Category Archives: Australian politics

Scott Morrison says locals will always play key part in natural disaster response

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Prime minister says more than 100 mobile homes are on their way to northern NSW as he tours flood-hit Hawkesbury region

The prime minister says civilians will always be at the centre of flood rescue and recovery strategies as his government continues to face criticism for not deploying defence forces in flood-ravaged areas sooner.

Scott Morrison declared a national emergency in NSW late on Friday, triggering additional resources for the state and allowing the federal government to access stockpiled resources and remove red tape in terms of business and welfare support.

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Scott Morrison says Covid close contact isolation rule ‘redundant’, more mobile homes on way to NSW flood victims – as it happened

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Prime minister says old rules ‘starving businesses of staff’; as Victoria records 6,075 new Covid cases and 11 deaths, NSW 12,850 cases and four deaths, Queensland 4,029 cases and six deaths, ACT 704 cases, Tasmania 1,130 cases and WA 4,300 cases. This blog is now closed

In the meantime, Anthony Albanese was in Brisbane earlier this morning, slamming the government’s response to the floods in northern NSW and south-eastern Queensland.

Albanese said the PM was “here for the photo op” and then “disappeared”, saying he had refused to hear the concerns of locals.

This prime minister, once again, was here for the photo op and the headline and then disappeared. What we need is leadership on climate change in the immediate sense.

The prime minister, having done a visit where he refused to make people around Lismore and around the northern rivers, refused to hear their concerns. Then came to Brisbane, got out a mop on an already cleaned floor.

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Labor demands Christian Porter resign before election after changes to ‘blind trust’ disclosure rules

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Porter had previously stepped down as minister after refusing to identify contributors to a trust that paid his legal fees in a defamation case

A rule change requiring federal politicians to list contributors to crowdfunding campaigns and financial trusts has reignited Labor’s call for Christian Porter to resign over his so-called “blind trust”.

But Porter has dismissed the latest Labor attack as “ridiculous”, arguing the changes are not retrospective.

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‘Disrespectful and wrong’: lawyers slam Coalition’s push to restore power to deport Aboriginal non-citizens

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Federal government’s appeal against the release of NZ man due to his claim of Aboriginality is being criticised as ‘a significant step backwards’

The Morrison government’s plan to restore its power to deport Aboriginal non-citizens has been criticised as “disrespectful and wrong” and a “significant step backwards” in the recognition of Aboriginal societies.

Both claims are made in submissions to an appeal by the federal government to overturn the landmark Love and Thoms decision.

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Pressure mounts on Morrison government to include flooding in $10bn reinsurance pool

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Politicians at state and federal level back calls to expand Northern Australia cyclone scheme to other natural disasters across the country

The federal government is under increasing pressure to expand its reinsurance pool for cyclone damage to include flooding, with calls for the Coalition to pass the legislation in the final days of parliament before the looming election.

Politicians across the political divide, at state and federal level, have backed calls to expand the $10bn Northern Australia reinsurance pool for cyclone damage to cover more natural disasters, across the country. Several Coalition members – including Warren Entsch, one of the scheme’s principal advocates, and Kevin Hogan, representing the Lismore-based electorate of Page – have thrown their weight behind the changes, as well as north coast MPs Janelle Saffin and Tamara Smith.

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‘I’ve always been on the blue spectrum’: Dave Sharma denies mimicking independent rival’s colour scheme

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Climate 200-backed challenger says ‘copying our campaign colours is a great start … now he needs to copy our policies’

Wentworth MP Dave Sharma has denied he is trying to distance himself from the Liberal party following accusations his campaign material mimics the teal colour scheme of the independent candidate Allegra Spender.

Locals in the Sydney eastern suburbs electorate have taken to Twitter to point out the striking similarities between flyers distributed by Sharma and Spender.

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Penny Wong says better relationship with China possible if Coalition stops ‘playing politics’

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Labor would not take ‘a backward step’ on China disagreements, Wong says, after foreign minister meets new Chinese ambassador

Labor’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Penny Wong, says it may be possible for Australia to achieve a diplomatic thaw with China despite the substantial differences between the two countries – if Scott Morrison abandons his “desperate” pre-election weaponisation of national security.

The foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, this week met China’s new ambassador to Australia who has made several overtures for dialogue since arriving in Canberra in January.

