Resource minister Madeleine King released party’s future gas strategy, which says new sources will be needed ‘to 2050 and beyond’
Anthony Albanese is facing an internal revolt with Labor backbenchers pushing back against the government’s support for new gas production.
Five inner-city MPs have criticised the government’s gas strategy, arguing it will overshadow progress on clean energy.
Continue reading...Sky News podcast casts doubt on One Nation leader’s claim she did not know Faruqi was a Muslim when she sent ‘piss off back to Pakistan’ tweet, court told
The Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi has applied to the federal court to reopen her racial discrimination case against Pauline Hanson, in a bid to air new evidence alleging that the One Nation leader knew Faruqi was a Muslim when she tweeted for her to “piss off back to Pakistan”.
Faruqi has alleged she had been racially discriminated against and vilified by Hanson under section 18c of the Racial Discrimination Act and last week the federal court spent four days hearing evidence from both senators.
Continue reading...Government’s promised ‘future gas strategy’ will argue the fossil fuel is important part of transition to net zero emissions. This blog is now closed
NSW’s arts minister, John Graham, says a Sydney council has sent a “terrible message” by voting to ban same-sex parenting books, importing a “US culture war into our country”.
In case you missed it: Cumberland city council voted to place a blanket ban on same-sex parenting books from local libraries. Labor councillor Mohamad Hussein voted in favour of the motion, which passed six to five.
That’s a good thing. I think it’s a chance for the council to reconsider.
It’s a terrible message to send, to have this councillor importing this US culture war into our country and playing it out on the shelves of the local library. I think the community expectations are clear – the local councillors should be coming around to pick up their bin, not telling them what to read.
Continue reading...Government dampens hopes for an increase to jobseeker, despite pressure from economists, social justice groups and equality advocates
Australians are forecast to have more disposable income next year, according to budget predictions, with higher wages, tax cuts and lowering inflation.
But those on unemployment payments are unlikely to see any major change to their financial situations, with the government dampening expectations the base jobseeker rate will increase, despite growing pressure from economists, social justice groups and equality advocates.
Continue reading...Recommendation comes after two days of hearings and nearly 300 submissions from health, education, pharmaceutical and other sectors
A bill to ban the manufacture, sale and advertising of vapes in Australia should be passed, a Senate committee has recommended, after evidence from public hearings and almost 300 submissions.
If passed by the Senate, the legislation will mean the only way vapes can legally be obtained is through a prescription from a GP or nurse practitioner. A vote is expected in June.
Continue reading...The number of tourists on K’gari could soon be capped on the busiest days of the year. Follow today’s news live
CFMEU welcomes funding of 15,000 fee-free construction Tafe places in budget
The CFMEU has welcomed a funding boost for apprenticeships and traineeships in the upcoming budget.
This investment will mean more apprentices and trainees will get the training they need to build critical housing and infrastructure that Australia desperately needs …
There’s an often-overlooked distinction between apprenticeships and traineeships but thankfully the government recognises the importance of both – that’s critical to addressing construction skills gaps.
If they don’t mobilise this government into real action I just don’t know what will. Half of all threatened species becoming extinct is an intolerable outcome.
Report after report has shown the terrible decline of biodiversity in NSW, and the Ken Henry review of biodiversity laws gave the government very clear recommendations on how to slow and reverse this trend, but the government still hasn’t responded after seven months.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Andrew Giles argued that court evidence about how ankle monitors work could help freed detainees breach visa conditions
The Albanese government has successfully suppressed details of the effectiveness of electronic monitoring, arguing that transparency could encourage former immigration detainees to breach ankle bracelet visa conditions.
On Friday the high court granted a suppression order on expert evidence relating to how ankle monitors work in a challenge of harsh new visa conditions, set to be heard as early as August.
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The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, says the prime minister needs to “pick the phone up” and speak directly to the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, after the Australian government accused a Chinese fighter jet of dropping flares close to an Australian helicopter in international waters.
The defence minister, Richard Marles, yesterday branded the incident as “unacceptable” and said the Australian pilot had to take evasive action to avoid the flares. You can read all the details below:
I think the prime minister needs to pick the phone up, frankly, and speak to the Chinese president … and express our deep concern, because at some stage, there’s going to be a miscalculation and an Australian defence force member is going to lose their life.
And that is a tragic circumstance that has to be avoided at all costs, but there will be a miscalculation by somebody who’s flying that jet or somebody who’s on the deck of a Chinese naval ship, something will happen.
Continue reading...‘That would require a stadium,’ federal court hears as airline administrators try to organise online meeting for Friday that would allow everyone to vote
Administrators determining the future of the troubled airline Bonza are bracing for as many as 20,000 out-of-pocket customers to join a creditors meeting this week with the federal court hearing that online voting options are being considered.
On Tuesday lawyers representing Hall Chadwick, the administrators controlling Bonza after its planes were abruptly repossessed a week ago, appeared before the federal court justice Elizabeth Cheeseman seeking orders to streamline the process for the first creditors meeting on Friday. It will be held amid ongoing efforts to find a new owner for the budget carrier.
Continue reading...Defence minister Richard Marles says protests made to Beijing over ‘unacceptable’ altercation that forced pilot on UN mission to avoid being hit
The federal government has accused a Chinese fighter jet of dropping flares dangerously close to an Australian helicopter on a United Nations mission in international waters.
The defence minister, Richard Marles, branded the incident “unacceptable”.
Continue reading...Women’s Legal Services Australia says fathers take ‘extraordinary measures’ to reduce taxable income and support payments
Child support has become a “tool of violence” used to economically abuse women in Australia, new research has found.
