Category Archives: Australian politics

Australia news live: Bondi Junction killer’s father says he did everything in his power to help ‘very sick boy’ before stabbings

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Albanese on Bondi attacker’s motive: ‘The gender breakdown is of course concerning’

I just wanted to go back to the PM’s appearance on ABC radio earlier, where he was asked what he thought of the motive behind the attack.

NSW police have said they’re looking at that as part of the investigation.

The gender breakdown is of course concerning.

We’re working with Westfield. As I said, we handed back the crime scene last night. But it spread over seven floors at Westfield. It will take some time to prepare the stores for reopening. No doubt there’s some work to be done with stakeholders inside the Westfield, in terms of their own reaction and trauma to what has happened. So, that will be done very carefully, no doubt.

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Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial live updates: verdict an ‘unmitigated disaster’ for Lehrmann, Ten lawyer says; Wilkinson says she ‘published a true story about rape’

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Justice Lee finds Ten’s defence of truth successful after Lehrmann sued the network and journalist Lisa Wilkinson in the federal court of Australia for defamation. Follow the latest news and updates from the judgment today

Bruce Lehrmann and Lisa Wilkinson have both arrived into courtroom one on the 21st level of the federal court building in central Sydney.

Lehrmann is sitting at the bench, alongside his legal team, while Wilkinson is sitting on the other side of the courtroom in the front row of the gallery, in a row of red reserved seats.

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Industry to face ‘strict tests’ for public funding to incentivise green energy, Jim Chalmers says

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Treasurer offers more detail on forthcoming Future Made in Australia plan after concerns raised by productivity commissioner

Tax breaks and subsidies may be offered to industry as part of the government’s yet-to-be-detailed Future Made in Australia plan – but Jim Chalmers says there will be “strict tests” on public funding for the green energy strategy.

The treasurer says there must be “generational change” in Australia to match similar major green economy programs being undertaken by other nations including the US.

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Cook byelection: Liberal candidate Simon Kennedy wins Scott Morrison’s former seat

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The byelection in the south Sydney seat was triggered when the former prime minister announced his resignation from politics in January

Liberal candidate Simon Kennedy has been elected successor to former prime minister Scott Morrison in the seat of Cook in Sydney’s south.

Saturday’s byelection was triggered after Morrison announced his resignation from politics in January.

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Coalition hopes to exorcise the ghost of Scott Morrison as Cook goes to the polls

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Byelection in the south Sydney seat expected to be won by Liberal candidate Simon Kennedy as AEC warns voter turnout could be low

The Liberal party will be hoping to the exorcise the ghost of Scott Morrison on Saturday as voters in Sydney’s south go to the polls to elect his replacement.

The byelection in the seat of Cook, which comes after Morrison announced his resignation from politics in January, is almost certain to be won by the Liberal candidate Simon Kennedy.

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Top environmental groups say some of Labor’s new laws could take conservation backwards

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Alliance says there’s not enough ambition in proposed laws to prevent extinctions, as promised by the environment minister

The Albanese government is backing away from a promise to substantially transform how nature is protected in Australia and is planning some changes that would make things worse, according to eight of the country’s top environment groups.

The conservation organisations said they were concerned the government planned to break up promised legislation for new environmental laws and defer some difficult reforms until after the next election, if it wins a second term.

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Include a “call-in” power that allowed the minister to take over a decision from a proposed environment protection agency (EPA) “at any time and for any reason”.

Allow developers to make payments to a new “restoration contributions” fund to compensate for damage their projects caused to the environment. This would remove a requirement that environmental offsets provide a “like-for-like” replacement for ecosystems or species affected by a development.

Fail to give the new EPA the “teeth” it needed to be an independent and effective environmental regulator.

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Childcare workers to get wage boost in budget as Australia battles staff shortages

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Exclusive: Move is intended to prevent workers from leaving for other sectors, including aged care, where wages were recently increased

The Albanese government is in the final stages of signing off on a boost to childcare workers wages as a centrepiece of next month’s budget.

Guardian Australia understands the budget razor gang, the expenditure review committee, has considered a number of proposals on the sector-wide wage increase, which would see the government cover a significant pay rise for early childcare educators.

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Many aged care workers may wait until 2026 for full pay increase as Albanese government requests phased implementation

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Commonwealth requests Fair Work Commission phase in full 23% increase over two years to prevent workforce shortages elsewhere

Aged care workers should wait until January 2026 for the full 23% pay rise ordered by the Fair Work Commission, according to the Albanese government.

