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.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten addressing the National Press Club in Canberra. Picture Kym Smith

Shorten does Corbyn

Bill Shorten has declared war on private health insurers and vowed to lift the minimum wage, in a populist pitch to low-income earners, unionists and left-wing voters. The Opposition Leader said yesterday he would improve workers’ cost of living to avoid creating a “left-behind society”, but refused to outline how he would increase the minimum wage and reduce the cost of health insurance premiums. Simon Benson suggests that what little was left of the Keating-Hawke model died with Bill Shorten’s speech to the press club yesterday, while Chris Merritt believes the Opposition Leader’s promise to establish a federal ICAC is a gift to the PM.

“Our wages system is no longer delivering … enterprise bargaining is on life support. The game of snakes and ladders is now just a game of snakes for workers.”

Bill Shorten

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Grand Prix,Sunday,Melbourne, Mark Webber and Ron Walker hug on the starting grid before the race,

‘Mr Melbourne’ dead

High-profile businessman, prominent Liberal Party identity and former grand prix chief Ron Walker has died after a long battle with cancer.Mr Walker, 78, a former ­Melbourne lord mayor who later developed Crown casino, was known for years as “Mr Melbourne’’ because of his roles in major events, business and politics. Malcolm Turnbull last night led tributes to him. The Prime Minister described him as “a great Australian, magnificent Melburnian and ferociously committed Liberal”. “Ron was a wise and true friend to me as he was to so many Liberal leaders,’’ Mr Turnbull said. “We will not see his like again.”

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FILE - In this Feb. 28, 2017, photo, President Donald Trump, flanked by Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, for his address to a joint session of Congress. No natural orator, Trump has nonetheless shown at times that he can deliver a powerful speech that effectively outlines his vision, strikes an emotional chord and moves commentators to declare that he, at last, looks presidential. And then the teleprompter gets turned off. (Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool Image via AP, File)

State of the Union

President Donald Trump will deliver his first State of the Union address, to a joint session of the US Congress, at 9pm in Washington (1pm AEDT). Joe Kennedy III, grandson of Bobby Kennedy, will give the Democratic Party’s response. What can we expect? President Trump is looking to showcase the accomplishments of his first year in office, while setting the tone for the second. Aides say he plans to set aside his more combative tone for one of compromise, and to make an appeal beyond his hard-right base. Stay abreast of events as they happen in our live blog of the address.

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Quiksilver world President Pierre Agnes and Australian head boss Greg Healy among rows of surfboards for sale, in the new Boardriders store containing all their brands , in Coolangatta, Gold Coast

Quiksilver CEO missing

French authorities have deployed boats and helicopters off the coast of southwest France to search for the chief executive of sportswear maker Quiksilver after his empty boat was found washed ashore. The port authority of the Atlantic beach town of Capbreton said the search was launched after Pierre Agnes’ empty boat was found washed up Tuesday in nearby Hossegor. Maritime authorities said two boats and three helicopters are involved in the search. The area is known for intense, sometimes dangerous waves that are prized by surfers.

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29/01/2018: Matt Comyn; New CEO of the Commonwealth Bank, at their head offices in Sydney.Pic by James Croucher

Rate-rig rap

Commonwealth Bank faces a fresh crisis just a day after naming a new chief executive, with the corporate watchdog launching an explosive Federal Court suit against the bank over claims it rigged a key interest rate benchmark. In a new test for incoming chief executive Matt Comyn, who promised to overhaul CBA’s culture following a string of high-profile scandals, the bank said it “disputes the allegations” brought against it by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission, suggesting the lender plans to fight the claim in court.

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**Embargoed until aired - 10pm 29/01/18**Bernard Tomic tries the Bridge Too Far Tucker Trial on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! Season 4. Credit: Network Ten

Hewitt slams Tomic

Lleyton Hewitt has issued a scornful rebuttal of Bernard Tomic’s assertion Australia could not win without him, saying it was unlikely the fallen star would ever play Davis Cup again. “It’s highly doubtful,” Hewitt said when asked if Tomic could fight his way back into the team. “He’s made some mistakes. It will be a long way back.’’ In a further bizarre twist, Tomic last night said it was a mistake that he opted to join the cast of reality television show I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here, which is being filmed in South Africa. So he immediately quit the show in the African jungle after just three days, saying he had found clarity and would be “back on the court as soon as possible’’.

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Kudelka’s view

Jon Kudelka Letters Page Cartoon for 31-01-2018Version: (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.