Category Archives: Australian politics

Anthony Albanese says government needs to ‘make it clear’ what is at stake in voice referendum

Posted on by

Prime minister says ‘we have got to explain what it is about’ as he shrugs off polls showing slipping support

Anthony Albanese has shrugged off polling results showing slipping support for the Indigenous voice, but concedes the government needs to “make it clear” what is at stake in the referendum as the campaign begins.

The prime minister is confident of a yes vote in the referendum, expected in October, as he flags the Labor party will swing in behind the official Yes23 campaign to bolster its work.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

PwC to publicly name all staff involved in tax scandal, inquiry told

Posted on by

CEO Kristin Stubbins says once internal investigation is complete there will be ‘appropriate accountability’ for those found to have acted inappropriately

The consultancy firm PwC will name all staff involved in the tax scandal shortly after it completes an internal investigation.

“This is a comprehensive, detailed investigation and as you can appreciate, we need to get it right,” acting PwC chief executive, Kristin Stubbins, told a parliamentary inquiry on Monday.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Indigenous voice yes campaign to ‘take the high ground’ with funding for thousands of local events

Posted on by

Public messaging of referendum supporters hopes to offer antidote to ‘fear and misinformation’, yes campaigners say

The yes campaign for the referendum will offer grants of up to $15,000 for a blitz of community functions supporting the Indigenous voice, in a bid to support thousands of events nationwide backing the change.

Other big headline events and an advertising campaign are in the works for the yes campaigners, who will begin ramping up their public messaging from next week in the long run-up to the vote on an Indigenous voice to parliament, widely anticipated to be held in October this year.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Rex Patrick to challenge denial of FoI requests based on ministerial portfolio changes

Posted on by

Court to consider rule that keeps large swathes of government documents secret by denying freedom of information requests

The practice of using ministerial portfolio changes to keep large swathes of government documents secret is severely undermining transparency and accountability, the federal court will hear on Monday.

Rex Patrick, who marked himself as a transparency campaigner during his time in the Senate, is mounting a legal challenge against a common method of denying freedom of information requests for documents held by government ministers.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Scandal-hit PwC announces new Australian boss – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

States will ‘do their own things’ on rent caps: Collins

Speers asks for what evidence Collins is referring to. The minister points to research by Graeme Samuel, former boss of the ACCC, which she referred to in parliament this week and again reiterates the talking point:

The overwhelming evidence suggests that it doesn’t work. States and territories will do their own things in terms of this. What we are being asked to do here is have eight different jurisdictions make these decisions at the same time and we have been told very clearly from those jurisdictions that they won’t be doing this. Some states have already ruled out both freezes and caps. What we’ve been asked to do is simply not achievable and we won’t commit to something that is not achievable, David.

When you look at the evidence that has been cited by others, the evidence shows that it reduces supply significantly by up to 15%. The other thing that it shows is the quality of the stock diminishes over time, so I will look at the data and the evidence and the data and the evidence says that it doesn’t work.

Continue reading...

Anthony Albanese says Russia must end Ukraine invasion as pro-Putin protesters march on Kirribilli House

Posted on by

Sydney protest was held over the decision to block the building of a new Russian embassy near Parliament House in Canberra

Anthony Albanese has renewed his call for Russia to withdraw from Ukraine as Russia was plunged into crisis and pro-Putin protesters marched on Kirribilli House in Sydney on Saturday.

The protest was held over the decision to block the building of a new Russian embassy near Parliament House.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Home affairs withheld serious concerns about crime prediction tool during Benbrika case, court hears

Posted on by

Judge suggests there may have been ‘interference with administration of justice’ and government officials could be referred ‘to relevant authorities’

The Department of Home Affairs deliberately withheld information that raised serious questions about the reliability of a future crime prediction tool because it wanted to keep using it on other offenders, the Victorian supreme court has heard.

The supreme court justice Elizabeth Hollingworth is considering whether convicted terrorist Abdul Nacer Benbrika should be subject to an extended supervision order while he is held in immigration detention, and the conditions of such an order.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Albanese says Russia should withdraw from Ukraine; Australia sanctions three MH17 culprits – as it happened

Posted on by

Australian prime minister says ‘it is Russia and its involvement that keeps this war going’. This blog is now closed

Forced property sales on the rise in outer Sydney as interest rate hikes start to bite

My colleagues, Peter Hannam and Nick Evershed have this report on the rise in forced property sales as interest rate rises begin to bite.

Sydney’s outer suburbs are showing signs of rising numbers of distressed property sales with higher interest rates the likely cause, a trend that can be expected to spread to other capitals, according to property data group Domain.

Distressed listings as a share of the national market remain low, at about 2.8% across the capital cities, compared with a record 5.1% in late 2018.

Continue reading...

Barnaby Joyce apologised to Peter Dutton for breaking ranks over the Biloela family

Posted on by

A letter written at the time reveals that Joyce told Dutton he could not justify deporting the Murugappan family, whose two children were born in Australia

Barnaby Joyce appears to have blindsided Peter Dutton with his support for the Murugappan family to stay in Australia, linking his position to his pro-life stance, a newly-released letter reveals.

Joyce’s letter to Dutton in September 2019 includes both an apology to the then home affairs minister for not giving him more notice and an explanation he believes the family’s children should be able to stay because “a child has rights before they are born and after”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Turn your phone off every night for five minutes, Australian PM tells residents

Posted on by

Experts back Anthony Albanese’s cybersecurity advice, saying forcibly closing apps could stop criminals from monitoring users or collecting data

Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has told residents they should turn their smartphones off and on again once a day as a cybersecurity measure – and tech experts agree.

