Good morning Canberra.
We're in for a cool day with some showers and the chance of a thunderstorm. Enjoy the cool while it lasts - Thursday will heat up again before the forecast is in the 40s for a few days.
Want to catch up on what's happening around the ACT? We'll take you through what you need to know this morning.
Turmoil in chief minister's directorate
The senior ranks of the ACT chief minister's directorate are in turmoil, after deputy director-general and former Labor senior staffer Jeff House resigned on Monday. His announcement follows the revelation last week that his partner had been appointed in December to a short-term role as communications adviser to Brendan Smyth, who reports to Mr House in the economic development directorate.
While Mr House said he had been looking to leave the public service for a while after realising it was not for him, he said he would rather not be leaving in the circumstances of recent weeks.
The future of Land Development Agency chief executive and economic development director-general David Dawes is still uncertain, as his agency is restructured after a highly critical audit report on the agency's land dealings last year. Kirsten Lawson has the full report here.
Centrelink misery continues
On the back of the "robo-debt" controversy, Centrelink clients are in for a harder time as public servants at the welfare agency prepare for more strike action. Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support workers at the Department of Human Services will strike on six days between February 15 and February 24.
There could be relief for clients caught up in the "robo-debt" saga however, as the department's main workplace union, the CPSU, says public servants trying to resolve disputes caused by Centrelink's controversial recovery policy will not be striking.
The "robo-debt" controversy has played out against a background of a marathon industrial dispute at the department which has raged since 2014, with workers resisting a push to impose a hardline Abbott-government industrial relations policy.
Reporter Noel Towell writes the latest industrial action is the most recent attempt from the union to try to get a better offer from the department.
Church sex abuse assessed
Seventeen priests were accused of abusing children in the Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn over six decades. Photo: Aaron Sawall
An analysis of the church's data has revealed 17 people associated with Catholic religious orders were accused of abusing children in the Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn over six decades.The ACT and southern NSW diocese also had an above average concentration of religious accused of sexually abusing children. Two orders implicated in abuse cases in Canberra were counted among the most notorious.
A survey of church data by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse showed 8.4 per cent of the 211 religious who served in the archdiocese from 1950 to 2010 were believed to have abused children - equating to one in 12. Nationally, 7 per cent of religious were believed to have abused children over 60 years.
Reporter Katie Burgess has the story here.
Pokie growth
The Mawson Club says it has applied to grow its number of poker machines to more than 200 to prepare against the casino stealing its players. This month the club applied to the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission to increase their poker machine numbers from 165 to 201.
The club forecasted that approval for the casino to place gaming machines may result in a 20 per cent decline in the club's gross gaming machine revenue.
"In order for the Mawson Club to ensure its long-term viability, the club needs to make sure it remains competitive if and when the casino is granted a gaming machine licence."
The club has already begun talks with other clubs in the Woden Valley about acquiring any pokies they would like to offload, writes Katie Burgess in this report.
School's in for buyers
The Miles Franklin Primary School catchment zone has outpaced Canberra's annual house price growth at more than three times. House prices jumped 18.8 per cent in the catchment zone in the 12 months to October 2016, while in contrast, house prices across the ACT rose by 5 per cent over the 2016 year.
At the top of Canberra's secondary school catchment zones for growth was Amaroo School, with house prices jumping 10.8 per cent over the same period to October. The report combined school catchment areas with property market data to determine the top 10 primary and secondary government school zones for price growth in each capital city.
Domain and Allhomes chief data scientist Nicola Powell said the report provided a new perspective on house price growth in Canberra, with many parents prioritising schools when choosing where to buy, property editor Emma Kelly writes.
Today's cartoon
