Your Afternoon Briefing: Vic schools set for showdown

Your 2-minute digest of the day’s top stories and must-reads.

Hello readers. Victoria is set for a schools showdown, and Australia has suffered its first loss in Adelaide since the 2010/11 Ashes.

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James Merlino (left) and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews are seen at the first meeting of the new Victorian state cabinet in Melbourne, Monday, December 3, 2018. (AAP Image/Ellen Smith) NO ARCHIVING

Vic set for schools showdown

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has accused the Morrison government of “short-changing” Victorian state school students, setting the scene for a showdown over education and infrastructure funding at COAG meetings in Adelaide later this week.

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India players celebrate the win during day five of the first Test match between Australia and India at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide, Monday, December 10, 2018. (AAP Image/Kelly Barnes) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY, IMAGES TO BE USED FOR NEWS REPORTING PURPOSES ONLY, NO COMMERCIAL USE WHATSOEVER, NO USE IN BOOKS WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT FROM AAP

Tail’s victory charge falls short

Australia’s tailenders put up a brave fight but India have broken through for a tense victory on day five in Adelaide.

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Queensland Rail New Generation Rollingstock NGR trains

Bureaucrats ‘knew of defects’

Public servants were warned Queensland’s scandal-plagued New Generation Rollingstock trains violated disability laws before a $4.4bn contract was signed.

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pretty businesswoman putting her luggage into overhead locker on airplane

The lowdown on carry-on

A crackdown on carry-on baggage will begin in earnest in the next week, as Australian airlines take a united approach to what passengers take on board in the interests of safety and on-time performance.

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Sanjeev Gupta in Whyalla. Picture credit: Sean Kelly, GFG Alliance

Mega plant ‘just the beginning’

British billionaire industrialist Sanjeev Gupta, backed by heavyweight Chinese investors, plans to build one of the world’s largest steel plants in Whyalla, 380km north of Adelaide.

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ACCC Chair Rod Sims arrives to speak to™ the media about the release of the preliminary report of the Digital Platforms Inquiry into Google, Facebook and Australian media in Sydney, Monday December 10, 2018 (AAP Image/Peter Rae) NO ARCHIVING

Privacy rules could flick switch

Changes being mulled by competition regulator the ACCC could mean tech titans Facebook and Google face existential threats to their data-driven businesses in Australia.

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