Category Archives: Australian politics

Liberals suggest major voice referendum changes already rejected by First Nations groups

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Julian Leeser claims key provision of constitutional amendment will be ‘rallying point’ for no campaign

The Liberal party wants the government to remove the Indigenous voice’s power to advise parliament and the executive from its proposed constitutional amendment, suggesting radical changes to the referendum which have already been rejected by First Nations groups.

The Liberal party room will meet on Wednesday to finally decide its position, with several members calling for a conscience vote as the party considers whether to officially oppose the referendum. The shadow Indigenous Australians minister, Julian Leeser, has questioned whether Anthony Albanese should stick with his promise of a referendum by year’s end, and claimed key provisions of the proposed voice would fuel the no campaign.

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Super tax breaks costing $45bn a year are ‘inheritance schemes’ for Australia’s rich, new report says

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The Grattan Institute report recommends 10 changes to superannuation taxation that could save the budget billions a year

The Albanese government could save the budget billions of dollars by winding back generous superannuation benefits that effectively produce “taxpayer-funded inheritance schemes” for the wealthy, a new Grattan Institute report argues.

The “super savings” report says such tax breaks now cost $45bn a year, or 2% of GDP, and will soon exceed the age pension costs. Two-thirds of the breaks go to the top 20% of income earners who typically are already saving enough for retirement.

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Dutton’s leadership safe for now, Liberals say, despite calls for change of direction after historic loss in Aston

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Malcolm Turnbull says the party’s future rests on its ability to move back to the centre

Peter Dutton’s leadership is safe for now as the Liberals have nowhere else to turn, party insiders claim, despite their third major loss since the federal election.

With the loss of the outer east Melbourne electorate of Aston in Saturday’s byelection, the Liberal party now holds just 14 of 79 federal urban seats. It has led to renewed calls for a major overhaul of strategy, and raised questions about Dutton’s leadership.

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Peter Dutton accepts responsibility for historic Aston loss but insists he should stay on as leader

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Federal Liberal leader says ‘we have to learn the lessons and rebuild’ after losing Victorian byelection

Peter Dutton has accepted responsibility for the party’s historic loss in the Aston byelection, but says he has no plans to step down as leader of the Liberal party.

Last month Dutton told ABC radio he was happy for the byelection to be a “verdict” on himself and Anthony Albanese, as well as the campaigns both parties were running.

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Zali Steggall condemns ‘scaremongering’ over voice detail – as it happened

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Dutton is asked a second time whether he failed his own test for the Liberal party leadership. He says that he “accepts responsibility” as leader of the party for the loss.

I was there last night to do that. I agreed to come on to the show this morning knowing that if you win, lose or draw, you need to front up.

Again, by not winning the election, we’ve failed that test, have been set for us by the Victorian people. That’s the reality. Now, the question is how we rebuild from here, the policies that we have, the brand rebuilding that we need to do in Victoria and it is a very significant issue for us.

Obviously the difficulties for us in Victoria haven’t been germinated in Aston over the course of the last five weeks. Even back to 2013, with all of my predecessors, Victoria is the one state that we have never held a majority of seats in and there are huge issues at a state level at well. For almost a quarter of a century, this has been a Labor government here in Victoria. So many lessons, including for me and my party.

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Labor is not going to work with Mark Latham, new NSW premier Chris Minns says

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Minns will call on the next Liberal leader to make the same commitment, as vote counting continues after state election

New South Wales’ Labor government will not work with One Nation leader Mark Latham at all, and will begin a process that could again ban independent MP Gareth Ward from parliament.

With vote counting all but ensuring the new premier, Chris Minns, will rule in minority, attention has turned to how the new NSW parliament will manage the re-elected pair.

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Aston byelection: Labor achieves once-in-a-century victory capturing Liberal heartland seat

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Labor secures first win at a byelection by a government from an opposition since 1920 as senior Liberals play down implications for Peter Dutton’s leadership

The Albanese government has achieved a once-in-100-year victory in a byelection, capturing the Liberal heartland seat of Aston in eastern Melbourne.

Labor’s Mary Doyle won a two-party preferred swing of at least 6%, leading about 54% to 46% over the Liberals’ Roshena Campbell in the count on Saturday evening.

