Good afternoon. The Australian Public Service commissioner, Gordon de Brouwer, has apologised for the civil service’s role in the unlawful robodebt program, and called the scheme “a failure of government”.
The findings of the APS commission’s robodebt taskforce, released on Friday, found former department heads Kathryn Campbell and Renée Leon were among 12 public servants who breached the code of conduct 97 times during their involvement in the unlawful scheme.
The other 10 public servants, including four still employed by the Australian public service, breached the code on 72 occasions, cited for lack of care, diligence and integrity. They will not be named, and the four still employed will face a range of sanctions from demotion to reprimands and fines.
The report concluded some respondents had “lost their way and compromised their professional standards”.
Top news
Government to pay Reynolds’ Nacc legal costs | The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, has agreed to pay Linda Reynolds’ legal costs in her referral of the commonwealth’s $2.445m settlement with Brittany Higgins to the National Anti-Corruption Commission. The WA senator had accused Dreyfus of acting “corruptly” by allegedly disallowing her involvement in any mediation with Higgins.
Liberals overturn attempt to ‘neutralise’ NSW intervention | The Liberal federal executive has overturned a bid by the NSW opposition leader, Mark Speakman, to include two women in a panel to run the troubled NSW division. On Friday, the federal executive appointed a three-person panel led by two Victorian men and one NSW woman.
Labor floats new anti-scam laws | Banks, telcos and social media companies would be fined up to $50m and be forced to pay compensation if they fail to adequately protect customers from scams, under a crackdown proposed by the Albanese government.
‘The gods have smiled on us’ | More than 120 people running in the NSW local government elections have been identified by researchers as possible “fringe” candidates, including conspiracy theorists and people backed by a high-profile anti-lockdown campaigner.
Trump attempts to reframe debate performance | At a campaign event in the key swing state of Arizona, Donald Trump repeated baseless claims about Haitian immigrants and claimed “a monumental victory” in the debate against Harris, but made it clear he had no desire for a do-over.
Defence minister and the chain of command | Richard Marles may have been trying to demonstrate accountability in the face of serious allegations of war crimes – but by deciding to strip medals from some commanders and not others, Daniel Hurst writes, the defence minister has reopened old wounds.
Myanmar journalists facing ‘terror campaign’ | This year is already the deadliest year yet for members of the press since the country’s 2021 military coup, with three journalists reportedly killed last month alone and many others jailed and severely injured.
Seismic mystery solved | A landslide and mega-tsunami in Greenland in September 2023, triggered by the climate crisis, caused the entire Earth to vibrate for nine days – an event so completely unprecedented that researchers had no idea until now what had caused it.
Weird science | A team of Japanese scientists who discovered that mammals can breathe through their anuses were among the winners at this year’s Ig Nobel awards, the irreverent accolades given for achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think”.
In video
‘I need that hat’: Biden jokes about not remembering his own name as he puts on Trump 2024 cap
In a bitter and fraught US election, a rare moment of levity broke through when video went viral of Joe Biden joking with a Trump supporter about his age and trying on his Trump 2024 hat.
What they said …
***
“Fascists” – Elon Musk
The X owner and self-styled “free speech absolutist” responded to new Australian legislation aimed at tackling deliberate lies spread on social media. Under the proposed laws, platforms could be fined up to 5% of their annual turnover if they failed to regulate content. The assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, labelled Musk’s comments “crackpot stuff”.
In numbers
The Albanese government has released its new hydrogen production strategy, updating the 2019 version it inherited from the Coalition. The energy minister, Chris Bowen, said Australia’s green hydrogen pipeline is “alive and healthy” and dismissed critics who had “gloated” about setbacks to the nascent industry.
Before bed read
Frayed cables and yellow pillows: how to fix, reuse or ditch 12 confusing kinds of household clutter
The mantra “buy once, buy well” never feels more relevant than when you’re faced with mounting piles of household clutter. It’s hard to know what to do with things that might not be worth fixing, can’t really be donated and don’t belong in household bins.
To help you figure out how to responsibly dispose of that miscellanea, we’ve compiled expert advice on the most pervasive categories.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: REDO. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
Sign up
If you would like to receive this Afternoon Update to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here, or start your day with a curated breakdown of the key stories you need to know with our Morning Mail newsletter.
And check out the full list of our local and international newsletters, including The Stakes, your guide to the twists and turns of the US presidential election.
