Category Archives: Australian politics

Super funds and investors with $34tn urge leaders to speed up climate action

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Fund managers call on world leaders to bring in carbon pricing and phase out coal power ahead of G20

Superannuation funds and investors representing US$34tn in assets – nearly half of the total under management across the globe – have called on world leaders to bring in carbon pricing and phase out coal power to limit global heating to 1.5C.

Released ahead of a G20 leaders meeting in Osaka, Japan, the statement by 477 institutional investors urges world leaders to accelerate their response to the climate crisis to ensure the goals of the 2015 Paris climate deal can be met.

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Jim Chalmers ditches Labor’s pre-election pledge to conduct review into Newstart

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Shadow treasurer says decision an ‘unfortunate consequence’ of Coalition’s victory

The shadow treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has ruled out reviewing Newstart in opposition, saying those hoping for a boost to the payment had Labor won the election will now “have to convince the government.”

As Labor prepares to reshape its policy agenda following its 18 May electoral defeat, Chalmers used his first speech after being promoted to the senior portfolio to outline the opposition’s economic priorities.

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Peter Dutton claims asylum seekers refusing resettlement in US due to medevac laws

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Home affairs minister alleges 250 applications for medical transfer being reviewed by ‘activist’ doctors

Peter Dutton claims asylum seekers and refugees on Manus Island and Nauru are refusing resettlement offers in the United States because of the medevac legislation, claiming 250 applications for medical transfer were currently being reviewed by “activist” doctors.

Despite conceding last week the US was “unlikely” to resettle 1,250 refugees under the deal Malcolm Turnbull struck with the then US president, Barack Obama, and begrudgingly held to by Donald Trump, Dutton said the medevac legislation had upended the process and claimed asylum seekers and refugees were still holding out for Australia.

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Culture shock: politics upended in era of identity

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Two worldviews face each other uncomprehendingly – and the flashpoint is the climate emergency

This is the first piece in a new series on what the election result means for the progressive side of politics and the path forward

Political commentators reflexively overinterpret election results. The story we’ve been told is that the Coalition’s win means that “Australian voters” have rejected Labor’s radical plan for reform of the tax-and-spend system, confirming that Australians prefer stability and incremental change.

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Leaks and loose lips undermine Labor unity ahead of campaign postmortem

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A decision on the Coalition’s tax cuts is the first item on the agenda as Anthony Albanese aims for aspirational voters

On the Labor side of politics, the beltway saga of Anthony Albanese versus John Setka has grabbed the headlines in recent weeks, with the public spat lumbering towards a decision point at the party’s national executive meeting on July 5.

But the troublesome Setka losing his ALP membership is only one item of business for the looming national executive. Another important consideration for that meeting is Labor’s post-campaign review: who does it, and how broad is the scope of the inquiry.

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City of Sydney councillors to vote on declaring climate crisis a national emergency

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Clover Moore says ‘successive federal governments have shamefully presided over a climate disaster’

City of Sydney councillors are set to vote on declaring the climate crisis a national emergency that “poses a serious risk to the people of Sydney”.

If passed, the council will join hundreds of local governments worldwide that have made similar declarations.

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Kristina Keneally says there is ‘no evidence’ medevac laws are not working

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Shadow home affairs minister says Labor would examine government amendments to laws, if necessary

Labor says it is prepared to consider government amendments to medical evacuation laws if necessary, but sees “no evidence” to suggest the laws are not working as intended.

As the home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, ramps up pressure on Labor to side with the government to scrap the so-called medevac laws passed against its will in February, Labor’s shadow home affairs minister, Kristina Keneally, said the party was standing firm in support.

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John Setka’s deputy Shaun Reardon quits over ‘irreconcilable differences’ with union boss

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CFMMEU assistant secretary says decision was not made under pressure as Setka faces calls to resign

The controversy surrounding the Victorian construction union boss John Setka has escalated with his deputy, Shaun Reardon, quitting, saying it was “untenable” for him to continue.

The resignation came as members of the CFMMEU were being individually lobbied to support Setka, who faces calls for his expulsion from the Labor party and resignation as Victorian secretary of the union.

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Coalition awarded $1.4bn in grants in election lead-up – half without an open tender process

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Battleground states of Victoria and Queensland were biggest beneficiaries, receiving $422m and $331m respectively

The Coalition awarded almost $1.4bn in grants through its regional development program in the lead-up to the election, with about half of the funding not subject to a competitive tender process.

The spending included grants made through the Stronger Communities program, a political slush fund that gives every lower-house MP $150,000 to spend on small community projects costing between $1,500 and $20,000. Almost $100m has been paid out under the scheme since it was first announced in the 2015 budget.

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Keneally backs medevac laws after Dutton claims Labor may help repeal bill

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Peter Dutton says legislation creates ‘broad power’ to overrule minister but Keneally says this has been ‘misconstrued’

Kristina Keneally has reaffirmed Labor’s support for the medevac legislation after Peter Dutton claimed the opposition is looking to repeal or amend the law which facilitates medical transfers from offshore detention.

On Sunday the home affairs minister said that more than 30 people have come to Australia under the medevac bill and gave new details about the refugee swap deal with the United States, including that two Rwandans accused of murder are the only people to have come to Australia under the deal.

