Turnbull cops a battering

THIS MORNING’S FRONT PAGES

POLITICS AND ECONOMICS

Australia

Terrorism

Suspects ‘new to mosque’ – Somali terror suspects Saney Edow Aweys, Yacqub Khayre and Abdirahman Ahmed began attending the controversial 8 Blacks prayer centre in North Melbourne this year, only a few months before they were charged with plotting a terrorist attack – The Australian

Jihadis would be ‘shot in minutes’ – The Australian reports that any terrorists intending to mount an attack on the Holsworthy Barracks could be shot within minutes and the base needs no extra fortification because its elite soldiers almost always carry loaded weapons for training purposes.

Leaders warn of community backlash against raids – The Australian

Farcical security breach at Lavarack barracks – Brisbane Courier Mail

Accused terrorist a faultless child, says devastated uncle – Sydney Daily Telegraph

Uncle blames Australian system as terror suspect Yacqub Khayre revealed – Melbourne Herald Sun

Uncle blames welfare system for loss of nephew – Melbourne Age

Utegate

Liberal-Godwin Grech mess exposed – The true extent to which the Opposition allowed a senior Treasury official to script its questions at a Senate inquiry into the Utegate affair has been embarrassingly laid bare – Brisbane Courier Mail

Malcolm Turnbull blames fake email mole Godwin Grech – Brisbane Courier Mail

Utegate saga: Malcolm Turnbull sacrifices Godwin Grech – Stefanie Balogh in ther Brisbane Courier Mail on how Malcolm Turnbull – with his win-at-all-costs personality – has thrown Godwin Grech under a ute in a desperate bid to save his own tattered political skin.

Turnbull ducks email affair onslaught – The Government has embarked on a campaign of character assassination against Malcolm Turnbull and will next week chase his chief inquisitor, Eric Abetz, by attempting to have the Senate inquire into the OzCar debacle – Sydney Morning Herald

Leadership

Desperate Liberals look to replace Turnbull with Robb – Liberal MPs are considering replacing Malcolm Turnbull with Andrew Robb before the next election in the wake of the Opposition Leader’s disastrous calls on Kevin Rudd to resign over allegations of impropriety over the OzCar affair – The Australian

Costello critical of Turnbull tack – Former Treasurer Peter Costello has fuelled Government criticism of Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull by suggesting the approach from senior Treasury official Godwin Grech should have been treated with more caution – Melbourne Age

Joyce has designs as Nats’ top dog – Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce has declared he wants to lead his party and has called for renewal in the Nationals’ parliamentary ranks – The Australian

John-Paul Langbroek told to sack chief-of-staff – Queensland Opposition Leader John-Paul Langbroek has been granted a stay of execution by his colleagues after forcing the resignation of a senior staffer over the doctored email controversy – Brisbane Courier Mail

Lobbying

Bligh bans lobbyists from Government boards – Brisbane Courier Mail

ALP boss’s link to $1m success fee – Union heavyweight Bill Ludwig and Queensland ALP president Ron Monaghan oversaw a decision to invest $100 million with a company advised by Labor mate Jim Elder’s lobbying firm that resulted in a $1m “success fee” being paid to another Labor figure – The Australian

Former Rudd staffer lobbied for $1bn – A former staffer of Kevin Rudd admitted yesterday he successfully lobbied the federal government to secure $1 billion in backing for a Brisbane-based non-bank lender. But Neville Conway, who managed the Prime Minister’s electorate campaign in 2007 before resigning to become a lobbyist, said yesterday he had never asked for any favours and did little more than direct his clients, FirstMac, to “fill out application forms” – The Australian

Heavyweights pay to dine with PM – The Australian

Racing chiefs ‘paid’ Bolkus – Adelaide Advertiser

Businesses pay to meet Brumby – Melbourne Age

Aboriginal affairs

Stark call to end housing ‘gravy train‘ – Aboriginal leaders have warned the federal government that it must regain control over indigenous policy in the Northern Territory – The Australian

Elections

Games of show and tell – Territorians have been told it is up to them to decide who will lead the NT into the future. Renegade MLA Alison Anderson said yesterday she would listen to the people before meeting with Independent Gerry Wood to decide if they will support the CLP, Labor or force an election – Northern Territory News

Industrial relations

Business fat cats lashed over pay – The cycle of excessive reward for private sector executives has been lashed by the body that sets pay for judges and politicians, which says top public servants work just as hard for much less – Sydney Morning Herald

Opinions

Terror in our backyard – Rajat Ganguly, program chair in Security, Terrorism and Counterterrorism Studies at Murdoch University, writes in the Melbourne Age that a comprehensive strategy would help defuse the real threat to Australia’s security.

