Your afternoon Briefing

Good afternoon, readers. Monday brought us a marriage proposal in Parliament, another name added to the citizenship scandal and fresh allegations levelled at Don Burke.

George Christensen and The Nationals team at a joint press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture Kym Smith

It’s been an incredibly busy day in Canberra as what could be the last sitting week of the year kicked off. Malcolm Turnbull gained a vital polling boost to his leadership, the House of Representatives began debating the Dean Smith bill to legalise same-sex marriage, Tim Wilson made history by proposing to his partner Ryan Bolger on the floor of the parliament and Katy Gallagher became embroiled in the citizenship scandal. For a more detailed recap, take a look back through our live blog.

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George Christensen and The Nationals team at a joint press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture Kym Smith

George’s game has backfired

Nationals MP George Christensen’s antics to damage the PM should leave a foul taste in the mouths of all journalists, and his colleagues, according Peter van Onselen, whose column is currently the top story on our site and well worth a read.

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(L-r) TV presenter Jamie Durie with Don Burke and Deborah Hutton from TV program "Renovation Rescue" Jun 2003.

Cameras rolling couldn’t stop Burke's sleaze

Deborah Hutton has become the first former Nine Network presenter to detail an incident involving Don Burke.

“I remember a time he came to film my apartment in Sydney back in the late 90s … we were sitting down on the couch to record the chat and he made some disgusting sexual remark that I couldn’t quite believe at the time, and I couldn’t get him out the door quick enough,” Hutton said. “He was a powerful predator.”

Hutton cannot remember the precise phrase that Burke said, but said it was similar in nature to what Burke said to swimming star Susie O’Neill.

Burke has admitted to bullying behaviour, but denies claims of sexual harassment.

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Container homes for refugees are pictured some days before the inauguration of the accomodation at the Tempelhofer Feld former airfield in Berlin, on December 1, 2017. The village of 256 apartments made of three containers each offers space for more than 1,000 refugees. The first residents of the so-called "Tempohomes" will move in by the beginning of December. / AFP PHOTO / dpa / Bernd von Jutrczenka / Germany OUT

You’ll get a kitchen if you go

This is pretty extraordinary — Germany is offering to pay for asylum-seekers’ house renovations and a year’s free rent if they go home to their country of origin.

The cash incentive is marketed to refugees under the slogan “Your country. Your future. Now!”