WAR CRIMES ADMISSION

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, a senior army officer in charge of Australia’s special forces has admitted some elite soldiers committed war crimes in Afghanistan, blaming their actions on “poor moral leadership” in a confidential March briefing to SAS troops.

In the first direct admission of this kind from military officials, Major General Adam Findlay also admitted that war crimes may have been covered up and that, while it may take special forces a decade to recover, the one silver lining of Justice Paul Brereton’s inquiry is that it demonstrates some soldiers have the courage to blow the whistle.

PS: As Israel’s cabinet finalises their plans to illegally annex up to a third of the already-illegally occupied West Bank, it’s worth highlighting that the Australian government last week stood alone with the Marshall Islands in rejecting UN resolutions that recognised Palestinian self-determination and condemned the annexation.

ECONOMY STILL NEEDS A LIFELINE

A new Grattan Institute report argues that the federal government will need to inject another $70-90 billion over the next six months, in order, as The New Daily reports, to survive the post-COVID economic shock and bring unemployment below 5% by mid-2022.

Incidentally, a poll of 22 leading economists by The Conversation suggests Scott Morrison’s vision of growing GDP “more than one percentage point above trend” through to 2025 — or 4% per year — is something of a mirage, with the panel’s annual forecast averaging just 2.4% over the next four years, falling below the long-term trend, and trailing off around 2023.

NEWSPOLL TO THE RESCUE: In better news for the government, the latest post-COVID Newspoll ($) has Morrison jumping two preferred-PM points to 58-26 to Anthony Albanese and the Coalition holding steady 51-49 over Labor. Leaked internal research ahead of Saturday’s Eden-Monaro byelection also reportedly ($) suggests a jump in the Nats’ vote from 6-to-11.5%, potentially putting the Libs in spitting distance.

NO. IT'S THE YOUTH WHO ARE WRONG.

Following comments from Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton that COVID-19 is in part being spread by asymptomatic people below the age of 40, The Age reports that the proportion of infected young adults has jumped from roughly a quarter of all cases in the first peak to about a third of the current caseload.

The news comes after Dan Andrews yesterday announced that returned travellers who refuse testing will have to spend more than three weeks in quarantine, but suggested the rejection rate of about 30% could, in part, be due to parents refusing to have their kids tested.

SOMYUREK WATCH: On the Andrews government’s other ongoing headache, The Age reports that Darebin mayor Susan Rennie and the Victorian Greens have accused disgraced former Local Government Minister Adem Somyurek of effectively rorting the council system with the March shift to single-member wards. For a throwback Monday, check out Somyurek’s “They Really Said That?” quote for evidence that doesn’t not support that allegation.

LOSING MY RELIGIOUS ORGANISATION'S CHARITY STATUS

According to The New Daily, Scott Morrison and Social Services Minister Anne Ruston have threatened to pull the charity status of 25 “reprehensible” religious organisations named in the royal commission that, ahead of a Tuesday deadline, have not signed up to the national redress scheme.

Elsewhere, The Australian ($) reports that the Catholic Church is quietly closing Catholic Professional Standards Ltd — an agency set up in 2017 to enact 60 commission recommendations i.e. audit risks of sex abuse and enforce new child protection standards — and replace it with a new, potentially less-independent body.

TRUMP STILL TRUMP

Finally, in just the two latest White House controversies, CNN reports that Donald Trump has denied receiving an intelligence briefing claiming Russia tried to bribe Taliban fighters to kill US troops, and, separately, deleted a tweet thanking a supporter who, while arguing with anti-Trump protesters, could be heard chanting “white power”.

PS: As America’s second surge exceeds the 2.5 million mark and overwhelms their national health system, The New York Times reports that Vice-President Mike Pence has stuck with Trump’s largely made up claim that the expansion of testing infrastructure, not eased restrictions, is responsible for the spike in cases (and case ratios) throughout the South.