Morning, everyone. Experts say chilling videos posted by the couple at the centre of the deadly Queensland shooting have sparked conspiracy theories about the tragedy being a “cover-up” or “false flag” event. Conspiracists have spent countless hours on encrypted apps and online forums for more than a week, attempting to present an alternative reality of the shooting that left two officers and a neighbour dead. It is a technique often used following a violent event to shy “away from the uncomfortable truth”, experts say.
Two Melbourne Victory fans have been banned for life after the weekend pitch invasion, and we also look back on Australia’s year of living forgetfully, the sporting highlights and how to celebrate Gravy Day.
Australia
Banks ‘disgraceful’ | The promoter of Azealia Banks’s chaotic tour has called her behaviour “disgraceful”, alleging she was always late and showed a “lack of care” towards fans. Banks hit back, saying on Instagram that promoter Bizarro and Point Productions were “trying to cite all these stupid things as reasons not to pay me a dime”.
‘A grand conspiracy’ | Deakin University senior research fellow Dr Josh Roose says the Wieambilla shootings have unleashed a mass of online activity as people sympathetic to Gareth, Nathaniel and Stacey Train fold “everything into a grand conspiracy” to obfuscate the truth. “It gets to the point where there’s no clarity and everything is a conspiracy,” says Roose.
‘Not temporary forever’ | The Australian government has lowered the bar for New Zealanders who have applied for permanent residency.
Energy call | The state-based energy concessions program needs to be overhauled and streamlined to make it equitable, a new report says, as low-income residents are forced to forgo essential prescriptions in order to afford electricity and gas.
Rewiring the nation | New South Wales’s renewable energy zones and the Snowy 2.0 hydro project will be plugged into the grid under a landmark $7.8bn agreement between the federal and NSW governments.
‘Miracle’ escape | A teenager who survived the night drifting on inflatable paddleboards in choppy waters off Victoria’s Mornington peninsula with three friends has described the event as a “miracle”.
World
Fiji ouster | Frank Bainimarama’s reign as leader of Fiji has ended almost 16 years after he instigated a coup, sparking celebrations outside the offices of the new prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, pictured.
University ban | Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have ordered an indefinite ban on university education for the country’s women, the ministry of higher education said in a letter issued to all government and private universities.
Taxing time | A Democratic-led US House committee is due to decide whether to release details of Donald Trump’s tax returns, after a years-long court fight and just two weeks before their party surrenders power to Republicans.
Putin admission | Vladimir Putin said the situation in the four Russian-occupied Ukrainian regions was “extremely complicated”, while calls between Russian soldiers and their loved ones – eavesdropped by Ukraine – reveal low morale.
Nazi ‘complicity’ | A 97-year-old former secretary at a Nazi concentration camp has been found guilty of complicity in the murder of more than 10,500 people imprisoned there, and handed a two-year suspended sentence.
Full Story
2022 in sport: the moments that took our breath away
Guardian Australia’s sport editor, Mike Hytner, discusses the future of football in Australia after the heroics of Qatar, pictured, athletes such as Ash Barty walking away at their peak, and the moments that took our breath away.
In-depth
In his review of the year, Paul Daley addresses the often “discomfiting” way we have embraced post-Covid living despite rising death rates, for example, or a cruise ship docking in Sydney with 800 cases barely raising an eyebrow. “It has been the year of invisible suffering,” he writes, as he also remembers those we have mourned, such as Shane Warne, and things we haven’t mourned too much, like the “ideological vacuity” of the departing Scott Morrison.
Not the news
Happy Gravy Day. It’s the 21st of December, and, in honour of Paul Kelly’s Christmas classic How To Make Gravy, we’ve asked some of our writers to suggest what other songs they’ll be playing as the festivities begin. For Amy Remeikis is has to be the Pogues’ Fairytale of New York, but for Jordyn Beazley it’s 8 Days of Christmas by Destiny’s Child.
The world of sport
Victory bans | Two Melbourne Victory fans involved in the AAMI Park pitch invasion that resulted in Melbourne City goalkeeper Thomas Glover being injured have received life bans from Football Australia.
Cricket | There is an irresistible case to pick Scott Boland, pictured, ahead of Josh Hazlewood in the Boxing Day Test, says Geoff Lemon.
Fifa world rankings | The Socceroos, whose World Cup heroics gave the sport such an injection of hope, are set to reach their highest point in the Fifa men’s world rankings in more than a decade when they climb 11 places to 27th spot.
Media roundup
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that former MP Kerryn Phelps says she and her partner suffered injuries from the Covid vaccine and called for more research into their use. A miner who lives on the South Australia border wants to build a reptile park and is trying to raise $500,000 to start the business, the Adelaide Advertiser says. An 11-year-old boy has died after being run over by a ute in a bottle shop car park in Moulden, the NT News says.
What’s happening today
Penny Wong in China | The Australian foreign affairs minister is in China for bilateral talks.
Funerals for police | Funerals are being held for the two police officers killed in the Wieambilla shootings..
Backpay rally | Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union members rally at Hope Island following a backpay mistake that could leave workers out of pocket.
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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.
