Category Archives: Australian politics

Stuart Robert told lobbyist not to donate to Angus Taylor fundraising group as ‘it will be declared and it will hurt you’

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Exclusive: Private emails from 2018 show Robert advised Synergy 360 boss not to join supporter network for Liberal colleague

The federal Liberal MP Stuart Robert told a lobbyist and potential donor not to donate to colleague Angus Taylor’s fundraising group as it would need to be declared and “it will hurt you”, emails obtained by Guardian Australia reveal.

Robert was sent an email from his friend David Milo, the chief executive of lobby group Synergy 360, inquiring about an invitation he had received to join the Hume Forum, “the official supporters’ network of federal minister and member for Hume, Angus Taylor”.

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2 October 2018: the ECE tender opened – three companies including Infosys were shortlisted.

29 May 2019: the member for Fadden was appointed minister for human services and the NDIS.

26 June 2019: leaked emails reveal the minister met Infosys and his good friend Milo, a paid consultant to Infosys, in Sydney.

2 July 2019: final valuation was submitted – negotiations on value and period of contract continued for another four months.

8 November 2019: Infosys was awarded the first of four contracts valued at $18m.

19 November 2019: the minister met Infosys.

30 December 2019: the minister met his friend Milo on the Gold Coast, which triggered an email from Milo saying “minister gave insights on progress of Infosys and future opportunities”.

1 February 2020: the minister was guest speaker at an Infosys conference at Melbourne Park on the afternoon of the Australian Open tennis finals.

1 July 2020: Infosys was awarded a further $142m contract.

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Australia’s first nuclear submarines should be built in the US, Andrew Hastie says

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‘There’s too much risk in doing it on our own’, says shadow defence minister citing an immediate need for ‘hard power’

Australia should strike a deal with the US to have the first of its nuclear-powered submarines built in Connecticut as “there’s too much risk in doing it on our own”, the shadow defence minister, Andrew Hastie, has declared.

Speaking before senior Australian ministers meet their counterparts in the US this week, Hastie said Australia should seek one or two Virginia-class submarines off the US production line by the end of 2030.

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Labor review says Scott Morrison’s unpopularity ‘single most significant factor’ behind election win

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Election campaign review also warns party risks losing outer suburban seats in Melbourne to independents unless lessons learned

Labor’s election campaign review has concluded Scott Morrison’s unpopularity was the “single most significant factor” behind Anthony Albanese’s victory in May while identifying weaknesses that need to be addressed by 2025.

The review – undertaken by former cabinet minister Greg Combet and strategist Lenda Oshalem – praises the fundamentals of the campaign that delivered Labor majority government for the first time since 2007 but states the ALP could not be complacent.

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Bid to make key robodebt documents public blocked – as it happened

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Fans frustrated at last-minute World Cup arrangements

As fans and supporters made their way out of the Darling Harbour viewing site for the Socceroos’ round of 16 loss to Argentina, many expressed their frustration at the hastily organised event.

Lots of us got locked outside. It would have been good if they let some more people in. There were so many up there on stairs, it could’ve been more dangerous if they jumped around too much.

Six thousand people for a major sporting event is just not good enough. It looks like triple that number have turned up. It feels like they underestimated the number of people who would turn up today.

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Coalition MP’s ‘grassroots’ nuclear power survey linked to consulting firm

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Exclusive: Ted O’Brien’s Time to Talk Nuclear website was registered by business that helps US reactor company

A Coalition frontbencher conducting a “grassroots” survey about nuclear power is using a website registered by a business that helps an American small modular reactor company, records reveal.

Ted O’Brien, the shadow minister for climate change and energy, issued a statement on Friday saying he was “launching a grassroots community engagement program” under the banner “Time to Talk Nuclear”.

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Indigenous voice opponents say Labor is being ‘disingenuous’ on funding for campaigns

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Warren Mundine criticises government for giving tax-free status to yes vehicle but not an equivalent no group

Opponents of the voice to parliament claim the federal government is being “disingenuous” by declining to provide public funding to the respective sides of the debate, but say the growing no campaign will reach out to corporate Australia for funding.

The main campaign vehicle in favour of Indigenous constitutional recognition has backed the proposed amendments to laws governing referendums, as well as promising a major escalation in their campaigning early in 2023.

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PM urges climate ‘wake up’ amid floods; man mauled to death by dogs – as it happened

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange fights extradition from Britain to US, where he is wanted on criminal charges. This blog is now closed

We now have more details from NSW authorities about the four-vehicle crash on Sydney’s Anzac Bridge shortly before midnight last night, which killed two people.

