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 roundup of today’s top stories and a long read for lunchtime.

Pauline Hanson gets set to be on TV show 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire'. Money. Cash.

Pauline ‘rich’

Labor senator Doug Cameron claims Pauline Hanson is supporting the government’s income tax package because she is “rich”. Senator Cameron accused the One Nation leader of looking after “her own class” rather battlers. Keep up with the latest as the debate on the tax cut bill gets underway in the Senate in our live blog, PoliticsNow.

“This decision by Pauline Hanson to support some of the highest-income earners in the country just demonstrates how out of touch Pauline Hanson is.”

Doug Cameron

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Opposition leader Tony Abbott and Daniel McNaught (8) have a kick around on soccer field at Jamison Park, Penrith while on campaign trail in Sydney's west for upcoming 2010 federal election.

Abbott’s own goal

The ongoing frothing at the mouth from culture warriors about the ANU decision not to proceed with the Ramsay Centre’s donation towards a western civilisation degree continues to miss the point, writes Peter van Onselen, who suggests the Ramsay board has no one to blame but themselves for ANU pulling out of the deal.

“That article in Quadrant by board member Tony Abbott clearly suggested the centre would be able to interfere in academic independence, and gave student and staff unions the excuse they needed to kill the deal.”

Peter van Onselen

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In this image made from video taken on Monday, June 18, 2018, French President Emmanuel Macron speaks with a teenage boy in Paris. A video of French President Emmanuel Macron is going viral Tuesday, June 19 on social media as he strongly admonished a teenager who spoke to him with familiarity. Macron said “call me Mr President of the Republic or Sir” to a schoolboy at a ceremony Monday for the 78th anniversary of Charles De Gaulle's historic appeal for armed resistance against Nazi tyranny. (TF1 via AP)

Macron asks for a little respect

The video’s gone viral but in ticking off a teenager, the French President did more than simply assert his own importance, writes Jenni Russell of The Times. Macron is explicitly making the case that hierarchies matter, that achievements must be recognised, that all opinions are not of equal worth. Liberte, egalite, fraternite do not imply that nobody deserves respect.

“Respect is a minimum expectation in France”.

Emmanuel Macron

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The silhouette of the evening electricity transmission pylon. Istock

The long read: Energy mix in flux

Environment editor Graham Lloyd writes that despite the supply risks, the argument is weighted too heavily in favour of renewables for coal to have a robust future.

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Comment of the day

“She’s in labour? Lurching to right is she?”

Igor, in response to ‘NZ PM Jacinda Arden enters Auckland Hospital for baby’.