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 light read for lunchtime.

PM Malcolm Turnbull in Question Time in the House of Representatives Chamber, Parliament House in Canberra. Picture Kym Smith

PM ‘more inept’

Bill Shorten used his caucus address to attack the American political system under Donald Trump, declaring Malcolm Turnbull was “more inept than we thought” for trying to replicate “Trumponomics”. The Opposition Leader accused the Prime Minister of trying to “follow President Trump’s lead” by wanting to turn Australia into an American-style system of “trickle-down economics”. Meantime, a mural depicting the split personality of Bill Shorten on coal has been unveiled by the same artist who lampooned Tony Abbott. Keep up with all the latest from parliament in our live rolling blog, PoliticsNow.

“Malcolm Turnbull has had a giddy time in America catching up with President Trump and seems to be quite taken by Trumponomics. He met Donald Trump and was so excited about corporate tax cuts.”

Bill Shorten

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Charles Wooley has defended his interview with Jacinda Ardern

Ardern backlash ‘Orwellian’

The 60 Minutes reporter who described New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern as “attractive” and speculated when her baby was conceived has defended his interview with her, saying the reaction has been overwhelming and “Orwellian”. Charles Wooley, a veteran journalist with the Nine Network, has come under fire from some viewers and critics for marvelling at Ms Ardern’s age and appearance, rather than her policies.

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Australian Tax Office Deputy Commissioner Michael Cranston leaves the Downing Centre Courts in Sydney, Tuesday, June 13, 2017. Senior tax office official Michael Cranston has faced a NSW court over an unprecedented white-collar fraud scandal linked to his son and daughter. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins) NO ARCHIVING

Cranston in court

The former deputy commissioner of the Australian Taxation Office, whose son is alleged to have masterminded one of the country’s largest tax frauds, said he’s hoping for a “quick resolution” to two charges of abusing public office. Michael Bede Cranston, 58, spoke briefly for the first time after he was this morning committed to stand trial in the NSW District Court. “Really happy the process has started,” he said, “and hoping for a quick resolution.”

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Journalist Emma Alberici at the ABC Radio studios in Ultimo, Sydney. Alberici is the first female correspondent with young children to get a prestigious posting to Europe replacing Rafael Epstein.

Emma-NO-mics

Emma Alberici is damaging the ABC brand, writes Nick Cater, who suggests she lost the authority that should attach to her position by aligning herself with the economic equivalent of the anti-vaccination movement.

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The old-but-new Nokia 8110, featured in The Matrix movies, is back.

The light read: Slider phones, reloaded

Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is going bananas over Nokia’s newest retro device, writes Chris Griffith. It’s a replica of the 8110, the old Nokia original slider phone, curved and coloured yellow like a banana. You know the one — originally released in 1996, it became a pop culture phenomenon when it featured (in black) in The Matrix three years later. The reloaded yellow version certainly is stylish and it just might blend in if you place it in your fruit bowl on the kitchen table. Just don’t slice it up.

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A mural of Bill Shorten is seen along High St, in the Melbourne suburb Preston, which is located in the federal electorate of Batman. Monday, 26 February, 2018. (AAP Image/Luis Enrique Ascui) NO ARCHIVING

Comment of the day

“Shorten is a complete hypocrite, full of bile and humbug, hates coal in Batman, loves coal in Queensland.”

Terry, in response to ‘Bill Shorten’s industrial relations promise to militant CFMEU’.