Good afternoon. The Australian tax office is facing renewed scrutiny for pressuring Australians to repay old debts, in a campaign that has drawn parallels with Centrelink’s robodebt scandal.
In the latest case revealed by Guardian Australia, a 78-year-old retired teacher was ordered to pay a $307 debt from 2004. “After the ATO has hidden a claimed debt from me for 19 years it gave me two weeks to pay an amount I am unable to verify or disprove,” he said. “Whether or not it was a genuine debt, the brutal way in which it was recovered is still robotax.”
In other news, the MCG is expecting an average crowd of 86,000 for each of the three nights Taylor Swift is performing at the stadium. Will Melbourne draw the largest ever crowd to a Swift concert? Hundreds were already queuing at the ground today for pre-sale merchandise. Follow our live blog for updates on the frenzy.
Top news
Queensland man charged with domestic violence murder | Police have seized a tractor from the property of a Queensland man who has been charged with the murder of his wife in what paramedics described as a “farm machinery incident”. Forensic officers and detectives were photographed at the scene yesterday examining a tractor that appeared to have been towing a grass slasher.
Barnaby Joyce denies he has a drinking problem | After a week of focus on the Nationals frontbencher, he has told Sky News: “It’s been confirmed I don’t have a drinking problem, just shouldn’t drink on medication.” It follows the publication of a video showing Joyce on the ground after falling off a flower bed on a street in Canberra last week. He blamed mixing prescription drugs with alcohol for his behaviour.
Woman dies in flood waters | A 28-year-old woman was found dead yesterday inside a car spotted in the flooded Malbon River at Duchess, just south of Mt Isa in Queensland’s north-west. Meanwhile, northern Australia is bracing for its third tropical cyclone in as many months. Tropical Cyclone Lincoln is expected to cross the southern gulf coast today with potential 110km/h gale-force winds and heavy rainfall.
Victorian fires destroy 44 homes | The Victorian premier says as many as half the residents of the town Pomonal have “experienced loss” from bushfires that broke out in the Grampians. The fires broke out on Tuesday, shortly before storms caused widespread power outages, with more than 35,000 Victorians still without electricity as of this morning. The state’s south-east has also been lashed with heavy rain, with flash flooding in Brisbane.
More asbestos found in Sydney | Asbestos has been found in mulch at a hospital, a supermarket and another park in Sydney, and seven schools will be tested as a priority as the state’s environmental watchdog continues its largest ever investigation. The schools were identified because they received mulch from Greenlife Resource Recovery. Greenlife denies it is responsible for the contamination.
Greece legalises same-sex marriage | Greece has become the world’s first Christian Orthodox nation to do so after the Athens parliament passed the landmark reform amid scenes of both jubilation and fury in the country.
UK Labour’s big byelection win | Labour has overturned an 11,000-plus Tory majority to win the byelection in the South Gloucestershire constituency of Kingswood. It will be a blow for Rishi Sunak’s hopes of clinging on to power at the next general election.
New York sues TikTok, Instagram and YouTube | New York City blames “addictive and dangerous” social media platforms for fuelling a childhood mental health crisis that is disrupting learning and draining resources.
In pictures
Siberia’s gulags … and those who survived it
In the winter of 1991, Barry Lewis travelled through the freezing cold Gulags of Kolyma, meeting those who lived through Stalin’s Great Terror. Click here to see this extraordinary photo gallery.
What they said …
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“Bring him home. As Australians we are again calling on the US and UK to end the prosecution of Julian Assange and allow his safe return home.” – independent senator David Pocock
In numbers
The ACCC is urging fans looking for a last-minute ticket “to be cautious of scammers selling fake tickets on social media”.
Before bed read
What to do when you really care about your partner, but only rate them “3/10” physically? “I don’t know what the next steps are. I cry because I don’t know if I should let her go. What should I do?” a reader asked our advice columnist, Eleanor Gordon-Smith. Read the full question and response.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: COR. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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