Saturday's news in under 5 minutes.

We’ve rounded up all the latest stories from Australia and around the world – so you don’t have to go searching.

1. Bad news for online shoppers – online purchases to attract 10% GST.

Bad news for online shoppers today as tax reforms mean that purchases made online will incur a 10% GST surcharge as the current $1000 GST-free threshold is abolished.

Treasurer Joe Hockey announced at a press conference yesterday that state and federal treasurers had agreed on the decision to apply the GST to online purchases.

“From the 1 July, 2017, the GST will be applied to all products and services sold by vendors into Australia. This will deliver competitive neutrality for Australian businesses, and ensure fair and equal treatment of goods and services.”

Mr Hockey also confirmed that the treasurers had “failed to come to a unanimous agreement” on the controversial “tampon tax”, meaning that sanitary products will continue to be classed as “luxury items” and incur GST.

Disappointing that’s some State Treasurers didn’t support removing GST on female hygiene products. SA Labor will keep fighting for fairness.

— Tom Koutsantonis (@TKoutsantonisMP) August 21, 2015

2. A man who distributed child porn was allowed to adopt a child in NSW.

Police in NSW failed to arrest a man for distributing child abuse material despite being sent evidence by the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) in 2013.

The ABC reports that it wasn’t until a year later when the CCC sent a second referral that the alleged perpetrator was arrested.

In the time between the first notification to police in August 2013 and his arrest in November 2014, a foster child in the man’s care was formally adopted by the man and his wife.

His wife told the ABC that she was “absolutely shattered and devastated” by the revelation, which made her “absolutely sick to my stomach.”

The adoptive mother does not believe her daughter, now eight-years-old, was ever abused by her now-estranged husband.

The police’s handling of the case is now being investigated by the NSW Ombudsman.

3. Malala Yousafzai celebrates her excellent Year 12 results.

Nobel peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai has always been a passionate advocate for education. And now, her proud father Ziauddin has shared her phenomenal GSCE results.

Malala has been a dedicated student at her private girls’ school in Birmingham after her family relocated to the United Kingdom after she was shot by a Taliban gunman for her activism.

My wife Toor Pekai and I are proud of Malala getting 6A*s and 4As. #education for every child. pic.twitter.com/lfoKBLMGYz

— Ziauddin Yousafzai (@ZiauddinY) August 21, 2015

The Daily Pakistan praised Malala’s latest achievement, saying that she had “made us proud once again”.

4. Teens charged over “Slender Man” stabbing plead not guilty.

The two 13-year-old girls accused of stabbing their close friend to appease an online bogey-man known as  “Slender Man” have had pleas of “not guilty” entered on their behalf as they sat silently in court.

The girls, who are being tried as adults, were 12-years-old when the stabbing occurred in 2014.

ABC13 reports that Wisconsin investigators believe the girls spent months planning the attack on their friend Payton Leutner, who was stabbed 19 times, to appease the fictional “Slender Man”.

Leutner miraculously survived the attack after she crawled to a road where she was found by a cyclist. One wound had narrowly missed a major artery.

Given the nature of the crime, Judge Michael Bohren has said the girls should be tried as adult when the trial commences on October 15.

If found guilty, they face 65 years in prison.

5. Gucci launches controversial new shoes lined with kangaroo fur.

Italian fashion house Gucci has launched a controversial new shoe that is lined with kangaroo fur, attracting the ire of animal rights activists.

Luxury goods company Kering, which owns Gucci, has told Quartz that the kangaroo fur is environmentally friendly.

“Kangaroo harvest is one of the best examples of a well-managed harvest program, and thus can be classified under our guidelines as a sustainable fur,” the spokesperson said.

But Daniel Ramp, the director for the Centre for Compassionate Conservation at the University of Technology, Sydney, told the Daily Mail that he disagrees with the idea that using the fur is “environmentally friendly.”

“Using kangaroo fur to produce fur to produce fashion footwear is exploitation especially since kangaroo populations are in decline,” he said.

Do you have a story to share with Mamamia? Email us at news@mamamia.com.au
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