Category Archives: Australian politics

Australia coronavirus live update: Victoria records 70 new cases and five deaths as NSW relaxes border rules

Posted on by

In Canberra, the relationship with Beijing will dominate, while NSW premier travels to Albury to ease border pain. Follow all the updates

Keep an eye on this one

Despite Scott Morrison announcing it was a priority to cancel international deals by states, local governments and universities, there’s still no legislation five days later.
 
It’s his usual pattern - make an announcement and get a headline without any substance to deliver.

The second case in Queensland is a 37-year-old nurse from Ipswich hospital, who was working with Covid patients.

He had no symptoms other than abdominal pain - which is a rare symptom for Covid - but it turned out that yes, he had it.

So he is also in isolation. Queensland health minister (and yes, he is also the deputy premier) Steven Miles said the health worker had been taking precautions.

This underlines how we can all do the right thing by monitoring our health and if we have any symptoms at all that are of any cause for concern, we can go and get tested so we thank him very much for that.

Continue reading...

‘It is about China’: foreign relations bill lambasted as ‘complete overkill’ on Q+A

Posted on by

Former Western Australia premier Colin Barnett calls legislation ‘patronising’

The former premier of Western Australia Colin Barnett has blasted the federal government’s proposed foreign relations bill as “complete overkill”.

Appearing on the ABC’s Q+A on Monday night, the former WA Liberal leader was asked about the intention of the legislation to be considered by parliament, which would give the federal government power to veto agreements that state and local governments and universities enter into with foreign governments.

Continue reading...

Australia coronavirus live update: Victoria records 73 new cases and 41 deaths as NSW records 10 new cases

Posted on by

Figure of 41 deaths in Victoria includes 33 people who died in aged care but not reported until yesterday; legislation to extend but reduce jobkeeper and jobseeker payments will be considered by the Senate today. Follow all the latest news and updates, live

This report from AAP earlier today:

NSW deputy premier, John Barilaro, is calling for a national code to allow agricultural workers to cross state borders without permits.

Twenty Victorian aged care providers have been found to be non-compliant with standards under the Aged Care Act since July.

My colleague Melissa Davey has this report:

Related: Twenty Victorian aged care homes ordered to improve 'inadequate' standards after Covid outbreaks

Continue reading...

Liberal party branch-stacking: fears push for virtual state council could kill off audit

Posted on by

Insiders say campaign for digital Victorian council could scuttle forensic audit of new members

Federal electorate conference chairs in 14 Victorian seats are campaigning for a virtual state council of the Liberal party – a sortie which party insiders fear is an effort to scuttle a forensic audit to deal with fresh branch stacking allegations.

Labor has ratcheted up pressure on Scott Morrison to take action after fresh allegations were aired by the Nine network last weekend about Liberal party branch-stacking orchestrated by a conservative party powerbroker with links to the Victorian frontbencher Michael Sukkar and veteran MP Kevin Andrews.

Continue reading...

Victoria reports 113 new cases, NSW nine and Queensland two – as it happened

Posted on by

Labor grills the Coalition on aged care and the PM discusses the foreign relations bill. This blog is now closed

That is where we will leave the live blog for this evening. If you want to follow the latest global coronavirus news you can follow our other live blog here.

Here’s what we learned today:

#breaking Sports rorts: 70% of grants from separate fund went to Coalition seats, Greens say #auspol #sportsrorts https://t.co/iej3ex14JO

Continue reading...

Coalition to pursue power to block deals such as Victoria’s belt and road agreement with China

Posted on by

Coalition to introduce laws to prevent Australian governments and universities making ‘detrimental’ deals with foreign powers

The Morrison government will pursue new powers to stop state, territory and local governments and universities entering agreements with foreign governments that it considers detrimental to Australia’s foreign policy objectives.

The government will introduce legislation next week empowering the foreign affairs minister to review and cancel agreements – such as Victoria’s decision to sign up to China’s belt and road initiative – if the commonwealth judges the arrangement adversely affects Australia’s foreign relations.

Continue reading...

Choosing Tony Abbott as UK trade envoy ‘staggering’, says Labour

Posted on by

Emily Thornberry labels ex-Australian PM a ‘Trump-worshipping misogynist’ amid reports of role

The shadow trade secretary, Emily Thornberry, has condemned reports that Boris Johnson is preparing to appoint the former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott to a senior trade role, calling Abbott a “Trump-worshipping misogynist”.

The Department of Trade declined to comment publicly on Wednesday but insisted no decision had yet been made, after the Sun reported that Abbott would be given a leading role on the board of trade.

Continue reading...

Australia coronavirus live update: Sydney quarantine hotel dumped as Morrison spends on defence – latest news

Posted on by

NSW police say Wentworth Travelodge not up to standards as 400 guests moved. Follow all the latest news and updates, live

Scott Morrison made plenty of time to set a test for Anthony Albanese’s leadership in June, when the Victorian Labor branch stacking allegations were revealed - there were interviews and question time attacks and comments about being focussed on jobs while the Labor party was in rack and ruin.

