Category Archives: Australian politics

Social media firms criticise ‘irrational’ exemption of YouTube from Australia’s under-16s ban

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Meta, TikTok and Snapchat release statements in campaign protesting Labor’s handling of contested legislation

Meta, TikTok and Snapchat have criticised the Albanese government’s handling of the social media ban for under-16s, launching a campaign against what they have labelled an “irrational” and “shortsighted” decision to exempt YouTube from the contested legislation.

The three tech platforms made submissions to a government consultation process on the ban – rushed through parliament at the end of 2024 with little inquiry – calling for a re-evaluation of Labor’s approach and demanding YouTube be subject to the same restrictions they will be.

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Communities warned to prepare as weather system takes right turn – as it happened

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Why should Australia trust president Donald Trump, given how he’s treated Ukraine’s president at the Oval Office? Richard Marles said the government’s focus was on supporting Ukraine:

That’s where Australia lies. That’s the decision that we have to make. And Ukraine can absolutely rely on Australia’s ongoing support in their defence, and we will work with international partners.

We’ve obviously worked with the United States over the last three years, and we’ll continue to do that, but we’ve worked with the United Kingdom, and we’ll continue to do that as well, and with European partners, and look at the best way in which we can provide support.

We have established a timeline with [the] Ukrainian government about the delivery of those tanks to Ukraine. Now, for operational reasons, won’t go into the detail of that timeline.

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Guardian Essential poll: RBA rate cut too little too late for many as Albanese’s rating dips again

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As the official start of the election campaign nears, almost one in two Australians don’t know who they will vote for or might change their mind

More than half of Australians believe last month’s cash rate cut was too little too late and a sign the Labor government’s economic plan is not working, but voters think Anthony Albanese is better placed than Peter Dutton to deliver cost-of-living relief and higher wages and safeguard Medicare.

Voters have again marked down Albanese, with his net approval rating dipping to minus eight in the latest Guardian Essential poll. But Australians believe his party would be better – or at least no worse – than the Coalition on some key issues.

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Brisbane ferries suspended ‘until further notice’ – as it happened

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As we flagged earlier, this year’s Oscars will kick off in a few hours. There are a few Australian nominations to keep an eye out for, including:

Guy Pearce, The Brutalist (best supporting actor)

Adam Elliot, Memoir of a Snail (best animated feature)

Greig Fraser, Dune: Part Two (best cinematography)

Rodney Burke, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (best visual effects)

Maya Gnyp, I Am Ready, Warden (best documentary short)

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Premier claims WA a ‘renewable energy powerhouse’ but leaked document shows wind and solar projects have ‘stalled’

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Exclusive: Government document confirms electricity from large-scale renewables has flatlined, with one campaigner saying pipeline has ‘little sign of life’

Officials have warned the Western Australian Labor government that work to build wind and solar farms for the state’s main electricity grid has stalled under its leadership, a leaked document shows.

A confidential state government document reveals state bureaucrats advised the government that the “decarbonisation work program” in Perth’s electricity grid had “stalled to date”. It said there were “few new wind developments” advanced enough to be added to the grid before the promised closure of a coal power station in 2027.

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The 50 public schools in Australia where parents pay the highest voluntary fees

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At all of these schools, parents paid on average $1,800 a student, according to data from the national education and curriculum authority

Many parents with children in public school are paying thousands of dollars a year in fees and contributions at levels rivalling the compulsory fees paid to attend some private schools, leading to concerns the principle of a free, government-funded education is being undermined.

At the 50 public schools where parents paid the most in fees and contributions, parents paid an average of more than $1,800 a student, an analysis of the latest funding data from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, provided to Guardian Australia by the Greens, reveals.

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Australia news live: Conroy says Chinese flotilla under ‘unprecedented’ naval surveillance as it sails south of Adelaide

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Safety net for laid off fashion group workers

Workers out of a job after the collapse of fashion retailer Mosiac Group will be guaranteed their entitlements after the federal government fast-tracked access to its worker safety net scheme.

Staff are largely women, many balancing part-time employment with care responsibilities, and highly reliant on their pay, so we want to ensure they have as much certainty as possible around their finances going forward.