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Lobbyist firm Barton Deakin says it ‘strongly supports’ introduction of watchdog

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Barton Deakin voices support for reforms designed to bolster transparency and integrity

One of Australia’s biggest lobbyist firms has said it “strongly supports” the introduction of an independent commissioner to investigate and oversee the sector.

The New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption is currently probing the weaknesses in the regime governing NSW lobbyists, and its chief commissioner, Peter Hall, has warned reforms are now “overdue”.

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Nothing new in Coalition’s nuclear awakening. No wait, perhaps there is

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Could this be the catalyst for the Coalition of 2019 to reconnect itself with the position it adopted in 2007 for sound reasons?

Fair warning before we kick off this weekend. Increasingly, I’m reaching that stage of my professional life where I can be heard muttering, and sometimes shouting, I’m too bloody old for this.

My long-suffering colleagues in the Canberra bureau of Guardian Australia have absorbed bouts of muttering and shouting over the past few weeks as various Nationals and some Liberals have lined up post-election to support a new inquiry into nuclear energy, as if this might be a light bulb moment.

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‘Long live love’: Blanche d’Apulget pays tribute to Bob Hawke in memorial service – politics live – politics live

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Party greats, members of former PM’s family and those who knew him best led the public service at the Sydney Opera House

The Guardian brains trust are going to show you a few more photos from Mike Bowers, and a couple more bits and bobs from the day, so I will leave you in their very, very capable hands.

Politics Live will be back, with parliament, in just a few short weeks.

The crowd here has had a singalong and toasted to Bob – there’s a lot of love in this little Brisbane pub.

There is also a lot of love in the Opera House, where David Marr has been watching the service and crowd along with Mike Bowers.

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Australia must use past success to reset future asylum policy, professor says

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Jane McAdam of the Kaldor Centre for refugee law argues for seven principles to inform new policy and overturn ‘draconian’ laws

Australia can reset and reform its refugee and asylum seeker policy by looking to its past successes and best current practice from around the world, a leading refugee law study centre has found, to create a “principled and pragmatic” approach.

The UNSW Andrew and Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law has examined best practice refugee policy throughout the world, crafting seven principles as a foundation for “a more positive, long term approach” to how Australia treats those seeking asylum.

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John Setka refuses to resign and says reports he denigrated Rosie Batty are ‘fabricated’

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Victorian CFMEU leader says attacks on him are ‘political smears’ and that he answers to union members

Embattled union boss John Setka has said he will not stand down as CFMMEU Victorian state secretary, plunging the union movement further into crisis.

“There’s no reason for me to resign,” said Setka, who fronted the media Wednesday with his wife, Emma Walters.

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US fought for right to launch fresh case against two Rwandans accepted by Australia

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Exclusive: court documents show US attorney wanted to be able to prosecute pair again for ‘horrendous’ crime, before they came to Australia in refugee swap deal

Two Rwandans accepted into Australia were accused of crimes so “grave” and “horrendous” that the United States fought for the right to prosecute them a second time, court documents show.

The Australian government sparked controversy last month for accepting two Rwandan militants previously accused of murdering tourists in targeted 1999 attacks in the Bwindi Impenetrable national park in Uganda.

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Coalition unlikely to get full tax cut package passed, key crossbencher says

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Centre Alliance demands gas export controls, fearing any tax cut will go into the ‘pockets of overseas energy companies’

The Centre Alliance senator Stirling Griff says it is “most unlikely” the Coalition will be able to pass its full income tax cut package in the first week of July when parliament returns, and has joined Labor’s call for the government to split the legislation.

Griff, who is one of two key crossbench senators in negotiations with the government over the $158bn tax cut package, said he was waiting for a response from Treasury and the Coalition after the party outlined its demands on energy policy.

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Labor holds off supporting Indonesian free trade agreement

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ALP had pledged to renegotiate agreement if it won office but will now wait until parliament resume to decide whether to ratify it

Labor is holding out its support for the Indonesian free trade agreement signed off by the Coalition in the previous parliament, as the trade minister, Simon Birmingham, warns against a retreat into protectionism following a meeting of G20 trade ministers.

Speaking to Guardian Australia following the meeting in Tokyo over the weekend, Birmingham said that given trade tensions between China and the US, the country’s signed agreements with Indonesia, Peru and Hong Kong carry additional importance.

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AFP signals journalists could face charges for publishing secrets

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Acting AFP commissioner denies the government directed the investigations, which have led to raids on the ABC and News Corp this week

The Australian federal police have all but confirmed that ABC and News Corp journalists could be charged for publishing protected information after two dramatic days of raids which prompted outrage and drew international attention to Australia’s draconian secrecy laws.

The acting AFP commissioner, Neil Gaughan, held a press conference on Thursday to contain political fallout, denying suggestions the police had waited until after the federal election to execute warrants and claiming no contact had been made with the executive since they informed home affairs minister Peter Dutton’s office when the investigations started.

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People smuggling at top of Peter Dutton’s agenda during Sri Lanka visit

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Home affairs minister to hold high-level meetings and says Australia will help country rebuild after Easter terrorist attacks

The home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, will hold high-level meetings in Sri Lanka on Tuesday, with people smuggling at the top of the agenda.

Dutton is due to meet Sri Lanka’s president Maith­ripala Sirisena, prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his ministerial counterpart in Colombo on Tuesday.

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