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Labor senator Kimberley Kitching dies suddenly in Melbourne aged 52

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Federal leader Anthony Albanese says ‘the Labor family is in shock tonight at the tragic news’ that Kitching had died of a suspected heart attack

The Labor senator Kimberley Kitching has died suddenly of a suspected heart attack aged 52, prompting tributes from across the political divide.

The federal opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, said on Thursday night: “The Labor family is in shock tonight at the tragic news that our friend and colleague senator Kimberley Kitching has died suddenly in Melbourne. My sincere condolences to her family. Kimberley will be missed by us all.”

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Australia news live updates: Palaszczuk says too late for emergency declaration in Qld; Rio Tinto ditching Russia; 21 Covid deaths

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Palaszczuk rejects Morrison’s move to declare national emergency in Queensland, where flood costs are ‘well into the billions’; Rio Tinto will terminate all contracts with Russian businesses; nation records at least 21 Covid deaths amid concerns over Omicron subvariant. Follow all the updates live

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is being questioned about his promises to keep the cost of living down as he chats to ABC News Breakfast:

Well, we have been making policies that have been driving down the cost of living, for example, around electricity prices which are down by 8% in the last two years.

They doubled under our political opponents, but what I was referring to last night is the international events in the Ukraine have seen a spike in oil prices, and that is flowing through with some people paying more than $2 a litre.

This high and increasing burden of skin cancer emphasises the need for continued investment in skin cancer education and prevention.

We know what needs to be done. Now is the time to do it so that one day Australia is no longer considered the skin cancer capital of the world.

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Erin Molan, Nyadol Nyuon tell inquiry defamation bill not ‘useful’ for most online trolling victims

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Problems of cost and ‘unmanageable’ volume of abuse cited as eSafety commissioner says proposed bill should be renamed

High-profile victims of online trolling, including Erin Molan and Nyadol Nyuon, have said an “anti-trolling” bill that overhauls defamation law for online comments will be “almost impossible” to uptake and not “useful” to most people in Australia due to the cost and effort involved.

The bill will make the owners of social media pages and groups not liable for user comments on those groups or pages, and would shift the liability burden to social media platforms if they do not attempt to facilitate the unmasking of anonymous commenters for someone seeking to bring defamation proceedings.

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Coalition considering extending extra payments to flood victims in northern NSW after backlash

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Scott Morrison continues to defend flood response as Queensland premier says offer to declare a national emergency in the state’s south-east is ‘too late’

Scott Morrison is “looking at” extending eligibility for extra payments to more flood victims on the New South Wales north coast, in response to anger over the decision to leave some of the hardest-hit disaster areas out.

The prime minister made the comments in Brisbane where he was planning to declare an emergency two weeks after major floods that killed 13 people and damaged thousand of homes and businesses in the south-east.

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Scott Morrison says defence force ‘not available on a moment’s notice’ to respond to disaster – as it happened

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Lismore residents protest Scott Morrison’s visit as PM says disasters mean Australia ‘getting hard to live in’; NSW flood death toll rises to nine after man’s body found in western Sydney; second Japanese encephalitis death recorded as outbreak spreads to South Australia; Indigenous teenager shot by NT police fighting for life; at least 34 Covid-related deaths nationwide. This blog is now closed

The latest figures from WaterNSW will give some comfort to those in the Hawkesbury-Nepean floodplain, where flood levels are approaching 1978 heights in places.

As of 5am Wednesday, the spill rate over the Warragamba Dam wall is 215 gigalitres a day, or about half the peak rate reached yesterday.

The good news is that we have seen the river is falling there. The plan today is that the team will be reviewing what’s happening.

They’re making sure it’s safe to return, and we are hoping during the day we might be able to issue that people can return, with caution … We just need to make sure – we need to check things like electricity, sewerage and the like to make sure it’s safe to return.

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Scott Morrison says defence force ‘not available on a moment’s notice’ to respond to floods disaster

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Prime minister visits Lismore as government declared national emergency to release more resources to help

Scott Morrison was met with a fiery reception in flood-devastated Lismore, as he defended the speed of his government’s response to the disaster, saying the ADF is “not available on a moment’s notice”.

Ahead of Morrison’s arrival in Lismore, the federal government declared a national emergency around the floods, giving the Commonwealth greater power to send in defence force assets and skirt around administrative “red tape” to get financial support out quicker.

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NSW Liberals again fail to resolve preselection deadlock making federal intervention likely

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Latest proposal on process to decide candidates ahead of May federal election scuttled by four votes against

The NSW Liberal party has again failed to resolve its preselection woes, virtually guaranteeing that the federal party will need to step in to finalise candidates for the looming election in May.

