National party politicians struggle to get attention during election campaigns, but Canavan reckons eating an onion with the skin on might take off
It’s enough to bring tears to voters’ eyes.
Four years after Tony Abbott munched on a raw onion, resources minister Matthew Canavan has followed suit.
Continue reading...Labor senator launches scathing attack on home affairs minister, saying he’s the most toxic man in the Liberal party
Peter Dutton has apologised for accusing his Labor challenger, Ali France, of “using her disability as an excuse” not to move to the electorate during the campaign.
The apology came a little over an hour after a blistering attack by Labor senator Kristina Keneally, who called Dutton “mean and despicable”, a “thug”, and the “most toxic man in the Liberal party”.
Continue reading...Aid group publishes open letter to political leaders, asking them to act on their words if elected
Save the Children has called on Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten to publicly commit – if they win the election – to bringing home the children of Australian foreign fighters in Syria.
In a letter published on Saturday, the aid organisation demanded that the major parties pledge to “stop the war on children” and repatriate those who were brought to the Syrian conflict or were born there to Australians who chose to fight with Islamic State.
Continue reading...Parke says she did not want to be a distraction during the election campaign, despite her views being ‘well known’
The Labor candidate for the West Australian seat of Curtin, Melissa Parke, has pulled out following reports that she told a public meeting last month that the way Israel treated Palestinians was “worse than the South African system of apartheid”.
Parke, formerly a federal member for Fremantle, said on Friday night that she did not want to be a distraction during the election campaign. The seat of Curtin was previously held by former Liberal party deputy leader Julie Bishop.
Continue reading...The day started with Scott Morrison talking about a $387bn Labor tax slug and ended with Bill Shorten calling a Peter Dutton jibe ‘disgusting’
Scott Morrison’s ambition to make day two of the election campaign all about a $387bn Labor tax slug has been disrupted by Treasury disavowing the number and Peter Dutton accusing his Labor opponent in Dickson of using her disability “as an excuse’’ for not moving into the electorate.
Morrison hit the hustings on Friday armed with what the government said was new Treasury numbers revealing Labor’s “tax hit on the economy” would be $387bn but, later in the day, the Treasury head Phil Gaetjens confirmed officials had costed Labor measures at the government’s request but had not provided a total, making it clear the calculation was the government’s number.
Continue reading...Day two of the 2019 Australian election campaign is under way, with an opening salvo from the government. All the day’s events, live
The AEC has laid out its plan for counting the 16 million or so votes the federal election should bring in:
Following years of planning, fine tuning and improvements to AEC systems – plus the experience gained from running nine by-elections since 2017 – the AEC expects to:
Bill Shorten and the former AMA president, Brian Owler, the Labor candidate for Bennelong, is announcing Labor’s key policy for today: $125m for cancer research.
Continue reading...Coalition says Labor promises will be funded by ‘$387bn of new taxes on your income, your house, your savings’
The first costings war of the 2019 election campaign is underway, with the Morrison government releasing what it says are new Treasury numbers concluding Labor’s “tax hit on the economy” will be $387bn, not the $200bn figure it has been spruiking in its attack lines for months.
But the shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen, blasted back before the new material was published by news outlets, declaring on social media the calculations were “dodgy” and observing that “someone” in Treasury had some explaining to do, because the department has said previously it doesn’t cost opposition policies.
Continue reading...Liberal candidates under pressure from Greens and Independents have dropped Liberal logo for ‘modern Liberal’ tag
They’re billing themselves as the Modern Liberals. Which begs the question who are the old-school Liberals?
Dave Sharma, the Liberals’ candidate for Wentworth in Sydney’s east, and Tim Wilson, the member for Goldstein, covering Melbourne’s bayside suburbs, have both begun postering their electorates with corflutes that carry the tagline, “modern Liberal”.
Continue reading...The ads use Facebook functionality to target users with an interest in particular car brands, including Toyota Hilux utes
Toyota has said that it was not consulted on a Liberal party campaign that uses targeted Facebook ads to falsely claim Bill Shorten wants to tax popular car brands including the Toyota Hilux and other utility vehicles.
“Toyota Australia were not consulted on the use of the HiLux in government materials.”
Continue reading...Advance Australia character called ‘one of the dumbest ideas I’ve seen’ and likened to anti-cancer initiative shaped like a testicle
A large-headed, orange-clad superhero designed to put pressure on progressive lobby group GetUp has instead been ridiculed for being too confusing and boosting GetUp’s image.
Captain GetUp is an initiative launched on Tuesday by rival conservative lobby group Advance Australia to attack GetUp in a range of key seats at the federal election.
