Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
Decision sees international students go to the back of the queue while others are given special approval
Greg Hunt has clarified that foreign business people and actors will not be subjected to the “Australians first” approach to international arrivals as Australia struggles to clear a backlog of people seeking to come home.
The health minister suggested that “national interest” exemptions would continue to apply, clarifying that investors will not be barred by the rule that prevents large numbers of international students coming ahead of 36,500 Australians still seeking to return.
Australia hopes 15-country Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership will help reset economic relations with China
Simon Birmingham has urged China to respect the “spirit” – not just the letter – of the new 15-country Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
Australia is hoping the deal, signed on Sunday, will help reset economic relations with China after a rolling series of trade disputes or disruptions widely regarded as retaliation for Australian policies towards China.
Successive cuts will cost federal budget three times what is spent on public schools, Greens leader to say in push to have next round scrapped
Income tax cut packages since 2017 will cost the budget $325bn by the end of the decade, with high-income earners capturing 58% of the benefit.
That is the result of a Parliamentary Budget Office analysis prepared for the Greens, released on Saturday ahead of a speech by Adam Bandt vowing to use the balance of power to force a future Labor government to repeal the next round of cuts.
PM and premiers meet as Covid-19 cases plummet. This blog is now closed
The day is winding down so we are going to wrap up the blog. Here are the main events:
The rise of rightwing extremism has coincided with the emergence of social media “echo chambers” and easily formed online communities of interest, the head of home affairs has said.
Michael Pezzullo, the secretary of the department, appeared before a parliamentary hearing into social cohesion and nationhood this afternoon.
He was asked about recent testimony from the head of Asio that rightwing extremism now made up 30% to 40% of its priority counter-terrorism investigations. Labor committee chair Kim Carr wanted to know whether Pezzullo thought the trend coincided with the rise or rightwing populist groups in the US and Europe.
Domestically it would seem to me that the groups that are of most concern are those that would either promote or seek others to adhere to a philosophy or an ideology of extra-constitutional action, and worse of course extremist action, and worst of all violent action rather than moderating legitimately held differences of political, ideological, economic views through our democratic process.
Opposition leader supports NSW premier’s call to change words to Australia’s national anthem to be more inclusive of First Nations. Follow all the latest news and updates, live
The ABC has more on the complaintRachelle Miller has lodged against Michaelia Cash, whose office she worked in once her relationship with Alan Tudge ended. Cash has rejected the claims.
From the ABC report:
After the May 2018 budget, when many ministers travel the country to sell the political message, Ms Miller was told she would not be travelling with the minister because Senator Cash did not think her attendance necessary.
“I felt like I had been set up to fail, there was no way that I could manage it from the Canberra office,” Ms Miller’s complaint reads.
It’s Pauline Hanson vs Mark Latham in the PHON SOOO and I don’t know much, but I do know this - if you walk into someone’s house and they have one of these products, walk back out.
Labor claims dinner at Club Taree raised $18,000 from four donors and gave them access to premier
Gladys Berejiklian has said she cannot remember whether she attended an “intimate fundraising dinner” at Club Taree in May 2018, where Labor claims illegal property donations were made.
Labor used question time in New South Wales parliament on Wednesday to ask about the event and donations made to the campaign of the mid-north coast MP Stephen Bromhead, the member for Myall Lakes, in 2018.
The opposition leader’s comments follow Joel Fitzgibbon’s resignation from the frontbench in a dispute about climate policy
The federal Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, has declined to say whether Labor will articulate a medium-term emissions reduction target before the next federal election.
Albanese’s sidestep followed Joel Fitzgibbon’s resignation from the Labor frontbench on Tuesday after a lengthy internal dispute about climate policy that culminated in a blow-up at shadow cabinet on Monday night.
Former PM says Murdoch media has become ‘pure propaganda’ and is doing enormous damage to the world’s ability to respond to climate change
Malcolm Turnbull says News Corp has become an organisation for “pure propaganda” that has done enormous damage through its promotion of climate change denial.
In a heated exchange on Monday night’s Q&A, the former prime minister and the Australian’s editor-at-large, Paul Kelly, clashed over the media organisation’s treatment of climate science.
Federal parliament returns; Asio chief warns of ‘real threat’ from foreign spies; incoming Biden administration vows to sign back up to Paris agreement. Follow all the updates
The motion was voted up 28 to 25 with Labor, Centre Alliance, Rex Patrick, Jacqui Lambie and One Nation combining to warn the Coalition over the draft bill’s inadequacies.
Greens senator Larissa Waters motion stated:
Senate just passed a motion 28:25 for a strong corruption watchdog, listing all of the features the Gov’s weak model leaves out. A defacto vote on the Gov’s bill - the Senate can see through the fig leaf of the Gov’s belated and pathetic model that wouldn’t stop a thing! #auspol
Richard Marles says Labor is not pursing a royal commission into the Murdoch media empire and will “let Kevin speak for himself”.
