Large swings in WA meant the Liberals lost Hasluck, Swan, Pearce and Tangney and will have just five seats – down from 10 – after the election
It wasn’t quite the bloodbath the Liberal party suffered in Western Australia’s state election in 2021, but a huge 11% swing to Labor has proved crucial to the Coalition’s federal election defeat.
The “red wave” in the west was the biggest swing nationally and could deliver Labor a parliamentary majority.
Continue reading...Anthony Albanese arrives for speech; Scott Morrison to step down as leader after conceding defeat; ‘Liberal family suffered a terrible day,’ Peter Dutton says; Labor claims Reid; Zoe Daniel claims victory in Goldstein; Allegra Spender wins Wentworth from Dave Sharma. This blog is now closed
I’m a fairly big footy fan, but not sure how much all these analogies mean to the rest of voters (and I believe kicking into the wind can actually be an advantage in rugby union sometimes?)
On Weekend Today, Scott Morrison managed to turn a question about whether he has BBQ sauce on his democracy sausage into a stump speech about jobkeeper and co-funding the hospital system during the pandemic. We can’t fault him - those are more important issues than what he was asked.
Continue reading...Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people will have say on future of mines on native title area, two years after heritage site was blown up
The traditional owners of Juukan Gorge have signed a preliminary agreement with Rio Tinto to co-manage land that is still being mined for iron ore.
The Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people said the mining giant broke their trust with the destruction of the 46,000-year-old Aboriginal heritage site, which was blown up by Rio Tinto in May 2020 in an effort to access more high-grade iron ore at its Brockman 4 mine.
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Continue reading...Electoral commission urges people in potentially affected regions to access alternative voting options, and volunteer to work
The Australian Electoral Commission has said staff shortages may mean some polling stations will be unable to open for the election on Saturday.
The electoral commissioner, Tom Rogers, said the impact would be “limited” with the vast majority of Australia’s 7,000 polling stations to remain open.
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Continue reading...Anthony Albanese labels Coalition housing scheme ‘an attack on future savings’; AEC says Advance Australia ‘Greens’ signs in breach of electoral act; home price increases will be ‘marginal’ under new plan, Scott Morrison says; PM says Labor was informed about Aukus when they ‘needed to be’; NSW records four Covid deaths. Follow all the day’s news live
Labor campaign spokesperson Jason Clare has a new line.
He told ABC TV:
The next week is really important. Australians have a big choice to make this weekend. It is a choice between a better future under Labor and more Scott Morrison.
As Australians think about this, they would be thinking “Do you want to wake up on Sunday morning and roll over and see Scott Morrison?”
Continue reading...Scott Morrison reiterates new pitch to voters, promising a ‘gear change’, and Anthony Albanese reveals plan to boost primary healthcare. This blog is now closed
Morrison has unfurled his famous boomer dad vibes, snorting at young people using “devices”:
I still remember the mates are used to play with when I was a kid, when I used to go play sport, I used to look forward to it every Saturday and be there with mum and dad, come and be on the sidelines, it is those great
experiences of family life which creates strong families and strong communities.
And by investing in a healthy lifestyles of our children, and doing that with the highly successful sporting schools program, this means we can get more and more about into healthy lifestyles, we need to get them off those phones and get them on the field. I hear some noise from parents who know exactly what I am talking about. And sure, they can have fun with their devices, that has to be on the timing at all the rest of it, you guys struggle without as much as I am sure we all do, but we want them out there running around, we want them living healthy lifestyles.
We have had to come through and toughed it out and push through as hard as we possibly can, and as a Prime Minister and as a government we have had to do that as well.
But as we go into this time of opportunity, and that is exactly what it is, and the kids reminded me of that again this morning, as we go into that time of opportunity, as a government, we change gears, as a Prime Minister, I change gears, and we go and secure those opportunities ahead.
Continue reading...Opposition leader says ‘bulldozers wreck things’ after prime minister blames pandemic for how he has governed country; Chinese spy ship spotted off Western Australia; Marise Payne and Penny Wong debate foreign policy at National Press Club; nation records at least 52 Covid deaths. Follow all the day’s news
On what Anne Ruston said, here is some of what Scott Morrison said about the 5.1% figure on 11 May:
Anthony Albanese says that he wants wages to go up by 5.1% and he thinks that Australians don’t know what the impact of that would be on their interest rates, on unemployment or on inflation in the cost of living.
He thinks Australians don’t get the link between these things. He thinks he can just say what he likes and you can have your cake and eat it.
I think you’ll find that the government has been very clear in its condemnation of the comments by Mr Albanese, not because of the figure that he put out there specifically, but the fact that he’s just chosen to put a figure out there you know, without bothering to consult, take advice, you know, there’s no science around it.
Continue reading...Researchers say the major road transport reform should not be ruled out so quickly as city faces growing gridlock
The New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, says his government will not introduce a congestion charge but researchers are calling for the major road transport reform not to be ruled out so quickly.
