Category Archives: Australian politics

Victorian Labor at odds with federal party on industrial relations bill

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State treasurer Tim Pallas warns amendments will encourage unions to refuse to bargain as he seeks meeting with Tony Burke

The Victorian government and employer groups have raised the alarm about amendments to Labor’s industrial relations bill, warning they will embolden unions to refuse to bargain with industry.

The Victorian treasurer, Tim Pallas, has written to the federal workplace relations minister, Tony Burke, warning the amendments will guarantee unions “will be no worse off on a clause by clause basis” if they dig in and seek an arbitrated outcome from the industrial umpire, encouraging unions to do so.

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China lodges protests at Australia’s response to Taiwan’s presidential election

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Ambassador says there is ‘no room at all’ for compromise on ‘sensitive’ issue, and offers gloomy assessment on prospects for release of writer Dr Yang Hengjun

China has lodged diplomatic protests with Australia for congratulating the winner of Taiwan’s presidential election, with the Chinese ambassador warning there is “no room at all” for compromise on the “sensitive” issue.

China’s top envoy in Australia, Xiao Qian, also dashed hopes that the Australian writer Dr Yang Hengjun might be released from custody in a similar manner to the Australian journalist Cheng Lei last year.

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Conservative politicians stoking Australia Day debate online with paid ads, analysis finds

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Several Liberal MPs share advertisements on Facebook lobbying against changing the date after Woolworths’ decision to pull national merchandise

Conservative politicians are dominating Facebook advertising about changing the date of Australia Day, analysis shows.

After Woolworths announced last week that it would no longer stock Australia Day merchandise due to declining demand, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, condemned the move as an “outrage” born from the retailer’s “woke agenda”, and said most Australians likely thought the same.

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Australia may ask tech companies to label content generated by AI platforms such as ChatGPT

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New report reveals low public trust of growing technology as government pledges stricter regulation for ‘high risk’ products

Tech companies could be asked to watermark or label content generated by artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT as the federal government grapples with “high risk” AI products evolving faster than legislation.

The industry and science minister, Ed Husic, will on Wednesday release the government’s response to a consultation process on Safe and responsible AI in Australia, which cites McKinsey research to suggest adopting AI and automation could grow Australia’s GDP by up to $600bn a year.

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Australia urged to speed up visas for Afghan women who fear being sent back to Taliban rule

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Many waiting for a ticket to Australia are in Pakistan, where local authorities are undertaking a mass deportation

Afghan women’s rights defenders who have fled the Taliban’s rule say they are at risk of imminent return to Afghanistan by Pakistani authorities, prompting calls for the Australian government to step in and expedite their protection visas.

The federal government has received more than 215,000 humanitarian visa requests from Afghan nationals since the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in August 2021, granting 15,852 visas so far as of December 2023.

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Labor to increase humanitarian funding as Penny Wong warns she is ‘gravely concerned’ by Gaza conditions

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Foreign minister begins Middle East visit by announcing funding for those in Occupied Palestinian Territories affected by conflict and to address refugee crisis

The Australian foreign minister, Penny Wong, has begun a visit to the Middle East by pledging to nearly double humanitarian funding while saying she is “gravely concerned” by worsening conditions in Gaza.

After talks in Jordan on Tuesday, Wong announced $21.5m in new funding “directed to conflict-affected populations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and to address the ongoing regional refugee crisis, with a focus on women and children”.

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News live: Australia was ‘aware in advance’ of Nauru’s decision to sever ties with Taiwan, Conroy says

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Meanwhile, Penny Wong begins Middle East visit amid mounting fears of escalating violence in the crisis-torn region. Follow the day’s news live

Western Australian police have confirmed that child abuse detectives are currently in Broome as part of an ongoing investigation into historic child sex offences.

The ABC reported that they were searching a property owned by the Catholic Church, where Broome’s former Catholic bishop Christopher Saunders lived up until late last year.

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More than half of those applying for domestic violence payment are rejected, data shows

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The escaping violence payment is not getting to people when they need it, say advocates who want the eligibility criteria broadened

More than half of people trying to access emergency financial support for domestic and family violence are having their claims rejected, new data has revealed.

Between July and September last year 57,041 applications were made for the escaping violence payment (EVP) but only 29,437 were found eligible, according to data released in response to a question on notice during Senate estimates.

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Freed immigration detainee sues Australian government for damages for alleged false imprisonment

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Stateless Kurdish man’s compensation case is the first sparked by high court ruling that indefinite detention is unlawful

A stateless Kurdish man released from immigration detention is seeking “aggravated” and “compensatory” damages for alleged false imprisonment – the first such case sparked by the high court’s ruling that indefinite detention is unlawful.

The intellectually impaired man, known as DVU18, has sued the immigration minister, Andrew Giles, through a litigation guardian, in a case that could pave the way for the 149 people released to sue for hundreds of thousands of dollars of compensation each.

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Labor says it’s looking for ways to ease cost-of-living pressures. Just don’t mention the stage-three tax cuts

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The cuts are already baked into the RBA’s forecasts and economists say there is little point looking at alternatives

Come 1 July, Australian taxpayers will have $20bn more to spend, a pulse of demand in the economy that will keep interest rates higher than they otherwise would be.

That is courtesy of the controversial stage-three tax cuts that are legislated and, it seems, unlikely to be delayed or modified by the federal government.

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Murray Watt says compounding weather events the ‘new reality’; girl hospitalised in K’gari dingo attack – as it happened

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Melbourne: two suspected arson attacks could be linked to crime group conflicts, investigators say

Two suspected arson attacks that destroyed a Melbourne tobacco shop destroyed by fire could be linked to ongoing violent conflict between crime groups, investigators say, AAP reports.