Continue reading...Scott Morrison hints Coalition may try to match Bill Shorten’s $2.3bn cancer package
Labor has promised to spend $500m to cut public hospital wait times for cancer treatment.
The policy, released on Tuesday, is part of the $2.3bn cancer package unveiled by Bill Shorten in his budget reply.
Continue reading...Chris Douglas calls for federal integrity commission to be handed wide-ranging powers
A long-serving former senior federal police officer has warned that the Coalition’s proposed integrity commission is flawed, weak and would “not be capable of responding to current corruption threats”.
Chris Douglas, a 31-year veteran of the Australian federal police, has called for the integrity commission to be handed wide-ranging powers, including the ability to recruit informants, use undercover operatives, make arrests and deploy wire taps.
Continue reading...Pauline Hanson publicly denies the 1996 massacre was a set-up, but the believers have consistently found a home in her party
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation has been connected to supporters of the Port Arthur conspiracy theory since before the party was formed in 1997, despite repeated assurances from the Queensland senator that she had never believed the theory.
According to a Queensland political historian, it would take “a lot of good faith” to assume that Hanson has not been aware that those supporting the conspiracy theory had found safe harbour in One Nation over the past 20 years.
Continue reading...We cannot have another pointless, rudderless, parliament like the one that has just limped to an end
There was a moment or two on Wednesday, during Josh Frydenberg’s traditional post-budget address to the National Press Club, where the room felt so depressurised it seemed like oxygen masks could tumble from the ceiling.
This bit of whimsy gripped me so profoundly, at one point I caught myself looking up at the ceiling, before shaking myself and looking back at the podium.
Continue reading...The Labor leader will give his party’s 2019 budget reply tonight, with bigger tax cuts for workers among the promises. All the day’s events, live
We are in the downhill slide for the final question time for the final time of the 45th parliament.
Cathy McGowan managed to bring everyone together for her farewell
Cathy McGowan and her Indi army of supporters in the entrance hall of Parliament House after she delivered her valedictory @AmyRemeikis @murpharoo @GuardianAus #PoliticsLive #auspol @Indigocathy pic.twitter.com/JFBXyn53ol
Continue reading...Independent Tim Storer warns voter confidence in politics is at ‘all-time low’ as he wins crossbench support for transparency charter
Senator Tim Storer says the major parties were “protecting their own skins” when they opposed a dramatic overhaul of anti-corruption measures proposed by a for-once united crossbench, including One Nation and Greens senators.
On Wednesday, 18 crossbenchers backed Storer’s “transparency charter”, which called for real-time disclosure of donations, a strong and well-resourced integrity commission, codes of conduct for MPs, reforms of freedom of information laws, stronger whistleblower protections, and changes to lobbyist rules.
Continue reading...Labor supports legislation in response to Christchurch shooting that threatens jail for executives, despite media companies’ concerns
The Australian parliament has passed legislation to crack down on violent videos on social media, despite furious reaction from the tech industry, media companies and legal experts.
The Labor opposition combined with the ruling Liberal-National Coalition to pass the law on Thursday, despite warning it won’t allow prosecution of social media executives as promised by the government. Tech giants expressed the opposite concern that it may criminalise anyone in their companies for a failure to remove violent material.
Continue reading...Coalition’s about face on one-off payment prompts Labor to declare the budget is already ‘falling apart’
The Morrison government’s big post-budget sell has been disrupted by its own late-night decision to backflip on providing a one-off payment to recipients of Newstart.
The government used Tuesday night’s budget to provide supplements to welfare recipients, with $75 for singles and $125 for couples going to 2.4 million pensioners, 744,000 disability pensioners, 280,000 carers, 242,000 single parents and 225,000 veterans and their dependents – but not to people on unemployment benefits.
Continue reading...The federal budget is done and the (unofficial) election campaign begins. All the day’s events, live
Penny Wong’s speech on Fraser Anning censure motion
Labor senator and Yawuru man Pat Dodson spoke powerfully about the “Killing times”, Australia’s massacre history, as part of today’s censure motion against Fraser Anning.
Our First Nations people have carried the consequence of murderous prejudice throughout our entwined history.
First Nations peoples in Australia know what it is like to be powerless in the face of hateful prejudice, fanned by the illusion of superiority; and the false courage created by a weapon in their hand and their victims are defenceless.
Continue reading...Australia’s treasurer says the budget is ‘back in the black’. This blog is now closed
And that is where we are going to end tonight, before we all turn into pumpkins.
But don’t worry, we’ll be back early tomorrow morning for all the fallout. Plus, you know, parliament.
Mike Bowers has been out and about:
Continue reading...