Category Archives: Australian politics

Australian health minister suggests pre-flight China tests designed to make Beijing share more data on Covid outbreak

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Mark Butler signals measure could be lifted if China provides ‘real-time uploading’ of genomic sequencing of cases

Australia’s health minister says he wants pre-flight Covid testing for travellers from China to be “temporary”, suggesting the requirement could be lifted if Beijing shares more information about its outbreak.

Mark Butler suggested on Thursday – the first day of the new testing regime – that the measure was put in place as part of an international push for China to provide real-time data on the genomic sequencing of Covid cases.

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Melbourne shrank while Queensland grew: what the pandemic did to Australia’s population

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The Victorian capital is still on track to outpace Sydney as the biggest city in Australia but Covid lockdowns slowed that growth

Melbourne’s population growth turned negative during the pandemic as people fled prolonged Covid lockdowns, while Queensland welcomed a steady stream of people moving from other states, new population data shows.

The data from the Centre for Population showed Melbourne’s rate of population growth dropped from 1.8% in 2018-19 to -1.6% in 2020-21. Both international and interstate migration to Victoria fell, with annual population growth going backwards at -0.9%.

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Australian defence force to spend $1bn acquiring naval strike missiles and army rocket systems

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Government says purchase of truck-mounted rockets ‘largest expansion of army strike capability in living memory’ with range extended from 50km to 300km

Australia will spend more than $1bn on new naval missiles and acquiring a US rocket artillery system used by the Ukrainian military.

The defence industry minister, Pat Conroy, said the acquisition of 20 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (Himars) including launchers, missiles and training rockets, from US defence contractor Lockheed Martin was the “largest expansion of army strike capability in living memory”, reflecting the need to deter threats in a time of “strategic uncertainty”.

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Unprecedented amount of water moving down Fitzroy River in Kimberley – as it happened

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Record flooding in Western Australian region forces evacuations. This blog is now closed

People battling floods in South Australia and now the Kimberley in Western Australia will be among those glad to see a shift back to more typical rainfall patterns.

As it happens, that sort of shift in climate influences looks to be under way, particularly as the La Niña in the Pacific continues to weaken.

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Covid testing for China travellers ‘not an especially onerous requirement’, Chalmers says – as it happened

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Opposition calls on government to explain decision to implement restrictions on travellers arriving from China. This blog is now closed

China travel situation the ‘first test of the Albanese government’, Liberal MP says

The shadow assistant minister for mental health, Melissa McIntosh, is among those from the Coalition criticising Labor’s decision not to follow health advice on imposing conditions on travel from China.

The Coalition always supports the best interests of Australians and the safety of Australians ... Now I think this is really the first test of the Albanese government when it comes to pandemic management.

And it’s quite perplexing that on New Year’s Eve, the chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, sent a letter to the health minister, Mark Butler, stating he did not feel these restrictions on Chinese travellers were really required. And then a day later, the health minister has gone against the health advice, of the chief medical officer of this country, and imposed those restrictions. I think Australians very much deserve answers when it comes to the government’s decision, why did the government go against the chief medical officer’s advice and what’s the plan now they’ve implemented these restrictions?

One of the reasons why Australia got through the pandemic as one of the best countries in the world to do so was because we followed Australia’s medical advice. Australia’s medical advice. Not following other countries.

I think it’s really important we’re consistent in what we do as a nation ... when it comes to following the advice. And as I said, this is really a first test of the Albanese government. It’s leading people to be confused. Why would you have the chief medical officer say one thing, and the government ignore that, and do another?

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Daniel Andrews and Dominic Perrottet call for reforms to Australia’s ‘broken’ primary care system

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Victorian premier says state-run hospitals should not be acting as safety nets because people ‘cannot find a bulk-billing doctor’

Victorian and New South Wales have banded together to ramp up pressure on the federal government to overhaul Australia’s ailing primary care network through national cabinet this year.

Visiting a newly opened urgent primary care clinic in Melbourne, the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, said state-run hospitals were too often acting as a safety net amid an ongoing shortage of bulk-billing general practitioners.

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David Pocock wants stage-three tax cuts revisited in light of shrinking workforce

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ACT senator suggests ageing population with proportion of taxpayers declining means situation has ‘changed significantly’ since cuts legislated in 2019

New data on Australia’s ageing population and shrinking workforce should push the government to review the stage-three tax cuts, independent senator David Pocock has said.

Pocock said economic circumstances have “changed significantly” since the Morrison government legislated the tax cuts, with Labor’s support, in 2019.

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Australia imposed Covid checks on travellers from China against advice of top health official

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Prof Paul Kelly told Albanese government there was not ‘sufficient public health rationale’ for additional requirements targeting China

The Albanese government imposed pre-flight Covid checks on travellers from China against the advice of the chief medical officer, Prof Paul Kelly.

The 31 December advice, published by the health department, stated that Kelly did “not believe that there is sufficient public health rationale” for any additional requirements, labelling any restriction on travel from China “disproportionate to the risk”.

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Labor under renewed pressure to axe stage-three tax cuts as Australia’s budget woes mount

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The party voted in support of tax cuts while in opposition and went to the election promising no changes to the policy

Warnings from the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, that Australia’s economy is slowing and that the population is ageing have prompted calls to scrap the stage-three tax cuts.

Chalmers said the latest Australian population data showed an ageing population continues to present a demographic challenge for Australia and the budget, with the government having to keep one eye on current challenges, while the other focuses on longer term needs in health, pensions and support services.

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Labor flags wastewater tests on inbound planes as mandatory Covid checks for China arrivals resumes

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Health minister defends country-specific testing as necessary due to ‘absence of comprehensive information’ on Covid’s spread in China

Australia is planning to introduce wastewater testing for incoming flights in an attempt to gather more information about the possible entry of new Covid variants.

