PM

Banks are being called on to do more to prevent elderly people being scammed out of their savings. Critics say teller staff aren't properly-trained to spot signs of abuse and systems aren't picking up large transactions. One man has told how his ageing father lost almost $100,000 in a fortnight.

A Labor and Greens majority inquiry has found George Brandis is unfit to be Attorney-General, and the Senate should censured him over his dispute with the now former Solicitor General, Justin Gleeson. Mr Gleeson resigned over the dispute about whether he was properly consulted over a legal direction, that all requests for advice had to be made through the Attorney-General. The committee has recommended the direction be withdrawn or overturned, but Government members of the committee have labelled the inquiry a 'political witch hunt'.

The Department of Defence has released a report into the water quality of 12 sites around Australia, located near contaminated RAAF bases. It's the second major round of investigations into the impact of the chemicals that were used in fire retardant at the air force bases. It comes long after residents in two Queensland and New South Wales towns were alerted to significant contamination of their groundwater.

In India's capital New Delhi, smog has residents coughing, wheezing and desperately spending. It's the worst in 17 years according to one environmental group, and pollution masks and air purifiers are flying off the shelves. Delhi's administration has closed schools and announced a raft of other emergency measures to minimise the impact.

The world's first 3D printed jet engine will be manufactured in France under a new deal struck between its Melbourne inventors and global aerospace company Safran. Those behind the technology say 3D jets are just the beginning and are part of the innovative future of Australian manufacturing.

The Federal Government is looking like being the beneficiary of a huge and unexpected lift in the prices of its key commodities. The prices of coal and iron ore have enjoyed big gains since March, with the latter now close to a seven month high. So will it continue? Well today, China released a deluge of economic data, and economists have been wading through that information in an effort to answer exactly that question. Meanwhile, markets have priced in a US election victory to Hillary Clinton.

The Senate looks likely to amend the Federal Government's proposed backpacker tax to lower the rate from 19 per cent to 10.5 per cent. But the Government says it won't accept any amendments made by the Senate, foreshadowing a stand-off between the two houses of Parliament. The National Farmers Federation says it's now worried the Government won't put the bill to final vote, prolonging 18 months of uncertainty for producers who rely on backpackers to harvest their crops.

The Turnbull Government introduced legislation today which would ban refugees who tried to make it to Australia by boat from ever coming here in the future. Its fate now rests with the crossbench in the Senate, after Labor announced it could see no reason for the ban, and it will vote against it. The Government accused the Labor Leader Bill Shorten of being weak on border security and pandering to the left of his party. Mr Shorten fired back, criticising the Prime Minister for agreeing to a parliamentary inquiry into the Racial Discrimination Act.

The Senate will support the motions to refer to the High Court questions over the eligibility of two crossbench Senators. The One Nation leader Pauline Hanson told the Senate she would support the motion which relates to her colleague, Rod Culleton, because politicians must be held accountable. She said she'd continue to offer the WA Senator personal support. The Opposition is using the case of the now former Family First Senator Bob Day to try to put pressure on the Government over when it knew of potential problems with the lease arrangements for his electorate office.

Lawyers for victims of child sexual abuse say the newly-announced national redress scheme may not be in the best interests of some of their clients. Legal action is expected to proceed as normal as the Federal Government works to finalise the details of the scheme.