Mohamed Morsi
(Image: AP/Virginia Mayo)

MORSI DIES DURING TRIAL

Egypt’s ex-president Mohamed Morsi has died after collapsing during a Cairo court appearance, Al Jazeera reports. The country’s first democratically elected leader was facing espionage charges over suspected links to Hamas, and appeared to have suffered neglect during his six years in prison. An autopsy has found no apparent recent injuries.

Morsi has been in jail since being ousted in a 2013 military coup led by Egypt’s current president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, following mass protests against his rule. There have been several reports of his mistreatment and torture, Al Jazeera reports. The Interior Ministry has now declared a state of alert, especially in Morsi‘s home province of Sharqiya, The Age reports.

TEMPERATURES TO RISE UNTIL 2040 (AT LEAST)

A new study published in Nature Climate Change has found that we are too late to prevent record-breaking temperature increases over the next 20 years — but we can still rein things in from 2040, if we act now. 

Lead author Scott Power of the Bureau of Meteorology told the ABC that unprecedented bushfires led him to undertake the study, which found that the next two decades are set to break records no matter what we do, with learning to adapt to extreme temperatures now just as important as reducing emissions. Other fun new studies have found that environment reporters face higher rates of harassment and murder (via The Guardian), and that pulsing wind farm noise is sometimes audible inside a home up to 3.5 km away (via The Age).

SETKA’S CFMMEU DECLARES WAR

The Age reports that a Monday meeting of the CFMMEU’s Victorian leadership endorsed a number of “inflammatory motions”, including launching an investigation to uncover the source of “cowardly” leaks to The Age. The probe will target the union’s own staff and even the union’s lawyers, demanding the union’s national office do the same.

The branch also voted to sever ties with the Labor Party if Anthony Albanese’s threat to expel John Setka goes ahead. Albanese has refused to back down, telling the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing that “the decision which individual unions make is one for them, whether they want to support Labor being in government or not.”

[free_worm]

THEY REALLY SAID THAT?

For an educated country, if you don’t read the science — then, goodness gracious, really.

Sharan Burrow

The head of the international trade union movement questions the intelligence of those who deny climate change, warning Australian unions (like the CFMMEU) not to put coal jobs ahead of environmental concerns.

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Labor hopes to scrap ‘cruel’ law, make birth certificates non-binding

‘I am devastated’: Queensland environment minister says she had to obey law on Adani

‘Read the budget papers’: Treasurer won’t give Labor modelling on tax cuts

Senator warns of delays to Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s promised tax cuts

Hong Kong’s reputation hit with a double whammy, say Australian expats

‘Golden century’: Perrottet to deliver shrinking surplus

$700 million dollars guaranteed to Victorians with disabilities following NDIS agreement

Secrecy surrounds Defence’s most troubled military projects

Indigenous people believe aged care isn’t ‘culturally safe’, and ageing earlier

‘I want curries’: Victorian Liberals in another offensive messaging scandal

Stay home if you’re sick says minister, as flu cases soar and 31 die

Chinese president Xi to meet Kim Jong-un in North Korea ahead of G20

Anthony Albanese urges government to consider New Zealand refugee offer

PM’s department in ‘laughable’ battle to suppress cabinet meeting dates

Police in legal fight to stop bikies having guns ($)

CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF YESTERDAY

Home Affairs power grab rings alarm bells among spies

Jun 18, 2019

23

“However, the aspect of the proposal ringing alarm bells within the intelligence community is that it will require the ASD to ‘closely coordinate’ with Home Affairs. This is seen as cover for the ASD being forced to surrender part-control of its operations to empire-builders in Home Affairs — a de facto co-option of military intelligence by one section of domestic security establishment, with Home Affairs directing the ASD about how it can “coordinate” with domestic security operations — including, potentially, raids on journalists and whistleblowers.”

Adani gets its mine, but at what cost?

Jun 18, 2019

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“Gautam Adani’s decade-long battle to get his big mine has ended in a pyrrhic victory. It is unlikely to provide central Queensland with the economic transformation the Matt Canavans of this world insist that it will. And the financial picture is increasingly bleak — a recent article in Bloomberg suggested the company is losing $220 million a year. Meanwhile, Adani remains best remembered as a symbol of division, and a gargantuan temple to Australia’s stubborn, myopic resistance to science.”

