Category Archives: Australia news

In 2019 inequality was a big federal election issue. Now it’s off the radar

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How does your area compare for housing stress, socioeconomic disadvantage and income? In the first of a series about Australian electorates, we look at inequality and wealth

In the 2019 election, inequality was a major campaign theme. In the run up to polling day, the then Labor leader Bill Shorten declared inequality killed hope and created a fault line in politics by fostering a “sense of powerlessness that drives people away from the political mainstream, and down the low road of blaming minorities, and promising to turn back the clock”.

Back then, Labor promised to pursue measures like the abolition of franking credits – characterised by Shorten as “unsustainable largesse for high-income earners” – and curbs to negative gearing. These policies raised the revenue underpinning Labor’s then antidote – projected increases in social spending in areas like health and education.

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Christian Porter denied justice plea from Indonesians jailed in Australia when they were children

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Former attorney general refused to refer cases to WA court of appeal, despite an earlier ruling finding a miscarriage of justice in a similar case

The former attorney general Christian Porter rejected a plea for mercy from six Indonesians who said they were wrongly jailed as children using unreliable evidence, telling them they had no chance of success despite their lawyers pointing to a landmark ruling years earlier finding a miscarriage of justice in a similar case.

The six Indonesians, then aged between 13 and 17, were detained on a series of people smuggling boats in 2009 and were prosecuted by the commonwealth and jailed as adults in maximum security prisons in Western Australia.

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‘Housing in Australia is broken’: only 1.6% of private rentals are affordable for those on minimum wage

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Anglicare’s annual snapshot calls for 50% rise in rent assistance payments, more social housing and changes to tax system

Only 1.6% of private rental properties in Australia are affordable for minimum wage earners and all but zero for those on benefits, Anglicare’s annual snapshot has found.

The Rental Affordability report, released on Thursday, took data from the rental listings on realestate.com.au over a single weekend and assessed whether those properties were affordable – costing no more than 30% of a household budget – for people on low incomes.

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Labor ‘gravely concerned’ by Karen Andrews’ claim about potential China election interference

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Kristina Keneally says home affairs minister must clarify comments or brief Labor on intelligence reporting of foreign interference

Labor has raised grave concerns about the home affairs minister’s use of “privileged access to intelligence reporting”, after Karen Andrews publicly alluded to a potential attempt by China at interference in the federal election.

The shadow minister, Kristina Keneally, has written to Andrews to remind her of “the vital convention that opposition is briefed on any developing matters of national security” during the election caretaker mode.

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Coalition climate policy forced big polluters to pay $15m for carbon credits in past year

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Scott Morrison says Labor wants to use government safeguard mechanism as a ‘sneaky carbon tax’ but it is already making big business pay for offsets

The Coalition last year required polluting businesses to buy 419,000 carbon credits at an estimated cost of $15m using a policy that Scott Morrison now falsely describes as “Labor’s sneaky carbon tax”.

Government data released last month shows that, under the Coalition’s so-called safeguard mechanism, major polluting companies had to buy 70% more carbon credits last financial year than in 2019-20.

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Greens unveil climate policy including coal export levy, renewable energy and net zero by 2035

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Adam Bandt to unveil minor party’s climate policy including making Australia a ‘renewable energy superpower’ and net zero by 2035

The Greens will push for a new levy on coal exports to fund climate disaster recovery and clean export industries if they hold the balance of power after the election.

In a climate policy to be launched in Sydney on Thursday, the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, will announce measures that the party says will improve the budget bottom line by $51.9bn over a decade and create 805,000 new jobs.

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Victoria stands down 420 public school teachers over vaccine mandates

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About half had failed to get a booster shot before the March deadline and have been placed on unauthorised leave

About 420 public school teachers across Victoria have been stood down for failing to meet Covid vaccination requirements – with the majority of them not working because they haven’t received a third dose.

Despite previous fears of staff shortages in schools, Guardian Australia understands there are 420 full-time-equivalent teachers across Victoria’s public school system who are unable to work as they have not met the state’s vaccination mandate.