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Creative Australia boss forced to refute rumour he had resigned as fallout over Khaled Sabsabi dumping continues

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Adrian Collette sends all-staff email denying that he and the chair of Creative Australia’s board had quit amid calls for resignations

The beleaguered CEO of Creative Australia, Adrian Collette, has quashed rumours that emerged overnight that he and the chair of the body’s board, Robert Morgan, had resigned.

“There is a rumour circulating on social media that Robert Morgan and I have resigned,” said his email to all staff of the government arts funding organisation, sent just after 8.30am on Friday.

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Australian politicians unworried by Trump’s ‘what does that mean?’ response to Aukus question

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US president was questioned about defence deal during meeting with UK prime minister Keir Starmer

Australian politicians have played down a slip from Donald Trump, who initially failed to understand a question about Aukus posed by a British reporter.

The US president was questioned about the Australia-UK-US defence deal during a meeting with the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, in the Oval Office.

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Penny Wong accuses Coalition of ‘gunboat diplomacy’ in Senate estimates as Chinese warships sail into Great Australian Bight

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James Paterson questions whether PM was across detail of live-fire drill, prompting Wong to say opposition senator ‘not actually interested in detail’

Three Chinese warships have sailed west into the Great Australian Bight, as Penny Wong accuses the Coalition of deliberately stirring controversy over live-fire drills that the flotilla conducted last week in the Tasman Sea.

During a fractious Senate estimates hearing Thursday morning, the foreign affairs minister accused the shadow home affairs spokesperson, James Paterson, of ignoring national security in favour of spearheading a “political attack” on the government.

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Extra 220 children may have been wrongly detained as adult people smugglers in Australia, government admits

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In 2023 the federal court ordered $27.5m compensation for an initial estimated 220 Indonesian minors wrongly detained – but that number has now doubled

The Australian government has revealed that a further 220 Indonesian children may have been wrongly detained as adult people smugglers, doubling the number initially thought.

Late in 2023 the federal court ordered $27.5m in compensation for an estimated 220 Indonesian children who were wrongly detained as adult people smugglers between 2010 and 2012.

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Australia news live: Hastie warns ADF is ‘going to get weaker’ as China tests US allies with ‘gunboat diplomacy’

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Shadow defence minister told ABC RN China is testing US allies as Trump ‘resets relationships in Europe’. Follow today’s news live

ABC pays tribute to Antony Green as he announces upcoming election will be his last on-air

Continuing from our last post: the ABC’s director of news, Justin Stevens, has paid tribute to Antony Green as he announces the upcoming election would be his last on-air with the national broadcaster.

For more than three decades he has performed one of the ABC’s most important roles with precision, impartiality, dedication and unprecedented expertise.

He has the ABC’s immense gratitude and respect. I’m sure our audience joins me in thanking him and wishing him well as he prepares for his final federal election broadcast.

It’s time to retire. I turn 65 this coming weekend. I work on a three-year election cycle with federal elections, I won’t be presenting elections in three years’ time when I’m 68, so this will be my last on-camera election for the ABC.

I’ll stay on for a couple of years, handing over work and doing other things, but essentially I’m deciding to retire and work less.

There are 80 or 90 of them, a book on every election since 1990, state and federal … I [also] redesigned computer system. When I first started this, you had to be in the tally room to get the numbers. It was the only way to get data from the Electoral Commission to the ABC computer, so you had to be there. It’s a completely different world now.

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ABC election guru Antony Green says it’s ‘time to retire’ as he prepares to leave on-air role

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Analyst, who is about to turn 65, said the upcoming federal election would be the last he covers on air

The ABC’s election analyst, Antony Green, has just announced that the upcoming federal election will be his last on-air with the ABC.

Green said on Wednesday morning it was “time to retire”.

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Venice Biennale pavilion could be empty, Creative Australia chief tells senators

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Adrian Collette admits decision to drop Khaled Sabsabi risks having nothing on show but he and chair won’t quit

Creative Australia has conceded the Australian Pavilion at next year’s Venice Biennale may remain empty following its decision to rescind the contracts of the artist and curator it chose to represent the country at the prestigious event.

