Category Archives: Australia news

Australia politics live: Peter Dutton claims PM ‘misrepresented’ earlier comments about Kevin Rudd’s performance as US ambassador

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The Republican candidate for the US presidency, former president Donald Trump, has had a few things to say about former Australian prime minister and current US ambassador Kevin Rudd.

Trump spoke to UK conservative Nigel Farage on GB News, saying if Rudd is hostile “he will not be there long”:

The Aukus deal that is in place, America, you know, the UK, Australia, very, very important deal, it is there to try and combat that huge growth in China. But now of course things have changed in Australia, we have a Labor government in Australia. The previous ambassador, Joe Hockey, I think was quite a good friend of yours, you got on pretty well with him. Now they have appointed Kevin Rudd. Former Labor MP, an he has said the most horrible things, you were a destructive president, a traitor to the west, and he is now Australia’s ambassador in Washington. Would you [take a phone call from him?]”

Yeah, well don’t know. He won’t there be long if that is the case. I don’t know much about him. I heard he was a little nasty. I heard he’s not the brightest bulb. I don’t know much about him, but he won’t be there long if he is at all hostile.

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Victoria’s scrapped 2026 Commonwealth Games cost $589m in ‘significant waste of taxpayer money’, auditor general says

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Report criticises government agencies for not working together and says the estimated $6.9bn cost of the event was ‘overstated’

The scrapped 2026 Commonwealth Games have cost Victoria more than $589m, the state’s auditor general says, in a report that calls the project a “waste of taxpayer money” with “no discernible benefit”.

The scathing report investigated the Victorian government’s shock cancellation of Games last year and found the cited $6.9bn cost blowout was “overstated”.

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Delay in court case for man accused of vandalising Woolworths over Australia Day stance

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Six-week adjournment granted for Travis Profke, 40, who is accused of spray-painting graffiti on Queensland Woolworths store

A man accused of an Australia Day-related graffiti attack on a Queensland Woolworths faces a six-week delay to the matter due to medical records and other information not being disclosed.

Travis Profke, of Ormiston, is accused of spray painting graffiti outside Woolworths Metro in Teneriffe on 15 January. The 40-year-old has also been charged with vandalising supermarkets at Victoria Point, Cleveland and Teneriffe on 13 January.

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The Juice Media told to censor satirical video with image of Tasmanian premier or face heavy penalties

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Maker of ‘honest government’ ad parodies says state’s antiquated electoral laws could be ‘weaponised to silence critics’

“It was a real ‘what the fuck’ moment,” Giordano Nanni says about his company, The Juice Media, being told to censor an image of Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rockliff or face heavy penalties.

The Juice Media is well known for its satirical “honest government” series, which takes potshots at all sides of politics in videos that resemble government-funded propaganda.

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Australians ‘shocked’ at death sentence imposed on Yang Hengjun, Penny Wong tells Chinese counterpart

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Foreign affairs minister says she raised concerns about China’s human rights record during meeting with Wang Yi, including in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong

The Australian foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has told her visiting Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, that Australians are “shocked” at the suspended death sentence imposed on the writer Dr Yang Hengjun.

Wong raised the Australian citizen’s case – along with human rights more broadly – during a meeting that was largely aimed at stabilising the previously turbulent relationship with Australia’s largest trading partner.

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Queensland to become first state to introduce permanent pill-testing clinics

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Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival will conduct testing onsite at the end of March and first fixed-site clinic will open in Bowen Hills in April

Queensland will establish the first of two fixed pill-testing clinics in Brisbane this year, the first Australian state to back the harm reduction strategy on an ongoing basis.

The Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival near Warwick will be the first to conduct pill testing on site, at the end of the month. In 2019 two people died after taking drugs at the festival.

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NSW temperatures to plunge as cold weather sweeps south-east of Australia

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The cold front has been moving steadily across South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania

Parts of New South Wales will feel a sudden drop in temperature on Wednesday evening as a cold front continues to sweep the south-east of the country.

