Category Archives: Australian politics

CrowdStrike has ‘issued a fix’ to Windows outage – as it happened

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Shorten says last CFMEU Labor donation was over two years ago

Earlier on the Today Show, the NDIS minister, Bill Shorten, was asked about the CFMEU and said that the last donation received by the Labor party from them was more than two years ago.

We’ve said that we’re suspending all donations from the CFMEU. In fact, we’ve suspended the CFMEU from the Labor party … The last donations were over two years ago. We’ve taken the action to stop any financial relations with the CFMEU.

I want to make clear there is zero tolerance for anyone who tried to subvert the demerit and penalty system. This taskforce will help ensure the penalties apply to all road users.

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Australia’s $50,000 arts degree is here – putting university fees on par with the UK and US

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The Hecs/Help scheme was not designed so people making a regular wage remained in debt until death, expert says

There was a time when would-be poets, historians and writers could expect to pay off an arts degree at an Australian university within the decade, if they were able to find stable employment. Fast forward to now and they may die with their debt.

Arts degrees in Australia are poised to cost more than $50,000 for the first time, with experts warning some students will never be able to pay off their debts.

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Forrest says Fortescue still committed to hydrogen despite job cuts – as it happened

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A drone delivery service will launch in Melbourne today.

Food delivery service DoorDash is working with Wing – a subsidiary of Alphabet, AKA Google – to deliver the service.

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Palestinian-Australian charged with trespass after allegedly refusing to leave Anthony Albanese’s electorate office

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Sarah Shaweesh says she entered the prime minister’s office as a constituent seeking information about her family’s declined visa application

A Palestinian-Australian constituent of Anthony Albanese seeking visa help has been arrested and charged with trespassing, after she allegedly refused to leave the prime minister’s electorate office in the Sydney seat of Grayndler.

Sarah Shaweesh livestreamed her arrest on social media, saying she was a local constituent who lived in Marrickville, and the police had “threatened to arrest me because I went into the office to ask about my family’s declined visa applications”.

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WA Labor multicultural group in revolt over treatment of Fatima Payman

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Exclusive: Two officeholders quit, with one claiming the party had ‘become a spineless jellyfish’

Labor’s multicultural branch in Western Australia is in upheaval, with two officeholders quitting the party in protest at the treatment of Fatima Payman.

Guardian Australia can reveal that the branch’s treasurer and vice-president have resigned, with one claiming the party had “become a spineless jellyfish” that “throws its own under the bus at the drop of a hat”.

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Anthony Albanese tightens purse strings for his ministers as Labor turns focus to next election

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Election promises are now the sole priority for any new funding in the budget update

Anthony Albanese has narrowed the scope of new policy announcements to political essentials only, telling ministers before the mid-year budget update that they can seek funding for measures that fulfil election promises and nothing more.

Guardian Australia has confirmed that Albanese wrote to his ministers last week, making it clear that election promises are now the sole priority for any new funding in the budget update, due by mid December but possibly sooner. Everything else approved but not yet funded will have to wait – possibly until a second term.

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Australia news live: Tony Burke announces independent administrator of CFMEU

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Fair Work Commission’s Murray Furlong appointed as administrator of construction union. Follow the day’s news live

Tim Ayres flags ‘proportionate’ federal response to CFMEU

A Labor senator says that federal intervention into alleged criminal behaviour within the CFMEU will be effective and proportionate, AAP reports.

Tony and the team in there are doing the careful work of making sure that the government’s response is effective, well-weighted and effective.

While I don’t forecast the debates in terms of the national executive, we have received these requests from the premiers, we will act upon them, and we’ll act in accordance with the requests from the premiers.

We’re very blessed in this country. We don’t have a gun culture, we don’t have a history of political violence, we don’t at this point in time – thank God – have the fragmentation and polarisation that sadly exists in America to quite the same extent.

So look, can you rule these things out? Of course not. Do I expect it? Well, maybe some time in the next 100 or 200 years, sure. Almost anything could happen in that period of time. But is is imminent? I doubt it very much.

