Category Archives: Australian politics

Peter Dutton wants a social media ban for children. But would ‘real life’ rules work?

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The opposition leader’s announcement that age-verification would be a Coalition government priority is a big promise that technology may not be able to fulfil

Both the federal government and opposition say they are on board with the idea to ban teens under 16 from using social media, but the prime minister set an important qualifier on Thursday when he said he would support such a ban “if it can be effective”.

Guardian Essential poll last week found two-thirds of voters were in favour of raising the age teens can access social media from the 13 that the companies have set themselves up to 16.

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Australia news live: person ‘likely’ with dementia made call to police before 92-year-old allegedly assaulted by police, Karen Webb says

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Chalmers asked about findings that jobseekers unable to afford ‘basics of life’

The treasurer Jim Chalmers was up on ABC News Breakfast just earlier, asked about new Anglicare data showing Australians on income support are “structurally unable to afford the basics of life”.

This is the primary motivation for the substantial cost of living relief that we’re providing in the budget. Whether it is the tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer, energy bill relief for every household, help with student debt and cheaper medicines, plus the increases to jobseeker – which were in the budget before last – all of these are important ways that we can not just understand and acknowledge the pressures that people are under, but actually respond to them.

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South Australia introduces ‘world-leading’ bill to ban political donations from elections

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Premier says move will end the ‘nexus between money and political power’ and challenges state and federal counterparts to follow suit

The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, has announced plans to ban political donations from state elections, paving the way for nation-leading electoral reforms.

The state’s electoral amendment bill announced on Wednesday night will ban electoral donations and gifts to registered political parties, members of parliament and candidates. The state will provide funding to allow parties and candidates to contest elections, run campaigns and promote political ideas.

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Australian live sheep export ban could set a ‘concerning precedent’, industry warns

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Legislation to ban live export of sheep by sea by 2028 introduced to parliament but all farming lobby groups oppose the move

Farming lobby groups say legislation to end live sheep exports by 2028 sets a “concerning precedent” for other agricultural export markets.

The comment was made at the first of two public hearings into legislation to phase out live sheep exports by 2028. The snap inquiry was called on 3 June after the agriculture minister, Murray Watt, introduced the legislation to parliament and is due to report by 21 June. It has already received 89 submissions.

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Panda diplomacy: Chinese premier Li Qiang could announce two new rare bears for Australia during state visit

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Wang Wang and Fu Ni have not conceived during more than a decade at Adelaide Zoo, sparking speculation they may be replaced

Australia’s giant pandas – having failed to breed – could be swapped for a new pair.

Chinese premier Li Qiang is expected to make an announcement about the future of the rare bears when he visits South Australia on the weekend.

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‘Disregard for truth’: inquiry calls for greater scrutiny of private consultants following PwC tax scandal

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But Greens say the consulting services inquiry report does not go far enough, calling for stronger action and penalties

Embattled consultancy PwC should be “open and honest” about its breach of confidential government information, and the public service needs to be better equipped to ensure value for money is obtained from consultants, according to the long-awaited findings of a Senate inquiry.

The committee has also recommended stricter regulations for large partnerships, including PwC, be considered, and that consultancy contracts worth more than $2m receive greater government scrutiny.

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New ‘targeted’ search in Samantha Murphy investigation – as it happened

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Sydney’s light rail network disrupted today amid industrial action

A reminder for Sydney commuters that the light rail network will be disrupted today amid planned industrial action.

Recent estimates have Australians consuming around 3,300,000 bags of cocaine per year, with every single one of them bought off the black market. There is no way of knowing whether any of them have been cut with deadly substances like fentanyl or nitazene.

We have to acknowledge that the majority of people who use cocaine do so recreationally and there is absolutely no chance of stopping people using the drug. We therefore need to consider all options to reduce harm, including regulating cocaine in a similar way to how we regulate alcohol.

