Good morning Valued Subscriber,
The Crowne Plaza hotel in the heart of Canberra will be demolished to make way for two new hotels, its owner has announced. Lucinda Garbutt-Young reports on a major shake-up for the city's hotel scene and the arrival of a top international brand. Former ANU vice-chancellor Professor Brian Schmidt has defended his oversight of culture at the university, Nieve Walton reports, saying he frequently "went across campus looking" for the sort of serious problems identified in a scathing report released this week.
Liberals leader Sussay Ley has hinted at a different approach towards the public service, scrapping the Trump-style "government efficiency" role from her front bench, Miriam Webber reports. And while Ms Ley and David Littleproud have tried to portray a happily reunited Coalition family, both face deep divisions with their parties, Dana Daniel writes. NSW hadn't won back-to-back games in Brisbane since 1998 ... until last night, that is. Caden Helmers covered the game live, and has all the post-match insights this morning. And as the ACT Brumbies prepare for the Crusaders here on Friday night, in a match with huge bearing on their title hopes, Caden Helmers reports the inside story of flyhalf Noah Lolesio and his journey from feared spinal injury to a return to the field. After a cold night which dropped below zero (just - it got down to minus 0.8), today should reach 17 degrees with a mostly sunny afternoon.
John-Paul Moloney, managing editor | 