Category Archives: Australian politics

Labor announces payday super to crack down on billions in unpaid funds each year

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The measure will deliver a ‘more dignified retirement to more Australian workers’, treasurer Jim Chalmers says

Employers will be required to pay superannuation on payday, rather than quarterly, under reforms aimed at cracking down on the scourge of more than $3bn of super that goes unpaid each year.

The measure, announced by the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and financial services minister, Stephen Jones, will take effect in July 2026, giving businesses three years to prepare.

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Australians in disaster zones to receive phone alerts to improve emergency response

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Government hopes prominent notifications will be hard to miss as it plans to begin testing new system soon

People in disaster zones will receive urgent phone alerts with warnings and advice, as the federal government plans to begin testing of a new emergency messaging system for fires, floods and public safety crises.

The new system will give prominent mobile notifications on phone screens that users cannot accidentally overlook, with an official alert from the government which cannot be mistaken for a scam text.

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Albanese government poised to increase jobseeker for people over 55

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The $50 daily rate will rise at first only for people over 55 as ministers target cost of living relief at women and long-term unemployed

The Albanese government is poised to increase jobseeker for people aged over 55, citing the need to target cost of living relief at women and the long-term unemployed.

On Monday Channel Seven first reported, and Guardian Australia independently confirmed, that the $50 a day rate of jobseeker will be increased at first only for those 55 and over with reconsideration of a broader raise in later budgets.

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Singapore backs Aukus and says Australia could play ‘bigger role’ in regional security

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South-east Asia must not become ‘an arena for proxy wars’, the nation state’s foreign minister said

Singapore has strongly backed the Aukus defence pact, with ministers saying they trust Australia to play a bigger role in regional security and don’t want south-east Asia to become “an arena for proxy wars”.

After talks with Australian counterparts in Canberra on Monday, Singaporean ministers reaffirmed Australia’s nuclear-powered submarines would be welcome to visit once in service.

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Noel Pearson warns of ‘almost endless protest’ if Indigenous voice referendum fails

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Pearson says reconciliation efforts would be ‘dead’ if the proposal is rejected, while a yes vote would have ‘tectonic’ positive change

Indigenous leader Noel Pearson has called Tony Abbott’s calls to scrap the voice to parliament “absurd”, claiming the proposal has been examined longer than any other public policy idea, and warning that a no vote could lead to a future of “almost endless protest”.

Pearson, an architect of the voice, said on Monday that he feared reconciliation efforts would be “dead” if the referendum failed and predicted years of protests if the voice was rejected. By contrast, a yes vote would have “tectonic” positive change for the nation, he said.

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Small businesses offered tax breaks for going green in federal budget – as it happened

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Marles on Australians caught in Sudan conflict

Asked about Australians caught in Sudan and the conflict there, Richard Marles says “there are still options out of Port Sudan which is on the Red Sea, which is, I think it’s about 800km out of Khartoum” to leave “what is obviously a deteriorating situation”:

There are ferries there and there may be other options coming out of that. I mean, the important thing is this – Australians in Sudan, and there do remain a number of Australians in Sudan, really need to make sure that they register.

We will continue to work with friends and allies and do everything that we can within our power to provide options for Australians who want to leave. Because we understand how difficult this situation is now.

Ultimately, our ambition is to establish a production line with companies in this country which would provide for the manufacture of those long-range strike missiles and doing as much of that as possible in the next couple of years. We hope that we can begin with the assembly of the strike missiles that go in the Himars system. But we want to build on that so that we’re actually manufacturing the full suite of these weapons in Australia.

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‘Couples’ to include siblings and friends under expansion of Australia’s first home guarantee

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Federal scheme and its regional and family equivalents allow people to buy houses with deposit as low as 5%

Friends and family members looking to buy their first home together will be among many more Australians set to benefit from an expansion of three government housing schemes.

The first home guarantee and its regional and family home equivalents will have their criteria expanded from 1 July, to help more Australians achieve home ownership.

