Category Archives: Victoria

Hurley says he had ‘no reason to believe’ extra ministries would be kept secret – as it happened

Posted on by

Victoria’s opposition has pledged to scrap the suburban rail loop, described as the biggest transport project in the state’s history, with “every cent” of the $34.5bn saved to be invested in the health system if elected in November.

The commitment, made 101 days before voters go to the polls, sets the stage for another election turned referendum on infrastructure.

This November, Victorians face a clear choice. A choice between immediately rebuilding Victoria’s broken health system, or a train line in 13 years’ time.

As premier, my first priority will be to fix the health crisis.

So I think he himself, in reflecting on it, he has to come to the opinion that it probably wasn’t a good move. And, and on that issue, I agree with him.

If he did do something illegal, if he received some form of pecuniary benefit, if someone closely related to you get some for of pecuniary benefit, they failed to disclose, then yeah, you can pack up your bongos and get out of there.

But if something is legal, and you complied with the law even though people might not agree with that mightn’t be basically customary, or, as you would say, something you’ve done it in a way that’s annoying, you’ve done it in a way that has got people off side, but it’s not illegal. It’s not illegal.

Continue reading...

Matthew Guy pledges to shelve $34.5bn rail project to invest in healthcare

Posted on by

Victorian election battle takes shape as opposition leader says fixing the ‘broken health system’ must be prioritised

Victoria’s opposition has pledged to shelve the Suburban Rail Loop, described as the biggest transport project in the state’s history, if elected in November and reinvest the $34.5bn cost of the first stage in the health system.

The state’s opposition leader, Matthew Guy, made the announcement to halt work on the first 26km of the project on Wednesday, 101 days before voters go to the polls, setting the stage for another election turned referendum on infrastructure.

Continue reading...

Eastern Australia faces wet weather and flooding with 70% chance of third consecutive La Niña

Posted on by

Bureau of Meteorology forecasts heavy rain in spring driven by negative Indian Ocean Dipole and warm waters in the north

Australia could be lashed with more rain and possible floods for the next three months with La Niña conditions predicted to return for a rare third consecutive year.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology raised the El Niño-Southern Oscillation La Niña outlook from “watch” to “alert” on Tuesday afternoon.

Continue reading...

Australia news live: Karen Andrews leads calls for Scott Morrison to resign over secret ministries as former PM defends ‘belts and braces’ approach

Posted on by

Morrison issued a lengthy apology on Facebook after the former home affairs minister called his secret swearing-in to her portfolio ‘unacceptable’

The former prime minister Scott Morrison is appearing on 2GB after revelations he appointed himself to several ministries in secret while in government.

Morrison says his appointments to three cabinet roles were “safeguards” during “unprecedented” times.

All ministers know their direct powers are matter between the prime minister and them not the cabinet.

These were not issues that were subject to cabinet.

It is the secrecy that is astonishing and we must get an explanation from the former prime minister about his actions.

One could understand how the prime minister may have wished to ensure that there was a safety net, particularly around the role of the health minister. We had no vaccines for Covid at the time.

But the fact that he chose not to tell anyone about this, the fact that his cabinet – many members of his cabinet – didn’t know about this – the prime minister has a responsibility to inform the parliament, the public and to inform his cabinet. It is a most extraordinary and alarming set of circumstances, I believe.

Continue reading...

Victorian health systems’ ‘failure’ led to woman’s death after a stillborn delivery, inquest told

Posted on by

Brian Moylan urges coroner to be ‘courageous’ in pursuit of facts in inquest into death of his daughter, Annie O’Brien

Healthcare systems failed pregnant mum Annie O’Brien and her family has been burdened with investigating what led to her death, her father has told a Victorian inquest.

Five years to the day after the 37-year-old died, O’Brien’s father, Brian Moylan, urged the state coroner, John Cain, to be courageous in pursuing facts around her death and to make bold findings toward improvements in Victoria’s health system.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Dutton says he was not aware of Morrison’s secret ministries – as it happened

Posted on by

Ed Husic pushes for ‘brain regain’

Industry minister Ed Husic will this week host a series of five roundtable meetings with science and technology leaders in the lead-up to the federal government’s jobs summit, in a bid to kickstart what he called “brain regain” – attracting Australia’s bright minds working overseas to return home, to combat the so-called “brain drain”.

These discussions will also include ways to increase the representation of women and people of diverse backgrounds in skilled occupations. One of my priorities is on “brain regain” – encouraging Australian researchers and innovators to return home. I am interested to hear ideas on how this can be best achieved.

I can’t emphasise strongly enough that this is the start of engagement with these industry sectors. After the jobs and skills summit I will continue the work with industry leaders to ensure we apply practical solutions to accelerate Australia’s pathway to high-skilled, high-value economy.

