Australia’s global leadership on whale conservation will be tested as Japanese hunters move to a different hemisphere
Japan’s whaling fleet arrived back at the port of Shimonoseki on the weekend with a barbaric tally of 333 dead whales that are no longer swimming freely in the Southern Ocean.
If the work of the Japanese whalers is anything like last year, more than 100 pregnant females and 50 or so juveniles will have been killed. But from now on, things are different.
Continue reading...Labor abandons Kyoto credits and highlights vehicle emissions in climate policy, as budget and election loom. All the day’s events, live
Scott Morrison finishes his press conference with an attack on the Greens, which in this political climate is an attack on Labor:
Now, the Labor party have got to apply their own rule to their own decisions. If they want to have this rule, which says minor parties should be considered separate to the mainstream parties, well it seems that the Labor party doesn’t think the Greens have these extreme views.
They’ve got to apply the same ruler to themselves. We’ve made our decisions on this. The challenge is on Labor now. Are you for national security? Are you for the US alliance? Are you for border protection? Are you against death taxes? If that’s your view, if you’re for all of those things, then by all means put the Greens ahead of the Liberal party. But if you’re not, then you shouldn’t do that.
We now need to change the national anthem. We are no longer girt by sea, apparently, because – Labor.
Scott Morrison:
The only difference, when it comes to the National Energy Guarantee in terms of what Labor are proposing, is this: the reliability energy guarantee, which was part of the Neg we brought forward at the time, that’s now happening.
That’s the important part. The bit Labor are applying to that is legislating a 45% emissions reduction target. That’s what Labor are doing. They are going to legislate that. That’s not going to reduce power prices. Labor’s Neg actually put prices not down, because they are going to legislate a reckless target that will hit wages, that will hit jobs, that will hit production.
Continue reading...Greens senator and disability rights advocate Jordon Steele-John was speaking on Friday at the University of Melbourne, where he was named as one of the McKinnon political leaders of the year 'for his courageous, visionary and collaborative political leadership'. In his acceptance speech he condemned Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers and declared that 'the era of the dominant, white, able-bodied man is over'. He added: 'We see a perverse attempt to disown the monster of Fraser Anning without attempting to acknowledge and take responsibility for the collective roles played in the creation of that monster.' He went on to say that Australia was in desperate need of a parliament 'as diverse and as vibrant and as energetic as the community it is sent to represent'
Continue reading...Labor senator says those who ‘see political or commercial advantage in heightening cynicism’ are diminishing civic life
Penny Wong will say that “racism is a threat to our democracy” in a speech taking aim at those who see “political or commercial advantage” in increased cynicism towards public institutions.
The Labor senator is set to warn that hate speech and extremist views in parliament and a “lack of unity in response to these” have harmed democracy, pointing the finger in part at the Coalition for its tardy response to condemn One Nation in the 45th parliament.
Continue reading...One Nation leader tells al-Jazeera reporter there are ‘a lot of questions’ about 1996 attack
Pauline Hanson has implied that the 1996 Port Arthur massacre was a government conspiracy, in comments recorded secretly by al-Jazeera.
Hidden camera footage, released by al-Jazeera as part of the undercover operation that revealed One Nation had sought a US$20m (A$28m) donation from the US gun lobby, showed the party’s leader saying she had “a lot of questions” about Port Arthur.
Continue reading...Al-Jazeera journalist posing as gun campaigner films senior party figures in Washington DC soliciting financial support to help One Nation seize the balance of power
Senior One Nation figures James Ashby and Steve Dickson have been caught seeking millions of dollars of political donations from US gun rights group the National Rifle Association in a bid to seize the balance of power and weaken Australia’s gun laws.
The revelations are contained in an al-Jazeera investigation which used hidden cameras and a journalist posing as a grassroots gun campaigner to expose the far-right party’s extraordinary efforts to secure funding in Washington DC in September.
Continue reading...Nationals MPs have demanded action to underwrite new energy generation before the election
The energy minister, Angus Taylor, has signalled to restive Queensland Nationals that taxpayer backing for a dispatchable energy project is on the way as one of the rebel MPs has warned a decision is necessary before the election.
With cabinet set to consider energy among a range of issues on Tuesday, with the budget looming and the federal election now only weeks way, Taylor told journalists it was “critically important” that Queensland see more competition in power generation, and more dispatchable supply.
Continue reading...Government clings to power despite big gains from minor parties and independents
Gladys Berejiklian has said she is confident the Coalition will return to government in New South Wales with a razor-thin majority as counting continues after Saturday’s state election.
The premier, who is the daughter of Armenian migrants, reiterated her objection to comments by the Labor leader, Michael Daley, about young Sydneysiders leaving the city and being replaced by “Asians”, which surfaced in the final week of the campaign, suggesting her background had helped her connect with voters.
Continue reading...Plan would enable 76,800 low-cost loans each year to those in financial hardship
Labor has pledged $60m for financial services that divert vulnerable borrowers from high-interest payday lenders.
The policy picks up on the recommendation of a Senate inquiry to expand no interest loans schemes to prevent low-income Australians being plunged into a cycle of debt due to unexpected expenses such as medical procedures and broken household appliances.
