Good morning. Scott Morrison has called the federal election for 21 May. The prime minister will be out campaigning in Gilmore, NSW, on Monday, while Anthony Albanese will be in the marginal Tasmanian seat of Bass. The two parties began their six-week election campaigns on Sunday. In their pitch to voters, Scott Morrison warned them not to risk a change to an “uncertain” future under the opposition, while the Labor leader says now is the time to seize the opportunity for better times ahead.
The marginal seat of Gilmore, where roughly 80% of the electorate was devastated in the 2019-20 fires, is one of the few that the Liberals could win off Labor. But Morrison is proving divisive among locals. “Morrison? Oh, shit yeah. He is in big trouble,” Grant McLaurin says, happily calling him the “liar from the Shire” to rile up his drinking mates at the Heads Hotel. Meanwhile at the Coalition and Labor campaign headquarters, the parties’ election machines have been humming into gear for weeks. Here’s the who’s who of each operation. We also have a pork-o-meter to track all the barrelling action, a guide to every seat, and everything you need to know as a voter.
Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said Russia is targeting “the whole European project”, declaring Russia’s aggression “was not intended to be limited to Ukraine alone”. Zelenskiy said it was the “moral duty of all democracies, all the forces of Europe, to support Ukraine’s desire for peace”. Vladimir Putin has appointed Alexander Dvornikov as the new general to direct the war in Ukraine as his military shifts plans after a failure to take Kyiv, according to officials. Boris Johnson has returned from a secret trip to Kyiv to meet with Zelenskiy, telling him the west would continue to “ratchet up” sanctions on Moscow as he praised the courage of the Ukrainian resistance.
Australia
People with disabilities are increasingly being forgotten in disaster planning, according to advocates in an open letter demanding better resources and planning for disaster responses for people with disability. They say people with disability “continue to experience risks, neglect and serious negative impacts during disasters and emergencies”, resulting in “loss of services, supports and basic needs, as well as physical and psychological injuries”.
An Iraqi man has been denied a compensation payment by the federal government after seeking an “act of grace” payment over an incident in which he alleges 35 family members were killed when an Australian airstrike targeting Islamic State instead obliterated a house where civilians were sheltering.
A plan to extend irrigated agriculture in the Northern Territory’s tropical savannah could have disastrous effects on the region’s rivers and unforeseen impacts on the ecosystem, environmentalists argue.
The Victorian government has called for at least 10 days of paid family violence leave to be offered to all workers. Victorian public sector workers are currently entitled to the leave, and while the uptake has been small, its benefits ‘far outweigh’ the cost to business, academics say.
The world
The centrist Emmanuel Macron will face the far-right Marine Le Pen in the final round of the French presidential election, after topping Sunday’s first round with 28% to her 23%, according to initial projected results.
Imran Khan, who was ousted as Pakistan’s prime minister on Saturday, threatened to implement martial law rather than hand over power to the opposition, according to documents seen by the Guardian. A senior minister sent a message to an opposition leader that read: “Martial law or elections – your choice.”
Elon Musk has set out his vision for Twitter in a series of posts on the social network described by one commentator as having “chaos energy”.
Recommended reads
We’re reaching the end of an era now that Neighbours is wrapping up, so we’re counting down the best songs by soap stars who took part in the time-honoured tradition of stepping into a recording studio and giving it a red-hot go.
The price of everything from bread to milk is rising in Australia due to a “perfect storm” of conditions, including spiralling inflation fuelled by punishing petrol prices, higher feed and fertiliser costs, conflict between major food exporters Russia and Ukraine, and tight global supply. But some seasonal produce remains relatively affordable. We’ve listed the best value buys for autumn, with some tips on how to eat well while on a budget.
“Thanks to a rereading of Jane Austen’s fiction I have experienced a rejuvenation of spirit and energy that has transformed my life,” writes Ruth Wilson. “When I read Pride and Prejudice at the age of 15, I read it as a domestic comedy – I loved the Bennet sisters because they were lively and, for all their bickering, they were having fun. The girls bore with their mother’s nerves and tolerated their father’s sarcasm without giving way to resentment. That helped me as an adolescent. At the age of 90 (almost!) I reread, ponder and console myself with Elizabeth Bennet’s words, ‘till this moment I never knew myself’. This is the moment I have been waiting for.”
Listen
Why is it that, in some cases, one member of a household tests positive to Covid-19 while those living with them may develop symptoms yet return negative tests? In today’s Full Story, medical editor Melissa Davey talks to Jane Lee about why test results can be hit and miss and how the onset of cooler weather has people wondering: is it Covid, or a cold?
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
Just before half-time of Saturday night’s AFL game at the MCG, two very different footballers went toe-to-toe on the members wing: Trent Cotchin, an articled clerk who plays a blue collar game, and Bailey Smith, who looks as if he’s just stepped off a float at Royal Randwick.
At some point watching the Matildas clash with New Zealand, all you could do was laugh, writes Joey Lynch, unless one is fortunate enough to be among that pure group of supporters whose mood is governed entirely by their team winning or losing. “Your best-laid plans are folly and there are no rules or logic to the football universe.”
Media roundup
First Nations leaders are urging the future Australian government to hold a referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament on 27 May next year or on 27 January 2024, reports the Australian. Former Dow Chemical chair Andrew Liveris has been named as the president of the Brisbane Olympics organising committee, promising a 2032 games that will “go down to the ground level of sustainability”, says the Brisbane Times.
Coming up
Federal parliament will be officially dissolved before the 21 May election, followed by a 19-gun salute.
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