Good morning. Labor has won at least 75 seats in the lower house and we could learn today if it reaches the 76 necessary for a majority. Barnaby Joyce will find out his political fate this morning. And Jai Hindley has become the first Australian to win cycling’s Giro d’Italia.
Barnaby Joyce is fighting to keep his hold on the Nationals’ leadership as a new poll shows three in five Australian voters – or two in five Coalition voters – see him as an electoral weakness. Joyce’s future as leader of the junior Coalition party will be decided at a party room meeting at 10am, with rival candidates David Littleproud and Darren Chester making the case for a refresh in the wake of the Coalition’s electoral rout. A poll of 1,404 adults nationwide, conducted immediately after the election, suggests negative sentiment about Joyce could have been a significant drag on the Coalition’s overall electoral performance. “Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce” was rated as a weakness by 60% of all respondents and a strength by just 14%, according to the survey conducted by the Australia Institute, a progressive thinktank. Meanwhile, Anthony Albanese has vowed to form a constructive relationship with parliament’s expanded crossbench and has warned against underestimating Peter Dutton as opposition leader. In a wide-ranging interview on Sky News, Albanese reflected on the “great responsibility” of serving as prime minister but said he would try to “keep it real”. Labor has won at least 75 seats in the lower house as counting continues today in Deakin, Gilmore and Macnamara.
Jai Hindley has secured overall victory in the Giro d’Italia, finishing with a comfortable winning margin of 78 seconds. The 26-year-old becomes the first Australian winner of the Giro 18 months after losing pink during a closing time trial. “It’s a beautiful feeling,” he said, adding: “I’m really proud to be Australian and to take this one home.”
Australia
Incoming Indigenous affairs minister Linda Burney has a long list of priorities when she is sworn in this week, but chief among them is to embark on the unfinished “nation-building project” of the Uluru Statement From the Heart.
Single-use plastic bags will be banned in NSW this week. The decision follows similar moves in other states and by major retailers. We take a look at what this means for shoppers and businesses, and how it will be enforced.
The final legal case arising from Melbourne Anzac Day raids has been settled but done nothing to quell sense of injustice for families.
The Western Australian government has announced former asbestos mining town of Wittenoom officially closed. But will it get cleaned up? For one man, time is running out.
A Sydney Harbour island is returning to Aboriginal hands with the NSW government committing $43m to its clean-up and repair. The transfer of Me-mel, or Goat Island, to its traditional owners was a “personal priority”, Dominic Perrottet said yesterday.
The health workers’ union will take its fight for kitchen staff in a NSW aged care home to be recognised as part of the industry to the federal court in a case set to test the limits of outsourcing in the beleaguered industry. Hearings will begin on Monday in the case between the Health Services Union and Catering Industries (NSW) Pty Ltd, over whether employees working in the kitchen and food services operations at Heritage Care’s 112-bed facility in Botany, south-eastern Sydney, should be paid as aged care workers rather than lower-paid hospitality staff.
An Australian company is planning to ship at least 1.25m cans of its baby formula to the US to help ease a nationwide shortage. The US Food and Drug Administration said some of it was now in stock for transport and more would be produced by Bubs Australia in the coming weeks and months.
The world
Joe Biden lamented “too much violence, too much fear, too much grief” after the latest US mass shooting before visiting Uvalde, where police face intensifying scrutiny for waiting outside the classroom where a teenage gunman with an assault rifle killed 19 children and two teachers.
Colombians head to the polls today in a presidential election that may give the conservative South American country its first leftwing leader and first black vice-president.
A plane operated by a private airline in Nepal has gone missing with 22 people onboard. Cloudy weather is preventing search helicopters from flying into the area of the flight’s last known location, officials have said.
China’s financing of overseas projects has disproportionately benefited the core political supporters of incumbent presidents or prime ministers of those countries that receive the funds, according to a new book. Its use of debt rather than aid to bankroll big-ticket overseas projects created opportunities for developing countries to achieve rapid socioeconomic gains, but it also introduced major risks, such as corruption, “political capture” and conflict.
Recommended reads
It’s never been easier to commodify our leisure time. But, as some once-passionate hobbyists have found, turning play into work can really dull the joy.
“Like many single women in their 30s, I sought ardour – and hopefully a family – in the arduous task of dating,” writes Alexandra Collier. “At the same time, I wrestled with the impossible question of whether to pursue motherhood alone. Meanwhile, articles about women delaying motherhood leading to age-related fertility issues populated my newsfeed. So I took my life by the ovaries and decided to try for solo motherhood using donor sperm. The result – equal parts joy and infuriating chaos – was a small person who’s now rattling wooden trains near my feet while talking to himself in a happy sing-song.”
Australian actor Odessa Young ditched her final year of school to chase her acting dream, then did nothing for a year. Now she’s crossing continents for roles and trying not to cry.
Listen
Soaring rents across Australia are hitting renters hard, with widespread competition for a dwindling amount of safe and affordable homes. This tight rental market is pushing some lower-income people into precarious housing or homelessness. Inequality reporter Stephanie Convery explores the power imbalance in the rental market, and what the Labor government could do to improve affordability and renters’ rights.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
The 2022 Women in Sport Photo Action awards finalists from across Australia have been named, with winners to be announced on 1 June.
Greater Western Sydney forward Bobby Hill will have surgery on Tuesday after being diagnosed with testicular cancer. The 22-year-old kicked one goal in his team’s loss to Brisbane on Saturday and has featured in every game for the Giants so far this AFL season, but is now set for an indefinite period out of action.
Media roundup
Some say cryptocurrency is the future of money, and the technology it’s built on is destined to revolutionise the internet and the society. Others see it as one big fraud. The ABC’s Four Corners investigates. A super fund has fallen prey to a cyber attack, leaving 50,000 of its Tasmanian members vulnerable to identity theft after their personal information was compromised, the Mercury reports.
Sign up
If you would like to receive the Guardian Australia morning mail to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here.
Get in touch
If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com.
Discover Australian Weekend
Every Saturday from 6am, enjoy early access to the best journalism planned for the weekend in one elegant app, plus a curated selection of the week’s news and analysis from Australia and the world.
