Morning Briefing
Markets just had one of their best days in years — across the board. The S&P 500 surged over 9%, the NASDAQ exploded 14%, and even the ASX joined the party with a near-5% rip. Whether this is a genuine pivot or a relief rally, today every screen is green and every portfolio looks better than it did 24 hours ago.
What Matters Today
- Anzac Day marred by organised booing: Welcome to Country ceremonies were heckled at dawn services in Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth. Indigenous leaders are furious — Uncle Jack Pearson called it "not in the Anzac spirit." This feels coordinated, and it's ugly. Guardian AU
- AFL sacks its own appeals boss: Will Houghton KC is out after the AFL Appeals Board issued a statement labelled "disgusting" in the Lance Collard homophobia case. A rare and fast accountability move from the AFL — the public pressure clearly worked. ABC News
- Google piles $40B into Anthropic: Following Amazon's recent mega-investment, Google is doubling down on the Claude maker. The AI infrastructure arms race is accelerating faster than anyone can track — this is a defining moment in who controls the next layer of the internet. Ars Technica
- Palantir staff speak out on "descent into fascism": Slack messages and interviews with current and former employees paint a company in serious internal turmoil. Worth watching given Palantir's growing government contracts — including defence. Ars Technica
- Iran war fallout reshaping climate talks: Australia's Chris Bowen argues the oil shock from the Iran conflict is actually accelerating the push toward homegrown renewable energy. A rare case of geopolitical chaos opening a policy window. Guardian AU
- Orbán out after landslide defeat: Viktor Orbán is stepping down from the Hungarian parliament after his party's historic loss. The era of one of Europe's most disruptive leaders is ending — significant for EU cohesion and the broader democratic backsliding conversation. BBC World
- Dermatologist gap fees hit $230: The out-of-pocket cost to see a dermatologist has jumped $20 in a year, with the sharpest rises in WA, SA, and Tasmania. In a country with the world's highest skin cancer rates, this is a genuine public health problem. Guardian AU
Markets
It's a full-blown risk-on session — the NASDAQ's 14% single-day surge is historic, and the ASX 200 at +4.86% is riding the coattails hard. The AUD is back above 0.715, buoyed by renewed risk appetite and likely some relief around the Iran-related oil shock settling. Gold pushing past $4,740 is the interesting one — it's not acting like a pure safe-haven anymore, it's running alongside equities, suggesting this rally has genuine momentum rather than just short-covering. Bitcoin back above $77,500 confirms the mood: traders are leaning in, not hedging out.
Worth a Read
- Palantir's internal chaos: Ars Technica's piece on Palantir employees calling out the company's "descent into fascism" is a rare window into a defence-tech firm that's usually opaque. If you use or follow Palantir's data tools, this is essential context on where the culture is heading.
- Christine Dawood on the Titan submersible: Guardian AU's interview with Christine Dawood — who lost her husband and son on the Titan — is harrowing and deeply human. She's speaking in detail for the first time. Set aside ten minutes for this one.
- The NDIS cuts deep-dive: Guardian AU's Sunday Read podcast with autism advocate Clem Bastow on what Labor's NDIS changes actually mean for people on the ground. If you know anyone navigating the NDIS, this will resonate.
- The anti-woke tech boss with UK government contracts: BBC Tech's profile of the CEO behind a controversial 22-point manifesto is worth your time — this is the ideological strain now embedded in public sector tech procurement, and it's not staying in the UK.