The making of Britain’s Donald Trump

Jun 18, 2019

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“Johnson has always had trouble telling the truth, which hasn’t fared well for his employment. He was sacked from his job at London’s Times newspaper for fabricating a quote in a front-page article about the discovery of Edward II’s Rose Palace, suggesting Edward II had homosexual relations. At his next gig, as the Daily Telegraph’s Brussels’ correspondent, he published what were largely described as ‘euromyths’. He claimed the EU wanted to classify snails as fish. Condom sizes were to be standardised, as were coffins. There were plans to establish a banana police force, to regulate the yellow fruit’s shape and quality. A ban on prawn cocktail crisps loomed.”

THE COMMENTARIAT

Uneasy lies the head that wears Hong Kong’s rented crown – Ben Bland (The Age): “For many people, being selected as a highly paid chief executive would be a dream come true. Unless, that is, you are appointed by the Chinese Communist Party as the chief executive of Hong Kong. Carrie Lam, who was selected by a Beijing-controlled committee in 2017, is the latest leader of the former British colony to find out how hard it is to be caught between the world’s most powerful authoritarian government and a defiant semi-autonomous city that cherishes its freedom and separate identity.”

Indigenous call deserves response from the heart ($) – John Wylie (The Australian): “Last month, 22 leaders in the ­finance sector issued a joint call for Australians to embrace the call in the Uluru Statement from the Heart for indigenous recognition in the Constitution through a Voice to Parliament. None of the signatories is what would be considered a political activist or virtue signaller… We made this call because we believe that while economic prosperity is fundamental, it cannot alone provide the narrative for a nation. And we believe there is no conflict between our need for a strong economy and our desire for a confident and big-hearted country that has the ability to reach a generous and respectful accommodation with indigenous Australians. We believe that accepting the call in the Uluru Statement for constitutional recognition will be a foundation stone of a modern Australia that’s a spiritually generous country truly at peace with itself and its history.”

This week, the role of doctors will fundamentally change – Mark Yates (The Age): “As a geriatrician who cares for frail older people, I know many who perceive they are a burden to society or their family. I am saddened by the additional burden they must now carry. The burden of choosing to continue with life or to have it terminated. Sadly, knowing both the best and worst of human nature and that 10 to 15% of elderly people experience abuse, I now also fear for the risks some will be exposed to as a result of this new legislation.”

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE

The Latest Headlines

WHAT’S ON TODAY

National

  • Refugee Week 2019 events will take place across the country. A full list of events can be found here.

Canberra

  • Auditor-General will table a report into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programs.

  • RBA’s Head of Financial Stability Jonathan Kearns will speak at the Property Leaders’ Summit 2019. The Reserve Bank  will today also be releasing minutes, shedding more light on its reasoning behind this month’s rate cut.

Ross River

  • Native Title holders will gather for the inaugural prescribed body corporate regional forum.

Melbourne

  • Pro-life Victoria Inc will hold a protest on the state parliament steps against voluntary assisted dying laws coming into effect from Wednesday.

  • Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam, student climate protesters, and Friends of the Earth will also assemble on the Victorian Parliament steps, calling for the state government to replace Yallourn power station with clean energy sources.

  • Federal Minister for Veterans and Defence Personnel Darren Chester will provide an update on an assistance dogs trial aimed at helping veterans suffering post-traumatic stress disorder. Dogs will be present.

  • Tourism Australia will hold a State of the Nation Tourism Report release breakfast, reviewing how tourism has evolved, where it is headed and where the future potential lies.

Sydney

  • NSW treasurer Dominic Perrottet will hand down the state budget.

  • CSIRO Chair David Thodey, chief executive Larry Marshall and futures director James Deverell will release the CSIRO’s second Australian National Outlook, exploring issues affecting Australia’s long-term future growth and prosperity.

New Zealand

  • Christchurch businessman Philip Arps will be sentenced in a NZ court, after admitting to sharing a livestream by the gunman who killed 51 people at two mosques.

Somewhere near Fiji

  • Prime Minister Scott Morrison will be taking a “brief, well-earned break”, his office has confirmed. He will back next Saturday, with Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack acting in the top job in his absence.