Your morning Briefing: PM’s future hinges on female bid

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.

The candidates are lining up in Wenwtorth for the Liberals.

Wentworth ‘winnable with a woman’

Scott Morrison faces losing his parliamentary majority unless the Liberals choose a female can­didate for the Wentworth by-election, according to private polling showing the government’s primary vote has crashed to 39 per cent in the blue-ribbon seat vacated by ­Malcolm Turnbull. The polling, taken at the weekend and paid for by early Liberal frontrunner Andrew Bragg, showed that a female candidate would boost the Liberal vote in the seat by 4 per cent.

Andrew Bragg is standing for Liberal preselection in the seat of Wentworth

Genuine sexism happened on Monday afternoon, writes Janet Albrechtsen, when frontrunner Andrew Bragg, a very good candidate for Liberal preselection in Wentworth, pulled out of the race because he thinks a woman should be appointed. Margin Call, however, suggests his exit is nothing to Bragg about, given the scuttlebutt flying around. Keep up with all the latest from parliament in our live blog, PoliticsNow as Scott Morrison faces his first partyroom as PM.

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Beverley Quinn and family shows Beverley, and (from left to right) Charlotte, Beatrix and Alice.

Accused ‘spent days with bodies’

Anthony Robert Harvey, 24, ­remained in his family home in suburban Perth for “several days” after using knives and a blunt ­instrument to murder his three daughters, his wife and his ­mother-in-law, police allege. West Australian Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said yesterday that Mr Harvey allegedly lived in the house in Coode Street, Bedford, with his deceased family before making his way to Pannawonica, the iron ore town in the heart of the Pilbara.

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CORRECTION - Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) shakes hands with Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Bruno Tshibala Nzenze during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on September 6, 2018. (Photo by Lintao Zhang / POOL / AFP) / “The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by Lintao Zhang has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [-Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Bruno Tshibala Nzenze--] instead of [-Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso--]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry for the inconvenience this notification may cause and remain at your disposal for any further information you may require.”

China losing new cold war

When the Soviet Union imploded in 1991, the causes were a faltering economy and being drawn into a costly and unwinnable arms race with the US as well as imperial overreach, throwing money and resources at regimes with little strategic value and long track records of chronic economic mismanagement. As China enters a new “cold war” with the US, the CPC seems to be at risk of repeating the same catastrophic blunders, writes Minxin Pei.

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Broncos coach Wayne Bennett looks on during a post match press conference following the Elimination Final between the Brisbane Broncos and the St George-Illawarra Dragons in Week 1 of the NRL Finals Series at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Sunday, September 9, 2018. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

Should he stay or should he go?

Wayne Bennett may be at the Broncos next season. He may not. Ultimately, it will be his decision because the Broncos have no desire to pay him out, writes Brent Read. If Bennett wants to go, he will do so of his own free will. The nagging sense is that he may explore his options elsewhere, the level of antipathy between the coach and senior management highlighted to some by the presence of former football manager Andrew Gee in the coaches box during Sunday afternoon’s elimination final loss to St George Illawarra, who brought an end to the Broncos’ season in spectacularly disappointing circumstances.

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Johannes Leak’s view

Johannes Leak Letters Cartoon for 11-09-2018Version: 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.