Category Archives: Australian politics

Greens accuse Richard Marles of not telling the truth in parliament over disclosure of VIP flights

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David Shoebridge says statement calls into question deputy PM’s claim that keeping flight details secret complies with the rules, but Marles insists all his travel accords with ‘the relevant guidelines and security procedures’

The deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, has been accused of not telling the truth in an answer to parliament by claiming he complied with guidelines on the use of taxpayer-funded VIP flights, despite failing to give details of $3.6m of flights he authorised.

Guidelines in place since 2013 oblige the government to make details of flights public every six months. But the former Coalition government ended that practice, citing a pending security review by the federal police, finance department and others.

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Brazilian Indigenous group expresses solidarity with voice yes campaign amid fight with BHP

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Brazilian Indigenous leaders who are fighting a class action suit against BHP over a tailings dam collapse say they face similar struggles to First Nations Australians

A group of First Nations Brazilians taking on the mining company BHP say a voice to parliament will give Indigenous Australians a critical avenue they were not afforded – the chance to consult.

The delegation is visiting Australia to meet with politicians this week amid their multibillion-dollar class action suit against the Australian mining firm over its role in the devastation caused by the Mariana dam disaster in 2015.

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Voice can close economic gap for Indigenous Australians, says Julian Leeser

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Former Liberal frontbencher supports referendum as a way of getting First Nations people ‘to the same starting line’ as other Australians

The Liberal MP Julian Leeser says a voice to parliament is not about “special treatment or privileges” but about getting Indigenous Australians “to the same starting line that other Australians are at”.

Amid rising partisan rancour in the referendum debate, with his own side leading the charge for the no campaign, Leeser told parliament he supported the voice because it was a manifestation of “deeply Liberal and conservative ideas”.

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‘Hi it’s Jacinta Price’: Liberal anti-voice mass text campaign branded ‘deceptive’ by teals

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Australian Electoral Commission says texts purporting to be from no campaign leader are legal, but MPs say they are ‘predatory’

A Liberal party mass text campaign against the Indigenous voice that encourages voters to sign up for a postal vote on the party’s website has been branded as “deceptive” by teal independent MPs.

Many thousands of Australians are believed to have received unsolicited texts from the Liberal party, some sent in the name of no campaign leader Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, branding the Indigenous voice as “risky”.

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Opposition leader accused of being ‘chief propagandist’ – as it happened

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All eyes will be on the high court from about 10am, when it hands down its decision on whether Qantas illegally sacked its ground staff three years ago. The TWU brought the case and Qantas has appealed it all the way to the high court.

You can read some of the previous reporting here:

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Australia to impose sanctions on Iranian state media over broadcast of forced confessions

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Penny Wong to announce the Albanese government’s new sanctions against those linked to the oppression of women and girls

Australia will impose sanctions on Iranian state media for broadcasting forced confessions, with the foreign minister, Penny Wong, vowing to take tougher action before the anniversary of Mahsa Jina Amini’s death in custody.

Brushing off claims from the Coalition that the government has been slow to act, Wong will announce on Wednesday that she is introducing new sanctions against those linked to the oppression of women and girls.

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Greens vow to ‘keep fighting’ on housing as party takes aim at Labor’s help to buy scheme

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Adam Bandt says Greens will continue to ‘use our power’ in parliament to push for rent caps despite agreeing to future fund

Labor’s “Help to Buy” shared equity scheme will be the next housing bill in the Greens’ sights in the minor party’s push for a cap or freeze on rent increases.

The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, has vowed to “keep fighting” despite the minor party agreeing to pass Labor’s $10bn housing Australia future fund (Haff) bill in return for a further $1bn for public and community housing.

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UK espionage saga a ‘wake-up call’ for Australian parliament, opposition says

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Calls for further security measures including vetting of staffers after UK parliamentary aide arrested on suspicion of spying for China

An espionage scandal in the UK should serve as a “major wake-up call” for Australia, a senior opposition member has said.

