Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 18 April.

Top stories

High income earners will receive at least $77bn from the Coalition’s 10-year income tax package, shrinking the proportion of the overall tax burden shouldered by the rich, according to a new analysis. The Australia Institute modelling furthers the progressive thinktank’s argument that the Coalition’s flat tax policy is a “radical attack on Australia’s progressive tax system”. Under the plan in the 2019 budget, everyone earning between $40,000 and $200,000 will pay a marginal rate of 30%. Based on the government’s figures that the Coalition’s plan will cost $230bn more than Labor’s, the Australia Institute analysis finds those earning more than $180,000 will get at least $77bn in tax cuts over the next 10 years. The majority of the income tax cuts (54%) will go to those in the top 20% of taxpayers, according to the Australia Institute.

Sustainably sourced fish will be top of the menu in some of Australia’s best restaurants after 40 well-known chefs signed up to the Australian Marine Conservation Society’s Good Fish project. The restaurants have all pledged not to source or serve seafood that is red-listed in the Sustainable Seafood Guide, published by the society. Ben Shewry, the chef and owner of Melbourne’s Attica restaurant that is now ranked at 20 among the world’s best restaurants, is the project ambassador. “In my position as a chef … if I don’t have best practice, the most sustainable menu I can have in terms of shellfish and seafood – then I am contributing to the problem,” he said. A number of popular seafood staples are red-listed, including farmed Atlantic salmon, wild Balmain bugs, wild barramundi caught in Queensland and wild prawns caught on the east coast.

Peru’s former president Alan García has died after he shot himself in the head when police tried to arrest him in connection with a multibillion-dollar Latin American corruption scandal. García served two terms as president – from 1985 to 1990 and then 2006 to 2011 – and was one of the country’s most prominent politicians. “This is a day of national grief,” said Alberto Quintanilla, a leftwing congressman. “Peru is in mourning. Our political system is mourning.” García is one of four former Peruvian presidents to be sucked into the vast Odebrecht scandal – by which multimillion-dollar bribes were paid to secure construction contracts across the region – alongside Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, Ollanta Humala and Alejandro Toledo.

World

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Notre Dame Cathedral at sunset, two days after a massive fire devastated large parts of the gothic structure. Photograph: Charles Platiau/Reuters

France will launch an international architectural competition to redesign the roofline of Notre Dame Cathedral, after a huge fire gutted the oak-beamed structure and sent its spire crashing into the nave, the prime minister has said.

Joko Widodo looks likely to have secured a comfortable win over his rival in Indonesian elections, according to unofficial “quick counts”. The counts show the incumbent president ahead of the former special forces commander Prabowo Subianto by almost 9 percentage points.

The most ancient type of molecule in our universe has been detected in space, scientists have revealed, backing up theories of how the early chemistry of the universe developed after the big bang.

The brains of decapitated pigs can be partially revived several hours after the animal has died, researchers have revealed, with some of the functions of cells booted back up when an oxygen-rich fluid is circulated through the organ. But

the scientists stress that the brains do not show any signs of consciousness.

There have been more than 300 arrests linked to the Extinction Rebellion protests across London and reports suggest the UK capital’s cells are rapidly filling up.

Opinion and analysis

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A new survey highlights a lack of awareness among Australians about wealth inequality. Photograph: David Moir/AAP

A new poll by Essential Research shows that Australians greatly underestimate the level of wealth inequality, writes Greg Jericho. “One of the more common mistakes is to confuse income with wealth. It’s not surprising, given we talk of people with high incomes as being wealthy, even though someone with a low income can have a high amount of wealth.” And while the survey highlights the lack of awareness most of us have about the level of wealth inequality, there is equal confusion over what policies are best suited to dealing with it.

Labor has accused the Coalition of planning secret spending cuts, growing to $40bn a year by the end of the decade, based on figures in its own 2019 budget. Scott Morrison has dismissed the suggestion as “complete rubbish”. So, does the 2019 budget bake in spending growth or cuts? Paul Karp explores the evidence and hands in his verdict.

Sport

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tim Paine and Justin Langer inspect the pitch during day one of the Second Test between Australia and Sri Lanka at Manuka Oval in Canberra. Photograph: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

That England will win the World Cup on home soil isn’t yet a fait accompli – but it’s not helped by the curiously conservative selections from the Australian coach, Justin Langer, earlier this week, writes Sam Perry.

The Six Nations have taken the next step towards World Rugby’s proposed Nations League by agreeing to due diligence. Unions will assess viability of the league, planned to start in 2022, with a final decision expected on 22 May. Organisers say the league will be worth £5bn over 12 years, and have opened their commercially sensitive books or examination.

Thinking time: Greens leader Richard Di Natale on Shorten

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Greens leader Richard Di Natale: ‘We will make a decision based on the policy.’ Photograph: Kelly Barnes/AAP

Political editor Katharine Murphy sits down with the Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, to discuss how he would approach a Bill Shorten prime ministership, particularly in the area of climate change – where bad feeling between the parties dates back to the Rudd era. The Greens leader says it is impossible to be definitive about a post-election decision right now, given Labor’s policy still contains several unknowns, but he says the policy Shorten and Butler are taking to the 2019 election is weaker than the policy of 2016 and “now is the time to base a policy on science”.

Di Natale says if Labor’s climate policy, post-election, meets the Greens’ test of ambition, and one of the relevant tests of ambition is “a plan to phase out coal”, then Shorten can expect support.

“But if it’s going to lock in failure, then we won’t support it. We will make a decision based on the policy.” The Greens leader is equally clear about his expectations about Labor’s stance on the Adani coal project should it win the election, saying he expects Labor to block the controversial mine. “If the message we want to send is it’s risky to invest in coal in Australia, then I think that’s the right message,” he says.

Media roundup

Leaked text messages have revealed the far right’s plan to expand its extreme agenda in the Australian parliament and beyond, the ABC reports. The messages also show plans for racist stunts such as burning the Qur’an, planned in the lead-up to the election and designed to attract global attention. The tennis legend Margaret Court says the disgraced rugby player Israel Folau is being persecuted by a nation, the Australian reports. “He could have been a little bit more diplomatic but the penalty he’s receiving is very severe,” Court told the paper. And the West Australian reports on comments made by the attorney general that foreign countries will use fake news in the upcoming election to create “chaos for chaos’ sake”, rather than campaigning for a particular side, in an attempt to undermine democracy.

Coming up

Borce Ristevski, a Melbourne man who killed his wife, Karen, and dumped her body in bushland, will today learn his jail term for the high-profile manslaughter.

The ABS will publish employment data for March.