Category Archives: Australian politics

‘Abusing China’s restraint’: Beijing accuses Australia of provocation at sea

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Global Times quotes comments by foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin on military encounters in the South China Sea

China has accused Australia of provocation in the South China Sea and said Australia – along with the United States and Canada – must “refrain from abusing China’s restraint”.

Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin was responding to a question about recent military encounters in the South China Sea, including reports in Politico that a Chinese fighter jet had an “unsafe” and “unprofessional” interaction with an American C-130 aircraft.

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Australia news live; treasurer says fuel excise cut ‘too expensive to continue’; Denis Napthine resigns as NDIA chair; 31 Covid deaths

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Gorgeous images coming through from Tasmania where snow has fallen this morning.

NSW premier Dominic Perrottet is on ABC Radio following the national cabinet meeting which has seen emergency isolation payments reinstated.

If the state is taking away people’s liberty, then the state has an obligation to provide financial support.

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Jim Chalmers warns of ‘confronting’ inflation and wages forecast in July economic update

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Treasurer says rising interest rates will affect economic growth but Labor has plans to provide cost-of-living support

Australia’s July economic update will contain “confronting” news about lower growth projections and higher inflation cutting real wages, Jim Chalmers has said.

The treasurer said the update to be delivered on Thursday 28 July comes as the global economy is in a “difficult if not dangerous place” due to high debt and rising interest rises to combat inflation.

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Sydney teen Yusuf Zahab believed to have died in IS attack on Syrian jail after begging Australia for help

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Family say they are ‘heartbroken and angry’ and claim the previous government knew about their son’s detention for more than three years

A south-west Sydney teenager is believed to have died in a Syrian jail months after begging the Australian government for assistance.

Yusuf Zahab, 17, had been detained in Guweiran prison in Hasaka city alongside suspected members of the Islamic State for three years when it was attacked by IS in January in an attempt to free its fighters.

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PM criticised for ‘delaying’ flood support announcement – as it happened

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Labor adopting ‘take it or leave it’ approach, says Bandt

Bandt warns the government is adopting a “take it or leave it” approach to negotiating climate legislation, when there are real issues to address, such as the extent of climate ambition and how to phase out fossil fuels.

We’re saying that’s not our position. We’re saying we’d be willing to have discussions with the government but these are the things that have to be on the table. We’re not going into it with ultimatums.

I’m not talking about bottom lines and ultimatums but you can’t even have this discussion if the government is saying it’s my way or the highway, which is with where, with respect to the target, where they’re at at the moment.

If we’re negotiating climate legislation, then this government, now they’re in power, has to grapple with the question of are they going to open up more coal and gas projects that could potentially blow 43% out of the water? Just one of those projects could do that.

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Jim Chalmers defends delay in reinstating Covid leave payments as cases rise

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The $750 payment for those who need to isolate due to Covid has been extended through September, following pressure on the government

Reinstating Covid-19 isolation payments was a necessary move in the wake of rising cases despite criticism the government was slow in doing so, according to the treasurer, Jim Chalmers.

With infections continuing to increase, a decision was made on Saturday to restore the leave pay measure until the end of September.

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Australian government wrongly cancelled citizenship of man on death row in Iraq, family claim

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Ahmad Merhi, who travelled from Sydney to Syria and is accused of joining Islamic State, says he is now stateless as he awaits hanging

The former Coalition government wrongly cancelled the citizenship of an Australian man on death row in Iraq, leaving him stateless as he awaited hanging on terrorism charges, his family and lawyers claim.

Ahmad Merhi, originally from Sydney, travelled to Syria in 2014. He was captured in the country in 2017.

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AMA welcomes Albanese’s decision to extend Covid-19 pandemic leave payments after national cabinet meets

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Prime minister Anthony Albanese says support will continue until the end of September amid winter Covid wave set to peak in August

The Australian Medical Association has welcomed the federal government’s backflip on emergency Covid payments, and says they should say in place as long as necessary.

“They should never have been removed,” president Omar Khorshid said.

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Australia live updates: PM to meet with state and territory leaders at emergency national cabinet meeting as Covid hospitalisations soar

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Australia’s chief medical officer will give a briefing to state and territory leaders on Saturday and the pandemic leave payment is expected to be extended. Follow live

There were 11,082 new cases in the last reporting period, and 66 people are in intensive care.

First home buyers blowing their budgets

Underquoting is where a property is listed at a price lower than what it’s worth to bait buyers.

It’s illegal but it does happen, particularly in the case of auctions, where underquoted prices can attract more buyers and lead to a bidding war.

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‘In two years no one will care’: expert in institutional amnesia explains where flood response falls down

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Ongoing focus on disaster management needed to avoid kneejerk reactions from one event to the next

Australia’s response to flood emergencies will only improve when governments can maintain focus in the times between crises, a researcher specialising in the topic has warned.

Speaking before the release of reports into this year’s floods in Queensland and NSW, Dr Alastair Stark, an associate professor of public policy at the University of Queensland, said disaster inquiries often produced effective lessons only for their implementation by governments and agencies to stall.

