Morning everyone. There were signs of determination and desperation in Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton’s fractious final election debate. We assess their performance last night, survey crucial seats up for grabs and look at some big issues that have – so far – barely ranked a mention on the campaign trail.
Meanwhile, the death toll from a SUV ramming attack in Vancouver has risen to 11 – and there are warnings Gaza’s population is on the brink of a new catastrophe as food aid runs dry. Plus: we meet the man helping to keep the world’s busiest railways running from a shed in Melbourne.
Australia
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Staying on track | From Dubai to Hong Kong, train operators rely on Prof Ravi Ravitharan (pictured) and his team at Monash to help maintain their rail networks’ reliability. So why is it so hard to get a contract in Australia?
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Election looms large | Peter Dutton has stoked a culture war as the final week of the election campaign begins, saying welcome to country ceremonies are “overdone”; Labor and the Coalition have been notably silent on some key policy areas.
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Analysis | As Labor and the Coalition fight to win over mortgage holders, the growing popularity of third parties and early voting complicates their election campaign strategies.
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‘Incredibly brazen’ | The ACCC has been asked to investigate allegedly misleading claims made by Australians for Natural Gas, a pro-gas group with directors including a Liberal candidate running in the federal election.
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‘A critical juncture’ | Feral cats kill 1.5 billion Australian animals each year, but Kangaroo Island has taken a stand in a bold eradication program involving drones, AI and one long fence.
See AlsoThird-party groups targeting teals in key seats swarm pre-poll areas in NSW and VictoriaAustralian Labor party sent team to UK to learn from Keir Starmer’s successful election campaignTinā: the tiny, big-hearted New Zealand movie that became a smash hit – against the oddsFive Great Reads: ‘skimpies’, going undercover with the far right, and the tragic story of Robert Einstein
World
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‘Darkest day’ | Investigators are exploring possible motives after 11 people were killed and dozens of others injured when a driver ploughed an SUV into a Filipino community event in Vancouver.
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Gaza crisis | Soaring prices of basic foodstuffs, diminishing stocks of medical supplies and evaporating food aid threaten newly catastrophic conditions across Gaza as Israel’s blockade continues, aid agencies warn.
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Russia-Ukraine war | Russia has continued its assault on Ukraine with a series of drone attacks and airstrikes mere hours after Donald Trump cast doubt on Vladimir Putin’s readiness to end the conflict.
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Jiggly Caliente | Noted drag queen and RuPaul’s Drag Race star Jiggly Caliente – real name Bianca Castro-Arabejo – has died aged 44 after a “severe infection”, her family has confirmed.
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Vatican mourns | Thousands queue to visit Pope Francis’s tomb a day after his funeral; how Michelangelo’s love and humility could influence the Sistine Chapel conclave.
Full Story
Gina episode 5: The portrait
It’s the portrait of Gina Rinehart that launched 1,000 memes, went viral globally and became Australia’s Mona Lisa. But it’s also a symbol of how wealth intersects with other areas of life, including art and sport – and what happened when the national netball team was confronted by part of the Hancock family legacy. How does Rinehart use her money to control her image – and what would she rather you don’t see?
In-depth
Gina Rinehart’s father, Lang Hancock – known for his racist comments about Aboriginal people, including that he believed some should be forcibly sterilised – always denied claims that he fathered two daughters to Aboriginal women who lived and worked at Mulga Downs station while he was a young man. But now, previously unreported documents offer an insight into Hancock’s relationship with two children who were removed from the station under government policies that created the Stolen Generations. They lend weight to claims that Rinehart has Aboriginal half-sisters.
Not the news
In the latest of our Kindness of Strangers series, David shares his tale of desperation about being stuck on the road in a period when hitchhiking was turned upside down. Giving up hopes of a lift, he tucked himself up and took a nap; when he woke up, his luck changed when a convoy of strange-looking trucks approached carrying a giraffe, an elephant and some lions.
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Sport
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Football | Liverpool have been crowned Premier League champions with four games to spare after a 5-1 rout of Tottenham; The Matildas forward, Caitlin Foord, scored against Lyon to help send Arsenal through to the Women’s Champions League final.
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AFL | Carlton have proven their mettle to show there is light at the end of the tunnel, Jonathan Horn writes.
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Cycling | Tadej Pogacar and Kim Le Court claimed Liège-Bastogne-Liège glory.
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NFL | Australia’s Jeremy Crawshaw was drafted by the Denver Broncos after five seasons with the University of Florida.
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Surfing | Australian Isabella Nichols secured the biggest victory of her surfing career at Bells beach.
High school students in Victoria are shunning the “hell” of ATAR-scored final exams and flocking to the vocational VCE in their thousands, the Age reports. Experts claim mental health payouts for workers could soon become impossible under proposed changes by the Minns government, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. A band of citizen scientists is helping to stop the decline of kelp – the “rainforests of the sea” – in Tasmanian waters, the Mercury reports.
What’s happening today
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VIC | Jury empanelment in the trial of Erin Patterson is expected to begin in Morwell.
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VIC | Mass is being held at St Patrick’s cathedral in Melbourne to mark the death of Pope Francis.
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NSW | The Bondi Junction coronial inquest begins in Lidcombe.
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Brain teaser
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
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Quick crossword
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Cryptic crossword
