Good morning. Today we focus on the former prominent New South Wales Liberal Mark Jones’s key role in overhauling the selection and vetting process for One Nation candidates determined to beat his former colleagues.
Overseas, street protests have boiled over into violent unrest in cities across Europe. And Republicans and Democrats are making a big push in key battleground states as the US midterms reach their final stretch.
Meanwhile, home values are still taking a hammering across Australia. We get on board Sydney’s new south-west metro extension. And there are claims Indigenous art is being stolen by AI and turned into “Temu slop”.
Australia
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Housing market tumbles | Australian home values have dropped for a seventh consecutive month, with prices in capital cities now falling at the fastest pace in 40 years as rate hikes scare off buyers.
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Exclusive | Mark Jones, once on track for one of the Liberal party’s most powerful roles, is now instrumental in One Nation’s expansion by leading the overhaul of its candidate selection process.
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AI art threat | AI is stealing First Nations art and turning it into “Temu slop”, the Pitjantjatjara artist Sally Scales has said – despite Anthony Albanese’s vow to protect creatives from copyright theft.
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I swear! | Lexicographers are exploring how once-taboo profanities have become a significant part of Australian cultural identity, particularly as younger generations blur the lines of acceptability.
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Water stoush | The Northern Territory government has been accused of making a “shameless” attack on nature by planning to delete a legal requirement that water must be allocated to the environment.
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‘Rebuild trust’ | Former New Zealand PM turned academic Jacinda Ardern has told a Sydney audience that politicians are exacerbating the problem of polarisation within society and need to be better.
World
Full Story
The coming legal battle against Albanese’s social media ban
The first major legal challenge against Australia’s under-16s social media ban is set to be heard in the high court on Tuesday, 11 months on from the policy taking effect. As similar bans are adopted across the world, the challenges will argue that the ban prevents young people from political communication. Josh Taylor speaks to host Reged Ahmad about whether this is the beginning of the end for Labor’s world-leading social media ban.
In-depth
Penry Buckley’s relationship with Sydney’s south-west metro extension is complicated. Over two years, he (and everyone else) waited for a line that was only meant to take 12 months to complete. After months of queueing for those pink buses, it seemed that there was no end in sight. But Friday’s opening has provided instant relief for commuters in the south-western suburbs – and unlocked new delights along the line.
Not the news
In mid-2025, within a short space of time, the singer-songwriter Odette – full name Georgia Odette Sallybanks – got two things: sober, and an official autism diagnosis. As she awaits the release of her third album, Blink, this week, she talks about leaving a major record label, how her later-in-life diagnosis has “completely revolutionised” her music and her life, and feeling like she’s finally “shown up” to her own life.
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Sport
Hundreds of thousands of workers in Sydney’s inner suburbs are more exposed to AI-driven disruption than anywhere else in Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. More than 300 fire trucks would be added to Victoria’s ageing fleet over the next five years under an election promise from the state opposition, the Age reports. Tasmania’s outgoing teachers union president is sounding the alarm over school violence, the Mercury reports.
What’s happening today
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NSW | The trial of veteran broadcaster Alan Jones continues in Sydney.
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Diplomacy | Anthony Albanese is attending the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm) in Antigua and Barbuda.
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ACT | A public hearing is scheduled in Canberra in the parliamentary inquiry into cybersecurity for small business.
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ABS | The Australian Bureau of Statistics is due to release its latest building approvals figures this morning.
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Brain teaser
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.