Good morning. Voters believe the opposition would manage the economy better than the government. The Bureau of Meteorology is expected to declare a La Niña weather event as summer’s first tropical cyclone forms. And the international border will be further eased from next week.
The Coalition’s traditional lead on economic management has been whittled away by Labor, as more voters say they believe the opposition would manage the economy in the interests of everyday Australians, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll. The latest survey of 1,095 respondents also suggests voters want the government to increase the Abbott-era 2030 emissions reduction pledge, with 61% of respondents saying they want a higher 2030 target, and 39% saying it should remain a cut of 26 to 28% on 2005 levels.
The BoM is expected to declare today that a La Niña event is under way in the Pacific, underscoring the prospect of a relatively cool, damp and stormy summer for much of the north and east. The declaration will come a day after Cyclone Paddy developed near Christmas Island. It will weaken within days without making landfall.
The government is embarking on “the most dangerous election tactic in Australian history” by talking up the prospect of joining a war over Taiwan, according to the Labor frontbencher Penny Wong. The shadow minister for foreign affairs will use a speech today to accuse Scott Morrison of “desperately playing politics on China whenever he’s in trouble” – citing his attempt to portray Labor as siding with Beijing. Wong will also accuse the defence minister, Peter Dutton, of straying from longstanding bipartisan policy on Taiwan.
Australia
The international border will be further eased from next week under substantial changes announced yesterday. From 1 December, the travel bubble will be expanded and skilled workers, eligible visa holders and international students will be able to arrive quarantine-free, subject to some conditions. Here’s what you need to know.
The peak Aboriginal health group in the NT has accused the territory government of excluding them from high-level decision-making about the Covid outbreak, despite the vast majority of cases appearing in Aboriginal communities.
The Liberal MP Gerard Rennick has flooded Facebook with vaccine posts even he admits may not be “100% accurate”. Rennick shared content from an anti-vaccination leader who has previously called for the execution of Jacinda Ardern.
The mining giant Glencore has launched an extraordinary attack on two Indigenous people who are seeking to stop the company destroying the site of an Aboriginal massacre in NSW.
Scott Morrison has come under fire in parliament for falsely claiming he told Anthony Albanese that he was travelling to Hawaii during the black summer bushfires. Amid fierce parliamentary debate centred on Morrison’s honesty and his shifting rhetoric on vaccine mandates, Labor revived its attack on the prime minister’s infamous overseas holiday taken with his family in 2019.
The energy giant Royal Dutch Shell has expanded its presence in Australia’s electricity market, buying Powershop from NZ’s Meridian Group as part of a $729m deal that may irk some customers who have tried to avoid fossil fuel companies.
The world
Most Germans will be “vaccinated, cured or dead” from Covid-19 in a few months, the country’s health minister has warned, as Austria put its population of 8.9 million back under a nationwide lockdown. Figures released on Monday showed more than 30,000 newly confirmed cases in Germany over the past 24 hours – an increase of about 50% compared with a week ago.
Investigators were yesterday questioning a man after a vehicle ploughed into a Christmas parade in Wisconsin, killing at least five people and injuring more than 40 adults and children.
Russia has accused the west of building up forces on its borders as well as those of Belarus in remarks that appeared tailored to mirror US warnings about Moscow’s aggressive positioning towards Ukraine.
Press organisations in Canada have condemned the arrest of two journalists who were detained while covering Indigenous-led resistance to a pipeline project and remain in custody.
More than 75 people are feared dead after their boat capsized in stormy seas off the coast of Libya while attempting to reach Europe in one of the deadliest shipwrecks this year.
The US has been added to an annual list of “backsliding” democracies for the first time, a thinktank has said, pointing to a “visible deterioration” it said began in 2019.
Recommended reads
A “mortified” TV reporter has tried to explain how he bungled an exclusive interview with Adele about her new album. The host of Channel Seven’s Weekend Sunrise, Matt Doran, and a crew flew to London for the chat, which was reportedly part of a $1m package including broadcast rights to Adele’s One Night Only television special. It would have been Adele’s only Australian interview. After Doran conceded that he had only heard one track from her latest work, 30, the interview was canned. Doran said he simply missed the email that contained a preview of the album.
Eddie Redmayne has described his starring role in the trans drama The Danish Girl as “a mistake”, adding that he “wouldn’t take it on now”. Speaking to the Sunday Times, Redmayne agreed that the criticism he received for appearing in the film was justified, saying: “I made that film with the best intentions, but I think it was a mistake.”
Former footy player Paul Wheatley is serving a prison sentence – the culmination of a chain of events that could be traced back to numerous on-field head knocks. The 61-year-old played 200-odd games for Victoria’s Fairfield football club over a decade and copped, at an estimate, at least one hard hit to the head every fortnight. One was a knee that left him with a hole in his skull.
Listen
Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai’s allegations that she was sexually assaulted by a former vice premier have shone an international spotlight on the #MeToo movement in China. One of the first high-profile cases involved a young woman, Xianzi, alleging sexual harassment against a famous state TV host, which sent shockwaves around the country. Jane Lee speaks to the Guardian’s Taiwan correspondent Helen Davidson and activists Xianzi and Lu Pin about feminists’ ongoing struggle to overcome state censors and closed courts.
Full Story
China’s #MeToo movement
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
Tim Paine has returned to the field for the first time since sensationally quitting as Australia’s Test skipper and remains firmly committed to playing in the Ashes. The 36-year-old stepped down as captain on Friday after it was revealed he sent “private” messages to a Cricket Tasmania colleague in 2017.
Media roundup
A few Australians are seeing the benefits of a new drug for treatment-resistant depression, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Air New Zealand has cancelled more than 1,000 flights to Australia through to the end of the year due to border uncertainty, the ABC reports.
Coming up
South Australia opens its borders to fully vaccinated interstate travellers.
And if you’ve read this far …
Learn about why men’s meat-heavy diets cause 40% more climate emissions than women’s.
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