But now that he is facing questions over the Liberals behaviour in Victoria, which implicates one of his own frontbenchers - Michael Sukkar, Morrison is very busy being focussed solely on the pandemic.

These matters have been referred by the Department of Finance and that’s the appropriate response and that’s where... No, I’ve been dealing with the COVID crisis. I’ve been dealing with getting people back into jobs. The matter has been referred to the Department of Finance. I don’t think that Australians would want me distracked by those issues at all.

This is quite the declaration of war within the Queensland Labor party - the CFMEU has announced it is immediately quitting the left faction.

That will have some serious implications for the power balance in the party:

The CFMEU will be withdrawing from the left faction of the Queensland ALP, effective immediately.

Both the Mining and the Construction & General divisions of the CFMEU have decided the union can be a more effective advocate for workers as a voice totally independent of a faction that has lost touch with its core values.

Continue reading...

Textbook used in Victorian schools repeats Chinese government propaganda

Posted on by

The textbook, which has now been recalled, includes passages that critics believe endorse China’s authoritarian rule and are ‘straight out of the party playbook’

A textbook used in some Victorian schools includes portions that repeat Chinese Communist party propaganda and features a controversial map in which China claims most of the South China Sea in contradiction of Australian government policy.

The Guardian can reveal concerns about the material have prompted the publisher, Cengage Learning Asia, to recall unsold copies of the textbook, which the Melbourne-based authors said they had written to suit the course design of the Victorian senior school subject Chinese language, culture and society.

Continue reading...

Northern Territory election: Labor claims victory but majority hangs in the balance

Posted on by

NT will have to wait at least another day to find out if Michael Gunner’s team has polled enough votes to form a majority government

Michael Gunner’s Labor team is expected to retain government in the Northern Territory, where counting continues in a knife-edge election.

The Northern Territory will have to wait at least another day to find out if incumbent Labor has polled enough votes to form a majority government.

Continue reading...

Scott Morrison defends aged care minister who didn’t know number of Covid deaths

Posted on by

Richard Colbeck apologises for federal government’s role in aged care outbreaks but denies it was ‘absent’

  • Melbourne’s stage 4 restrictions; Vic stage 3 rules; NSW hotspots
  • Australian stats interactive; Vic cases map; NSW cases map
  • Sign up for Guardian Australia’s coronavirus email

    • Scott Morrison has declared he still has confidence in his aged care minister after Richard Colbeck came under pressure at a Senate inquiry and was unable to recall how many people had died in aged care during the pandemic.

    Colbeck apologised on Friday for the times when the Morrison government “didn’t get everything right” in dealing with aged care outbreaks – but insisted it had been prepared for what it sincerely believed to be the worst-case scenarios.

    Continue reading...

    Coronavirus live update Australia: Victoria reports 12 deaths and 216 new Covid cases as NSW records seven cases

    Posted on by

    Scott Morrison says vaccine will be ‘as mandatory as you can possibly make’. Follow today’s news live

  • Follow our global coronavirus live blog
  • Australian stats interactive; Vic cases map; NSW cases map; NSW hotspots list
  • Sign up for Guardian Australia’s coronavirus email

    • The ABC has announced the 2020 Boyer Lectures to be delivered by the philanthropist and business leader Andrew Forrest will be delayed due to ongoing Covid-19 travel restrictions and border closures.

    The four-part lecture series – Rebooting Australia: How ethical entrepreneurs can help shape a better future – was scheduled to be broadcast on ABC Radio National from 28 November.

    The Crown Resorts casino empire controlled by the billionaire James Packer received more than $110m in jobkeeper payments from the Australian government, propping up the group’s profit.

    Crown’s full-year results, filed today with the ASX, show the $111.3m the group received to pay both working and stood-down employees was almost two-thirds of its profit before tax of $153m.

    This was close to a quarter of the profit before tax the previous year – no surprise, as Crown’s gaming floors largely shut down during the first wave of the pandemic. Crown hasn’t paid a dividend.

    Related: The 'dividendkeeper' shuffle: how jobkeeper payments are flowing to shareholders

    Continue reading...

    Victoria’s hotel quarantine inquiry to examine genomic testing in hunt for ‘patient zero’

    Posted on by

    Security companies and return travellers may also be called to give evidence at judicial inquiry this week

  • Melbourne’s stage 4 restrictions; Victoria stage 3 restrictions
  • Sign up for Guardian Australia’s coronavirus email

    • The judicial inquiry into Victoria’s hotel quarantine program will on Monday examine evidence from the Melbourne health institute whose genomic testing could shed more light on the source and spread of the state’s second wave.

    The inquiry, called by the Victorian government after “unacceptable infection control breaches in hotel quarantine” and chaired by Jennifer Coate, confirmed on Sunday it had added an extra two days of hearings to its schedule for the week.

    Continue reading...

