APRA TAKES IT TO THE BANK

Banking regulator the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has launched an investigation into the Commonwealth Bank, vowing to probe the bank’s culture and practices in the wake of its recent money-laundering scandal. Rating agencies are already warning the inquiry could hurt the bank’s credit rating.

APRA will report within six months, with Treasurer Scott Morrison vowing to introduce new laws into Parliament strengthening the independent body by allowing it to cap salaries and delay bonuses, among other things. The lack of details about the inquiry have raised suspicions that it was “fast-tracked if only for the government to find a circuit-breaker,” writes Phillip Coorey, in the Australian Financial Review.

Both Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and shadow treasurer Chris Bowen seized on the news to reiterate Labor’s call for a royal commission into the banks, promoting Morrison to label the demand a “con”. Along with PM Malcolm Turnbull, Morrison argues that the quick timeframe for the inquiry makes it superior to a royal commission.

TWIST IN TEN DEAL

CBS has beaten off Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon to become the frontrunner to take over the Ten Network. Just last week, Murdoch and Gordon received regulatory approval for their bid, but CBS will instead take control of the network and pay off $123 million of its debt.

Despite approval from the ACCC, Murdoch and Gordon still needed Parliament to amend Australia’s media diversity rules, with the so-called “reach” and “two-out-of-three” rules preventing them from taking over the company. With that likely to take time — or end up stuck in the Senate — CBS jumped in, and will now require its own regulatory approval and a number of other sign-offs before it can take the reins.

HOUSTON’S MASSIVE PROBLEM

The fourth largest city in the US has been reduced to a string of islands, with the full extent of Tropical Storm Harvey today becoming apparent. Close to half a million people are expected to need federal aid and 30,000 are thought to be homeless, with the city partially disappearing below the waters. The death toll so far is five.

Flooding is expected to get worse before it gets better, with further dams to be opened in order to prevent them from overflowing.

HE REALLY SAID THAT

“What is he proposing? That in his first 100 days as prime minister he will visit every public statue with his new Office of the Public Engraver, to edit our history to his liking?” — Member for Cook and newly enthused amateur historian Scott Morrison attacks Bill Shorten for suggesting a plaque on a Captain Cook statue describing the English explorer as “discovering Australia” could be altered.

“An additional plaque on Captain Cook’s statue is fine by me,” Shorten had said.

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Why there’s no quick fix to housing affordability, says CEDA

Senator Katy Gallagher may be Ecuadorean after it is revealed her mother was born in South America

Police investigate if girl shot herself by accident after finding gun

Peter Dutton’s comments to Alan Jones a betrayal of ‘Australian values’, lawyers say

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Sydney: Mentions for various alleged members of a plan to defraud the ATO, including deputy commissioner Michael Cranston

Brisbane: Justice Minister Michael Keenan will open a new AFP facility.

Brisbane: Former premier and current banking lobby chief Anna Bligh will speak at the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce.

Melbourne: CEDA will launch its Australia research report, which finds housing affordability is likely to remain an issue for 40 years.

COMMENTARIAT

Is APRA’s Commonwealth Bank inquiry enough to stave off a royal commission? — Adele Ferguson (The Age): “Unfortunately, the inquiry smacks of desperation by the Turnbull government which has boxed itself into a corner by rejecting a royal commission into the banks.”

US giant CBS crashes Ten Network party — Michael Smith (Australian Financial Review $): “CBS has the deep pockets and management expertise to fix the structural problems facing the broadcaster. For the man on the street, it should lead to an improvement in Ten’s programming which has lagged Seven and Nine.”

THE WORLD

The de facto leader of Myanmar Aung Sang Suu Kyi has drawn an angry rebuke from rights groups after accusing NGOs in the country of helping “terrorists”. Suu Kyi’s comments came after violence in the Rakhine province, where the country’s Muslim minority have long faced persecution, something Suu Kyi has often been accused of ignoring. — The Guardian

WHAT WE’RE READING

Did climate change make Hurricane Harvey worse? (Quartz): “The waters of the Gulf of Mexico have been warmer than average this year, with bathtub-like temperatures breaking heat records all last winter.”

Hezbollah: Iran’s Middle East agent, emissary and hammer (New York Times): “The roots of that network go back to the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, when Iran called on Hezbollah to help organise Iraqi Shiite militias that in the coming years killed hundreds of American troops and many more Iraqis.”

Donald Trump is worth $2 billion to Twitter (Huffington Post): “Twitter would lose as much as US$2 billion of its value if Donald Trump were to stop tweeting, says an analyst who covers the social media company … Twitter would see a loss in ‘intangible value’ if Trump stopped tweeting, which would lead to a decline in its stock price.”

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