Good morning, this is Helen Sullivan bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Wednesday 10 July. This morning’s email was not send due to a technical issue. Sorry for the inconvenience, we hope to back in business tomorrow.

Top stories

The home affairs department is keeping a multimillion-dollar strategic review into Peter Dutton’s super portfolio secret from the public. The review was ordered after the creation of the home affairs department in late 2017, which saw the former department of immigration and border protection expanded with agencies and responsibilities from within the attorney general’s department, as well as elements of regional development, social services and prime minister and cabinet. It was to be finalised by May this year. A spokeswoman for the department said the review was completed but the report was not publicly released. Labor’s shadow home affairs minister, Kristina Keneally said: “Given the department and Mr Dutton’s record of waste, mismanagement and maladministration, the release of the report is especially important.”

The Department of Human Services has spent more than $1bn on external labour hire since the 2016 election, prompting claims from Labor that the Coalition’s outsourcing agenda has gone “too far”. Figures from AusTender show that since the government embarked on a Centrelink outsourcing push in 2017, which coincided with the trouble-plagued robodebt program, the amount spent on labour hire firms by DHS has skyrocketed. The largest contract awarded since the 2016 election is a $230m deal with Adecco Australia to employ 1,000 staff for Centrelink compliance activities. More than $400m has been spent in the past year on privatising call centres. And tender documents show the department has contracted external labour through more than 350 individual contracts, bringing the total cost to $1.03bn in just three years.

Australian gulls are carrying superbugs resistant to antibiotics, raising fears that disease-causing bacteria may spread from the birds to humans, livestock and pets. A team of scientists led by researchers at Perth’s Murdoch University found more than 20% of silver gulls nationwide were carrying pathogenic bacteria, such as E coli, that are resistant to drugs. E coli can cause urinary tract infections, life-threatening sepsis and meningitis. Dr Sam Abraham, a lecturer in veterinary and medical infectious diseases at the university, said the “eye-opening” study should be a wake-up call for Australian governments.

World

Pro-choice supporters stage a demonstration in Northern Ireland. Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/REX/Shutterstock

MPs have voted resoundingly to extend both same-sex marriage and access to abortion to Northern Ireland, bringing the region into line with the rest of the UK on the two significant social issues.

The UK foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has publicly taken Donald Trump to task for “disrespectful and wrong” insults levelled at the UK’s ambassador to Washington, whose leaked memos criticising the president caused a diplomatic crisis.

Alex Acosta, the US labor secretary, is facing renewed calls for his resignation over the lenient 2008 plea deal he cut with Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire financier who on Monday was charged with operating a sex-trafficking ring involving girls as young as 14.

Antarctica faces a tipping point where glacial melting will accelerate and become irreversible even if global heating eases, research suggests. The Thwaites glacier, part of the West Antarctic ice sheet, is believed to pose the greatest risk for rapid future sea level rise, considered likely to thaw and trigger a 50cm sea level rise.

Alek Sigley, the Australian student who was detained by North Korea for a little over a week before being released, has broken his silence to reject the regime’s accusation that he was a spy, and to lament that he “may never again walk the streets of Pyongyang, a city that holds a very special place in my heart”.

Opinion and analysis

‘There are still days when, treatment or no treatment, the static never quite goes away, and I can’t for the life of me focus on anything.’ Photograph: Vadym Drobot/Alamy Stock Photo

It took 40 years before Tom Hawking realised he might have ADHD. When a psychologist first suggested it, he laughed the idea off. “But the more I thought about it, the more I wondered if she might be right,” he writes. “Subtract the hyperactivity bit, and the rest of the symptoms fit like a glove. Hadn’t I always had trouble getting started on things? Hadn’t I always had even more trouble finishing things, once the initial ‘I have an idea!’ rush wore off? Hadn’t I always been hopelessly disorganised, acted without thought of consequences, and had a hard time waiting in queues?”

Labor shouldn’t be tempted by a small-target strategy – it needs to sell hope, writes McKell Institute chief executive Sam Crosby. “Federal Labor has never won from opposition by simply offering relief from unpopular government. The only way Labor wins is by connecting a suite of progressive policy proposals to a unifying vision that makes politically disengaged voters feel two things: hope and ambition. That’s what Whitlam, Hawke and Rudd all did. It’s is a tough path, but it’s the only one that leads to victory. Conservative parties, especially those in government, have an easier option: fear. Conservatives can win by convincing voters to feel defensive and worried … Labor needs to paint a picture of the future vivid enough that people can see themselves and their kids in it.”

Sport

USA women’s football team after winning the World Cup. Photograph: BPI/REX/Shutterstock

Just after USA sealed their fourth Women’s World Cup on Sunday, a chant broke out around the Stade de Lyon: “Equal pay! Equal pay!” Along with their World Cup trophy on Sunday, the US won something just as valuable for their lawsuit against US Soccer: public goodwill, writes Caitlin Murray.

“When Andy Murray and Serena Williams are out there competing all that matters is winning, and they were professionalism personified as they reached the third round of the mixed doubles with a polished 7-5, 6-3 victory over Fabrice Martin and Raquel Atawo,” writes Jacob Steinberg.

The Netball World Cup starting on Friday is the most anticipated ever. Here are 10 things to watch out for.

Thinking time: The murder of social media star Qandeel Baloch

Her risque videos blazed a trail for viral fame in Pakistan. But the price she paid for popularity was death. Photograph: Qandeel Baloch/Saad Khan/The Guardian

At 11.25am on 16 July 2016, Adil Nizami, a 25-year-old rookie reporter from Multan, a city a little over 500km from the capital, Islamabad, broke the biggest story of his career. “Famous model Qandeel Baloch has been killed,” he blurted out in a live call that interrupted 24 News’s regular morning bulletin. As he stood in the lane outside Qandeel’s house, the words that had been on the tip of his tongue for more than an hour now rushed out. “Some are saying that she was shot dead. The police have just reached her house here in Multan. We should find out shortly how she was murdered. Her brothers, the murderers, were angry with her because of her behaviour and all the scandals on TV. Her family was angry with her. And we have found out this morning that her brothers have either strangled her or shot her … there’s conflicting information about how they killed her.”

Pakistan’s first celebrity-by-social media, Qandeel Baloch, was known for the videos and photographs she posted on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Her videos were a mixed bag – she had a headache, she was bored, she had a song stuck in her head – and for a few seconds every day, thousands watched her coo or feign annoyance or try on a new dress. The videos were mostly made at night, when Qandeel said she couldn’t sleep. And then, they became more risque – by Pakistan’s standards, at least.

Media roundup

Coming up

The 2019 State of Origin series will be decided tonight in Sydney when NSW – the favourites to win – and Queensland go head-to-head for a third and final time this year. Follow our the action at ANZ Stadium with our liveblog from 7.15pm AEST.

Ken Wyatt, the first Aboriginal MP to serve as Indigenous affairs minister, will deliver an address at the National Press Club.

Sign up

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