| | 16/12/2024 ‘Extreme version’ of rental crisis, disabled boy’s convictions quashed, mining exports set to plunge |
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| | | Good morning. A small Victorian tourist town has scores of houses for sale but almost none for rent – forcing local workers to live out of vans. What is going on in Bright? A 14-year-old Queensland boy with a severe intellectual disability was sentenced to nine months’ detention – despite not verbalising a plea in court. And: we probably all remember the first holiday – and the worst holiday – we ever took. Today we’re introducing our new Away with series, highlighting the travel tales of prominent Australians. |
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| Australia | | North Queensland | A 14-year-old boy with a severe intellectual disability was wrongly convicted by a magistrate who recorded guilty pleas to charges, despite the child being incapable of instructing his lawyers and not verbalising a plea. | Housing crisis | The small tourist of Bright in Victoria has 100 properties for sale but just two for rent – it has been described as an “extreme version” of Australia’s housing crisis. | Revealed | Mining exports are forecast to plunge more than $100bn over the next four years and deliver an $8.5bn hit to company tax receipts – a $36bn reversal in expected federal revenue compared with a year ago. | Fiji tourists | A group of Australian tourists are seriously ill in hospital in Fiji with what local authorities suspect is alcohol poisoning, after drinking cocktails at a five-star Coral Coast hotel resort. | Bali Nine return home | The five remaining members of the Bali Nine who were jailed over a drug-smuggling plot have returned to Australia under a deal negotiated with the Indonesian government. |
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 | Full Story | | Sara Haddad on why Australia’s MPs should do the reading on Palestine This summer Australian politicians are being encouraged to read more widely on the history of Palestine. Five books were sent to all 227 federal MPs and senators as part of a campaign backed and funded by dozens of Australia’s most prominent authors. Nour Haydar speaks to author Sara Haddad – whose novella The Sunbird is in the bundle – about the summer reading for MPs initiative, Palestine, and writing as activism. | |
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| | | | | | | | | The most important news from Australia and the globe, as it breaks |
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| | Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties |
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| In-depth | | After Luigi Mangione was revealed as the alleged assassin of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, on 4 December, the former quickly became one of the most polarising figures in US discourse. To some, he’s an anticapitalist arch villain. To others, he was allegedly exacting revenge against the unchecked avarice of medical insurance companies. To yet more, he’s a young man struggling with a variety of intense health issues. |
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| Not the news | | In our new Away with series, we’re asking prominent Australians about their life in travel. We’ll hear about the trips that shaped our favourite personalities, their holiday rituals and, yes, the times it went awry. The Sydney cook and comedian Nat’s What I Reckon shares a hard-learned lesson about booze on long-haul flights – and reveals why switching on overhead hotel lights should always be avoided. |
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| What’s happening today | NSW | The state government will mark 10 years since the Martin Place Lindt Cafe siege. | WA | A public hearing is scheduled in Collie in the parliamentary inquiry into nuclear power generation in Australia. | Victoria | A hearing is scheduled in Melbourne in the case of a man charged with dozens of rape offences. |
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| Brain teaser | And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. | |
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| Contact us | If you have a story tip or technical issue viewing this newsletter, please reply to this email. If you are a Guardian supporter and need assistance with regards to contributions and/or digital subscriptions, please email customer.help@guardian.co.uk |
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A message from Lenore Taylor editor of Guardian AustraliaI hope you appreciated this newsletter. Before you move on, I wonder if you would consider contributing to our end-of-year fundraiser as we prepare for a pivotal, uncertain year ahead.
The course of world history has taken a sharp and disturbing turn in 2024. Liberalism is under threat from populist authoritarianism. Americans have voted to install a president with no respect for democratic norms, nor the facts that once formed the guardrails of public debate.
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| Lenore Taylor
Editor, Guardian Australia |
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