West Australia Liberal MP Don Randall has paid back more than 5,000 dollars in taxpayer funded traveling entitlements. Mr.Randall claimed the money for travel to North Queensland on what he called electorate business. He later revealed he owns investment property there. 

   

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will announce his frontbench portfolios today. The 30-strong Shadow Ministry was unveiled on Monday. Chris Bowen is expected to remain Shadow Treasurer. Mr.Shorten’s rival for the top job, Anthony Albanese, will also be given a senior role.

   

Hundreds of thousands of government workers in the United Sates are heading back to work. President Barack Obama has signed a law ending a 16-day government shutdown and extending the country’s debt limit.

   

In Laos, rescue workers have recovered some bodies from a fatal plane crash that claimed the lives of 6 Australians. All 49 people on board the plane died when it crashed into the Mekong River during bad weather. A Sydney man, Gavin Rhodes, his wife Lee and their two young children, and an Australian aid worker Michael Creighton and his father Gorden all perished in the crash.