Good morning, this is Helen Sullivan bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Monday 17 September.
Top stories
A Guardian Australia investigation launching today reveals serious failings in the system governing political lobbying, while for the first time exposing the true extent to which former politicians, staffers and public servants are now lobbying for private interests. Big business is gaining almost unfettered access to the corridors of Australia’s parliament owing to an oversight regime that is weak, unenforced, opaque and unable to keep track of the revolving door between lobbying and government.
An exhaustive analysis of the backgrounds of 483 registered lobbyists has revealed that more than half were previously inside government, the bureaucracy or party organisations. One-quarter have worked inside the offices of ministers or backbenchers. In some cases, defence officials are leaving their posts to help arms manufacturers vie for lucrative government contracts, or senior advisers are leaving health or resources ministers to lobby for big pharmaceuticals or mining companies. Experts warn the revolving door risks creating a “culture of mateship” between big business, interest groups and the government.
Typhoon Mangkhut has hit the southern coast of China, killing two, after leaving at least 64 dead in the Philippines. The storm battered the heavily populated Guangdong region on Sunday afternoon. More than 2.4 million people have been evacuated. Schools have closed until Tuesday, the high-speed rail line has been suspended and hundreds of flights have been cancelled, according to China’s state news agency, Xinhua. In the southern province of Fujian, officials have ordered thousands of fishing boats to return to harbour and closed construction sites near the coast.
Washington is ablaze with talk of a Trump impeachment after the plea deal struck by the president’s former campaign chief Paul Manafort. The agreement set out that Manafort must turn over documents and brief officials about “his participation in and knowledge of all criminal activities”. Sunday’s politics shows were duly dominated by talk of growing peril for Trump. With midterm elections just over 50 days away, Republicans are struggling to hold on to a majority in the House, knowing that if Democrats take control it would open the way to impeachment proceedings. On Sunday morning, Trump tweeted: “The illegal Mueller Witch Hunt continues in search of a crime. There was never Collusion with Russia, except by the Clinton campaign, so the 17 Angry Democrats are looking at anything they can find. Very unfair and BAD for the country. ALSO, not allowed under the LAW!”
The financial benefit of having a university degree is shrinking, according to analysis of graduate earnings and employment outcomes by the Grattan Institute, released today. The report also found that policies to boost female participation have helped narrow the gender gap in career earnings. Female university graduates still earn about $14,000 a year more than women whose highest qualification is year 12, while for men the premium is about $12,500. But the report found that the average earnings premium of an early career graduate aged 25 to 34 had shrunk by 8% for women from 2006 to 2016 and by 6% for men. “Growth in the number of professional jobs has not kept up with demand,” the report said. It also found that a push towards studying science has resulted in smaller pay packets.
As part of Victoria’s treaty push, Australians were encouraged to ask anything they had ever wanted to know about Aboriginal people. Now, a group of prominent Indigenous Victorians has answered them. Of the questions submitted by 2,600 Victorians, 19% are specifically about Indigenous cultures and tradition – things such as face and body painting, dancing and family names – while 16% asked how they could be an ally to Aboriginal people. A further 8% of questions focused on cultural appropriation and 4% were about the treaty process and what it meant for Indigenous people.
Sport
Eliud Kipchoge has smashed the world marathon record by 78 seconds in Berlin. The Kenyan Olympic gold medallist broke the record after going solo for the last 17km because his pacemakers dropped out much earlier than intended.
The Wallabies’ 23-19 loss to Argentina on Saturday night underlines the need for change, writes Brett Harris. Australia have slumped to seventh on the world rankings, which is their lowest position since the rankings were introduced in 2003.
Thinking time
Choosing a tasty, nutritional, environmentally friendly alternative to dairy milk is a tall order. While dairy has global environmental impacts, almond milk has wreaked havoc on California. There are other options – globally the “alternative milks” market has grown 8% each year in the past decade, with dairy-free milk representing 12% of the whole world market last year – and one of them is camel’s milk. Camels don’t produce methane, their milk is nutritionally rich and their meat is a viable source of protein.
Spotify can tell if you’re sad and it turns out that Oxford and Cambridge arethe towns that listen to the most depressing music in Britain. Whatever that might tell us about the world, the increasing sophistication of ad targeting means that marketers will have the ability to use our emotions in potentially exploitative ways. According to one study, we’re likelier to spend more on a product when we’re feeling blue.
Serial is back. In its third season, the true crime podcast aims to give listeners more of an insight into how the criminal justice system works. Will it be able to compete with the hundreds of true crime podcasts its first inspired? The cases featured in season three will be recent, so interventions could have a big impact.
Media roundup
The Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian Financial Review and the Age are leading with Fairfax-Ipsos poll results showing that voters find Scott Morrison more trustworthy than Bill Shorten. But in two-party-preferred terms Labor is ahead of the Coalition by 53% to 47%. The Australian is reporting that leaked WhatsApp messages between female Liberal MPs reveal “a damaging split over the bullying issue”, while in Adelaide the lord mayor, Martin Haese, has announced that he won’t seek a second term, according to the Advertiser.
Coming up
Parliament’s Speaker, Tony Smith, will issue a writ today for a 20 October byelection in the Sydney seat of Wentworth vacated by Malcolm Turnbull.
Labor plan to pursue the home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, over his eligibility for parliament.
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