Category Archives: Australian politics

Senator says she has been ‘excluded’ from writing pamphlet – as it happened

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Patricia Karvelas challenges Littleproud’s Covid reasoning behind the Murray-Darling Basin delays on ABC RN this morning.

“This isn’t a new problem … Your government was in power when a 2019 Productivity Commission report warned that there had been limited progress returning the water to the environment,” she says. “Why didn’t you change course?”

This is a very technical piece of legislation … The 450 is additional to the 2,750 gigalitres of water in the plan, the Productivity Commission looked at the 450 gigalitres, there’s only been 2 gigalitres recovered on the 450 …

Because the neutrality test on social and economic impact on rural communities have not been passed to get more water back out of it – that’s a test the Labor government put in place, that we adhere to that the states agreed to.

He [is] going down a path that’s divided the country and meant that the attention has been taken away from managing people’s cost-of-living crisis, and focused on trying to win a referendum in which he has overreached in conflating a voice with constitutional recognition.

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Linda Reynolds says she has ‘had enough’ as she threatens Brittany Higgins with defamation case

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Higgins had called on the senator to ‘stop’ after Reynolds confirmed she intended to refer commonwealth’s settlement with Higgins to anti-corruption watchdog

Brittany Higgins has revealed she has received a defamation threat from her former boss Linda Reynolds over an Instagram post that included a list of complaints against the senator.

Reynolds has responded by accusing Higgins of “defamation of my character”.

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AFR apologises for running voice no campaign ad featuring ‘racist trope’

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Newspaper publisher says ad ‘should not have run’ after federal independent MP Kate Chaney accuses no campaign of stoking ‘fear and hate’

The no campaign has been accused of using a “racist trope” in a newspaper ad which included a cartoon figure of an Indigenous voice campaigner appearing to dance for money.

Matt Kean, a New South Wales Liberal MP, lashed the Advance conservative lobby group for “a throwback to the Jim Crow era of the deep south”, saying the full-page ad in the Australian Financial Review had no place in Australian politics. A spokesperson for Nine, publisher of the AFR, later apologised and said the ad should never have run.

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Australia should recognise state of Palestine as part of ‘fair go’ ethos, de facto ambassador says

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Izzat Abdulhadi of Palestinian delegation calls for government to resist ‘pressure’ to avoid contentious topic – and to strongly condemn Israel’s raids on Jenin

Australia should stand up for the “fair go” by recognising Palestine as a state, according to its de facto ambassador, who argues that Israel’s “brutal” military operation in the city of Jenin only increases the urgency for bold steps.

Palestinian recognition is one of the foreign policy issues set to be discussed when Labor holds its next national conference in Brisbane in August.

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Former KPMG partner urges royal commission into consulting industry following damning report into PwC scandal

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Whistleblower tells Senate inquiry into federal government’s use of consultants that ‘self-regulation is failing’ across the industry

A former KPMG partner turned whistleblower has urged the federal government to consider a royal commission into the consulting industry and to formally ban firms that breach legal and ethical standards.

In late 2021, Brendan Lyon told a New South Wales parliamentary inquiry that he was pressured to amend his work, which found the state’s budget was $10bn worse off than Treasury claimed.

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Australia news live: Burney condemns ‘Trump-style’ voice politics; ‘well publicised’ matters referred to federal corruption watchdog

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Prime minister Anthony Albanese says he is “one of the millions of Australians” who welcomed the decision from the Reserve Bank yesterday, on Nine’s Today program this morning.

People are doing it tough out there … I am determined to work each and every day to provide whatever assistance the government can do. Whether that be the direct assistance in cheaper childcare, the tripling [of] the Medibank bulk billing incentive so people can see their doctor for free, or fee-free TAFE and all those measures to take pressure off cost-of-living.

As well, of course, managing the economy and producing a surplus in excess of $2.4bn to put that downward pressure on inflation.

