Hi there. It's Tuesday, August 23 and you're reading The Loop, a quick wrap-up of today's news.
Let's start here: Scott Morrison's secret ministries
The solicitor-general's advice into Scott Morrison's secret ministerial appointments was released by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier today. Here's some of what we learned:
- Scott Morrison was validly appointed by the Governor-General to administer the resources portfolio under section 64 of the constitution, meaning he didn't do anything illegal.
- By not notifying ministers, parliament or the public of his appointments, Mr Morrison had "fundamentally undermined" the principles of responsible government.
- Mr Albanese says he intends to launch an inquiry into the appointments to canvass issues that weren't included in the solicitor-general's report, led by "an eminent person with a legal background to consider all of the implications".
- Mr Albanese has also asked the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to work with the Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General to adopt a practice of publishing future appointments of ministers.
- Scott Morrison has also responded to the findings, saying he will assist with "any genuine process" to learn the lessons from the pandemic.
Looking for more? Political reporter Nicole Hegarty has taken a deeper dive into the findings here.
We heard about Donald Trump and the FBI
ICYMI, Donald Trump is trying to block the FBI from examining the materials they seized from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida during a raid earlier this month, pending the appointment of a special master.
Confused? Let's break it down.
- The FBI reportedly found classified documents during the search of the property two weeks ago, with some labelled "top secret", which is the highest level of classification for security information that's meant to be viewed only in specific government facilities.
- Mr Trump has asked the US federal court to stop the FBI from looking at it, saying he wants a neutral third party — or "special master" — to review the material before the investigation resumes.
- If appointed, the special master can go through the seized materials to ensure investigators don't review privileged information.
- In the court filing by Mr Trump, it calls the FBI's raid of Mar-a-Lago a "shockingly aggressive move" and the documents taken by the FBI were records created during his time as US president, making them "presumptively privileged".
- A spokesperson for the Justice Department said prosecutors will file their response to the motion in court — so it won't be the last we hear of this issue.
News alerts you might have missed
- Rick Thornton, the man convicted of killing Queensland schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer, has been found unresponsive in his jail cell in Brisbane. Thornton was jailed for life in 2018 after pleading guilty to killing the 12-year-old and dumping her body on the banks of a Gold Coast river in 2015.
- Lawyers for Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios have been granted a six-week adjournment to address a charge of common assault, which is believed to relate to an incident involving his former girlfriend Chiara Passari. The case is set to return to court in October.
- Building industry insolvencies are on the rise in Australia, even though the sector is in a boom. Veterans of the construction industry say 'massive greed' is to blame for the industry's demise, with research firm IBISWorld predicting the sector will shrink by 9 per cent over the next year.
What Australia has been searching for online
- John Farnham: The 73-year-old legendary Australian singer is undergoing surgery in Melbourne after confirming he's been diagnosed with cancer.
- Sanna Marin: The Finnish PM returned a negative drug test after videos of her partying with friends were made public on social media last week. It's prompted a wave of Finnish women posting videos of themselves dancing and tagging Ms Marin in a show of solidarity.
One more thing
The San Diego Zoo Safari Park has given us the first glimpse of its newest resident, a male southern white rhino calf.
The calf, who is yet to be named, was born on August 6 to first-time mother Livia and father J Gregory at the Nikita Kahn Rhino Rescue Centre.
"Seeing this energetic little rhino running around, wallowing in the mud and just being generally curious is very rewarding," said Jonnie Capiro, the lead wildlife care specialist at the safari park.
It's estimated there's around 18,000 southern white rhinos left in the wild.
You're up to date
We'll be back to do it all again tomorrow.
ABC/wires
