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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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”.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed.
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.
Continue reading...Liberal leader says Coalition ‘committed’ to policy after Barnaby Joyce labelled its cost ‘utterly untenable’
Peter Dutton has rejected a push within the Nationals to overturn the commitment to net zero by 2050, warning the Coalition “won’t be departing” from the policy after Barnaby Joyce labelled the cost “utterly untenable”.
The Liberal leader told Radio National on Friday he was not concerned by Joyce’s intervention because there is “strong support for net zero” within the Coalition for the policy he had “recommitted to”.
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If you want to make a submission to the government about the Australian aviation industry, the link to the green paper is here
The green paper is public consultation. It comes before the white paper, which is a discussion paper provided to the parliament. White papers lay out the issues with context (the whole picture as it were) and then make recommendations on what needs to happen.
I consulted colleagues prior to the decision, but the decision was mine.
Continue reading...At a speech in Sydney, Philip Lowe has said some of his economic explanations ‘missed the mark’ but that media should avoid ‘clickbait’
Philip Lowe has used his final public comments as governor of the Reserve Bank to defend his more controversial comments, saying while some of his explanations had “missed the mark” the media also had a responsibility to avoid “clickbait”.
“Raising interest rates and tightening policy can make you very unpopular, as I know all too well,” Lowe told a Sydney function on Thursday for the Anika Foundation. “This means that it is easier for an independent central bank to do this than it is for politicians.”
Continue reading...Transport minister Catherine King revealed in question time on Wednesday that she spoke with Virgin Australia before blocking the request
Former Qantas boss Alan Joyce will be called to front a Senate inquiry over his discussions with the federal government in the lead up to a ruling that blocked competitor airlines from offering more flights.
Other witnesses to be invited to give their side of the story include Joyce’s successor, Vanessa Hudson, along with officials from Qatar Airways, Virgin Australia and regional airline, Rex.
Continue reading...Liberals brush off calls for AEC to investigate website that offers non-existent postal vote registrations
Labor has called for an investigation into the Liberal party’s “misleading” postal vote strategy for the voice referendum.
The Liberals have been accused of “dirty tactics” for sending out anti-voice pamphlets that include a QR code for postal vote registrations. That link takes voters to a party website to gather their personal information, despite the fact postal vote registrations are not yet open.
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Tasmanian hospitals experiencing significant demand, public asked to reconsider attending
Tasmanians are being urged to stay away from the state’s two main hospitals unless it’s an emergency as they face “significant demand”.
The hospitals are closely managing elective surgery activity to maintain access for emergency demand. This includes working with private hospitals to access contracted bed capacity and elective surgery.”
I think the Qantas board has to seriously consider some of the decisions that they have been making. I mean, not for nothing, you’re in front of the competition watchdog for what is alleged to be quite egregious behaviour.
You have also sought to, as I said, keep on your balance sheet half a billion dollars of your customers’ money rather than giving it back in the middle of a cost of living crisis. (The flight credits)
Continue reading...Freedom of information documents show officials scrambling for information after then PM announced $4m for Esther Foundation
The Esther Foundation – a rehabilitation facility accused of performing exorcisms and gay conversions – applied for “promised funding” a month after the funding had been announced.
Freedom of information documents show the health department rushing to get information after the then prime minister, Scott Morrison, announced $4m for the group in the lead-up to the 2019 election.
Continue reading...Women forced to ‘shop around’ for abortion care due to Catholic public hospitals’ refusal to provide terminations
Despite harrowing stories from women about having to “shop around” for abortion care even when their pregnancies are unviable, the federal government will not make providing abortion services a condition tied to millions of dollars in funding it allocates to major public hospitals.
An investigation by Guardian Australia detailed the still widespread practice of Catholic hospitals across Australia using the cover of religion to opt out of providing reproductive care, with devastating consequences.
Continue reading...Party pointing voters to same website labelled ‘potentially misleading’ by AEC during 2022 election
The Liberal party has been accused of “dirty tactics” by offering nonexistent postal vote registration for the referendum, directing would-be voters to a party website to harvest their personal information.
A “vote no” pamphlet delivered to mail boxes includes a QR code that leads to the same website the party used in last year’s election as part of a move the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) labelled “potentially misleading”.
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The corporate regulator is suing Westpac after it allegedly failed to appropriately respond to hundreds of financial hardship requests from bank customers.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) said in a statement on Tuesday it had started civil proceedings in the federal court seeking financial penalties to be imposed on the major bank.
All of these customers told Westpac they were experiencing financial hardship.
Many of these customers also told Westpac about their difficult circumstances and vulnerabilities, including their inability to work, the impacts of serious medical conditions or their carer responsibilities.
This error meant we didn’t provide some of our customers with the help they needed. For this, we are deeply sorry.
The broader picture here is the we’re seeing big corporations at the moment making record profits off the back of everyday people, these big corporations line up to public handouts when the going gets tough and then when they get back into a more healthy situation, they just pocket the profits and they pass the costs on to everyday people and we think it’s time to say enough is enough and it’s time for these big corporations [to be] made to act in the public interest and that’s government’s job.
Continue reading...Australia used twice as much electricity as China on a per capita basis and 48% of it came from coal plants, thinktank says
Australia still emits more greenhouse gas from burning coal on a per capita basis than other G20 countries despite a significant rise in solar and wind energy.
While Australia and South Korea have cut per person emissions from coal-fired electricity since 2015 – by 26% and 10% respectively – they continue to release more CO2 than other major economies, according to an analysis by the energy thinktank Ember.
Continue reading...Anthony Albanese is expected to announce the new economic blueprint during his trip to the Indonesian capital Jakarta
Anthony Albanese will fly to Jakarta this week to launch a major new strategy to deepen Australia’s trade and investment ties with south-east Asia and hedge against top trading partner China.
Despite China recently reopening the door to key Australian exports that it shunned at the height of diplomatic tensions in 2020, the Albanese government wants to diversify economic ties to reduce exposure to further political tumult.
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