Category Archives: Australian politics

GDP grew by 0.5% in December quarter, national accounts show – politics live

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The economy holds the headlines as government inches closer to releasing its stimulus package in response to coronavirus. All the day’s events, live

I missed this yesterday:

Mathias Cormann reveals that he personally intervened to chose the colour of the new fleet of Comcar vehicles, which will shift from their traditional white to dark grey. #Estimates pic.twitter.com/PqsJCQFOBC

*Grandstanding*

*Actually evidence from officials*

Don’t be misled by Senator Carr’s grandstanding & fear-mongering. The Bushfire & Natural Hazards CRC has funding until mid-2021 & the Govt is considering future funding for its work to continue. We’re actively engaging with the CRC, including a meeting with the PM last month. https://t.co/xZgEyqH2g7

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Scott Morrison wants the nation to trust him – but how can we after sports rorts?

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The prime minister has presented himself and his office as bystanders, but all the evidence points to their deep involvement

Given the intricacies of the sports rorts controversy can be bamboozling, let’s keep this really simple.

Scott Morrison has spent the weeks since the Australian National Audit Office completely eviscerated his government’s administration of the $100m sports grants program presenting himself and his office as a bunch of breezy feedback brokers, just lurking about periodically to give the sport minister a hand.

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Scott Morrison’s one-man cabinet committee an ‘abuse of process’, Labor says

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PM has dismissed opposition’s concerns but Penny Wong says it could be used to ‘cover up decision-making’

Labor has labelled a cabinet committee with just one permanent member – Scott Morrison – an “abuse of process” that would enable Morrison to call meetings protected by cabinet confidentiality, even if no other cabinet members are present.

The cabinet office policy committee was the focus of questioning in both Senate estimates and question time, where Morrison defended the committee responsible for his policy “deep dives” and dismissed Labor concerns as “trivial Canberra politics”.

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Jacinda Ardern brushes off criticism from Peter Dutton on deportation stance

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Australia’s home affairs minister had linked New Zealand prime minister’s comments to her upcoming re-election bid

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has brushed off criticism from Australia’s home affairs minister Peter Dutton, saying his policy decisions are “regrettable”.

At her weekly news conference in Wellington on Monday, Ardern was scathing about Dutton’s criticism of her recent meeting with Scott Morrison, saying it was not her plain-talking that was to blame for increasing tensions between the neighbours – but Australia’s policy decisions on immigration matters which were hurting Kiwis.

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Josh Frydenberg urged to ‘do the right thing’ after ‘offensive’ Hindu comments

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Treasurer’s references to Hinduism while criticising Labor’s wellbeing budget labelled ‘derisive’ and ‘heartbreaking’

Josh Frydenberg is facing increased pressure to “fix the mess” he created when he made what’s been described as “brazen” and “offensive” comments about Hinduism.

The treasurer made repeated references to Hinduism and other Indian religions in question time last week while criticising Labor’s idea of potentially pursuing a “wellbeing budget”.

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Jacinda Ardern blasts Scott Morrison over Australia’s deportation policy – video

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The New Zealand prime minister said the Australian government's policy of deporting NZ citizens, no matter how long they had spent in Australia, was “testing” the friendship between the two nations, at a joint press conference in Sydney on Friday.

Jacinda Ardern lashes Scott Morrison for 'testing' friendship over deportations to New Zealand


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Not much love actually: Jacinda Ardern was right to call out Australia’s ‘corrosive’ policies | Ben Doherty

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The New Zealand prime minister was justified in taking Scott Morrison to task over a policy that is both spurious and damaging

We’ve seen this movie before.

Then, in Love Actually, Hugh Grant played the unlikely prime minister of Britain, standing up to an oleaginous Billy Bob Thornton as president of the US.

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Jacinda Ardern lashes Scott Morrison for ‘testing’ friendship over deportations to New Zealand

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New Zealand PM says Australia is deporting ‘your people and your problems’ using unfair policies

The New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has lashed Scott Morrison for “testing” the friendship between the two nations, accusing Australia of deporting “your people and your problems” using “unfair” policies.

Ardern took her strongest stance yet opposing Australia’s policy of deporting New Zealand citizens, no matter how long they had spent in Australia, if they had committed a crime.

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Liberal MP says Coalition needs to look at a 2050 net zero emissions target – politics live

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Trent Zimmerman says Australia needs to look beyond good target for 2030 as we head into Glasgow. All the day’s events, live

It’s time for who’s that MP?

It’s Andrew Wallace.

Asked about the Nationals (and some Liberals) who claim a net zero 2050 emissions target would bring about end of days, Trent Zimmerman tells the ABC:

No-one is saying that getting to 2050 with a net zero target is an easy task. It is a challenge.

We know in many areas we are doing really well.

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Malcolm Turnbull warns of ‘catastrophic’ future without net zero emissions goal – politics live

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The former prime minister has stepped into the climate debate, with a stark warning to moderate Liberals to act. All the day’s events, live

Greg Hunt will be giving the next coronavirus update at 1.10pm

Meanwhile, the lights keep flickering in Parliament House, which can only mean that my moods have begun to physically manifest.

