Good morning, this is Richard Parkin bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 18 June.
Top stories
Chris Bowen billed taxpayers thousands of dollars for a four-hour trip to Adelaide where he was the guest of honour at a two-hour Labor fundraiser, but he says he was also in town for parliamentary business. In February 2018 the shadow health minister billed taxpayers more than $2,000 for a day trip to Adelaide, where he was the star attraction at a $500-a-head business lunch to raise money for South Australian Labor’s 2018 state election campaign. Politicians are not allowed to charge taxpayers for travel if the dominant purpose is party fundraising. But Bowen said he was also in Adelaide for parliamentary business which was the dominant purpose of his whirlwind trip, including a press conference and stakeholder meetings.
Donald Trump was willing to halt criminal investigations to “give personal favours to dictators he liked”, his former national security adviser John Bolton has claimed in a damning new book. Excerpts published by the New York Times cite specific cases involving leading business figures from China and Turkey, with Bolton also writing that the president should have been impeached for attempting to strong-arm the Ukraine into investigating his political rival Joe Biden.
Tenant-rights advocates have called for the national cabinet to adopt nationwide protections for renters, saying an end to eviction moratoriums coupled with the halving of welfare subsidies represents a “time bomb” for millions of Australians. While the federal government has negotiated a rent-relief package for commercial lessees, no such agreement is in place nationally for households, with proponents saying the present “piecemeal approach” leaves renters “bearing the burden of the economic lockdown”. It’s one of several issues identified in Guardian Australia’s Life after lockdown survey.
Australia
A leading New Zealand professor has been accused of sexually harassing an Australian counterpart in a case embroiling two of Australasia’s leading universities. Auckland University of Technology has responded to the allegations with an apology, but the Australian National University and the researcher concerned have called for a thorough investigation.
An army of cleaners are scrubbing Melbourne’s trains – “every train, every night” – redefining what constitutes an essential worker, Gay Alcorn writes. Thirty-three-year-old Fawad is a Pakistani migrant who works from 8pm until the early hours of the morning, cleaning carriages for the morning commute.
The Australian artist Shaun Tan has become the first person of colour to win the UK’s Kate Greenaway medal, with the Fremantle-born illustrator of Chinese and Malay heritage selected for his illustrated collection of short stories, Tales from the Inner City.
The world
Twenty-eight regional chiefs have called for a halt to Papua New Guinea’s largest mine, with leaders uniting in opposition to the Australian-registered, Chinese government-sponsored 16,000-hectare gold, silver and copper mine.
An Atlanta police officer who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks faces 11 charges, including felony murder. Garrett Rolfe had already been fired after he shot Brooks, 27, on Friday. The shooting sparked new demonstrations in Georgia’s capital.
The K-Pop star Kim Jeong-hwan, also known as Yohan, has died aged 28. The singer’s record label confirmed “the most unfortunate, sorrowful news”.
The world is on track for its hottest year on record in 2020, with climate scientists warning that a prolonged Siberian heatwave could have an “alarming” effect on global conditions. Wildfires and a huge oil spill are linked to freak temperatures, with Russian arctic towns recording temperatures 30C above usual levels.
Recommended reads
Stepping into a pub after lockdown makes even spilled beer and sticky, stinky carpet wonderful. After 10 weeks of social-isolation socialising, Helen Sullivan was more than ready for the real thing. “Much of my pandemic socialising had involved consuming glasses of white wine over video chat with friends in time zones where it was too early to drink.” And while people’s fashion might not have been on point and the spacing prevented eavesdropping, the dark glow and general background noise of a pub was welcome music to the ears.
The worst is over when it comes to job losses but Australia still has a long way to go to recover, writes Greg Jericho: “It is not enough to ease restrictions, and see the economy return to what it was. The economy was struggling before the virus; and the shutdowns have put stressed enterprises and projects to the ultimate test.”
After 25 years, the author of the beloved Tashi children’s books, Anna Fienberg, finally realised her protagonist’s real-life inspiration. A chance conversation with her mother helped her realise that the magical boy who fled on a swan from his home country to Australia had a concrete role model. “I hadn’t even put it together,” Fienberg said.
At the rate it’s been going so far, 2020 remains a concept best taken alongside a few decent laughs. And in our ongoing series of Australian comedians picking out their 10 funniest things on the internet, Gen Fricker has served up some aces.
Listen
Bronwyn Bishop’s infamous helicopter ride was an egregious example but have Australian politicians mended their ways since then? On this episode of Full Story, Guardian Australia’s transparency reporter, Christopher Knaus, investigates the latest expense claims.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
Since its formation in 2011 GreenEdge Cycling has flown the flag for Australia among cycling’s elite teams. But with the signing of a new sponsor, the Australian connection might just have weakened, writes Kieran Pender, as the team begins life as Team Manuela Fundación.
One hundred days since its last match the Premier League has returned. Players from Sheffield United and Aston Villa marked the changed landscape with players and staff kneeling in a show of support for racial justice. The world’s pre-eminent football competition will play 90 more matches to empty stadiums in an attempt to complete the 2019-20 season. Goalline technology denied Sheffield United, with Aston Villa earning a potentially vital point in a 0-0 draw. As Paul Doyle writes, it’s even heartening to argue over technology’s interference after three months of lockdown.
Media roundup
Australia and the UK will revamp visa requirements for professionals and young travellers, reports the Age. Reserve Bank economists toyed with asking the federal government to put the real estate industry “on pause” amid fears of a housing market crash, according to the ABC. And Australian warships will join US forces for military exercises and maritime manoeuvres in cooperation with India and Japan, amid rising regional tensions with China, according to the Australian.
Coming up
Federal parliament’s final sittings for the House and Senate will take place before the winter break, with Labor expected to respond to claims of branch stacking in Victoria.
NSW Health officials will continue giving evidence at the state’s inquiry into the Ruby Princess coronavirus cluster.
And if you’ve read this far …
It’s the question puzzling many in the arts: how to reopen venues after Covid-19? For one Spanish opera house there’s an outside-the-square solution for its welcome-back audience: only allow plants. For the artistic director of Barcelona’s Liceu its the obvious response – with a string quartet performing to “an audience deprived of the possibility of being an audience”.
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