Your morning Briefing: ‘Conflicted’: warning on big four auditors

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

Hello readers. The major accounting firms are earning consulting fees from the same companies they are hired to audit, and Smith double ton buries England.

17/07/2019 Graeme Samuel, at his house in Brighton. He has released his report on APRA which is leading to sweeping overhaul of the regulator. Picture: David Geraghty / The Australian.

‘Conflicted’: warning on big four auditors

The major accounting firms are ‘inherently conflicted’ by earning consultancy fees from the same top 20 companies they are hired to audit.

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MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 05: Australia batsman Steve Smith acknowledges the applause whilst leaving the field after being dismissed for 211 runs during day two of the 4th Ashes Test Match between England and Australia at Old Trafford on September 05, 2019 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Smith’s double play buries England

A Steve Smith double century has capped an amazing run of form, as a demoralised England were punished for an inept display in the field and the Aussies are in control after declaring at 8-497. Gideon Haigh suggests ‘Smithesque’ is the new ‘Bradmanesque’.

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Law ‘section 18C on steroids’

Anti-discrimination laws proposed by Victorian MP Fiona Patten will turn the state into a ‘circus for culture wars’, free speech advocates say.

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Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures during a visit with the police in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, northern England, on September 5, 2019. - UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson called Thursday for an early election after a flurry of parliamentary votes tore up his hardline Brexit strategy and left him without a majority. Johnson was on a campaign footing on September 5 as he launched a national effort to recruit 20,000 police officers in Yorkshire in northern England. (Photo by Danny Lawson / POOL / AFP)

Opposition plot to block early poll

Johnson’s plans for another go at calling an election have been hit by a plot to block the poll before a Brexit delay.

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Kudelka’s view

Jon Kudelka Letters Cartoon for 06-09-2019. Version: Letters Cartoon (1280x720 - Aspect ratio preserved, Canvas added)COPYRIGHT: The Australian's artists each have different copyright agreements in place regarding re-use of their work in other publications.Please seek advice from the artists themselves or the Managing Editor of The Australian regarding re-use.