“There is no plan for a congestion tax and and we can rule it out completely,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
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Continue reading...Anthony Albanese says meeting ‘about time’ as Scott Morrison says Australia reassured Solomons would not host military base
A meeting between Australia’s foreign minister, Marise Payne, and her Solomons Islands counterpart for the first time since a security pact with China was signed overshadowed campaign announcements on Saturday.
On day 27 of the campaign, and just two weeks out from the federal election, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, was campaigning in Perth, while the Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, was in Tasmania.
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Continue reading...Labor needs to gain seven seats to form majority government while the Coalition must offset any losses with gains elsewhere
Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese are preparing for the final sprint to the 21 May election finish line when Australia will decide who forms government.
Labor can sniff victory, but the Liberals are not giving up, hoping the final fortnight may yet see the undecided voters stick with the devil they know.
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Continue reading...Anthony Albanese and senior Labor members speak at ALP campaign launch in Perth; Scott Morrison speaks at Sydney rally; Coalition outlines e-safety plan; Greens announce LGBTQ+ equality plan; Victoria reports seven Covid deaths; NSW reports five; South Australia reports two. This blog is now closed
Simon Birmingham is pushed on what the Coalition will actually do on the cost of living but there isn’t a clear answer. See this exchange with Insiders host David Speers:
Q: So essentially to get wages going is to keep doing what you’ve been doing for the last nine years?
David, our plan is a comprehensive economic plan and in contrast to the Labor party. We have outlined clearly plans for … that jobs growth. Jobs growth fuelled by lower taxes and tax relief for Australians that continue to be implemented in terms of lower income taxes, support for more businesses.
David, it is a plan that we’ve outlined in quite a lot of detail, compared to ...
If you look at this year’s budget, small business, a particular focus in relation to investment in technology …
The approach we’ve taken is to fix a particular problem in the housing market and that was the fact that you had to save, of course, for your deposit, takes months and months, years and years, to get that 20% deposit to avoid having to pay mortgage insurance, that was meaning that people were having to pay rent at the same time as saving.
Continue reading...Opposition leader also vows to make gender equity an objective of the Fair Work Act if ALP wins federal election on 21 May
Labor has promised to reduce the cost of medicines on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme, roll out new charging infrastructure for electric vehicles and focus on improving pay equity for women if Anthony Albanese defeats Scott Morrison on 21 May.
The Labor leader used the party’s official election campaign launch in Perth on Sunday to unveil a promise to reduce the cost of drugs on the PBS by $12.50. Albanese told the party faithful gathered at Optus Stadium that meant the maximum price for medicines for millions of Australians would be $30.
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Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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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Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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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Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...Deputy Labor leader says Chinese Solomon Islands base would make Australia ‘less safe’; Anzac Day services and marches return for the first time since pandemic began; Peter Dutton compares events in Ukraine to ‘the 1930s’; ABC presenter Fauziah Ibrahim under social media review; at least 17 Covid deaths recorded. This blog is now closed
Sticking with Brendan O’Connor for a moment, the shadow defence spokesperson says Labor would have “grave concerns” if a Chinese military base were established in Solomon Islands.
This comes after Scott Morrison yesterday said the establishment of a base there would be a “red line”, without saying how his government would actually respond, with O’Connor saying it was just “post-facto rhetoric”:
We understand what the prime minister says by that. But, really, it’s post-facto rhetoric. We need to see better investment and better engagement in the region ... rather than react after the fact.
Given the change in tone and rhetoric and words used by the prime minister, we will seek a briefing from the government. We’ve been getting updates all the way through, and we appreciate that.
It was a smaller sum. [The government’s plan] would go no way to provide support for veterans. It would not increase the frontline staff required to respond to their needs. It would do in no way enough to support those people who’ve put themselves in harm’s way.
People are waiting for days, weeks, months just for some of the more simple applications and claims.
Continue reading...A member of the premier’s family contracted the virus earlier this week
The Western Australian premier, Mark McGowan, has tested positive to Covid while isolating at home with his family.
McGowan had initially returned a negative test after a family member contracted the virus earlier this week, rendering him a close contact.
Continue reading...Record number of Australians enrol to vote; Morrison says he won’t allow embattled Warringah candidate to be ‘silenced’; Australia losing green energy opportunities due to Coalition inaction, Albanese says; Shorten launches Labor’s NDIS policy; nation records 18 Covid deaths. Follow all the latest news
These two are debating each other on Sky News tonight
Former South Australian senator Nick Xenophon, who is making another tilt at the Senate, wants a royal commission into housing affordability in Australia.
With house prices rising in Adelaide, and around the country by almost a quarter in just a year, the issue of young Australians being able to afford to buy their own home is becoming more and more vexed, and there are policy failures all round at a local, state and federal government level.
Only a royal commission can tackle this issue head-on by looking at a range of solutions that will get us back on track to make the dream of home ownership attainable once again.”
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