Category Archives: Australian politics

Asio cleared of unlawfully luring Daniel Duggan back to Australia, agency chief Mike Burgess says

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Exclusive: Duggan’s legal team continues to fight US request for extradition on charges of arms trafficking and money laundering

The spy agency Asio says it has been cleared by the intelligence watchdog of allegations of impropriety raised by the Australian citizen Daniel Duggan as he fights extradition to the US.

Duggan, a former US marines pilot accused of training Chinese pilots to land fighter jets on aircraft carriers, had complained to the inspector general of intelligence and security (IGIS) about Asio’s role in securing his return to Australia from China.

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Dunkley byelection: Labor’s Jodie Belyea triumphs but Liberals win modest swing

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Liberal candidate Nathan Conroy wins swing of more than 3% but well short of the 6.3% required, leaving Belyea as the newest federal MP

Peter Dutton’s Liberal party has won a modest swing in the Dunkley byelection but fallen short in the Labor seat vacated by the death of the popular local MP Peta Murphy.

The Liberal candidate, Nathan Conroy, has currently received 47.5% of the two-party preferred vote, a swing of more than 3% to the opposition, well short of the 6.3% swing required to win the seat off the Albanese government.

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Voters turn out for byelection; tributes to Jesse Baird and Luke Davies – as it happened

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Queensland government pledges over $40m to fertility treatments

More women and girls suffering complex medical conditions like cancer will have access to cheaper reproductive care after Queensland became the latest state to announce public funding for fertility treatments, AAP has reported.

When a significant health issue, such as cancer, impacts a person’s fertility, being able to afford access to fertility services should be the last thing Queenslanders need to worry about.

Longstanding and deep-rooted … abuse, racism and homophobia rampant within the NSW police.

About 8.30pm, the group moved onto the roadway, blocking all vehicle traffic at the intersection of Oxford and Flinders Street. With the assistance of additional police, the crowd were directed to move onto the footpath. Those who did not comply with police directions were physically removed.

The crowd later dispersed, with part of the group attending the Sydney Police Centre on Goulburn and Riley Streets, where they continued to protest.”

There were no reports of any property being damaged, person being injured, or any arrests being made.

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Julia Gillard enters Dunkley byelection campaign as Labor and Liberals brace for close result

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Exclusive: The former PM has been enlisted to front a social media campaign to help Labor hold the Victorian seat

Julia Gillard has been enlisted to help boost Labor’s chances in the Dunkley byelection, with Australia’s first female prime minister fronting a social media push aimed squarely at women in the Melbourne seat.

In a sign of Labor’s effort to shore up every last vote in what is expected by both major parties to be a close-run contest, Gillard’s election-eve endorsement praises Jodie Belyea as a “strong local voice”.

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Bruce Lehrmann’s lawyers argue evidence is not available to rule out Britanny Higgins’ consent

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Lehrmann’s lawyers also admit client’s evidence is ‘unsatisfactory’ but say it would be overstating it to say he is a ‘compulsive liar’

If the court finds that sexual intercourse took place between Bruce Lehrmann and Brittany Higgins it will also have to find she was “so intoxicated as to be unable to consent” and that evidence is not available, Lehrmann’s lawyers have told the federal court.

“The evidence simply does not permit a positive finding of fact that Ms Higgins’ intoxication was, at any relevant time, such that she could not consent to sexual activity,” new submissions filed in Lehrmann’s defamation case against Channel Ten and Lisa Wilkinson said.

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Australia ‘horrified’ by Gaza humanitarian catastrophe – as it happened

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Both sides of politics are pulling out all the stops as the Dunkley byelection goes down to the wire.

Speaking on Sunrise this morning, the education minister, Jason Clare, and the deputy opposition leader, Sussan Ley, went head-to-head over a tweet she published last night.

You should delete the tweet… This is a classic example of why women aren’t joining the Liberal party and why they’re not voting for the Liberal party, because of that classic, desperate, grubby political scare campaign we saw from the Liberal party yesterday.

I don’t know, really, you must wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and think, after 25 years of being a member of parliament, is this what I’ve become? I’m reduced to putting out tweets like this?

Anyone who watched question time during this week and saw your hopeless immigration minister unable to demonstrate that he even knows where his criminals [are], what they’re doing, who’s monitoring them and whether the community is safe, would probably not agree with what you’ve just said.

