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Happy Friday! You've made it to the last day of the working week (for most people - journos don't sleep ... especially this week with what's happening up the hill. You can get the latest here.)
It'll be a partly cloudy day to start the downhill run to the weekend, with areas of morning frost, possibly some fog too. We're in for a top of 15 degrees. Temperatures are going to stay similar on the weekend, but there will be a shower or two on both Saturday and Sunday.
Grab your hot beverage, here's what's making news.
Agencies in holding pattern after ministers abandon Turnbull
![Peter Dutton and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. A series of ministerial resignations will leave many government agencies in a holding pattern. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen Peter Dutton and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. A series of ministerial resignations will leave many government agencies in a holding pattern. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/c5a255f3-8192-45f6-9cc0-c6dd04b6c1f6/r0_0_4720_3147_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The conservative insurgency inside the Liberal party against Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull left multiple major government agencies without ministers and plunged them into a holding pattern on Thursday.
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, Communications and Arts Minister Mitch Fifield and Jobs and Innovation Minister Michaelia Cash left the frontbench on Thursday, abandoning Mr Turnbull.
The resignations left the powerful Finance Department without a minister, and secretary Rosemary Huxtable alone in directing the agency, while Senator Fifield's and Senator Cash's agencies also entered holding patterns after losing their ministers.
More from Doug Dingwall and Sally Whyte here.
Liberal MP investigated for 'blocking' Labor backbencher on Facebook
![ACT Labor backbencher Tara Cheyne Photo: Sitthixay Ditthavong ACT Labor backbencher Tara Cheyne Photo: Sitthixay Ditthavong](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/88e761da-3cff-4075-a53a-68b680a98968/r0_0_5472_3648_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Labor backbencher Tara Cheyne lodged a complaint to the ACT's Commissioner for Standards because opposition MP Candice Burch blocked her on Facebook and deleted two of her comments.
Ms Cheyne lodged the complaint on June 28 claiming Ms Burch breached the code of conduct requiring members to act with "integrity, honesty and diligence".
The commissioner for parliamentary standards Ken Crispin QC, found no code had been breached, recommending it should be dismissed.
Story by Daniella White here.
Canberrans trek to Kokoda to help PNG survivors of violence
![From left, Mary Kanawi Vracar, Lindy Kanan, and Roa Slater who will trek the Kokoda track in PNG to raise money for Femili PNG's critical services.
Photo: Jamila Toderas From left, Mary Kanawi Vracar, Lindy Kanan, and Roa Slater who will trek the Kokoda track in PNG to raise money for Femili PNG's critical services.
Photo: Jamila Toderas](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/144e7e3f-bb8a-4a57-bb4b-364f7069359a/r0_0_6431_4287_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
For the past nine months, Lindy Kanan has been going for hour-long walks during her lunch breaks.
On weekends her walks are longer and recently turned into five to six-hour hikes as she gets ready to trek Kokoda in Papua New Guinea to raise money for Femili PNG.
Ms Kanan will be one of nine Australians heading to Papua New Guinea next month. The group has so far raised more than $27,000 and their goal is $30,000.
My story here.
Access to restorative justice to be widened for juvenile offenders
![ACT Justice Minister Shane Rattenbury. Photo: Dion Georgopoulos ACT Justice Minister Shane Rattenbury. Photo: Dion Georgopoulos](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/de6d2182-7803-4ff8-af70-0cfcd23ce1e1/r0_0_2000_1330_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Young offenders who don't immediately confess to their crimes will be able to participate in restorative justice, under draft laws introduced into the ACT Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
Currently, only offenders who proactively accept responsibility for their crimes can access restorative justice, which brings a victim and a perpetrator into the same room to work out how to repair the harm caused by the crime.
But under changes introduced this week by Justice Minister Shane Rattenbury, the onus would be reversed to allow offenders aged under 18 who committed less serious crimes to access restorative justice, as long as they don't deny responsibility for the crime.
Katie Burgess has the story.
Smith stars with bat and ball in Florida
![Steve Smith starred for Barbados. Photo: The Canadian Press Steve Smith starred for Barbados. Photo: The Canadian Press](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/9f8a3472-2942-4ec6-b87b-b483b0840d31/r0_0_2700_2153_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
And in finally in sport...
Steve Smith has given national selectors a reminder of the immense talent they'll be unable to call upon this summer, earning man-of-the-match honours in his most polished performance as a banned batsman.
Smith lifted the Barbados Tridents to a two-run victory over the Jamaica Tallawahs in Florida on Thursday, when he starred with bat and ball in the Caribbean Premier League.
Story here.
Today's cartoon
![The Canberra Times editorial cartoon for Friday, August 24. Photo: David Pope The Canberra Times editorial cartoon for Friday, August 24. Photo: David Pope](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/3922554c-1435-4c8a-b794-b9b3cdaa63cf/r0_0_1024_675_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)