PM

Six weeks after the deadly Bourke Street car crash in Melbourne's CBD, many city businesses are still grappling with how to support traumatised staff. It's not known how many workers were among the witnesses, when a car ploughed into pedestrians in the popular shopping mall, killing six people. But authorities are using the city's business community to try and ensure that victims receive the support they need.

There are calls for a Federal Parliamentary Inquiry into the RSL nationally, as another state branch of the League runs into financial trouble. The RSL's South Australian Branch is now the subject of a forensic audit, amid revelations it's having cash flow problems, and may need to be bailed out. Its chief executive has quit, along with a number of board members. It comes as New South Wales Branch deals with a leadership crisis of its own, after the entire state council stood aside last week for another investigation.

Labor has referred the Minister for Human Services, Alan Tudge, to the Australian Federal Police, claiming that he's breached privacy laws. The Minister's accused of giving a media organisation private information about a Centrelink recipient, who claimed that the social welfare agency had 'terrorised' her over a debt she didn't owe. The Opposition says the Minister's actions are reckless and immoral at best, illegal at worst but the Minister argues he was within his rights to correct the record.

A cyber hacking expert in Moscow has predicted the world is on the verge of a cyber war, as politicians in Europe accuse Russia of starting to interfere with their election campaigns. An investigation is still underway in the US over what happened with the campaign there. Andrei Soldatov is an investigative journalist and author of The Red Web. And he told Europe correspondent Lisa Millar that it's not a surprise Russia is considered 'ground zero' for hacking. He's also outlined another twist that he says will be more serious than campaign hacking.

A group of British scientists claim to have found the earliest evidence of life on Earth. The microfossils were discovered on coastal rocks, along the Quebec shoreline in Canada. And they're thought to have been formed up to 4.2 billion years ago. But some scientists are sceptical.

The Labor party has again stepped up the pressure on the Government over the Fair Work Commission's decision to reduce penalty rates for some retail and hospitality workers. Labor peppered the Government with personal anecdotes, and again tried to bring on debate about its own bill to protect take home pay. The Prime Minister has maintained his attack on the Opposition leader for failing to accept the decision of the independent Commission, but he's also pointed out that it will try to minimise harm to workers who stand to lose some pay.

The banking regulator has copped a grilling in a parliament hearing over the recent surge in loans to property investors. Several banks have been forced to tweak their lending rules, as growth in the loans nears the regulator's limit. But it was a question about the under-performance of many so-called not-for-profit super funds that led to some raised voices in the hearing.

UN investigators have accused both sides in the battle for Aleppo of committing war crimes. And their new report has also found it was Syrian government aircraft that 'deliberately' bombed a humanitarian convoy last September, killing 14 aid workers, and bringing relief operations to a halt.

The Federal Government has welcomed today's stronger than expected GDP figures as an endorsement of its economic plan. Official figures show that in the December quarter the economy grew by 1.1 per cent, and 2.4 per cent across the year. But wages growth is still sluggish and the Opposition is continuing to put pressure on the Government over the Fair Work Commission's decision to reduce Sunday penalty rates for some hospitality and retail workers.

So it's official, Australia has once again avoided slipping into a 'technical recession'. Finance reporter David Taylor explains why not everyone is cracking open the champagne.