Your noon Briefing: Economic growth smashes expectations

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.

Some of the 45 driverless straddle carriers, used to pick shipping containers at Patrick Port Botany Container terminal.The machines guided by radar are part of a $600 million dollar upgrade of their facility.

Economy booms

Australia’s economy grew solidly in the second quarter, supported by government infrastructure programs, strong consumer spending, and an upbeat business environment.

Gross domestic product climbed by 0.9 per cent from the first quarter and by 3.4 per cent from a year earlier, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported Wednesday.

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Federal Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton (right) and Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin look on to 'Rescued' signage while touring the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) in Brisbane, Monday, September 3, 2018. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt) NO ARCHIVING

Dutton ‘intervened 25 times’

Peter Dutton intervened under the Migration Act to grant tourist visas on 25 occasions since December 2014, a Senate inquiry has heard. In total, the inquiry heard that the Minister for Home Affairs used his intervention powers to grant 4,129 visas across the board between December 2014 and the end of August 2018.

Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo said that, in the 2018 calendar year, Mr Dutton had so far received 207 submissions requesting that he intervene to grant visas under section 195A of the Migration Act. This had resulted in 607 individuals being granted visas.

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Karl Stefanovic grills Scott Morrison on the Today Show. 5 September 2018. Picture: Today

‘Who is ScoMo?’

Bill Shorten says the Prime Minister’s decision to abandon the Coalition government’s long term commitment to raise the retirement age to 70 prompts the question: “Who is the real Scott Morrison and do you really trust him?”. Mr Morrison this morning announced the policy of lifting the retirement age from 67 to 70, which was first adopted as part of the Abbott government’s 2014 budget, would no longer be pursued.

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TOPSHOT - Damaged traffic boards and telecommunication relay poles are seen after they were brought down by strong winds caused by typhoon Jebi in Osaka on September 4, 2018. - The strongest typhoon to hit Japan in 25 years made landfall on September 4, the country's weather agency said, bringing violent winds and heavy rainfall that prompted evacuation warnings. (Photo by JIJI PRESS / JIJI PRESS / AFP) / Japan OUT

Deadly Jebi

A powerful typhoon has slammed into western Japan, inundating the region’s main international airport and blowing a tanker into a bridge, leaving thousands stranded. At least eight people died and dozens were injured as Jebi, reportedly the strongest typhoon to make landfall in Japan since 1993, headed north across the main island of Honshu on Tuesday.

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Comment of the day

“It’s about time experienced engineers, the people who actually design power systems, were consulted instead of politicians who make promises and sweeping statements out of what they don’t know.”

Timothy, in response to ‘Engineers warn of bill shock under green energy surge’.