The cold front has been moving steadily across South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania since Tuesday and will reach NSW on Wednesday.

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Cricket Australia cancels men’s T20 against Afghanistan due to concern over women’s rights

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  • Australia postpones a second series in as many years
  • It comes amid fears conditions under Taliban are getting worse

A second Australian men’s cricket series against Afghanistan in as many years has been postponed due to the country’s poor record on human rights for women and girls.

Australia had already cancelled a one-day international series to be played in the United Arab Emirates in March 2023 due to “a marked deterioration” in the treatment of females in the country.

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Alex Antic: Liberal who rolled female frontbencher described as nice guy turned ‘Trumpian’ by colleagues

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The conservative firebrand has rekindled criticism of party’s ‘women problem’ after nabbing top spot on South Australian Senate ticket

Former colleagues paint Alex Antic – the rabble-rousing Liberal senator who rolled female frontbencher Anne Ruston in a preselection battle – as a nice guy turned “Trumpian”.

Antic, a backbencher known for his “anti-woke”, anti-vaccine mandate and anti-transgender stance, nabbed the party’s number one Senate ticket spot in South Australia on the weekend.

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NSW school to be demolished after extensive mould outbreak in carpet, chairs and plasterboard

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Willyama High School at Broken Hill set to be rebuilt, education minister Prue Car says

A New South Wales school where mould has infested carpets, chairs, plasterboard and even drum kits will be demolished and rebuilt, the state’s education minister has announced.

Willyama high school at Broken Hill has been closed to students and staff since mid-January when an extensive mould outbreak was discovered by a staff member after returning from the summer break.

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Liberal senator demands PwC executives ‘bare their necks’ at inquiry into consultancies

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Richard Colbeck says PwC International must clarify reports it took control of Australian firm after tax leaks scandal

The head of a second parliamentary inquiry has demanded answers from PwC International after reports it took control of the Australian firm to contain the tax leaks scandal, warning senior managers need to “come clean” and “bare their necks”.

The rebuke by Liberal senator Richard Colbeck, who chairs the senate inquiry into the consulting industry, comes a day after the head of a separate inquiry, Labor senator Deborah O’Neill, called for PwC International bosses to face questions.

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NSW police reject watchdog’s calls for updated training and protocols on use of force

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Force responds to scathing NSW law enforcement conduct commission report, dismissing four of 19 recommendations

New South Wales police have rejected calls from the state’s police watchdog for updated training and protocols for officers on the use of force, especially when handcuffing children, after a scathing report handed down last year.

In its Operation Mantus report, the NSW law enforcement conduct commission (Lecc) said the way police were trained should be changed and ongoing education provided to officers.

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Labor’s Don Farrell accuses teal independents of hypocrisy over political donations

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The special minister of state claims some cross-benchers ‘agree with banning big money, just not theirs’

The special minister of state, Don Farrell, has accused teal independents of hypocrisy for proposing a ban on political donations totalling more than $1.5m while imposing no limit on electoral spending.

On Tuesday Farrell reiterated Labor’s intention to cap political spending and donations, accusing unnamed teal independents of “saying to us that they agree with banning big money, just not theirs”.

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Australia politics live: Coalition slams Keating for China meeting; RBA tipped to hold rates

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Former PM called ‘reckless’ for accepting talks with foreign minister Wang Yi. Follow the day’s news live

Energy minister Chris Bowen is on a bit of a media blitz this morning.

More renewables are coming on to the grid, which is lowering the default price of energy, but this is Bowen’s main message (he is speaking to ABC radio RN here)

Nuclear is the most expensive form of energy in the world at the moment. There will be a real choice at the next election between the cheapest form of energy and the most expensive.

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Queensland farming lobby launches legal challenge against Great Artesian Basin carbon capture trial

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AgForce is seeking a judicial review of a 2022 decision that found the project did not need to be assessed under federal environmental laws

Queensland farming body AgForce has launched legal action against the federal government in a bid to stop liquified carbon dioxide from being pumped into the Great Artesian Basin.

