Labor PM, who served from 1983 to 1991, modernised Australia’s economy and introduced significant social reforms
Australia’s 23rd prime minister and Labor elder statesman Bob Hawke has died.
Hawke died peacefully at home, aged 89 years, according to a statement by his widow Blanche D’Alpuget released on Thursday evening.
Continue reading...How does poverty remain entrenched while wealth bounds on? The answer isn’t only about economics, but also about culture
Australia is now the wealthiest country in the world and yet our poverty rates have remained persistently high over decades of economic growth.
Why does poverty remain entrenched while overall wealth bounds on? How is it that this is tolerated, let alone reinforced, by government policies? The answer isn’t just about economics, it’s also about culture. There are dark forces at play that allow the experience of poverty to persist despite being surrounded by wealth.
Continue reading...Labor leader wants to bring together business groups and unions for meeting, as Bob Hawke calls Shorten a ‘consensus leader’. All the day’s events, live
Today the high court has released its full reasons for its decision in the case brought by former Liberal National Queensland president Gary Spence to challenge Queensland’s developer donation ban. Orders were delivered in April upholding Queensland’s ban, closing a loophole that would have allowed developers to donate to candidates in the federal election campaign.
The first thing to note is that Spence did not come close to winning on the point of whether the ban impermissibly burdens the implied freedom of political communication.
Scott Morrison ‘aspiration’ count:
14 May – 21 times
Continue reading...Party failed to properly authorise content appearing on Sydney Morning Herald, New Daily and Medical Daily sites
The electoral watchdog has formally warned the Liberal party about the lack of sourcing on party ads appearing on major news websites.
Ads trumpeting the Liberal party’s tax plan have appeared across major news websites this week, as the party makes a last-ditch attempt to woo voters.
Continue reading...Caroline Danaher remains unapologetic after being charged with trespassing in front of Sarah Henderson’s office
A 76-year-old woman arrested and charged for trespassing at Liberal MP Sarah Henderson’s office said she’ll be back again to protest against political inaction on climate change, and that “every one in this country should be doing the same to their local representatives”.
Every Friday for the past four months, Caroline Danaher has sat outside Henderson’s office with two deck chairs. In 40C heat or in the rain, her goal is a meeting with Henderson, whose office is in the marginal Victorian seat of Corangamite.
Continue reading...The ALP’s candidate for Dawson confirms ‘scary incident’ where the fuel tank of her car was broken into. All the day’s events, live
And then it ends with this:
PK: Finally, you want to remove Josh Frydenberg, who fought hard for the National Energy Guarantee and for a compromise to move forward on climate change and energy. Is that a smart move?
Patricia Karvelas: One of the critiques of you is past involvement in Link Energy’s purchase of fossil fuel assets in 2010. Do you regret that?
Oliver Yates: I think the question is you need to see it was a company who bought them before I was even on the board. This is part of the Liberal dirt sheet. It’s round to everybody...
Continue reading...Chris Bowen says the opposition can afford the policy because it is ‘closing loopholes’ for the wealthy
Labor will match Scott Morrison’s election pitch to first home buyers, saying it can afford to support the government’s home deposit scheme because it is “closing loopholes” for the wealthy.
After the Coalition used its campaign launch on Sunday to announce the new housing affordability measure, Labor’s shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen, criticised the government for the 11th-hour decision, but supported the proposal.
Continue reading...Some of central bank’s new numbers match budget while others undermine it
The Reserve Bank’s quarterly economic forecast has been used as campaign fodder by both Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten after some predictions matched those of the government but some undermined it.
On Friday the central bank said it was now forecasting year-average growth of 2.25% for 2018-19 and 2.5% for 2019-20. The figures for this financial year are down on those given by the RBA three months ago, but are “consistent” with the Coalition government’s federal budget forecasts, Scott Morrison said.
Continue reading...Clive Palmer also sacks United Australia party hopeful Tony Pecora who peddled conspiracy theories about 9/11
A Liberal candidate in Melbourne’s northern suburbs has finally been dumped after new posts emerged where he dismissed a woman’s rape allegations, while Clive Palmer has jettisoned a United Australia party (UAP) hopeful who peddled conspiracy theories about the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The two candidates, the Liberals’ Gurpal Singh in the safe Labor seat of Scullin and Tony Pecora of the UAP, who was standing in the Greens’ seat of Melbourne, became the latest in a long line of fallen candidates this election when both were disendorsed late on Thursday night.
Continue reading...Home affairs minister makes rare appearance on the campaign trail while Tanya Plibersek says Labor is ‘not contemplating a royal commission’ into media monopolies. All the day’s events live
OMG the Sky ticker has actually changed to “Latham calls out political correctness”.
This has made my day.
The Sky ticker currently says “Latham criticises ‘leftist elites’” and truly, it is not just death and taxes we can rely on any more in this crazy world, and I for one am grateful for some sort of consistency. It’s comforting.
It would only be more obvious if the ticker said something like “Latham stands against political correctness”, but I guess we have to save some things for tomorrow.
Continue reading...Third leaders’ debate to be hosted by National Press Club as emotions run high after Daily Telegraph story. All the day’s events, live
The leaders are in place, and so are we.
Ring the bell!
The Sydney Morning Herald and the Age reports that Clive Palmer’s political party is “undecided” on vaccines.
You are not reading that wrong, and yes, we have been here before – it was just with Pauline Hanson last time.
This election for the Liberals has always been Morrison or bust because the party has nothing much left to offer
We are going to have to wait and see what Scott Morrison bowls up at his official campaign launch on Sunday, but the forward sizzle before the event has been, how can I say this politely? Unusual.