The commonwealth has requested that the commission phase in the increase over two years, from January 2025 and 2026, to prevent “large one-off wage increases” that would add to workforce shortages elsewhere in the economy.

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Australia news live: Tasmanian premier says ‘never appropriate’ to compare Port Arthur massacre to anything; stabbing at Bondi beach

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The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has defended his comments comparing a pro-Palestinian protest at the Sydney Opera House to the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, AAP reports.

Speaking on the Today show, Dutton stood by his remark and said the comparison was a commentary on the prime minister’s leadership:

The point I was making – which is absolutely a legitimate one – is that I thought this was a time for the prime minister to show leadership and to step up. Instead, we’ve had crickets.

You’ve got a contrast, I think, with John Howard, who stood up at a point of national importance for our country, demonstrated leadership and changed the course of history for the better.

That’s the parallel that I’m making – to the absolute absence of leadership from the prime minister at the moment, which has given rise to those in the Jewish community talking about feeling unsafe in our country.

I don’t resile from that at all.

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Peter Dutton’s office billed taxpayers almost $6,000 for staff to travel with him when he attended Gina Rinehart party

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Exclusive: Opposition leader travelled at own expense to lavish party, but documents reveal two staff also made the trip to Perth

Peter Dutton’s office claimed nearly $6,000 in public expenses for staff and security to travel to Perth with the opposition leader when he attended Gina Rinehart’s lavish birthday party.

Dutton’s office has said he travelled at his own expense to the party for Australia’s richest woman, which included a horseriding performance, multiple large cakes and onstage pyrotechnics. But travel information obtained under freedom of information shows members of Dutton’s team – which his office said included a staffer and a security detail – claimed travel from Melbourne to Perth and back again on 29 February, the night of the party on the banks of the Swan River.

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Australian War Memorial kept ministers in the dark on contracts for $550m redevelopment, audit finds

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In two cases, contracts were split to avoid triggering $1m threshold for ministerial approval, the Australian National Audit Office says

The Australian War Memorial kept ministers in the dark on key details of its controversial $550m redevelopment and failed to manage conflicts of interest, a new audit report has found.

The Australian National Audit Office said the AWM’s advice to ministers lacked “transparency [and] accuracy”, while “in two instances contracts were split” to avoid triggering the $1m threshold for ministerial approval.

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Bridget Archer leads criticism after Peter Dutton compares pro-Palestine protest to Port Arthur massacre

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Tasmanian Liberal MP labels comments ‘wholly inappropriate’ after PM says he was ‘taken aback’ by opposition leader’s speech

Peter Dutton has drawn widespread criticism, including from one of his own MPs, for comparing the 1996 mass murder of 35 people at Port Arthur to a pro-Palestine protest at the Sydney Opera House.

The Tasmanian Liberal backbencher Bridget Archer labelled Dutton’s comments “incredibly disrespectful” and “wholly inappropriate”.

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PM ‘taken aback’ by speech – as it happened

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Albanese says discussions on Palestinian statehood, two-state solution ‘are taking place’ globally

Moving back to the Australian government’s discussions regarding a Palestinian state (see earlier posts): Albanese was asked about comments from Peter Dutton last night, accusing Penny Wong of being “reckless” in advocating for Palestinian statehood as essential to sustainable Middle East peace.

A two-state solution is required in the Middle East to break the cycle that has been there for my entire lifetime. I think Australians want to see that and I want Israel to exist within secure borders in safety, security and prosperity, but I also want justice for Palestinians…

Well, they are taking place and you’re aware they’re taking place because you would have broadcast comments from people like David Cameron… who made similar comments, the comments of President Biden speaking [of] a two-state solution. Every one of our like-minded partners. I’ve issued joint statements with the prime ministers of Canada and New Zealand, three of the Five Eyes partners, calling for a two-state solution.

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Albanese says Australia needs ‘sharper elbows’ as he signals domestic innovation push

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Prime minister says government needs to be ‘more strategic and more sophisticated’ to compete globally

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is signalling a dramatic shift to unapologetically and directly supporting Australian industry and innovation, saying the country needs “sharper elbows when it comes to marking out our national interest” and competing with the rest of the world.

In a speech to be delivered to the Queensland Press Club on Thursday, Albanese will effectively launch his bid for re-election with a plan for a green interventionist industry policy, one which uses direct government support to speed up the energy transition, provide certainty for business and stem the flow of money and ideas to countries offering investment incentives.

