Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 6 December.

Top stories

The government is hurtling towards a successful lower-house vote on its controversial energy package, despite a concerted rearguard action by Labor to defer a vote until next year. With fierce lobbying under way in the parliament on Wednesday night to try to derail the vote, the Coalition pushed forward, bringing on the second reading debate with the support of the independents Bob Katter and Andrew Wilkie. After nine divisions in the space of an hour, the shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen, objected to the government forcing substantive discussion on legislation which government MPs had not yet seen.

Bowen contended that the legislation had been pulled together in “an all-nighter in the Treasury”. He said it was possible it had drafting errors and experts hadn’t had a chance to examine it. Australia’s major power companies, who have foreshadowed a high court challenge against the divestiture regime, also urged the government to slow down. The government needs two crossbench votes to pass the legislation. Katter seems a certainty, and Wilkie confirmed to Guardian Australia on Wednesday night that he would vote for the package.

Facebook discussed cashing in on user data, emails released by the UK parliament suggest, with the social networks staff discussing removing data restrictions for big ad spenders. The emails are a selection, often with little or no context or continuity, showing Facebook staff, including the chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, discussing whether to trade access to user data for revenue, valuable trademarks or simple cash payments. The emails cast new light on a number of other controversial practices at the social network.

Tanisha Flemming chokes up to a dozen times in a day. The 19-year-old was born with a rare genetic condition that means she has intellectual and physical disabilities as well as dysphagia. She receives her meals through a tube for nutrition but also eats and drinks orally. “If I stop her from eating, it’s been explained to me … she will soon forget how to eat,” her mother Bronwyn said. “It can be within a week.” In September, the Flemmings lost NDIS funding for speech therapy to help with Tanisha’s swallowing after only six months of treatment, which her mother and her specialist say is vital to help keep her safe and give her a decent quality of life. Before a meeting between federal, state and territory ministers responsible for disability issues, advocates have highlighted Tanisha’s situation to demand the federal social services minister, Paul Fletcher, restore national disability insurance scheme funding for swallowing therapy.

George HW Bush has been farewelled by a who’s who of the global political elite, and remembered by his son George W as the “best father a son or daughter could have”. The Trumps, Obamas and Clintons were seated beside each other at the emotional funeral, and, though Trump greeted the Obamas, he refused to acknowledge the Clintons. The 41st president has been remembered fondly in the media – particularly in the US media – over the past few days. Many have praised his warmth and diplomacy, comparisons which seem particularly pertinent given Donald Trump’s convention-defying approach to the presidency.

Indigenous talent and queer politics dominated the Australian film and television industry awards in Sydney on Wednesday night. The Warwick Thornton-directed Sweet Country swept the film categories, winning a total of six gongs, including best film, while Thornton won the award for best direction. Newcomer Hamilton Morris won best lead actor for his portrayal of Sam, Sweet Country’s Indigenous stockman persecuted for killing a white station owner in self-defence. Riot, the ABC TV’s miniseries about the 1970s LGBT rights movement in Australia, won best tele-feature or miniseries, and Damon Herriman and Kate Box won best lead actor and actress in a television drama.

Sport

With Rugby Australia’s board due to meet on Monday to discuss the immediate future of Wallabies coach Michael Cheika, one argument being trotted out is that there is no genuine alternative. If a suitable alternative could not be found, might the Wallabies be better off without a coach at all? There is precedent, writes Bret Harris.

Before the new summer cricket test season, the sound of the sport has taken over. A video of the Indian skipper Virat Kohli dominating a training session in a manner that can only be described as sensual has been watched 3m times on Cricket Australia platforms. With the sound up, it was aural batting perfection. The first Test gets under way at the Adelaide Oval today: you can follow every ball with our live blog, from 9.30am local time (10.00am AEDT).

Thinking time

The long-running “palace letters” case seeks the release of secret letters between the Queen and Australia’s governor general about John Kerr’s dismissal of the Whitlam government. Jenny Hocking catches us up with the latest appeal, which threatens to expose history buried for 43 years. “These historic letters, critical to our understanding of the dismissal, are held by our National Archives in Canberra where they are kept hidden from us under the strict, and potentially indefinite, embargo of the Queen,” Hocking writes. “As an autonomous post-colonial nation, we assume that the Queen exercises no residual monarchical power over our system of governance … This case and these letters, however, show that this assumption is misplaced.”

Is Australia facing a lost decade in living standards? “The latest GDP figures show just how quickly things can turn, and how the lack of economic growth going towards households means that, should the economy continue to soften, we are likely to experience a lost decade in household living standards,” writes Greg Jericho. “The good news is the economy was growing stronger in 2016-17 than we previously believed; the bad news is the economy is growing slower now than we thought.”

Even on the streets of Melbourne, country music was the soundtrack to my soul, writes Jack Latimore, with the re-release of The Buried Country a reminder of how important country music has been to Aboriginal people. “There’s also something exquisitely congruous in the hard times songs of blackfellas here, influenced by the sorrows and travails of so many oppressed black and native lives from there, making their way back across the roiling waters like a spiritual call-and-response.”

Media roundup

A former police officer who had oversight of Lawyer X was also involved in a sexual relationship with her, the Age reports. A number of papers splash with the arrest of Chris Dawson in connection with the suspected murder of his wife Lyn 36 years ago. Elective surgery lists around the country continue to soar, the ABC reports, with close to 900,000 Australians waiting for surgery.

Coming up

A state funeral will be held for the “matriarch of reconciliation”, Bonita Mabo, at Townsville Stadium. Mabo was an Indigenous activist and reconciliation advocate who was also the wife of the land rights champion Eddie “Koiki” Mabo.

Jane Caro will discuss the reasons she is considering running against Tony Abbott at the next federal election at an event hosted by the anti-Abbott community group Voices of Warringah.

Supporting the Guardian

We’d like to acknowledge our generous supporters who enable us to keep reporting on the critical stories. If you value what we do and would like to help, please make a contribution or become a supporter today. Thank you.

Sign up

If you would like to receive the Guardian Australia morning mail to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here.