Happy Friday! We end the week with Liberal turmoil in Victoria and Tasmania.
The controversial Victorian MP Moira Deeming has been expelled from the Liberal party room, a week after threatening state leader John Pesutto with legal action. And in the apple isle, two Liberal backbenchers have quit the party over the Rockliff government’s commitment to build a new AFL stadium amid a housing crisis.
Top news
Jarryd Hayne sentenced | The disgraced former NRL star has been jailed for at least three years after sexually assaulting a woman in her home. The 35-year-old was found guilty of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent on 4 April and taken into custody 10 days later when his bail was revoked.
Peter Hollingworth resigns as Anglican priest | Hollingworth was last month the subject of serious misconduct findings, delivered after a protracted internal church process, which reprimanded him for his failure to remove paedophiles from the church’s ranks while Brisbane archbishop in the 1990s. He said he will cease practising as an Anglican priest to “end distress” for survivors and stop “division” in the church.
Banana appeal| Scientists have submitted a genetically modified Cavendish banana to regulators for approval, saying it has been engineered to withstand a deadly fungus that poses a threat to banana growers worldwide. “The regulator will only issue a licence authorising the cultivation of the GM banana if satisfied that any risks can be effectively managed,” a spokesperson for the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator said.
Central Australian schools get record funding | Public schools in Central Australia will meet the minimum education funding benchmark for the first time in about a decade under the new federal budget. The Albanese government will spend a record $28bn on schools in 2023-24, rising to $31.4bn in 2026-27.
New Virgin app to track bags | Virgin Australia is offering passengers the ability to track their luggage through a smartphone app. From this week, passengers flying with Virgin between Brisbane and Sydney were able to take advantage of a pilot of the bag tracking program. By the middle of the year, the airline plans to expand the service to all flights between Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and the Gold Coast.
Biden angers Northern Irish unionists | The US president, Joe Biden, said the purpose of his trip to Northern Ireland last month was “to make sure … the Brits didn’t screw around” with peace. That has rankled unionists, with an MP from Northern Ireland’s biggest pro-UK party calling on the US to “show us some respect”.
US-China talks | The White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, met with China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, in Vienna as both sides recognised the need to move beyond the spy balloon incident that caused a rupture in relations.
Turkish elections | Turkey will vote on Sunday in one of its most significant polls in recent history, with president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at risk of losing power after two decades in office. His rule has seen the Nato member drift towards authoritarianism. So what’s at stake for Turkey? Read our editorial.
In pictures
From the US-Mexico border
Title 42, a Covid-era border restriction that allowed US authorities to turn away would-be migrants, is lapsing today. The US government is preparing for a fresh increase of people coming to the border and seeking permission to stay. The US president, Joe Biden, has warned the situation will be “chaotic for a while”. Check out this photo gallery from the border.
What they said …
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“There’s a lot of talk among GPs about this [budget] measure being a trap, because what we really need is long-term funding that keeps pace with the cost of providing care, and these incentives are not enough to address that.” - Dr Tim Senior, a GP
Health policy analysts say the bulk-billing payment boost will not reverse the trend of practices charging patients gap fees.
In numbers
The expense claims are detailed in an Australian National Audit Office report on the initial stages of a program to build nine new Hunter-class frigates for the Royal Australian Navy. Following the revelations in the Guardian this morning, a company spokesperson claimed the costs “were charged in error”.
Before bed read
You have a friend who’s going through a rough patch and wants to stay with you a few nights. But you don’t want them to, and saying no might make you seem mean. What to do?
“I’m curious about the reason you’d rather not provide bed and breakfast to your friend again,” writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith.
“I think what you should do here depends significantly on what your reason is. You don’t have to put your friend up if it means spending money you don’t have or compromising your own wellbeing at a fractious or important time.
“But if you just don’t feel like it? I’m not sure.”
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: FLAT. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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