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Labor claims Aston win, throwing Dutton’s Liberal leadership into question – as it happened

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Labor’s Mary Doyle has two-party preferred swing of at least 6% in the count on Saturday evening. This blog is now closed

Dutton says Labor’s road funding cuts in Aston ‘a disaster’

Out of hiding and into the open, opposition leader Peter Dutton has been seen on the campaign trail in Aston today.

[Labor] haven’t explained to the people of Aston why it is that they cut road funding as the first act in government, and it’s quite remarkable.

It’s a disaster for locals and people realise that the first act of the Albanese government was to cut road funding here in Aston … They’ve never apologised for it, they never explained why.

There are a lot of Australian families who have heard Anthony Albanese promise before the last election on 97 occasions that he would reduce your power to $275. That was a promise he made before the election, he’s never mentioned it since, not once.

So cost of living pressures are real for families and the opportunity in the election today is to send a very clear message to Labor that they shouldn’t be cutting local road funding, and they shouldn’t be abandoning this community.

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Mark Latham refuses to apologise for homophobic tweet

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NSW environment minister says ‘there’s no place’ for Latham’s behaviour, while MP Alex Greenwich says he is ‘clearly unfit for office’

Mark Latham is thumbing his nose at calls to apologise for a homophobic comment he posted and later deleted about Sydney MP Alex Greenwich.

The tweet posted earlier this week has caused community outrage, and drawn severe condemnation from commentators across the political spectrum.

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Mark Dreyfus rejects human rights commissioner’s claim Indigenous voice would undermine principles of equality

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Attorney general declines to comment on calls for commissioner Lorraine Finlay to consider her future in the role

Federal attorney general Mark Dreyfus “does not agree” with the human rights commissioner that the proposed Indigenous voice to parliament would undermine human rights principles of equality and non-discrimination in Australia, but would not comment on calls for the commissioner to consider her future in the role.

In an opinion piece published in the Australian on Thursday, commissioner Lorraine Finlay wrote that the draft wording of the referendum question and proposed amendment to the constitution “inserts race into the Australian constitution in a way that undermines the foundational human rights principles of equality and non-discrimination, and creates constitutional uncertainty in terms of its interpretation and operation”.

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Laura Tingle becomes ABC staff-elected director – as it happened

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The 7.30 political correspondent will sit on the broadcaster’s board alongside chair Ita Buttrose. This blog is now closed

Report of new gas tax for Australia

The Australian Financial Review is this morning reporting that a new gas tax looms as the government tries to raise revenue to begin budget repair.

Major companies such as Woodside Energy, Santos and Shell and their tax advisers have signed confidentiality agreements with Treasury on the PRRT consultation.

Since Treasury resumed the stalled work for Labor late last year, it has cast the net wider to probe other PRRT areas, such as deductions, in an attempt to raise revenue sooner for the government from the profits-based tax.

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Penny Wong moves to dampen expectation of breakthrough in Julian Assange case

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Foreign minister warns of ‘limits to what diplomacy can achieve’ in efforts to bring Assange home

The Australian government has moved to dampen expectations of a breakthrough in the case of Julian Assange, saying there are limits to what diplomacy can achieve.

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said Australia would continue to express the view to both the US and UK governments that the case against the WikiLeaks co-founder “has dragged on long enough and should be brought to a close”.

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Shorten attacks Robert’s links to lobbyist – as it happened

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Chalmers hopes for bipartisanship on RBA review

Jim Chalmers will receive the review into the Reserve Bank tomorrow. He says he will be releasing its report in April, along with some of the actions the government intends on taking.

I think people do understand how critically important the decisions taken by the independent Reserve Bank are and so we need to give the RBA the best possible basis to make those decisions. And one of the things that we’ve tried to do throughout is we see this as a bipartisan opportunity will see this as an opportunity for some bipartisanship.

What I’ve done is made sure that the panel hasn’t just kept me up to speed on their thinking and across their thinking but also the opposition and also the crossbench as well and I’ve got my differences with Angus Taylor, but I do want to say that he has been engaging with this Reserve Bank review panel in good faith and I appreciate that.