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WA churches with Liberal links win grants of almost $40,000 in four months

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Churches win funding through program that allocates grants only to organisations formally invited by local federal MP

A cluster of evangelical churches with strong links to West Australian Liberals have won almost $40,000 in grants in the past four months through a federal scheme.

Related: Sports rorts inquiry set to grill Bridget McKenzie and Phil Gaetjens

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Deportees and a climate crisis: what’s on the agenda as Ardern meets Morrison

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Thorny issues await the two prime ministers when they meet in Australia this week

As gang violence in New Zealand soars – partly fuelled by Australian deportees, police say – prime minister Jacinda Ardern is heading to Sydney for her annual bilateral with Scott Morrison.

The issue of New Zealanders with only distant links to their home country being summarily shipped back to Aotearoa will again be on the agenda, but experts say it is unlikely Ardern will take as tough a stance as last year, when she said the issue was having a “corrosive” affect on trans-Tasman relations.

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Coalition reignites climate war over Labor’s emissions policy – politics live

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Government MPs have lashed out at Labor over its emissions target, with arguments in parliament’s corridors. All the days events, live

Parliament starts at 10am.

Tellingly, Joel Fitzgibbon is on board with Labor’s plan. Here he is writing for his local paper, the Newcastle Herald over the weekend:

The aspiration of carbon neutrality by 2050 (zero net emissions) offers a conservative and low-risk path to satisfying the commitment Malcolm Turnbull made in Paris on our behalf back in 2015.

First, it provides plenty of time to think and act, including the time needed to embrace existing and future technologies.

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Tanya Plibersek cites ‘visible inequality’ at schools in call for fair education funding

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Shadow education minister emphasises education as key battle line against Coalition, while Greens leader Adam Bandt calls for end to public school fees

Labor will continue to make education funding a key point of difference to the Coalition, with a greater emphasis on the disparity between public and private schools’ spending on facilities, Tanya Plibersek has signalled.

In a speech delivered to the Australian Education Union on Friday, Plibersek warned both the government and internal critics arguing for lower social spending that “the fight for fair school funding is not over” and claimed that “visible inequality” in facilities suggests Australians care more about some children than others.

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Anthony Albanese backs Adani coalmine but criticises proposed Collinsville power plant

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The ALP leader says a feasibility study into a new coal-fired power station in Queensland is ‘hush money’ for climate sceptics

Anthony Albanese says he supports jobs and economic activity from the Adani coalmine, but he has blasted a feasibility study into a new coal-fired power plant in Collinsville as “hush money” for climate sceptics in the Coalition.

In Queensland on Wednesday for his fourth “vision statement” since taking the Labor leadership, Albanese told reporters the ALP needed to improve its electoral performance in the state given the poor showing in last year’s federal election. He said he was listening to voters in a number of regional centres.

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Julian Assange: Australian MPs call on UK to block US extradition

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Politicians from WikiLeaks founder’s home country have flown to UK to visit him in jail

Boris Johnson should block attempts to extradite Julian Assange to the US, say two Australian MPs who have flown to the UK to visit the WikiLeaks founder.

Andrew Wilkie, an independent federal MP, said the extradition of Assange, who has been charged by the US with conspiring to hack into a secret Pentagon computer network, would set a dangerous precedent.

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China accuses Australia of discriminating against Huawei

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Chinese ambassador says consumers not being served well by ‘politically motivated’ ban on tech firm’s entry into 5G network

The Australian government’s ban on Huawei’s participation in building the nation’s 5G network remains a “sore point or thorny issue” between the two countries, the Chinese ambassador said on Monday, as he criticised the government for discriminating against a Chinese company.

Cheng Jingye dismissed concerns Huawei may pose a threat to Australia’s national security given its links to the communist Chinese government, and said Australia’s ban was “politically motivated”.

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RFS denies sacking volunteer firefighter Paul Parker, who swore at Scott Morrison

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In an interview on Channel Ten’s The Project, Parker said he had been told to leave RFS leading to the hashtag #IStandWithPaulParker trending in Australia

The Rural Fire Service is investigating claims that a volunteer firefighter who told the prime minister to “get fucked from Nelligen” in a viral news clip was “sacked’”by his local brigade.

Paul Parker told Channel Ten’s The Project on Sunday that he was chastised by the RFS for directing the expletive toward Scott Morrison and that he had been booted from the organisation, contrary to reports from the time that he had been stood down due to exhaustion.

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Sports grants scandal: rural areas received less than $10m of $150m funds allocated

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Labor says National party seats shortchanged after projects in Liberal-held, non-rural seats got nearly $110m

Labor is accusing the government of shortchanging rural areas through a $150m sports fund that was overwhelmingly spent in marginal seats during the election campaign.

The $150m female facilities and water safety stream program, announced by the Coalition less than two months before the election, was funded in the 2019 budget for the purpose of female change rooms and swimming pool upgrades, but was all allocated in the election campaign.

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Albanese calls on Phil Gaetjens to make sports grants report public

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Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary must be seen to be independent, opposition leader says

The federal opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, has said top bureaucrat Phil Gaetjens must show his independence in the sports grants scandal “that just stinks”.

Gaetjens, the secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, wrote on Friday to the Senate inquiry into the sports grants saga that cost the previous sports minister, Bridget McKenzie, her job.

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