Albanese said the country needed to be proactive to thwart cyber risks, as he announced the appointment of Australia’s inaugural national cybersecurity coordinator.

Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads

Continue reading...

Australia news live: NSW premier refutes cover-up allegations over police Tasering of 95-year-old woman

Posted on by

Follow the day’s news live

PwC should not be banned from government work but should face ‘significant sanction’, Dutton says

Following the damning interim Senate report into PwC, Dutton says he does not believe the consultancy firm should be cut from all government work, but says a penalty needs to be incurred for the breach of trust:

I think where people have breached a contract, they’ve breached trust, there’s a penalty and the price that should be paid. I don’t know whether that’s the company or whether there’s a solution that the government can provide to it but there’s there’s a significant sanction that’s that’s required – no doubt the government will be looking into that right now.

All of the pollsters at the moment, and credible commentators, believe that it’s either going to fail in October or, best case scenario for the yes case, that gets up 51-49. And in that scenario, our nation is split down the middle.

I think there’s an opportunity to unite our country here instead of divide, and that is that we should proceed with constitutional recognition.

Continue reading...

Albanese calls on voters to ‘rise to the occasion’ on Indigenous voice and ridicules opposition claims

Posted on by

Peter Dutton warns referendum will leave Australians ‘split down the middle’ and repeats call for symbolic recognition

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has urged Australians to “rise to the occasion” of the referendum, saying he wants to discuss with the opposition how the Indigenous voice could work in the event of a successful vote.

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, claims the referendum will leave Australia “split down the middle”, again calling for the government to scrap the voice and instead pursue symbolic constitutional recognition of Indigenous people.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Russia to launch high court challenge to keep embassy site near Australian parliament

Posted on by

Australia is confident cancellation of lease on national security grounds will withstand legal challenge

The Russian government will launch a high court challenge to laws designed to stop it from building a new embassy close to Parliament House in Canberra.

The federal government last week passed legislation to cancel the Russian government’s lease on the Yarralumla site, citing national security concerns over its proximity to parliament.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Anthony Albanese says voice will help ensure taxpayer dollars are ‘spent better and more efficiently’

Posted on by

The PM says a yes vote should lead to more cost-effective health, education and housing programs for Indigenous people

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says a yes vote for the Indigenous voice to parliament will save money by helping to design more cost-effective programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Indigenous leaders from the Northern Territory came to Canberra on Thursday to urge Australians to listen to their “heart” to support the referendum, saying the voice would help address health, education and housing issues in their communities.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australian politicians bought Nazi artefacts, auction house director claims

Posted on by

Gold Coast auction house sold huge collection including photo album of concentration camps and signed pictures of Hitler ahead of federal ban on display and sale of Nazi symbols

An Australian auction house that sold an extensive collection of Nazi artefacts online has defended the sale by stating politicians were among the buyers.

Jewish groups are outraged at the sale of the “blood-stained items” that included signed pictures of Hitler, Himmler and Rommel, a striped concentration camp cap, a “Jewish winter overcoat” with yellow star attached, picture albums of dead soldiers and PoWs and personal photo albums of SS officers.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

ABC’s international budget should grow as China spends billions on information war, inquiry told

Posted on by

Parliament hears media in Asia and the Pacific are being courted by Beijing in an ‘unprecedented campaign’

China is spending billions to win the information war in the region, a committee inquiry has heard, and greater funding for the ABC would allow it to be a stronger presence in the Asia-Pacific.

Claire Gorman, the ABC’s head of international services, told the inquiry into supporting democracy in the region that China is spending at least $3bn a year on international media, compared with $11m for the ABC.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Labor under fire from crossbench over $1.5bn stake in Middle Arm industrial precinct

Posted on by

Zali Steggall and David Pocock take aim at government over support of development on Darwin habour which will benefit gas industry

The Albanese government has come under pressure from the crossbench over its $1.5bn stake in a “sustainable” development precinct on Darwin harbour after documents revealed the project would benefit the gas industry.

In question time on Thursday, the independent MP for Warringah, Zali Steggall, asked the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, why his government had “backflipped” and blocked a Senate inquiry into the Middle Arm industrial precinct.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Labor under pressure to freeze rents as Greens and Coalition back inquiry into housing crisis

Posted on by

Greens urged to back government’s fund as advocates say housing is needed now and politicians need to ‘start taking action’

The Senate has set up an inquiry into the rental crisis, a process designed by the Greens to pressure the Albanese government to agree to freeze or cap rising rents.

On Monday the Greens voted with the Coalition to delay consideration of Labor’s $10bn Housing Australia Future Fund (Haff) until 16 October, despite pressure from housing groups to pass the bill after the government pledged $2bn of direct funding for social and affordable housing.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Greens and Coalition unite to refer bill to its own inquiry

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

Albanese takes swipes at the Greens

The Midwinter Ball was held overnight. It seems to have been a fairly staid affair but I am still ferreting out info.

Consulting firm PwC engaged in a “calculated” breach of trust by using confidential information to help its clients avoid tax and engaged in a “deliberate cover-up” over many years, a Senate committee has found.

PwC should be “open and honest” by promptly publishing the names and details of its partners and staff involved, the finance and public administration committee has recommended.

Continue reading...

Transparency concerns as vast backlog of Australian MP expense claims unlikely to be cleared until mid-2024

Posted on by

Botched system upgrade has created a vast backlog of MP expense claims that will not be cleared for at least 12 months, documents reveal

A botched system upgrade has created a vast backlog of MP expense claims that will not be cleared until at least mid-2024, leaving details of travel expenses and office and employee costs unscrutinised, documents reveal.

Problems upgrading a crucial reporting system have left MP travel expenses unchecked for almost a year and this is likely to continue until mid-2024, the documents reveal.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...