NSW police have named the two victims as a 25-year-old female from the local area and a 38-year-old man from Sydney’s south-west. A police representative has been speaking to reporters:

At about 11:45 last night, there was a minor collision on the Anzac Bridge involving two vehicles. A 25-year-old female and a 38-year-old male were exchanging details or doing what you need to do after you’ve had a minor collision.

At that point, there’s been another two vehicles that have become involved in that stationary collision. One was a taxi and the second was a Commodore. Tragically, the way those vehicles have collided into the stationary cars has impacted with the two pedestrians who were out on the road exchanging details and unfortunately those two people have been killed.

The last 12 hours have seen an absolute tragic number of road trauma incidents in NSW. Six people have lost their lives. Six families are grieving the loss of family members.

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Victoria’s election result dispelled the myth of Daniel Andrews’ supposed unpopularity

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Media and the Liberal party were enthralled by the ‘toxic Dan’ narrative in the face of evidence to the contrary

There is a bias all journalists share. It is baked into the profession, inseparable from craft skills, such as news sense. It is not ideological or party political. Rather, it skews the judgment towards whatever interpretation of the evidence makes for the best, most exciting story.

This, surely, is one of the reasons that so much of the media reporting of the Victorian election campaign was off the mark – particularly in the last week, when multiple outlets were predicting a late swing to the Coalition and against Labor.

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Australia news live: interest rates tipped to rise next week; airport strike planned for next Friday called off

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Speaking on a panel of central bankers on Friday, Philip Lowe said it was possible to execute a soft landing for the economy. Follow live

Rishworth defends superannuation stance

There are still calls on the government to add superannuation payments to paid parental leave. Rishworth is asked if it’s something the government is committed to looking at in this term of parliament:

We’ve set up the women’s economic equality taskforce to look at a range of issues. Along with our childcare changes and our paid parental leave, we have really put women’s economic participation front and centre of this government, as a priority.

I think this is disingenuous by the opposition leader, there is plenty of detail of what a model would look like.

His party is clearly divided. He needs to be a leader when it comes to this.

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David Pocock criticises official’s ‘inappropriate’ conduct after she confronted scientific group over carbon credit evidence

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Shayleen Thompson of the Clean Energy Regulator had ‘robust’ exchange with Wentworth Group director

The independent senator David Pocock has criticised a senior government official’s conduct as “troubling and inappropriate” after parliament heard she was involved in a “robust” conversation with a scientific group about its evidence to an independent inquiry into Australia’s carbon credit scheme.

Shayleen Thompson, the executive general manager of government agency the Clean Energy Regulator, told Senate estimates she contacted the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists to raise what she considered “factual issues” with its submission to the Chubb review into the carbon credit system.

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Territory governments regain right to make assisted dying laws after Senate vote

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A bipartisan push in the upper house means the ACT and Northern Territory are free to legislate on euthanasia after a 25-year ban

The territory governments have had their rights to make laws on euthanasia returned after 25 years, with a bipartisan push in the federal Senate overturning a Howard-era ban on the final night of the parliament for the year.

The Australian Capital Territory will begin considering euthanasia laws early in 2023, after the repeal of the assisted dying ban was greeted with cheers and clapping in the Senate late on Thursday.

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Australia is on track … sort of: official expert advice urges a ‘big upward shift’ on emissions cuts

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Climate change minister tells parliament official projection of 40% cut does not factor in all Labor’s policy commitments

Australia’s climate change minister, Chris Bowen, has declared the country on track to reach a 40% cut in climate pollution by 2030 – just short of the national target of 43% – but the government has been told a “big upward shift in momentum” is needed to tackle the problem.

Giving the country’s first climate statement to parliament, which is now required annually under legislation passed earlier this year, Bowen said the official projection of a 40% cut did not factor in all Labor’s policy commitments, and that those measures would “lift our result to at least 43%”.

The statement did not shed light on what the government would do to make deeper cuts in line with its goal of limiting global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, an expectation raised by a UN-backed report if the Great Barrier Reef is to avoid being nominated as a world heritage site “in danger”. It also did not mention the country’s vast coal and gas export industries.

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Bill Shorten reveals review into Stuart Robert ‘lobbying scandal’ claims

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The former Coalition minister denies he influenced government contracts, declaring in parliament he had ‘zero involvement’

Revelations that Stuart Robert met consultants who facilitated access for a company bidding for lucrative contracts in his portfolio of government services are “concerning”, Bill Shorten has told federal parliament.

Shorten, the government services minister, revealed after question time on Thursday that Services Australia and the National Disability Insurance Agency had agreed to establish a “joint review” into the “Synergy 360 lobbying scandal”.

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2 October 2018: the ECE tender opened – three companies including Infosys were shortlisted.

