Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Monday 25 June.
Top stories
Women who were treated in Taree by the disgraced gynaecologist Dr Emil Shawky Gayed have come forward with horrifying stories of their experiences, exposing a culture of silence and the failure of the health system to respond to warnings about his practices. Gayed performed surgeries on women that they later found out were unnecessary, such as hysterectomies, fallopian tube removal and the removal of uterine tissue. They would wake up from surgery in agony and suddenly in menopause, their reproductive organs missing.
One woman, Rhiannon Tull, felt a chill when she found out her gynaecologist was Gayed, because of his reputation in the town on the mid-north coast of NSW. Tull says she was “petrified” when she needed an emergency caesarean and Gayed was the obstetrician on duty. She nearly died on the operating table. But Gayed never told her that, nor why she lost so much blood and needed a transfusion. Tull found out she nearly died only months later by chance, from a nurse at the hospital. The stories of Gayed’s failures are graphic and distressing, raising troubling questions about how they were allowed to continue unchecked for as long as 15 years.
Donald Trump has called for the US to abandon its judicial system and summarily deport people who enter the country, in a string of tweets on Sunday. The president said US immigration policy was “laughed at all over the world” and it could not allow “all of these people to invade our country”. “When somebody comes in, we must immediately, with no Judges or Court Cases, bring them back from where they came,” Trump wrote. The statement amounted to a proposal for the suspension of law by the country’s chief law enforcement officer.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has claimed victory in Turkey’s presidential election but the opposition has not conceded defeat, as not all ballots have been counted. “The Turkish public has mandated me as president according to unofficial results,” Erdoğan said. “I hope nobody will damage democracy by casting a shadow on this election and its results to hide their failure.” The Anadolu Agency reported that with 95.5% of votes counted, Erdoğan had won 52.72% of the national vote, while the CHP party’s candidate, Muharrem İnce, was on 30.75%. The results, if they stand, will disappoint the opposition, which mounted a dynamic election campaign that hoped to push Erdoğan into a second-round run-off against İnce.
The automation of Centrelink is “deliberately designed to make it hard for people”, according to a new report from Anglicare Australia. The agency’s social workers now spend so long helping clients with Centrelink they are devoting the equivalent of 343.2 full-time employees across the country – 13,041 hours a week – just to help clients navigate the system. “The more vulnerable you are, the more likely it is that you have quite a complex issue,” said Kasy Chambers, Anglicare’s executive director. “When you have a number of issues, that’s when it’s really difficult to interact with an automated system. … There are times when all of us would have a question too complex for a computer.”
Just 5% of Australians “believe they have personally gained a lot” from 26 years of consecutive economic growth, a national poll has found, compared with 40% who said they had “gained a little”. Melinda Cilento, chief executive of the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia, which produced the report, said traction for economic change, such as the government’s proposed personal and corporate tax cuts, became more difficult “if the community feels removed from the benefits or have lost trust that the benefits from growth will be broadly shared”.
Sport
A year on from heartache, NSW seem to have learnt a thing or two about how to win a State of Origin series. This time they didn’t allow the opportunity to slip, defeating Queensland 18-14 in a thrilling game two in Sydney, despite being a man down in the nervy finale.
Australia have been humbled again by England in the one-day cricket series, with the unquestionable genius of Jos Buttler’s century securing the home side a one-wicket victory and its first 5-0 whitewash over their historic rivals in any format.
England’s sporting stocks are running dangerously high, as their footballers strolled into the World Cup knockout stage by thrashing Panama 6-1. In group H Colombia revived their hopes by beating a dismal Poland 3-0, and will now fight it out for the top places in the group with Japan and Senegal, who drew 2-2.
Thinking time
The homeless life is a hard, hard slog, writes the Australian author Gregory P Smith, whose memoir, Out of the Forest, revisits his darkest days. “You’re always hungry, you’re always tired and society always thinks the worst of you.” After 15 years sleeping rough across Australia’s east coast, Smith walked into a rainforest and became a bush-dwelling hermit. He recounts how he finally re-entered society – and the simple thing everyone can do to make a difference for a homeless person.
Saudi women who took to the streets in their cars after the country’s ban on driving was lifted at 12.01 on Sunday were greeted by police officers who gave them flowers, as fathers gave their blessing and locals marked the moment with humour. “I feel free like a bird,” said one new driver, while others showed off cars bought for the occasion. Several women shouted with delight, some cried, and many more took videos of their first forays at the wheel.
Free speech derived from uprisings against the wealthy and the privileged – the kind of people the Institute of Public Affairs and its friends in the Liberal party now represent, writes Jeff Sparrow. He calls the IPA’s version of free speech a doctrine of freedom for corporations and subservience for people. “Without strong unions, without decent working conditions, without the kind of organisations that might provide a platform for unpopular opinions, our freedom of expression comes a distant second to the rich’s freedom to silence us.”
Media roundup
Many east coast papers splash with the Blues’ State of Origin victory over Queensland. “Blue Murder” at the Canberra Times, “Forever Young” at the Daily Telegraph and an amusing “Rare Species Alert” at the Courier-Mail. The Age has an exclusive poll on whether Bill Shorten or Malcolm Turnbull is Australia’s preferred PM. Turnbull is just ahead – especially on economic policy at 67% – but Shorten is making steady headway with his social policies. And 65% of respondents believe Shorten has the support of his party, while only 55% believe Turnbull does. An ABC investigation reveals Australia’s largest online doctor’s appointment booking service, HealthEngine, has shared hundreds of users’ medical information with law firms fishing for clients with personal injury claims.
Coming up
The banking royal commission resumes in Brisbane today, with the focus on regional issues and how the industry has treated farmers.
Parliament resumes for the final sitting week before the winter break, with the government intent on pressing the case for its corporate tax cuts.
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