What we learned – Friday 12 December
We’ll leave our live coverage of the news there for this week. Thanks for staying with us. Here were the top stories from today:
Melbourne’s West Gate Tunnel will open on Sunday.
The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, referred her own travel expenses claim to parliament’s watchdog.
The man who killed Molly Ticehurst will face sentencing in June.
State and territory health ministers decided not to accept the prime minister’s $20bn health deal.
Anthony Albanese confirmed the federal government will provide financial support for the Tomago aluminium smelter.
The first climate migrants from Tuvalu have arrived in Australia.
Jim Chalmers cleared the way for a Korean defence firm, Hanwha, to increase its stake in shipbuilder Austal.
The health minister said weight-loss drugs are being considered for inclusion on PBS.
Beetaloo Energy reached its final signoff for a Northern Territory fracking project.
Updated
Former CEO suing ANZ over cancelled bonuses ‘accepts need for accountability’
Shayne Elliott, ANZ’s former long-serving chief executive, has issued a statement on his decision to take the bank to court for cancelling his bonuses.
As we reported earlier, Elliott said he expected the terms of his contract to be honoured. He served as chief executive from January 2016 until July this year.
The bank in September agreed to pay $240m in penalties to settle four investigations into widespread misconduct at ANZ. ANZ’s board of directors then stripped Elliott of anticipated bonuses worth $13.5m to “reflect accountability” as the former CEO and for the “financial and reputational impacts”, according to the company’s annual report.
In his statement, Elliott said:
The Bank and I had a clear, unambiguous agreement about the terms of my departure ... I accept the need for accountability, which is why I voluntarily proposed to the Board that I would forgo my incentives in 2024.
He said he had no alternative but to commence proceedings in the supreme court of New South Wales seeking a declaration that the bank has breached its contract with him.
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