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Childcare fees in Australia outpace inflation with rises of up to 32%, report finds

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ACCC says number of centres charging above hourly rate cap has doubled as government’s cheaper childcare package comes into force

Childcare fees have outpaced inflation in the past five years, with rises of between 20% and 32% from 2018 to 2022 according to a report from the competition regulator.

Households are now paying 4% more for centre-based and outside-school-hours care, 6% more for family daycare and 15% more for in-home care services, once adjusted for inflation.

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$123.64 per child a day for centre-based daycare, with $48.60 out-of-pocket

$90.23 a child a day for family daycare ($28.92 out-of-pocket)

$30 per child a session for outside-school-hours care ($13.54 out-of-pocket)

$301.42 per family a day for in-home care ($60.69 out-of-pocket).

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Minister suggests rate pause based on uncertain outlook – as it happened

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Foreign minister Penny Wong says the focus of Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo’s visit to Australia will be on strengthening economic ties between the two countries, on ABC RN this morning.

One of the things we’re focused on is how do we improve our economic ties. Obviously, the nation is an increasing economic power and will be over the next decade. We want to make sure we’re partners in that. So there will be a great focus on the economy and the economic relationship.

You’ll see some big changes to make sure we make business travel easier.

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Pauline Hanson threatens to release anti-voice essay if shut out from official referendum pamphlet

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Exclusive: One Nation leader wants her input to be included for the no side as concern grows among some politicians their views may be left out

Pauline Hanson has threatened to send her own 2,000-word anti-voice essay to Australian voters unless a parliamentary committee includes her contributions in the official referendum pamphlet for the no side.

The so-called “progressive no” views of left-wing senator Lidia Thorpe may also end up excluded from the no essay, which will be authorised by a committee dominated by Coalition and conservative politicians.

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Bernard Collaery trial highlights ‘prohibitive’ and ‘onerous’ government secrecy restrictions, lawyers claim

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Exclusive: Whistleblower’s legal team detailed the ‘profound’ cost of the commonwealth’s rules in inquiry into the effectiveness of the National Security Information Act 2004

The secrecy restrictions around Bernard Collaery’s prosecution were so severe that he was forced to obtain government approval for his lawyer to view evidence against him, communicate with his legal team in-person in secure rooms chosen by the commonwealth, physically transport documents around the country at exorbitant cost and compose drafts on commonwealth laptop computers at pre-approved locations.

The national security law watchdog is currently investigating the operation and effectiveness of the National Security Information Act 2004, which the federal government uses to protect sensitive information during court proceedings.

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Senator ‘working on’ settlement referral – as it happened

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Some more detail here on the new national anti-corruption watchdog from AAP.

The integrity commission’s job is to stamp out corrupt conduct by commonwealth officials – including ministers, parliamentarians and their staff, public servants, and government contractors.

The thing I would be really careful about it would be weaponising things before elections.

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Australia’s national anti-corruption commission receives 44 referrals on first day of operation

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Nacc commissioner Paul Brereton reveals the body has already received a number of leads but not all will be investigated

The National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nacc) has hit the ground running, with commissioner Paul Brereton revealing by 5pm Sunday it had already received 44 referrals online.

At its opening ceremony in Canberra on Monday, Brereton promised “we will listen to you”, referring to the fact that “anyone can refer corruption issues to the commission”, as well as its ability to commence investigations of its own motions.

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‘It’s crippling families’: parents say childcare centres pushing up rates as Labor’s subsidy kicks in

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Experts warn early learning centres may seek to capitalise on government’s scheme, which comes into effect from 1 July

Two years ago, it cost Jessica* $176 a day to send her daughter to childcare in Melbourne. From July, it’ll be $204.40 – a $26.40 jump.

Jessica is now reconsidering a second child. She’s accepted for the first five years of her daughter’s life, her and her partner will “just have to be broke”, dishing out more than $1,000 per week on fees.

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Advocates call for levy on gambling company earnings to fund addiction rehab

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Australian parliamentary inquiry recommends levy but some public health experts warn it could be ineffective unless carefully designed

Gambling companies should be forced to pay for rehabilitation centres, new consumer rights groups and legal services via a levy on their earnings, according to harm reduction advocates.