He’s applied for a job and that’s coming with a significant degree of scrutiny, as it should do. That’s part of the territory if you’re going to put yourself forward for those roles.

If he felt the need to protect the environment from offshore drilling for gas off Sydney’s northern beaches and he felt he needed to swear himself in as minister, that’s something I support.

Continue reading...

Greens propose shutting down all Victorian coal-fired power plants by 2030

Posted on by

Exclusive: New bill also increases the state’s legislated renewable energy target to 100% by decade’s end

Victoria’s three remaining coal-fired power plants would be progressively shut down over the next eight years, under a Greens bill to be introduced to parliament this week.

The Energy Legislation Amendment (Transition from Coal) Bill 2022, is the Greens final piece of legislation to be debated before the state goes to the polls in November, and is set to form a central pillar of the party’s climate policy.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Daniel Andrews backs federal plan to boost migration – as it happened

Posted on by

Labor’s plan to tackle skills shortages would lift the annual migration cap from 160,000 to between 180,000 and 200,000. This blog is now closed

Bowen says climate reforms will help Australian industry avoid carbon tariffs

Bowen says how this will work has yet to be determined and gives a nod to an upcoming discussion paper, with the details to be hammered out in consultation with industry. But he raises some interesting points that this needs to happen as there is a growing risk Australian industry will be exposed to carbon tariffs if nothing changes.

This will help us avoid these, by showing the EU and the rest of the world, you don’t need to slap tariffs on our manufacturers and our producers because Australia is working with industry to get emissions down in a very sensible way.

The safeguard mechanism is taking the 315 biggest emissions and working with them to reduce emissions, because if we don’t, we will continue the 10 years of no reductions from those facilities and it won’t cut the mustard.

Any facility which emits more than 100,000 tonnes … whether it is new or existing, which is just increasing its activity, we are not having the same architecture. They will be put on a trajectory to net zero, facility by facility. We have designed this in a very sensible way.

Continue reading...

Property donated by family of John Clarke embroiled in Victorian First Nations dispute

Posted on by

Boonwurrung elder fights plans to transfer land from the satirist’s estate to the Bunurong Land Council

A property donated by the family of renowned satirist and comedian John Clarke has become embroiled in a long-running dispute between two First Nations groups in Victoria.

The land on Phillip Island, about 120km south-east of Melbourne, was donated by Clarke’s widow, Helen McDonald, to conservation group Trust for Nature after his death in 2017.

Continue reading...

Clive Palmer ordered to pay part of Mark McGowan’s legal costs; 87 more Covid deaths – As it happened

Posted on by

Federal court orders Palmer to pay undetermined sum in half of defamation proceedings between the pair; Senator Jim Molan calls for National Press Club not to host Chinese government officials. This blog is now closed

ACT warns of scam health texts

ACT Health says it has been made aware of scam text messages claiming to be services such as HealthDirect or Medicare.

Continue reading...

Australia news live: GPs warn against over-the-counter Covid treatment as nation records 133 deaths from virus

Posted on by

New South Wales recorded 11,356 new Covid cases in the last reporting period and 30 deaths. There were 2,212 people in hospital and 55 in intensive care.

Bulk-billing statistics dishonest, minister says

The former government was not honest with Australians about the true state of bulk billing in Australia by selectively quoting only this [88%] figure

Primary care is in its worst shape since Medicare began. Across the country we hear stories of Australians not being able to get in to see a bulk-billing doctor, or GPs changing from bulk billing to mixed billing.

Continue reading...

Victorian opposition leader loses second senior staff member in eight days

Posted on by

Matthew Guy’s director of communications resigns after reported disagreement with incoming chief of staff

Victoria’s opposition leader, Matthew Guy, has lost a second senior staff member in eight days, less than four months out from the state election, following the abrupt resignation of his director of communications.

Lee Anderson, who had held the position for 12 months, quit on Wednesday morning after what sources say was a disagreement with Guy’s new chief of staff, Nick McGowan.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

SES and Resilience NSW ‘failed’ to lead flood response, inquiry finds – as it happened

Posted on by

New threatened species listings include south-eastern glossy black-cockatoo

Two Australian species that were badly affected by the 2019-20 black summer bushfires have been officially listed as threatened.

The damage caused by the black summer bushfires is still being felt today and can be seen reflected in these listings today.

The fires had an immense impact on our environment, from a small reptile found in the mountains to a bird that is at home on the coast. There is still a lot of work to do.

It seems as though these positions are being offered around almost like lolly bags to senior members of the New South Wales government rather than what they’re intended to be, which is senior positions funded by the taxpayer. We shouldn’t operate like that in New South Wales. We’re slowly but surely finding out the contours of what is an absolute scandal.

