Morning mail: cricket world mourns Dean Jones, bank loan rules shake-up, Trump booed
Good morning, this is Imogen Dewey bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Friday 25 September.
Top stories
The cricket world is mourning the death of the former Australian batsman Dean Jones, who has died of a heart attack in Mumbai. The no-nonsense coach and pundit, who was 59, averaged over 46 in Tests and revolutionised one-day cricket. The charismatic sportsman will be remembered for his role in the vanguard of Australia’s revival in the 1980s and 1990s, writes Vic Marks, as well as for his provocative manner: “Somehow he brilliantly epitomised our perception of an Aussie cricketer of that era.”
The government plans radical changes to bank lending rules, in an attempt to kickstart the economy. It will today announce plans to wind back responsible lending obligations transferring due diligence responsibilities from lenders to borrowers and allowing credit providers to rely on the information provided by borrowers unless there are reasonable grounds to suspect it is unreliable.
The Crown casino inquiry has been told that James Packer was given secret financial forecasts before a significant share sale. The inquiry is examining Crown’s suitability to hold a Sydney licence for the Barangaroo casino due to open in December, and its findings are also likely to have ramifications for Crown’s Melbourne and Perth casino licences – given almost all of the behaviour being scrutinised in New South Wales occurred in those cities.
Australia
Farmers are pushing back on the Coalition’s gas plan, saying quality of land and water takes priority. This renewed pressure could revive tensions between the Liberals and the Nationals.
Elderly residents of a Victorian aged care home have been confined to their rooms for more than two months without visitors or trips outside for fresh air. Twenty residents of Mercy Place have died of Covid-19.
The Victorian government may be able to pursue a security company for costs incurred in scrapping the Covid hotel quarantine program and could be indemnified against legal action relating to failures in the scheme.
Authorities have called off a search for South Australian fisherman Tony Higgins and his boat the Margrel, a day after a wallet containing his ID was found washed up on a beach.
The world
Top Republicans have dismissed Donald Trump’s refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the US presidential election – though they stopped short of rebuking him directly. As the president and the first lady paid their respects to Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s flag-draped coffin on Thursday, they were greeted with jeers and boos from the assembled crowd.
Fresh protests are expected in Louisville and elsewhere in America as public anger and sadness continue to ripple out from the Kentucky city in the wake of the announcement that no police officers would be charged directly with the shooting death of Breonna Taylor in March.
Alexei Navalny’s bank accounts were frozen and his Moscow apartment seized as part of a lawsuit filed by a catering firm while the Russian opposition politician was recovering from a suspected poisoning in a Berlin hospital, his spokeswoman has said.
The UK has reported a record daily number of Covid cases, with a senior Public Health England official saying the increase in infections should be a “stark warning to us all”.
Recommended reads
Australia is in the grip of a new wave of tax evasion and money laundering allegedly orchestrated by unscrupulous firms of professional advisers, including accountants, writes Anne Davies. It’s called “phoenixing”: the art of liquidating a company and allowing unscrupulous dealers to rise, debt-free, from the ashes.
The country is in a strange twilight zone – pre-vaccine but on the road to reopening – and we awkwardly navigate new social rules, writes Brigid Delaney: “I think she’s going in for the hug. I thought they weren’t allowed!”
Netflix’s paean to possessions and the acrylic plastic boxes you can house them in is seductive yet obscene, writes Brittney Rigby. Get Organized With the Home Edit is a compulsive look at the life-changing magic of rich people’s stuff.
Listen
Australia’s trade links with China have helped make us one of the world’s richest countries, but a clash in values is putting increasing strain on the alliance. In this episode of Full Story, Daniel Hurst looks at the relationship’s history, and examines the precarious balance between democratic principles and economic dependency.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
On 1 November, cycling in Australia will enter a new era when four disciplines – track, road, mountain bike and BMX – merge to form one body, AusCycling. To proponents of the changes, an overhaul has been long overdue. “This is a great step forward for cycling,” says CA chief executive Steve Drake. “This will give cycling a louder voice and have benefits for all forms of cycling.”
As cricket returns to Australia in the Covid era, there is “a real sense of getting back to business”, writes Meghan Schutt. “It is the first international sporting series of any kind to be played in Australia since the pandemic started and we know we have to put on a show.”
Media roundup
A Nationals MP is at the centre of a fresh koala policy controversy, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Whales returning to the sea after the mass stranding in Tasmania will “face challenges”, says the Mercury, as the rescue effort continues for 20 more. And the West Australian highlights “three crucial moments” that led to conviction of Bradley Edwards for the Claremont serial killings.
Coming up
Daniel Andrews is the final witness to give evidence to the hotel quarantine inquiry. At the investigation he established, all eyes will be on Victoria’s premier.
The $100,000 Archibald portrait prize is announced today.
And if you’ve read this far …
Police have confiscated 345,000 recycled condoms in Vietnam, after the used contraceptives were found in warehouse in Binh Duong province – boiled, dried and reshaped on a wooden phallus for resale. The owner of the warehouse said they had received a “monthly input of used condoms from an unknown person”.
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