Australia’s shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, called on both countries to “harden” their political systems to reduce the risk of alleged compromise, including wider use of vetting of staff members.

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Coalition and employers back David Pocock over splitting contentious industrial relations bill

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ACT senator wants to move forward with workers’ compensation for PTSD and banning discrimination against employees experiencing domestic violence

Employer groups and the Coalition have backed calls from David Pocock to split Labor’s industrial relations bill and deal with uncontentious parts this year, including workers’ compensation and discrimination law reforms.

The influential crossbencher is considering moving a private senator’s bill to move forward with provisions improving access to workers compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder in the ACT as a priority.

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Politics live: James Paterson calls for security vetting of Australian parliament staff in wake of UK espionage scandal

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Shadow home affairs minister calls for extra checks ‘at the very least for MPs who work on sensitive committees’. Follow today’s live news updates

Ley defends pharmacists’ opposition to 60-day dispensing rule for prescriptions

The interview then gets to the issue of pharmacists and the change the government made to allow for 60-day dispensing (two-for-one prescriptions) which will save chronically ill patients up to $180 a year (as well as money on less trips to the doctor, travel etc.) but will cost pharmacists up to $150,000 a year (from the fourth year of the change) in lost dispensing fees (plus people buying fewer ‘incidentals’ such as jelly beans).

I’ve been in contact with many pharmacists over recent weeks, including those who left their businesses and assembled here a couple of weeks ago and I really am concerned about the impact this policy change is going to have.

I’m hearing [about] pharmacies who are already laying off staff. They’re already letting people go and most importantly, they can’t continue to provide the previously free support services that they used to …

Because they’ve told me.

Because if the government has changed the contract it has with pharmacy and is paying them less, they have to change their business in response. It’s as simple as that.

I would like to absolutely recognise the contribution she has made. She has been a trailblazer for our party. She has changed national politics and I have seen the work that she’s done over many years, much of it very modest, very behind the scenes, very in community.

So people often think of her as a defence and foreign affairs minister. I’ve seen her as a local champion for Western Sydney, and disadvantaged people across this country, and I have yeah, I mean, I’ll be really sad to see her go.

Always standing up for Australia’s national interest and a safer, stronger region. It’s as simple as that.

I think we did extremely good work with the Solomon Islands and, indeed, with the Pacific and people are looking at this through the lens of Covid and suggesting that we could have done more when, in fact, travel was an impossibility. I think that issue is well and truly being put to bed.

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Yes campaign hopes to reignite momentum for voice with nationwide events and advertising blitz

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Campaigners are keen for federal politics to take a backseat so the campaign can get more attention

The yes campaign is looking forward to reigniting momentum in its campaign after the coming parliamentary sitting week – the last before the referendum on 14 October – with a nationwide series of major community events, performances and a further advertising blitz.

“The real campaign kicks off after Thursday,” a yes campaign source said, referencing the end of the parliamentary week. “It’s really a month-long campaign.”

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Chinese academic raided by Australian police and offered $2,000 for information during trip

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Exclusive: Sino-Australian relations expert had phone confiscated and was asked to provide information during ‘heavy-handed’ and ‘counterproductive’ episode

A Chinese academic visiting Australia on a research trip had his accommodation raided by Asio and the Australian federal police, and was offered $2,000 in cash by a man purporting to be from “the federal government” for information on his networks and contacts in China.

The academic, an associate professor at a major Chinese research university, is an expert on Sino-Australian relations and was visiting Australia between July and August. His surveillance comes as Australia seeks to restore its relations with China, with a confirmed prime ministerial visit to Beijing later this year.

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Anthony Albanese pushes to finalise EU trade deal by end of year during talks on sidelines of G20

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Discussions had reached an impasse over the use of geographical indicators for products such as prosecco and feta

The prime minister says there have been positive signs in long-stalled negotiations over a free-trade deal between Australia and the European Union.

Anthony Albanese held talks with European leaders on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi, India, with time running out for the deal to be finalised by the end of the year.

