Your afternoon Briefing: Overhaul looms on migration, welfare appeals

Your two-minute digest of the day’s top stories.

Hello readers, here’s your two-minute digest of the day’s top stories.

Ian Callinan, AC, QC a former Justice of the High Court of Australia, and author , with his new book Betrayals ,has written a paper about the media, in a Brisbane bookshop.

Overhaul looms on migration, welfare appeals

A sweeping review of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal has recommended a tougher regime for social security payment appeals and a plan to ease the huge backlog of migration cases.

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Masterchef Judges Gary Mehigan, Matt Preston and George Colombaris at Southbank ahead of Regional Flavours Festival. Picture Lachie Millard

MasterChef judges won’t return

This season will be the last for MasterChef Australia hosts Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris, the trio unable to reach a “commercial agreement” with Network 10.

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Dr. Peter Ridd arriving at Federal Court, Brisbane. Picture: Liam Kidston.

Commonwealth could help fund Ridd: Porter

Attorney-General Christian Porter has told Coalition MPs that the Commonwealth could assist in supporting costs for sacked academic Peter Ridd to help him in his legal fight against James Cook University.

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Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk speaks during estimate hearings at Queensland Parliament in Brisbane, Tuesday, July 23, 2019. (AAP Image/Jono Searle) NO ARCHIVING

Premier knew of staffer grant

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk now says she has known since last year that a company co-owned by her chief of staff David Barbagallo received a $267,500 “co-investment” from the state government for a cruise-tracking app.

The revelations come during Queensland budget estimates, where it was also revealed the Palaszczuk government spent more than $300,000 on external consultants to help prepare this year’s budget, including former Labor Premier Anna Bligh’s chiefs of staff Nicole Scurrah and Mike Kaiser.

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A skier has fallen from a Thredbo chairlift after one of the chairs fell to the ground. Picture: snowsbest.com

Skier’s ‘freak’ accident

A skier at a popular NSW snow field was sent plummeting to the ground after a ‘freak gust of wind’ dislodged his chairlift.

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