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

Top stories

Queensland’s parliament has voted to legalise abortion by supporting new legislation that will erase a 119-year-old “morality” section of the state’s criminal code. Loud cheers rang out in the legislative assembly chamber last night as the vote brought to an end a 50-year struggle by women’s groups in a state once notorious for its conservatism. Queensland has debated abortion several times since the 1970s, when women’s groups first marched for abortion rights and a clinic opened up in Brisbane.

The premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said: “I’ve always believed a woman should be able to talk to her doctor about her own health and her own body without it being a crime.” Meanwhile, the deputy premier and treasurer, Jackie Trad, said if men were capable of having children this decision would have been made long ago. “The right of women to control their own reproduction, their own bodies is such an important part of equality in our society.”

At least 19 people have been killed and almost 40 wounded in a shooting carried out by a student at a vocational college in Crimea. Several witnesses described a gunman stalking the halls and firing at classmates and teachers until he ran out of ammunition. A bomb may also have been detonated during the attack, although Russian government agencies provided conflicting reports. Sappers said they later disarmed several more explosive devices at the college. Such school shootings are rare in Russia, in part because rifles and handguns are hard to acquire.

As Labor and Liberal politicians break ranks to call for children detained on Nauru to be brought to Australia, the paediatrician who has become the public face of the campaign has told the Guardian about his anger at the refugees’ plight. Paul Bauert, who has been roaming the corridors of Canberra to build support this week, says the offshore detention regime was designed to “deliberately harm children”. You can listen to our political editor, Katharine Murphy, in conversation with Bauert in our politics weekly podcast.

With the Liberal grip on Wentworth weakening and independent Kerryn Phelps the target of a smear campaign, government largesse is being used to shore up the struggling candidate Dave Sharma. Bronte surf club, for example, has been given a whopping $2m grant for a new clubhouse while the North Bondi surf club has been given $500,000 for a new gear shed. There have also been $2.2m for Jewish schools and institutions in New South Wales, and $500,000 for lighting around the Macquarie lighthouse.

Wealthy countries with people at high risk of HIV should replicate a trial pioneered in Australia that resulted in a 25% fall in new infections in one year following the rapid rollout of free HIV medication, researchers say. The pre-exposure prophylaxis drug, known as PReP, is almost 100% effective in preventing HIV-negative people from acquiring the virus. A study of 3,069 gay and bisexual men who took part in a trial in NSW in 2016 found that only two acquired HIV, and neither of those had been taking PReP as prescribed.

The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has denied giving the Saudi regime the “benefit of the doubt” over the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, and claimed that the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was satisfied with Saudi cooperation in the investigation. Pompeo has made it clear that the Trump administration would take commercial ties and Saudi cooperation in the attempted isolation of Iran into consideration when formulating a response to Khashoggi’s disappearance and reported murder. Pompeo has attracted fierce criticism for his seemingly jovial meeting with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.

Sport

Sydney FC have recruited well, Perth Glory have undergone major surgery and Newcastle Jets are expected to be contenders once again. With the new A-League campaign kicking off on Friday, Jonathan Howcroft completes his team-by-team previews with a look at the ins and outs of the remaining five teams.



Pakistan’s Mohammad Abbas has taken a career-best five wickets for 33 to leave Australia lagging in the second test in Abu Dhabi. On day two Pakistan was 282 & 144-2 with Australia out for 145. “Mohammad Abbas is an absolute gun,” marvelled former Australia batsman Michael Hussey.

Thinking time

The second half of SBS’s controversial reality show How ‘Mad’ Are You? airs tonight. Billing itself as a social experiment, the show features 10 people, five of whom have a history of mental illness. The group live together for a week under the watchful eye of a team of psychiatric experts who are tasked with sorting out precisely who is who. But while the show is trying hard to be sensitive, it also highlights a troubling narrative around what it means to appear “normal” – a narrative that Fiona Wright, who has lived with anorexia nervosa for more than a decade, finds deeply troubling.

2018 Man booker prize winner Anna Burns talks to the Guardian about her win yesterday for Milkman, and the relief of finally being solvent after years of chronic pain and financial difficulties. “When I look back to 2014 – with this horrendous pain, wondering: ‘Will I even finish Milkman?’ And then Booker winner? The extremes … It feels wonderful, it feels dreamlike. Did that really happen?”

The latest job figures have been quite good, but the Anglicare Job Availability Snapshot released today reveals how difficult it is for those with low skills to find work, writes Greg Jericho. “In many regional areas the amount of low-skilled work available is small and greatly outweighed by the number of low-skilled people seeking work.”

What’s he done now?

In the lead-up to the midterms Donald Trump is engaging in a media blitz. His latest sit-down is with the Associated Press, and CNN has wrapped up the 40 “most outrageous lines”. To kick off: “What are you going to do in six and a half years with a normal boring person here?”

Media roundup

The Coalition is preparing for its second leadership challenge in less than two months, the Age reports, with Nationals MPs running the numbers on toppling the deputy prime minister, Michael McCormack.

Conservative senator Cory Bernardi has landed himself in a stoush with Australia’s multibillion-dollar livestock industry after using the term “lambassador” in his promotional material, the ABC reports.

And Melbourne airport is set for a $500m makeover, according to the Herald Sun, including a revamped international terminal.

Coming up

Former prime minister John Howard will head to the seat of Wentworth today to campaign with Liberal candidate Dave Sharma.

The Invictus Games begin in Sydney with Prince Harry and Meghan presiding.

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