Your noon Briefing

Welcome to your noon digest of what’s been making news and what to watch for.

Hello readers. Here is your noon round-up of today’s top stories so far and a long read for lunchtime.

This May 5, 2018, photo, released by the Royal Malaysian Police, shows illegal migrants on a rusty tanker near kota tinggi in Johor state, Malaysia. Malaysian police have intercepted a tanker with 131 Sri Lankans believed bound for Australia and New Zealand, smashing a large human smuggling ring that has been operating for over a year. (Royal Malaysia Police via AP)

NZ blamed over people smuggling

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has said New Zealand is being marketed as a destination by people smuggling syndicates, as he confirmed Malaysian authorities stopped a people smuggling vessel headed for Australia and New Zealand. Mr Dutton said a boat carrying about 130 people was intercepted in Malaysia, with people on board given different information about their destination, and warned any softening of the Turnbull government’s border protection policies will see the boats return. Keep up with all the latest developments from Canberra on the eve of the budget in our live blog, PoliticsNow.

“Just because Australians don’t see the television set every night the vision of these boats coming as they did under the Labor Party, doesn’t mean that the problem has gone away.”

Peter Dutton

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2306/2016Orica managing director Alberto Calderon at the WA Mining Club, Hyatt HotelColin Murty The Australian

Get smart

Will the Coalition be smart enough to switch proposed company tax cuts to a plan to lift investment, and stop the franking credits rort as part of the budget? That, along with a long hard look at the ATO, are key to making the next election “to close to call”, suggests Robert Gottliebsen. Alan Kohler, meantime, says the Coalition’s “branding” as a low-taxing party does not actually match reality.

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In this photo released by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, former U.S. first lady Hillary Clinton, right, poses for a photo with Ardern during a breakfast meeting in Auckland, New Zealand, Monday, May 7, 2018. Clinton is on a two-day visit to New Zealand for a speaking engagement before traveling to Australia for further events. (Jacinda Ardern via AP)

When Jacinda met Hillary

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern shared a secret breakfast with the almost president of the United States this morning. Hillary Clinton quietly arrived in New Zealand ahead of her speech at Auckland’s Spark Arena tonight where she will share the lessons learnt during the 2016 presidential election and in her long career as a woman in politics, Radio New Zealand reports.

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(FILES) This file photo taken on September 17, 2015 shows a Chinese labourer sorting out plastic bottles for recycling in Dong Xiao Kou village, on the outskirt of Beijing. For years China was the world's top destination for recyclable trash, but a ban on certain imports has left nations scrambling to find new dumping grounds for growing piles of garbage. The decision was announced in July and came into force on January 1, 2018 giving companies from Europe to the United States barely six months to look for other options, and forcing some to store trash in parking lots. / AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOUR / - China OUT / TO GO WITH AFP STORY "CHINA-WASTE-RECYCLING" FOCUS BY BECKY DAVIS AND LILLIAN DING, WITH AFP BUREAUX IN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES

The long read: Load of rubbish

After China’s refuse refusal, Western countries are being buried in garbage; but it may offer Australia new opportunities, writes Graham Lloyd.

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Comment of the day

“These people needed an independent report to tell them that charging clients for no service was wrong?”

John, in response to ‘Revealed: email trail that caused a financial giant to unravel’.