Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 26 October. Top stories A staffer of the employment minister, Michaelia Cash, has resigned after Cash was forced to correct evidence in which she wrongly claimed her office had not tipped off the media before the controversial police raids on the Australian Workers' Union. The employment minister told Senate estimates the staff member in question had heard about the raid from media sources and passed the news on to other reporters. Cash said the tip-off took place without her knowledge and was not authorised. When asked about her repeated denials that her office had been involved in the notification, Cash said she had answered the questions based on her knowledge at the time. The issue dominated question time and estimates hearings in parliament yesterday, after the Australian federal police raided the AWU offices looking for evidence related to a 10-year-old donation to GetUp. The resignation followed mounting political pressure on the government over the conduct of the police raids, with Nick Xenophon calling for an independent inquiry into the leak to the media and Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese contending Cash's office "was ringing around media organisations ... telling them that [the police raids] were going to occur" – conduct he characterised as "an extraordinary intervention in the process". Read political editor Katharine Murphy's take on the whole messy affair here.
The federal government ignored its own research agency's valuation to pay almost double for water it purchased from an agricultural company as part of a buyback. Guardian Australia can reveal the government paid $78m for Murray-Darling water entitlements held by Webster Limited for one of its properties, Tandou. The agriculture department asked the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (Abares) what a fair price for the water would be, but then went with an alternative, higher valuation from a private valuer used by the New South Wales government. Documents tabled in the Senate reveal there was significant disagreement between Abares and the private-sector valuer, Herron Todd White, over the value of Tandou's water rights.
Fats Domino, the boogie-woogie master and rock'n'roll pioneer, has died at the age of 89 from natural causes. The pianist and New Orleans rhythm and blues singer inspired ska, the Beatles and bling, and sold 110m records during his prolific and influential career. Domino became one of the first black performers to feature on pop music television shows, appearing alongside the likes of Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers. But as rock'n'roll gave way to the guitar pop of the Beatles and others in the 1960s, American tastes changed, and his popularity started to dwindle. He didn't chase fashion, however. "I refused to change," he once said. "I had to stick to my own style that I've always used or it just wouldn't be me." His friend David Lind described him as "warm, fun-loving, spiritual, creative and humble. You don't get more New Orleans than that."
Human Rights Watch says the Australian government should consider sending federal police to Manus Island due to escalating violence and tension in the lead-up to the closure of the immigration detention centre. The organisation recently visited and investigated the plight of 770 men who remain as refugees or asylum seekers after being sent to the Papua New Guinean region by the Australian government. It found violent attacks and robberies committed against the men and a lack of adequate responses by authorities. Its concerns add to calls by the UNHCR last week that the situation threatens to become a humanitarian emergency. Human Rights Watch wants the men brought to Australia and says the police on the island "are not taking these attacks seriously". The former US President George HW Bush has reportedly apologised after an actor accused him of sexual assault. Actor Heather Lind, 34, alleged Bush "sexually assaulted" her when they posed for a photograph several years ago. "He touched me from behind from his wheelchair with his wife Barbara Bush by his side. He told me a dirty joke," she posted on Instagram, according to the Mail Online. A spokesman for the former president, who is 93, told the Mail Online: "President Bush would never – under any circumstance – intentionally cause anyone distress, and he most sincerely apologises if his attempt at humour offended Ms Lind." In the Instagram post, Lind said the president touched her a second time and "Barbara rolled her eyes as if to say 'not again'." "His security guard told me I shouldn't have stood next to him for the photo," added Lind. Sport In Amanda Wellington and Ashleigh Gardner, Australia is blessed with two of the world's most promising 20-year-old cricketers. Both starred in Australia's opening win over England. Game two of the Ashes is not do-or-die for England, however another Aussie win will make their goal of attaining nine points and the Ashes tough indeed. Tougher again will be the fact they now have to plan and execute just as much against Australia's junior players as they do the senior ones. Follow all the action from the Women's Ashes with the second ODI at Coffs Harbour (begins 2:40pm local time). Thinking time | 
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Michaelia Cash during Senate estimates on Wednesday evening where she was forced to admit her office had been involved in tipping off media. Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian 
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