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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Paul Gallagher

Morning Mail: Attempt to call off Nauru bribery case; Byron Airbnb cap delay; death at flooded Burning Man

Getax Australia has been accused of bribing Nauruan officials over phosphate mining contracts on the tiny Pacific state.
Getax Australia has been accused of bribing Nauruan officials over phosphate mining contracts on the tiny Pacific state. Photograph: Rémi Chauvin/The Guardian

Good morning. The prosecution of a Queensland company over alleged systematic bribery of Nauru officials for favourable mining contracts is in the headlines today. Getax Australia has accused Australian authorities of mishandling the case and applied to the court to permanently halt the company’s prosecution.

Meanwhile, capping short-term rentals such as Airbnb has been touted as a way to help alleviate NSW’s housing crisis. But a move to install such measures in Byron won’t come into effect until the middle of next year – if at all.

And overseas, there’s been a death at the Burning Man festival where thousands are stranded by floods.

Australia

Trouble in paradise: a cap on short-term rentals may be coming to Byron, but not for some time.
Trouble in paradise: a cap on short-term rentals may be coming to Byron, but not for some time. Photograph: Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images

World

Democrat Tim Kaine says clause on ‘insurrection against the constitution’ could preclude Trump from running.
Democrat Tim Kaine says clause on ‘insurrection against the constitution’ could preclude Donald Trump from running. Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

Full Story

Labor hopes the bill will help reduce incentives for unsafe practices that have contributed to a spate of food delivery rider deaths.
Labor hopes its bill to protect gig economy workers will help reduce incentives for unsafe practices that have contributed to a spate of food delivery rider deaths. Photograph: Artem Varnitsin/Alamy

Labor’s new rules for the gig economy

The government’s long-awaited plan to protect gig economy workers comes before parliament this week. Under the bill, the Fair Work Commission will be given the power to set minimum standards for hundreds of thousands of “employee-like workers” on digital platforms such as Uber and Hungry Panda. Paul Karp talks with Jane Lee about whether the proposed reforms go far enough to keep workers safe.

In-depth

Some who question American staying power in Asia argue that the US simply isn’t strong enough to maintain its leadership.
Some who question American staying power in Asia argue that the US simply isn’t strong enough to maintain its leadership. Photograph: Andy Wong/AP

Australia is placing a lot of chips on the red, white and blue, making its big bet on the US based on the assumption that Asia really matters to the movers and shakers in Washington. But how does that assumption stack up? Sam Roggeveen from the Lowy Institute believes that if US motivations to maintain leadership in the region are waning, then Australia will have made a historic mistake by putting it at the centre of its security strategy.

Not the news

Children’s author Andy Griffiths: ‘I’ve never wanted to get to the point where the reader says, he’s phoning it in’.
Children’s author Andy Griffiths: ‘I’ve never wanted to get to the point where the reader says, he’s phoning it in.’ Photograph: Ellen Smith/The Guardian

Andy Griffiths is a big kid, an ex-punk rocker and a former teacher rolled into one, all of which has shaped his view of books as a final frontier: a place of anarchy and danger where children have permission to imagine the wildest, funniest, scariest things they can conceive. The “bum-poo-fart author” talks to Sian Cain about why the newest Treehouse book will be the last in the series.

The world of sport

Campbell Graham of the Rabbitohs reacts following his team’s loss against the Sydney Roosters on Friday.
Campbell Graham of the Rabbitohs reacts following his team’s loss against the Sydney Roosters on Friday. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Media roundup

New data exposing the severity of the Victoria’s ambulance ramping crisis shows how paramedics have spent a cumulative 120 years waiting for sick or injured patients to be admitted to overcrowded hospitals, reports the Age. New modelling suggests that the reliable supply of energy in NSW would be boosted if Australia’s largest coal-fired power station was kept partially open for an extra two years, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. The conventional path of millennials leaving the bush to head into the big smoke chasing better opportunities has flipped in the past five years, with more 25- to 39-year-olds moving to regional areas than the other way, says the Australian.

What’s happening today

  • Victoria | Trial scheduled to begin in class action against Monsanto over exposure to Roundup or Monsanto-branded herbicide products.

  • New South Wales | A public hearing is scheduled in the NSW parliament inquiry into birth trauma.

  • ABS | Australian Bureau of Statistics set to release latest mineral and petroleum exploration and monthly household spending figures.

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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.

• This article was amended on 4 September 2023 to remove a reference to the Canberra Raiders missing the NRL finals. The Raiders finished eighth and made the finals.

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