Good afternoon. The federal government is still failing to close the gap in Indigenous life outcomes, with only four of 19 key areas on track for improvement, and four others actually getting worse in the last year.
The Closing The Gap statement, tabled in parliament today, shows crucial targets on Indigenous children’s early development, children in out-of-home care, adult imprisonment and suicide prevention are going backwards from previous reports.
Anthony Albanese said those statistics “should give us pause”. “We cannot ask for infinite patience. We all agree that the status quo is unacceptable,” he added.
Top news
International calls for Israel to halt planned Rafah offensive | Joe Biden has added his voice to growing calls for Israel to drop plans for an all-out military assault on the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza, after a ferocious hostage rescue operation that killed dozens of Palestinians. Biden’s latest remarks come amid reports of a fractured relationship between the US president and Benjamin Netanyahu. Meanwhile, Palestinian exile and social media sensation Plestia Alaqad left a Sydney audience in tears after recalling life under bombardment in Gaza.
Blackouts in Victoria as storm forces outage at state’s largest coal generator | As many as half a million households in Victoria have lost power after a major transmission line was brought down by a storm, tripping a power station and sending spot electricity prices soaring. AGL said on Tuesday afternoon all four units of the 2,210-megawatt Loy Yang A had been forced offline.
Lisa Wilkinson says Network Ten did not support her | Wilkinson felt “alone” and unsupported by Network Ten as her reputation was being “trashed in the media”, the veteran TV presenter has told the federal court. The former Project presenter was cross-examined on Tuesday in a legal dispute over the payment of more than $700,000 in legal costs in the Bruce Lehrmann defamation case.
Ticketek accounts of Taylor Swift fans hacked | Ticketek will establish pop-ups at Taylor Swift’s Australian concert venues to help field thousands of queries related to ticket scams and fraud, days before the superstar is due to perform. The move comes amid reports some customers had their Ticketek accounts hacked and their tickets listed secondhand and resold.
NRL investigates Brisbane’s Pat Carrigan and Adam Reynolds after fight | Two Brisbane players have apologised for their late-night scuffle, with the Broncos ruling out suspending the duo. In a video that surfaced on Monday, Carrigan and Reynolds can be seen wrestling on a night out in Fortitude Valley after a fan day for last year’s grand finalists on Sunday. The NRL are still looking into the incident.
Inner Sydney park closed as more asbestos found | Friable asbestos was found in mulch at Harmony Park in Surry Hills, with the New South Wales government planning to increase fines for companies that are found to have done “the wrong thing”. Meanwhile, the company that supplied mulch found to contain bonded asbestos to other Sydney parks – Greenlife Resource Recovery – is mounting a legal challenge against a state ban on selling mulch amid an asbestos investigation.
Stone age wall found at bottom of Baltic Sea | The wall – spotted by accident by scientists on a student trip – stretches for almost a kilometre off the German coast, and may be the oldest known megastructure built by humans in Europe.
Trump asks court to keep election interference case frozen | Lawyers for Donald Trump asked the US supreme court to keep on hold the criminal case over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results while he prepares to challenge a recent appeals court ruling that found he was not immune from prosecution. How the court moves next could decide whether Trump will go to trial on the case before the 2024 presidential election.
Europe responds to Trump’s Nato remarks | European leaders have called for greater unity and military cooperation across the continent in response to comments from Trump that threatened to undermine the basis of Nato.
US Senate likely to pass Ukraine and Israel aid package | After many setbacks and much suspense, the Senate appeared on track this week to approve a $95bn (A$146bn) package of wartime funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
Full Story
Why is generation Z so divided on gender?
Studies on the attitudes of young people between the ages of 16 and 29 show a serious split over feminism and influencers such as Andrew Tate. What’s behind it? Click here to listen to this 28-minute episode.
What they said …
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“Sydney is losing its 30- to 40-year-olds; if we don’t act, we could become known as the city with no grandchildren.” – Peter Achterstraat, productivity commissioner
NSW Productivity Commission research found Sydney lost twice as many people aged 30 to 40 as it gained between 2016 and 2021. The driving factor? Unaffordable housing.
In numbers
A similar proportion (42%) want to “reduce the capital gains tax discount for assets held longer than a year from 50% to 25%”, roughly double the proportion who oppose it (20%), according to the latest Guardian Essential poll.
Before bed read
Thinking of buying chocolates for your special other (or yourself) this Valentine’s? Taste tester Tristan Lutze has tried nine brands of gift-worthy chocolates to learn that elephants are not romantic – and desiccated coconut lingers forever.
The best value? One particular gift from Aldi. Read the rankings.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: LIME. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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