Your noon Briefing: Cricket Australia names Kevin Roberts as new CEO

Welcome to your noon digest of what’s been making news and what to watch for.

Hello readers. Here is your noon digest of today’s top stories and a long read for lunchtime.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 03: Kevin Roberts, CA's new Chief Executive Officer speaks to the media during the Cricket Australia CEO announcement at the Cricket Australia Offices on October 3, 2018 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

Safe pair of hands

Cricket Australia has found its new CEO from within, promoting Kevin Roberts from chief operating officer. There was speculation earlier this week from within and outside Cricket Australia that Roberts had secured the job, and cricket’s governing body confirmed Roberts would succeed James Sutherland this morning, its first new chief executive since 2001.

-

Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg speaks to the media during a press conference in Melbourne, Friday, September 28, 2018. Frydenberg said the culture and conduct of the financial sector have fallen below community standards, with greed and profit coming before honesty and integrity. (AAP Image/David Crosling) NO ARCHIVING

Tampon tax to go

State and territory treasurers have unanimously agreed to axe the GST on feminine hygiene products from January 1 next year. In August, then treasurer Scott Morrison vowed to scrap the tax, after years of wrangling with the states and territories and campaigning from Labor, the Greens and women’s groups to have women’s hygiene products exempted from the GST.

-

WCD: Max Brenner at Tuggerah bring back its Baked Hot Chocolate to celebrate World Chocolate Day.

Sticky ending for Max Brenner

Upmarket chocolatier and café Max Brenner has collapsed, falling into voluntary administration, with poor sales and a tough retail environment putting more than 600 jobs at 37 stores around Australia under threat. The owners of the café and chocolate chain, husband and wife rich-listers Tom and Lilly Haikin, blamed escalating costs and tighter retail trade for its demise.

-

WARNING NO NEWS.COM.AU, AUSTRALIAN, SKY NEWS and PERTH NOW WARNING CONTACT HERALD SUN PIC DESK 92921895 BEFORE USE WARNING NOT FOR ONLINE WITHOUT CLEARANCE WARNING Bhutan 2018. 14 month old conjoined twins Nima and Dawa are to be flown to Australia to have life saving surgery, thanks to The Children First Foundation, and the Royal Children's Hospital. Twins Nima and Dawa in the hospital ward they've spent most of their lives in, the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital in Thimphu, Bhutan. Picture: Alex Coppel

The long read: Lifetime bond in separation

You could not tell Nima and Dawa Pelden were any different from other babies when they got off the plane, writes Richard Ferguson. The little girls from Bhutan were smiling, and laughing, and looking around at the lights of Melbourne Airport, and at all the journalists and photographers. But these twin girls are different. The Pelden twins are joined at the lower chest and abdomen through skin, muscle, bowels and a shared liver, and their mother hopes a team of Australian surgeons can finally separate them.

-

Comment of the day

“Let’s hope common sense prevails. Pushing the boundaries of a country by declaring ownership of a reef is one thing. Building facilities and installing military equipment is dangerous to all countries using the major trade routes.”

Bruce, in response to ‘China warned on aggression’.