Good morning. Some big cuts to infrastructure projects will help the government free up funds for their own policy priorities in Tuesday night’s budget. A firm previously accused of “egregious” security failures will today begin its highly lucrative contract for the Nauru offshore regime. In the UK, Tory leadership rivals are vying for support while in China Xi Jinping has secured a record-breaking third term.
The Albanese government will bank $10bn in savings from phase 1 of its much-telegraphed “rorts and waste” audit in Tuesday night’s budget and shuffle another $11bn to better reflect its own policy priorities. Plans on the chopping block include some high-profile road and rail projects. Speaking of expenditure, it turns out that maverick MP Bob Katter is one of the country’s biggest users of the government’s taxpayer-funded Comcar service, claiming $35,000 in Comcar expenses in just one quarter, including $1,700 in one day. That was more than any other politician besides Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese.
The private prisons operator now in charge of Australia’s offshore processing regime on Nauru will be paid more than three-quarters of a million dollars every day to provide “garrison and welfare services” for a little over 100 people. The US-based Management and Training Corporation (MTC) – a company previously accused in US courts of “gross negligence’’ and “egregious” security failures – has been awarded a contract for $47.3m covering just 62 days of work on the Pacific island.
Xi Jinping has been confirmed as leader of China for a precedent-breaking third term, after a week-long political meeting eliminated key rivals and strengthened his political power. The 20th Party Congress, the most important meeting of the ruling Chinese Communist party five-year political cycle, saw about 2,400 delegates gather in Beijing to rubber stamp major reshuffles and constitutional changes before its official close on Saturday.
Australia
Amid the devastation and anxiety of waiting for the river to rise, residents of the northern Victorian town of Echuca are finding beers and bangers help to pass the time as they wait for flood waters to peak.
The United Nations has suspended its tour of Australian detention facilities and accused the country of a “clear breach” of its obligations under the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture.
Australia’s leading science agency, the CSIRO, has unveiled a “significant” new working model to promote commercial deals, in a move towards reliance on external funding that one top scientist claims will be “crippling”.
Victoria deserves praise for promising a rapid shift from coal to renewables. Now comes the hard part, writes Adam Morton, in a column examining the government’s reliability and emissions reduction goals.
The world
Rishi Sunak has won the backing of former rival Suella Braverman as he formally declared he would stand to be UK Conservative leader, while allies of Boris Johnson insisted he has the support to join the race.
The Trump Organization is set to face criminal tax fraud charges on Monday in New York in a trial that could start to tease out the many allegations against the company and by extension its patriarch, Donald J Trump.
Salman Rushdie has lost sight in one eye and the use of one hand after the attack he suffered while preparing to deliver a lecture in New York state two months ago, his agent has confirmed.
Claude Monet has become the latest artist to be the focus of food-related climate protests, after members of a German environmental group threw mashed potatoes over one of his paintings in a Potsdam museum on Sunday.
Recommended reads
The family behind Australia’s stalwart Indian restaurant group, Manjits, have kindly shared their three favourite recipes to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights, including this incredible Indian version of bread and butter pudding.
Want to spend this Halloween being scared by sharks in a supermarket or a giant kangaroo? Look no further than this list of films to watch from Luke Buckmaster – the 10 scariest animals in Australian cinema – sorted.
Listen
Liz Truss awoke on Thursday to headlines declaring her premiership, less than 50 days old, was hanging by a thread. As Peter Walker tells Michael Safi, just after 1.30pm, she came out of No 10 and announced her resignation. In today’s Full Story, columnist Sonia Sodha explains how the Tories will go about replacing Truss as leader and the complicated route to a possible early election.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
An extraordinary last over in front of 90,000 fans at the MCG saw Virat Kohli carry India to victory over Pakistan in the T20 World Cup.
The Matildas must overcome daunting challenges if they are to avoid an early exit at their home tournament next year, so Emma Kemp has broke down Australia’s nightmare 2023 Women’s World Cup draw.
Media roundup
The Australian reports that a virtual recreation of Nazi Germany was found inside the huge online game Roblox by a 10-year-old Jewish girl in Melbourne. The Financial Review reveals an election promise from Victorian Labor to extend a shared equity trial that sees the government provide up to a quarter of a new home’s purchase price. And the high school science curriculum is set for an overhaul to enable more students to succeed in physics and chemistry in the HSC, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Coming up
The jury in the Bruce Lehrmann trial will resume deliberations.
Airbus will release embargoed research as aerospace giants compete to build military satellites and ground stations for Australia to combat new threats in space.
CommSec will release its quarterly State of the States report comparing the performance of state and territory economies.
And if you’ve read this far …
Singapore authorities have an unusual source of mayhem on their hands: an exploding otter population.
Sign up
If you would like to receive the Guardian Australia morning mail to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here.
Get in touch
If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com.
Discover Australia Weekend
Every Saturday at 6am, enjoy early access to the best journalism planned for the weekend in one elegant app, plus a curated selection of the week’s news and analysis from Australia and the world.