Those paying child support are overwhelmingly men and some are coercing and controlling payees – mostly women – through avoiding payment.
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‘Lower the temperature’ on protests at university campuses, education minister says
The education minister was also asked about the pro-Palestine encampments taking place across Australian universities, and whether they should be allowed to continue for as long as students are willing to man them.
There’s always going to be protests in a democracy, that’s part of being a democracy. What there’s no place for is hate or violence or prejudice or discrimination and certainly no place [for] antisemitism or Islamophobia – whether it’s on our university campuses or anywhere else in the country.
What I’d say is that we’ve just got to lower the temperature. You know, what’s happening on the other side of the world is trying to pull our country apart. We’ve got to work together – whether it’s politicians or religious leaders or community leaders, whether it’s the media, or student representatives – to work to keep our country together, not let it get pulled apart.
There’ll be a lot of people who will still be able to work at the same time as they’re doing [placements]. But there are people who can’t [and] this will provide that bit of extra help to pay the bills, put food on the table, pay for transport, sometimes the relocation costs that come with prac.
The commonwealth government hasn’t done this before. This is the first time that this has happened. It’s happened in the in response to calls from students – both teaching students and nursing students and social work students – across the country, and it’s come out of the work for the universities accord team that heard loud and clear that there is placement poverty in this country.
Continue reading...Ministers promise ‘responsible middle path’ and hint at second consecutive surplus but warn some spending deficits will remain
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has declared next week’s budget neither the time for “scorched-earth austerity” nor for unrestrained spending as he hints again at a possible second consecutive surplus.
“The budget is in much better nick than the budget that we inherited almost precisely two years ago,” Chalmers said on Monday.
Continue reading...Midwives and social workers will also be given $320 weekly payment for undertaking mandatory work placements at university
Student teachers, nurses, midwives and social workers will receive a $320 weekly payment during their mandatory placements under a new cost-of-living measure in the May budget.
The Albanese government will establish a commonwealth practical payment for 68,000 university students and 5,000 vocational education and training students undertaking mandatory workplace placements as part of their courses.
Continue reading...Katy Gallagher says more aid for women escaping violence could come in form of increased rent assistance as sector struggles to recruit workers
Just 30 of the 500 frontline domestic violence workers promised by the Albanese government have been delivered so far, the minister for women, Katy Gallagher, says.
Gallagher, who is also the finance minister, revealed the difficulty recruiting workers in a pre-budget interview with ABC’s Insiders, suggesting that further help for women escaping violence could come in the form of increased rent assistance.
Continue reading...Communications minister Michelle Rowland won’t rule out strengthening the news media bargaining code to compel platforms to make news available
The federal government is not ruling out requiring tech giant Meta to carry news on its social media platforms as well as pay for it, as Labor considers whether to activate and toughen the still-dormant news media bargaining code.
The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, told Guardian Australia the government would consider possible changes to its code upon completion of a review into the role the tech platforms play in the news market in Australia.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Penny Wong says a two-state solution is ‘the only path out’ of a cycle of violence as she meets Germany’s Annalena Baerbock
The Australian government faces a decision next week on whether to support admitting Palestine as a full member of the UN and is swapping notes with allies including South Korea and Germany.
A copy of the draft resolution, seen by Guardian Australia, expresses “deep regret and concern” that the US used its veto power to block the proposal at the UN security council last month.
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PM responds to reports regional women camping out, sleeping in cars
Anthony Albanese has commented on reports that carparks in regional areas are being opened for women to sleep in tents or their cars.
We have allocated funding through our Housing Australia Future Fund for emergency accommodation for women and children escaping domestic violence. I will be in discussions with the states and territories as well about what more can be done.
We know that the circumstances where a woman is escaping a violent situation [and] has to sleep in her car or surf on a couch of a friend and rotate around, we hear stories about that as well, is unacceptable in 2024. We need to do better. There’s no question about that.
We need to look at bail laws. More importantly, we actually need to look at how we can keep women, or victims and children in the home environment and force the perpetrator to leave. We have a program in NSW called the Staying Home: Leave Violence program. There are over 138 LGAs in this state at the moment, only 91 have access to that program, even though we know it is incredibly effective. We need programs like that funded immediately, not just across NSW but across the country.
I am optimistic about who we are as a country and our capacity to take responsibility for ourselves. The time of us to do this is now. We don’t have three months, which is what the government is suggesting, to wait and see what happens next. By then another 23 women will have lost their lives.
Continue reading...Mehreen Faruqi’s lawyer tells court it is ‘unlikely’ Pauline Hanson did not know Greens senator is Muslim
Pauline Hanson’s controversial tweet to fellow senator Mehreen Faruqi telling her to “piss off back to Pakistan” was “not nice” or “polite” but was not racist, her lawyer has told the federal court.
Faruqi has brought a racial discrimination case against Hanson in the federal court, alleging she was subjected to racial vilification, abuse and discrimination after Hanson tweeted in response to Faruqi critiquing colonisation on the day Queen Elizabeth II died.
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Prime minister says trial ongoing into funding for women escaping violence
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking to ABC RN about yesterday’s announcements after national cabinet.
Well, there is already a trial going ahead. We want to make sure that the processes are in place [so] that they will begin within the next financial year as a permanent program, not just offering financial support, but as well as offering support for referral services, risk assessments, safety planning, and other support …
This isn’t something that you solve with a meeting on one day. This is something that governments are determined to take action on. For some of us this is deeply personal, for others, it is incredibly important.
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