Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Friday 9 March.

Top stories

A landmark court case in the Northern Territory is set to consider a challenge to a massive land-clearing approval based on its impacts on climate change. The case, brought by the Environment Centre NT, is believed to be the first of its kind in Australia, using the consideration of greenhouse gas emissions to seek to have an approval overturned. “I think it’s groundbreaking,” said Shar Molloy, the centre’s director.

In November 2017 the NT government approved the clearing of 20,432 hectares of land on Maryvale station – an area more than three times the size of Manhattan. Despite the regulator concluding the clearing would make “a considerable contribution to the NT’s annual greenhouse gas emissions” it decided a full environmental assessment was not needed.

British police say 21 people have now been treated as a result of the nerve agent attack on the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, with the home secretary, Amber Rudd, describing the attempted murder as “brazen and reckless”. Rudd said the father and daughter, 66 and 33, were still unconscious and in a critical but stable condition, as forensic officers moved to cordon off the graves of the Skripal’s wife and son in a Salisbury cemetery. Amid mounting speculation that the attack was ordered by the Kremlin, Rudd said: “This was attempted murder in the most cruel and public way … the investigation now involves hundreds of officers following every possible lead to find those responsible.” The police officer left seriously ill after attending the poisoned pair was named as DS Nick Bailey, who is now sitting up in bed and talking.

Donald Trump is pushing ahead with plans to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium imports – a plan that threatens to undermine decades of liberalisation of international trade – but has also hinted at an exemption for Australia. “We have a very close relationship with Australia,” he said. “We have a trade surplus with Australia. Great country, long-term partner. We’ll be doing something with them.” The US president met with metal industry executives and workers at the White House on Thursday to discuss the controversial levies, but officials from China and Europe have threatened retaliation if Trump goes ahead. His administration has framed the tariffs as an issue of national security.

Victoria and NSW have become the first states to join the commonwealth’s redress scheme for child sexual abuse survivors in a significant win for the prospect of a truly national response. The announcement means at least 15,000 people abused in government institutions will be able to access compensation, counselling and other support. A further 21,000 would be covered if churches, charities and other institutions operating in NSW and Victoria opt in, according to government figures. Malcolm Turnbull urged reluctant states to follow Victoria and NSW’s lead and “make sure that this national tragedy is never repeated”.

A new child protection report has found surging rates of substantiated notifications, care and protection orders, and out-of-home care, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and remote areas continuing to be over-represented. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report found that one in 32 Australian children were subject to a protection investigation or response last financial year.

Sport

Pauline Menczer, the former world surfing champion who was inducted into the Australian Hall of Fame this week, now drives a school bus. It’s a far cry from the world title she won in 1993 but, as she tells Jock Serong, she has achieved a rare measure of peace for a retired athlete.

This weekend sees the start of Super W, the latest addition to Rugby Australia’s evolving development plans for the code across the gender and competition spectrum. It is the intentional first step on a long road undertaken with a view to the next generation.

Thinking time

It’s the golden age of television drama but the ABC is missing in action, writes the Sydney author Lauren Carroll Harris. As streaming giants ride the global upswing in long-form serialised storytelling, the cash-strapped national broadcaster has stepped away from homegrown drama as a programming staple. From 157 hours of locally made drama in the late 1990s, when SeaChange was on the box, to just 70 hours in 2017, Harris laments the ABC’s loss of “plentiful, sustained, serious, culturally diverse, narrative-based dramas that tap the pulse of life and society”.

“We had to pull all the videos down. [We had people saying] ‘You deserve to die.’” After Mark Latham used social media to brand the Bankstown Poetry Slam “Islamic political ranting”, organisers have had to hire security guards and request undercover police for the first time. “He portrayed all of these young people turning up – having the balls and the skills to speak their mind in a really interesting manner – as Islamist hate speech,” said an organiser.

Most schools hold assemblies and start social-media campaigns for International Women’s Day. But less than 24 hours later, girls are still dealing with the consequences of living in an unequal world while it’s back to business as usual for the boys, writes the high school student Grace Lagan. “The apathy towards feminism they’re developing extends far beyond lazy indifference and into misogynistic attitudes, which are shared by some of the teenage boys and girls I know. I see these views manifest among my peers, growing from jokes and nasty quips into something much deeper, and more dangerous.”

What’s he done now?

CNN is reporting that Donald Trump is upset with the White House, press secretary Sarah Sanders, over her response to reporters’ questions regarding the president’s alleged affair with Stormy Daniels, in which she seemed to confirm that it took place. “POTUS is very unhappy,” the White House source told CNN. “Sarah gave the Stormy Daniels storyline steroids yesterday.”

Media roundup

The Age has an exclusive interview with the woman who accused Melbourne’s former lord mayor Robert Doyle of sexual harassment. Speaking publicly for the first time, Tessa Sullivan tells the paper: “My whole life has been ripped apart.” Doyle denies her allegations. The Australian reports that China is moving to train thousands more pilots in Australia, sparking anger in some regional NSW and Queensland towns, with residents concerned their airports are being taken over amid are security threats and noise concerns. And the ABC has a report on the rise of urban farmers in Melbourne, with an estimated 57% of Victorian residents growing their own food in a temperate climate well suited to the types of vegetables families eat daily.



Coming up

The Winter Paralympics begins today in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Australia is fielding a team of 13 athletes in pursuit of its first Winter Paralympics gold medal since 2002.

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