Laura Murphy-Oates

Jan 17, 2024 | theguardian.com | Laura Murphy-Oates

It was the summer of Omicron, and after two years of on-and-off lockdowns no one was happy about it. To cap it off, blackfellas across the country were recovering from another Invasion Day, with protests held around the country against blak deaths in custody. But at night, we had something to look forward to. Ash Barty was storming through the Australian Open and bringing a nation along with her. No one from this country had won the Open in more than four decades but that looked set to change.

Jan 3, 2024 | theguardian.com | Laura Murphy-Oates

If you spend enough time around me you will hear my big, loud cackle – it’s often featured on the Full Story podcast. I trace my love of laughter back to sitting around the dinner table as a kid, where me and my two sisters would quote funny lines from movies (most likely Anchorman or Ace Ventura) in a bid to crack each other up. In my adult life, working as a journalist for the past 10 years, small breaks from a grim news cycle are a must.

Dec 28, 2023 | theguardian.com | Laura Murphy-Oates

In 2019, after the world was told that the Uluru climb would close, waves of tourists flocked to the rock as media commentators insisted that the broader public was being robbed of their rights.

Dec 27, 2023 | theguardian.com | Daniel Semo |Joe Koning |Laura Murphy-Oates

In February 2023 the floating sea ice around Antarctica hit a record low for the second year running. But the moderate alarm from scientists at that record low is now being overlaid by astonishment – with some worried they could be witnessing the start of a slow collapse of the delicate southernmost ecosystem.

Dec 20, 2023 | theguardian.com | Laura Murphy-Oates

The Cop28 climate summit concluded in Dubai last week with a deal that some have described as ‘historic’ and others merely ‘incremental’. This caps off a year when the Albanese government pushed ahead with significant climate and environmental reforms, all while remaining the world’s third-biggest fossil fuel exporter.