Over the past 24 hours, we’ve had the Liberal party leader and the campaign spokesman both out to stress that Sunday’s set-piece will not be about the Liberal party, which is odd, given a campaign launch is traditionally an event to launch the Liberal party’s campaign for re-election.
Continue reading...Prime minister blames ‘cowardly activists’ after egg misses his head. The economy is again in the spotlight, as both parties wait to hear if the bank will cut interest rates. All the day’s events, live
Prime Minister attacked by a protester at the Country Women’s Associations meeting in Albury. The egg missed his head, but the vision shows that her hand did not. @9NewsBorderNE #9NewsAt6 pic.twitter.com/Bvg0rITray
AAP has also reported the woman accused of attempting to egg the prime minister was protesting against the government’s asylum seeker policies:
Outside the venue, the protester told reporters she didn’t mean to knock the other woman down.
“I don’t want to give a report, no thank you. I’ve got to go to work. No comment,” she told reporters.
Continue reading...Labor leader says he doesn’t share former PM’s concerns that the nation’s spy chiefs are damaging our relationship with China. All the day’s events, live
Well that looks like it answers that question
Don’t expect people like Peter Dutton and Tony Abbott at the Liberal campaign launch - they are busy defending their seats says @JoshFrydenberg who is on tv with me very soon #auspol19
It’s amazing the differences an election campaign can make to people’s positions.
From ABC Adelaide, where Georgina Downer is again trying to take the seat of Mayo off Rebekha Sharkie:
Mayo Liberal candidate Georgina Downer says the minimum wage is “about right” after previously pushing for it to be abolished along with penalty rates.
In an interview with ABC Radio Adelaide this morning, Ms Downer backtracked on comments she made while working at the Institute of Public Affairs about the role of the Fair Work Commission.
Continue reading...With Bill Shorten a key player in the demise of both Rudd and Gillard, it’s a message that needs reinforcing
It wasn’t clear from our vantage point up the back how Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard reacted to the sequence of homilies at Labor’s 2019 campaign launch designed to tell voters the party had learned from the mistakes of the last period in government.
The former combatants walked into Bill Shorten’s event together, projecting tranquility and geniality, the joint entrance a modest mic drop executed in the low key spirit of show, don’t tell.
Continue reading...Zaki’s renunciation of her Afghan citizenship may be incomplete and Morrow faces claims she posted anti-asylum seeker posts online
The Liberal candidate for Canberra, Mina Zaki, may be ineligible to sit in parliament because the renunciation of her Afghan citizenship appears to be incomplete.
And the Labor party is facing some pressure to disendorse its candidate for the Western Australia seat of Durack, Sharyn Morrow, over alleged anti-asylum seeker posts on social media.
Continue reading...In an election focused on climate change, the Greens should be surging. But pressure is building inside the beleaguered party
It’s a climate change election but the political party with the utmost ambition on climate – yes, the Greens – is somehow on the outer. Flagging in the polls, cold-shouldered by Labor, the Greens have spent the campaign jostling elbows with a bunch of high-profile independents in the inner cities and battling the alt-right in the Senate.
Greens leader Richard Di Natale gave a rousing speech to the National Press Club on Thursday, pumped after an Easter family road trip from Melbourne to Brisbane with his predecessor Bob Brown’s Stop Adani convoy which will finish in Canberra on Saturday. Di Natale rattled off a list of impressive achievements in his first full term as leader of the Australian Greens, including paving the way on marriage equality, the banking and disability royal commissions, Medevac laws and a national anti-corruption body. Electorally, however, there is little sign the Greens are about to reap the rewards of its “thought leadership” among the parties.
Continue reading...The second debate of the campaign produced more sparks than the first, with the Labor leader branding the PM ‘a classic space invader’
Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten have clashed over their tax and climate policies in the second debate of the election campaign.
In a wide-ranging discussion between the two leaders in Brisbane on Friday night, undecided voters put questions to the leaders ranging from support for veterans to climate change.
Continue reading...Jessica Whelan, the Liberal candidate for Lyons, says comments posted under her name not made by her and were doctored
The major parties are standing by the two latest candidates in hot water for offensive social media posts attributed to them after a flurry of resignations overshadowed the third week of campaigning.
Speaking in Tasmania on Thursday, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, said he would stand by the Liberal candidate for the seat of Lyons, Jessica Whelan, who has denied making derogatory online comments about Muslims.
Continue reading...Minister grilled about Lyons candidate Jessica Whelan, who claims her Facebook page was doctored. Meanwhile, the climate policy debate heats up. Follow all the updates, live
Pre-poll is happening in droves.
About 375,000 people have cast a pre-poll vote after three days of early voting, running at approx 125,000 votes per day so far. This compares to a total of 225,000 votes at the same stage of the 2016 federal election. #ausvotes #auspol
Asked about preference deals, and whether the Coalition, being a coalition, had to accept blowback for their partner’s choices, David Littleproud had this to say:
I hardly see it’s disingenuous where we have a democracy, where the Australian people decide. They walk into the ballot box, not me, and they get to determine where they put each number on that ballot paper. And that’s the way it should be. This is merely a way that parties have come to an agreement around where they believe they should go, the least worst possibility, if you don’t want to vote for us. But the reality is, it is and always will be the gift of the Australian people. And it’s something we should always fiercely protect.”
Related: At the mercy of minors: Labor and LNP wrestle for hyper-marginal Herbert
Continue reading...