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Australia politics live updates: inflation figure highlights cost of living ‘triple whammy’, says Labor; Frydenberg takes aim at ‘fake independents’

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Labor launches economic plan after CPI increases to 5.1%; Frydenberg says ‘teal’ independents ‘a slogan and a billboard’; home affairs minister implies timing of China security pact is ‘political interference’; Jason Clare says Coalition ‘at war with itself over climate change’; Australia sending extra military assistance to Ukraine; at least 43 Covid deaths recorded – follow all the day’s news

Nationals deputy leader Bridget McKenzie will address the press club today.

Paul Kelly, Daryl Braithwaite, Lime Cordiale and Grinspoon will be playing a major free concert in Lismore next month, in an attempt to boost morale in the wake of recent flood devastation in the region.

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WA coroner says police failed to monitor breathing of Aboriginal woman pinned to the ground

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It was ‘incomprehensible’ that a police internal investigation into Cherdeena Wynne’s restraint found it was in line with policy and procedures, coroner finds

A Western Australian coroner has criticised police offices for their “woefully inadequate” monitoring of an Aboriginal woman’s breathing after she was pinned to the ground and lost consciousness before being allowed to sit up.

Cherdeena Wynne, a 26-year-old Noongar Yamatji woman, died in hospital five days after she was pinned in a prone position by police officers, one of whom had his knee on her shoulder blades and leg across her upper back for almost two minutes.

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Australia faces prospect of pre-election rate rise as inflation and consumer prices soar

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Annual CPI rate rise to 5.1% was higher than expectations and reflects higher fuel and food costs, sparking fears of an interest rate rise

Australia faces the prospect of a pre-election rate rise by the Reserve Bank after underlying inflation pace soared to its highest in 13 years while the broader consumer price measure increased at the quickest pace since the GST was introduced in 2000.

The 5.1% annual consumer price index (CPI) reading for the March quarter easily topped the market expectation of 4.6% pace. The so-called trimmed mean inflation, which strips out volatile changes and is used by the central bank to set rates, rose 3.7%, or the most since March 2009.

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Clive Palmer’s proposed open-cut mine could have ‘far-reaching impact’ on Great Barrier Reef, study finds

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Study finds tidal currents could introduce pollution from coalmine into seagrass meadows and dugong sanctuary in marine park

Billionaire Clive Palmer’s proposal to build an open-cut coalmine 10km from the coast of the Great Barrier Reef would have a “far-reaching impact” on the world heritage area, say scientists, whose modelling shows concentrated pollution from the mine could reach sensitive marine ecosystems within weeks.

The Queensland government last year deemed the Central Queensland coal proposal by a subsidiary company of Palmer’s flagship entity, Mineralogy, “not suitable” and said it posed “a number of unacceptable risks” due to its location, the prospect of polluted water discharge and a lack of effective mitigation measures.

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Emily Seebohm condemns ‘horrific’ transphobic billboard that uses her image without permission

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Olympic swimmer says election message promoted by rightwing lobby group Advance ‘is just awful to me’

The Olympic gold medallist Emily Seebohm has slammed rightwing lobby group Advance for using her image without permission on a transphobic billboard.

The billboards display the words “women’s sport is not for men” alongside images of swimmers Dawn Fraser, Emma McKeon and Seebohm and were launched as part of an attack on the Warringah MP, Zali Steggall, who has been vocal in her support for trans women to compete in female sports.

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Thousands of shocking reports reveal extent of Australian aged care residents’ suffering due to understaffing

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More than 6,500 reports of distressed and neglected residents and unsafe conditions the ‘tip of the iceberg’, union says

More than 6,500 reports of understaffing and unsafe conditions in Australia’s aged care sector, including hundreds of reports of resident injuries, will be handed to the regulator on Wednesday.

The reports, from United Workers Union (UWU) whistleblower site Aged Care Watch, identified thousands of instances of aged care residents’ safety suffering due to unfilled shifts and understaffing.

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Former WA treasurer Troy Buswell given suspended sentence for ‘cowardly’ attacks on ex-wife

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Charges related to incidents in 2015 and 2016 in which Buswell assaulted Melissa Hankinson multiple times

Former West Australian treasurer Troy Buswell has been handed a suspended prison sentence for repeatedly attacking his ex-wife.

