Your morning Briefing: Move to head off China with PNG base

Welcome to your 2-minute briefing on the day’s top stories and must-reads.

Hello readers. Here is your 2-minute digest of what’s making news today.

Screengrab of a satellite map showing the north-east of Manus Island.

PNG base ‘strategic coup’

Australia is working on plans with Papua New Guinea to develop a joint naval base on Manus Island, edging out Chinese interest in the strategically vital port with a new facility that would be capable of hosting Australian and US ­warships.

Defence editor Paul Maley writes that if Australia succeeds in establishing a jointly operated naval facility on Manus, it will be a coup in the escalating strategic competition with Beijing for influence in the Pacific.

“Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands are the jewels in the crown. If you want to know why, have a look at a map.”

Paul Maley

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PM Malcolm Turnbull and Kerry Stokes before officially launching the book The Last Post: a ceremony of love, loss and remembrance at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture Kym Smith

Stokes rejects ABC report

Kerry Stokes has strongly rejected a report by the ABC claiming that Malcolm Turnbull lost the prime ministership because of interference from him and Rupert Murdoch, confirming tonight he had “never ­received a text” from the News Corp executive chairman “on this or any matter”. In a rare public statement, the Seven West Media chairman unequivocally denied a ­series of claims made by the ABC’s national political editor Andrew Probyn in a lead story ­illustrated by graphics of mocked-up text ­messages during Tuesday’s evening news bulletin.

Chris Kenny suggests ABC’s Rupert Murdoch conspiracy theory is absurd, factually wrong and the stuff of undergraduate newspapers. Keep up with the latest from parliament in our live blog, PoliticsNow.

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Prime Minister Scott Morrison at a '€˜Facing North' Territory Leadership Network Showcase event at Parliament House in Canberra, Wednesday, September 19, 2018. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas) NO ARCHIVING

ScoMo’s strawberry jam

Malcolm Turnbull couldn’t have called a press conference and talked about strawberries and pins and needles. Especially if it involved new, undefined, controls on “recklessness” on the great ­social media interweb that was so close to his heart and mind. That’s the difference between the former prime minister and his successor, Scott Morrison, writes Dennis Shanahan.

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Chris Kent the Assistant Governor (Economic) at the Reserve Bank of Australia speaking at the Bloomberg Conference in Sydney

License to print money

Banking is a licence to create money out of thin air, the Reserve Bank says, exploding the myth that banks make loans by “lending out customer deposits”. In a landmark speech, assistant governor Chris Kent moved in Sydney yesterday to clear up the “degree of confusion” about how money is created, explaining that banks create deposits when they make loans — in contrast to what textbooks say and most people ­believe.

“Concerned citizens might be worried about what they see as the ability of private banks to create money via the extension of credit, seemingly at will.”

Chris Kent

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Wallabies coach Michael Cheika is seen prior to the Rugby Championship match between Australia and Argentina at Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast, Saturday, September 15, 2018. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

Whither Cheika?

If the Wallabies lose the next two Tests, should Rugby Australia stick with Michael Cheika or go for a left-field option? Here are eight scenarios, writes Wayne Smith.

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Kudelka’s view

Jon Kudelka Letters page 20-09-2018. 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.