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Labor ‘clearly afraid’ of backlash after taking Islamic community for granted, Muslim Votes Matter says

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Exclusive: Muslim voters are ‘grossly underrepresented at all levels of government’, Ghaith Krayem says

One of the new organisations seeking to mobilise Australian Muslims at the next federal election has hit back at “almost farcical” attempts to discredit the movement, insisting the Labor government is “clearly afraid”.

Ghaith Krayem, a spokesperson for Muslim Votes Matter, said despite criticism from major party politicians and media, the movement was an “inclusive initiative that hopes to uplift representation for minority groups across the country”.

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Band’s gig postponed amid deportation call – as it happened

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Weather update for Victoria and New South Wales: rain, floods, gusts and snow

Angus Hines, a senior meteorologist from the Bureau of Meteorology, spoke with ABC News Breakfast earlier to provide an update on the rainfall across Victoria.

That has given us minor to moderate flood warnings including in parts of the Yarra River this morning, as all of the rain from last night and yesterday evening drains out through the river network and out towards the ocean.

Take actions to protect your life and property against potential hazards caused by flooding.

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Guardian Essential poll: three-quarters of Australians believe MPs enter politics to serve own interests

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Survey also shows deep dissatisfaction with the state of democracy, as Clare O’Neil warns against the ‘virus’ of populism taking hold across the world

Less than 40% of Australians are satisfied with how democracy is working in Australia and three-quarters believe politicians enter politics to serve their own interests, the latest Guardian Essential poll has found.

The percentage of Australians who are satisfied with Australia’s democracy – 37% – is an increase from the 32% of people who felt the same way when the question was last asked in March, but well short of the high of 47% recorded in May 2022.

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Union’s response to allegations ‘falls short’, minister says – as it happened

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Treasurer Jim Chalmers has warned about what he calls the “normalisation of extremism” in politics in the wake of the attempted assassination of former United States president Donald Trump at the weekend.

In a round of television and radio interviews this morning to spruik the tax cuts now being delivered in Australians’ tax returns, Chalmers also spoke about the Trump rally in Pennsylvania that injured the former president and left one attendee dead and two others critically injured before the alleged shooter was shot and killed.

We need to be able to disagree in a peaceful way.

We can’t let extremism and polarisation and violence be the norm in our politics. Democracies are supposed to help mend and moderate our differences, not magnify and horrify them. And unfortunately, what we’re seeing with what feels like increasing regularity, is the ugliness and the polarisation and extremism in politics.

There is a role obviously for peaceful protests and looking for consensus in our country doesn’t always mean looking for unanimity – there will always be a range of views. But I think if you look around the world and you look around the democratic world, then you can see that politics is getting uglier, more violent, more polarised in extreme ways, and these are very troubling developments.

We’ve got a big choice to make as democratic societies, we’ve got an opportunity here to step back from the normalisation of that violence, to make sure that we disagree in civil ways and not in violent ways, and that we settle our difference with votes not violence.

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Politicians in Australia need better security as debate becomes more polarised, expert says

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Prime minister doesn’t want to see interaction with public reduced but admits he is concerned about ‘escalation of rhetoric in some of our political debate’

It would be a “tragedy” if Australian politicians were forced to withdraw from the public and rely more heavily on security, Anthony Albanese has said, after an assassination attempt on Donald Trump prompted a focus on the safety of federal MPs.

Some politicians say they have been concerned about increasing harassment and violent acts targeting MPs, while others argue against boosting security. However, some experts believe it is time to rethink the safety arrangements for elected members in Australia.

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CFMEU could be deregistered ‘if that’s what needs to be done’ after allegations, minister says

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Federal workplace minister Tony Burke has asked for advice on the extent of powers following claims of criminal links within construction division of union

All options are on the table when it comes to tackling allegations of links between the construction union and organised crime, the federal workplace relations minister says.

Tony Burke has asked his department to advise him on ministerial powers to respond to reports alleging bikies were acting as union delegates and other links between construction projects and organised crime.

