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.
PM back in fight
Malcolm Turnbull has gained a vital polling boost to his leadership as the Coalition regains ground against Labor ahead of a bruising parliamentary debate on same-sex marriage this week that is set to spark a divisive push by conservatives to widen religious protections. After a week that included internal attacks on his leadership, Mr Turnbull has widened the gap against Bill Shorten as preferred prime minister to lead by 39 per cent to 33 per cent as the government gained on Labor but still trailed by 53 per cent to 47 per cent in two-party terms.
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Black economy tax blitz
The Australian Taxation Office has launched an audit blitz on neighbourhoods across the nation with high concentrations of cash-only businesses, including restaurants, hairdressers and beauty parlours. The blitz is part of a covert war on the black economy that has already yielded $200 million. The area-by-area blitz — which includes Sydney’s Cabramatta and Chinatown, Melbourne’s Glen Waverley, Brisbane’s Sunnybank, Adelaide’s Glenelg and Perth’s CBD — was initiated at the behest of Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan.
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Digging in Burke’s backyard
Several journalists over the years tried to write the Don Burke story, writes Media Diarist Stephen Brook. The Sydney Morning Herald’s Richard Glover wrote a piece in the Good Weekend magazine in the 1990s when Burke was a huge TV star, which contained bullying but no sexual harassment allegations. And a feature by late Elisabeth Wynhausen and Vanessa Walker ran in The Australian in 2004. Glover said on Facebook that his piece ran in April 1991, “so people saying ‘we didn’t know’ — at least about the bullying — don’t really have much excuse”.
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Term deposit furore
The corporate watchdog received a flood of complaints from term deposit customers allegedly ripped off by Australia’s banks as they sought safe-haven investments after the global financial crisis, new documents show. Details of the Australian Securities & Investments Commission’s concerns about shady term deposit practices are contained in a draft of a 2009 letter from its then chairman, Tony D’Aloisio, to bank chief executives, obtained by The Australian under Freedom of Information laws.
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Marsh ton swamps Poms
A magnificent Shaun Marsh century has batted a struggling England out of the game and potentially out of the series two days into the second Test, writes Peter Lalor. Marsh’s selection was greeted with outrage from critics, who pointed out that it was his eighth recall and he had only recently been judged not worthy of a contract. At 34, his revival seemed a breach of policies. West Australian coach Justin Langer said earlier in the summer the left-hander was in the best form of his life and his observation has been proved more than just parochial boasting.
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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.