Your noon Briefing: Bank fished for fee justification
Welcome to your noon digest of what’s been making news and what to watch for.
Hello readers. Here is your noon roundup of today’s top stories and a long read for lunchtime.
NAB fished for fee justification
An attempt by NAB to blame junior employees for attempting to keep charging super fund members a fee to which it was not entitled has collapsed in a heap this morning at the financial services royal commission. Speaking from the bar table, counsel for the bank, Neil Young, QC, characterised efforts within the bank to find a way to keep charging a “plan service fee” to super fund members as something raised by people “at a low level”. NAB has also rejected allegations it tried to avoid having to pay refunds to super customers. Keep up with all the latest developments from the banking inquiry in our live blog.
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No bandana republic
The republican movement has its work cut out, writes Nick Cater. Before it can get around to replacing the Queen it apparently has to remove its hapless spokesman. Pollster Mark Textor predicts the push will fail unless “blokey” men such as Australian Republic Movement chairman Peter FitzSimons step aside.
“I just think it’s an ego trip for bandana man. His ego is getting in the way.”
Mark Textor
“Whatev.”
Peter FitzSimons
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Underpayment appeal
The Fair Work Ombudsman has appealed a Federal Court decision rejecting its bid to hold a Queensland mushroom supplier liable for the $650,000 underpayment of hundreds of workers. The ombudsman argued unsuccessfully that Troy Marland and Marland Mushrooms were involved as accessories in the alleged underpayment of pickers by labour hire company, HRS Country. HRS Country, which was contracted to supply labour for Marland Mushrooms, went into liquidation before the ombudsman launched the court action. Workers are still owed the money.
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Stokes mocked gays before brawl
England cricketer Ben Stokes mocked a gay couple’s “camp behaviour” before losing his self-control and knocking two other men unconscious in a street fight last September, a court heard on Monday. Stokes — on trial for alleged affray — acted in “revenge, retaliation or punishment” and was involved in a “sustained episode of significant violence”, prosecutor Nicholas Corsellis told a jury at Bristol Crown Court in southwest England.
Stokes, 27, who starred on Saturday as England beat India in a Test Match at Edgbaston, is accused of knocking out 27-year-old Ryan Ali and Ryan Hale, 28 in a brawl. The fight took place outside a Bristol nightclub after 2:00am on September 25 last year, the prosecutor said, just hours after Stokes played in a one-day international win over the West Indies.
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The long read: Kids in war of words
A rendition of the Lewis Carroll poem Jabberwocky kicked off academic Kathy Rushton’s contribution to a public debate on the merits of using phonics to teach children to read in Sydney last week, leaving some audience members scratching their heads. Rebecca Urban reports on how a new front has opened in the phonics versus whole language debate.
“There is little that is more rancorous than a discussion of phonics in education.”
Greg Ashman, teacher
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Comment of the day
“Why can’t we have the option to invest in the Future Fund? In fact, why do we have to have all these super funds. Why not just have one future fund. Then you just have one board, one set cost which is increasingly spread across an ever increasing fund which would be nominal. Give people choice between the Future Fund or self manage and tell the banks and unions go jump.”
Darren, in response to ‘Super rip-offs, gouging revealed’.
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.