Category Archives: Australian politics

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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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.

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Peter Dutton rejects Nationals push to overturn commitment to net zero

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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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Australia politics live: Kylea Tink calls out ‘overly aggressive and personalised’ question time debate

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Follow today’s live news updates

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.

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Outgoing RBA governor Philip Lowe says tough decisions made him ‘very unpopular’

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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.”

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Former Qantas boss Alan Joyce to front Senate inquiry into blocked Qatar Airways flights

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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.

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Labor demands investigation into Liberal party’s ‘misleading’ postal vote strategy for the voice

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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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Question time chaos – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

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)

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Facility accused of exorcisms and gay conversion practices applied for funding a month after Morrison announced it

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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.

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Labor’s refusal to tie public hospital funding to full reproductive care condemned as ‘outrageous’

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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.

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