Your noon Briefing

Welcome to your noon roundup of how the day has played out so far and what to watch for.

Hello readers. Here is your noon digest of what’s making news and a long read for lunchtime.

Deputy PM and New Nationals Leader Michael McCormack in his office at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture Kym Smith

‘Grim Reaper to blame’

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack has blamed the Grim Reaper AIDS awareness advertising campaign for his homophobic newspaper columns published more than 25 years ago. Mr McCormack said “society was different” when he wrote anti-gay materials while editor of the Wagga Wagga’s The Daily Advertiser in 1992 and 1993. One of the editorials described homosexuality as “sordid” while adding: “Unfortunately gays are here and, if the disease their unnatural acts helped spread doesn’t wipe out humanity, they’re here to stay”.

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Eddie Jones greets the Scottish fans. Picture: Twitter.

‘I feared for my safety’

England coach Eddie Jones has vowed never to use public transport again after being targeted with verbal and physical abuse while catching a train from Edinburgh to Manchester on the morning after England’s Six Nations defeat at Murrayfield. The Australian travelled alone on standard class to be a guest of Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford for Manchester United’s English Premier League game on Sunday afternoon with Chelsea, before receiving similar treatment on the final leg of his journey from Manchester to London.

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19/9/17: David Thodey, Chairman of CSIRO (left) and NAB Chair Ken Henry at NAB House in Sydney. John Feder/The Australian.

Demise of rationality

In a lethal intervention documenting the demise of rationality and integrity in our politics, writes Paul Kelly, former Treasury chief Ken Henry declares corporate tax cuts an obvious “no option” reform, damns the futile debate about the issue and calls for real tax reform. In an interview with The Australian and in his speech, Henry says cutting the company tax rate is but “a small part” of a sweeping tax system restructuring that Australia needs. He warns that political failure has led to a “lost decade” on tax reform.

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This photograph taken on September 28, 2017, shows a smartphone being operated in front of GAFA logos (acronym for Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon web giants) as background in Hédé-Bazouges, western France. / AFP PHOTO / Damien MEYER

The long read: Taming the tech titans

As all eyes turn to the ACCC inquiry into the tech giants, Mark Day ponders how we are living through the most astonishing, convulsive revolution in world history. It is enabled by the world wide web and is built on digital technologies that are simultaneously empowering and destructive.

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Comment of the day

“You see politicians. All I see is snouts.”

Joseph, in response to ‘Bad day for Michaelia Cash, Bill Shorten and Julie Bishop’.