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Questions raised about whether GPs will be ready for influx of people seeking vaping prescriptions

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Doctors admit helping patients quit vaping is a ‘new experience’ ahead of a near-total ban coming into force on 1 July

GPs are preparing for a rush of patients seeking prescriptions for vapes or help to give up smoking, with a peak doctor’s lobby admitting it is a “new experience” for some medical experts ahead of new government vaping crackdowns and a near-total ban on electronic cigarettes from July.

The health minister, Mark Butler, says there is a need to “upskill” some GPs to help Australians off vapes. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) says doctors are well-equipped to handle the looming changes, which will outlaw vapes without a prescription, but the head of the Australian Medical Association says it may be a difficult task.

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Global gambling company to leave Australia’s peak lobbying group

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Entain will withdraw from Responsible Wagering Australia in coming months, as a government crackdown on betting ads looms

One of the world’s biggest gambling companies has abandoned Australia’s peak lobbying group, just as the federal government prepares to announce tougher restrictions on betting ads.

Policy analysts believe Entain’s withdrawal from the Responsible Wagering Australia (RWA) group highlights how bookmakers would be disproportionately affected if the government restricts betting ads, as recommended by a parliamentary inquiry.

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Alex Turnbull says he may have been targeted in espionage attempt revealed by Asio

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Spy agency says former Australian politician recruited by foreign regime once ‘proposed bringing a prime minister’s family member’ into their orbit

The son of former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull says he may have been a target of suspected Chinese intelligence agents, as the federal government urged politicians to “wake up” to spying threats.

Australia’s domestic intelligence agency sparked an intense round of political intrigue after alleging that a former Australian politician “sold out their country, party and former colleagues” after being recruited by spies for a foreign regime.

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Australia politics live: Victorian premier cancels iftar dinner after Muslim peak bodies boycott; jump in renewable energy investment

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Jacinta Allan confirms dinner, which has been held since 2015, will not go ahead. Follow the day’s news live

Hockey says Asio boss should name accused politician in interests of transparency

Joe Hockey said it was “not standard practice”, as Hockey is now apparently an expert in how Asio and like-minded security agencies operate.

You know, they’ve launched investigations over here. I mean, you know, you had you had the Mueller inquiry into President Trump. You had an FBI inquiry into Hillary Clinton. You don’t just make this allegations, leave them unnamed and say, ‘Oh, yeah. They’re back in the community. They’re fine’, that just does not happen.

I mean, allegations have been made against Senator Menendez here as a sitting senator. They named the sitting senator.

Talking about a traitor amongst the ranks. He shouldn’t do that. If he’s not going to name that person. It’s absurd. It’s absolutely absurd.

It’s inconceivable here in the United States or the United Kingdom, or most other countries, that the head of the intelligence agency would go out and make that statement without telling everyone who it was.

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Deal allows police to march in parade – as it happened

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On the “broken promise” of changing the stage-three tax cuts (the latest Guardian Essential poll had Albanese falling in the trust stakes) the prime minister said:

We made not an easy decision. We made the right decision for all the right reasons. We know that families are under cost of living pressure.

The idea that we could sit back and ignore the clear recommendations that this was the best way that we could have an impact on providing that assistance to middle Australia without putting upward pressure on inflation – we couldn’t ignore that.

This is just a terrible incident that’s occurred here. The loss of the two young men and I feel for the grieving of the family, the friends. They obviously were full of life, because so many people interacted with them. It’s a really tough day for, as well, the queer community, and it’s been a very difficult time.

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Daryl Maguire had ‘emotional hold’ over Gladys Berejiklian, Icac lawyer tells court

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The disgraced MP for Wagga was a ‘special kind of serial pest’ but ex-premier’s shared vision of the future with him clouded her judgment, court hears

Gladys Berejiklian’s former boyfriend, the disgraced ex-MP Daryl Maguire, was a “special kind of serial pest” who had an “emotional hold” over the former state premier, a lawyer representing the New South Wales corruption watchdog has told a court.

Defending the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s findings of corrupt conduct on the part of Berejiklian, Stephen Free SC told the court of appeal Berejiklian’s “vision for her future” with her Liberal colleague had impacted her judgment.

