Coalition’s ex-detainee curfews challenged; ANC on the brink in South Africa; unpacking Barnaby Joyce’s new boots

Good morning. The high court has been told that Coalition amendments, which aimed to beef up the government’s regime of electronic monitoring and curfews for people released from immigration detention, may in fact have made the measures unlawful. Lawyers for a stateless man from Eritrea who is challenging the laws have argued the mandatory measures are unconstitutional, punitive and breach the separation of executive and judiciary.

Meanwhile, it’s claimed that almost half of Brisbane Metro’s new, state-of-the-art electric buses could be left in the shed following cuts to the transport system’s scheduled services.

And with votes still being counted, it appears South Africa’s ANC party may lose its majority for the first time since it won the country’s first fully democratic elections under Nelson Mandela in 1994.

Barnaby Joyce has been attending parliament without his habitual RM Williams boots in protest against the classic Australian fashion brand owner’s involvement in wind and solar developments across New South Wales and Queensland. The Nationals MP was looking “to make a statement”. But, as a perplexed Calla Wahlquist asks, why did he choose instead to wear Ariat cowboy boots – a quintessentially American brand named for the racehorse Secretariat?

In our monthly series Headline Act, we spotlight the Australian artist we’re most excited about – and they make us a playlist. Today, it’s the turn of HTRK: the Melbourne duo of Nigel Yang and Jonnine Standish, who have been performing underground music with their idiosyncratic mix of atmospheric electronic and guitar-based squall for the past 21 years. They share their thoughts on Kim Gordon, Wicked Game – and Der Glumpf went the little green frog.

A senior Australian official has travelled to Taiwan for high-level talks on countering Chinese cyber threats, despite growing pushback from Beijing against any diplomatic contact with the democratic island, reports ABC News. Police issued almost 300 infringements in a two-day crackdown on Melbourne e-scooter riders, reports the Age. One of the architects of Queensland’s anti-corruption commission has condemned “nonsensical” proposed new laws that will ban the watchdog from criticising politicians and public servants, reports the Australian.

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