Your morning Briefing: Turnbull playing an invisible hand

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

Hello readers. Here is your 2-minute digest of today’s top stories and must-reads.

28/11/18: Former PM, Malcolm Turnbull walks in the rain near his home at Point Piper, Sydney. John Feder/The Australian.

Hand of Mal

Malcolm Turnbull has been in ­regular contact with Kerryn Phelps and one of his staff members helped the independent MP, who played a key role in counselling Julia Banks before her shock defection from the Liberal Party.

The Christmas cheer flowed freely in Canberra last night at the crossbenchers’ end-of-year bash as they welcomed their shiny new recruit, Julia Banks, to the fold. But back in her seat of Chisholm, the volunteers who helped her get into parliament weren’t feeling the festive fizz. The ex-PM’s close co-operation with Kerryn Phelps as the new member for Wentworth is fuelling deep suspicions the former prime minister is actively working against the Liberal Party writes Dennis Shanahan. Greg Sheridan wonders why the Libs burn their best and brightest, citing the case of Jim Molan, and Niki Savva reckons the their hangover has just begun. Keep up with the latest from parliament in our live blog, PoliticsNow.

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26/11/2018 NAB CEO Andrew Thorburn leaves the Banking Royal Commission in Melbourne.Picture : David Geraghty / The Australian.

Christmas blitz

NAB is embroiled in a new pressure-­selling scandal, urging its brokers to sell five mortgages each before the end of this week.

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12/09/2018 Lynette Dawson's brother Greg Simms and his wife Merilyn at their home in Eleebana, Lake Macquarie. NSW Police have commenced a forensic search at the former home of Dawson in Bayview, on Sydney's northern beaches. Liam Driver/The Australian

Pet reboots

Stay tuned: The Teacher’s Pet crime investigation series is set to return with more revelations about the disappearance of Lyn Dawson.

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Kudelka’s view

Jon Kudelka Letters page cartoon for 29-11-2018Version: 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.