.8bn full-year cash profit in a robust result delivered against a backdrop of rising household costs and mortgage stress.
New Zealand charity unknowingly gives out sweets with lethal levels of meth | A charity working with homeless people in Auckland unknowingly distributed sweets filled with a potentially lethal dose of methamphetamine in its food parcels, after the items were donated by a member of the public.
Japan PM announces he will step down in September | Fumio Kishida has said he will not run for the presidency of his ruling Liberal Democratic party next month – a decision that will see the appointment of a new leader of the world’s fourth-biggest economy.
Is it Harris’ or Harris’s? Apostrophe row divides grammar nerds in the US | Debate is raging in the US about how to refer to possessive proper names ending in s, particularly after the selection of running mate Tim Walz with his sounds-like-an-s surname.
Full Story
The forces threatening Labor’s re-election agenda – Full Story podcast
Federal parliament is back after the long winter break and already the debate is running hot on key issues including housing, gambling and the cost of living.
And with less than a year to go before the election, pressure is mounting on the government to gain ground and appeal to voters.
Guardian Australia’s chief political correspondent, Paul Karp, and political reporter Amy Remeikis discuss what Labor wants to finish before we head to the polls.
What they said …
“Well, quod erat demonstrandum. If I call a tall person short or a genius an idiot, they fob it off. But if you call a person who is easily offended by the inoffensive a sook, and they are offended, well that is because they are a sook.”
Barnaby Joyce, when asked what he called across the House of Representatives chamber in question time today.
In numbers
Intergenerational inequality, unregulated social media, wage theft, insecure employment and the climate crisis are driving a “dangerous” and “alarming” global surge in mental ill health among youth, research from The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on youth mental health has warned.
Before bed read
Before Claude Monet started his world-famous water lily series, the painter spent several months in central France where he became captivated by the dramatic landscapes.
Writer Eddi Fiegel sets off on a glorious art adventure – or as Fiegel puts it “a quest to find the landscape that had inspired the painter … a landscape which, unlike his Rouen, Paris and London, which he painted many times, remains relatively unknown”.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: CONF. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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• In Australia, support is available at Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14, and at MensLine on 1300 789 978. In the UK, the charity Mind is available on 0300 123 3393 and Childline on 0800 1111. In the US, call or text Mental Health America at 988 or chat 988lifeline.org
