Your noon Briefing: States posturing over NEG, says Frydenberg

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.

Industry Super Australia advertisement portraying banks as the fox in the henhouse

Super giants probed over ‘fox and henhouse’

Australia’s biggest super funds will be grilled over their involvement with the controversial “fox and henhouse” advertising campaign for the union-and-employer-backed industry fund sector, which accused the government of putting Australia’s savings at risk. Although the $600bn union-and-employer-backed industry superannuation fund sector has already been granted a relative win over the rival bank-run retail fund sector, with the royal commission finding “fewer examples” of apparent misconduct worth examining publicly, the structure of the sector’s investment holding company, Industry Super Holdings, will be probed by the inquiry.

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Australian Minister for the Environment and Energy Josh Frydenberg speaks during a press conference in Melbourne, on Tuesday, July 17, 2018. (AAP Image/Alex Murray) NO ARCHIVING

States’ NEG ‘posturing’

Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has accused Labor states of “politicking and posturing” ahead of Friday’s COAG meeting of energy ministers. Victoria and Queensland have threatened to scuttle Mr Frydenberg’s national energy guarantee unless they can be assured it will have the support of the Coalition party room in Canberra.

“This is politicking and posturing ahead of Friday’s meeting, because the states know all well and good that what will hopefully occur on Friday is that we agree to the design of the national energy guarantee subject to a phone hook-up after the policy has been through the federal Coalition party room.”

Josh Frydenberg

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Close-up view of a huge coal-fired power station

Another fine energy mess

Years of cat-herding by those who actually know and care about Australia’s electricity market will come to fruition this week with the meeting of COAG energy ministers to discuss the National Energy Guarantee, and possibly make a decision about it, writes Alan Kohler. Or maybe not.

“Will the cats finally be herded into the pen labelled Energy Policy Certainty or will they break out and head off in all directions again? It still could go either way.”

Alan Kohler

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Images from Bali, after an earthquake hit Lombok tonight, 05 August 2018. Photo: Twitter / @bieberfeveridshttps://twitter.com/bieberfeverids

Dutton’s lucky escape

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton says he was “very lucky” to escape a deadly earthquake on the Indonesian island of Lombok unharmed that has killed at least 82 people. The senior MP was dining at a restaurant on the 12th floor of a hotel when the magnitude-7 quake struck at around 6.46pm (8.26pm AEST) last night.

“We were knocked certainly to the floor. It was a pretty violent shaking and swaying of the building. It went on for ... a minute or so ... We were pretty lucky to get out.”

Peter Dutton

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TWAM-20183006 EMBARGO FOR TWAM 30 JUNE 2018NO REUSE WITHOUT PERMISSIONBANKING FEATURE The Commissioner Kenneth Hayne at the The Royal Commission into the Financial Services Industry. 12 February 2018.PHOTOGRAPHY: Eddie Jim/THE AGEFEE APPLIES

NAB set for super grilling

The royal commission hearing room is close to full, ahead of testimony by NAB’s superannuation executives. Keep up with all the latest in our live blog from the banking inquiry.

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Chaos at check-in at Sydney Airport Terminal T2 (Virgin, Jetstar, Tiger etc...) as the IT system crashes yet again. T1 also affected. No aircraft departures are occurring at present. Pic: Katherine Griffiths via Twitter @KatherineGriffo

Mobile check-in for international travellers

Every airline operating out of Australia will have the option to offer travellers mobile check-in for international flights from today. Qantas, Air New Zealand, Emirates and Singapore Airlines have been testing the process in partnership with the Department of Home Affairs for some time now, in an effort to streamline the international check-in process.It means travellers will be able to download a boarding pass on their mobile phone instead of going to a check-in desk and receiving a paper pass. However passports will still be required to be presented at the Customs and Border Force security check, and at the departure gate.

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Chinese army xi trump and kim

The long read: Asia’s slide into conflict

A rise in tensions across the region will need careful management by all the key players and others that will inevitably be affected, writes Brendan Taylor.

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Comment of the day

“The Greens and their propaganda machine GetUp! are not ‘progressive’ in any sense of the word. Everything they stand for takes us backwards. Their ideology is never challenged in the media, nor is any serious thought given to the logical outcomes of their policies, should they ever be enacted.”

Lex, in response to ‘Self-preservation the real reason for Labor’s NEG-ativity’.