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Details of $25m in Australian taxpayer-funded VIP flights to stay secret

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Calls intensify for the federal government to fully explain why it no longer publishes the information

The details of more than $25m in taxpayer-funded VIP flights for Australian ministers and dignitaries will be kept secret, fuelling calls for the federal government to fully explain why it no longer publishes the information.

The government has cited national security advice for the decision to no longer publish the flight logs, but advocates have argued transparency provides a deterrent to improper use and “right now, it’s potentially open slather”.

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Australia news live: Dutton suggests Coalition won’t provide 2030 emissions target before election5; Qld state budget announcement today

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Opposition leader says Coalition will ‘make our announcements in relation to our targets in due course’. Follow today’s news headlines live

Murray Watt says the opposition has “started the new climate wars” after Barnaby Joyce and Keith Pitt, two senior Nationals, called for Australia to pull out of the Paris agreement. You can read more on this from Karen Middleton below:

Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, Watt said:

We’re back to the same old climate wars in the Coalition. I saw overnight that [Joyce and Pitt] openly called for the Coalition to pull out of the Paris agreement. They’ve spent the last couple of days trying to paper over the cracks in the Coalition, saying that they can withdraw the target without withdrawing from the agreement. Now it’s out there in the open for everyone to see. And you can set your clock by Barnaby Joyce causing new climate wars within the Coalition. It’s seem like we’re back to the bad old days.

We’re on track to get to 42%, which is only 1% short of the 43% target.

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Queensland premier says ‘no update’ on anti-discrimination reforms – as it happened

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Brisbane Christian school issues apology two years after gender contracts

A Pentecostal Christian school has expressed regret for introducing a controversial student gender and sexuality contract two years ago.

We regret any distress or concern which was caused to students, parents and guardians of students or prospective students of the college.

We are working closely with all of our suppliers to ensure eggs remain available for our customers and we are providing support to the industry in responding to the Avian Flu cases in Victoria.

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More transparency needed on exports to Israel after Greens ‘exploited’ information vacuum, Labor says

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Defence industry minister says ‘social division and damage’ led government to rethink position on releasing information

The Albanese government has conceded it was forced to release more details about defence exports to Israel by a growing awareness that an information vacuum was being “exploited” and allowing misinformation to spread.

The defence industry minister, Pat Conroy, said the “level of social division and damage to our community has caused us to rethink the level of transparency needed”.

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King’s birthday honours list 2024: from a nun who spent 26 days outside parliament to ‘Australia’s job queen’

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Refugee advocate Sister Jane Keogh, rich lister Sarina Russo, Asio chief Mike Burgess and ex-premiers Dan Andrews and Mark McGowan among award recipients

Two former state premiers, a veteran refugee advocate and one of Australia’s richest women are among the hundreds of Australians to receive awards in this year’s King’s birthday honours.

While there are plenty of notable names sprinkled among the 737 Australians recognised, the governor general, David Hurley, noted that “the vast majority” are those quietly making a huge impact in their communities.

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Outgoing federal Labor MP backs Palestinian-Australian to replace her in Melbourne seat of Calwell

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Maria Vamvakinou announces she will quit politics at next federal poll and throws support behind former adviser Basem Abdo

Veteran Labor MP Maria Vamvakinou has announced she will end her political career at the next federal election and has backed a prominent member of the Palestinian-Australian community to replace her.

Vamvakinou, the member for Calwell in Melbourne’s outer north-west, has told the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, she will step down at the upcoming poll due by the middle of 2025.

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Non-citizen Andrew Giles wanted to be ‘rid of’ cannot be deported, court rules

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Exclusive: Safwat Abdel-Hady may now be able to pursue damages for false imprisonment after court found his detention was not authorised by Migration Act

A non-citizen convicted of offences related to alleged drink-spiking who Andrew Giles said he wanted to be “rid of” has had a major win in court, with the commonwealth conceding he cannot be deported.

