Category Archives: Australian politics

More monkeypox jabs arrive in Australia to boost vaccination rate ahead of WorldPride events

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New advertising campaign encourages those at higher risk of infection ‘to look out for symptoms and get vaccinated if eligible’

The federal government has launched a new national advertising campaign to promote monkeypox vaccination to a “post-Covid and vaccine-fatigued audience”.

The health minister, Mark Butler, will also announce on Monday that a second shipment of almost 40,000 vials of the monkeypox vaccine Jynneos has arrived in Australia and will be made available through the states and territories.

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Flood threat remains in NSW; Daniel Andrews asks ‘what is the point’ of Herald Sun story revisiting his fall – as it happened

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Chaney ‘not convinced’ IR changes will ‘drive an increase in wages’

On the proposed industrial relations changes, Chaney says she supports the proposal where it will lift wages in low-paid sectors of the economy but is wary of introducing “another layer of complexity” into workplaces and is not convinced multi-employer bargaining will actually lift wages.

I’m completely supportive of the fact that we need to increase wages and increase share of wages to GDP. I think the expansion – the multi-employer bargaining for the supported stream is a good thing, [in] those low-paid industries, and that may well get wages moving.

[It will benefit] childcare, aged care, largely feminised industries, and that seems to make a lot of sense. I’m concerned about the overreach and this extension of multi-employer bargaining to any group that are deemed to have a common interest, as determined by the Fair Work Commission. I think it’s great for IR specialists and lawyers.

I can understand the government’s desire to keep its promises, but when you look at where we are, really there is nothing to take the place of the revenue lost in those tax cuts, so it needs to be part of a broader review of how are we going to pay for the things we need.

I reckon they should be delayed, pending a broader review of the tax system and it may be that a result that have could be trimming them at the top, or it could be looking at different sources of revenue that mean we can rely less on personal income tax as we see our population age.

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One thousand residents urged to evacuate as central west braces for flood peak – as it happened

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Pregnant woman and midwife among 10 rescues in NSW town of Forbes. This blog is now closed

Victorian Labor lead narrows in polls in lead-up to state election

The Victorian election race appears to be tightening three weeks out from polling day, with Labor in danger of slipping in to minority government, AAP reports.

The AMA analysed the documentation these media reports relied on and, like the department, found nothing – not a skerrick of evidence – to support the claims made in headlines splashed across some news organisations.

The AMA has acknowledged consistently that while some fraud does occur, the vast majority of doctors are doing the right thing. And we have seen the mental toll these reports have taken on Australia’s doctors.

The minister has again highlighted the impact of years of cuts and neglect of Medicare, and, while this latest review may identify potential savings that could be made, what Medicare really needs is genuine reform and an injection of new funds.

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Australia’s aged care workers win 15% pay rise and minister says it’s the ‘first step’

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Fair Work Commission accepts that ‘feminised industries’ such as care work have been ‘historically undervalued’

Australia’s aged care workers have won a 15% pay rise, with the possibility of more to come, after the Fair Work Commission accepted the sector’s employees were underpaid.

The full bench of the FWC announced its interim decision on Friday afternoon, having accepted the expert evidence that “feminised industries” including care work “has been historically undervalued and the reason for that undervaluation is likely to be gender-based”.

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Labor hails 15% pay rise for aged care workers – as it happened

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Fair Work Commission announces 15% increase after accepting sector’s workers are underpaid. This blog is now closed

‘Cybercrime is now big business’: defence minister

We just brought you the cybersecurity minister, Clare O’Neil,’s comments on ABC News following the release of the cybercrime report.

In part we’re living more of our lives online. The pandemic has accelerated that.

Cybercrime is now big business. The average impact for small businesses is $40,000 per incident so you can say that there’s a lot of money to be made by cyber criminals.

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Two former defence leaders paid almost $800,000 to review Australia’s military capabilities

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Review by Sir Angus Houston and Stephen Smith will respond to increasing challenges in the Pacific and make recommendations ‘for the next decade and beyond’

Two former defence leaders are being paid close to $800,000 combined to carry out a major review for the Albanese government, including a confidential update delivered this week.

Contract records show the former chief of the Australian defence force Sir Angus Houston is being paid $470,000 for his work on the defence strategic review, while the former Labor defence minister Stephen Smith will receive $306,496.

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Insurance firms must lower premiums as government funds disaster prevention, minister says

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Murray Watt says Canberra is funding disaster mitigation infrastructure and ‘expects the insurance industry to fulfil its end of the bargain’

Insurance companies need to reduce premiums for customers in disaster-prone regions now the federal government is investing heavily in infrastructure to minimise loss during extreme weather, the emergency management minister, Murray Watt, says.

Ahead of confirming funding on Friday for 34 new mitigation projects to reduce the impact of coastal erosion accelerated by the climate crisis, Watt used an insurance industry conference to put the sector on notice.

