Morning Mail: ‘now or never’ for Watt’s nature laws, mother vows to continue blockers fight, Trump’s White House revamp

Morning everyone. The environment minister, Murray Watt, will warn in a speech today that “it’s now or never” for other parties to back Labor’s nature law changes, while former New South Wales Liberal bigwig Matt Kean has told the Coalition to stop “playing politics” and make a deal so the legislation can pass.
The mother at the centre of the legal stoush over puberty blockers in Queensland has vowed to keep on fighting, we crunch the numbers on inflation as the US Fed cuts rates, and Donald Trump has fired a federal board as his quest to revamp the White House continues.
Australia

‘I feel like I’m in prison’ | In our latest report on the NDIS, Kate Lyons talks to MS sufferer Emily Livingstone, who cannot afford to leave hospital and live at home because of cuts to her plan.
Nature necessity | Kean has scolded the federal Coalition for “playing politics rather than acting in the national interest” on new nature laws, with the intervention by the former NSW Liberal treasurer and now Climate Change Authority chief adding pressure on Sussan Ley to strike a deal with Labor. Watt will make the case for his 1,400-page bill in a speech today, saying “it’s now or never” to make a deal.
Exclusive | The mother of a transgender child who successfully sued to overturn Queensland’s ban on puberty blockers and hormone treatments for children with gender dysphoria says she is “not backing away from the fight” after the government reinstated the ban hours after her supreme court victory.
Exclusive | Two government MPs, alongside human rights experts, have called for Israel’s largest weapons companies to be removed from a defence conference in Sydney next week, which is sponsored by the state government.
Party line | Parliament’s expenses watchdog has cleared Pauline Hanson over using taxpayer funds to attend Gina Rinehart’s birthday party after an investigation in which Hanson explained she had travelled to Perth to meet a new One Nation MP who later changed his name to “Aussie Trump”.

World

Hurricane force | Hurricane Melissa has slammed into Cuba after leaving parts of neighbouring Jamaica broken and reeling from ferocious winds and extreme rainfall. Dozens have been reported dead in Haiti. Follow developments live.
Gaza deaths | Israeli airstrikes on Gaza overnight killed at least 96 Palestinians, half of them children, in a deadly challenge to the ceasefire. Our reporters have found that Google and Amazon agreed to sidestep legal orders to clinch a lucrative cloud computing deal with Israel.
Ballroom board firings | Donald Trump has fired all six members of the independent federal fine arts commission responsible for reviewing his controversial White House ballroom and planned “Arc de Trump” in Washington DC. Democrats have demanded a list of donors to the $300m ballroom project.
Exclusive | Russian figures close to the Kremlin are mounting a last-minute attempt to halt the extradition from Dubai of a Romanian-French mercenary wanted in Romania for plotting a coup, a Guardian investigation has revealed.
Cashing in the chips | Nvidia has become the world’s first $5tn company, just three months after the Silicon Valley chipmaker was first to break through the barrier of $4tn in market value. In New York, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates amid economic uncertainty caused by the federal shutdown, which a report estimates could cut GDP by one or two percentage points.

Full Story
Australia’s growing cult crisis
Benita Kolovos speaks to Reged Ahmad about why more “modern” cults are using new methods to recruit and promising “simple answers to complex problems”.

In-depth
Yesterday’s figures showing that inflation jumped to 3.2% in September have kiboshed any hope of a rate cut next week. Greg Jericho crunches the numbers behind the numbers – namely, higher electricity prices – but also finds reasons to be optimistic about the outlook.
Not the news
When a friend broke her heart, singer-singwriter Stella Donnelly tried her best not to write songs about it. But every time she touched an instrument, it was all that came into her head and the result is her third album, Love and Fortune, out next week. She talks to Brodie Lancaster about writing the songs while riding her bike and the “heavy” feeling that “for me, never resolved”.
Sport

Rugby union | The Wallabies’ win over England at Twickenham last year is still fresh enough to inspire Australia as they take on the old enemy again on Saturday.
Cricket | South Africa await Australia’s women if they beat India in the World Cup semi-final after the Proteas hammered England by 125 runs. The men had a frustrating night as their first T20 against India in Canberra was abandoned because of rain.
Rugby league | Not all is lost for England after the harsh lesson dished out by the Kangaroos on Saturday, our correspondent writes, but coach Shaun Wane must be bold before this Saturday’s second Test in Liverpool.

Media roundup
The Sydney Morning Herald has details of Anthony Albanese and Trump’s dinner on the sidelines of the Apec summit. An Australian intelligence insider and cybersecurity executive is facing more than a decade in a US jail after pleading guilty to selling trade secrets to Russia, the ABC reports. Fifty-five people have been charged after early-morning raids yesterday on users of the encrypted AN0M app across South Australia, the Advertiser reports. And a sold-out sex festival has been given the go-ahead by Ipswich council despite objections from residents, the Courier Mail reports.
What’s happening today

Business | Coles Q1 results are released at 9am, plus JB Hi-Fi, Whitehaven, Woolworths and Wesfarmers hold their AGMs.
Canberra | Environment minister Murray Watt speaks at the National Press Club at 11.30am.

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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