In Spain, improved public understanding of the dangers of heatwaves, coupled with a national heatwave plan, has helped save lives. We should consider adopting a framework for alerts and communications here that builds on Seville’s heatwave naming approach.

Heatwaves have killed more people in Australia than any other natural disaster since 1900, and without sustained and ambitious policies to improve our resilience to extreme heat the challenge will get even harder.

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Australia’s ‘inhuman’ offshore detention regime denounced by global human rights organisation

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Report by Australian chapter of advocacy group says policy is ‘embarrassing’ and at odds with country’s commitment to Refugee Convention

Australia’s reputation on human rights took a hit on the world stage last year, Human Rights Watch’s latest annual report has said, after the Labor government returned asylum seekers to offshore immigration on Nauru less than three months after the last detainees were removed.

Despite labelling Australia as a “vibrant democracy” that “mostly protects the civil and political rights of its citizens”, the Australian chapter of the global human rights advocacy group has levelled heavy criticism at the federal government’s decade-long “inhuman” offshore detention regime, with Australian director Daniela Gavshon describing the policy as “embarrassing” for the country.

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Labor shelves election promise for inquiry into prosecution of Witness K and Bernard Collaery

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Plans for investigation into Timor bugging scandal have failed to transpire more than 18 months after government was elected

Labor has quietly shelved its pre-election promise to hold an inquiry into the controversial 2004 Timor-Leste bugging scandal and the former Coalition government’s pursuit of ex-spy Witness K and his lawyer, Bernard Collaery.

It comes as newly released documents reveal the lengths the Albanese and former Morrison governments went to keep “national security” information in the case from being released to the public. That material was ultimately deemed low risk by the ACT court of appeal.

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News live: NSW issues Covid warning with cases at 12-month high; PM has ‘imperfect’ advice that no Australians caught in PNG violence

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Anthony Albanese says no requests for aid or reports of any Australians there caught up in Port Moreseby unrest. Follow the day’s news live

Government fences off Rozelle Parklands after asbestos discovery

As Catie McLeod reported yesterday, the finding of some asbestos in playground mulch in new parklands in Sydney’s Rozelle triggered a closure of those areas just a couple of weeks after they had been opened:

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NSW police say man they shot dead outside medical clinic was armed – as it happened

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Victoria floods: affected communities urged to prepare up to three days of supplies

A watch and act alert is in place along the Goulburn River from Murchison and Shepparton to south of Lake Eildon.

We’re not expecting the levels of October 2022 which is pleasing, but there will still be a significant amount of water around and we’re asking community to be really vigilant and have that awareness of what’s happening.

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Peter Dutton was flown by a billionaire to Gina Rinehart’s Pilbara party – where he had a message for parents

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Federal opposition leader told audience at Roy Hill mine that parents and teachers should instruct children about benefits of mining

Peter Dutton was flown to a party at the Pilbara mine of Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, by another billionaire rich-lister, where he made a speech suggesting parents and teachers talk to children about the positives of the mining sector.

In a speech at Hancock Prospecting’s Roy Hill mine in November last year, Dutton repeatedly thanked those working in resources. He described the work carried out at the mine as a “national treasure”.

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PM flags consideration of dedicated force for natural disaster responses amid climate crisis

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On recent floods in Victoria and Queensland, Albanese said Australian defence force was a vital asset but that future recovery mitigation may need a re-think

Anthony Albanese and the Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, say a re-think of disaster recovery and flood mitigation may be needed due to climate change, with at least 26 homes inundated in the state’s flooding.

Across Victoria, 61 emergency warnings remained in place on Tuesday afternoon as Mooroopna and Shepparton, in the state’s north, brace for high and moderate flooding in the coming days.

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Alcoa Kwinana alumina refinery shutdown will lead to hundreds of job cuts in resources minister’s electorate

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Madeleine King says she is ‘extremely disappointed’ while the opposition criticises Labor for ‘embarrassing failure’ on industry policy

The federal resources minister, Madeleine King, says she is “extremely disappointed” at the closure of a major alumina refinery in her electorate, with about 800 job losses expected, as the opposition criticises the government over what it has labelled “an embarrassing failure” on industry policy.

US alumina giant Alcoa announced on Tuesday it would close its 60-year-old refinery south of Perth, where hundreds of workers were expected to lose their jobs.

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Labor ‘not giving up’ on republic push – as it happened

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Liberal senate leader and shadow foreign minister Simon Birmingham says a reported bomb threat against a person flying the Palestinian flag in Botany “has no place in our nation”.

He wrote on X (formerly Twitter):

Australia is a democratic nation of free speech. Whether driven by disagreement, intolerance or Islamophobia this act has no place in our nation.

Whatever anyone’s views about flying the Palestinian flag at this time, this is illegal and reprehensible behaviour to be condemned.

ENOUGH! TAKE DOWN FLAG! ONE CHANCE!!!

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More than 1,000 ‘distressing’ social media posts removed at Australian government’s request during Gaza war

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Figures show rise in incidents of online extremism and violent content, partly fuelled by Israel-Gaza conflict

More than 1,000 violent and extremist posts have been taken down from social media at the federal government’s request since 7 October following an increase in referrals brought on in part by the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

It follows a warning by the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, in the days following Hamas’s 7 October attacks in southern Israel that it was the job of social media companies to “prevent the spread of distressing violent and terrorist content”.

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