“We will be doing everything we can…to think about how we use what is a public pavilion to mount something of that is worthy in terms of its representation of Australia,” Creative Australia’s chief executive, Adrian Collette, told a Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday night.

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Australia news live: Woodside doubles profits thanks to record production of oil; funnel-web spider shortage threatens antivenom program

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Australia’s largest oil and gas producer has doubled its profits to $5.6bn. Follow today’s news live

Senate estimates will be back under way today, and AAP has flagged a little of what we can expect:

Creative Australia bosses, including the chief executive, Adrian Collette, will front an estimates hearing and it’s expected they’ll be questioned about the selection body’s shock decision to ditch the Venice Biennale team.

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Albanese ‘confident’ US would come to Australia’s defence in event of attack

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PM tells Q&A that US relationship is ‘rock solid’ as he fields questions on cost of living, housing and antisemitism

Anthony Albanese says he is confident that the US would defend Australia if it were to come under attack, despite the change in leadership in the US, but that Australia needed to look after its own security and would make its own decisions on foreign policy, including on support for Ukraine.

The comments came on a special edition of the ABC’s Q&A on Monday night, in which the prime minister took questions from members of the public on foreign affairs, the cost of living crisis, housing and social cohesion, in a bid to win over voters ahead of the election being called.

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Dutton says Coalition will pay to match Labor’s $8.5bn Medicare boost by cutting thousands of public service jobs

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Opposition leader claims plan to reduce workforce by nearly all jobs added under Labor would save $6bn annually

Peter Dutton claims the Coalition would pay for a $8.5bn boost to Medicare by cutting thousands of public servant jobs, providing yet another different answer on the Coalition’s as-yet-undefined plans for the public service.

After weeks of contradictory statements from senior shadow ministers about how many positions the Coalition would cull if it wins government, Dutton has now stipulated his plan could save $6bn annually – potentially representing nearly all of the new positions created under Labor.

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Coalition to match ‘dollar for dollar’ Labor’s plan to make GP visits cheaper in $8.5bn Medicare boost

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Less than half of Australians were always bulk billed when they saw a GP in 2023-24, government data says

The Coalition says it will match “dollar for dollar” Labor’s landmark $8.5bn proposal to dramatically increase Medicare bulk-billing rates for GP visits, pledging to meet Anthony Albanese’s commitment to make nearly all doctors’ appointments free.

Doctor’s groups have welcomed Labor’s pledge to fund 18m extra bulk-billed GP visits annually, but have warned some patients will still miss out because government rebates are sometimes still too low to cover the cost of all appointments. The health minister, Mark Butler, says nine out of 10 GP visits will be covered by 2030 under Labor’s plan, and has accused the Coalition of “cooking the books” on bulk-billing statistics during their time in office.

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Australia news live: Jim Chalmers meeting with US Treasury to discuss Trump’s steel tariffs; one dead after police standoff in Tamworth

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The treasurer will continue to lobby US officials for an Australian exemption to steel and aluminium tariffs

Greens want Labor’s new Medicare plan implemented before election

The federal Greens have welcomed the Albanese government’s plan to significantly boost bulk-billing rates, as part of an $8.5bn policy, but claimed its campaigning influenced the decision.

Greens pressure works. In a wealthy country like ours everyone should be able to see a GP, psychologist, dentist or nurse with their Medicare card.

It’s good Labor has adopted part of our plan to help people see the GP for free. Now let’s make it law before the election.

Trade and tariffs will be part of the conversation, but not the whole conversation. That is an ongoing discussion that we’re having with our American counterparts. I don’t expect he will conclude those discussions on steel and aluminium while I’m in DC.

I am not going to pre-empt the outcome of those conversations, nor do I expect those discussions will necessarily be concluded this week, to be upfront with you.

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China conducts second live-fire drill near New Zealand

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Report from New Zealand navy personnel comes a day after similar drill forced multiple airlines to change flight paths between Australia and New Zealand

China’s navy has reportedly conducted a second live-fire exercise in international waters, a day after a similar drill forced multiple airlines to change flight paths between Australia and New Zealand.

New Zealand navy personnel advised live rounds were fired from a Chinese warship in international waters near the island nation on Saturday.

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