Our submission will be consistent with our values and our policies and our objectives and one of our highest priorities is to get wages moving again in meaningful and sustainable ways.

I think it’s common sense to prioritise the lowest paid as you go about that. You know, some people might pretend that we’ve got an inflation problem in our economy because the lowest-paid Australians are getting paid too much and that is obviously absolute rubbish.

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Pauline Hanson calls on Mark Latham to apologise for ‘disgusting’ homophobic tweet

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Independent Alex Greenwich does ‘not intend to engage’ with One Nation MP’s comment aimed at him, but others spring to his defence

The One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, has called on Mark Latham to apologise for comments about the sexuality of fellow state MP Alex Greenwich that left the New South Wales environment minister, Penny Sharpe, “physically sickened”.

Latham, the NSW One Nation leader, made the comments on Twitter on Thursday morning in response to an article in which Greenwich called Latham “a disgusting human being”. The article was about LGBTQ+ protesters being targeted outside an event Latham spoke at earlier this month.

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Pirate porn and candle wax: review of Australian film classification recommends end to ban on fetishes

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Report says some depictions of violence in pornography should be allowed, with government to first tackle gambling in video games

Australia should ditch its censorship of certain fetishes and some instances of violence in pornography, according to a review that could open the way to everything from wax fetishes to pirate pornography.

On Wednesday the Albanese government released a review of the classification system handed to the Morrison government three years ago, promising to prioritise reforms to tackle in-game gambling.

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‘Simply about survival’: ACTU calls for 7% pay rise for lowest-paid workers to keep pace with inflation

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Minimum hourly rate would rise to $22.88 – or $45,337 a year – if the Fair Work Commission grants the increase

Australian unions have called for a pay rise of 7% for the lowest-paid workers, a raise in the national minimum wage of $1.50 an hour to keep pace with inflation.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions made that submission to the Fair Work Commission’s annual minimum wage review, which sets the pay of more than 2.6 million employees on the national minimum or award wages.

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Australia politics live: rate rises must stop with inflation coming down, Greens say; Brereton named anti-corruption commissioner

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Commission appointments must be signed off by the governor general. Follow live

Sorry – I am told by a couple of senators that it was “technically” 4.13am.

So expect to see a few bleary-eyed senators in the coffee lines this morning.

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Senate inquiry to investigate support for Australians with ADHD

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Greens senator Jordon Steele-John says people with condition struggle with ‘cost, wait time and stigma’

Assessment and support services for people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder will be the subject of parliamentary scrutiny after the Australian Senate backed a Greens proposal for an inquiry on the issue.

The Senate community affairs references committee will examine barriers to “consistent, timely and best practice assessment” of ADHD and related services, including the adequacy of access to diagnosis and support, biases inherent in ADHD assessment and research, and the cost of medication.

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Greens, Coalition and entire crossbench unite to force inquiry into ‘broken’ FOI system

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Senate to investigate after resignation of commissioner Leo Hardiman, who cited his lack of powers to make changes to fix delays

The Greens, Coalition and crossbench have teamed up to set up an inquiry into the freedom of information commissioner’s resignation over dysfunction and delays in the FOI system.

The FOI commissioner, Leo Hardiman, announced his resignation earlier in March citing his lack of powers to make changes necessary to improve the timeliness of reviews of FOI decisions.

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National reconstruction fund secures crossbench support – as it happened

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Pesutto gives no answer on if Deeming can continue to promote anti-trans views as part of Liberals

But John Pesutto also can’t answer whether Moira Deeming can continue to campaign against trans rights – a stance Deeming had before she was in the parliament and a key feature of her first speech to the Victorian parliament.

Look, what what I have always said from the very start, is that as leader of the Victorian Liberal party, I want public debate not just in the state but nationally, to be respectful and civil and courteous, and to be inclusive so that people can participate in discussions.

I am a supporter of free speech, but any connection of the Liberal party with people who share platforms with people who are extremely … people in hate speech is a concern to me and will never be acceptable in the party.

Well, I’m not happy with those tweets, and they’re very great concern and will represent if that continues, it will obviously represent a real problem going forward for Moira to return the [party].

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