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Lidia Thorpe backs Mardi Gras over NSW police decision – as it happened

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The trade minister, Don Farrell, is at the World Trade Organisation ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi where he had a sideline chat with China’s commerce minister, Wang Wentao, overnight.

Sideline chats are the unofficial official talks – it’s not considered a bilateral, but both sides have to agree to the talk in order for it to happen. So it’s not just a see them and grab situation between sessions. It’s a little more planned than that.

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Australia politics live: John Howard joins donations drive for Dunkley byelection; Barnaby Joyce ‘having the week off’ parliament

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Nationals leader David Littleproud confirms frontbench colleague has notified him he won’t be in Canberra for the sitting week. Follow the day’s news live

Parliamentary sparkies walk off job in pay protest

Parliament House electricians and tradies are walking off the job for 24-hours today in protest of their wages.

I would say to the government, if not, why not? We need to have enforceable rules about this. We need to have clear, publicly available selection criteria – that’s not asking too much.

…We need to have laws that have teeth on this so that governments of all persuasions can be held accountable for what they do.

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Greens-Coalition alliance may force Chalmers to keep power to overrule RBA on rates

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Chalmers had announced plans to scrap the veto power but former treasurers and RBA governors say it is a vital ‘safety valve’

An alliance between the Greens and Liberal parties in the Senate could force Jim Chalmers to keep a government power that allows treasurers to overrule Reserve Bank decisions on interest rates.

Chalmers announced plans to scrap the veto power in the government response to recommendations from a panel which reviewed the Reserve Bank operations and made suggestions for improvement.

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Lowering cost of higher education critical to meeting Australia’s skills shortage, report warns

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Universities accord also urges government to dramatically scale up access to higher education for disadvantaged groups

Access to higher education among disadvantaged Australians must be dramatically scaled up and the financial burden of studying eased if the country is to meet acute skills shortages, a major report has found.

The highly anticipated universities accord final report, being released by the education minister, Jason Clare, on Sunday, was expected to lay out the blueprint for the tertiary sector over the coming decades.

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‘Incredible failure’: KPMG rejects claims it assessed ‘the wrong company’ before $423m payment to Paladin

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Exclusive: Firm’s denial comes after weeks of intense criticism, including accusations that it misled parliament

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Consultancy firm KPMG Australia has rejected claims it conducted due diligence on “the wrong company” before the federal government gave nearly half a billion dollars to a controversial company with no track record.

The firm’s objection to comments by a member of a Senate inquiry examining its conduct come after weeks of intense criticism and accusations it repeatedly misled parliament over its use of so-called power maps, which identify influential decision makers within departments.

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Ukraine appeals to Australia and France for more ammunition as it marks two years since Russian invasion

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Ukrainian ambassador to Australia also urges west not to succumb to ‘fatigue’ in its support for Ukraine

Ukraine is appealing to Australia and France to deliver more ammunition to the country as it marks the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The Ukrainian ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, also urged western leaders not to succumb to “fatigue” over the protracted war, saying: “I think the only country which can feel fatigue can be Ukraine, actually, because we are the ones who are being killed.”

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Nationals deputy leader Perin Davey could face official complaint over apparent slurring in Senate

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Exclusive: Davey says she is aware complaint may be lodged, which could lead to her party membership being cancelled or suspended if upheld

The Nationals’ deputy leader, Perin Davey, is facing the prospect of an official complaint from a party member over an incident in which she slurred and stumbled over words in a Senate hearing.

According to the NSW Nationals’ constitution, complaints that a member’s “general behaviour, public utterances, or writings, have been such as to bring or attempt to bring discredit or undue embarrassment to the party” can be grounds to cancel or suspend their membership.

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Australia news live: NSW police officer charged with murder after disappearance of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies

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Former celebrity blogger expected to face court. Follow updates live

What will happen if there’s a storm during today’s Taylor Swift concert?

With a thunderstorm forecast at Sydney Olympic Park this evening, many are asking what this means for the Eras tour?

The show will play, rain or shine. The only exception would be severe weather, which could impact the safety of artists and patrons. Such a decision would be made by NSW Police, the event promoters and Venues NSW staff.

Please follow venue screens and staff instructions in these circumstances.

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