Buswell, 56, pleaded guilty in Perth magistrates court to two counts of aggravated assault and one count of aggravated assault causing bodily harm.

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Uncle Jack Charles makes history as first Indigenous elder to speak at Victorian truth-telling commission

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Yoorrook commission will establish official record of Indigenous experiences since colonisation

Victoria’s Indigenous truth-telling commission has opened public hearings, with respected actor and activist Uncle Jack Charles the first to share his story.

Born to a Wiradjuri father and a Bunurong mother, Charles was called as the first Indigenous elder to speak at the Yoorrook Justice Commission on Tuesday.

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Seven paid legal fees for witness in Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation trial until arrangement was revealed in court

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Request for reimbursement from Kerry Stokes’s private company not made until after court told of network’s legal financing

The Seven Network was paying the legal fees of several SAS witnesses for Ben Roberts-Smith in his defamation trial until one of them revealed the payments in the federal court, contradicting Seven’s claim last week that the former soldier’s evidence about the source of the payments was “not correct”.

When the former SAS soldier, known as Person 5, told the court last week that his solicitor and barrister are being paid for by Seven, the network said another arm of the empire owned by Seven West Media chair, Kerry Stokes, was footing the bill.

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Veronica Nelson made repeated calls for help before her death in custody, inquest hears

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Melbourne coroner’s court hears audio of the 37-year-old Yorta Yorta woman screaming in pain in her prison cell

Yorta Yorta woman Veronica Marie Nelson made repeated calls for assistance in the hours before she was found dead in a maximum security prison cell, a coronial inquest has heard.

The 37-year-old, who also has Gunditjmara, Dja Dja Wurrung and Wiradjuri heritage, died at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre on 2 January 2020, four days after being arrested because she had failed to attend a sentencing hearing for a shoplifting offence.

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Matt Canavan declares net zero by 2050 is ‘all over bar the shouting’ after PM tries to quell divisions

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Labor earlier jumped on climate crisis split between Liberals and Nationals after Colin Boyce said emissions target had ‘wiggle room’

Queensland Nationals senator Matt Canavan has declared net zero by 2050 “all over bar the shouting” only hours after Scott Morrison attempted to hose down internal divisions – insisting the mid-century target was “absolutely” Coalition policy.

Labor criticised the “spectacular” split between inner-city Liberals and rural Nationals on the policy, criticising the Coalition for running a “fear campaign” on the opposition’s policy around coal jobs.

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Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial: former patrol commander denies ordering execution of elderly prisoner

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Ex-soldier known as Person 5 denies allegation put by lawyers acting for newspapers

Ben Roberts-Smith’s former patrol commander has denied in court accusations he ordered the execution of an elderly Afghan prisoner discovered hiding in a tunnel – in an alleged “blooding” of a junior soldier.

The retired soldier, anonymised before the court as Person 5, was directly challenged on Tuesday by lawyers for three newspapers being sued by Roberts-Smith: “You told [soldier] Person 4 to murder the old man.”

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Payne says China military base in Solomons would be a ‘red line’ – as it happened

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Queensland senator Matt Canavan adds to uncertainty about Coalition climate commitments; foreign minister accuses Labor of ‘playing politics’ on national security after Penny Wong criticises Scott Morrison for ‘refusing to take responsibility in Pacific’; at least 50 Covid deaths as WA to ease mask mandate in some settings. This blog is now closed

Scott Morrison is in Townsville (north Queensland) today where he will be making announcements on energy.

Given what we just heard from Scott Morrison there, it’s worth your time having a listen to climate and environment editor Adam Morton on today’s Full Story podcast examining if the policy differences between the Coalition and Labor and ultimately asking: is either party preparing enough for the transformational change ahead?

Economic modelling should be used as a guide. Both sides of politics lean on it more as a forecast that will be fact ... I don’t think anybody can tell us exactly what our power bills will be in 2025, 2030, 2050 but no one disagrees that more solar and wind is good in terms of lowering prices because it is much, much cheaper to generate what’s in place.

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