Canberra Mornings Live: Wednesday October 22

Bonuses: Despite service-wide cuts, some public servants were given bonuses of up to $18,000 in the past financial year, annual reports reveal.
The Department of Communications, one of the hardest hit employers when it came to job cuts, still handed out half a million dollars in performance payments in 2013-14.

The Hyatt is facing criticism for hosting a conference organised by controversial anti-gay marriage campaigners the Australian Christian Lobby, Tom McIlroy and Ben Westcott report. 

The Hyatt has defended its decision, saying it supports gay and lesbian equality.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has also come under pressure to withdraw from his keynote speech to the two-day conference, which will also include speeches by incoming Sydney Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher, Assistant Immigration Minister Michaelia Cash and Labor backbencher Shayne Neumann. 

The Australian government has spent over $7 million paying out retiring spies over the past financial year, Phillip Thomson reports.

Just 40 Australian Security Intelligence Organisation's spies took voluntary redundancies payments worth $7.09 million in 2013-14.

The Law Council of Australia has called for robust debate of the Foreign Fighters Bill after a report from the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.

Mr Michael Colbran QC, the president of the Law Council of Australia, said the bill contains significant measures which seek to protect Australians and the security of our nation but there are still remaining concerns.

“The Law Council supports the government’s resolve to provide a strong legislative regime to criminalise acts of terrorism and protect Australians from the threat of those who travel overseas, participate in hostile activity and return to Australia,” he said.

“It is important to react appropriately to the terrorist threat but to do so in a way that supports and manifests the principles of individual freedom that underpin our society."

Despite welcoming the report and its recommendations, Mr Colbran said there were still other certain aspects of the bill which should be placed under greater scrutiny.

“Careful scrutiny and demonstrated need – rather than a rushed response – is vital to preserving our liberties.”

Traffic: There has been a two car collision on Hindmarsh Drive near Ball Street in Chifley.

There are no reports of any injuries at this stage.

You may have missed it yesterday but The Washington Post dedicated column inches to the passing of former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, describing him as “impeccably dressed, toweringly tall and unabashedly aggressive”.

“Mr. Whitlam was an imposing presence in Australian politics for more than two decades and revitalized the country’s left-leaning Labor Party after years of stagnation,” said reporter Sarah Halzack.

Ms Halzack went on to describe him as “notoriously immodest” with a reputation for a “fiery temper, which on occasion reportedly led him to pour a glass of water on a minister from the opposite party.

Update: The boy hit in Ainslie was just 9 years old and was on a bike when he was hit by a car on Lister Cresent just before 9am on Wednesday.

Emergency services said the boy was stablised on scene by intensive care paramedics with suspected head and leg injuries.

He will be taken to Canberra Hospital shortly.

A boy has been hit by a car in Ainslie this morning: A car has hit a child in Ainslie on Lister Cresent this morning.

Police say the boy will be taken to Canberra Hospital.

Lister Cresent is closed but will be reopened shortly.