Hello and welcome to Afternoon Update.
On paper, it’s winter. But a swathe of Australia’s east baked in temperatures more than 10C above average today, with Sydney’s mercury topping 28C, making it the hottest day in the city in seven years. The city’s average August temperature is 17.9C.
The combination of high temperatures and strong winds pushed fire danger ratings to “high” in Sydney and the Illawarra, while moderate fire danger ratings were in place for most of the rest of the state.
“We are not really into the traditional fire weather season for New South Wales,” the Bureau of Meteorology’s Angus Hines said, adding that conditions were “quite unusual for this time of year”.
Top news
Sexuality question scrapped from census | The acting prime minister, Richard Marles, says the government decided not to add questions on sexuality to the 2026 census to avoid “divisive” community debates.
Brisbane baby scalded | A man has allegedly poured hot liquid on a nine-month-old boy in a Brisbane park, an attack police are calling random but “deliberate”. The baby has non-life-threatening injuries.
‘Very, very disturbing’ | Workplace relations minister Murray Watt has blasted the Greens’ Max Chandler-Mather for addressing a CFMEU rally where banners in the crowd labelled the prime minister a Nazi.
Pacific Islands Forum progress | The prime ministers of Australia and Tuvalu have met in Tonga, and agreed to back a sweeping regional policing plan.
Inflation rate fall thanks to rebates | Inflation has fallen to 3.5% – its lowest level since March – pulled down by a 5% cut to electricity prices as billions of dollars in government rebates kicked in.
Corporate competition, or lack thereof | Essential goods sectors such as supermarkets, energy and banking have reported strong results in a cost-of-living crisis amid a lack of competition.
Ukraine war briefing | Volodymyr Zelenskiy called for more F-16 fighter jets as he revealed the western warplanes were used to shoot down Russian missiles during the past two days’ heavy attacks on Ukraine.
Black Myth’s blacklisted topics | A hit new Chinese game has sparked controversy after gaming influencers were told not to mention “feminist propaganda” or Covid-19 while publicly discussing the game.
Pillar be gone | Builders renovating London’s National Gallery have found a letter, hidden inside a faux column and dating back to 1990, from the wing’s funder commending the demolition work.
Full Story
What Labor’s loss in the NT means for Australian politics – Full Story podcast
After Labor’s devastating loss to Lia Finocchiaro’s Country Liberals in the Northern Territory elections, Tamsin Rose speaks to Guardian Australia’s political editor, Karen Middleton, and Queensland state correspondent Ben Smee on how politicians from all sides are reading the results.
What they said …
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“When a nurse pays more tax than a multinational, something is deeply wrong. We can’t keep defending a system where nearly two in three gas corporations pay no tax.”
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, told the National Press Club he will take a series of “Robin Hood reforms” to the next election, including a 40% tax on the “excessive profits” of big businesses, coal and mining companies.
In numbers
The opening ceremony for the Paralympic Games kicks off at 4am AEST – and among the medal hopefuls is a wealth of remarkable human stories. But first and foremost, the Paralympics are an incredible sporting event, writes Kieran Pender.
Before bed read
Baked beans are the culinary equivalent of rewatching a romcom after a day you’d like to forget, writes Nicholas Jordan – uncomplicated, surprise-free and available almost instantly. From a “salt-less wasteland” to a boulevard of broken beans, he put nine tins of baked beans to the test.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: WIT . You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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