Good morning, this is Eleanor Ainge Roy bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Friday 7 December.

Top stories

Labor waved through the government’s encryption bill on Thursday, capping off a day of high political drama. An attempt by Labor, the Greens and crossbenchers to pass legislation to remove refugees from Nauru and Manus Island, if successful, would have been the first time in almost 90 years a government had lost a substantive vote in the lower house. With Scott Morrison’s authority on the line on the final parliamentary sitting day for 2018, the government went into overdrive to try to head off the defeat. An extraordinary filibuster from the Coalition, Cory Bernardi and Pauline Hanson prevented it returning to the lower house in time to test the government, but, as Katharine Murphy writes, despite chalking up a tactical victory over Labor, Morrison’s prime ministerial authority is waning.

Australian government ministers knew one of the country’s biggest foreign aid contractors was mired in allegations of widespread corruption, but were advised to withhold the information from the public and continue giving the company work, internal documents obtained by the Guardian show. Sinclair Knight Merz allegedly offered bribes to Vietnamese and Philippine officials between 2000 and 2011 to obtain work on infrastructure projects. The documents released under freedom of information laws reveal the then Labor government was briefed on the corruption investigation in August 2012 but SKM continued to be awarded foreign aid contracts. According to the documents AusAid, the former Australian government aid agency, could see no reason not to keep working with SKM.

The British government has been accused of failing to protect the rights of British and EU citizens in the event of a no-deal Brexit, as Michel Barnier reiterated that he would not renegotiate the agreement now on the table. Amid demands in Westminster for the prime minister to be sent back to Brussels to seek more concessions from the EU, the bloc’s chief negotiator told a conference of regional leaders: “I must say once again today, calmly and clearly, it is the only and best possible agreement.” Barnier said a no-deal Brexit remained a possibility, and urged regional leaders and business to speed up their preparations for such an outcome.

Social commentator and possible independent candidate in Warringah Jane Caro has made a pitch to voters by outlining her views on climate change, representation of women in parliament, strengthening democracy, and treatment of refugees. But she stopped short of announcing that she would be an independent candidate against the sitting member Tony Abbott at the next election, telling a meeting of the Voices of Warringah campaign group that it was important not to split the vote. She also quipped that Abbott had been the most effective opposition leader in Australian history, bringing down four governments, including his own.

A robot working in an Amazon factory in the US has set off a bear repellant which has put 24 workers in hospital. The mishap has again shone a spotlight on conditions in Amazon’s warehouses, which have been criticised in the US and the UK for poor working practices and a focus on productivity above worker safety. A Guardian investigation in June detailed multiple instances of workers left unable to work after injuries sustained in the warehouses, including the Robbinsville fulfilment centre. Stuart Appelbaum, the president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, said: “Amazon’s automated robots put humans in life-threatening danger. This is another outrageous example of the company putting profits over the health and safety of their workers.”

Sport

And so begins another summer of cricket and the nation can indulge in one of our favourite pastimes – bagging the TV commentary. This year though, it’s a bit confusing, writes Matt Cleary, because after 40-odd years of Channel Nine as Petri dish for Billy Birmingham’s best-selling spoofs, Test cricket is now covered by two new players: pay-TV channel Fox Sports and Nine’s great commercial rival Seven. And it’s all so fresh we don’t know who to hate. Yet.

Serena Williams’s US meltdown was handled badly all round, the tennis great John McEnroe has said. Williams has “nothing to apologise for”, McEnroe said, despite being at fault for verbally abusing the umpire Carlos Ramos in the final at Flushing Meadows in September.

Thinking time

Will it be a stunning shot of two kingfishers appearing to have a yarn, or a galah testing the water in a bird bath? Or perhaps you prefer the one of a brown falcon tackling a brown snake, or emus trekking along a deserted highway? Whatever takes your fancy, you have the chance to vote in the “people’s choice” section of the bird photo of the year.

Brigid Delaney was being told off by a stranger for wearing a large backpack on a crowded tram: “I wondered – had I missed the memo? Was wearing backpacks on trams now on par with leaving a voicemail instead of texting? Or reclining your seat on a short-haul flight? What are the latest things that are now considered so wrong, that strangers might call you out for doing them?”

The Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw previews the 2019 Golden Globe contenders, it what looks to be a surprising showdown between Dick Cheney and Lady Gaga. Vice is a surprise frontrunner – perhaps owing to liberal nostalgia for when Republicans were intelligible – while A Star Is Born squares up to it, a little over-solemnly, in the best drama category. Bohemian Rhapsody, Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma and The Favourite have also earned nods in an eclectic line-up.

What’s he done now?

Donald Trump has lashed out at – everyone – on Twitter, claiming he is the subject of “Presidential Harassment”. “Without the phony Russia Witch Hunt, and with all that we have accomplished in the last almost two years (Tax & Regulation Cuts, Judge’s, Military, Vets, etc.) my approval rating would be at 75% rather than the 50% just reported by Rasmussen. It’s called Presidential Harassment!”

Media roundup

“Morrison hangs by a thread” splashes the Age on its front-page, after the prime minister rebutted attempts to amend asylum seeker policy, forcing him to delay major energy policy to avoid humiliation. The Daily Telegraph reports on a female in-law of Chris Dawson’s who walked out on her family and later turned up in New Zealand. Dawson is charged with murdering his wife Lyn 36 years ago. Only 1% of child sexual abuse survivors entitled to compensation through the national redress scheme have received a payout, the ABC reports, with some survivors dying before receiving compensation.

Coming up

Play continues in the first Test between Australia and India after an encouraging start by the hosts at Adelaide Oval. Follow every ball of day two with our live blog, from 10am AEDT.

The Senate will publish online answers to questions taken on notice during environment estimates.

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