Morning Mail: Albanese faces datacentre disquiet, bird flu threat to seals, US vows ‘economic onslaught’ on Iran

theguardian.com

Want to get this in your inbox every weekday? Sign up for the Morning Mail here , and finish your day with our Afternoon Update newsletter Morning everyone. The thorny issue of datacentres has risen to the centre of politics as the prime minister aims to bring states and territories onside at national cabinet amid jousting over where to build them, who benefits from them, and how much energy they use. There are fears for Australia’s seal and sea lion population as bird flu spreads, federal police have been reprimanded for their unwarranted and “seemingly unlawful” arrest and search of an Indigenous teenager, and the US has launched an “economic onslaught” on Iran. Bird ‘carnage’ | Scientists have warned deadly H5 bird flu could cause “carnage” for Australia’s seal and sea lion populations after detection of the virus in long-nosed fur seals in South Australia. Data point | Anthony Albanese will seek to use tomorrow’s high-stakes talks with premiers to quell growing unhappiness about national controls on datacentre developments. Police ‘profiling’ | The commonwealth and ACT ombudsman has criticised the Australian federal police for failing to clearly define “racial profiling” after officers in Canberra pulled guns on an Indigenous teenager they mistook for a suspect in an aggravated burglary. Policy flip-flop | After more confusion over how many migrants a One Nation government would allow, we look at how the party’s policy has flip-flopped over the past year. Rail switch | The Victorian premier, Ben Carroll, will today announce a tweak to Labor’s transport policy, committing to pushing ahead with the first stage of the Suburban Rail Loop but promising to reduce its total cost by about 6%. Continue reading...