Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 20 June.

Top stories

The office of the former environment minister Josh Frydenberg canvassed whether he had the power to water down federal protections for critically endangered native grasslands and if it could be kept secret, following lobbying from a fellow minister, Angus Taylor. Taylor and his brother have substantial rural interests on the Monaro plains, where the grasslands are prevalent. In 2017, a company, Jam Land, in which both Angus and his brother Richard have a shareholding, was investigated by Frydenberg’s department for spraying 30 hectares of native grassland at Delegate in south-east New South Wales. On Wednesday the Guardian revealed that Taylor, then the minister for cities and digital transformation, sought meetings with departmental officials to discuss the 2016 listing that protects the grasslands as a critically endangered community. The approaches from Taylor were made via Frydenberg’s office in March 2017. Email exchanges during March 2017 show Frydenberg’s office directed his department to meet Taylor. By April the matter had escalated and an adviser in Frydenberg’s office was asking senior officers about what could be done to amend the listing of the species that was the subject of the investigation, the natural temperate grassland of the south-eastern highlands. The Guardian can now reveal that the minister’s office wanted to know the full extent of Frydenberg’s ministerial power and whether he could override scientific advice and remove the “critically endangered” listing.

Energy development in the Northern Territory is backing fossil fuels – in this case gas – when it could, as one of the sunniest places on Earth, be reaping economic and environmental benefits from renewable energy. That is the message from a report that suggests embracing clean energy could dramatically expand the electricity, mining and mineral processing industries while reducing living costs. It says the NT economy could be transformed through incentives for renewable-powered manufacturing and downstream minerals processing, targets for mines to transition to 100% clean energy and electric machinery by 2030 and support for Indigenous communities to be equity partners in zero-carbon developments. It calls on the NT and federal governments to fund common infrastructure to turn what is known as the 10-gigawatt vision into a reality – for example, transmission lines connecting Darwin and Alice Springs to allow clean energy developments in remote locations.

Up to half of all new teachers in Australia leave the profession in the first five years and a new report identifies a possible reason: programs which encourage sending novices into the country’s most challenging schools. An annual global survey of teachers highlighted teacher shortages as “one of the most pressing problems faced by current education systems”. The report pointed to Australia – where between 30% and 50% of teachers leave the profession in the first five years – as one of the most glaring examples of how placing early-career teachers in “challenging schools” affects attrition. The report suggested programs placing young teachers in tough schools should be reviewed, and senior, experienced teachers could go instead.

World

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Glaciers are melting fast in the Himalayas. Photograph: Goncalo Diniz/Alamy Stock Photo

The melting of Himalayan glaciers has doubled since the turn of the century, with more than a quarter of all ice lost over the past four decades, scientists have revealed. The accelerating losses indicate a “devastating” future for the region, upon which a billion people depend for regular water.

Investigators have named four Russian-backed separatists as their first suspects for the shooting down in 2014 of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over east Ukraine.The four men include former military officers who occupied senior positions in Russian-backed militias in east Ukraine that year.

The crown prince of Saudi Arabia should be investigated over the murder of the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, because there is “credible evidence” that he and other senior officials are liable for the killing, according to a damning and forensic UN report.

Donald Trump has set the stage for the nastiest US presidential race in modern times, with a campaign rally that recycled old themes and stoked resentment towards Democrats and the media. Trump’s campaign raised a staggering $24.8m in the less-than 24 hours after kicking off his re-election bid.

Rory Stewart has been ousted from the Conservative leadership contest after losing 10 votes since the last round, sparking MPs’ speculation that Boris Johnson’s operatives may have previously pushed fellow supporters to vote for the outsider to help eliminate his Brexiter rival Dominic Raab.

Opinion and analysis

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Dame Products, which makes sex toys, is suing the company that runs New York’s subway for rejecting its ads. Photograph: Reuters

Society is obsessed with women’s genitals. So why are ads for sex toys still taboo? Dame Products is suing the company that runs New York’s subway for rejecting its tasteful advertisements for female sex toys. Strangely, there were no objections to similarly suggestive ads aimed at men, writes Yomi Adegoke. “This is not just an issue with female desire, but with our anatomy full stop. The attempts to censor women’s bodies with double entendres or to exclude them completely makes it clear how afraid of them we are.”

The residential property price figures released by the Bureau of Statistics this week show that for the first time in eight years, residential prices fell in every Australian capital city, says Greg Jericho. “The drop in house prices in Sydney and Melbourne has been a necessary deflating of a bubble that was in danger of bursting. But even other cities that recorded much slower price growth are now facing the reality that demand for buying houses at ever-increasing prices cannot last in an economy with weak household income growth.”

Sport

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Maddie Studdon (L) and Simaima Taufa (R) pose during the NSW Women’s State of Origin team photo session. Photograph: Matt King/Getty Images

Women’s State of Origin will be played for the second time at North Sydney Oval on Friday night, when respect for the history of the game and the opportunity to play will ring loud and clear, according to NSW Blues star Maddie Studdon.

Detectives investigating the death of the Cardiff City footballer Emiliano Sala have arrested a 64-year-old man from North Yorkshire on suspicion of manslaughter by an unlawful act. The Argentinian forward, who had signed for the Welsh club, died in a plane crash in January.

Kane Williamson has guided New Zealand to a narrow four wicket World Cup win over South Africa. Willamson’s century ensured his team survived a nervy finish, with South Africa 241-6 and New Zealand 242-6.

Thinking time: Rejected by Australia, flourishing in New Zealand

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Fulbright New Zealand General Graduate Award winner Abbas Nazari poses at Oriental Bay on June 19, 2019 in Wellington, New Zealand. Credit: Hagen Hopkins. Photograph: Hagen Hopkins/The Guardian

Abbas Nazari was stranded on a ship in the Indian ocean when he first heard the words “New Zealand”. Then aged seven, Nazari’s mother, father and four siblings were among 430 asylum seekers, predominantly of the ethnic minority Hazaras of Afghanistan, plucked from a sinking fishing boat by the Norwegian cargo ship, the Tampa. They were later transferred to the HMAS Manoora, where they waited for asylum after Australia refused to accept them; creating an international quagmire over which country would, or should, offer sanctuary on humanitarian grounds. Australia was in the midst of an election and many analysts believe the Tampa affair helped John Howard retain government. Nazari, now a Fullbright scholar, says Howard used the lives of the Tampa refugees to set a hardline example of his zero-tolerance approach to boat people.

“Australia was always the destination, we hadn’t even heard of New Zealand,” says Nazari, now 23, and working as a public servant in Wellington. “A lot of people packed up and left thinking that it was the promised land. In our particular case they made a strong point of saying ‘no, you’re not welcome’; and they used us as an example to get that point across.”

Media roundup

The news that Facebook is launching a cryptocurrency has been met by dread by banking insiders, the Australian Financial Review reports, though the big four say they are well prepared to face off the threat. St George Hospital’s intensive care unit has been banned from training junior doctors amid allegations of dysfunction and bullying from senior staff, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. It is the third Sydney hospital to face such a ban, with growing concerns for the welfare of young doctors. A landmark decision by the high court on Wednesday has ushered in uncertainty for sperm donors, with the possibility arising that a man who donated sperm to a single woman via Facebook could be recognised legally as the father, the Australian reports.

Coming up

Fraudster Hamish McLaren is due to be sentenced after admitting to numerous charges of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception.

Qantas will announce significant changes to its Frequent Flyer program.



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