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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Guardian staff

Afternoon Update: PM throws shade in cabana debate; fresh hope for missing hiker; and rising coffee prices explained

Beachgoers compete for space with cabanas at Bondi beach on Christmas Day
Beachgoers compete for space with cabanas at Bondi beach on Christmas Day. Photograph: David Gray/AFP/Getty Images

Anthony Albanese spent Monday laying some groundwork for the federal election; today, the prime minister weighed in on a debate almost as heated as what’s to come on the campaign trail.

Asked about beachgoers allegedly using cabanas to reserve prime real estate on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, Albanese was unequivocal. “Everyone owns the beach,” he said, calling the parked cabanas a “breach” of Australia’s egalitarian society. The moral philosopher Christian Barry said the spirited reaction reflects how Australians view behaviour that suggested an entitlement to “special treatment”.

Top news

In pictures

The Guardian’s picture editors’ selection of photos from around the world includes this shot of a demonstrator resting during a rally against the impeached South Korean president, Yoon Suk Yeol.

What they said …

***

“He’s obviously moving around, no doubt trying to get where his bearings are.”

The New South Wales police superintendent Andrew Spliet after discovering the remnants of a campfire and a camera belonging to Hadi Nazari. Authorities are hopeful the 23-year-old hiker missing since Boxing Day in Kosciuszko national park could still be alive.

In numbers

New Albanese government analysis shows Queensland’s economy will be hundreds of billions of dollars worse off by 2050 if the Coalition’s nuclear plan gets the public’s green light at the next federal election. Dutton wants two of the proposed seven nuclear reactor sites to be in Queensland.

Before bed read

Babygirl, The Substance and the older-woman-falling-for-young-guy romcoms released last year all centre on older or middle-aged female characters. This week’s Golden Globes shone the spotlight on the women playing “courageous and multilayered” characters “in all their complexity on screen”, writes Natasha Ginnivan.

Daily word game

Today’s starter word is: WOOD. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.

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