Good afternoon. The New South Wales Greens have called for more funding for Icac after the NSW corruption watchdog found former premier Gladys Berejiklian engaged in “serious corrupt conduct”.
Berejiklian maintains she worked her “hardest in the public interest” and that her legal team will examine the report. At the centre of the Icac investigation were government grants for two organisations in Wagga Wagga in the electorate of Daryl Maguire – who Berejiklian was in a secret relationship with. Maguire was also found on Thursday to have acted corruptly. Catch up on the details and read Anne Davies’ analysis.
Overseas, meanwhile, protests are spreading across France over the police shooting of a 17-year-old boy of north African origin.
Top news
Ben Roberts-Smith agrees to pay legal costs | The media outlets targeted in Roberts-Smith’s failed defamation case will have their legal costs covered by the disgraced former soldier. The outlets are also seeking third-party cost orders against the Seven Network and Seven chairman Kerry Stokes’s private company, Australian Capital Equity, which provided funds for Roberts-Smith’s case. Separately, the commonwealth is seeking access to evidence gathered during the defamation trial to use in ongoing war crimes investigations.
Peter van Onselen v Network 10 | Van Onselen has claimed in court that the network’s contract rules threaten his legitimacy as a journalist. The former Network 10 political editor quit in March and agreed not to disparage the network or its US-based owner, Paramount. Three months later, the company sued Van Onselen for breach of contract after he wrote a scathing column in the Australian. “It is a lifetime order being sought against a person whose profession it is to talk,” his lawyer Sue Chrysanthou SC argued.
Victoria’s private school backdown | The Andrews Labor government has watered down a tax reform targeting private schools after criticism from the non-government school sector and the Coalition. The initial proposal sought to strip private schools with annual fees above $7,500 of their longstanding payroll tax exemption, which would have affected 110 schools and delivered $420m in revenue. That has now changed to apply to schools with annual fees above $15,000, which will affect only 60 schools – less than one in 10 in the sector.
Covid baby boom | One consequence of Australia’s various lockdowns in 2020-21 was an uptick in the nation’s birthrate. According to an Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report, a record 315,705 babies were born in 2021, while the birthrate itself was up to 61 per 1,000 women of reproductive age from 56 per 1,000 the year before.
France police shooting protests spread | Protesters launched fireworks at police and set cars ablaze in the suburb of Nanterre outside Paris for a second night, as unrest spread from Lille in the north to Toulouse in the south after the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old during a traffic stop.
Russian ambassador calls Australia ‘vindictive’ | The envoy, Aleksey Pavlovsky, has accused a pro-Ukraine protester of throwing a dead possum on to the grounds of Russia’s existing embassy in Canberra. Pavlovsky also said the Australian government had engaged in a “theatre of the absurd” with regard to an ongoing diplomatic dispute over a new embassy site.
Putin’s rare public visit | The Russian president has sought to repair the damage to his standing by greeting crowds on a rare public walkabout in the southern region of Dagestan. But the weekend’s Wagner mutiny has weakened Putin, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, says. “I do believe he is weakened as this shows that the autocratic power structures have cracks in them and he is not as firmly in the saddle as he always asserts.”
China ahead on wind and solar power target | China is shoring up its position as the world leader in renewable power. A new report says the nation is set to double its capacity and produce 1,200 gigawatts of energy through wind and solar power by 2025, reaching its 2030 goal five years ahead of time.
Full Story
The ‘triumph of cruelty’ in Australia’s asylum seeker policy
The last refugee has now been evacuated from Nauru. Yet the Australian-run detention centre remains “ready to receive and process” any new unauthorised maritime arrivals at an annual cost of $350m. Why? Listen to this 21-minute episode.
What they said …
***
“I am the boss, even when you’re the premier.” – Daryl Maguire texted Gladys Berejiklian in 2018
In numbers
And they’re far less likely than their parents to shift right as they age, presenting a demographic challenge for conservative parties.
Before bed read
Everything has turned grey – cars, clothes, kitchens, carpets. Why? Where has the colour gone?
“This week Fiat has committed to cease production of vehicles painted grey because, as the boss points out, grey is nothing to do with joy, optimism, passion or life,” Adrian Chiles writes. “I salute you, sir. Molto bene!”
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: HEME. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
Sign up
If you would like to receive this Afternoon Update to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here. And start your day with a curated breakdown of the key stories you need to know. Sign up for our Morning Mail newsletter here.
