The Canberra Times Today

Today is October 29, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, the ACT has recorded its lowest ever percentage of informal votes at the October election, electoral commission Damian Cantwell has revealed, and police may have exhausted all known leads, but new information for long-term missing persons cases could soon be uncovered, all thanks to internet hackers.

Today is October 28, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, Summernats may not be going ahead at its traditional home next year, but revheads can still get their burn out fix in January three hours up the road, and the National Archives will save more than 30,000 at-risk recordings with a $3 million spend aiming to digitise its ageing audio and video tapes.

Today is October 27, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury says the party should be entitled to three ministers in cabinet after winning six seats, and the return of federal public servants to offices in September signalled hope for Canberra's struggling hospitality sector.

Today is October 26, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, some of the last remaining former Mr Fluffy blocks have been purchased by Housing ACT to be used for public housing, and Health Minister Greg Hunt has moved to allay concern about Australia's capability to manufacture a vaccine for COVID-19, saying the clinical trials are on track and his confidence grows with each day that passes.

Today is October 23, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, Australia Post chief executive Christine Holgate has been asked to step aside after it was revealed her office spent $12,000 on Cartier watches as rewards for senior executives in 2018, and Chief Minister Andrew Barr has signalled he could appoint two Greens ministers to his cabinet, as Labor and the minor party begin formal negotiations to form government.

Today is October 22, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, Australia's heritage and environment legislation risks being undermined if the War Memorial's proposed $500 million redevelopment is allowed to go ahead, according to the nation's peak architectural body, and the Finance Department has sought to distance itself from the $33 million Western Sydney airport land purchase, for which an Infrastructure Department official is facing allegations of more than 100 breaches of the public service code of conduct.

Today is October 21, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, the head of ASIO has told Senate estimates politicians could attract the attention of foreign spies with one attempted espionage plot within the national intelligence community already foiled, and international flights could soon resume out of Canberra, with talks under way on re-establishing direct flights to New Zealand.

Today is October 20, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, Alistair Coe's future as Canberra Liberals leader remains up in the air, as internal frustrations about the party's campaign strategy and conservative power base spilled over in the wake of its sixth consecutive ACT election defeat, and fifty students at Queanbeyan High School will be taking their seats for their first Higher School Certificate written exam on Tuesday morning, marking the final hurdle of their school journey.

Today is October 19, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, speculation is mounting that Alistair Coe's four-year reign as Canberra Liberals leader will end in the wake of the party's shock heavy ACT election defeat, and it was the outcome the ACT Greens were "quietly optimistic" they could achieve, claiming four seats in the Legislative Assembly with one more up for grabs, in what they say is a "vote for a two-party government".

Today is October 16, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Canberra Times. In today’s update, Chief Minister Andrew Barr has pivoted back to his government's handling of the coronavirus crisis in the dying days of the ACT election campaign, while the Liberals again used props and slogans to try to convince Canberrans they would lower the cost of living, and no money has been paid to Canberrans applying for the federal government's home building grants after the scheme received more than 400 applications for ACT projects.