Morning mail: Tony Abbott suggests climate change 'doing good' Tuesday: Former PM delivers speech to climate sceptics in London. Plus first of three days of hearings starts in Canberra, with fate of four MPs in the balance Former prime minister of Australia Tony Abbott says climate change is 'probably doing good'. Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images Eleanor Ainge Roy @EleanorAingeRoy Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Tuesday 10 October. Top stories Former prime minister Tony Abbott has suggested climate change is "probably doing good" in a speech in London in which he likened policies to combat it to "primitive people once killing goats to appease the volcano gods". Abbott delivered the annual lecture to the London-based Global Warming Policy Foundation, a climate-sceptic thinktank on Monday evening. The Guardian was blocked from attending the event but a copy of the speech was later circulated. Abbott told the group the ostracisation of those who do not accept climate science was "the spirit of the Inquisition, the thought-police down the ages". He also reprised his 2009 assertion that the "so-called settled science of climate change" was "absolute crap". Hollywood heavyweights Dame Judi Dench and Meryl Streep have condemned disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein over decades of sexual harassment allegations. The two actors called the complaints against Weistein, who was sacked by his own company yesterday, horrifying and inexcusable, and said those who had spoken out against him were heroes. Streep, who famously referred to the producer as "God" at the 2012 Golden Globe awards, denied any knowledge of the allegations or that his behaviour was an open-secret in Hollywood. "Not everybody knew," Streep told the Huffington Post. "Harvey supported the work fiercely, was exasperating but respectful with me in our working relationship, and with many others with whom he worked professionally." Australians are concerned the current standoff between the United States and North Korea will lead to all-out military confrontation, with 55% fearing that outcome, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll. Women are more pessimistic about the brinkmanship leading to war than men – 61% compared with 49%. Voters surveyed also ranked terrorism top of their current concerns about their personal safety, followed by a car accident and nuclear warfare. Next on the list was catastrophic climate change, natural disasters and gang violence, with family violence the last point on the list. This week's Guardian Essential poll has Labor retaining its election-winning lead over Malcolm Turnbull's Coalition government, with the ALP ahead on the two-party preferred measure 54% to 46%. The line between what children learn at home and in the classroom is being "blurred", as parents increasingly ask schools to help socialise their children, new research has found. A joint study between researchers at Monash University and the Australian Scholarships Group released on Tuesday found almost 70% of parents across the public and independent sector believe schools should be teaching more social skills, while almost half want their children to be taught how to "behave in public". Experts say socialisation is becoming more of a focus because of the changing nature of children's activities, including more screen time. Boral has been told to take urgent action to stop pollution flowing from a disused mine site into the Wingecarribee river in the New South Wales southern highlands. The multinational company now has three days left to tell the state's environmental watchdog, the environmental protection agency (EPA), what it will do to stop zinc, nickel and manganese leaching into the river, which is part of Sydney's drinking water catchment. The pollution was discovered by an academic, University of Western Sydney water scientist Ian Wright, earlier this year. Wright described the zinc contamination as the worst he had seen and said levels of manganese was "off the chart". Sport The Miami Dolphins offensive line coach Chris Foerster has resigned after a social media video surfaced appearing to show him snorting three lines of a white powdery substance at a desk. Foerster said he was seeking medical help and accepts "full responsibility" for his actions. The Socceroos face one the most important nights in their recent history in Sydney tonight, when a win against Syria will see Ange Postecoglou's side progress to a final World Cup qualifying tie, but a loss or a high-scoring draw will end their hopes. Join Jonathan Howcroft on the liveblog from 7:30pm to follow every kick of the game at ANZ Stadium. Thinking time Photo Meredith O'Shea The Guardian .071017 .Friends wait out side the melbourne Town Hall for the doors to open for The Coming Back out Ball . Photograph: The Guardian On Saturday night, in the midst of Australia's divisive same-sex marriage survey, Melbourne hosted its inaugural Coming Back Out Ball – a night to celebrate those who had come of age when "in the closet" was all but compulsory. Here were people who remembered when homosexuality was illegal, when transgender people were shunned, who had nursed the dying through the scourge of Aids. Melbourne editor Gay Alcorn went along for the sequin-filled and often poignant ride, and spoke to some of the LGBTI elders who come back out for the ball. The dual citizenship dramas that have hijacked the government's agenda for months will be laid out in the high court from today. Amy Remeikis and Paul Karp explain the ins and outs of the section 44 case, which will be heard over the next three days. Four of the seven who have been referred have their (short-term) political futures at stake. And the government faces the prospect of a byelection in the narrowly-held lower house if the court rules Barnaby Joyce was ineligible to stand for election in 2016. Greg Jericho dives into the complex calculations behind Australia's HFE – horizontal fiscal equalisation – and if you have no idea what that is, you are not alone. The Productivity Commission released a report yesterday on strategy for splitting GST between the states, known as HFE, and even that acknowledges "there is a dearth of public understanding of how HFE works". Even more problematic, for the federal government, any changes to the formula – such as the ones the commission recommends – risk triggering a war with state governments. What's he done now? Donald Trump has defended vice-president Mike Pence's brief and grossly expensive trip to an NFL game in Indianapolis, from which he abruptly walked out in protest after several black players knelt during the national anthem. Pence's departure has been slammed as a PR stunt, with CNN estimating the trip cost tax-payers around US$250,000. "The trip by @VP Pence was long planned. He is receiving great praise for leaving game after the players showed such disrespect for country!" Trump tweeted overnight. Media roundup The Sydney Morning Herald splashes with a report about former Hockeyroo Kate Hubble faking terminal cancer in order to cheat charities, in an elaborate scam that included forging letters, according to court documents. The NT News reports that proposed changes to GST could cause the territory to fall behind. Treasurer Nicole Manison warning the disadvantaged will become more disadvantaged under the "alarming" proposal. Durian is a famously stinky fruit beloved in south-east Asia, and has been described by some as smelling like "turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock". Now, the ABC reports, new DNA testing has identified the key genes responsible for the fruit's pungent odour. Scientists think the fruit evolved to smell worst when it was ripe – in the hope of attracting animals who would disperse its seeds. Coming up The high court sitting as the court of disputed returns will begin hearing the cases of federal MPs who may have been ineligible for election in 2016 because they held dual citizenship. The hearings are scheduled to last for three days in Canberra. Join Amy Remeikis later this morning to follow all the arguments with a special edition the Australian politics live blog. The federal court is expected to publish its decision on a challenge by unions to the Fair Work Commission's ruling to slash penalty rates in retail and hospitality Aria nominations will be announced alongside winners of several categories including producer of the year and engineer of the year Supporting the Guardian We'd like to acknowledge our generous supporters who enable us to keep reporting on the critical stories. If you value what we do and would like to help, please make a contribution or become a supporter today. Thank you. Guardian News & Media Limited - a member of Guardian Media Group PLC. 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