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US group campaigning against Australia’s reversal of recognition of West Jerusalem as Israeli capital

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StandWithUs places ad in the Weekend Australian and asks readers to email Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong about issue

A US-based pro-Israel group has launched a campaign against the Albanese government’s decision to revoke recognition of West Jerusalem as the capital – and now plans to expand its operations in Australia.

But the campaign has sparked accusations that the Los Angeles-based organisation was “trying to trick the Australian government into thinking that the only way to be pro-Israel was to follow the Trump playbook”.

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Australia news live: Ed Husic says government must intervene in gas market; Pocock backs fossil fuels super profits tax

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Industry minister says gas companies are ‘not picking up the signals’. Follow all the day’s news live

Gas supply not a problem, ‘glut of greed is’, industry minister says

Husic:

This is not a shortage of supply problem; this is a glut of greed problem, that has to be basically short-circuited and common sense prevail.

The pricing mechanism is the one that I think needs to be seriously examined.

The LNG exporters are offering gas to the domestic market at prices they couldn’t reasonably expect on the international market.

We have the ACCC looking at that [code of conduct] and that code of conduct is to help better guide the way in which these contracts get negotiated … in terms of the other areas, we want to work through that internally.

If you look at what the treasurer has said over the last few days, he is examining those type of options and again that will be in the mix of things he thinks through.

I think the bigger focus long-term is the price mechanism.

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Crowds gather for national Cassius Turvey vigils – as it happened

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Budget forecast doesn’t predict wage price spiral: finance minister

The Reserve Bank says it wants to avoid a wage price spiral. Does Gallagher think the government’s policies are risking that?

The bank obviously will keep looking at that … we’re not seeing that, the budget in its forecast doesn’t predict that.

Looking at the regulatory arrangements is our first inclination. That work is under way, I can’t give you a timeframe on the completion of that.

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Robodebt went ahead, despite legal doubts, after earning Scott Morrison’s backing, inquiry hears

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The then social services minister wanted Centrelink debt recovery proposal worked up for 2015 budget process, royal commission told

The social services department received “catastrophic” draft legal advice warning the robodebt scheme was unlawful from a top private law firm in 2018, a royal commission has heard.

The inquiry is investigating the failed debt recovery scheme, which ran from July 2015 until November 2019 and culminated in a $1.8bn settlement covering hundreds of thousands of people issued unlawful Centrelink debts.

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Australian borrowers hit again as RBA raises interest rates by 25 basis points to 2.85%

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Reserve Bank raises rates for seventh time in attempt to bring inflation under control

Borrowers have been slugged with a record seventh rate rise from the Reserve Bank of Australia in as many months, as the central bank tries to quell the nation’s strongest burst of inflation in 32 years.

The RBA on Tuesday lifted the cash rate by 25 basis points to 2.85%, the highest since early May 2013. The increase was in line with most economists’ expectations.

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Treasurer says inflation ‘number one challenge’ – as it happened

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We’ve been bringing you some of the news about rain causing more flooding in NSW. Here are some visuals from Wagga Wagga in southern NSW and the Newell highway in the state’s central west.

Jacinta Allan avoids question of whether families returned from Syria would be welcome in Victoria

The first group of families the wives and children of Islamic State fighters arrived in Sydney over the weekend from Syria and are now living in the community in Sydney. Will Victoria accept returnees?

I was with the premier [Daniel Andrews] on Sunday at a at a media event… where the premier was asked this direct question and I’ll give to you the answer he gave on Sunday which is these are very sensitive security matters. They are primarily the province of the federal government, it would not be appropriate -

As a matter of principle, will you accept them [in] Victoria? Or have you asked for them not to come during the election campaign?

We’ve not, Patricia. There is a … As I think we’ve seen from the media reporting around this issue, this is a very careful matter. There is a very -

Sure, but as a matter of principle, do you think returning citizens – they’re Australian citizens – should be allowed to live in Victoria?

I would really direct you to the federal government and the federal … I think you would appreciate that this is not a simple yes or no proposition because there needs to be robust and careful assessments that are not undertaken by the Victorian government. They’re undertaken by the federal government and the federal Department of Home Affairs.

And if they do all the checks and balances, should they be welcome in Victoria?

Firstly it’d be entirely inappropriate to cut across that and secondly, I am in no position to run a commentary.

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Lawyer for Australian families repatriated from Syria says focus should be on their recovery

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Moustafa Kheir says women and children have returned to NSW ‘from hell on earth’ and are cooperating with authorities

The lawyer for four Australian families repatriated from Syria says the focus should be on their recovery, not on the prospect of them being charged with terror offences.

Moustafa Kheir, who represents the four women and their 13 children who arrived in Sydney on Saturday, said he had been involved in interviews the women have had with authorities.

