Your morning Briefing
Welcome to your morning roundup of what’s making news and the must-reads for today.
Hello readers. Here is your two-minute digest of what’s making news today.
Coalition crisis
Barnaby Joyce’s leadership was in peril last night after he lost critical support within his partyroom, as senior Nationals moved to force his resignation over the love-child scandal. As the Deputy Prime Minister dug in to defend his leadership, a group of Nationals MPs plotted to remove their leader after his repeated failure to explain the potential misuse of taxpayer funds in creating jobs for his former staffer and now-partner Vikki Campion. The crisis now threatens to spill into a Coalition turf war. Keep up with all the twists and turns in the Joyce’s battle to keep his leadership and more in our live rolling blog, PoliticsNow and read what our top opinion writers had to say:
“A cock has crowed in parliament well before dawn and Malcolm Turnbull has thrice denied any association with Barnaby Joyce to save himself.”
“Some have called it the pub test, others the sniff test ... does Barnaby Joyce’s explanation for when his pregnant mistress became his partner pass muster?”
“Imagine an ordinary person on benefits turning up to Centrelink and trying to tell a story that the pregnant girlfriend/lover/mistress was not a partner.”
“When politicians decide sex between consenting adults is government business, they abandon their core business of tending to the sacred fire of liberty.”
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Netanyahu bribery charge
Israeli police have recommended charging Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged bribery cases, including one allegedly involving donations from casino billionaire James Packer. A police statement said there was enough evidence to indict the Prime Minister for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in two separate cases which they have been investigating for months. In one probe, known as Case 1000, Mr Netanyahu reportedly received over $100,000 in gifts from Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan and other wealthy supporters including Mr Packer. His wife allegedly received bottles of pink champagne. The gifts were reportedly worth some tens of thousands of dollars.
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Spinal fusion on risk list
Spinal fusion for unexplained back pain will today be put on the list of unnecessary, wasteful and risky medical procedures, promising patients more clarity over their options and potentially saving the health system tens of millions of dollar a year. The move comes after The Australian revealed health insurers had nominated a reduction in spinal fusion surgery as one of the doctor-led responses required to contain the rising costs that are driving up premiums. Even a 20 per cent reduction in hospital cases would save the industry $60 million a year, with flow-on savings for members.
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Westpac’s big guns
Three mysteries swirled among the lawyers, bankers, spinners and journalists gathered for Kenneth Hayne’s royal commission opening address. Margin Call can now answer one-and-a-half of them. As noted in yesterday’s column, one of the country’s most distinguished barristers, Peter Jopling QC, was along on Monday, and in a prime position, sitting in the front row of the gallery. The formidable barrister’s client was a mystery. Until now. Margin Call can reveal Jopling — a competition specialist who acted for the ACCC in the regulator’s successful case against Visy Industry Holdings — is working for Brian Hartzer’s Westpac, alongside fellow silks Matthew Darke SC and John Sheahan QC.
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Pipe dreams
Scotty James says his alter ego will let him know if he needs to pull out the trick none of his rivals has mastered in today’s halfpipe showdown for Olympic gold with the sport’s greatest performer Shaun White. James finished behind White and ahead of Japanese star Ayumu Hirano in yesterday’s qualification runs, setting up an enthralling battle for the medals from 12.30pm AEDT. Keep up with all the Winter Olympics action in our live blog.
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Kudelka’s view
China’s great wall of silence
China deliberately concealed information about the coronavirus, and now it is fighting an inquiry. So what is Beijing hiding?
Your noon Briefing
Your 2-minute digest of the day’s top stories.