Copping it from both sides – Michelle Grattan writers in the Melbourne Age that Peter Costello is being mischievous and provocative. Kevin Rudd is the cold-blooded strategist. Their victim is Malcolm Turnbull, whose huge self-belief must surely be deflating, as the only thing he has to look forward to in the months ahead is a lot more pain and trouble.

Fitzgerald’s corrruption views merit attention – The Melbourne Age‘s Paul Austin says Premier John Brumby’s response to corruption warnings ignores real dangers.

Liberals ignored red flags in Godwin Grech affair – Dennis Atkins in the Brisbane Courier Mail on the warning signals the Liberals missed when dealing with Godwin Grech.

It’s a loser or the last man standing – Dennis Shanahan in The Australian writes that, as incredible as it seems, there are significant Liberal figures thinking about replacing Turnbull as Liberal leader and facing Labor at the next election — expected late next year — with their fourth leader in two years.

Integrity is lacking, despite an outbreak of moralising – Christian Kerr points out in The Australianthat while Kevin Rudd talks about integrity, it’s lacking in his back yard of Queensland.

Elsewhere

North Korea

Bill Clinton and Journalists in Emotional Return to U.S. – New York Times

Japanese election

Ruling Party’s Rural Base Erodes in Japan – New York Times

Opinions

Let the Big Dog Run – Maureen Dowd in the New York Times writes that conservatives were screeching, naturally, that the Clinton trip would provide propaganda cover to the North Koreans to continue their nuclear shell game. But the former Bush bullies have no credibility on diplomacy. They spent eight years wrecking it, and the score for them on North Korea is 0-6; zero meetings with Kim and enough plutonium for six nuclear bombs.

Burma’s deadly course – Greg Sheridan in The Australian says there is no doubt there is a deep relationship between the Burmese and North Korean militaries.

BUSINESS

ANZ slams watchdog over mergers – The chief executive of ANZ, Mike Smith, delivered a broadside to the competition regulator, saying the commission’s stance against further bank mergers would not stop it from trying to buy a smaller domestic rival – Melbourne Age

Storm Financial ‘pressured’ Commonwealth Bank staff – The Commonwealth Bank has admitted some of its staff misused the bank’s systems to write loans for Storm Financial customers that were larger than they should have been – Brisbane Courier Mail

ENVIRONMENT

Madden battle ramps up – Planning Minister Justin Madden faces a Supreme Court battle with a community group after approving a controversial boat ramp development that experts found was environmentally and economically flawed – Melbourne Age

MEDIA

Federal and Victorian police at odds over coverage: editor – The Australian

Seven and Nine race to stream shows – The Sydney Morning Herald

The media: love, fear, rage, jealousy … but light on reality – Jonathan Holmes on his Media Watch year – Sydney Morning Herald

LIFE

Child protection

State’s child-protection workers overburdened – Melbourne Age

Emotional well-being

Shed time at men’s club – The Melbourne Club makes a submission to the Victorian Parliament’s scrutiny of acts and regulations committee is reviewing exclusions and exemptions under the equal opportunity laws and compares its activities to the ‘‘men’s sheds” anti-depression initiative – Melbourne Age

The punt

Daniel Merrett leak by Brisbane Lions pays big dividends – The Brisbane Lions boss has conceded that some bets placed on Daniel Merrett to kick the first goal in their match last Saturday were most likely made with information from within the club of a positional switch – Brisbane Courier Mail

The drink

Pub police to stem violence – Police throughout Queensland will patrol inside pubs and nightclubs to clamp down on rising levels of alcohol-related violence and injury – Brisbane Courier Mail

Study shows drinkers are bad company – Adelaide Advertiser

The drugs

New technology will help police to detect drugged drivers – Melbourne Herald Sun

Religion

Mundine’s Muslim retreat plans KO’d by local pressure – Sydney Daily Telegraph