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Victoria endured its wettest month on record in October, SES says

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Comes as Victorian and federal governments announce $877m package for flood recovery

Victoria has endured its wettest month on record, the State Emergency Service says, as it warned the flood risk may continue across the state for up to two months.

On Tuesday the SES’s chief of operations, Tim Wiebusch, said October was both Victoria’s wettest month on record and the busiest for his volunteers.

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Major partnership between science centre Questacon and Shell to end after four decades

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Climate campaigners welcome move as community pressure over fossil fuel sponsorships and advertising grows

A 37-year partnership between fossil fuel giant Shell and Australia’s national science and technology centre Questacon – which branded and delivered science activities for children – is ending.

Canberra-based Questacon has also confirmed a four-year, $1m sponsorship deal with Japanese oil and gas company Inpex will not be renewed when it runs out at the end of the financial year.

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Cyber-attack on Australian defence contractor may have exposed private communications between ADF members

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Dataset from communications platform ForceNet containing up to 40,000 records may be compromised after breach on external provider

A ransomware attack may have resulted in data related to private communications between current and former Australian defence force members being compromised, with as many as 40,000 records at risk.

Defence confirmed on Monday that a dataset from ForceNet, a communications platform, may have been compromised after an attack on an external ICT service provider.

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Sydney woman killed in Seoul crowd crush ‘loved by all’ – as it happened

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Andrews pledges to cooperate with Labor on fixing any loopholes found in visa regime

ABC Radio asks Andrews about reports in the Nine papers of significant gaps in Australia’s visa regime allowing migration agents and fixers to set up so-called visa farms.

I would encourage the Labor government to have a look at the issues in that report and see whether or not there are concerns, there are loopholes and if so I can assure them I will work very cooperatively to get them fixed.

Your department was found to have leaked details of a boat turnback which had come from Sri Lanka on election day this year … and yet you’re criticising this government for … allegedly leaking?

It was a deliberate decision that was taken on the day. And the reason that that decision was taken was because of transparency, and for deterrence ... the issue was that there was a lot of a lot of criticism about discussions of boat arrivals and the fact that we, as a Coalition, were very concerned about whether or not there would be increases in boat arrivals.

Now on election day, when that boat arrived, and I was advised of it early in the in the morning and the prime minister at the time, Scott Morrison would have been advised either before or after – I’m not sure when he was actually advised of that … The decision was taken that in the interests of transparency, the information would be released and it would be released by the agencies responsible because that was the most apolitical way to release that information.

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Number of underperforming super funds reduced and fees cut under Coalition reforms, thinktank finds

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Grattan Institute urges Albanese government to retain strict criteria and annual performance tests

The Coalition’s last round of superannuation reforms has already reduced the number of underperforming funds and cut their fees by an average of 20%.

That is the conclusion of a Grattan Institute submission to the Albanese government’s review of the Your Future Your Super reforms, which urges it to retain a strict test for underperformance and improve the process for selecting default funds.

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AFP foil plan to import $1.6bn of liquid meth in coconut water bottles – as it happened

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People have been cleared to return to their homes as flood threat eases in Victoria, but the Bureau of Meteorology is warning of renewed flooding in parts of NSW. This blog is now closed

Chalmers on the size of government debt and making it ‘sustainable’

The treasurer is asked whether the government will consider rethinking taxes like GST and PRRT.

We have already found $22bn in savings, $28.5bn in budget improvements overall. We kept real spending growth flat across the forward estimates. We have got the debt down over the forward estimates. We have let 99% of the temporary revenue surge from higher commodity prices flow through to the budget.

That is good progress when we have shown in doing that … you can move sensibly on all fronts, restraint, trimming spending, sensible tax reform, you can make the budget more sustainable and that will be the task of the two or three budgets remaining in this parliamentary term as well.

We need to work out how do we maintain a focus on Australians with a disability and their families, how do we put them front and centre, and at the same time make sure that spending on the NDIS is sustainable and important part of that is making sure we get value for money for every dollar that is spent in what is a really important, really, really important service that we provide to Australians.

I do understand there is a substantial part of the community that would prefer that that PRRT take was higher.

We haven’t been working up an option to do that to change the PRRT arrangements but the treasury has been commissioned by my predecessor and by his predecessor to do some of this work around the taxing point in the PRRT.

We do want to make sure Australians get a good return for their resources. We need to balance that against the investment that’s been made into the sector. When I get that advice from I will engage in it a meaningful way and I will listen to it.

We have seen I think as you acknowledged in your first question, on this topic, company taxes are up quite substantially. That’s a good thing and we have let that flow through to the budget. The PRRT, there’s a modest increase. I will wait to see what the treasury advises us on the conclusion of the review that my two predecessors put in place.

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