Morning Mail: ATO’s $42m debt collector contracts; teacher shortages bite; inside the nitazenes threat

Good morning. Today we reveal the scale of the contracts given by the Australian Taxation Office to Recoveriescorp, a measure of the ATO’s increasing reliance on the private debt collector.
Meanwhile, staff shortages are cutting deep in schools across Australia: we take a look at where the need is being most keenly felt.
We also examine the rise of the extremely potent drugs nitazenes in Australia. And: India’s cricketers have triumphed over South Africa in the Women’s World Cup final.
Australia

‘Diabolical’ | An international report has found that Australia’s teacher shortages are among the worst in the world, and disadvantaged and remote schools are suffering the most.
Debt collector costs | The ATO has awarded the private debt collector Recoveriescorp more than $42m in contracts as part of its hard-edged campaign to pursue some taxpayers, including welfare recipients.
Analysis | Opposition faultlines have opened up over net zero and immigration but data suggests the Coalition has more to gain from targeting moderate electorates than One Nation supporters.
Analysis | As the NSW parliament draws to a close at the end of November, expect it to be dominated by feral horses, feral pigs and feral politics amid a push to pass major pieces of legislation.
‘What are they going to do?’ | Rock climbers are openly discussing flouting Victoria’s voluntary bans on routes near Mount Arapiles despite pleas to respect the area’s Indigenous heritage.

World

Middle East crisis | Israel has threatened to step up its attacks against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon; as talks continue over the fragile Gaza ceasefire deal, Palestinians are facing the grim task of recovering thousands of bodies from beneath the rubble.
US government | The FBI has reportedly fired a top official of 27 years experience after its director became enraged by press stories over his own government jet use.
Andrew Mountbatten Windsor | The former Duke of York will also now lose the honorary naval rank of vice-admiral, the UK defence secretary has said, a week after having the royal title of prince removed.
Train stabbings | Two men are in custody after a mass stabbing incident on a high-speed train in Cambridgeshire that left two people with life-threatening injuries. UK police revealed the ethnicity of the suspects in a bid to counter far-right speculation, they said.
Louvre heist | The audacious daytime jewel heist at the Louvre was carried out by petty criminals rather than professionals from the world of organised crime, the Paris prosecutor has claimed.

Full Story
Tony Blair, Jacinda Ardern, Julia Gillard – revelations from the chiefs of staff to the powerful
Tony Blair gave hand-me-down shirts to his chief of staff, Jacinda Ardern loves crime TV, and Arthur Sinodinos still can’t call John Howard by his first name. These are just some of the revelations to come out of a new book called The Right Hand: Conversations with the Chiefs of Staff to the World’s Most Powerful People. Its author, Phoebe Saintilan-Stocks, speaks with Reged Ahmad about these influential and unelected powerbrokers who have had a front-row seat to history.

In-depth
An increasing number of fatal drug overdoses are being caused by nitazenes, which in some forms are 500 times stronger than heroin and 10 times stronger than fentanyl. Nitazenes are commonly found on the black market in Australia: in vapes sold as containing cannabis, in pills shaped as teddy bears supposed to be MDMA, in powder trafficked as cocaine, in counterfeit pain medication. What can be done?
Not the news
In the latest in our Kindness of Strangers series, a reader recounts an incident from almost half a century ago where she – like so many Australians – got into trouble while swimming at the beach. A surfer pulled her on to his board as she struggled to keep her head above water while caught in a rip off Maroochydore. She never even saw his face but feels certain he saved her from drowning.
Sport

Cricket | India’s women beat South Africa by 52 runs to win the Women’s Cricket World Cup final; India’s men made light work of a depleted Australia bowling attack in Hobart to level the T20 series; Jofra Archer and Mark Wood give England a lift before the Ashes despite an epic ODI failure.
Football | A rampant Erling Haaland took Manchester City past Bournemouth in the Premier League; West Ham clinched a vital first win under Nuno Espirito Santo as Newcastle faded away.
Rugby league | Abbi Church shone on debut for Jillaroos in a gruelling win over New Zealand.
Marathon | Kenyans dominated the podiums at the New York City Marathon as Hellen Obiri set a women’s course record.

Media roundup
A hidden group of koalas has been discovered, with the use of thermal drones, for the first time in a remote area of the Snowy Mountains, ABC News reports. The ACCC consumer watchdog has accused one of Australia’s largest pipeline owners of using “greenwash” ads to keep homes burning fossil fuel, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Health workers in Tasmania are set to escalate industrial action in frustration over stalled negotiations, the Mercury reports.
What’s happening today

ACT | Hearings are due to be held in the Senate inquiry into the Optus triple-zero outage.
ABS | The latest building approvals and monthly household spending figures are due to be released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Eureka! | The recipients of the 2025 Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science will be revealed.
Business | Westpac is expected to release its full-year results.

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Brain teaser
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.

Quick crossword
Cryptic crossword