| | 29/11/2024 Labor’s bill bonanza, Albanese nature negative, Putin praises Trump |
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| | | Morning, everyone. We had to wait until about 11.15pm last night but the Senate passed the world’s first attempt at legislation banning young people’s use of social media. Along with migration and housing measures it was quite the night, and may go a long way to defining this government. We have news and analysis, plus how Nature Positive laws were stymied, echoes of Joh Bjelke-Petersen in Queensland’s crime crackdown, and Vladimir Putin saying Donald Trump will “find a solution” to the Ukraine war. |
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| Australia | | Exclusive | Tanya Plibersek struck a deal in writing with both the Greens and independent senator David Pocock on supporting her nature positive legislation before Anthony Albanese vetoed it hours later in a private meeting with Adam Bandt and Sarah Hanson-Young. | Labor’s bill bonanza | A late final sitting in the Senate for the year has seen more than 30 bills pass the upper house, including controversial migration laws that allow the government to pay third countries to take non-citizens and ban travellers from specified countries. The world’s first attempt to ban under-16s from social media platforms went through as well, although much of the detail is yet to be worked through. Despite the trade-offs, the marathon effort in the upper house has done a lot to cement Labor’s first-term agenda with wins on housing especially. | Privacy breach | A property investment company breached privacy laws by sharing the names and addresses of people going through a divorce or financial distress with its clients, the information watchdog found. | Safer Queensland? | The new state government has acknowledged that its signature youth crime legislation will “directly discriminate” against children, by limiting their protection from “cruel treatment”. A veteran human rights lawyer who took on Joh Bjelke-Petersen sees shades of those times in David Crisafulli’s crackdown. | Rubbish deal | Macquarie Bank has launched a near-$1.4bn offer to buy the London-listed waste management company Renewi in its latest tilt at UK assets. |
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| Full Story | | | Newsroom edition: do voters still care about the climate during a cost-of-living crisis? Bridie Jabour talks to Mike Ticher and Patrick Keneally about the challenges the Labor government faces when selling its climate credentials at this time. | |
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| | | | | | | | | The most important news from Australia and the globe, as it breaks |
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| | Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties |
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| In-depth | | The political classes may have been more focused on the passage or otherwise of legislation yesterday, but the huge dump of information about how the government is managing the climate crisis is arguably just as important. Our environment editor has been sifting through the data and comes up with six things you need to know about what is happening – from emissions on a downward trend (but not enough) to why the government needs to set even more ambitious targets. |
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| Not the news | | From the nitty gritty of politics and climate to the unabashed pleasures of an increasingly popular fiction genre: “romantasy”. Emily Mulligan explains that books such as the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas “know exactly what the girls want”, including “detailed descriptions of outfits and interiors, hundreds of pages of crackling sexual tension, and the notion that in the right circumstances we too would be good at archery”. |
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| Sport | | Football | Brazil crashed Clare Polkinghorne’s farewell match for the Matildas with a 3-1 win in Brisbane but Australia have another crack at the visitors on Sunday night. | Rugby union | Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii has won his battle to be fit for Australia’s final Test of their British Isles tour and will hope to bow out against Ireland in the spectacular fashion that he began on his debut against England. | AFLW | Brisbane Lions will back their strong collective identity as they head into a sixth grand final – even if they are considered underdogs against North Melbourne. | Tennis | Five-time grand slam champion Iga Swiatek has accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine but will be able to play in the Australian Open in January. |
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| Media roundup | An emergency US funding plea for Virginia-class submarines is sparking fresh Aukus concerns, the ABC reports. NSW has removed targets on results and attendance for public schools, the Sydney Morning Herald claims. The Commonwealth Bank is using AI to resolve payment disputes and its boss, Matt Comyn, tells the Financial Review there is a lot more to come. And the Courier-Mail has called the Queensland government’s axing of the path to treaty a “heartless, destructive decision”. |
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| What’s happening today | Sport | A parliamentary inquiry will examine decisions made about the 2026 Commonwealth Games. | Shopping | Black Friday sales are under way. |
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| Brain teaser | And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. | |
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| 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] |
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A message from Lenore Taylor editor of Guardian AustraliaI hope you appreciated this newsletter. Before you move on, I wonder if you would consider contributing to our end-of-year fundraiser 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.
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| Lenore Taylor
Editor, Guardian Australia |
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