Your morning Briefing

Welcome to your morning roundup of what’s making news and the must-reads for today.

Good morning readers. Here is your two-minute digest of what’s making news today.

Labor Member for Batman David Feeney during Question Time in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra, Tuesday, May 23, 2017. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas) NO ARCHIVING

Shorten mate’s citizenship scrape

Bill Shorten’s key ally and close friend David Feeney has delivered a blow to Labor’s credibility after being caught out in the widening citizenship scandal, which threatens to spark a series of marginal seat battles with the Coalition and the Greens. Major flaws in Labor’s candidate-vetting processes, previously lauded by the Opposition Leader as “very strict” and “rigorous”, were exposed last night after five opposition MPs failed to provide clear documentation proving they were not dual citizens. Mr Shorten faces accusations of dishonesty and hypocrisy over the citizenship crisis, which has so far not led to any Labor MP ­being referred to the High Court, and could face a tough fight to hold Mr Feeney’s Melbourne seat. Stay abreast of all the developments from parliament in our live blog, PoliticsNow.

“You’ve got to assume that Bill Shorten has known for some time ... it just completely exposes his dishonesty and his hypocrisy when it comes to this issue.”

Mathias Cormann

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FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2014 file photo Alexander Zubkov of Russia carries the national flag as he leads the team during the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. When the International Olympic Committee board prepares to vote Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017 on whether to ban Russia from February’s Winter Olympics, its members will decide the fate of numerous medals yet to be won. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, file)

Oh those Russians

Russia has been officially banned from competing in February’s PyeongChang Winter Olympics, and the country’s top two sports ministers banned for life, but approved “clean’’ athletes will be allowed to participate under a neutral Olympic flag, the International Olympic Committee has ruled. IOC president Thomas Bach resisted global calls for a harsher blanket ban of all Russian athletes, instead publicly castigating the brazen urine swapping and false negative test results from the Russian laboratories during the Sochi Olympics four years ago.

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Former Federal member for Bennelong John Alexander speaks to the media during a doorstop with Federal Minister for Urban Infrastructure Paul Fletcher at Memorial Park, Meadowbank, Sydney, Friday, November 17, 2017. Liberal MP John Alexander may not have needed to resign and call a by-election in Bennelong, as it has now emerged he never held British citizenship. The UK Home Office has confirmed he is no longer eligible for citizenship after Mr Alexander renounced even "the possibility" of British citizenship eligibility through his father. (AAP Image/Gemma Najem) NO ARCHIVING

Libs look good in Bennelong

The Liberal Party is in front in ­internal polling in the Bennelong by-election, with its stocks lifting even further in the seat at the weekend, party sources say. Internal polling is understood to show Liberal candidate John Alexander ahead by about 54-46 per cent on a two-party-preferred basis, up a point from polling a week earlier, in the race for the seat against former Labor premier Kristina Keneally. The leaked polling results appear to reflect comments Bill Shorten made to his caucus yesterday when he said the party was “behind in Bennelong” despite a candidate with a “great story to tell”.

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Rod Clement Margin Call Cartoon for 06-12-2017 Version: (650x488 - 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.

Milo’s colourful crew

Margin Call looks at the diverse cast of outrage merchants and colourful business people cashing in on visiting controversialist Milo Yiannopoulos’s Australian tour. The former Breitbart personality popped in to Canberra’s Parliament House yesterday with local publicist Max Markson and tour promoter Damien Costas, publisher of dinosaur porno mag Penthouse in Australia and New Zealand, in tow. Helping with MC duties on the tour have been Mark Latham, Ross Cameron and Andrew Bolt.

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Australian captain Steve Smith reacts following a dropped catch from the bat of England's Dawid Malan on Day 4 of the Second Test match between Australia and England at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide, Tuesday, December 5, 2017. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY, IMAGES TO BE USED FOR NEWS REPORTING PURPOSES ONLY, NO COMMERCIAL USE WHATSOEVER, NO USE IN BOOKS WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT FROM AAP

A series of unfortunate events

With England 4-176 at stumps, exactly 176 short of victory, Peter Lalor suggests that for Australia, regrets, they’ll have a few. A game that began with furious debate over Joe Root’s call to send Australia in after winning the toss, closes with a similar row over Steve Smith’s refusal to enforce the follow-on when the fourth evening was spread against the sky.

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Kudelka’s view

Jon Kudelka Letters Page Cartoon for 06-12-2017Version: (650x366)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.