Good afternoon. The federal government has agreed to pay $475m in additional compensation to roughly 450,000 victims of the robodebt scandal, in the largest class action settlement in Australian history.
The government announced on Thursday it had agreed to settle Knox v the commonwealth – an appeal from the original 2020 robodebt class action settlement. The appeal was launched last year after a royal commission exposed fresh evidence that commonwealth officials who ran the debt-raising scheme knew it was unlawful but proceeded anyway.
The total settlement is $548.5m, with up to $60m set aside to administer the scheme and $13.5m to cover the applicants’ reasonable legal costs.
Top news
Grandfather mistakenly takes home wrong child from Sydney daycare centre
Portugal declares day of mourning for 15 people killed in Lisbon funicular railway crash
House Republicans approve new panel to ‘uncover all the facts’ of January 6 attack
In video
Recently anti-immigration protesters (along with some politicians and mainstream media outlets) have made some big claims about Australia’s immigration numbers and the effect that migration is having on the economy. But are they correct? Well, no. Guardian Australia’s Matilda Boseley goes through how wrong some of these claims about immigration are.
What they said …
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“Perhaps, at some point, President Trump will work out that he’s being ‘played’ by Putin.” – Tony Abbott
The former prime minister has penned his inaugural blog post on the popular platform Substack. The musings are focused on Trump’s presidency, which he describes as “even more transactional and unpredictable than the first” – though he maintains it’s “better” to have Trump in the top job than Kamala Harris.
Full Story
Xi, Putin, Kim and a big parade: are we seeing a new world order?
Helen Davidson talks to Nour Haydar about why Xi Jinping has invited some of the world’s most powerful men to China – and how these alliances are reshaping our world.
Before bed read
Each month Guardian Australia editors and critics pick the upcoming titles they have devoured – or can’t wait to get their hands on. From Kathleen Folbigg’s memoir to an ode to condiments and “a work of art”, we’ve rounded up the best Australian books out in September.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: TROT. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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