Morning mail: Jared Kushner denies collusion with Russia Tuesday: Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser says he had 'no improper contacts'. Plus: Australians back new home affairs ministry Jared Kushner gives his statement outside the White House. Photograph: REX/Shutterstock Eleanor Ainge Roy @EleanorAingeRoy Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on 24 July. Top stories Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, has insisted he "did not collude" with Russia during the presidential election. Kushner, who gave testimony to a Senate committee behind closed doors, released a statement in which he also dismissed the significance of a meeting he attended with Donald Trump Jr and a Russian lawyer. Kushner said he had four contacts with Russian officials during the presidential election and transition, but insisted they were part of his role as a Trump campaign point man for foreign governments. Kushner did admit that he raised with the Russian ambassador to the US the possibility of using a secure line at the Russian embassy to discuss the crisis in Syria – presumably without the knowledge of Barack Obama's administration. The 36-year-old property millionaire reiterated this message in an unorthodox two-minute statement outside the White House on Monday afternoon after finishing his Senate testimony. "I did not collude with Russia, nor did I know of anyone else in the campaign who did so," he said. "I had no improper contacts. I did not rely on Russian funds for my business." Kushner has said his meeting with Donald Jr and Russia lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya was a waste of his time and he texted his assistant to get him out of it after 10 minutes. Most Australians support the creation of a new national security ministry, including a slim majority of Labor voters, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll. The poll found 56% approved of the new home affairs ministry, which amalgamates the immigration department with security agencies and the Australian federal police under Peter Dutton's control. A total of 18% disapproved of the move and 26% did not give a preference.The survey also found strong support for a clean energy target – one of the recommendations of the Finkel report. An 81-year-old man who hanged himself in his prison cell in Darwin was able to do so because budget cuts demanded by the government did not allow for the installation of safer fans in the new Darwin adult prison, a Northern Territory coroner has been told. Since the man's death in 2015 at least one other prisoner has taken their life in the same manner and another female prisoner has attempted to. Coroner Greg Cavanagh said it "beggars belief" that the prison had "such classic hanging points with no mitigation of that risk". The parents of the UK baby Charlie Gard, who has been at the centre of an intense legal and medical battle, have decided it is time to let their son go. Their quest to take Charlie to the US for experimental treatment for his rare encephalomyopathic mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome touched millions around the world, but was opposed by doctors and the UK courts. A US doctor had told them it was now too late to try to save Charlie using nucleoside therapy. "We only wanted to give him a chance of life," his mother told the court in a statement. "A whole lot of time has been wasted," she said. "Sweet dreams, baby. Sleep tight our beautiful little boy. Charlie Matthew William Gard. Our hero!" A lack of action is allowing "debt vultures" to operate unchecked in Australia, the Consumer Action Law Centre has warned. It has been 18 months since the corporate regulator warned debt management firms, which offer to help often-vulnerable individuals manage their debts, were engaging in misleading and even predatory conduct. And the consumer advocate says it is still waiting for the federal government to do something about the sector, which faces many fewer regulatory obligations than its counterparts in the UK and US. Sport There's a big problem in the NRL, writes Nick Tedeschi: referees are no longer in control of the games they are supposed to be officiating, having been usurped by technology. In the English Premier League, Manchester City have signed the defender Benjamin Mendy from Monaco for £52m ($85m), pushing their summer spending over £200m. The fee is a world record for a defender and is Pep Guardiola's latest signal of intent as he seeks to build a squad capable of winning major silverware in his second season at the Etihad Stadium. Cycling columnist William Fotheringham says he does not believe Chris Froome will win another Tour de France, despite the Briton's latest success. Team Sky's champion never looked dominant in the 2017 race despite a lack of seasoned contenders and, at 32, he cannot go on defying the years, Fotheringham writes. Thinking time Client Liaison and Tina Arena perform on Sunday at Splendour in the Grass. Photograph: Splendour in the Grass The sets of legendary acts at music festivals promise much, but also offer plenty of potential for disappointment. Queens of the Stone Age, LCD Soundsystem and Paul Kelly uniformly delivered on the hype at this year's Splendour in the Grass, writes Brodie Lancaster. But the real highlights of the festival were found among less familiar faces – the new artists just finding their footing on massive stages in front of massive crowds. Kim Scott, one of Australia's finest writers and twice winner of the Miles Franklin literary award, is back with a new novel. Taboo is overwhelmingly optimistic, despite being grounded in a brutal modern reality, says Indigenous writer Melissa Lucashenko in her review of the book. "His characters dance on the page through a multitude of startling events: a living curlew erupts from a campfire; a skeleton which is not a skeleton totters forward and speaks. And finally we are left with these understandings: prison stultifies. Language vivifies. The dead remain, always." Nearly 25 years after his murder alongside Nicole Brown Simpson, Ron Goldman remains one of the world's most famous innocent bystanders. As OJ Simpson is granted parole, Goldman's father Fred and sister Kim explain why they are ready to start fighting all over again. Simpson was famously acquitted of the murder of Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, but Fred and Kim still refer to him only as "the killer". Now Simpson is free again, Kim Goldman says: "We'll be there, waiting and watching." What's he done now? Donald Trump has dodged questions about healthcare during a photo opportunity at the White House. During the session Trump was asked by a reporter if he had any comment about the current healthcare battle in the Senate. "Be quiet," he replied. As usual, Trump has also been active on Twitter, but he has now taken the unusual step of lashing out against his own party, continuing a series of tweets that began a day ago. "If Republicans don't Repeal and Replace the disastrous ObamaCare, the repercussions will be far greater than any of them understand!" he wrote overnight. Media roundup The ABC has the explosive allegations outlined on Monday's Four Corners about the Murray-Darling Basin, which it says has been deprived of billions of litres of water thanks to lax compliance and collusion between irrigators and bureaucrats. The Financial Review splashes with a story on NBN Co, which the Fin says is considering forcing telecommunication companies to guarantee a minimum level of service for customers, amid concerns around internet pricing and speeds as the National Broadband Network rolls out. The front page of the Age features five-year-old Sidhak, whose father, Sagardeep Singh Arora, says Melton Christian College in Melbourne is breaching the Equal Opportunity Act by not allowing Sidhak to wear the patka – an essential part of Sikh religious practice. Coming up An inquiry into death of Sapper Jordan Penpraze at Sydney's Holsworthy army base in 2012 will resume on Tuesday. Penpraze died from injuries he sustained when a truck that he and other soldiers were travelling in overturned during training. Four men accused of dealing weapons to Brighton siege gunman Yacqub Khayre will face court in Melbourne. 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