Morning everyone. The current news agenda certainly reflects Australia’s struggles with its past. As the Australian of the Year awards kicked off the pageantry, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, was battling to shore up the voice to parliament, Indigenous leaders were bemoaning the plight of communities in Alice Springs, and people have begun marking Invasion Day. All that, plus pro-Russian protests at the tennis.
Australia
‘Door always open’ | Anthony Albanese has told critics of the voice to parliament campaign that his “door is always open” as he attempts to build support for a referendum win. It comes as Indigenous leaders said his suggestion of a total alcohol ban for Alice Springs would not fix the town’s social problems and that more fundamental problems such as the legacy of colonisation needed to addressed.
AOTY winner | Taryn Brumfitt, a body image activist who directed a documentary about women’s body loathing and her path to accepting her own skin, has been named the 2023 Australian of the Year. “It is not our life’s purpose to be at war with our body,” she said.
Tennis tension | Multiple spectators at the Australian Open are being questioned by Victoria police after they unveiled flags in support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and then threatened security guards following the quarter-final match between Russia’s Andrey Rublev and Novak Djokovic.
Health hazard | GPs are concerned serious conditions such as cancer could be missed if general practice is deprioritised under planned changes to Medicare funding.
World
Photograph: Christof Stache/AFP/Getty Images
Leopards unleashed | German will make 14 Leopard 2A6 tanks available for Ukraine’s war effort as Berlin overcame reluctance to supply heavy weaponry in what could be a big boost for Kyiv’s war effort. The US will send 31 of its Abrams tanks. But Ukraine will need more than just tanks to win.
Taxing time | The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has faced tough questions about his own family tax situation as he struggles to shrug off the row over the controversial tax arrangements of former chancellor and Tory party chair, Nadhim Zahawi.
Microsoft outages | Users of Microsoft products such as Teams and Outlook have been hit by outages around the world, sparking an investigation by the computing giant.
Open secrets | Two more papers found in former US president Donald Trump’s storage last year were marked secret and classified documents have been found at his vice-president Mike Pence’s home as more doubts emerge about the classification system.
Looking through you | Unseen portraits taken by Paul McCartney at the start of Beatlemania – and long thought lost – will go on show in London later this year.
Full Story
Wesley Enoch on the Day of Mourning
Playwright and Quandamooka man Wesley Enoch on the Day of Mourning that’s as old as Australia Day itself, and why we need to move beyond celebrating the “British colonial project”.
In-depth
When Ballarat abuse survivor, Paul Auchettl, flies to Sydney to tie ribbons to the fence outside St Mary’s Cathedral ahead of George Pell’s funeral, he will see it as “unfinished business”. He tells Christopher Knaus that the cardinal did not fulfill a promise to do more for victims and that they are still waiting for help.
Not the news
From the blockbusters to the tiny indies to the short documentaries – this is how you can catch up with every Oscar-nominated release before the big day on 13 March. So whether it’s the much-fancied Everything Everywhere All at Once or Brendan Fraser’s controversial comeback as a morbidly obese English teacher in The Whale (due out a week today), we’ve got you covered.
The world of sport
Australian Open | Novak Djokovic swept aside his latest challenger, Andrey Rublev, in straight sets at Rod Laver Arena last night to reach his tenth Melbourne semi-final. Tommy Paul reached his first by beating fellow American Ben Shelton.
Rugby league | NRL authorities and the players remain a long way from peace in protracted pay dispute, with a strike still a real possibility ahead of the new season.
Golf | Rory McIlroy has tried to play down his personal spat with LIV breakaway player Patrick Reed after reports surfaced that the American had tossed a golf tee at the world No 1 in Dubai.
Media roundup
The Australian says the nation faces a “triple rate rise threat” after yesterday’s jump in inflation, while the Australian Financial Review sees the rate rises behind a big drop in sales of new homes. The NT News says the hospitality industry thinks longer-term solutions are needed to fix the problems in Alice Springs – not just an alcohol ban – and an Age reporter goes on a night-time security patrol in the town.
What’s happening today
Invasion Day | Events protesting about the national day are taking place all over the country and we’ll be following them.
Sailing | The Festival of Sails Passage race takes place between Melbourne and Geelong.
Sport | Multiple top level sporting events take place including Melbourne Victory v Sydney FC in the A-league, and Australia v Pakistan in women’s T20.
Sign up
If you would like to receive this Morning Mail update to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here. And finish your day with a three-minute snapshot of the day’s main news. Sign up for our Afternoon Update newsletter here.
Prefer notifications? If you’re reading this in our app, just click here and tap “Get notifications” on the next screen for an instant alert when we publish every morning.
Brain teaser
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords and free Wordiply game to keep you entertained throughout the day – with plenty more on the Guardian’s Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until tomorrow.
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 customer.help@guardian.co.uk