On Tuesday the federal circuit court made declarations that “there was no real prospect of removal” of businessman Safwat Abdel-Hady currently or in the period 28 July 2022 to 13 February 2024 and his detention was not authorised by the Migration Act for those 18 months.

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Peter Dutton accused of trying to ‘rip up’ Australia’s commitment to Paris climate agreement

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Opposition leader reportedly told News Corp he would oppose the legislated 2030 emissions target – a 43% cut compared with 2005 levels – at the next election

Peter Dutton has been accused of planning to break Australia’s commitment to the landmark Paris climate agreement after he said he would reject the country’s 2030 greenhouse gas reduction target.

The opposition leader reportedly told the Weekend Australian that he would oppose the legislated 2030 emissions target – a 43% cut compared with 2005 levels – at the next election but remain committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050.

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Deepfakes of Australian politicians including Penny Wong and Katy Gallagher used in investment scams

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Exclusive: AI-generated footage of former PM Scott Morrison also used in more than a dozen Facebook ads that reached thousands of Australians

Images of the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, and the foreign minister, Penny Wong, have been used in deepfake investment scam videos in the latest examples of a concerning trend of politicians being used in online fraud.

The Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie and the former prime minister Scott Morrison have also had their faces used in scams through Facebook videos that appear to be generated by AI, with more than a dozen examples this week of paid ads reaching thousands of Australians before being removed.

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Shannon Fentiman referred to Queensland ethics committee over ‘cross your legs’ stoush – as it happened

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Max-Chandler Mather weighs in on Bandt’s potential legal action against attorney-general

Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather spoke to ABC News Breakfast earlier about the ongoing stoush between his party and Labor, with Adam Bandt threatening legal action against the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, over comments on pro-Palestine protests.

Asking me to comment on the specifics of a case like that – outrageous comments by the attorney general, completely baseless and without fact … this is an attempt to distract from the fact that the Labor government is complicit in a genocide being carried out by Israel in Gaza.

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Andrew Giles issues new rules for visa cancellations that make community safety ‘highest priority’

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Immigration minister announces direction 110 after previous rules used to overturn visa cancellations for non-citizens who committed serious offences

New rules on visa cancellation that emphasise the importance of community protection and impact on victims of crime will still allow decision-makers to favour factors other than safety as their paramount consideration.

On Friday the immigration minister, Andrew Giles, revealed he had made ministerial direction 110 “strengthening our cancellation system to better reflect community expectations” after a spate of cases of visa cancellations of non-citizens who had committed serious offences being overturned by an independent tribunal. The new rules will be in force from 21 June.

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IT expert wins long-running freedom of information court battle over robodebt documents

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Justin Warren first lodged request with the then Department of Human Services in January 2017

The federal court has ruled against a decision blocking access to early robodebt documents drafted under the former Coalition government, as part of one man’s long-running fight to shed light on the scheme’s origins.

Justices Geoffrey Kennett, Anna Katzmann and Shaun McElwaine ruled that a December 2022 decision made by the administrative appeals tribunal (AAT) to keep some robodebt documents exempt, including draft costings and new policy proposals, should be set aside due to procedural unfairness and because the AAT had incorrectly agreed with the cabinet confidentiality exemptions Services Australia applied.

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‘I felt your pain’: Wayne Swan criticises Labor’s ‘future gas’ strategy in address to party activists

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Exclusive: ALP president and former treasurer tells environment group he shared their disappointment over the contentious pre-budget announcement

The Labor party’s national president, Wayne Swan, has criticised the Albanese government’s future gas strategy, opposing its encouragement of new gas fields and telling the party’s environment activists they should push for a plan to lessen domestic demand.

In an online address to the Labor Environment Action Network (Lean) on Tuesday night, Swan sympathised with the activists who were dismayed that the strategy, released a week before the budget and which frustrated some inner-city Labor MPs, emphasised a role for gas “to 2050 and beyond”.

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