There’s many questions to be asked. At the end of the day we’re expected to believe of the 8 million people who live in New South Wales, John Barilaro was independently chosen to represent our interests. I think that ... stretches credibility.

Continue reading...

Child left ‘stateless’ after estranged Australian father couldn’t be reached for DNA test, court hears

Posted on by

In decision quashed by federal court, citizenship application was rejected despite father’s name on birth certificate and Medicare card

The Department of Home Affairs rejected an Australian-born child’s citizenship application after her estranged Australian father couldn’t be reached to provide a DNA test, which her lawyer says rendered her “stateless”.

In a decision quashed by the federal court, the overseas-born mother of the child was told the department did not have proof of a biological link to the father – despite his name being listed on the girl’s birth certificate and Medicare card, his payment of child support and photos of the pair together.

Continue reading...

Push for wider Barilaro appointment probe; state funeral for Judith Durham – As it happened

Posted on by

Former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro is expected to appear at the parliamentary inquiry on Monday to answer questions about his appointment to a US trade job. This blog is now closed

Hastie ‘open-minded’ about visiting Taiwan

Hastie is asked if Australia could be doing more to help Taiwan.

We should be talking with everyone, we should be maintaining good relationships with everyone, and that’s true of Taiwan, as it is of China.

I’m open-minded to going there. I have a very full dance card... with a young family and enough travel as it is, but certainly I’m on the record that I would like to visit Taiwan at some point.

They have invited me... I will wait and see.

The advice I received from Defence as assistant minister for defence was that we were going to cover that gap with the life of type extension for the Collins class. They are still a regionally superior submarine.

The question is how quickly can we deliver a nuclear submarine or several of those boats to the Royal Australian Navy. That’s why I’ve said again, several times over the last month that Richard Marles as defence minister needs to be focused on delivering those submarines as quickly as possible. Every single day he should be thinking about it. When he wakes up he should be thinking about submarines. When he goes to bed, when he is asleep, he should be dreaming about submarines. We need political focus on delivering these submarines for our country.

Continue reading...

Singer Judith Durham dies; Penny Wong calls for restraint on China’s exercises; 89 Covid deaths – as it happened

Posted on by

Independent review recommends home buybacks for NSW flood victims. This blog is now closed

NSW residents warned to avoid fire in Croydon and Ashfield

Fire and Rescue NSW is advising residents living near a structural fire in Croydon and Ashfield to stay inside and avoid the area.

Continue reading...

Penny Wong walks out on Russian speech; nation records 82 Covid deaths – as it happened

Posted on by

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says he will be “taking a break” next week, with his deputy, Richard Marles, to act in the top job in his stead.

Speaking on ABC Melbourne radio, Albanese said he would take a short period of leave and travel somewhere in Australia. He will be on leave from August 6-14.

Taking a break with security issues is more complex, I have found.

Three people remain in custody. We believe one of those persons is responsible for this matter.

Continue reading...

Victoria passes laws raising penalties for environmental protesters at logging sites

Posted on by

Despite pleas from unions and the Greens, the bill easily passed upper house after Coalition sided with Labor

New laws to crack down on protests at Victorian logging sites have been pushed through state parliament despite an 11th-hour push from unions.

The Sustainable Forests Timber Amendment (Timber Harvesting Safety Zones) Bill 2022 passed Victoria’s upper house on Thursday evening, with the final vote count 30 to five after Labor and the coalition joined forces.

Continue reading...

Australia politics live: leaders trade question time barbs over climate and power prices; CMO ‘confident’ Covid wave has peaked as 85 deaths recorded

Posted on by

The parliament will sit at 9am – once the morning proceedings are done, it will be into the climate bill – people are getting ready to head to the galleries to watch it pass the house.

It has been a very, very long decade. There are a lot of people who need to see this, even if there is still a very, very long way for us to go to actually start acting.

The inclusion of an Objects clause that addresses targets, accountability, expert advice and the need for climate action in line with the science makes it clear that this is the beginning of a new era in Australia,” Chaney said in a statement.

Continue reading...

From celebrity wrangler to political staffer: how Mitch Catlin’s career change came unstuck

Posted on by

Analysis: Liberals were always sceptical of Matthew Guy’s plan to use a marketing maestro to improve the party’s chances in Victoria

Eyebrows were raised among Victorian Liberals when returning opposition leader Matthew Guy announced last September that his new chief of staff would be marketing expert and celebrity wrangler Mitch Catlin.

Catlin, known for his Birdcage antics at Flemington and rehabilitating the image of Today show host Karl Stefanovic after his divorce, had little political experience, several Liberal MPs demurred.

Continue reading...