The Carbon Transport and Storage Corporation (CTSCo), a subsidiary of mining giant Glencore, is awaiting state government approval for a pilot scheme to inject Co2 emitted by a coal-fired power station in southern Queensland into underground water aquifers as part of a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project trial.

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Australian eSafety commissioner puts tech companies on notice over reports terror-related content still being shared

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Julie Inman Grant has asked companies including Google, Meta and Telegram to explain how they are taking action against violent and extremist material

Australia’s online safety regulator has issued notices to Telegram, Google, Meta, Reddit and X asking how they are taking action against terror material on their platforms.

It is five years since an Australian murdered 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch in New Zealand, and broadcast the massacre on Facebook live. Australia’s eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, said she still receives reports that video and other perpetrator-produced material from terror attacks are being shared on mainstream platforms, although there were now slightly less on mainstream platforms such as X and Facebook.

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Reserve Bank tipped to hold interest rate but economists split on when cuts will start

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Pundits and investors expect the RBA to leave its cash rate unchanged at 4.35% when the board meets on Tuesday

The Reserve Bank is widely tipped to leave its key interest rate on hold at this week’s board meeting, but economists are split on how soon borrowers can expect rate relief.

The central bank will announce the results of its second board meeting for 2024 on Tuesday. Pundits and investors alike anticipate the RBA will leave its cash rate unchanged at its 12-year high of 4.35%.

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Independents move to ban mega donations in far-reaching political transparency overhaul

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Crossbenchers including the Greens and the Jacquie Lambie Network back proposal that would ban $1.5m-plus donations and tighten the definition of gifts but does not include spending caps

Mega donations of more than $1.5m would be banned under a crossbench plan to get big money out of politics.

Lower house independents, including Kate Chaney, Zali Steggall, the Greens, David Pocock, Lidia Thorpe and the Jacqui Lambie Network, will present a united front by introducing the fair and transparent elections bill in both houses of parliament.

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Watchdog would get powers to ‘smash’ supermarket duopoly under Greens bill

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The party will table a private senator’s bill this week to enable the ACCC to force Coles and Woolworths to sell off parts of their business

Australia’s competition regulator would gain powers to “smash the supermarket duopoly” and force the breakup of big supermarket chains, under a push from the Greens to be introduced to federal parliament.

The Greens will this week table a private senator’s bill seeking to introduce divestiture powers into Australian competition law. The party’s economic justice spokesperson, Nick McKim, said they will seek support across the parliament for their plan which would allow the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to apply for a court order requiring large companies to divest assets if their market power is unfairly inflating prices or blocking competition.

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Australia politics live: Steven Miles says Suncorp Stadium will host Brisbane Olympics opening and closing ceremonies

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‘There’ll be a lot of people grieving today’

Both Barnaby Joyce and Tanya Plibersek were asked about soldier Jack Fitzgibbon, the son of former defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon.

The Fitzgibbon family are a family of honour. Jack died in service to our nation. Joel has served our nation. The family will be absolutely grieving. We hope and pray Jack is with our maker, give comfort to them. You’ve seen the Fitzgibbons, you’ve watched them on television. They’re a great family. He is also my mate. We’ll turn up and give what support we can to Jack’s family.

It’s just the worst thing that any parent can imagine and so our hearts go out to Joel and Diane and their family and the friends and comrades that Jack had in the service as well. We know there’ll be a lot of people grieving today.

Well, first of all, of course it’s not on government devices in Australia either. We’ve got a ban here in Australia on government devices. But there are 8.5 million Australians who are using it.

We’ll take the advice of our security and intelligence agencies on anything we need to do around TikTok. I think people should be careful of the data that they put online in general. Like I say, if the security and intelligence agencies give us advice on TikTok, we’ll take it.

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