Good morning, this is Helen Sullivan bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Monday 22 October.

Top stories

The Coalition suppressed a finding that $1.3bn arms deal could have cost half as much after pressure from a multinational arms manufacturer, documents obtained by Guardian Australia reveal. The documents show that Thales, a French multinational arms company, was “aggrieved” by auditor general Grant Hehir’s finding that Australia could have saved hundreds of millions of dollars had it gone to the US to buy its new fleet of light protected army vehicles, instead of buying 1,100 of Thales’s locally built Hawkeis. Thales approached the attorney general, Christian Porter, in January and asked him to use extraordinary and largely unprecedented powers to black out sections of the auditor general’s report.

The arms manufacturer wanted six paragraphs in particular struck from the report, according to court documents it filed in a separate federal court action to block the report’s release. Those six paragraphs found that Australia could have got a similar vehicle for half the price through the US joint light tactical vehicle program, according to Thales’ court documents. Australia had considered joining the JLTV program but pulled out and decided on a locally built option after what the auditor general described as “extensive lobbying” from Thales and the defence industry.

Kerryn Phelps nominates getting children off Nauru as her “first order of business”, as she remains on track to take the seat of Wentworth after a rollercoaster ride in the vote count on Sunday. As of Sunday evening, Phelps was more than 1,600 votes ahead of the Liberal candidate, Dave Sharma, putting the negative swing against the Liberals on the current count at more than 19%. On the two-party-preferred measure, Phelps leads Sharma 51.1% to 48.9%. Earlier on Sunday the gap between the two dropped to 884 votes as postal votes strongly favoured Sharma. But Phelps pulled away again later in the day after adjustments to Saturday night’s count in a couple of large booths. Phelps used television interviews on Sunday to say the Morrison government should run a full term unless there were “exceptional circumstances”.

Scott Morrison will commit to a museum of remembrance for survivors of child sexual abuse as the centrepiece of what will be an emotional national apology to the survivors of institutional abuse in federal parliament today. More than 1,000 people are expected to be in Canberra for the apology, a symbolic gesture that follows the horrific findings of the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse. Julia Gillard, the prime minister who set the royal commission in train, is expected to attend. Morrison will commit in Monday’s speech to a museum that will serve as a place of remembrance and reflection, as well as cataloguing the events leading up to the royal commission.

The UK, France and Germany have released a joint statement pressing for facts from Saudi Arabia about the death of Jamal Khashoggi, as ministers from western governments lined up to reject the official line from Riyadh. After two weeks of denials that the kingdom was involved in the journalist’s disappearance on 2 October, late on Friday the Saudi regime said he had died in a fistfight inside its consulate in Istanbul. In a joint statement released on Sunday, the UK, France and Germany said: “There remains an urgent need for clarification of exactly what happened on October 2nd – beyond the hypotheses that have been raised so far in the Saudi investigation, which need to be backed by facts to be considered credible.”

Need a halloween costume? A sea cucumber known as the “headless chicken monster” has been filmed in the Southern Ocean for the first time using camera technology developed by Australian researchers. The creature was filmed off east Antarctica. “Some of the footage we are getting back from the cameras is breathtaking, including species we have never seen in this part of the world,” said the Australian Antarctic Division’s program leader, Dr Dirk Welsford.

Sport

Everton have “demolished” Crystal Palace 2-0 but they left it late – very late – to record their third consecutive Premier League win under Marco Silva, writes Andy Hunter.

A little under 15% of all Tongans in the southern hemisphere were at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland on Saturday night. The first international fixture between Tonga and Australia proves there is huge potential for the game.

Thinking time

Are foxes misunderstood? “I am hunkered down in an enclosure with three red foxes (scientific name Vulpes vulpes),” writes Toby McCasker, “One of which is of particular interest to me: unlike any other fox I’ve seen, he’s wearing a collar. He’s also been nattering at me for some time in that high and obscene way peculiar to foxes. Turns out he’s been asking me to kindly pass him a nearby slice of melon.” Sydney Fox Rescue sanctuary was founded, with all 14 of its foxes, in 2012. The story of how its president, Charlie Jackson-Martin, came to practically live in the wild as a fox whisperer goes back a few more years. He says foxes “deserve care and compassion”.

The former governor general Michael Jeffery very nearly became a farmer. He opted for being a soldier instead. After a distinguished military career, he served as governor of his home state of Western Australia and governor general of Australia – who represents the Queen, Australia’s head of state. So he doesn’t enter public debate lightly. But he is highly exercised by his latest topic: restoring Australia’s ancient soils.

Busy Philipps talks playing the best friend, being broke and her new book. “As guilty pleasures go, there are some that are painful to admit even to yourself,” writes Sophie Heawood. “Here’s one of mine: every day I go on Instagram and watch Busy Philipps doing her workout routine. The good news (or perhaps the bad) is that it’s not just me. A million people now follow Philipps, who first tasted fame acting in teen dramas Freaks and Geeks and Dawson’s Creek.”

Media roundup

Fairfax and News Corp mastheads are leading with the Wentworth result, with the Australian Financial Review reporting that Scott Morrison will hold his ground on policy, including on climate change, despite the record swing. The Australian, meanwhile, says “angry” MPs are blaming Malcolm Turnbull for the loss after he refused to endorse Dave Sharma. The Advertiser writes that crossbenchers Rebekha Sharkie and Cathy McGowan are demanding a meeting with the PM, “wielding their new power before guaranteeing support for the government”.

Coming up

Scott Morrison will deliver a national apology to victims of child sexual abuse. Bill Shorten will then speak, and Julia Gillard will unveil an artwork in Parliament House.

Prince Harry and Meghan will be visiting Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world.

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