29 May 2019: the member for Fadden was appointed minister for human services and the NDIS.

26 June 2019: leaked emails reveal the minister met Infosys and his good friend Milo, a paid consultant to Infosys, in Sydney.

2 July 2019: final valuation was submitted – negotiations on value and period of contract continued for another four months.

8 November 2019: Infosys was awarded the first of four contracts valued at $18m.

19 November 2019: the minister met Infosys.

30 December 2019: the minister met his friend Milo on the Gold Coast, which triggered an email from Milo saying “minister gave insights on progress of Infosys and future opportunities”.

1 February 2020: the minister was guest speaker at an Infosys conference at Melbourne Park on the afternoon of the Australian Open tennis finals.

1 July 2020: Infosys was awarded a further $142m contract.

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Lower house to return on Friday – as it happened

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The government services minister Bill Shorten was on ABC radio RN Breakfast when he learned the Medibank hackers had released all the customer information on the dark web.

Josh Taylor has reported on that here.

Our democracy is precious, our federal government is crucial to the success of the nation, and I know, as you do, that trust in our parliament, in our commonwealth, in politicians, has been falling dramatically. That’s a real problem and I really hope this begins to restore the trust.

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Concussion and head trauma in contact sports to be examined by parliamentary inquiry, Greens say

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Lidia Thorpe says Labor and Coalition back hearings while ‘sports organisations need to be transparent about evidence that informs concussion policies’

A federal parliamentary committee will examine concussion and repeated head trauma in contact sports, with the Greens saying they have the support of Labor and the Coalition to establish the inquiry.

The push follows growing concern about chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, the neurodegenerative disease associated with repeated head trauma and concussion that has been increasingly linked to contact and collision sports.

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Albanese confident Queensland and NSW premiers will back plan to cut power prices

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PM tells business leaders his government is ‘working around the clock to deliver a solution’ and flags collaboration with states

Anthony Albanese has told business leaders he is “confident” the Queensland and New South Wales premiers will assist his government with a plan to reduce power prices for households and businesses.

The prime minister used a speech to the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry to provide an assurance that the government was “working around the clock to deliver a solution” and to flag collaboration with the states.

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Australian PM Anthony Albanese urges US government to end pursuit of Julian Assange

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Prime minister says he raised Wikileaks co-founder’s case with US representatives recently and will continue to push for it to be ‘brought to a close’

The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says he has personally urged the US government to end its pursuit of Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange.

In his most in-depth comments about the diplomatically sensitive issue in months, Albanese said he had raised the Assange case “recently in meetings” with US representatives and he vowed to continue to press for it to be brought to a close.

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Labor adds extra week of Senate estimates – as it happened

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Milton Dick also makes these recommendations for things he believes may improve the parliament:

Offensive words or reflections on Members Standing Orders 88 to 90, for example, provide that Members should not use offensive words or cast adverse reflections on Members, but they do not refer specifically to language or behaviour that is sexist or otherwise exclusionary or discriminatory. Revisions to these Standing Orders, so that they explicitly include that this type of conduct is highly disorderly, would be advantageous to the Chair in ruling on such matters.

Education and procedural support

Sanctions against disorder Under Standing Order 94{a), the Speaker may direct a Member to leave the Chamber for one hour if the Member’s conduct is considered disorderly. At times, this direction to leave can be advantageous to a Member or be worn as a ‘badge of honour’.

If a Member’s conduct is grossly disorderly, the Speaker can choose to name the Member in accordance with Standing Order 94{b), but in practice this option is not often used and not used for ordinary offences. It would assist the Speaker to have additional options to sanction a Member for disorderly conduct. For example, choices for increased penalties of time, and/or the introduction of cascading penalties of time for continued disorder, would be a disincentive to Members to be ejected.

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Australian government to crack down on nicotine e-cigarettes as rates of teen vaping skyrocket

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Exclusive: Guardian investigation finds many children do not know they are consuming highly addictive nicotine in vapes until it is too late

So many Australian children are now addicted to nicotine from vaping that the federal health minister, Mark Butler, will propose reforms aimed at curtailing the e-cigarette industry.

Many children do not know they are consuming the highly addictive chemical until it is too late, experts say.

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‘Eroded public trust’: text of Scott Morrison censure motion revealed as colleagues back former PM

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But one opposition MP, Bridget Archer, says she is ‘inclined’ to support Labor push against the former prime minister

Scott Morrison has thanked colleagues for their support resisting a censure motion over his multiple ministries scandal, but at least one Liberal MP will join the push against the former prime minister.

On Tuesday, the Liberal MP, Bridget Archer, told Guardian Australia she was “inclined” to support the censure and took a veiled swipe at the Liberal leadership team for deciding to oppose it without proper consultation in the party room.

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