Morning mail: bankruptcy overhaul, Breonna Taylor indictment, TikTok hits back
Good morning, this is Richard Parkin bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 24 September.
Top stories
Australian small businesses that experience major financial distress due to Covid-19 could avoid administration, under new federal legislation aimed to help operators remain viable. Businesses with liabilities of under $1m will be eligible for a new debt restructuring process, set to be announced on Thursday by treasurer Josh Frydenberg. A family that was unable to visit their dying mother for two months has filed a formal complaint against her aged care facility. Covid restrictions meant 81-year-old Marie Mallia was only allowed “window contact” but due to advanced Alzheimer’s her family worry she may not have even known they were there. And, in Guardian Australia’s series of essays about 2020 Billy Griffiths wonders whether the Covid-19 pandemic will shift Australia’s historical imagination, especially when it comes to disease.
One of three US police officers involved in the shooting death of Breonna Taylor has been indicted on charges of wanton endangerment, a decision that has prompted anger in the 26-year-old’s home city of Louisville, Kentucky. Taylor was killed in her bed in March by officers serving a “no-knock warrant” as part of an investigation into her ex-boyfriend, following a brief exchange of gunfire. The Taylor family lawyer has called the grand jury’s decision “outrageous and offensive”, with civil rights leader Al Sharpton saying the charges were “grossly insufficient”. Police fired 32 shots into or within the apartment, six of which struck Taylor. A state of emergency has been declared in the city in expectation of protests following the decision.
Nearly one million people have died from the coronavirus, with the World Health Organisation documenting a new seven-day high just short of two million new cases. Donald Trump has said the macabre landmark of 200,000 US deaths was “a shame” but claimed if his government “didn’t do it properly and do it right, you’d have 2.5 million deaths.” Meanwhile, scientific advisors in England have warned that new Covid-19 measures including pub curfews will be “too late again” to stop the exponential spread of the virus, with several major European nations currently experiencing spikes in excess of those seen during the first wave in March-April.
Australia
New laws governing Australian universities could have a “chilling effect” on international research collaboration, insiders have warned. Leading universities are lobbying the government to adapt its “foreign veto laws” to allow scope for long-term deals with international counterparts.
Video messaging app TikTok has hit back at what it says is “misinformation” about its connection to China, using a submission to the Senate inquiry into foreign interference through social media to reiterate that it has never shared Australian user data with the Chinese government.
The CEO of Crown Casino has said he was unaware of cash deposits being made in high-roller rooms, with money laundering allegations being described by the inquiry’s chair as “extraordinarily troubling”.
The Greens have accused NSW of “blackmailing” other states involved in the Murray-Darling Basin agreement, after NSW water minister Melinda Pavey told a Senate inquiry “NSW could not deliver the plan as it currently stands”.
The world
Irreversible Antarctic ice melt could see sea levels rise by 2.5m, even if Paris agreement goals are met, new research has suggested. More than half of the world’s fresh water is held in the southern ice cap which is a major threat even at temperature rises of 2C.
Pro-Trump militia trained for violence and even suggested political assassinations ahead of Oregon rallies, leaked chat logs have revealed. Rightwing militia openly discussed the need to arm themselves ahead of Black Lives Matters protests, with one organiser writing “laws will be broken, people will get hurt”.
Belarusian autocrat, Alexander Lukashenko, has been sworn in for another term as president, in a secretive ceremony following over a month of demonstrations. European politicians and opposition leaders have denounced the inauguration as illegitimate.
Yachts of less than 15m have been banned from a stretch of ocean off the north-west coast of Spain, after a spate of orca attacks that eyewitnesses described as intentional. The measures have been brought in “to guarantee the safety of people and the orcas themselves”.
Recommended reads
Australia prides itself on its love of “the great outdoors”. But with public space being restricted during the coronavirus era, Josephine Tovey wonders if this notion isn’t sliding into mythology. “For a country mostly blessed with warm weather and clean air, it’s striking how many aspects of public life take advantage of neither.” And as the nation looks to reemerge cautiously after Covid-19, a re-imagining of the vital role that public spaces play could be critical to our collective future happiness.
Hospitality jobs have taken a hammering in recent months. But opening Australia’s state borders will not be enough, writes Greg Jericho: “While hospitality is a very boom and bust industry, that is a bust that will take a long time to recover – and one that will not do so until international restrictions are eased and people’s confidence in their safety returns.”
What’s your big cathartic 2020 mood? If you’re in need of a laugh, we’re back with Guardian Australia’s “10 funniest things on the internet” series – and for comedian Vidya Rajan, that mood is an oft-marginalised Mario Kart character belting out Sia’s Chandelier. And if that doesn’t work: chonky animals.
And if you need some cult Australian flicks to get you through Melbourne lockdown, why not take yourself on the cinematic equivalent of a road trip to Bonnie Doon, with Luke Buckmaster’s locked-down long watches.
Listen
Protecting history: how Juukan Gorge could change mining forever. It was a fiasco that shook mining corporations, globally. When Rio Tinto knowingly destroyed a 46,000-year-old Indigenous heritage site, shareholder anger led to boardroom changes. On this episode of Full Story, Lorena Allam and Calla Wahlquist look at what’s changed since Rio destroyed cultural artefacts in the Pilbara.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
The reappointment of Michael Hooper as Wallabies captain could be seen as a missed opportunity for new coach Dave Rennie, but given the dearth of real standout alternatives, writes Bret Harris, the pragmatic option to retain the captain might have been the only realistic one.
Barcelona’s third-highest all-time goalscorer, Luis Suárez, appears set to sign with rivals Atlético Madrid, with the Spanish league rivals set to win the Uruguayan’s signature on a free transfer, after he failed to force a transfer through to join Juventus.
Media roundup
Millions of Victorians under lockdown could be buoyed by news of a rapid Covid test that delivers results in under 15 minutes, claims the Age, with one Melbourne doctor in talks with the state government about rolling out nasal swab tests inside aged care facilities. Labor has attacked the acquisition by the Coalition of 50,000km of copper wire for the NBN, writes the Australian, calling the move “the most extraordinary, wasteful, humiliating backflip in public policy in a generation”. And, after 20 years and many millions of dollars Western Australians await closure in the long-running case of the Claremont serial killer, reports the West Australian, as Justice Stephen Hall hands down his verdict in the state’s largest ever murder prosecution.
Coming up
Victorian health minister Jenny Mikakos will give evidence at the hotel quarantine inquiry, which is in its final week of public hearings.
The Senate Covid inquiry will hear from people impacted by overseas travel restrictions, as well as the department of prime minister and cabinet.
And if you’ve read this far …
You’ve all tried the trick of rubbing a balloon on your arm to generate static electricity. But could something as simple as that become the next sustainable energy breakthrough? Scientists in China think so, and they’re hoping to develop a “tiny wind turbine” that can scavenge energy from the breeze as you walk.
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