Exclusive: DP World, part-owned by the Dubai government, may have ‘artificially reduced profits’, a new report claims
DP World, one of Australia’s two largest port operators, has paid no tax in Australia despite generating revenue of more than $4.5bn over eight years.
A new report by the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research (Cictar) says that DP World’s top Australian subsidiary may have “artificially reduced profits” to achieve the result.
Continue reading...PM also acknowledged ‘tragic’ Queensland bushfires on Tuesday, warning pf ‘difficult summer’. Follow the day’s news live
Fire at Tara ‘remains uncontained’, QFES acting deputy commissioner says
QFES acting deputy commissioner Joanne Greenfield also spoke to Sunrise this morning, and provided an update on the bushfire at Tara:
The Tara fire is quite large now and still remains uncontained in most of its edges.
Crews have been down there working overnight trying to strengthen the control line and try to bring areas of it into containment.
Continue reading...Papua New Guinea’s immigration minister John Rosso says whistleblower’s ‘serious allegations’ revealed by the Guardian have prompted audit
Allegations of widespread corruption and mismanagement within the Australia-funded refugee support program in Papua New Guinea will be formally investigated by the Port Moresby government.
After allegations from a whistleblower inside PNG’s immigration authority that millions of dollars had potentially been misused, PNG’s deputy prime minister, also the minister for immigration, John Rosso, has ordered an audit into where the money has gone.
Continue reading...Albanese government is rushing through laws to underpin the ID verification service, say experts who have privacy concerns
Hundreds of millions of identity checks under the federal government’s ID verification service may have been illegally conducted, with the Albanese government rushing through legislation to underpin the service.
Identity verification services are used by government departments and businesses – such as credit card providers and power companies – to combat fraud and identity theft.
Continue reading...The Indigenous journalist and academic says he and other yes supporters were cast as ‘troublemakers’ for speaking about justice
Journalist and academic Stan Grant has spoken of his feelings of disappointment and rejection at the defeat of the Indigenous voice referendum, critical that public figures who talk about racism in Australia are characterised as “troublemakers” in media discourse.
The Wiradjuri man lamented the referendum loss as a missed opportunity to better help Indigenous people, saying current political processes are “not enough” to address disadvantage. In a speech to the Australian National University on Monday, Grant was critical of the no campaign’s attacks on the voice, but also questioned the yes campaign’s strategy.
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Australia’s ‘agricultural demands’ did not meet recent negotiations, EU spokesperson says
According to Politico, a spokesperson for the EU executive had this to say about the breakdown of free trade deal negotiations:
The European Commission regrets the lack of progress made during talks in Osaka today.
Our negotiating teams made good progress in recent weeks, including in the days leading up to the Osaka meeting. There was optimism that a deal was within reach.
My job as Australia’s trade minister is to get the best deal that we can for our producers, our businesses, our workers and our consumers.
Unfortunately we’ve not been able to make progress.
Continue reading...Daniel Andrews went out on top but in Queensland the premier fights on, even as the LNP gears up to go all-in on regional seats
“What you see is what you get” has been Annastacia Palaszczuk’s unofficial political motto. She’s used the line dozens of times, as the fledgling “unexpected” premier in 2015; ahead of a leaders’ debate in 2017; and again and again during the bruising Covid campaign of 2020.
It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that a year before the next election and with polls showing Palasczuk and her government on shaky ground the Queensland premier has retreated to familiar territory.
Continue reading...Prime minister pushed back on idea of US president personally stepping in, but Gabriel Shipton calls prosecution ‘entirely political’
Julian Assange’s brother has urged the Australian government to “up the ante” after the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, confirmed he raised the WikiLeaks founder’s case with Joe Biden last week.
Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, told Guardian Australia: “If his government can get back Cheng Lei from China, why is he so impotent when it comes to Julian and the USA?”
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The PM has said he has raised Julian Assange’s case with President Biden, but he shied away from calling him to intervene, saying Biden ‘doesn’t interfere with the Department of Justice’.
We keep our discussions private. I made clear Australia’s position that I made as Labor leader, the same position I hold as prime minister, which is that enough is enough, it is time that this issue was brought to a conclusion.
Well, the Australian officials are working very hard to achieve an outcome which is consistent with the position that I’ve put.
Look, this is - this is of major benefit, not just to the workers and the base there at Virginia and other places, but, of course, particularly for South Australia and Western Australia. This will be a jobs bonanza, and it will do more than the direct jobs as well.
A bit like the former auto industry did … this is highly advanced manufacturing for Australia. We will reap the benefit for decades to come.
Continue reading...Representative explains resolution ‘did not recognise terror group Hamas as perpetrator of 7 October attack’
Australia has abstained from casting a vote in a UN resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian truce in Gaza, arguing it was “incomplete” because it did not mention Hamas as the perpetrator of the 7 October attack.
On Friday, the United Nations general assembly overwhelmingly called for an “immediate, durable and sustainable humanitarian truce” between Israel and Hamas and demanded unhindered aid access to the besieged Gaza Strip.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Discussion on panel came as federal government was developing reforms to address high rates of youth nicotine addiction
An Australian politician spoke at the tobacco industry’s flagship conference in South Korea, despite the federal government developing reforms to address alarming rates of youth nicotine addiction.
It is the first time in more than a decade that a serving Australian politician has spoken at a tobacco industry-funded conference. Attending such events could breach a World Health Organization (WHO) treaty, to which Australia is a signatory.
