Morning mail: Doctored documents mystery, impeachment chaos, Keating on super

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/24/morning-mail-doctored-documents-mystery-impeachment-chaos-keating-on-super

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Good morning, this is Helen Sullivan bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 24 October.

Top stories

Angus Taylor baselessly accused Sydney’s lord mayor of driving up carbon emissions by spending $15m on travel, a claim that was later backed up with a doctored council document provided to the Daily Telegraph, which reported the figure. City of Sydney’s publicly available annual report shows councillors spent $1,727.77 on overseas travel and $4,206.32 on domestic travel. In total, the council spent $229,000 on travel during 2017-18 under its $300,000 budget. But the document provided to the Telegraph shows wildly different figures, which appeared in a strange format unlike the one used elsewhere in the annual report. It is unclear who altered the document and there is no suggestion that Taylor himself was responsible.

Tensions over an intensifying impeachment inquiry reached fever pitch in the US as Republicans “stormed” a closed-door committee hearing where another witness to the Ukraine controversy was appearing, chanting “Let us in”. The chaos and confusion temporarily shut down the proceedings as Republicans tweeted live updates of the disruption from their phones, which are not typically permitted in classified areas, and reportedly entered into yelling matches with committee members. Donald Trump reportedly voiced support for the protest when a group of conservative lawmakers told him about the plan in a meeting.

A 17-year-old girl was among more than 20 Extinction Rebellion activists strip-searched in Brisbane during a week of climate protests. On 9 October a protester had brought a phone undetected into her cell at the watch house and livestreamed video for about 15 minutes to a private Facebook page. Police warned the woman she would be strip-searched if she was arrested again, and the following day repeatedly searched, then strip-searched, every activist arrested. One of those activists, a 17-year-old girl, told Guardian Australia she had questioned police about whether they had the right to search her.

Australia

Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions will stop rising and gradually start to fall over the next three years as the country feels the effects of the renewable energy boom, engineering researchers say.

Nationals MPs are pushing for an extra $1.2bn in government stimulus for drought-affected communities, arguing that direct community support is needed to help the party hold on to seats at the next election.

The former prime minister of Tuvalu has said he was “stunned” by Scott Morrison’s behaviour at the Pacific Islands Forum, which he though communicated the view that Pacific leaders should “take the money … then shut up about climate change”.

Nine hundred Mercedes-Benz cars have been turned away at the Australian border after dozens of rare and exotic snails were found hiding inside their shipments.

The world

Donald Trump has announced that the US will lift sanctions on Turkey, taking credit for a ceasefire deal that should end Ankara’s attack on Kurdish-led forces – at the price of ending the Kurds’ dream of local autonomy.

Downing Street is pushing the possibility of a general election after talks between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn on a new timetable for his Brexit bill broke up without agreement, but Labour declined to say if it would support an immediate poll.

Thirty-nine bodies have been found inside a Bulgarian-registered lorry on an industrial estate in Essex. A 25-year-old driver from Northern Ireland was arrested on suspicion of murder.

Boeing’s profits more than halved in the last three months as the company struggled to recover from two fatal crashes of its top-selling 737 Max aircraft and trade disputes took their toll.

The Amazon rainforest is “close to an irreversible tipping point”, a prominent economist has said, owing to soaring deforestation and the destructive policies of Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro.

Recommended reads

Is hybrid breeding healthier for owners and dogs, asks Natalie Parletta. “As a general rule, the offspring of two different species or breeds has greater genetic diversity, creating hybrid vigour – enhanced fertility, health and survival. However, when, say, a labradoodle, is produced, mating it with another labradoodle is comparable to joining two dogs from the same breed, and genetic diversity is once again reduced. To keep any hybrid vigour going, you need to keep mating the original two breeds. But while the UK Kennel Club has been registering crossbreeds on its database for more than 50 years, record-keeping of their parentage has been lacking, making it difficult for scientists to assess their hybrid vigour.”

“This reckless government and its business and media mates are determined to damage superannuation,” writes Paul Keating. “Liberal and National party MPs who cavil at the prospect of ordinary people getting a further 2.5% of income into their super happily enjoy the government contributing 15.4% of their income into their parliamentary retirement accounts. And even though the parliament, and I emphasise the parliament, has legislated to compulsorily provide 12% of wages to the super accounts of the great body of the Australian workforce, the Liberal party wants to take it away. They want to kill the last two-and-a-half percentage points.”

Listen

Ever since Donald Trump began his bid to become US president he has been given an ample platform on his favourite network, Fox News. It carried many of his campaign events live and its pundits gave him full-throated support. In response, Trump has pushed his supporters on Twitter to watch his favourite stars on the network and often takes up their talking points. The journalist Luke O’Neil joins Anushka Asthana on the Today in Focus podcast to discuss the powerful relationship between Trump and Fox News.

Sport

England head into their Rugby World Cup semi-final against New Zealand as underdogs but they would be well served revisiting the tactics of the 2003 champions if they are to cause an upset.

Not many rugby players have described moving to Manchester as a blessing. Two years ago, Faf De Klerk’s prospects of appearing in this tournament looked no more likely than Jaco Peyper being made honorary president of the French Referees’ Society.

Media roundup

The Berejiklian government is planning on privatising bus services in the last three parts of Sydney, the Sydney Morning Herald reveals, in what the NSW Labor leader, Jodi McKay, says would be a “shocking betrayal of Sydney commuters”. The price of Murray River water has gone up almost 25% in five days, the Australian reports. Leading the Australian Financial Review online: “PropertyGuru’s $1 billion Australian listing has become the third initial public offering in just over a week to be pulled at the eleventh hour.”

Coming up

BirdLife Australia’s Aussie Backyard Bird Count is happening this week. It’s asking people from all over the country to spend 20 minutes and report what birds they see in their gardens.

And if you’ve read this far …

“The Mile High Club is aspirational: what could be sexier and naughtier than sex on a plane? But now flight shame puts the Mile High Club in a different light. The 45 Metre Underground Club is the low-carbon option. But you have to be doing it when you are under the Channel.” Tales from – where else? – the Eurostar train that links London and Paris.

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