A federal parliamentary inquiry has recommended the government introduce the levy, without specifying what the rate should be. But some public health experts believe the levy may be ineffective unless carefully designed.

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Thousands rally around Australia in support of voice despite polls suggesting decline in yes vote

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Peter Dutton, meanwhile, lashes companies supporting yes campaign saying they ‘lacked a significant backbone’

Thousands of people have turned out at rallies nationwide to back the Indigenous voice to parliament, with organisers hoping momentum will build despite recent polls showing a decline in the yes vote.

Welcome to country and smoking ceremonies kicked off Sunday’s day of action with the Indigenous Australians minister, Linda Burney, addressing a crowd at the Brisbane Yes23 event.

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Ukrainian ambassador invites Penny Wong to visit Kyiv to see ‘traumatised’ children

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Vasyl Myroshnychenko says foreign minister does understand Ukraine well but ‘when you visit it gives you a different angle’

The Ukrainian ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, has invited the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, to visit his war-torn country, describing the devastation inflicted by the Russian invasion.

Myroshnychenko said on Sunday it would be “wonderful” to have Wong visit the capital Kyiv. Asked if he was inviting her, he said: “Absolutely.”

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Greens refer PwC to Nacc; yes campaign holds voice events across the country – as it happened

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Myroshnychenko says Ukraine war can’t get any worse

On the mutiny by Yevgeny Prigozhin and his wagner mercenary group, Myroshnychenko says he is reluctant to get into speculation about “palace intrigue” in Russia.

We haven’t seen any major impact in the battlefield as the mutiny was unfolding, Russians sent on shelling Ukrainian cities sending missiles, heavy battlefields on the frontlines. Definitely the reputation of Vladimir Putin was dented. His leadership was challenged. And in a country like Russia is really extraordinary to see it happening. Putin is running the country as a thug so pretty much a gangster country and all these thugs and somebody revolts all of a sudden, this is already kind of bizarre.

I don’t think anything can be worse, right? Can it get any worse? Look, Russians have deployed 150,000 people in Ukraine – occupied 20% of the land. They just shell us on a continuous basis, killing and raping and murdering people. Can it get any worse? I don’t think so.

I think any support for Ukraine will be very good investment into the restoration of the rules-base international system.

Something which is so important for every Pacific nation because if you can allow a bigger power to curse a smaller power – and you don’t fight back and you let that happen, that sends a wrong signal especially to your neighbours, to countries that depend so much on your support to be sovereign and to make their own decisions and not to be influence bid bigger powers.

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‘A gamechanger’: yes campaign launches nationwide voice events as momentum builds ahead of Naidoc Week

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Director of Yes23 says support is growing within communities and the movement has the right message to win referendum

Two dozen major referendum events nationwide this weekend will be a “gamechanger” for the voice, says the director of Yes23, who is confident support will keep rising once grassroots campaigning fully activates in coming weeks.

After a week campaigning across the Kimberley region, Dean Parkin said the voice was crucial to help remote Indigenous communities that were being ignored. He maintained the campaign had the right message and strategy to win the referendum.

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Australia’s budget surplus swells to $19bn due to surging tax revenue

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Economist Chris Richardson says figure well above earlier forecasts is a reminder of ‘how lucky the Lucky Country has been’

The federal budget is on track to smash its earlier surplus forecasts as the government rakes in much more revenue.

The underlying cash balance for the 12 months to May was $19bn, well above the $4.2bn surplus flagged for the 2022-23 financial year in the last federal budget.

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Labor’s nature repair market must ban offsets and will need initial funding injection, scientists say

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Members of threatened species scientific committee say allowing environmental offsets would undermine the scheme

A “nature repair market” proposed by Labor will not succeed unless backed by substantial initial public funding and a ban on environmental offsets in the scheme, government scientific advisers have warned.

The Senate environment legislation committee heard a range of critical evidence about the bill on Friday, prompting the government to concede it will indefinitely postpone its passage in parliament.

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