Good morning, this is Helen Sullivan bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Wednesday 15 January.
Top stories
Rupert Murdoch’s son has strongly criticised his family’s news outlets for downplaying the impact of the climate crisis. James Murdoch and his wife, Kathryn, issued a rare joint statement directly criticising his father’s businesses for their “ongoing denial” on the issue, which has been reflected in the family’s newspapers repeatedly casting doubt on the link between the climate emergency and the bushfires. “Kathryn and James’s views on climate are well-established and their frustration with some of the News Corp and Fox coverage of the topic is also well-known,” a spokesperson for the couple said. “They are particularly disappointed with the ongoing denial among the news outlets in Australia given obvious evidence to the contrary.”
Leaked photos from inside Papua New Guinea’s Bomana immigration detention centre have given a glimpse of where up to 20 asylum seekers still remain locked up by PNG authorities, despite widespread concerns for their health, welfare and legal rights. Despite around 30 men being released after signing agreements to return to their country of origin, Guardian Australia understands all still remain in PNG. In August PNG authorities arrested 52 men who had previously been detained on Manus Island on behalf of the Australian government after seeking asylum by boat.
The Attorney-General’s Department formally warned Christopher Pyne that he was banned from lobbying for a defence contractor that won millions of dollars in government work, including during his time as minister. The Guardian revealed last year that GC Advisory, Pyne’s lobbyist firm, planned to lobby on behalf of a defence contractor, Saber Astronautics, which had won three contracts with the defence department worth $2.7m in the previous 12 months. A day after the Guardian’s report, the Attorney-General’s Department wrote to Pyne’s firm to remind it that the former defence minister was banned from lobbying for clients like Saber.
Australia
The Morrison government will announce an extra $50m for the charity sector to help people affected by bushfires, after welfare groups complained that current assistance was “inadequate”.
The New South Wales Rural Fire Service trustee may be unable to distribute donated funds, including more than $50m raised by the comedian Celeste Barber, to other states or to bushfire victims, legal experts have warned.
Scott Morrison needs to take action on global heating or he will become a “climate change casualty”, former Victorian Labor premier Steve Bracks has said.
The world
Iran’s judiciary has described the UK’s ambassador to Tehran as “persona non grata” and called for his expulsion, while crowds of regime supporters burned his effigy alongside the British flag. The moves came after the envoy, Rob Macaire, was briefly arrested at the weekend and accused of “coordinating” anti-government protests.
The non-aggression pact between senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders appears to have collapsed in a row over Sanders’ alleged remarks about the viability of a female US presidential candidate.
A newborn baby has been mauled to death by dogs inside an operating theatre in India. The three-hour-old baby was attacked by the pack of dogs, who got into the hospital through a window, before relatives heard growling inside the room early on Monday.
The Duchess of Sussex did not take part in the Queen’s Sandringham summit to decide future roles for herself and Prince Harry, it has emerged, as the remaining full-time working royals returned to their round of official engagements.
Recommended reads
The Australian newspaper says it accepts climate science, so why does it give a platform to ‘outright falsehoods’? asks Graham Readfearn. In November, as the bushfire crisis was unfolding, News Corp’s executive chairman, Rupert Murdoch, told his annual general meeting: “There are no climate change deniers around, I can assure you.” The next day the Australian ran a column from the mining industry figure and geologist Prof Ian Plimer, who wrote: “It has never been shown that human emissions of carbon dioxide drive global warming.”
For years, elements of the Australian media have promoted the idea that “greenies” and environmentalists have prevented fuel reduction burning, writes former Victorian environment minister John Thwaites. “This particularly suits those with an agenda to deny climate change as it simultaneously advances the culture war against environmentalists and draws attention away from the need to take action on climate change. As environment minister, I don’t recall ever being influenced or lobbied by environmentalists or ‘greens’ to stop fuel reduction burns. What does stand in the way of planned burns is climate change.”
Listen
On today’s episode of Full Story: disinformation about the bushfire crisis, including incorrect statistics about arson, is spreading around the world, with some stories picked up and repeated by Australia’s biggest news organisations. These claims are muddying the debate over what is to blame for the unprecedented blazes. So what are the facts? And how can we fight back against disinformation?
Sport
For the Australian cricket team, victory in Mumbai came with 74 balls to spare. Australia openers David Warner and Aaron Finch both struck superb centuries to complement their bowlers’ inspired display as the touring side handed out a 10-wicket thrashing to India in the opening one-day international in Mumbai.
The year’s grand slam action got under way on Tuesday at a Melbourne Park wreathed in noxious fog, writes Jonathan Howcroft. Qualifying rounds should provide a grand slam with a soft launch. Not this year.
Media roundup
The states are withholding support for Scott Morrison’s proposed bushfire royal commission and oppose him expanding the commonwealth’s constitutional powers to deploy defence force personnel to natural disasters without premiers’ consent, the Australian Financial Review reports. Melburnians are being told to prepare for a possible return to worst-rated air quality today, as smoke from bushfires threatening communities drifts across the state, reports the ABC. Food delivery startups have told riders and drivers they can opt out of accepting orders in the face of poor air quality and extreme heat conditions, according to the Age.
And if you’ve read this far …
Found the serenity: if a demanding job on a tiny island with no electricity, wifi or hot showers but lots of wind sounds tempting, join the queue. An advert for two caretakers to manage accommodation and a cafe on Great Blasket island, off Ireland’s Atlantic coast, has drawn queries from Alaska to South Africa.
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