Your noon Briefing

Welcome to your noon roundup of what’s making news and how the day has played out so far.

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

Federal opposition leader Bill Shorten was full of information about his party's proposed Northern Australia Tourism Infrastructure fund and board, during his visit to Cairns. Picture: BRENDAN RADKE

Trading down

Bill Shorten is under pressure to reveal whether he will stick to his pledge to refuse to ratify Australia’s new trade deal. Labor says Australia’s new Trans-Pacific partnership deal with 10 other Pacific Rim countries is a “fundamentally different” and weaker deal than it would have been with the inclusion of the United States. The historic deal is set to be ratified in March, after Japan and Australia persuaded Canada to revisit the agreement during talks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Trade Minister Steven Ciobo has talked the deal up, saying it will boost Australia’s exports, drive economic growth and create jobs. Peter Van Onselen writes that the deal is a poke in the eye for Shorten but no panacea for the Coalition either.

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23/1/18 25-year-old Elena was on her way to work in inner city Melbourne when she was attacked by 3 women of African appearance. Aaron Francis/The Australian

Mean streets

Less than two years after moving to Melbourne to pursue a dream job, Elena Morgan now feels forced to find a new home, having become one of the latest victims of a wave of street attacks that have engulfed the Victorian capital. The 25-year-old department store employee says she was waiting for a bus on one of Melbourne’s busiest streets on January 9 when she was set upon by three women who repeatedly punched her and tried to push her into the path of oncoming traffic. The attack, in Hoddle Street, East Melbourne, at 7.25am, ended only after a passing bus driver stopped his vehicle and intervened.

“I was fearing for my life. They were just angry, they wanted to pick a fight and they could see that I was an easy target.”

Elena Morgan

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Strike vote

There is pessimism this morning within government ranks over a union ballot aimed at stopping Monday’s planned train drivers’ strike in Sydney after train staff complained that they had not received an SMS message required to vote Yes to calling off the strike. There is also concern that the fact the RTBU is saying that a failure to respond to the text will count as a No vote to calling off the strike, could skew the results. The RTBU has sent out a Facebook message this morning saying: “If you did not receive an SMS last night, please contact the office this morning. Your SMS will be reissued against your individual membership record to make sure everyone only gets one vote.

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South Korea's Hyeon Chung addresses a press conference after his victory over Serbia's Novak Djokovic in their men's singles fourth round match on day eight of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne early January 23, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / WILLIAM WEST / -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE --

Crunch time

It’s getting down to the pointy end of the proceedings at the Australian Open, writes Courtney Walsh, with Roger Federer the headline act, while top seed Simona Halep and former champion Angelique Kerber are also in action. Unseeded pair Hyeon Chung and Tennys Sandgren will battle for a place in the last four. In the meantime, the fallout continues from Rafael Nadal’s stunning exit at the hands of Marin Cilic. The Spaniard has taken aim at organisers over what he says is the heavy schedule players are forced to endure. Nadal, who will go for scans to determine the extent of his injury, says the problem is now one of health and safety. Keep up with all the action from Melbourne Park in our live blog.

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Illustrations by Eric Lobbecke

The long read: Day of destiny

In Part 4 of the reimagining of the First Fleet’s voyage in words and pictures by Trent Dalton and Eric Lobbecke, Arthur Phillip brings his ships into Botany Bay after a hellish, storm-tossed voyage.

Eric Lobbecke cartoon of rum barrels regardign teh first fleet for Features pages Version: (Original) COPYRIGHT: The Australian's artists each have different copyright agreements in place regarding re-use of their work in other publications. Please seek advice from the artists themselves or the Managing Editor of The Australian regarding re-use.

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Comment of the day

“Rafa has the most physical game in the history of the sport. Is it any surprise that his body is struggling after 15 years of being a pro?”

Jason, in response to ‘Australian Open: Nadal blames tour organisers for injury’.