Andrew Leigh officially tabled the Kevin Rudd-led petition, which had more than 500,000 signatures, in the parliament today.
We have talked about our position in relation to the media over a long period of time. Now, this is not something we have been considering. This is something Kevin Rudd has been pursuing in his capacity as a private citizen. I mean, I obviously note it is a significant petition in terms of those who have signed up to it and it has been presented to the parliament appropriately. That is where the matter is that in terms of the opposition.
Scott Morrison has congratulated Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on their projected US election win. Morrison spoke about the importance of the alliance between the two countries that was strengthened following the second world war and the value of the US in the Australia-Pacific region. While President Donald Trump is yet to concede, Morrison joined leaders around the world in congratulating Biden
Scott Morrison has signalled he would invite Joe Biden to visit Australia for the 70th anniversary of the Anzus treaty in 2021 as he congratulated the Democrat for winning the US presidential election.
Morrison told reporters that Canberra would continue to deal with the Trump administration during the transition period but looked forward to working with Biden from January.
We’ve all been transfixed by the American election, glued to CNN or our preferred network or live blog of choice, constantly refreshing our social media feeds, cursing Nate Silver – demonstrating that global anxiety is the glue of 2020.
At the time of filing, the vote count is grinding on, and my purpose is not to get into winners and losers and the consequences. Here, I want to step back and look at some propositions that are uncomfortable for a person in my position to look at.
That’s it for tonight, thanks for reading. To recap today’s developments:
The chief of the defence force, Angus Campbell,has released a statement about the inquiry into alleged war crimes by Australian special forces in Afghanistan.
Campbell said he received the Afghanistan inquiry report today, which examined the conduct of elite Australian forces in more than 55 incidents of alleged unlawful killings between 2005 and 2016.
Today I have received the Afghanistan Inquiry report from the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF).
The independent inquiry was commissioned by Defence in 2016 after rumours and allegations emerged relating to possible breaches of the Law of Armed Conflict by members of the Special Operations Task Group in Afghanistan over the period 2005 to 2016.
News Hub reports New Zealand’s US ambassador has commented on the election. As government employees, ambassadors are prevented from indicating political views (despite being political appointments) but it looks like Scott Brown, for one, is feeling confident enough in the result to be a little honest.
‘We need to keep moving forward as we live with Covid-19,’ Gladys Berejiklian says. We’ll also be bringing you Australian reaction to that election, as it happens
Geoff Raby argues the suggestion Australia can turn to other markets is ‘nothing other than wishful thinking’
Australia is likely to keep suffering economic harm from “repeated rounds of Chinese economic coercion” and needs to find a way to reset the relationship, a former ambassador to Beijing has warned.
Seafood exporters are the latest industry group to report disruptions in accessing the Chinese market and Geoff Raby, the Australian ambassador to China from 2007 to 2011, said Australia needed China more than the other way around.
Tony Harris has criticised the Morrison government for slashing audit office funding and delaying federal anti-corruption watchdog
Tony Harris, the former New South Wales auditor general, has blasted the Morrison government for cutting funding to the Australian National Audit Office and for moving too slowly to establish a federal anti-corruption commission.
During an appearance before the Senate committee examining the sports grants saga, Harris said he believed there was “a pattern of behaviour that constitutes a goal” of reducing public scrutiny of government activity.
Coronavirus didn’t kill the culture wars, it only sent them into a momentary recess
When Covid-19 hit, I’d been wondering for a long time what glued together the disparate positions of the religious right in Australia: for deregulation yet also massive taxpayer subsidy; for free enterprise yet also against the free movement of labour; for the equality of all freedoms as long as one, religion, is more equal than others; for “our children’s future” yet also against climate science.
During the coronavirus crisis, the patterns began to repeat: divergent positions coalescing under an intellectually amorphous but readily identifiable tribal banner. What unified that tribe was, for want of a better word, a contrarianism, what impolite adherents might call an “up yours” to political correctness.
Queensland premier says Queensland border will stay closed to Victoria and greater Sydney as pressure mounts on NSW and WA to open. Follow all the latest news and updates, live
Independent MP for Warringah Zali Steggall is using the release of the bushfire royal commission report to call for greater action on climate change.
“The royal commission final report makes it clear: increasing temperatures due to climate change will contribute to greater severity of extreme weather and natural disasters in Australia.
“The outlook for Australia is alarming. Australians are now staring down the barrel of more unpredictable and dangerous events that will affect our safety and prosperity as a nation.
Party has signed off on document acknowledging role gas plays in economic growth, job creation and electricity generation
A public battle between Anthony Albanese, Mark Butler and Joel Fitzgibbon over Labor’s language regarding gas has triggered a process whereby the ALP has agreed to support new gas projects, subject to environmental approvals and reaching net zero emissions by 2050.
The brawl was triggered when the shadow resources minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, publicly endorsed the taxpayer underwriting of new gas infrastructure championed by one of Scott Morrison’s most influential business advisers, Nev Power, before seeing any of the specifics.