Hi there. It's Friday, August 26 and you're reading The Loop, a quick wrap-up of today's news.
Let's start here: The inquiry into Scott Morrison's secret ministries
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus have announced the terms of reference to the inquiry, which will be led by a former High Court judge. Here are the key takeaways:
- The government has appointed Virginia Bell to conduct an inquiry into the appointment of Mr Morrison to five departments during his time as prime minister
- The inquiry will examine how the appointments were made and the implications arising from them
- It will also make recommendations to government on any changes to provide greater transparency and accountability "to ensure this can never happen again"
- Ms Bell's final report will be handed to the Prime Minister by November 25
Want to know more? Political reporter Jake Evans has you covered.
We heard a lot about a massive drug bust in Sydney
NSW Police seized a mammoth 1.8 tonnes (yes, you read that right) of methylamphetamine after receiving a tip-off from the public, making it the biggest bust of the drug in Australia's history. Here's the lowdown:
- More than 1,060 kilograms of the drug were found concealed in marble stone inside 19 shipping containers that arrived in Sydney's Port Botany on board a ship from the United Arab Emirates
- The seizure was on top of 748kg of the drug found in 24 shipping containers last week that were part of the same shipping consignment
- The drugs have a total estimated street value of an eye-watering $1.6 billion
- Police say the drugs were destined for a factory in Homebush West, where the pallets would have been quickly dismantled to remove the drugs
- Police suspect the bust was organised by a major international criminal syndicate, and are investigating with the help of the Australian Federal Police
- Three men have been charged over the first seizure and have been denied bail
News alerts you might have missed
- Snowy Hydro boss Paul Broad has quit after reports the cost of the Snowy 2.0 project had blown out to $2.2 billion and the project has suffered further delays.
- Police in South Australia have launched a murder investigation after human remains found in a park last month were confirmed to belong to missing man Ian Lees.
- The world has recorded 1 million deaths from COVID-19 so far this year. The World Health Organization says the "tragic milestone" proves governments around the world need to be doing more to fight the virus.
- Australia's favourite native tree was crowned — and the winner is the river red gum! The "quintessentially Australian" tree came out on top in the people's choice poll, beating out crowd favourites the golden wattle and Moreton Bay fig.
What Australia has been searching for online
- Wear it Purple Day. People have been donning the colour purple to show their support and acceptance of LGBTQIA+ youth. The day has been running since 2010 and has developed into an international movement.
- Joe E. Tata. The actor best known for his role playing Nat Bussichio, who ran the Peach Pit diner in Beverley Hills, 90210 has died at 85. Stars of the show have taken to social media to pay tribute to Tata, including Tori Spelling and Shannen Doherty.
One more thing
If you use LastPass to remember your passwords for you, heads up — the tech company has suffered a "security incident".
The company says it detected some "unusual activity" two weeks ago, which led it to find an unauthorised party gained access to parts of its development area and took parts of its source code.
The company has assured customers that their personal data and encrypted passwords weren't accessed and services are operating as normal, but LastPass is investigating further security measures to prevent future breaches.
You're up to date
We'll be back on Monday to do it all again.
ABC/wires
