Your noon Briefing: Probe into minister over staff

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.

Minister for Industry Karen Andrews and Prime Minister Scott Morrison arrive for Question Time in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra, Wednesday, October 24, 2018. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas) NO ARCHIVING

‘No’ to throw claim

Industry Minister Karen Andrews has denied a suggestion that she threw an object at a staff member, after the allegation was aired during a Senate hearing. Keep up with the latest from Canberra and beyond in our live blog, PoliticsNow.

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Corporate virtue-signallers

It is not just the politicians who are out of touch. Company directors, too, seem determined to signal their virtue by declaring their intention to save the planet rather than just focusing on their day jobs.

“Perhaps if we surveyed customers on what they wanted from major companies, tackling climate change might not be top of the agenda. Customers might prefer companies to try to lower their prices, increase their reliability and responsiveness, curb their executive salaries and maybe give their workers a bit of a pay rise.”

Chris Kenny

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donald Trump and police outside CNN

Spinning bombs

The first thing to say about the would-be domestic terrorist who sent bombs to two former US presidents and others is that the person is evil. The second is that this cowardly act will not be seen simply for what it might turn out to be — the act of one unhinged individual. Rather it is already being viewed through the prism of a divided America, writes Cameron Stewart. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles police are investigating a suspicious package at the LA Central Mail facility, addressed to Maxine Waters. Keep up with the latest in our live coverage of the crisis.

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Armed robbery Melbourne police footage

Robbery reward

Victoria Police have issued a $350,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a man who assaulted an elderly man with a gun during a robbery in Melbourne’s west last year. Police say three women and a man were talking in the Sunshine City Club car park, in Sunshine, just before 1am on December 19, when the offender walked out from behind a dumpster.

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Stock prices are seen at the Australian Securites Exchange (ASX) in Sydney, Thursday, October 11, 2018. Australian shares have recorded their worst day in eight months following Wall Street stocks falling on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and the Dow dropping due to the prospect of rising interest rates. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts) NO ARCHIVING

ASX dives

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 share index plunged two per cent to a 12-month low in early trade following a big sell-off on Wall Street, wiping $35 billion off the local market. The fall cracked the year-to-date low of 5,724.8 reached on April 3 and took the index to its lowest point since early October 2017.

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Comment of the day

“Nobody is advocating the discrimination or oppression of those groups. The fact this group identifies the socialists’ spaghetti soup of so-called privileged groups allegedly oppressing others is what raises the red flag and tells most of us this is yet another cultural marxist project aimed at undermining our society by deliberately exaggerating the number of victims and creating division.”

Gavin, in response to ‘Anti-bullying activists targeting kids in school’.