Good morning. Horse races, big footy matches and international cricket games – just a few of the sporting fixtures that some Australian MPs attended on taxpayer-funded trips that coincided with travel for parliamentary duties, Guardian Australia’s reporting has found.
MPs from across the political spectrum defended these trips – reported in parliamentary expenses records from October-December 2022 – as being within the official guidelines, claiming the sporting events helped them connect with stakeholders. But the group Transparency International said sending the bill to taxpayers was a failure to meet community expectations.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin has won a huge majority – as expected – in Russia’s election, and conservationists rue the “profound tragedy” of continued logging in koala habitats.
Australia
Politicians’ perks | “Public funding shouldn’t be used for attending a footy match, the cricket or a horse race,” the independent ACT senator David Pocock says. “Most people would think you earn enough. Put your hand in your own pocket and pay for that.” Here’s what Guardian Australia found in MPs’ travel expenses.
Conservation and logging | Longtime forest advocates expressed disgust at the ongoing logging of koala habitat in northern New South Wales despite the state government’s promises, with one campaigner calling the destruction a “profound tragedy”.
Liberal party | The dumping of Anne Ruston, a female Liberal heavyweight, from South Australia’s top Senate spot has reignited claims the party has a problem with women.
Justice system | Victims of crime feel “silenced and sidelined” from the moment they speak to police through to when the courts finalise their case, with a landmark Victorian inquiry calling for sexual assault survivors in particular to have legal representation.
Cyclone intensifies | Australia’s north is bracing for Tropical Cyclone Megan. The category three storm is expected to bring wind gusts of up to 220km/hr, heavy rain and flooding to coastal communities.
World
Russian election | Vladimir Putin has won a huge majority, according to exit polls, in Russia’s presidential election – a vote that had only one possible outcome. Long queues had formed at polling stations at noon on the final day of voting after Alexei Navalny’s widow urged a symbolic show of dissent.
Gaza crisis | Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to press ahead with sending Israeli troops into Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, rejecting deep international concerns over the risks to more than a million Palestinians who have sought shelter there.
Turmoil in Haiti | Haiti’s healthcare system has all but collapsed amid the ferocious gang insurrection which forced the resignation of the country’s prime minister, leaving victims of the violence with little hope of medical attention, according to aid workers in the stricken Caribbean country.
US presidency | Joe Biden tore into Donald Trump’s mental stability at a dinner in Washington DC – just as the former president was making verbal gaffes at a campaign rally in Ohio as well as predicting a “bloodbath” if he met defeat in November’s election.
Steve Harley | The frontman of the British rock group Cockney Rebel – best known for his 1975 song Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) – has died aged 73.
Full Story
The princess and the pictures
An edited family photo of the Princess of Wales with her children on Mother’s Day has fuelled an intensifying swirl of conspiracy theories around the royal couple. The Guardian’s Today in Focus podcast investigates.
Read more: Here’s how Kate’s photo scandal rips up the rules for royals and the media.
In-depth
A new book by Earl Charles Spencer – the brother of Diana, Princess of Wales – describes the way predatory violence was normalised during his years at a private boarding school – and others across the UK that cater to Britain’s most privileged children. He spoke to the Guardian about the physical and sexual abuse he endured and how he faced resistance from members of his own class for the revelations.
“For [families] to say, my son goes to a very smart school, gives them social validation; they are prepared to put up with whatever their child is putting up with, to be able to drop that at a dinner party,” Spencer says.
Not the news
Ghost hunting is having a moment … in graveyards, pubs, old houses and on social media. The Guardian meets the new spirit seekers, including Johnny Smith, 51, who by day is a commercial signwriter but by night joins a gang of Walsall Ghostbusters fans who have carried their childhood passion for the paranormal into middle age.
The world of sport
FA Cup | Manchester United beat Liverpool 4-3 to line up a semi-final berth against Coventry. Chelsea beat Leicester 4-2 and will take on Manchester City in the semis. In the Premier League, West Ham and Aston Villa went 1-1.
AFL | Clayton Oliver showed signs against the Western Bulldogs that he is ready to put a summer of off-field sagas and setbacks behind him, writes Jonathan Horn.
Olympics | There could be as few as 40 Russian athletes – competing as neutrals – at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, according to the International Olympic Committee’s vice-president, John Coates, due to sanctions that allow only some Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under tight restrictions.
Media roundup
Most Palestinians who had visas cancelled while en route to Australia last week have been granted permission to travel to the country, the Age reports. The Australian reports that unions are lobbying for Uber, DoorDash and Menulog to pay workers’ compensation premiums. The local spyware sector is selling “stalkerware” products for surveilling targets without their consent, alarming advocates against domestic violence, according to an SMH investigation.
What’s happening today
Memoriam | A funeral will be held in Cessnock, NSW for Lance Corporal Jack Patrick Fitzgibbon, the son of former defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon. Senior MPs and army leaders are expected to attend.
Court | A directions hearing is scheduled for a case in which the AFP is suing an ex-pilot faced with extradition to the US for training foreign pilots.
AFL | The Tasmania Football Club will launch its club name, colours, logo and foundation jumper tonight.
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Brain teaser
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
