News you may have missed yesterday

WHILE the country’s attention was rightly focused on the crisis in Sydney, other imporant news was lost in the shuffle. Here’s what you may have missed.

WHILE the country’s attention was rightly focused on those being held hostage in a Sydney cafe, other news was lost in the shuffle. Here’s what you may have missed.

EMMA FREEDMAN AXED

Emma Freedman’s Channel 9 colleagues and Today viewers were left reeling over her shock sacking.

Nine yesterday confirmed the 25-year-old would be made redundant from her position on Weekend Today, sparking a huge wave of support for the young presenter and calls for Nine to reinstate her.

Freedman’s father Lee was the first to lash out at the network, before retweeting dozens of tweets from her fans and shocked viewers.

Emma Freedman has been made redundant from Channel 9. Pic: SDP Media

TEENAGER DIES FROM SHARK ATTACK

A young man killed after being attacked by a shark off the coast of Cape Tribulation has been identified as local Daniel Smith.

The teenager died after being attacked off Port Douglas in far north Queensland.

A Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman told The Cairns Post they were called at 11.32am yesterday with reports an 18-year-old man had suffered an upper thigh injury as a result of a shark bite

She said he was given CPR by friends on the boat which was carrying a defribulator, but he could not be revived.

Daniel Smith, 18, was killed in a shark attack off Port Douglas.

NEW TEST CAPTAIN

In a surprise move, Steve Smith has been confirmed as Australia’s new Test captain, but the press release was strange.

It had been tipped that Brad Haddin, the 37-year-old wicketkeeper and current Vice Captain, would step into the void left by the injured Michael Clarke for the second Test against India starting Wednesday in Brisbane, and then for the rest of the series.

Smith was initially expected to be announced as vice captain as he continued to be groomed for the role. But Cricket Australia opted instead to throw Smith in the deep end immediately, at just 25 years old.

Australia’s new Test captain. Picture: Ryan Pierse — CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images

In a weird statement, CA announced Smith would be “vice captain” but would lead the team in Clarke’s absence.

“Cricket Australia has announced that Steven Smith has been appointed Vice Captain of the Australian Test team effective immediately and will captain the Australian side in the absence of Michael Clarke,” the statement read.

MID YEAR ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

A ballooning budget deficit, unemployment at near 13-year highs and plummeting commodity prices — the federal government’s budget update paints a grim picture.

The budget deficit for 2014/15 is now expected to top $40 billion, swelling by more than $10 billion since the May budget, while prospects of a surplus have been pushed out to 2019/20, according to the government’s midyear economic and fiscal outlook (MYEFO).

Senate delays in passing legislation were blamed for the deterioration, along with weaker-than-expected wages growth and the impact of sliding commodity prices, which left tax receipts revised down by $31.6 billion over the forward estimates.

Treasurer Joe Hockey and Minister for Finance Mathias Cormann deliver a grim budget update at Parliament House in Canberra.

Jobless rate forecasts have also deteriorated since the May budget, with unemployment now expected to peak at 6.5 per cent this financial year, its highest level since June 2002, compared with an original 6.25 per cent forecast.

The document said the iron ore price had unexpectedly fallen 50 per cent since early 2014, and was now expected to remain around $US60 a tonne for the next two years, compared to $US95 at the time of the budget.

CRAIG THOMSON ACQUITTED

Victorian County Court Judge Carolyn Douglas described former Labor MP Craig Thomson’s crimes as a huge breach of trust, and did not rule out jailing him. “The seriousness is the breach of trust and in his position it was very, very serious,” she said on Monday.

But she acquitted him of 49 charges of obtaining financial advantage by deception, saying the prosecution had made an error in the way it made its case.

“Each charge is pleaded incorrectly, it’s a fatal flaw,” she said.

Thomson’s barrister, Greg James QC, said the former member for Dobell had been severely punished in the court of public opinion who judged him more harshly because he was an MP.

He was blowing union funds on prostitutes while he was serving its members on “a 24-hour basis far from home”, according to his barrister.

Craig Thomson acquitted of 49 charges. Picture: Andrew Batsch

The former federal MP could yet face jail after being convicted of 13 charges of thieving around $5000 from the Health Services Union (HSU) while he was its national secretary.

Thomson is appealing against his Melbourne Magistrates’ Court conviction and 12-month jail term, with nine months suspended, for misusing $24,538 of HSU funds.

Judge Douglas set aside that decision as she handed down her fresh ruling.

She said it was “regrettable” she could not convict Thomson on all charges as he had clearly deceived the HSU. But she said prosecutors incorrectly alleged Thomson defrauded credit card lenders, not the union. She will sentence Thomson on Wednesday.

NBN BUYBACK

Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull have officially signed a deal to buy back Telstra’s $11 billion copper network. A network the Howard government sold to Telstra last century.

Alongside the Telstra agreement, NBN Co has taken ownership of Optus’ HFC cable network valued at “substantially the same” as the two company’s $800m 2011 deal.

Both arrangements will now allow the government to rollout its new multi-technology plan for the NBN.

Under Labor’s previous plan, the government was to pay Telstra $11 billion to decommission the copper network to allow the rollout of a fibre to the premises network.

However, the new arrangement will see the copper network now used in places where the government will be rolling out its fibre-to-the-node network. Included with the ownership of the copper network, NBN Co is now responsible for the ongoing maintenance and operation of the ageing technology.

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, NBN Co Limited CEO Bill Morrow and Telstra CEO David Thodey hold a press conference in Sydney. Picture: Britta Campion