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Your noon Briefing: Australia now a nation of millionaires

Your 2-minute digest of the day’s top stories.

Hello readers. Australia’s average household wealth tops $1 million, plus dark secrets of ‘Pedophile Island’.

Australian money, currency or cash flat on table
Australian money, currency or cash flat on table

Nation of millionaires

Average household wealth in Australia has passed the $1 million mark for the first time in our history.

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This Tuesday, July 9, 2019 photo shows a structure on Little Saint James Island, in the U. S. Virgin Islands. Locals recalled seeing Jeffery Epstein's black helicopter flying back and forth from the international airport in St. Thomas to his helipad on Little St. James Island, where he built a cream colored mansion with a bright turquoise roof surrounded by several other structures including the maids' quarters and a massive, square-shaped white building on one end of the island that some say is a music room fitted with acoustic walls. (AP Photo/Gianfranco Gaglione)
This Tuesday, July 9, 2019 photo shows a structure on Little Saint James Island, in the U. S. Virgin Islands. Locals recalled seeing Jeffery Epstein's black helicopter flying back and forth from the international airport in St. Thomas to his helipad on Little St. James Island, where he built a cream colored mansion with a bright turquoise roof surrounded by several other structures including the maids' quarters and a massive, square-shaped white building on one end of the island that some say is a music room fitted with acoustic walls. (AP Photo/Gianfranco Gaglione)

Here on ‘Pedophile Island’

Ask about Jeffrey Epstein on St Thomas and rooms go quiet. Some people leave. Those who share stories speak in barely audible tones.

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supplied pictures from inside the Earle Haven in Nerang which has suddenly shut its doors
supplied pictures from inside the Earle Haven in Nerang which has suddenly shut its doors

‘Just disgusting’

Patient records and drugs were stripped from a nursing home as 70 frail residents were left homeless.

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Freckles the manta ray gets fish hooks removed by Jake Wilton off WA. Pictures - screen grabs from Facebook
Freckles the manta ray gets fish hooks removed by Jake Wilton off WA. Pictures - screen grabs from Facebook

Manta rescue

When Freckles the manta had a painful problem she turned to her human friends.

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FILE - In this July 30, 2008 file photo, Jeffrey Epstein, center, appears in court in West Palm Beach, Fla. The wealthy financier pleaded not guilty in federal court in New York on Monday, July 8, 2019, to sex trafficking charges following his arrest over the weekend. Epstein will have to remain behind bars until his bail hearing on July 15. (Uma Sanghvi/Palm Beach Post via AP, File)
FILE - In this July 30, 2008 file photo, Jeffrey Epstein, center, appears in court in West Palm Beach, Fla. The wealthy financier pleaded not guilty in federal court in New York on Monday, July 8, 2019, to sex trafficking charges following his arrest over the weekend. Epstein will have to remain behind bars until his bail hearing on July 15. (Uma Sanghvi/Palm Beach Post via AP, File)

The long read: Jailed Epstein faces new accuser

The jailed American financier Jeffrey Epstein is alleged to have groomed and raped a 15-year-old girl.

Jason Gagliardi

Jason Gagliardi is the engagement editor and a columnist at The Australian, who got his start at The Courier-Mail in Brisbane. He was based for 25 years in Hong Kong and Bangkok. His work has been featured in publications including Time, the Sunday Telegraph Magazine (UK), Colors, Playboy, Sports Illustrated, Harpers Bazaar and Roads & Kingdoms, and his travel writing won Best Asean Travel Article twice at the ASEANTA Awards.

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/briefing/your-noon-briefing-australia-now-a-nation-of-millionaires/news-story/faa139fbd88c4b3045349dd40e5d5898