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Australian PM says ‘no place for violence in democratic process’ after Trump assassination attempt

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Anthony Albanese says he is relieved to hear Donald Trump is safe after shooting at campaign rally in Pennsylvania

Anthony Albanese says he is “relieved” that former US president Donald Trump is safe after a shooting at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, calling the incident an “inexcusable attack”.

The Australian prime minister said there was “no place for violence in the democratic process” as other politicians decried the assassination attempt four months out from the US presidential election.

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Anthony Albanese slams John Setka after union heavyweight resigns as CFMEU boss

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Controversial figure will step down from role as Victorian branch secretary after 12 years

Anthony Albanese has slammed John Setka, saying he “has no legitimate place in the Labor movement” after the powerful union figure resigned as secretary of the Victorian branch of the CFMEU.

The prime minister’s comments came after reports were published on Saturday by Nine newspapers into alleged criminal links within the construction industry and the union.

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PM accuses Dutton of pulling Liberals further to the right; jail sentence for second Blockade Australia protester – as it happened

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Married couple allegedly intended to hand defence force material to Russia, AFP chief says

Reece Kershaw says the AFP arrested the pair – a married couple – yesterday morning at their Everton Park home in Brisbane.

The counter foreign interference taskforce, which includes AFP, Asio and other commonwealth partners, has dedicated significant resources and capability to Operation Bergazada.

The AFP will allege the individuals worked together to access Australian defence force material that related to Australia’s national security interests.

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Documents reveal why Australia voted yes in key UN motion on Palestinian membership

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Exclusive: Internal advice shows Australia never seriously considered voting against resolution to boost status of Palestinian mission, despite positions of US and Israel

It’s an issue that has sparked domestic and international debate and helped fuel the defection of Fatima Payman from the Labor party.

Now, newly obtained internal documents shed light on the Australian government’s conditions for recognising the state of Palestine – and the factors it weighed up before voting “yes” in a highly anticipated UN vote on 10 May.

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Anthony Albanese appeals to western Sydney amid Muslim voting campaigns on Gaza war

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The seats of Blaxland and Watson have higher percentages of Muslim voters than Labor’s 2022 winning margin

Anthony Albanese has appealed to voters in Labor’s heartland seats in western Sydney not to dump the party over the war in Gaza, insisting his MPs are “working hard to deliver” practical improvements.

The leader of the house, Tony Burke, and the education minister, Jason Clare, are among the Labor MPs considered to be vulnerable to campaigns run by new groups known as The Muslim Vote and Muslim Votes Matter.

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Australia news live: religious sect allegedly thought 8-year-old diabetic ‘should not use insulin’, court told; Alice Springs curfew won’t continue

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The curfew declaration will conclude at 12.55pm today, local time. Follow the day’s news live

The mayor of Alice Springs, Matt Paterson, spoke to ABC News Breakfast just earlier as authorities meet to determine whether a three-day curfew on the central Australian town will be extended.

He is “still waiting to hear” whether the curfew will be extended – a decision for the police commissioner. Asked whether he believes it should be extended, Paterson says:

It’s obviously worked in the CBD, but we are hearing that it is pushing crime out into the suburbs. So we’ll wait to see what happens. Ultimately, the community gets to have a breath while there’s extra resources and police in town, so we’ll just wait to see what’s decided …

The curfew is a reaction to events over the past week or so, and we can’t continue to put these in. We need to think about the long-term solutions.

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Chinese navy destroyer and helicopter shadowed Australian warship during high-profile standoff, documents show

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Exclusive: Australian helicopter was outside Chinese territorial waters when forced to manoeuvre to avoid fighter jet flares in ‘unsafe’ operation

An Australian helicopter was flying south-east of China’s Shandong peninsula but outside its territorial waters when a Chinese fighter aircraft released flares in its path, new documents show.

Guardian Australia can reveal that Australia’s HMAS Hobart warship was also being shadowed by a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) navy destroyer and another Chinese helicopter at the time of the 4 May standoff.

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