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.

Minister for Social Services Dan Tehan after introducing the Drug Testing Trial Bill for welfare recipients in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra, Wednesday, February 28, 2018. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas) NO ARCHIVING

Bogged down

The agency running the ­$22bn NDIS has faced a dramatic rise in people getting more money, and trying to access the scheme, with legal bills running to $10m a year.

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Jeremy Kleeman who plays the pudding character.

Magic pudding

Hell will freeze over before Chris Bowen presents a worse set of four-year budget figures than the Coalition, writes Judith Sloan, but his magic pudding economics that eliminates the cash refunds for franking credits will take $10bn from modest self-funded retirees whose assets and incomes put them just beyond the Age Pension.

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Jailed former opposition leader and current federal opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim greets the supporters during a rally in Kuala Lumpur on May 16, 2018. Reformist Anwar Ibrahim declared a "new dawn for Malaysia" on May 16 after his release from prison transformed him into a potential prime minister following his alliance's stunning election victory. / AFP PHOTO / Roslan RAHMAN

Anwar’s swipe

Anwar Ibrahim walked free from prison with a pardon and wasted no time in declaring that Australia’s ‘muted’ response to oppression in Malaysia was ‘painful’. Greg Sheridan suggests modern Malaysian history has surely pivoted after Anwar Ibrahim walked free from three years in prison yesterday.

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Rod Clement Margin Call Cartoon for 17-05-2018.Version: Business 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.

Boy toys

Home loan king John Symond has bought a new Bombardier Global Express (retail price: $80 million). The home loan entrepreneur Symond’s private jet — which he took possession of earlier in the year — will sit alongside his $100m Point Piper trophy home and the $130m, 73-metre super yacht Hasna.

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Ben Hunt of the Dragons runs onto the field at the start of the Round 3 NRL match between the Gold Coast Titans and the St George-Illawarra Dragons at Clive Berghofer Stadium in Toowoomba, Queensland, Sunday, March 25, 2018. (AAP Image/Darren England) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

State of shock

Cameron Smith’s sudden and shock retirement from State of Origin could bite hardest on Ben Hunt and Darius Boyd, as the former attempts to make his mark for Queensland and the latter desperately clings to his place in the ­Maroons side.

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Kudelka’s view

Jon Kudelka Letters cartoon for 17-05-2018. 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.