The health minister, Mark Butler, announced the measure on Monday in a round of interviews defending the decision to reimpose pre-flight Covid testing for passengers from China as necessary because of a “absence of comprehensive information” about the disease in China.

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The Albanese government has had a solid start. Now comes the hard part

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Labor has grown in popularity since its election in May, and ticked off a number of campaign promises. But harder decisions await in 2023

The year ended on a high for the Anthony Albanese, with opinion polls showing the Labor government and its leader are only growing in popularity, across all states.

The new government spent its first seven months ticking off election promises and recalibrating Australia’s standing on the world stage. Albanese aimed to keep politics off the front page as much as possible. In that, it has been somewhat successful, with the biggest headlines featuring his predecessor, Scott Morrison. But every honeymoon must come to an end and as we head into 2023, the domestic political challenges for the Albanese government will soon loom large.

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Australia’s fertility rate rebounds to pre-Covid levels but Jim Chalmers issues warning on ageing population

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Federal government’s population statement forecasts births for 2021-22 will be 1.66 babies per woman

Australia’s fertility rate rebounded to pre-pandemic levels in 2020-21, according to a snapshot from the federal government’s latest population statement.

In 2020-21, the fertility rate was 1.66 babies per woman, similar to the rate recorded in 2018-19. In 2019-20, the rate had fallen to 1.61 babies per woman.

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Australia imposes mandatory Covid tests for travellers from China amid fears of diplomatic backlash

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Health minister Mark Butler argues decision ‘will not come as any surprise to the Chinese government’

Australia will impose mandatory Covid-19 testing for travellers arriving from China after a spike in cases in the tourism and business market.

The Australian health minister, Mark Butler, announced on Sunday that travellers from China would need to take a Covid test within the 48 hours before travel and show evidence of a negative result before entering Australia, starting from 5 January.

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Linda Burney reveals draft timing for Indigenous voice to parliament vote

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Indigenous Australians minister says yes campaign likely to begin in late February with vote held as early as August

Australians could vote as early as August on whether an Indigenous voice to parliament should be constitutionally enshrined.

The Indigenous Australians minister, Linda Burney, told Nine newspapers the government plans to introduce legislation to parliament in March to set up the referendum.

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John Howard’s government considered letting offshore detainees into Australia in 2002

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Cabinet papers 2002: records show there were growing concerns about management of asylum seekers in Australia’s offshore detention centres

The year 2002 started with traumatised asylum seekers sewing their lips together in protest at their incarceration, and ended with the federal government urgently planning a detention centre on Christmas Island.

John Howard and his cabinet were facing growing criticism over long-term detention as they increasingly enforced boat turnbacks and offshore detention in an effort to stop asylum seekers reaching the mainland.

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John Howard overrode George Pell’s objections to allow research using surplus IVF embryos

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Cabinet papers 2002: PM lifted ban despite opposition of conservatives and religious leaders, including then Archbishop Pell

John Howard’s decision to allow stem cell research using surplus IVF embryos might surprise people “who saw Howard as only a rightwing person”, the former senator and cabinet minister Amanda Vanstone has said.

Despite opposition from conservative and religious groups, and despite seeking advice from the then Catholic archbishop of Sydney, George Pell, the former Liberal prime minister lifted the national ban in 2002.

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Complaints about gambling ads almost double, Australian media regulator says

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Acma calls for more power to restrict advertisements on Facebook, YouTube and Google

The number of complaints about gambling advertisements almost doubled last financial year, prompting Australia’s media regulator to warn current restrictions are failing to meet community expectations.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority called for more power to restrict unlicensed gambling advertisements on Facebook, YouTube and Google to better protect children and vulnerable Australians.

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PM’s China dialogue comments ‘sneaky’, opposition says – as it happened

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Authorities to crack down on taxi and rideshare rip-offs

The Point to Point Commissioner is expecting a busy New Year’s period, after a “landslide of complaints” to the taxi industry hotline in the lead-up to the holiday period.

Businesses in the hospitality, tourism and retail industries heavily rely on a transport system that is safe, reliable and cost-effective to get Sydneysiders around our city.

If the system fails on delivering this service then people will not come into the city, which in turn will have an adverse knock-on effect on other businesses as a result.

Yes we have to continue to pursue them but the easiest way they could be resolved is by the Chinese government ending the sanctions on barley and wine. If they did that, then obviously, those disputes we no longer need to continue to take them – that would be the best thing that could occur, although I see no sign of that at the moment.

I see we’re dangling carrots out in front of the Chinese ... accession to CPTPP [Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership], which was something we never talked about, I see the new government is talking about it. This is very concerning – that they would offer access to that incredibly important trade arrangement to try and get the Chinese [government] to move.

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Labor to impose streaming content quotas and boost funding for writers and musicians

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Arts minister Tony Burke reveals policy that will also put ‘First Nations first’ and ensure artists get more ‘fair remuneration’

Streaming services will get Australian content quotas, artists will receive more “fair remuneration” for their work and musicians and writers will have access to more public funding, the arts minister, Tony Burke, has announced.

Burke revealed details of a new national cultural policy, to be released on 30 January, at the Woodford folk festival on Friday, promising to end 10 years of “culture wars” on the arts.

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Advocates call for urgent action after two ‘incredibly tragic’ Aboriginal deaths in custody

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Linda Burney says rates of Indigenous incarceration and deaths in custody 30 years after royal commission are a ‘national shame’

Advocates say the “heartbreaking” deaths of two Aboriginal people in custody within days of each other in Western Australia over Christmas should jolt state and federal governments into urgent action.

A 41-year-old First Nations woman died in a Perth hospital on Christmas Eve after suffering a “medical episode” in Wandoo rehabilitation prison 13 days earlier.

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