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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Charlotte Graham-McLay

Morning Mail: Dutton hangs on, Russian pro-war blogger killed in bomb blast, Sakamoto dies at 71

Federal opposition leader Peter Dutton at a Liberal party byelection function in Melbourne on Saturday night
Federal opposition leader Peter Dutton at a Liberal party byelection function in Melbourne on Saturday night. Photograph: Julian Smith/AAP

Good morning. With the loss of the outer east Melbourne electorate of Aston in Saturday’s byelection, the Liberal party now holds just 14 of 79 federal urban seats. It has led to renewed calls for a strategy overhaul and raised questions about Peter Dutton’s leadership – including from the former PM Malcolm Turnbull, who says the party must move back to centre. But he’s warning that doing so will prove difficult. Polling shows support for the Coalition has fallen again.

Elsewhere, Russia’s most influential pro-war blogger has been killed in a St Petersburg bomb blast, and the Oscar-winning musician Ryuichi Sakamoto has died aged 71.

Australia

Homes at a new estate at Springfield in Ipswich
Homes at a new estate at Springfield in Ipswich. Australia’s rental crisis will get worse in the coming years, experts say. Photograph: Darren England/AAP

World

Ryuichi Sakamoto at the Venice film festival in 2013.
Ryuichi Sakamoto at the Venice film festival in 2013. Photograph: Reuters/Alamy

Full Story

Customers at Westpac bank ATMs
Customers at Westpac bank ATMs. Multiple interest rate rises have raised the prospect of a rush of mortgage defaults. Photograph: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Australia’s ‘mortgage prisoners’ and fears from the global banking crisis

The international banking crisis has sparked fears that nervous investor sentiment could impact local banks. But Guardian Australia’s senior business reporter, Jonathan Barrett, tells Jane Lee why Australians should be more worried about a rush of mortgage failures than a run on the banks.

In-depth

Packing boxes on a work desk
Pack it in: the great resignation has given way to burnout. Photograph: Xavier Lorenzo/Getty Images

The so-called “great resignation” never spread across Australia as it did the US. But when a new study asked a nationally representative sample of 1,400 workers from across Australia – the majority of whom held tertiary qualifications – about their experiences of employment since the pandemic began, it found about half now feel exhausted and in poorer physical and mental health. Burnout is on the rise, and a third of workers under 54 are thinking about quitting their jobs.

Not the news

Two people move a swarm of bees
Do bees dream? Photograph: Jesus Olarte/AFP/Getty Images

Experiments have shown bees can experience PTSD-like symptoms, recognise different human faces, process long-term memories while sleeping and maybe even dream. A small but growing group of scientists argue they can also demonstrate sophisticated emotions more commonly associated with mammals.

“We are blasting bees with huge amounts of agrichemicals and destroying their natural foraging habitats,” says a pollination ecologist, Stephen Buchmann. “Once people accept that bees are sentient and can suffer, I think attitudes will change.”

The world of sport

Red Bull Racing’s Dutch driver Max Verstappen during the 2023 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne
Red Bull Racing’s Dutch driver Max Verstappen during the 2023 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne. Photograph: Martin Keep/AFP/Getty Images

Media roundup

Frustrated Liberal MPs are urging Peter Dutton to “stop dog-whistling” and refresh his shadow cabinet after the stunning byelection loss in Aston, the Age reports. The Perth Wildcats star Bryce Cotton has been denied citizenship after the government said he was in Australia illegally, according to the West Australian. The Courier-Mail has Queensland’s top doctor warning that vaping among children is a public health “disaster” in the making.

What’s happening today

  • Gun register | The federal attorney general and police ministers are meeting to discuss how to create and roll out a national gun register.

  • Medicare savings | A report finds that GPs are more likely to undercharge than overcharge Medicare, with $351m estimated in savings in 2021-22.

  • Rowing record | After 235 days rowing 14,000km solo across the Pacific Ocean, Michelle Lee will navigate the Great Barrier Reef to arrive in Cairns and set foot on land for the first time since she left Mexico on 8 August.

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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.

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