Labor calls for royal commission into defence veteran suicide – politics live

The opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, says there have been more than 400 ‘senseless loss of life’ since 2001. Follow all the day’s politics – live

Cormann’s full response to the order to produce the Morrison-Fuller transcript has been tabled. The full text of the letter is below.

Dear President

I refer to the motion moved by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Senator the Hon Penny Wong, and agreed by the Senate on 2 December 2019, requesting documents associated with phone call between the Prime Minister and the Commissioner of the New South Wales Police Force that took place on Tuesday, 26 November 2019.

Labor is furious at the government’s response to an order to produce the transcript of the Morrison-Fuller phone call about the Angus Taylor police investigation.

The Labor leader in the Senate, Penny Wong, read the government’s response to the Senate after it was provided to her at the outset of Senate proceedings by the finance minister, Mathias Cormann. The letter simply referred the Senate to previous answers and said the documents would be subject to a public interest immunity claim because they relate to a police investigation.

This is transparency from the Morrison government. This is the transparency and integrity, or lack thereof from the Morrison government.”

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Jeff Kennett accuses Victorian Labor MP who kicked in hotel door of playing mental health card

Former premier says he objected to Will Fowles ‘using the coverall of a mental health illness’ when explaining his confrontation

Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett has accused a state Labor backbencher who kicked in a door at a Canberra hotel of wrongly playing the mental health card.

Will Fowles smashed a door at the Abode hotel during a confrontation with staff over his luggage on Thursday morning. Police have questioned the MP for the Melbourne seat of Burwood but he has not been charged over the incident.

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Library stink: smell of durian prompts evacuation at University of Canberra

Fire and rescue teams in Australia remove rogue fruit in a sealed bag after it was left near an air vent

A piece of fruit prompted the evacuation of an Australian university library last week.

On Friday afternoon fire and rescue teams in the Australian Capital Territory responded to calls of “a strong smell of gas” inside the University of Canberra library.

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Peter Dutton sells his Canberra apartment, raising doubts over future in parliament

Home affairs minister previously said he will stay in parliament if Labor wins the election but he retains his seat of Dickson

Peter Dutton has sold his Canberra apartment, raising doubts about his plans to stay in parliament if the government loses next month’s election.

Dutton, who is fighting to hang on to his marginal seat of Dickson in Brisbane’s outer northern suburbs, has previously said he would stay on as an MP even if the Coalition lost government.

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‘It’s like hell here’: Australia bakes as record temperatures nudge 50C

Fears rise for homeless and vulnerable people as communities brace for another week of relentless hot weather

It was 48.9C last Tuesday in Port Augusta, South Australia, an old harbour city that now harvests solar power. Michelle Coles, the owner of the local cinema, took off her shoes at night to test the concrete before letting the dogs out. “People tend to stay at home,” she said. “They don’t walk around when it’s like this.”

It’s easy to see why: in the middle of the day it takes seconds to blister a dog’s paw or child’s foot. In Mildura, in northern Victoria, last week gardeners burned their hands when they picked up their tools, which had been left in the sun at 46C. Fish were dying in the rivers.

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Suspicious packages sent to US, Pakistani and other consulates in Melbourne

Diplomatic headquarters in Canberra also targeted as firefighters remove bags labelled ‘Danger asbestos’

The United States, Pakistani, Swiss, Indian, South Korean and New Zealand consulates in Melbourne are among a number of foreign diplomatic headquarters across the city and in Canberra targeted with suspicious packages.

The deliveries on Wednesday sparked an emergency “hazardous material” response and, in some cases, evacuation.

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