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Albanese pushes for EU free-trade agreement settlement by end of the year – as it happened

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Talks on deal had been stalled due to impasse on geographic indicators for products such as feta and prosecco. This blog is closed for now

Asked what a no vote will say about Australia, Pearson says he withhold judgement until the night of the referendum.

I will make that judgement the day after the referendum. I believe we still have the capacity to do the right thing. I tell you one thing, though, I just don’t believe when the hand of friendship and reconciliation is extended from Indigenous people that at the end of the day, their love will be unrequited. I can’t believe that. I cannot believe we’re still in an Australia where that hand would be just slapped aside. This unrequited love is my worst nightmare. I just don’t believe Australians are capable of that at this time in our history.

The separation was there in 1901. The original separation, the original equality was in our constitution in 1901. What we’re going to do in 2023 is fix that exclusion, fix the omission, fix the lack of recognition and when we do that, our constitution will be whole. We will complete the commonwealth of Australia and it will be a great thing to do.

In relation to the scope issue, David, our opponents in the no campaign said that somehow we’d be dictating policy on nuclear submarines. That wasn’t reasonable. That wasn’t a fair representation of the scope.

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Barnaby Joyce-backed push to strike net zero emissions target from Nationals policy fails

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Amended motion calls on party to ‘take a practical approach to lowering carbon emissions as a substantive move to nuclear power is made’

A Barnaby Joyce-backed push to strip net zero from the Nationals’ policy platform has effectively been defeated as the former leader’s shadow cabinet position is brought into question.

Joyce backed a motion to strip net zero emissions by 2050 from the party platform at its national conference in Canberra on Saturday.

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Coalition’s second referendum plan a ‘mirage’, Noel Pearson says

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Indigenous leader dismisses Peter Dutton’s proposal and urges Australians to back coming vote as a chance to settle ‘unfinished business’

Cape York leader Noel Pearson believes the Coalition would never hold another referendum on Indigenous constitutional recognition if next month’s vote on the voice fails, saying plan is a “mirage” and pointing to internal opposition confusion.

Pearson has urged Australians to back the current referendum as a chance to settle “unfinished business”, expressing confidence the vote would succeed despite slipping support in opinion polls.

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Nationals leader David Littleproud stands by net zero target amid internal push to ditch it

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Comments come as party’s national conference considers Barnaby Joyce-aligned motion to abolish 2050 goal

The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, has said the party should not abandon a commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 despite an internal push to dump the target.

Speaking at the party’s annual conference in Canberra on Saturday, he said “the last decision that our party room made was to support net zero and proudly”.

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Home affairs under Peter Dutton was warned ‘failing’ immigration detention may have breached duty of care

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Exclusive: 2020 report told of risk to detainees’ health from indefinite detention and sending ‘prison hardened’ cohort into system

Peter Dutton’s home affairs department was warned that immigration detention was “failing” by an independent review but options to reduce reliance on detention were “not progressed”.

The report by the former secretary of the attorney general’s department, Robert Cornall, found that visa cancellations sent “prison hardened detainees” into immigration detention and warned this may breach the Australian government’s duty of care to other detainees including asylum seekers.

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Services Australia apologises to staff over ‘unfair toll’ of robodebt

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Agency’s chief executive says Centrelink staff acted in ‘good faith’, following damning royal commission findings

Services Australia staff have received an apology from management over the robodebt scandal, with the agency’s chief executive saying that workers who enforced the scheme had suffered an “unfair toll”.

In a video message sent to staff on Friday afternoon, the Services Australia chief executive, Rebecca Skinner, praised staff who had spoken up about the unlawful income averaging scheme – which was the subject of a damning royal commission this year.

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Marise Payne to quit parliament – as it happened

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The Bureau of Meteorology is urging people in western Sydney, southern and central ranges and the Hunter region to tidy up loose items around their yards as damaging winds are extending over the areas today.

Gusty storms may hit Sydney and the Central Coast today, while there are possible severe storms heading to the Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast this afternoon, with a risk of damaging winds and large hail, the BoM says.

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