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Pay deal averts six-day strike by dairy workers
A looming strike at one of Victoria’s major milk companies has been averted after the processor struck a pay deal with the union.
There is some concern around Mount Isa, and we are looking at what we can do to support that area being so remote in the western part of our state.
So looking at the weather we have today, still very extreme fire danger in the western part of Queensland. We are certainly looking at another challenging day.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Former PM accuses John Howard and Tony Abbott of ‘outrageously and wilfully misinterpreting’ result in attempt to return to ‘great assimilation project’
Indigenous Australians were always “fighting the wrong fight” with a voice to parliament, the former prime minister Paul Keating has said, and the failure of the referendum has now “ruined the game” for a treaty that could have properly acknowledged prior Indigenous ownership and dispossession.
In an interview with Guardian Australia, Keating accused the former Liberal prime ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott, and the historian Geoffrey Blainey, of “outrageously and wilfully misinterpreting” the referendum result in an attempt to return to “the great assimilation project”.
Continue reading...Michael Keating to call for revenue review at Australia Institute summit as Labor provides update on multinational tax avoidance
Australia’s taxes are “inadequate” to finance government responsibilities including for aged care and defence, a former head of the finance department has warned.
Michael Keating, the secretary of the Department of Finance from 1986 to 1991, will call for a review of revenue at the progressive thinktank the Australia Institute’s revenue summit on Friday. The call is aimed at sparking debate about methods to close the tax gap including congestion charging, lifting and broadening the goods and services tax and adjusting the stage-three income tax cuts.
Continue reading...There is ‘a lot of anxiety’ in the Western Downs where at least 16 houses have been destroyed, the mayor says. Follow the day’s news live
Civilians in the blockaded Gaza Strip will receive an extra $15m in humanitarian aid from the Australian government.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese made the announcement at a joint press conference with US president Joe Biden.
The plaintiff served years in prison that he otherwise would not have. At no stage did Victoria Police take positive steps to remedy its wrongdoing by expeditiously informing the plaintiff of Gobbo’s conduct in order to quash his conviction. Victoria Police has not apologised to the plaintiff.
Starting this court case is a significant moment for me. I am anxious about the future but also cautiously optimistic about finally holding police to account for what they did to me.
In the pursuit of justice, vindication came first, and now I see compensation as a measure of accountability.
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Military deployment to Middle East will be for evacuation of Australians
Defence minister Richard Marles was asked on Today what the role of the aircraft and troops sent to the Middle East would be.
We’ve made our position really clear.
Israel has a right to defend itself and to move against Hamas. What is absolutely essential in doing that is that the protection from the centre and and all the steps that Israel takes, and that the rules of war are adhered to and we’ve been making that very clear, as well.
Continue reading...Australian foreign minister calls for ‘humanitarian pauses on hostilities’ as Amir Maimon urges world not to ‘look away’ from Hamas’s actions
Israel’s ambassador to Australia has insisted the humanitarian situation in Gaza is “fair” after Penny Wong’s warning that the besieged strip had “nowhere near enough” access to aid supplies.
The Australian foreign minister called on Wednesday for “humanitarian pauses on hostilities, so food, water, medicine and other essential assistance can reach people in desperate need, and so civilians can get to safety”.
Continue reading...Questions remain following whistleblower claims of corruption and nepotism in the Australian-sponsored program
Refugees exiled in Papua New Guinea have labelled the lack of clarity about their fate “cruel and confusing” after explosive claims of “missing” Australian funds and assurances of resettlement from Port Moresby that have not been actioned by the Australian government.
Questions remain unanswered for the 64 refugees, many of whom were sent to Manus Island’s illegal detention centre more than 10 years ago. One refugee in Port Moresby, who wished to remain anonymous, said the lack of clarity about his fate was cruel.
Continue reading...NSW police have meanwhile appealed for public assistance as they investigate the cause of several bushfires along the state’s mid-north coast. Follow the day’s news live
Queenslanders in fire zones urged to pay attention to warnings
Turning to Queensland now, where the state’s Fire and Emergency Service chief, Tony Johnston, has spoken to ABC News Breakfast with an update on the bushfires across the state.
There’s been a number of structures that have been impacted but as you can appreciate, until the fire is actually contained, we won’t have a good picture of what’s actually been lost … When the crews can actually get in and ascertain the damage, we’ll have a full report.
Fires are spotting 200 metres in front of the fires themselves.
We’re asking residents to pay attention to the messaging. The messaging is important to enact your plan and what you’re going to do. Today is not a day to go sightseeing to see what’s happening in a fire area.
A lot of them are not easily contained. Some of those fires have been burning for quite some time. There’s a number of challenging fronts that we’ve got and obviously, worsening weather tomorrow that will cause a lot of problems with these fires and potentially new ones.
I know investigators are looking into a number of those fires and working with [police]. We have to wait for these fires to get under control before we can get in and assess the damage and carry out these investigations.
Continue reading...Officials refuse to answer questions at Senate estimates about the first transfer to immigration detention on the island in nine years
The Australian Border Force has confirmed it sent 11 asylum seekers to Nauru in September, the first transfer to immigration detention on the Pacific nation in nine years.
The evidence to Senate estimates on Monday from the head of operation sovereign borders (OSB) confirms a report in Guardian Australia revealing the Albanese government sent asylum seekers to Nauru just months after the last people were removed from detention on the island.
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