Good morning Valued Subscriber,
It was the Halloween surprise that could haunt the Canberra Liberals for years to come. Leanne Castley's eleventh-hour switch from supporting Elizabeth Lee as Canberra Liberals leader to instead claim the crown herself was high drama. Jasper Lindell asks whether, despite Castley's personal popularity, the party has already lost the next election as a result.
The moderate versus conservative identity crisis within the party will be an easy target for their seemingly indomitable Labor opponents, but Lucy Bladen reports on the new leadership team's efforts to assure Canberrans they won't be lurching to the right. Speaking of nasty surprises, the audit office dropped one late yesterday with a report into the Australian Passport Office. Connor Pearce reports 18 DFAT staff are now under investigation over procurement failures. The shocking story of the fatal accident victim whose corpse was punched in the wreck by his friend has reached a conclusion. Hannah Neale reports a coroner has found a combination of "speed, inexperience [and] intoxication" contributed to a fatal crash that caused the death of a 21-year-old man in 2022.
For a nice change of pace, Amy Martin has tips for the wannabe home barista to make the perfect cup of coffee, and David Polkinghorne ponders the free-agency period moves the cashed-up Canberra Raiders could make. We'll finish the working week with a partly cloudy day and an expected top of 23 degrees. The weekend will heat up some more.
John-Paul Moloney, managing editor | 