Turnbull soul-searching after Super Saturday defeat

NOT SO SUPER

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has come under internal pressure to resolve and even drop his company tax cuts plan following a series of losses at the weekend’s Super Saturday byelections.

Both The Australian ($) and The Sydney Morning Herald report that Queensland Coalition MPs have privately warned that the Longman byelection, where the LNP primary vote fell by 10%, could be repeated at neighbouring electorates such as Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton’s seat of Dickson if the $35.6 billion corporate tax cuts package is not scrapped or at least made to exempt banks. Other issues raised include funding for Catholic schools and power bill relief.

The latest Newspoll ($) has granted Turnbull some relief and again extended his lead over Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. However, as the weekend’s results showed, polls do not necessarily translate at election time.

FLUX OF STATES

Victoria has for the first time topped CommSec’s quarterly ranking of Australian state economies, knocking off four-year reigning champions NSW.

According to The Age, the latest State by States report finds that Victoria’s booming population has helped the state’s economy grow 26.5% above its 10-year average. The Northern Territory came in a close third for economic growth, with Western Australia taking out the wooden spoon.

SACKED FOR ABORTION TWEETS

Cricket Australia has fired a Tasmanian employee for tweeting her support for abortion reform on social media. The woman was told that central to the dismissal were concerns she had offended the state government.

The Age reports that former manager of public policy and government relations Angela Williamson, waiving her right to anonymity, has spoken publicly against the dismissal and reiterated her concerns over having had to fly to the Australian mainland for a pregnancy termination. Williamson has lodged a Fair Work complaint that includes an allegation that a senior Tasmanian government staff member disclosed Williamson’s abortion to Cricket Tasmania, a claim the government has rejected.

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CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF FRIDAY

Independent report confirms we’re paying a Turnbull Tax on broadbandBernard Keane

“The failure of the NBN project is no longer a matter of partisan disputation. Tony Abbott charged Malcolm Turnbull with ‘demolishing’ the NBN and, according to Standard & Poor’s, he’s done a pretty good job of achieving just that. Moreover, the damage extends beyond the NBN to a massive misallocation of resources as rivals pour money into wireless broadband to overcome NBN’s regulated dominance of fixed broadband.”

First to go? Concerns for Fairfax regional newspapers following Nine acquisitionEmily Watkins

“One of the biggest concerns in Nine’s proposed acquisition of Fairfax is what will happen to its regional and community newspapers. In the announcement yesterday, Nine made it very clear that its main interest was in video streaming platform Stan and property listings website Domain — both with great money-making potential.”

Imran Khan claims victory in Pakistan, but huge questions remainMichael Sainsbury

“Pakistan cricketing great Imran Khan, who has been in politics since founding the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI, or Pakistan Justice Movement) in 1996, is truly one of the greatest all-rounders after becoming the country’s new prime minister. The result, following the July 25 election, is only the second democratic handover of power in 71 years.”

READ ALL ABOUT IT

‘Reckless’: Approval given for more coal mining in Sydney’s catchment

Queensland woman terrified as ex-partner who threatened to strap bombs to their children goes on run

Long-awaited new $170-million Palmerston Regional Hospital will start treating patients on August 27 ($)

Ku De Ta’s collapse leaves debts to unsecured creditors of almost $8m

Price tag revealed to build new Women’s and Children’s hospital at RAH site ($)

Justine’s Keay victory in Braddon by-election increases the pledge pressure on Labor ($)

Suspected links between outlaw motorcycle clubs and armed forces under investigation

Indonesia earthquake: 14 dead after 6.4 quake hits tourist island of Lombok

Lee Lin Chin bids farewell on final bulletin for SBS

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Brisbane

• The coroner’s findings regarding the death of Hamid Khazaie, an Iranian asylum seeker who died in Brisbane after contracting a rare infection on Manus Island, will be handed down at the Magistrates Court. Brisbane’s Refugee Action Collective will also hold a ‘Justice For Hamid’ protest outside the court calling for the end of offshore processing.

• A federal senate inquiry will examine the Great Barrier Reef 2050 Partnership Program, while a house inquiry will look at Funding Australia’s Research.

Canberra

• Federal joint inquiries will be held into the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defence Capability Facilities Project; and the Jindalee Operational Radar Network Phase 6 Facilities Project.

Sydney

• Race Discrimination Commissioner Tim Soutphommasane will help launch a research report, ‘Beyond the Pale: Cultural Diversity on ASX 100 Boards,’ detailing how the ASX top 100 boards fail to reflect the diversity of Australia’s population and workforce.

• Wholesale Investor will launch their two-day Advanced Technology and Crypto Convention.

Melbourne

• A federal senate inquiry will examine the Proposed Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

• Day one of the two-day 2018 Victorian Tourism Conference, with Federal Tourism Minister Steven Ciobo expected to attend as one of 400 guests.

Adelaide

• Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham will mark one month of the Turnbull Government’s new child care and early learning system.

• The Murray-Darling Basin Royal Commission will continue public hearings.

• Day one of the two-day Paydirt Mining and Energy Investment Conference. 

Rockingham, WA

• Attorney-General Christian Porter will help launch the Rockingham/Kwinana Domestic Violence Unit.

Perth

• Humanities and Social Sciences teaching and learning series HASS Week WA 2018 will showcase a number of public lectures, with UWA Honorary Research Fellow Dr Cindy Solonec set to deliver ‘Protecting Ngajanha Marnta: Eastern Guruma v FMG’ today.

• Sustainability writer Lindsay Miles will discuss living a plastic-free life as part of Perth Library’s talk series.

Darwin

• Opening day for the week-long motorbike event, the TERRA Territory Challenge.

THE COMMENTARIAT

Turnbull facing tough times as Coalition loses momentum ($) — Peter van Onselen (The Australian): “Managing expectations has long been a Coalition weakness. Labor is so much better at the spin associated with claiming underdog status. Even though no opposition has lost a by-election in a seat it holds for nearly 100 years, Labor successfully got the narrative out in the public that Longman is a traditional Liberal seat and so is Braddon. Therefore the odds were that one or both would fall.”

Australia’s healthcare system saved my life — Roqayah Chamseddine (Sydney Morning Herald): “Between 150,000 to 320,000 U.S. travellers identify healthcare as a reason for travelling abroad each year after being faced with the prospect of death or financial cataclysm. For those who have are unable to migrate the desperation is palpable, and the consequences of a for-profit health industry are irreparable.”

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