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Australian government expected to crack down on illegal vaping amid rising uptake by teens

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Changes to include introduction of plain packaging and ban on certain flavours, in line with suggestions from product watchdog review

The Australian government is expected to announce a crackdown on illegal vaping as early as next week, as concerns rise over the increasing uptake among teenagers.

The health minister, Mark Butler, will announce long-mooted changes to vaping regulation, including introducing plain packaging and a ban on certain flavours, ahead of the federal budget on 9 May.

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Dysfunctional treatment of Indigenous Australians will continue unless voice exists, Ken Wyatt says

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Ex-Liberal minister tells referendum committee First Nations people despair for their future because they are never listened to

Australian governments still have a “missionary zeal” of wanting to “deal with Aboriginal people” that hasn’t changed, and unless there is an Indigenous voice advising governments the present dysfunction will continue, the former minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt has told a parliamentary committee hearing in Perth.

Wyatt, a Yamatji man, said the dysfunction has led to what he called “a futility syndrome” among Indigenous young people, who feel despair that they have no future in the nation because they are never listened to.

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The PM, a nightclub mogul and a former convict walk into a wedding. Kyle Sandilands’ invitation was too good to refuse

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The shock jock’s unrivalled ratings and platform have given him the power to pull Anthony Albanese and a premier to his nuptials

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and shock jock Kyle Sandilands may have an easy banter on air and a shared love of music, but no one would have suspected they were good friends, if indeed they are.

Albanese and his partner, Jodie Haydon, will be guests at Sandilands’ Darling Point marriage to marketing executive Tegan Kynaston in Sydney’s eastern suburbs on Saturday.

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Indigenous mother of baby murdered by abusive partner says police failed her in ‘every way’, inquiry hears

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Tamica Mullaley told committee into missing or murdered Aboriginal women and children her child would still be alive if officers ‘did their job right’

An Indigenous mother whose son was kidnapped, tortured and murdered by her former partner says her baby could still be alive if police had done their job properly and believes officers failed her family in “every way”.

In testimony on Thursday, Tamica Mullaley says she described how she was left bleeding after being attacked by her abusive partner Mervyn Bell in Broome in 2013 – but when police arrived after being called to assist her, they arrested her, claiming she was abusive to officers.

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Australia news live: Daniel Duggan’s family protest outside US embassy; watchdog finds 81% of influencer posts misleading

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ACCC says social media companies not doing enough to prevent users falling victim to scams on the sites. Follow live

‘Gamble responsibly’ to be replaced with ‘You win some you lose more’

Rishworth is also flagging further gambling reform to sports betting ads and other areas to come.

In addition to this credit card ban, to implementing a number of new measures, the government is very much looking forward to the House of Representatives inquiry into online wagering.

It is looking at a whole range of areas, including advertising. We look forward to those recommendations and certainly there is an appetite for a discussion about what comes next with my state and territory colleagues.

By using a credit card, you’re going into debt and if you are using that for online wagering, you can get yourself into trouble.

When it comes to things like casinos, pokies, you are not able to use a credit card for that, so we are wanting to bring in line online wagering and ban the use of credit cards.

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Australian government resists blanket WeChat ban despite restrictions by multiple departments

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Several federal departments already banning Chinese communications app after decision on TikTok in early April

The Australian government is resisting issuing a ban on WeChat on government devices despite many government departments instituting their own bans after the TikTok edict earlier this month.

TikTok was banned from government devices in early April over data collection and security concerns connected to the Chinese government.

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Major $2.2bn Medicare overhaul welcomed but medical association warns budget will be ‘real test’

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National cabinet also plans to work on strengthening renters’ rights, boosting housing supply and affordability, and improving NDIS

Medical groups have praised the $2.2bn Medicare overhaul announced by national cabinet but warned there is more to do to fix the nation’s ailing general practice and hospital systems.

National cabinet committed nearly $1.5bn in new funding to overhaul Medicare, as part of a $2.2bn health plan to boost the number of nurses, increase after-hours care and expand the roles of pharmacists and paramedics.

