Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Friday 4 August. Top stories "You are worse than I am." A leaked transcript of the contentious 28 January telephone conversation between Donald Trump and Malcolm Turnbull has revealed heated exchanges over the deal for the US to take refugees from Nauru and Manus Island. The US president said the deal was "stupid" and would "kill" him politically because he was "the world's greatest person that does not want to let people into the country". But when Turnbull explained Australia's offshore detention system, the US president expressed his admiration and said the US should adopt it. Trump said: "That is a good idea. We should do that too. You are worse than I am." Transcripts also reveal Trump begged the Mexican president, Enrique Peña Nieto, not to say Mexico would not pay for the US president's proposed border wall. The leak, showing Trump to be "narcissistic to the point of absurdity" is the latest sign that established norms are breaking down inside the administration, with far-reaching and unpredictable implications, Julian Borger writes. Two men have been charged with planning a terrorist act after last weekend's police raids in Sydney that allegedly uncovered a plot to bring down a plane. A 49-year-old and a 32-year-old, both from south-west Sydney, have each been charged with two counts of acting in preparation for or planning a terrorist act, Australian federal police said in a statement on Thursday night. Both are scheduled to appear in Parramatta court on Friday morning. Bill Shorten has called for the immediate establishment of a joint parliamentary select committee to finalise a referendum question on enshrining an Indigenous voice in the federal parliament. The opposition leader wrote to Malcolm Turnbull on the eve of the annual Garma festival in north-east Arnhem Land. Turnbull has made no commitment since the Referendum Council delivered its recommendation. In his letter Shorten said the council's proposal "clearly reflects the legitimate, long-held aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for a greater say in the issues that affect their lives". Ten years on from the global financial crisis, Australian voters say they are comfortable that the $52bn stimulus package launched by the then Labor government, while politically controversial at the time, kept the country out of recession. A new poll commissioned by the Australia Institute, in cooperation with Labor's Chifley Institute, found that 62% of a sample of 1,408 voters believed the stimulus package kept Australia out of recession, in contrast to other major developed economies. An Afghan refugee was made to work 13 hours a day, seven days a week in a Melbourne fruit shop for as little as $3.50 an hour, the federal court has found, handing down a record fine to his former employer. Abdulrahman Taleb, the former owner-operator of Sunshine Fruit Market in Melbourne, was fined more than $16,000 and his company Mhoney Pty Ltd $644,000, the largest penalty resulting from a fair work ombudsman litigation. Sport There will be an Ashes series this year after days of intensive negotiations finally produced a compromise between Cricket Australia and the players' union, bringing to an end a bitter pay dispute that had threatened to derail the summer of cricket. The Matildas can secure the inaugural Tournament of Nations title if they avoid defeat in their final game against Brazil in Carson this morning, following impressive wins over the US and Japan. Paul Connolly will be live blogging the match from 9am AEST (kickoff at 9.15am AEST). Thinking time | 
Posts
Transcripts of the first call between Donald Trump and Malcolm Turnbull have been leaked. Photograph: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images 
No comments:
Post a Comment