PM

The Government is pulling out all the stops to quell rising electricity prices including a major expansion of the Snowy Hydro. PM speaks to company CEO Gordon Wymer, and we cover travel trends as Chinese travellers set to over the Kiwi's as our major visitors.

From January 1st, the Federal Government will be able to ban gas exports if it believes there is a local shortage. The Prime Minister says it's just one of several measures that will put downward pressure on power prices. But Labor is questioning when households will see their bills drop.

There are now more asylum seekers and refugees in the world than ever before. The United Nations' Refugee Agency's annual Global Trends report shows the number of people now fleeing violence and persecution is approaching 66 million.

That's more than the population of the United Kingdom and nearly three times Australia's population. The conflict in Syria and the breakdown of peace effort in South Sudan have been the biggest contributing factors.

The GST was set to be imposed on imported goods costing less than $1,000 from next month. However Labor has gained enough support in the Senate to delay the starting date. It claims the current model is flawed, and changes need to be made. Harvey Norman Chairman Gerry Harvey is furious the implementation has been stalled and is now worried the tax may never come to fruition.

Some of Australia's biggest retail companies have been heavily sold down on the stock exchange. Investors were spooked by news that Amazon is buying US grocery giant, Whole Foods, in an $18 billion deal. Analysts have described it as a seismic event in the retail industry, capable of disrupting the entire sector.

Victoria's Ombudsman says it's uncovered evidence of nepotism in the Metropolitan Fire Brigade. The MFB says the staff involved are no longer employed at the service and it's referred the matter to police. The National Public Service Commissioner says there needs to be stronger leadership to stamp out misconduct.

The bitter internal fight in the Coalition over energy policy intensified this afternoon, with former Prime Minister Tony Abbott being accused of damaging Australia's reputation overseas and his own political credibility. The criticism comes from International Development Minister and former Abbott ally Concetta Fiervanti-Wells, who's just returned from a UN-sponsored conference on the world's oceans. She said climate and climate related disasters are particularly important to disaster prone areas in our Pacific region.

The focus of the Northern Territory's royal commission is now is on the child protection system. Data presented to the inquiry showed that nearly half of all Aboriginal children in the Territory had been subject to a notification before they were 10 years old.

Hundreds and thousands of scam calls are being made from overseas call centres to Australians each month, equating to over a million fake calls per year. Identity theft and cyber security support service iDcare has also called on providers of VOIP phone services to take greater responsibility for shutting down numbers sold to overseas scammers.

For the second time since Friday, protestors supporting Donald Trump have disrupted a New York performance of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. The play is being put on by the Public Theater company, and has sparked controversy for depicting Caesar, who is assassinated in the play, with similarities to the President. Some major sponsors have already pulled their sponsorship of the production. Stephen Smiley compiled our report.