Your noon Briefing

Hello readers. Here’s the latest on how the day is playing out plus a long read for lunchtime.

Hello readers. In your noon digest, Barilaro’s act of A-grade political bastardry, or so says PVO, plus Salt’s coming hot properties and Bitcoin Mania explained.

Deputy Premier and Leader of the NSW Nationals John Barilaro will write an op-ed in the Thursday, September 28, 2017 editor of The Daily Telegraph. The op-ed will tackle the energy problems facing Australians.

‘PM should quit by Christmas as a gift’

NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro has called on Malcolm Turnbull to quit as prime minister “before Christmas as a Christmas gift” to Australians. The state’s Nationals leader says he has lost all hope in Mr Turnbull, describing him as “out of touch” and the reason the federal government is in disarray. Mr Turnbull says Barilaro is just sucking up to radio host Alan Jones. Peter Van Onselen, however, has penned a scathing analysis on Barilaro’s “gutless and idiotic act” of prime political bastardry.

“Turnbull is the problem. The Prime Minister is the problem. He should step down and allow for a clean-out ...”

John Barilaro

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Red Symons

‘Go’ is not a dirty word

ABC radio broadcaster Red Symons has been fired from his Melbourne breakfast show. The former Skyhooks guitarist made the shock announcement on air this morning, telling listeners he had been sacked with no explanation. “This will be my last year,” Symons said. “Why am I going? They haven’t said, and I haven’t asked.”

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Beranrd Salt on the next real estate hot spots.

Salt’s hot properties

Which towns on the Australian continent offer the best opportunities for property investors and developers and also for retailers and financial institutions? Such towns must have critical mass, they must be growing, and they must contain a population base that is predisposed to household formation and consumption. But do such places exist? Most surely they do exist and now thanks to the results of the 2016 census it’s possible to identify these ‘‘perfect storm’’ consumer-spending markets.

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30/11/2017 Bitcoin enthusiast Ricardo Medrano at the Blockchain centre in Southbank Melbourne.Picture David Geraghty / The Australian.

The long read: Bitcoin mania explained

Ricardo Medrano bought into the latest investing sensation just 12 months ago, but already the 42-year-old Melbourne marketing manager has made enough money to retire. The freelance marketer, who now spends some of this time working from Melbourne’s Blockchain Centre, home to a growing number of bitcoin enthusiasts, says the digital currency’s meteoric rise means he can stop working.

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Comment of the day

“The banks will end up looking quite good next to the the white collar crime in the union-controlled industry super funds.”

Chris, in response to today’s story about how the PM super-sized the banks inquiry. For more on the best of what you had to say this week, don’t miss the Friday Readers’ Comments column, this week with an extra helping of Milo.