| Power independent journalism into 2025 |
|
|
| | | | 13/03/2025 Canada’s tit-for-tat tariff tactic, Dutton’s footy flights, the politics of writers’ festivals |
|
|
| | | | Morning everyone. The feisty trade war between Canada and the United States deepened overnight when the Canadian government said it would impose retaliatory 25% tariffs on American imports. They’re also falling out over water rights and we have a podcast on this dispute. At home, we have interesting details about Peter Dutton’s expenses, some shocking new numbers on Indigenous incarceration, and we look at the difficulty of building a program for a writers’ festival in our age of polarisation. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Australia | |
| Gap widens | The rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people imprisoned increased by 12% in a year and was up 20% since 2019 – despite state and federal governments agreeing to reduce rates of incarnation by 15% by 2031 in June 2020, the latest Closing the Gap figures show. | Dutton flights | Peter Dutton billed taxpayers for flights to Sydney on the days of three NRL grand finals, a rugby tournament and a Matildas World Cup game, a Guardian analysis of records show. Last night, the Coalition was again forced to clarify its policy on breaking up the big insurance companies, with Dutton now saying “certainly something has failed” in the market. | Baby death | A woman whose baby died after it was born in distress at Sydney’s Northern Beaches hospital had a vaginal birth 50 minutes after doctors called an emergency, according to staff present on the night. | Super difficult | Donald Trump’s tariffs are disrupting financial markets all over the world and they could also be affecting your super. Our consumer affairs reporter looks at what’s happening, what the impact might be and what you can do. | ‘Emergency situation’ | One of the most mentally unwell patients in Victoria has been detained for almost a decade and will deteriorate further if she continues to be held in solitary confinement, a court has heard. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
World | |
| Ukraine hopes | Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has said he hopes the US will take “strong steps” against Russia if Moscow fails to support a 30-day ceasefire, agreed at a meeting between Ukrainian and US delegations in Saudi Arabia. But what leverage does Trump have over Putin when the latter thinks he is winning the war? Here’s what you need to know about the proposals. | Canada retaliates | Canada says it will impose 25% tariffs on nearly $30bn in US imports as the trade war between the two countries flares, while the US has paused negotiations with its northern neighbour on a key water-sharing treaty.Marco Rubio has said he is not planning to discuss Donald Trump’s threat to “take over Canada” during a visit to Quebec for a G7 summit. The Trump administration has slashed in half the US Department of Education, firing more than 1,300 employees in a single day. Follow the action live. | Measles fear | Doctors in Texas say they are worried about measles spreading to population centres in an outbreak the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects to “expand rapidly”. | Old bones | Bone fragments unearthed at an ancient cave in Spain belong to a human who lived up to 1.4m years ago, researchers say, making it the oldest known human face in western Europe. | Care for carers | Emma Heming Willis, the primary carer for her husband, the actor Bruce Willis, who is suffering from a rare form of dementia, has spoken out after the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife, saying “carers need care too”. |
|
|
|
| | | Have your say | | Join our research panel to share your thoughts on The Guardian's advertising and commercial partnerships. You'll also go into the running to win one of three $50 vouchers each month. | | Join now |
| | |
|
|
|
|
Full Story | |
| | Can Canada’s ‘rock star’ banker PM take on Trump and win? Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of England, has a new role – saving his country from becoming America’s 51st state. Leyland Cecco reports. | | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
In-depth | |
| On the eve of the launch of the lineup for this year’s Sydney writers’ festival – which includes Anna Funder, Plestia Alaqad and Jeanette Winterson – the organisers tell Kelly Burke about the difficulties of curating such events in the “incredibly polarised environment” of the Israel-Gaza conflict. Nevertheless, it will feature a diverse program with the conflict discussed directly during several sessions. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Not the news | |
| Out latest local’s guide takes us to Orange in the central tablelands of New South Wales. Tom Ward, who was brought up in the region and now runs the local Swinging Bridge winery, says the city has excellent shops, bike trails, a popular food week event (pictured) and pubs that are “busier than Sydney’s”. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sport | |
| Football | The final ties in the last 16 of the Champions League take place this morning with Atletico v Real Madrid the pick. We’re covering the action live. | Golf | As Tiger Woods begins his recovery from yet another injury, Rory McIlroy has firmly dismissed any notion of his own career stretching into his 50s. | Cricket | Our writer Daniel Gallan says we should love the Indian team that won the Champions Trophy but somehow it’s hard to feel positive. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Media roundup | Liberal MPs are “losing faith” in Peter Dutton’s “small target” strategy and are calling for bolder economic policies, the Australian claims. The Climate 200 group says its polling shows a safe Labor seat in the ACT is “in play” at the federal election, the Canberra Times reports. Education officials face embarrassing questions after a new school sign contained a glaring spelling mistake, the Courier Mail reports. After two years of renovations and millions of dollars spent, Luna Park’s famous Wild Mouse is back, the Telegraph reports. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
What’s happening today | Indigenous affairs | The latest Closing the Gap report is released. | Canberra | Clive Palmer speaks at the National Press Club. | Economy | RBA assistant governor Brad Jones speaks at the International Institute of Finance Australia forum in Sydney. |
|
|
|
| id: 'cb55'}} |
|
|
|
Brain teaser | And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Contact us | | If you have a story tip or technical issue viewing this newsletter, please reply to this email. If you are a Guardian supporter and need assistance with regards to contributions and/or digital subscriptions, please email [email protected] |
|
|
A message from Lenore Taylor editor of Guardian AustraliaI hope you appreciated this newsletter. Before you move on, I wonder if you would consider supporting our work as we prepare for a pivotal, uncertain year ahead.
The course of world history has taken a sharp and disturbing turn in 2024. Liberalism is under threat from populist authoritarianism. Americans have voted to install a president with no respect for democratic norms, nor the facts that once formed the guardrails of public debate.
That decision means an alliance critical to Australia’s national and economic security is now a series of unpredictable transactions, with a partner no longer committed to multilateralism, nor efforts to curb global heating, the greatest threat we face. We just don’t know where this will lead.
In this uncertain time, fair, fact-based journalism is more important than ever – to record and understand events, to scrutinise the powerful, to give context, and to counter rampant misinformation and falsehoods.
As we enter an Australian election year, we are deeply conscious of the responsibility to accurately and impartially report on what is really at stake.
The Guardian is in a unique position to do this. We are not subject to the influence of a billionaire owner, nor do we exist to enrich shareholders. We are here to serve and listen to you, our readers, and we rely on your support to power our work.
Your support keeps us independent, beholden to no outside influence and accessible to everyone – whether they can afford to pay for news, or not.
If you can, please consider supporting us with just $1, or better yet, support us every month with a little more. Thank you. | | Support us |
| Lenore Taylor
Editor, Guardian Australia |
| |
|
|
|
|