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News live: clock ticking as US coast guard scours ocean for missing Australian cruise passenger

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Coast guard say passenger went overboard 500 nautical miles (926 kilometres) from Hawaii’s Big Island. Follow live

The US coast guard has confirmed that an Australian man fell overboard on the Quantum of the Seas cruise ship, which was travelling from Brisbane to Hawaii.

The coast guard said the passenger went overboard 500 nautical miles (926 kilometres) from Hawaii’s Big Island.

500 nautical miles south of Hawaii’s Big Island a man fell overboard on Quantum of the Seas cruise ship. He is an Australian national.

A Hercules airplane is on scene conducting a search. At the moment it is the only asset that’s on scene searching.

We’ve been on scene since 9am. And with the crew’s endurance and the fuel constraints of the vessel they should be there for about six hours since arriving on scene.

What I can confirm is the budget will have a cost of living package that is targeted to the most vulnerable. We’ve been clear about that. Obviously some of that is the assistance and support on energy relief. We’ve had the announcements around medicines in the last day.

We are focused on making sure we can do the right thing for those that are doing it tough, but within an environment where there are a lot of demands on the budget in a lot of areas.

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National ban on Nazi salute and insignia would help prevent far-right radicalisation, Asio says

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Australia’s intelligence agency tells parliamentary inquiry that racist groups are using extremist symbols to raise their profile

Australia’s domestic intelligence agency Asio has welcomed a Coalition bill to ban Nazi symbols including the Sieg Heil salute, telling a parliamentary inquiry it would help prevent recruitment and radicalisation by far-right extremists.

The bill was introduced by shadow attorney general, Michaelia Cash, days after a group of men from the Nationalist Socialist Network repeatedly performed the salute on the steps of Victoria’s parliament last month.

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Australia’s ‘broken’ migration system leaves 1.8m workers ‘permanently temporary’, review finds

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Labor urged to ditch skills lists, allow more workers in caring occupations and tackle long wait times for family visas

Australia’s “broken” migration system encourages 1.8 million guest workers to be “permanently temporary” due to strict caps on permanent migration, a landmark review has found.

The migration review, to be released on Thursday by the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, calls for “major reform”, warning that fixing Australia’s migration system “cannot be achieved by further tinkering and incrementalism”.

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Australia news live: student debt ‘avalanche’ a sign loan system is broken, Faruqi says; drowning death at Victoria beach

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The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, is this morning committing to $260m to Australia’s national parks to address problems after “a decade of neglect”.

Plibersek is telling ABC News some parks have become unsafe:

What we’ve seen in our national parks, feral animals, invasive weeds, despite the best efforts of our rangers and staff, they just haven’t been able to keep up with the demand in our parks.

They’ve actually become unsafe. One of the worst examples I heard was broken and missing crocodile signs in Kakadu national park.

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AFL ‘not doing enough’ to manage concussion and brain trauma effects, wife of late coach tells inquiry

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Anita Frawley tells parliamentary inquiry the AFL was ‘fantastic’ in caring for her family but needs to do more for other players

The AFL is not doing enough to manage concussion and the long-term effects of brain trauma, Anita Frawley, the widow of AFL player and coach Danny Frawley, has told a parliamentary inquiry.

Giving evidence at a hearing of the federal senate committee inquiry into concussions and repeated head trauma in contact sports, Frawley described the circumstances of her husband’s suicide in 2019, and the posthumous finding that he had suffered from stage two chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the debilitating neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated head trauma which is increasingly linked to long-term exposure to contact sports.

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Jim Chalmers promises cost-of-living relief in budget but won’t commit to raising jobseeker

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Treasurer says government’s focus remains on jobs as CEO of Acoss says increasing unemployment benefit still a ‘live debate’

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says there will be cost-of-living relief in the budget and the government will “prioritise the most vulnerable” but has still refused to commit to raising the jobseeker rate.

Labor backbenchers have broken ranks to publicly call on the government to adopt the first priority recommendation of the economic inclusion advisory committee and “substantially” raise the unemployment benefit.

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