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Christmas hams, candles and a ‘priceless’ 75cm statue: what Australia’s politicians are being gifted

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Disclosures include a custom turntable from Joe Biden and a statue depicting Julian Hill on a gold armchair gifted by a local supporter

The Labor MP Julian Hill’s declaration of a 75-centimetre statue of himself, given by a constituent, has shone a light on the interesting – and sometimes weird – world of political disclosures and gifts.

Gifts ranging from bottles of wine to customised vinyl record turntables, free concert tickets to flight upgrades are accepted and dutifully recorded on the federal politicians’ publicly-available register of interests, as required under parliamentary rules.

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Australia news live: Andrew Hastie warns of ‘breakouts of strategic disorder’ across globe; high court gives government win in ‘steering wheel’ visa case

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High court rules in favour of Andrew Giles in long-running case featuring a ‘bizarre’ photo of a signed ministerial brief next to a steering wheel. Follow today’s news live

‘Aid workers are to be protected’

Penny Wong was also asked to provide an update on the work done by Mark Binskin so far, who was appointed special adviser on Israel’s response to the deaths of World Central Kitchen aid workers, including Australian Zomi Frankcom.

There are positive engagements and we appreciate that this is a very important issue for Australia. We have been saying for a very long time it is important that international humanitarian law be adhered to.

Under international humanitarian law, as you know, aid workers are to be protected. Demonstrably, there was a deadly failure of deconfliction – deconfliction being the ways in which making sure that defence forces are aware of where humanitarian workers are so they can be protected and there was a deadly failure.

We’ve made no such decision, the discussion I want to have is to look at what is happening in the international community where there is the very important debate about how it is we secure long-lasting peace in a region where which has known so much conflict.

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‘Sign here’: high court finds no requirement for minister to read submissions on visa decisions

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Long-running dispute, featuring ‘bizarre’ photo of visa cancellation next to steering wheel, ends with finding that minister can rely on accurate summaries from department

The immigration minister is not required to personally read submissions for intervention on visa decisions, the high court has ruled, in a decision breaking Labor’s losing streak on sensitive migration cases.

On Wednesday, the high court unanimously ruled in favour of Andrew Giles in a long-running case featuring a “bizarre” photo of a signed ministerial brief next to a steering wheel.

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Scott Morrison-era ‘accounting tricks’ to cost public schools $13bn over next five years

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National School Resourcing Board’s review finds state schools lost more than $2bn in 2022 due to a Coalition-era loophole

Australia’s public schools will miss out on $13bn in the next five years if accounting tricks are maintained in upcoming funding agreements, a major report has found.

The National School Resourcing Board’s annual review, tabled in parliament last week, showed government schools lost more than $2bn in 2022 because of a Morrison-era loophole that allows states and territories to claim up to 4% of public school funding on non-school expenditures.

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Mona loses Ladies Lounge anti-discrimination case with ‘persons who do not identify as ladies’ to be allowed entry – as it happened

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A search will resume this morning for a woman who went missing while bushwalking at Belmore Falls in New South Wales.

Just after 1pm on Sunday, emergency services were called to Belmore Falls near Robertson after reports a woman had slipped and fallen down a cliff. An extensive search was initiated, but the 20-year-old was not located and the search was suspended at dusk.

We’ve got large multinationals in the supermarket ring who aren’t captured. So I’d like to see this expanded over time.

Woolworths, I think, makes a good point, and that is the code to be extended should be expanded to cover rivals Amazon, Costco and even Chemist Warehouse.

We’ll have more to say on that in coming weeks and months.

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Tanya Plibersek rejects Toondah Harbour project over impact on globally significant wetlands

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Walker Corporation had proposed 3,000 apartments, marina and shops for the site, which is a critical habitat for the endangered eastern curlew

• Toondah Harbour: should a wetland home to endangered birds become $1.3bn worth of shops, high-rises and a marina?
• To the moon and back with the eastern curlew

The environment and water minister, Tanya Plibersek, has announced she will reject an apartment and retail development on an internationally important wetland at Queensland’s Moreton Bay.

Plibersek said on Tuesday she would refuse Walker Corporation’s Toondah Harbour project – first proposed eight years ago and opposed by a long-running community campaign backed by scientists and conservationists – because it would have an unacceptable impact on the Ramsar site.

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