Unsurprisingly, it's the cricket ball tampering furore dominating headlines today. Scandal is engulfing Australia's top athletes, rather than its top politicians, which might be seen as a welcome change for some in Canberra.
However, there is a lot happening in federal politics as well. The government is pushing to pass the second half of its company tax cut legislation, which will gradually lower the tax rate from 30 per cent to 25 per cent for businesses with a turnover of more than $50 million. As it stands, the Coalition needs two more votes from the crossbench. Derryn Hinch and Tim Storer are the targets. It's a three-day sitting week before the Parliament rises for the Easter break – they won't be back until early May.
Here's what's in the headlines this morning:
1. Malcolm Turnbull is mounting a last-ditch effort on the tax cuts, ramping up a promise that Australian workers will gain $750 a year from boosted wages, chief political correspondent David Crowe reports.
2. Tax concessions for the richest fifth of the population cost the budget $68 billion a year, new analysis for Anglicare conducted by progressive think tank Per Capita has found. Economics editor Peter Martin reports.
3. The Australian Banking Association's revised code of conduct will now be compulsory for all banks with retail operations, as part of their membership with the industry body. Read my story here.
4. The cost of medicines to treat diabetes, cancer, arthritis, asthma and eye disease will be slashed under a new round of Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme subsidies. Read more on that from health correspondent Adam Gartrell here.
5. The latest Newspoll is out and it's bad news for Malcolm Turnbull's government again, The Australian reports. The Coalition is still losing the two-party preferred vote and Labor's primary vote has spiked. This is the 29th Newspoll to show the Coalition behind – we are just one away from the much-hyped 30th poll.
6. Pensioners would be shielded from Labor's proposal to end franking credit cash refunds, The Australian Financial Review reports. Labor's analysis found the exemption could be made at little cost to the overall savings yielded from the policy.
7. The government's national cyber security adviser, Alastair MacGibbon, is calling for Facebook and its users to develop a more mature approach to the use of data online.
8. The Department of Defence is reviewing business dealings between one of its senior scientists and the Chinese government's missile development agency amid ongoing concerns about Beijing's effort to recruit western scientists and officials, Alex Joske, Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker report.
9. Doctors have exposed the best and worst private health insurers in a new report card that shows the major funds are continuing to grow their profits even as policy exclusions spread and customers complaints soar, Adam Gartrell reports.
Now let's get into it.
You can find me on Facebook and Twitter. Photos, as usual, from Alex Ellinghausen. He's on Twitter.
Crossbencher Tim Storer.
Photo: Alex Ellinghausen