Good morning, this is Richard Parkin bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Wednesday 12 September.
Top stories
Three in four Australians are concerned about the impact of climate change, a marked increase since last year, with a decade-long survey suggesting that the Morrison government could be vulnerable on the issue, especially in rural Australia. Two-thirds of people in regional Australia believe the government is not doing enough to prepare or adapt for the impacts of global warming, compared with 56% of people in urban areas.
A majority of Australians (68%) believe the government should set carbon emission targets in keeping with Paris agreement commitments, with 67% of people wanting coal-fired power to be phased out within 20 years – an increase of 6% from last year. Drought, the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef and bushfires were named as the three biggest climate change-related issues.
More than a million people along the east coast of the US are bracing for the arrival of Hurricane Florence, with experts predicting that the storm could be the most powerful to strike the region. The governors of Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland have declared state of emergencies, with the category-four storm set to intensify as it approaches land. Check the projected storm path here.
One in three people have experienced sexual harassment at work in the past five years, a significant increase on previous surveys, according to new research from the Australian Human Rights Commission. More than four in five women and more than half of men report having experienced harassment at some point in their lives, but the figure was highest among people aged 18 to 29. The research, which will be presented by the sex discrimination commissioner, Kate Jenkins, on Wednesday, also found that only 17% of victims reported the behaviour, with one in five of those who did reporting that their complaint brought no consequences for the perpetrator.
Russia has launched its largest military exercise in history, with more than 300,000 troops claimed to be involved along with Chinese forces in a show of force that has been condemned by Nato. Vladimir Putin met with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, noting that the two country’s friendship was “getting stronger all the time”. The size of the exercises is more than double the largest Soviet-era war games during the height of the cold war, and twice as big as exercises four years ago after military incursions into Ukrainian territory and the annexing of Crimea.
A bold new plan to build a 45,000-seat stadium over Sydney’s Central station has been released, with architects proposing it as an alternative to a stadium redesign in Moore Park. “The Colosseum in Rome established the concept of the stadium as a public space embedded in the fabric of the city; a monumental piece of infrastructure for public spectacle,” the brief from architects Bates Smart said. The proposal has received a tepid reception from the state government, which is looking to begin demolition and reconstruction of Allianz Stadium in Moore Park this year.
Sport
Rohan Dennis has won stage 16 of the Vuelta a España, with the Australian winning the individual time trial, finishing 1m 28sec faster than the overall leader, Simon Yates. Dennis has also won ITTs at the Tour de France and Giro D’Italia and now has his sights set on the Road World Championships this month.
What will it take for the AFL to listen? As the AFLW 2019 season – the competition’s third – begins, the powers-that-be have decided the growing competition needs a shorter season and should be split into two conference-style rounds. It’s all a little convoluted – and it shows the governing body isn’t listening, writes Alana Schetzer.
Thinking time
A pop-up exhibition of the 50 greatest wildlife photographs has started its global tour in Melbourne, with National Geographic’s Air Land & Sea showcasing the world’s best wildlife photography in the zoo’s historic Carousel Park. The exhibition features some of the top photographers globally, including the likes of Paul Nicklen, Beverly Joubert and Steve Winter.
Sylvia Wilson, 70, a retired farmer from near Biloela in central Queensland, had planned the trip of a lifetime with her husband, Rod. One impulsive evening in mid-2016 they went online and, sight unseen, bought a Tesla S75 electric car for a journey around Australia. After Rod died last year, Sylvia decided she’d do the trip – it took her 110 days and 20,396km, and in the process she became the first woman to drive the Round Australia Electric Vehicle Superhighway – a loop of charging stations. The cost? $150.90.
The idea of a huge food bowl in Australia’s north has long captured the imagination, and it’s a dream restated by the resources and northern Australia minister, Matt Canavan. But as John Quiggin writes, the biggest barrier to irrigation schemes isn’t “greenies” who “often have not set foot north of Gympie” as the minister has sneered, but rather basic economic reality. “Agricultural economists recognised long ago that the environment in northern Australia was not good for irrigated agriculture,” Quiggin says. “The converse recognition, that irrigation schemes are often disastrous for the environment, came much later.”
What’s he done now?
Donald Trump has cancelled a planned visit to Ireland, his first as president, citing scheduling issues. Several groups had announced protests.
Media roundup
Doctors suspected of rorting Medicare could be the new target of the Australian federal police, writes the Australian, as the Department of Health investigates whether it can conduct asset-seizing raids. The remarkable verbal stoush between Peter Dutton and Roman Quaedvlieg continues to escalate, reports the Sydney Morning Herald, with Scott Morrison defending his under-fire minister, saying the former Border Force chief’s claims “lack complete credibility”. And the Herald Sun has doubled down on its defence of the cartoonist Mark Knight despite global condemnation of his depiction of Serena Williams, with its front page railing against the “PC world”.
Coming up
The Queensland parliamentary committee considering the Palaszczuk government’s legislation to decriminalise abortion will hold a public hearing in Brisbane.
A judge will give his verdict in the long-running defamation case against the broadcaster Alan Jones brought by the Wagner family over the Grantham dam collapse in 2011.
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