A proposal to hold branch votes in the electorates of Hughes, Parramatta and Eden-Monaro, where more than one person is running, and to endorse candidates in two other seats, largely failed, after the state executive rejected rule changes to fast track the process.

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Australia news live updates: weather warnings stretch from NSW mid-north coast to Victoria border; ‘rain bomb’ set to cost Queensland billions

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Severe weather to affect coastal areas from Coffs Harbour to Bega; Queensland estimates ‘rain bomb’ will cost state more than $4bn; two NSW residents among Japanese encephalitis patients in Victoria; ADF defends NSW flood response; PM speaks on east coast floods, Ukraine crisis; nation records at least 32 Covid deaths with 23 in South Australia. Follow all the day’s news

As expected, AGL Energy has formally rejected the takeover bid by billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and Canadian asset manager Brookfield, posting an ASX statement this morning.

AGL, the country’s largest electricity generator, received a revised bid late on Friday, offering $8.25 a share, up from an initial unsolicited bid of $7.50 a share.

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Australia news live updates: Qld and NSW flood death toll rises; WA Covid cases expected to surge; Japanese encephalitis cases suspected

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Queensland announces financial support of $558.5m for flood-affected communities as NSW insurance claims estimated to have hit $1bn. Follow live

There are 28 people in intensive care in Victoria at the moment, with eight on ventilators. There have been 5,721 new cases recorded in the past 24 hours.

There are 45 people in intensive care due to Covid in NSW. There were 10,017 new Covid cases recorded yesterday.

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Australia news updates live: fresh flood warnings for NSW as more rain due, Qld schools stay shut

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Hundreds of thousands of NSW residents are still under evacuation warnings or orders as Hawkesbury-Nepean region remains a major concern; Victoria records 26 Covid deaths, NSW records two. Follow all the day’s news

Resilience NSW commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons has told ABC radio that flooding across the state was worst than predicted:

Unprecedented levels [of flooding] experienced up in northern NSW, flood levels that came in well above what was forecasted … And at the same time we’ve still got serious flooding concerns in Hawkesbury and Nepean ...

We’ve also formed up a significant taskforce, comprising of firefighters … the Australian defence force. So working shoulder to shoulder with business owners, with property owners, homeowners ...

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Hugs and tears of joy at Perth airport as WA reopens its border

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‘Australia is now finally back together’ as final jurisdiction welcomes vaccinated travellers

The arrivals hall at Perth airport was filled with joy and hugs when the first planes to take advantage of Western Australia’s border reopening landed on Thursday.

After spending almost 700 days behind a hard border during the coronavirus pandemic, the “hermit” state of WA has finally welcomed vaccinated travellers.

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Prime minister Scott Morrison tests positive to Covid with ‘flu-like symptoms’

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Australian PM is isolating at Sydney home and says he will continue working while he recovers

Scott Morrison says he has tested positive to Covid-19 but will continue to discharge all his responsibilities as prime minister.

“I am experiencing flu-like symptoms and will be recovering over the next week,” he said in a statement announcing that he had tested positive on Tuesday night.

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Australia news live update: Lismore flood level breaks 1954 record as Perrottet warns worse to come in NSW; Queensland death toll rises to eight

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NSW premier says ‘unprecedented’ floods expected to get worse; Lismore residents call for help on social media as flood level hits record high; Australia lists Russia as ‘do not travel’ zone; Frydenberg discusses financial support for Ukraine ahead of Scott Morrison’s call with president; at least 12 Covid-related deaths recorded. Follow the latest updates live

Josh Frydenberg was asked if he believed the Russian president Vladimir Putin could turn the invasion into Ukraine nuclear.

He says it’s no secret that Putin may have ambitions beyond simply controlling Ukraine.

No one wants to see an escalation ... but these are the dangers of the times and the insanity of what Putin has done ... I’m worried there could be an escalation beyond the borders ...

I’m worried that there could be an escalation beyond the borders and no doubt. That’s what other European nations or neighbouring countries are concerned about ...

Just to get a sense of when will we find out the amount of money we’re committing to this issue ... we’re working the details through you will find out probably today.

I mean, we’re going to start with an initial payment. It will be in the millions, and it’s not going to be the same sort of quantum that United States or the United Kingdom would provide but you know, where we can ...

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