Good morning. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report has highlighted the urgent but achievable actions needed to avoid catastrophic consequences of global heating, in what is in effect a final warning for governments on the climate. The report’s release comes as residents of northern NSW continue to salvage homes and businesses in the wake of repeat floods.
Thirty months is the very short time the world now has for global greenhouse gas emissions to finally start to fall or face the worst impacts of the climate crisis. The report from the IPCC says the world can still hope to stave off the worst ravages of climate breakdown but only through a “now or never” dash to a low-carbon economy and society. But currently, the failure to make the changes needed will result in temperatures soaring past 3C. “The implication for Australia is clear: we need to overcome the current situation where there is merely a patchwork of mostly half-hearted policies, and absence of any policy for many aspects of the economy,” writes Frank Jotzo. Here are the key takeaways from the panel’s third report.
Joe Biden has called for Vladimir Putin to be tried for war crimes and said he would seek more sanctions after Russian forces were accused of a “massacre” in Bucha where the bodies of unarmed Ukrainian civilians and mass graves were found on Sunday. EU leaders have denounced “massacres”, “atrocities” and “possible genocide” as the Kremlin flatly rejected all responsibility. Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited Bucha on Monday where the Ukrainian leader said it had become harder for Ukraine to negotiate with Russia since Kyiv had become aware of the scale of alleged atrocities carried out by Russian troops.
NSW Liberal MP Catherine Cusack has added her voice to a growing chorus of critics of Scott Morrison from within his own party in a scathing opinion piece for Guardian Australia. Cusack, who announced two weeks ago she would resign from the Legislative Council over her anger about flood relief, accused the prime minister of “self-serving ruthless bullying” and claims he has “ruined” the Liberal party. Cusack said Morrison had “trashed” the party’s values over two decades, as state director, “then as a scheming MP and now as prime minister finding loopholes in our constitution to delay preselections in order to get his way”. And only a quarter of Guardian Essential respondents think the Morrison government’s cash splash budget is good for them personally, and just over half (56%) think the budget’s primary purpose is to help the Coalition win the coming election.
Australia
The tiny population of Victoria’s lowland Leadbeater’s possum – 33 to be exact – could face extinction within decades if translocation efforts do not succeed, after land clearing, logging and bushfires decimated the possum’s habitat of mountain ash swamps.
Liberal senator Eric Abetz justified billing taxpayers $2,000 to travel to a lavish farewell gala dinner for Tony Abbott by saying the former prime minister implemented “pro-Tasmania” policies, making his attendance relevant to his home state.
Hundreds of thousands of fish have died in NSW after flooding caused “severe deoxygenation” of rivers. Researchers were alarmed to discover carcasses of species that traditionally tolerate lower oxygen levels.
The aged care sector has called on the major parties to spell out exactly how they plan to fund the sector to make it sustainable against the backdrop of an ageing Australian population, claiming current rules would see the pay of nursing home staff go backwards.
The world
Vladimir Putin has congratulated Viktor Orbán on his victory in Hungary’s general election, but the European Union may launch a sanctions that could switch off billions in EU payments to Budapest due to democratic backsliding.
Billionaire Elon Musk bought a 9.2% stake in Twitter for almost $3bn to become the social media platform’s largest shareholder. The company’s shares soared by more than a quarter in pre-market trading on the back of the news.
Pakistan remains without a government after the supreme court delayed its verdict on whether the prime minister, Imran Khan, had violated the constitution by dissolving parliament rather than face a no-confidence vote.
Recommended reads
Since forming in 1991, Australian children’s group the Wiggles have pretty much seen it all. After topping the Hottest 100 this year, the group have now topped the album charts, with a record that proves their multigenerational appeal. Murray Cook, a pre-pandemic regular on the live scene, is tickled by the validation from younger musicians. “I find it particularly satisfying that so many people I meet tell me that the Wiggles were their entrée to music. To me that’s, like, mission accomplished.”
Australian standards say care labels must provide instructions adequate enough to prevent clothes from being damaged if they are followed correctly. But garment care labels can sometimes be overly cautious. So what are the rules of thumb to tell if a you can hand wash a “dry clean only” garment? Experts say you need to pay attention to the texture, treat lined clothes with caution, and keep and eye on the dye. New month – new music! Guardian Australia has added 20 of the best new Australian songs to our Spotify playlist. Read about 10 of our favourites here – and subscribe on Spotify, which updates with the full list at the start of each month. This month’s additions feature Camp Cope, Chris Cheney and Beckah Amani.
Listen
During the Senate confirmation hearings for Joe Biden’s nomination for US supreme court justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson was repeatedly asked about an unfounded claim that originated in the QAnon community. In today’s Full Story, Joan E Greve and Alex Kaplan of Media Matters look at why some in the Republican party are turning to a far-right extremist group for attack lines.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
Last Thursday Football Australia sought to wrest back control of a rapidly spiralling narrative surrounding its coach’s future when it confirmed, despite speculation to the contrary, that Socceroos coach Graham Arnold would see out his contract to the end of the 2022 World Cup cycle. The speculation is a mess partly of the federation’s own doing, writes Joey Lynch.
Media roundup
Politicians and business leaders have reacted to the shock resignation of Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein, says the Mercury. The Australian Grand Prix Corporation is being sued for more than $8m for the last-minute cancellation of performances by Robbie Williams and Miley Cyrus at the 2020 Formula One event, which was scrapped at the 11th hour due to Covid concerns, reports the Age. The Northern Territory and Queensland are the only two jurisdictions to use spit hoods on children, reports the NT News.
Coming up
A national renewable energy plan is due to be released.
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