Your morning Briefing

Welcome to your morning digest of the top stories of the day.

Hello readers and welcome to your two-minute digest of what’s making news today.

26/07/2018: (L-R) Fairfax CEO, Greg Hywood, with Nine CEO, Hugh Marks at Nine's Willoughby headquarters on Thursday. Nine and Fairfax have announced a historic merger, creating a $4.2 billion company. The combined company will be called Nine and will be headed by current Nine CEO, Hugh Marks. Hollie Adams/The Australian

Day a giant died

The historic Fairfax name will disappear after the company’s board agreed to a $2.1 billion cash-and-stock takeover by Nine. It took one of Kerry Packer’s former lieutenants to finally deliver Fairfax into the hands of his old boss’s beloved Nine Network, writes Damon Kitney. Pamela Williams examines the role of Peter Costello, and concludes Australia’s longest serving treasurer and now chairman of Nine Entertainment Co still has the fox in him. And Greg Hywood’s future is unclear apart from the fact that with a payout of $6.3m and rising, the Maserati fan will exit with millions.

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Protestors wearing masks depicting One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Gautam Adani are seen with a person in a dinosaur costume depicting former Prime Minister Tony Abbott outside the Queensland LNP (Liberal National Party) state convention at the Royal International Convention Centre, Brisbane, Saturday, July 7, 2018. (AAP Image/Darren England) NO ARCHIVING

‘We’ll sink NEG’

Key Senate crossbenchers Pauline Hanson and David Leyon­hjelm have warned Malcolm Turnbull they could sink his ­national energy guarantee if he is forced to rely on independent support to secure his signature ­energy reform. The One Nation Leader said yesterday she was “strongly against” the NEG, and wanted to pull out of the Paris climate deal that required Australia to cut 2005-level emissions by 26 per cent.

“Why should we comply with the UN Paris agreement when major Paris signatories refuse to comply and we sell them our coal? What we need is cheap, reliable electricity and to harness our natural supply of high-quality coal in new low-emissions, coal-fired power stations.”

Pauline Hanson

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Former prime minister Tony Abbott at the Woodford cattle sales yards in Woodford, 72 km (45 miles) North west of Brisbane, Monday, July 23, 2018. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas) NO ARCHIVING

Stem migrant flow

Back in 2002, in his first Inter-Generational Report, treasurer Peter Costello forecast that it would take 40 years, until 2042, for Australia’s population to reach 25 million. In fact, we are going to reach this milestone within the next month, 24 years early.

“We are in the midst of an unprecedented population boom, and immigration is driving it. Through immigration alone, we are adding a city bigger than Canberra to our population every two years. And if you believe the so-called experts, immigration is like a runaway train that can’t be slowed down without crashing the economy, even though immigration averaging 220,000 a year for the past decade has contrib­uted to stagnant wages, unaffordable housing, clogged roads, bursting public transport and an African crime wave in Melbourne.”

Tony Abbott

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New MP Emma Husar mingles with other newly-elected members in a Parliament House courtyard in Canberra.

Sold a pup

Federal Labor MP Emma Husar was forced to appear before a Labor internal committee before she was confirmed as the Lindsay candidate in 2016 to account for $29,000 she fundraised through local charities for an assistance dog for her autistic son. Ms Husar ended up forfeiting the dog to the agency that provided it. The revelation comes as Bill Shorten maintains he had no knowledge of bullying and misuse of staff allegations against Ms Husar until last week, despite Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese revealing he found out about an investigation into the NSW MP weeks ago.

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paul hulme manly police inspector outside the police integrity commission in Sydney tues 4 dec 2001 edit Picture: Joe Murphy

‘Pretty much disgusted’

A retired detective has expressed anger at initial police failings after the disappearance of Sydney mother Lyn Dawson, blaming the high profile of her husband and suspected killer, Chris Dawson. As a senior officer on the northern beaches, Paul Hulme made a decision to put a seasoned investigator on Lyn’s case in 1998, 16 years after she vanished without trace. The officer he assigned, Damian Loone, would doggedly investigate, leading two separate coroners to find Lyn was murdered by her husband, a former Newtown Jets rugby league star. Catch up on the latest episode of the record-breaking podcast, The Teacher’s Pet.

“I was pretty well disgusted with the investigation into her disappearance.”

Paul Hulme

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SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MAY 25: Rugby Australia CEO Raelene Castle speaks to the media during the Australian Rugby Sydney Sevens announcement at Spotless Stadium on May 25, 2018 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

Castle’s report card

It has not been a good 200 first days for Raelene Castle or Rugby Australia. The examiner would certainly say “must try harder’’, writes Alan Jones.

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Kudelka’s view

Jon Kudelka Letters Cartoon for 27-07-2018. 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.