Hello and welcome to our national news live blog for Thursday, August 20. Here’s what you need to know today.

• Labor’s gambling reform package passed the parliament late last night and is expected to pass the Senate with the backing of the Coalition. The news comes amid heavy criticism of the laws. Several vocal MPs, as well as Rod Glover – husband of the late Peta Murphy whose report three years ago triggered a push for gambling ad bans – have said the reforms are nowhere near comprehensive enough.
• The government’s sweeping cuts to the NDIS passed the Senate last night and are expected to become law as early as this week.
• The News Media Bargaining Incentive – the government’s plan to force multibillion-dollar tech companies to compensate news outlets for their journalism – will be debated in the Senate today after it passed the lower house yesterday.
• The opposition has been calling for minister Matt Keogh to be sacked over his reported falling out with certain veterans pleading for healthcare funding. Yesterday, Senator Jacqui Lambie moved an urgent motion in the Senate urging the government to walk away from its plan to cap allied health spending for veterans at $5000.
• Swans senior player Isaac Heeney has been revealed as the focus of a sexual assault investigation after the AFL club banned five players for the rest of the season for breaching its club standards on a night out in Melbourne on Sunday.
• And North Korea has denied there was any direct communication between Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump, even as the US leader said he was seeking to meet with the North Korean leader this year.