As it happened: Labor announces robo-debt royal commission; crossbench pushes PM for wide-ranging inquiry into Scott Morrison’s ministerial appointments

Good evening, and thanks for reading our live coverage, here are the major news stories from today:

• The robo-debt royal commission will be run by former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland Catherine Holmes, with the findings to be handed down in April. It will examine who was responsible for designing and implementing the scheme, the handling of complaints, the costs to government, harm done to vulnerable people, and what measures are needed to prevent similar problems in future.
• Federal opposition leader Peter Dutton says the inquiry into Scott Morrison’s secret ministries and the royal commission into robo-debt are becoming “witch hunts”.
• Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth defended the government’s decision to scrap the cashless debit card, arguing recent changes were made as a result of evidence and facts.
• The union movement wants entire industries to negotiate the same pay and conditions in an overhaul of enterprise bargaining. But businesses say the changes would cost too much and are a step back in time. Migration, tax reform and a simpler, less litigious enterprise bargaining process are on the business council’s wishlist.
• Doctors are calling for urgent reform of Australia’s “broken” cosmetic surgery industry. And Australia’s medical watchdog has rejected allegations it’s failed to protect the public from so-called “cosmetic cowboys”.
• The Greens are calling for a nationwide rent freeze for two years, but the PM says he’s not seen any proposal and questioned how it could be done “short of nationalising property”.
• Twice as many Victorian voters trust the state Labor Party to govern with integrity compared with the Coalition, according to new polling.
• The NSW government remains locked in a dispute with the state’s rail unions.
• A Russian rocket attack killed at least 15 people in Ukraine on the day the country celebrated its independence.
• A suspected member of an Italian crime syndicate who was banned from NSW and Victorian casinos by police was allowed to continue gambling in Star’s Gold Coast and Brisbane casinos for years, where he became top 10 player.
• And finally, Qantas reported its full-year loss more than halved to $860 million, taking its cumulative losses during the COVID-19 pandemic past $7 billion.

That’s all from me tonight. We will be back with more live news from 7am tomorrow morning.

Officials will investigate a $5900 donation to Sutherland Shire Liberal mayor Carmelo Pesce which Labor claims was unlawfully made by a property developer, while the NSW government launches a random “spot check” of councillors’ declared interests.

Pesce - who is a contender for state or federal politics, potentially in former prime minister Scott Morrison’s seat of Cook - said he had “no problem” with the 2016 donation being probed and was confident there was no substance to the claim because the donor had ceased working in property development at the time of the donation.

The opposition raised the matter in a budget estimates hearing on Thursday as part of its campaign to ban developers and real estate agents running for councils. The NSW government is preparing to accept and release a long-awaited review of councillor misconduct by the end of the year.

Pesce, who is serving his second stint as mayor, received $5900 from HPA Management Services in the days leading up to the 2016 council election. Company records show its directors are Cronulla real estate agency boss David Highland and, until 2017, his father Peter - who was described as a “successful property developer” in a 2014 magazine article tendered by Labor.

Property developers are prohibited from making political donations in NSW, along with tobacco companies and liquor and gambling entities. Legally, a developer is someone whose business is “mainly concerned with the residential or commercial development of land” and has a relevant application pending, or has had three applications determined in the preceding seven years.

Read more here.

Former ABC reporter turned independent federal politician Zoe Daniel pointed to the loss of local and regional publications as one reason to launch a judicial inquiry into media diversity.

Speaking on 3AW in Melbourne, the Goldstein MP said she lived in a part of the city where there was no longer any suburban newspaper.

“There are parts of the country where you can potentially access two or three newspapers in relation to your own town or region, but they may be owned by one proprietor,” Daniel told Tom Elliott on Thursday.

When one organisation owned multiple media outlets, there is a tendency to espouse a similar culture and that’s not healthy, she said.

“What I’m calling for is a look at whether the system we have is fit for purpose, and whether the way it’s regulated is fit for purpose,” Daniel said.

While Facebook groups could encourage engagement around a topic, the groups don’t cover local council meetings or local courts and the information is not always accurate, the independent MP said.