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Australia news live: nation records 66 Covid deaths as push for Albanese to continue pandemic leave payments and free RATs grows

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NSW has recorded 12,228 new cases and 14 deaths in the past 24 hours.

There are 2,027 people in hospital and of those, 60 are in ICU.

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Albanese to restore Covid leave payment as emergency national cabinet meeting called

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Australia’s chief medical officer will give a briefing to state and territory leaders on Saturday as government backflips on pandemic support

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Anthony Albanese will propose that Canberra and the states extend the pandemic leave payment during a snap national cabinet briefing that has been expedited to Saturday.

The government has spent the past week signalling the existing $750 payment would not be extended over the winter for budgetary reasons, but that decision has been reversed after mounting pressure from backbenchers, premiers, and health experts.

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Senior public servant questioned Women’s Network rebrand but not phallic logo design, documents show

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Federal government’s ‘women’s champion’ did not raise concerns about purple, elongated emblem but asked who initiated rebrand

A senior public servant designated as the federal government’s “women’s champion” raised questions about a controversial new logo for the Women’s Network, though no concerns were raised about the design’s phallic appearance, according to newly released documents.

The purple, elongated logo was swiftly withdrawn in March after much public mockery, with the National Older Women’s Network describing the image as “either thoughtless or an insult”.

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Labor to reshape carbon credit committee as Coalition-appointed members resign

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Climate change minister Chris Bowen has accepted the resignation of three members of the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee

Labor will make substantial changes to a committee responsible for ensuring the integrity of the national carbon credit system after the departure of three members appointed by the Coalition, including the chair.

A spokesperson for the climate change minister, Chris Bowen, confirmed he had accepted the resignation of three members of the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee.

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Chris Bowen shares draft climate bill as independents and Greens turn up heat for more ambitious action

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Greens call for moratorium on new oil and gas projects as some independents urge Labor not to rush major policy for political reasons

The minister for climate change, Chris Bowen, is under intensifying pressure to beef up the government’s proposed legislation enshrining emissions reduction targets, with the Greens and some independents declaring the current commitments inadequate.

Bowen met on Thursday with climate focused independent MPs and representatives from the Greens to share a draft of the bill he will introduce during the first sitting week of the new parliament. He has invited MPs and senators to suggest amendments or ideas over the coming days.

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Labor backbenchers call for pandemic supports to continue as PM announces snap national cabinet meeting

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Exclusive: Federal Labor MPs join NSW Labor leader Chris Minns in calling for Albanese government to rethink decision on Covid policies

Labor backbenchers are calling on the government to restore Covid pandemic leave payments, saying the measure is needed for people struggling with the cost of living to help slow the spread of the virus.

It comes as the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has agreed to hold a snap national cabinet meeting on Monday morning with state and territory leaders, after Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk requested an update on the health advice and Covid situation from the chief medical officer.

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Nation records 78 Covid deaths – as it happened

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The International Monetary Fund could downgrade its expectations for global economic growth this month.

Its head Kristalina Georgieva has hinted as much, saying the war in Ukraine, higher than expected inflation and the Covid pandemic are to blame.

As G20 ministers and central bank governors gather in Bali this week, they face a global economic outlook that has darkened significantly.

Recent indicators imply a weak second quarter – and we will be projecting a further downgrade to global growth for both 2022 and 2023 in our World Economic Outlook Update later this month.

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Labor backing fossil fuel projects could scupper Greens support for 43% target

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Adam Bandt vows to push Albanese government ‘further and faster’ on emissions reduction

The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, says the party’s support for the government’s climate legislation may hinge on whether it continues to back new fossil fuel projects, vowing to push Labor to go “further and faster” on its emission reduction goals.

Hitting back at the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, after he suggested the government would not negotiate with the Greens to pass the legislation through the Senate, Bandt accused Labor of being the “only obstacle” to greater climate ambition in the new parliament.

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Linda Reynolds more than six months late in declaring series of share trades on register

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Coalition senator blames ‘administrative oversight’ for delayed disclosure of shares including in Electro Optic Systems, which had previously been awarded millions in government contracts

Senator Linda Reynolds was more than six months late in declaring a series of share trades on her register of interests, including one involving a defence company which had previously been awarded millions in government contracts during her time as defence minister.

Reynolds, who was defence minister until March 2021 when she became government services minister, acquired shares in Falcon Metals, Electro Optic Systems Holdings and BrainChip Holdings in October and November 2021.

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More than 700 aged care Covid outbreaks – as it happened

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Cockroach alert at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane

As the Maroons and Blues prepare to face off in the State of Origin final decider tonight, another showdown is occurring between the SES and the “influx” of cockroaches in the stadium where the final will take place.

To be very clear, my government has not made this decision, this is a decision that was inherited from the former government and state governments.

I’d encourage concession cardholders to go and get the 10 free rapid antigen tests that they’re eligible for by the end of this month. There’s still a lot of time to go and do that. Of course, on top of that, there are free rapid antigen tests available in aged care facilities, across a range of areas as well in addition to that.

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