Morning Mail: taxpayers to fund Albanese defamation costs, five bodies found in yacht wreck, the rise of ‘sook’ as a political insult

Businessman John Margerison, left, has sent concerns notices to Anthony Albanese and Bill Shorten. Composite: AAP

Morning everyone. Our top story this morning is that the attorney general has approved legal assistance for Anthony Albanese and Bill Shorten in relation to defamation threats by a business associate of the former Liberal minister Stuart Robert. We have the full story, plus how “sook” became the political insult of the moment, a federal Labor stalwart announces he is stepping down as an MP, divers have found the bodies of five of the six people missing in the Sicily yacht sinking, and it’s the turn of Tim Walz to address the Democratic party convention.

Australia