Continue reading...There’s a good chance Saturday’s poll will produce a hung parliament. Here’s how to make your vote count – and where to buy your democracy sausage
Almost 5.3 million people are enrolled to vote at more than 8,000 voting stations in Saturday’s state election. New South Wales has fixed terms, with elections held on the fourth Saturday in March every four years since 1995. About a quarter of voters cast their ballot before election day in 2015, and this is expected to rise in 2019. Almost 850,000 people had voted by Thursday morning.
Continue reading...Mutual obligation overhaul welcomed but government urged not to rely on ‘automated compliance’
The government’s proposed changes to how job seekers are made to look for work while receiving welfare have been mostly welcomed by stakeholders – although it’s also been warned against creating another “robodebt” scenario through an overreliance on automation.
Kelly O’Dwyer announced the biggest overhaul in mutual obligation requirements for 20 years on Wednesday, with the government to free job seekers from having to apply for 20 positions a month, as well as allowing job hunters to look for work online.
Continue reading...The prime minister has spoken at Cashmere high school, which lost two students and a former student in Friday’s massacre
We’re going to wrap up the blog. Thank you for following along. Here’s what has happened today:
Continue reading...
NSW Labor leader says ‘no offence’ meant after video surfaces of him saying ‘our kids are moving out and foreigners are moving in’
The New South Wales opposition leader, Michael Daley is under sustained pressure over his comments in a 2018 video in which he said young Sydneysiders were leaving and being replaced by workers from Asia.
Despite repeatedly apologising “if anyone took offence” Daley insisted his comments were not racist or dogwhistling and were about housing affordability in Sydney.
Continue reading...All ultrasound and diagnostic radiology services to be cheaper under plan
Patients who need x-rays and ultrasounds will end up paying less under a new Morrison government pledge to reduce out-of-pocket expenses for the services.
The health minister, Greg Hunt, announced on Sunday the government would expand indexation of Medicare payments to all ultrasound and diagnostic radiology services over three years from 1 July 2020 – for the first time in 20 years.
Continue reading...Any 28-year-old has grown up in a time when racism was ratcheting up in the public culture
The worst terror attack in New Zealand’s modern history took place on Friday, and the alleged perpetrator is an Australian.
Appropriately, this calamity has started a process of deep reflection in the man’s home country. Everywhere, decent Australians are asking, how did we get here? Do we own him?
There has been extensive, international discussion about the role of the online subculture of the far right in these events – the codes, memes and signals of internet-mediated white supremacy.
Related: To prevent another Christchurch we must confront the right’s hate preachers | Jonathan Freedland
Continue reading...Gabrielle Chan finds bush electorates that were once locked in for the National party are now under siege from a variety of challengers
The state seat of Barwon is about as rusted-on as you can get.
About the same size as Germany, its south-western end is the Labor-dominated town of Broken Hill. Most of the rest is committed National party country and has been that way since 1950.
Continue reading...Marginal far-right senator had sought attention by blaming the New Zealand terror attack on Muslim immigration
An Australian senator who blamed the New Zealand terror attack on Muslim immigration has punched a 17-year-old boy after he was egged at an event in Melbourne.
Video footage recorded at the event appears to show Fraser Anning, a far-right independent Queensland senator, halfway through a press conference when the teenager cracked an egg over his head while filming with a mobile phone. The senator responded by punching the 17-year-old. The teenager was then tackled to the ground by Anning’s supporters and held in a chokehold.
Continue reading...Immigration minister says remarks by far-right figure were ‘appalling and foment hatred and division’
The Australian government has cancelled the visa of far-right commentator Milo Yianopoulos just a week after it was personally approved by the immigration minister.
Immigration minister David Coleman said on Saturday that comments about Islam made by Yiannopoulos in the wake of the Christchurch massacre were “appalling and foment hatred and division” and he would not be allowed in the country.
Continue reading...How is it right that in our parliament it is OK to call Islam a ‘disease’, it is OK to refer to a ‘final solution’, it is OK to ridicule our religious attire?
Dear Mr Morrison and Mr Shorten,
I am an Australian Muslim woman. I am highly educated and hold a professional job. In fact, I spend a great deal of my working life with the Australian legal system. I am a wife. I am a mother. And tonight I am frightened, anxious and so very sad.
The tragedy that has occurred in Christchurch has pierced a hole in my heart that I cannot actually close. The grief is deep – these innocent people were simply praying when massacred by a man who had a deep disdain and hatred for them, not because they said or did anything but simply because they were Muslim.
Watching the images and hearing the eyewitness accounts is beyond traumatic. We have shed tears and expressed our hurt, but most of us have something in common – as hard as it is to say this, we are not surprised or shocked.
Why? Because we have lived with this fear for a long time now. Genuine fear that our lives are at risk simply because we are Muslim.
Related: 'We love you': mosques around world showered with flowers after Christchurch massacre
Continue reading...Josh Thomas, who worked with three Liberal environment ministers, will get an annual salary of $353,180
A former policy adviser to multiple Liberal party environment ministers has been appointed the new chief executive of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the government body responsible for managing the reef.
Josh Thomas, who worked as an adviser to current minister Melissa Price, as well as former environment ministers Josh Frydenberg and Greg Hunt, will start a five-year term in the role on 18 March with an annual salary of $353,180.
Continue reading...