    Witness K is in the dock but institutions vital to Australia’s democracy are on trial | Ian Cunliffe

    Posted on by

    Some people seem to be above the law. Those people do not include the whistleblower and his lawyer, Bernard Collaery

    Timor-Leste only achieved independence in 2002. It was Asia’s poorest country and desperately needed revenue. Revenue from massive gas resources in the Timor Sea was its big hope. But it needed to negotiate a treaty with Australia on their carve-up. Australia ruthlessly exploited that fact: delays from the Australian side in negotiating a treaty for the carve-up of those resources, and repeated threats of more delays, were a constant theme of the negotiations. In November 2002 the former Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer told Timor-Leste’s prime minister, Mari Alkatiri: “We don’t have to exploit the resources. They can stay there for 20, 40, 50 years.” In late 2003 Timor-Leste requested monthly discussions. Australia claimed it could only afford two rounds a year. Poor Timor-Leste offered to fund rich Australia’s expenses. Australia didn’t accept.

    Related: Witness K and the 'outrageous' spy scandal that failed to shame Australia

    Continue reading...

    Coronavirus Australia live update: Victoria records 14 deaths and 372 new Covid cases as NSW awaits Ruby Princess report

    Posted on by

    Agriculture minister calls for federal approach to border rules; NSW on alert over community transmission. Follow the latest news and updates

    This came through late yesterday from NSW Health:

    NSW Health is advising of a new public health alert for Liverpool Hospital and Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club.

    Peter Dutton had some things to say about the border closure between NSW and Queensland on the Nine network today:

    When you get a premier like Annastacia Palaszczuk making announcements about border closures when Gladys Berejiklian is doing a press conference and she is caught out, the question is asked of her and she knows nothing about it, she hadn’t been contacted by Queensland, well you would imagine she would be a bit miffed. I think it is childish. There is a growing mood here in Queensland at the moment, I have got to say, Ally, of people who say if the doctors are saying close the borders or put in place this regime, fair enough, but there is a lot of politics being played in Queensland at the moment by the state government here in relation to this issue. You see brochures now going out into letterboxes in marginal seats and what not, and Annastacia Palaszczuk is walking a fine line here. People will be cynical if they think these decisions are being made for political reasons and her break down in the relationship with the New South Wales premier, particularly for those people who live in the Tweed or on the Gold Coast, is negatively impacting on those lives and businesses and it is unacceptable.

    Continue reading...

    Young people who withdraw super may be $100,000 worse off in retirement, Labor says

    Posted on by

    Opposition steps up attacks on coronavirus support measure that allows people in financial distress to withdraw up to $20,000

    Young people will bear the brunt of the Covid-19 economic crisis, Labor has said, as it estimates a 25-year-old who withdraws $20,000 from superannuation may be left up to $100,000 worse off in retirement.

    The opposition is stepping up its attack on the government’s handling of the early access to superannuation scheme, which allows people dealing with the adverse economic effects of Covid-19 to withdraw up to $10,000 this financial year. People were also able to access up to $10,000 last financial year.

    Continue reading...

    Coronavirus live update Australia: Victoria reports 11 deaths and 450 new Covid cases, with 11 in NSW – latest news

    Posted on by

    Australian Defence Force personnel to doorknock close contacts of confirmed cases in Victoria as Western Australia delays easing of restrictions. Follow live

    McGowan describes the WA border case as “our war” with Clive Palmer.

    He says that WA is disappointed that the Commonwealth did not support their submission to have a fresh trial.

    McGowan also announces that the national cabinet today agreed on “a code of practice for the regular testing of interstate freight drivers”.

    He says that new arrangements will come into place next week which means “any truck driver entering WA will have to show evidence of having received a negative Covid-19 test result in the past seven days”.

    Continue reading...

    Coalition tweaks jobkeeper scheme again amid Covid second wave in Victoria

    Posted on by

    Ahead of Friday’s national cabinet meeting, the expenditure review committee signs off on changes that will cost $15.6bn

    The Morrison government has tweaked the eligibility requirements for the jobkeeper wage subsidy only three weeks after cutting the payment in an attempt to save businesses and jobs at risk because of the deteriorating outlook in Victoria.

    Ahead of Friday’s national cabinet meeting, and after new Treasury analysis underscored the hit to the national economy from the second wave of coronavirus infections in Victoria, the expenditure review committee of cabinet signed off on the jobkeeper overhaul late on Thursday.

    Continue reading...

    Morrison government asleep at the wheel when it comes to China, Labor says

    Posted on by

    Richard Marles accuses the Coalition of mishandling a relationship that ‘needs to be managed by the adults in the room’

    The Morrison government has been asleep at the wheel when it comes to the relationship with China, while its handling of a submarine project has made Australians less safe, the deputy Labor leader has declared.

    In a sharpening of the opposition’s political attack following months of restraint during the coronavirus pandemic, Richard Marles accused the Coalition of mismanaging ties with Australia’s largest trading partner by failing to speak with a single, clear message.

    Continue reading...