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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...Keith Pitt and James McGrath behind move, saying ‘we have to be able to investigate all options’
A group of Queensland Liberal National party MPs reportedly want parliament to consider the feasibility of nuclear power in Australia.
The energy source is banned as a source of power but several Coalition MPs will put forward a motion in the Senate to create a committee to investigate using nuclear power in the energy mix.
Continue reading...Kristina Keneally will become the shadow home affairs minister and Jim Chalmers will be shadow treasurer
Anthony Albanese has unveiled Labor’s new shadow ministry, saying the “outstanding new team” will hold the government to account and develop a fresh policy agenda to take to the next election.
The former New South Wales premier Kristina Keneally is the big winner from the opposition leader’s cabinet shake-up, taking the position of shadow home affairs minister after she secured a spot on Albanese’s leadership team as deputy Senate leader.
Continue reading...Rwandan community doesn’t want genocide victims’ families living in Australia to experience additional trauma
Celestin Ngoga knows what happens when Rwanda’s traumatic history comes hurtling into the present.
He’s been on European streets with genocide survivors when they encountered their attackers by chance. It can happen in English classes, he says, or on the train, or in shopping centres.
Continue reading...Everything pointed to a Labor win in the 2019 election. But it is only a pretence that we are in the certainty business
The federal election wash-up is a quaint sort of ritual. There are, inevitably, explosions of feelpinion about why one side won and the other side lost. The victors rush to write the first draft of history, and on the losing side there is a frenzy of backside covering and jostling for future advancement, masquerading as deep insights about who failed to do what and when.
All of it, the initial download – masters of the universe versus the vanquished – is inherently unreliable because the protagonists are unreliable. They are still processing what has happened and they are positioning for the next thing, because that’s how the psychology of politics works. Everything is refracted through post-campaign decompression and self-interest.
Continue reading...New leader pledges ‘blank canvas’ on policy while signalling pro-business shift and appeal to ‘successful’ Australians
Labor leader Anthony Albanese says the party will do things differently to win the next election, indicating a pro-business shift and an appeal to “successful” Australians.
Repudiating Bill Shorten’s campaign rhetoric that targeted the “top end of town”, Albanese emphasised his links to corporate Australia, and singled out the party’s franking credit policy as a key failure of Labor’s bid for election.
Continue reading...Two men accused of killing tourists were resettled despite being members of a group on a terrorist exclusion list, as judge in their case brands them ‘dangerous’
Two Rwandans who were let into Australia under a secret US aslyum deal could have been rejected under Australia’s strict and vigorously enforced character test, a migration law expert has said.
The assessment comes as an American judge who heard their US asylum case insisted they were “dangerous” and had posed a threat to the safety of the US.
Continue reading...RepuTex modelling suggests surge in state schemes and rooftop solar will reduce wholesale prices, making gas- and coal-fired power less competitive
Australia is on track to achieve 50% renewable electricity by 2030 even without new federal energy policies, according to modelling by the energy analysts RepuTex.
The analysis, to be released on Wednesday, suggests that a surge in renewable energy driven by state schemes and rooftop solar installations will reduce wholesale prices from $85 per MWh to $70 over the next three years.
Continue reading...Australia to discuss Pacific investment bank and infrastructure amid concerns over Chinese influence
Australia is set to sound out the Solomon Islands on its infrastructure wish list and pitch its new Pacific investment bank, amid growing concerns over Chinese regional influence and debt-trap diplomacy.
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, is expected to arrive in the capital, Honiara, on Sunday for a day-and-a-half bilateral visit before he heads to the United Kingdom and Singapore.
Continue reading...Treasurer signals new infrastructure for renewable zones, and says Coalition will pursue climate policy it took to the election
Josh Frydenberg says Australia needs to roll out new infrastructure in the coming term of government to support renewable energy zones, and has declared that the “inevitable” transition to low-emissions sources creates an opportunity for the country.
In his first wide-ranging interview since holding his Victorian seat last weekend, where he was subjected to a concerted campaign from the Greens and the climate-focused independent Oliver Yates, Frydenberg told Guardian Australia the Coalition would implement the $3.5bn climate policy it took to the election rather than pursue a reboot.
Continue reading...Likely new Labor leader sets up battle with Coalition, calling on Scott Morrison to split tax cut package
Anthony Albanese says Scott Morrison should split the income tax cuts package when parliament resumes after the election, signalling Labor is still on the fence about whether to support tax cuts for Australians on high incomes.
After Queensland rightwinger Jim Chalmers quit the Labor leadership field on Thursday, leaving Albanese with a clear path to replace Bill Shorten as Labor leader, the high-profile New South Wales leftwinger told reporters it wasn’t sensible for the Coalition to bake in tax relief for the top end several years in advance.
Continue reading...Chalmers declares himself a possible candidate to run against Albanese after Chris Bowen pulls out of the race
The Queensland Labor rightwinger Jim Chalmers is continuing to mull whether to run for the party leadership after a coordinated show of force from the frontrunner, Anthony Albanese, prompted an early withdrawal from the ballot by Chris Bowen.
Bowen withdrew from contention and encouraged Chalmers to throw his hat in the ring only 24 hours after entering the field following a string of endorsements for Albanese from both the right and left factions over the course of Wednesday.
Continue reading...ALP searches for a new leader to replace Bill Shorten as Palaszczuk seeks Adani approval timeline by Friday. All the day’s events, live
Prime Minister @ScottMorrisonMP & I met with Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe in Sydney this morning.
The independent @RBAInfo helps maintain stability of our currency as well as the employment, economic prosperity & welfare of the people of Australia. pic.twitter.com/moLeByzxbK
I'm not saying "economic anxiety" isn't often a euphemism for racism. But we prob should stop wondering why Townsville people are receptive to any hope of jobs pic.twitter.com/W4ir9Xa2Di
You’ll notice how often jobs comes up in this piece. Townsville is absolutely struggling. And minor parties did make all the difference.
Related: The story behind Herbert, the most marginal seat in the country – Australian politics live podcast
Continue reading...Labor facing factional battle between Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen
The former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce is positioning himself for a return to cabinet following the Coalition’s shock election win, as Scott Morrison prepares to unveil his new-look frontbench as early as next week.
The jockeying within the Coalition comes as Labor’s leadership contest crystallises, with a factional battle looming between the shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen, and leftwinger Anthony Albanese.
Continue reading...Deputy leader says ‘now is not my time’ to run for Labor leadership, as Coalition inches towards majority after Australia’s election. Follow all the day’s events
The count continues, as do the Labor leadership deliberations.
We should find out tomorrow if it will be a contested ballot, or if Anthony Albanese, as the only declared candidate, is elected unopposed. Jim Chalmers, Chris Bowen and Clare O’Neill (as a deputy contender) are names repeatedly thrown around as maybe challengers.
And the Liberals have just moved ahead in Macquarie – it’s only 20 or so votes at this stage – but it’s the first time the Liberals have been ahead in the count. If that trend continues, Scott Morrison is looking at holding 78 seats.
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