Category Archives: Liberal party

Peter Dutton backs Elon Musk and contradicts Sussan Ley on ‘silly’ demand for global removal of stabbing footage

Posted on by

The opposition leader says Australia ‘can’t be the internet police of the world’ amid dispute between the eSafety commissioner and X over Wakeley stabbing content removal

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has labelled the eSafety commissioner’s demands for the global removal of footage of the alleged Wakeley stabbing as “silly”, a comment that appears to put him at odds with his deputy, Sussan Ley.

In an interview on Thursday, Dutton appeared to side with Elon Musk on a key part of the government’s dispute with X over online video of the incident, saying Australia “can’t be the internet police of the world” and that federal law should not influence what content can be seen overseas.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Linda Reynolds welcomes Brittany Higgins’ ‘olive branch’ but says without concessions she will go to trial

Posted on by

Reynolds says if ‘Higgins does not accept Justice Lee’s findings on the claims of coverup and mistreatment … it will have to be proved again in our trial’

Linda Reynolds has welcomed Brittany Higgins’ “olive branch” apology but insists she will take her former staffer to court in July unless she accepts a federal court’s finding the Liberal senator did not cover up and mistreat her.

In a statement on Saturday, Higgins apologised to Reynolds, the former defence minister and her one-time boss, along with her then chief of staff Fiona Brown, after Justice Lee’s judgment last Monday rejected Higgins’s claims of a political cover-up.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

NSW Liberal party expels state MP Taylor Martin over ‘undignified’ breakup texts

Posted on by

Upper house member had been suspended from the party room after allegedly sending messages with ‘heated words’ to former girlfriend

The New South Wales Liberal party has expelled state MP Taylor Martin as a result of an investigation into text messages he sent to a woman with whom he was in a relationship.

Martin, who has been a member of the NSW upper house since 2017, has sat outside the Liberal party room since July last year after the party launched the investigation.

Continue reading...

Cook byelection: Liberal candidate Simon Kennedy wins Scott Morrison’s former seat

Posted on by

The byelection in the south Sydney seat was triggered when the former prime minister announced his resignation from politics in January

Liberal candidate Simon Kennedy has been elected successor to former prime minister Scott Morrison in the seat of Cook in Sydney’s south.

Saturday’s byelection was triggered after Morrison announced his resignation from politics in January.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Peter Dutton’s office billed taxpayers almost $6,000 for staff to travel with him when he attended Gina Rinehart party

Posted on by

Exclusive: Opposition leader travelled at own expense to lavish party, but documents reveal two staff also made the trip to Perth

Peter Dutton’s office claimed nearly $6,000 in public expenses for staff and security to travel to Perth with the opposition leader when he attended Gina Rinehart’s lavish birthday party.

Dutton’s office has said he travelled at his own expense to the party for Australia’s richest woman, which included a horseriding performance, multiple large cakes and onstage pyrotechnics. But travel information obtained under freedom of information shows members of Dutton’s team – which his office said included a staffer and a security detail – claimed travel from Melbourne to Perth and back again on 29 February, the night of the party on the banks of the Swan River.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australia news live: Andrew Hastie warns of ‘breakouts of strategic disorder’ across globe; high court gives government win in ‘steering wheel’ visa case

Posted on by

High court rules in favour of Andrew Giles in long-running case featuring a ‘bizarre’ photo of a signed ministerial brief next to a steering wheel. Follow today’s news live

‘Aid workers are to be protected’

Penny Wong was also asked to provide an update on the work done by Mark Binskin so far, who was appointed special adviser on Israel’s response to the deaths of World Central Kitchen aid workers, including Australian Zomi Frankcom.

There are positive engagements and we appreciate that this is a very important issue for Australia. We have been saying for a very long time it is important that international humanitarian law be adhered to.

Under international humanitarian law, as you know, aid workers are to be protected. Demonstrably, there was a deadly failure of deconfliction – deconfliction being the ways in which making sure that defence forces are aware of where humanitarian workers are so they can be protected and there was a deadly failure.

We’ve made no such decision, the discussion I want to have is to look at what is happening in the international community where there is the very important debate about how it is we secure long-lasting peace in a region where which has known so much conflict.

Continue reading...

‘Humility keeps you real’: Scott Morrison tells podcast he was always wary of power

Posted on by

Former PM, who took on five extra ministries in secret, tells Olympian Sam Fricker that listeners might say ‘Oh, I didn’t think you were that humble’

The former prime minister Scott Morrison has declared himself more into humility than power, detailing in a lengthy post-politics interview how the Aukus submarine deal was sealed and that the Quad regional dialogue was dreamed up over dinner.

Speaking on champion diver Sam Fricker’s Diving Deep podcast – a series of interviews with “high performers” – Morrison reflects on his time in office, the pressures facing prime ministers and how he approached the job.

Continue reading...

AstraZeneca claims Australian rules stopped it defending its vaccine during pandemic

Posted on by

Company says TGA regulations prevented it from responding to incorrect claims about its vaccine in 2021

AstraZeneca has called for reforms to Australia’s rules around discussion of medicines, saying public confusion over its Covid vaccine was created because the company was restricted in explaining health warnings by the nation’s medicines regulator.

The call is contained in more than 2,000 submissions to the federal government’s inquiry into Australia’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Labor on brink of historic win in SA byelection to snatch former Liberal premier’s seat

Posted on by

Cressida O’Hanlon has significant lead in Dunstan though there are many early votes yet to be counted

Labor’s Cressida O’Hanlon is nervously waiting, hoping to be confirmed as the next member of South Australia’s House of Assembly.

The 51-year-old business mediator is on track to win the seat of Dunstan with a 2.9%, two-party-preferred lead over her Liberal rival Anna Finizio.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Tim Wilson defeats two women to win Liberal preselection in Goldstein and set up rematch against teal Zoe Daniel

Posted on by

Former MP held the seat in Melbourne’s bayside suburbs from 2016 to 2022

The former MP Tim Wilson has won preselection to become the Liberal party candidate in his former seat of Goldstein, setting up a rematch with the “teal” independent Zoe Daniel.

Wilson, who held the seat in Melbourne’s bayside suburbs between 2016 and 2022, won the vote of Liberal party members on Sunday afternoon, beating out two female challengers, Colleen Harkin and Stephanie Hunt.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Liberal minority rule, Lambie alliance or Labor ‘traffic light’ coalition: where to now for Tasmanian politics?

Posted on by

As the dust settles from an unnecessary election, premier Jeremy Rockliff has some serious work to do to form a stable government

Jeremy Rockliff brought this on himself.

The Tasmanian premier – the leader of Australia’s sole Liberal government – called an election a year earlier than required, believing he could persuade voters to reject the “chaos” of minority government and reward his party with a fourth straight majority victory. Tasmanians didn’t buy it.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Peter Dutton in standoff with state Liberal leaders over federal Coalition’s nuclear plan

Posted on by

The federal opposition leader’s calls to include nuclear power in Australia’s energy mix has so far failed to win support from his state colleagues

The federal Coalition faces a battle with the states on its proposal for nuclear power stations at the sites of decommissioned coal power plants, with state premiers and opposition leaders alike largely against Peter Dutton’s proposal.

Labor governments and Coalition oppositions in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia are either outright opposed to the plan or have failed to endorse it.

Continue reading...

Liberals struggle to hold power in Tasmania as minor parties surge at election

Posted on by

Party leading poll with 36.9% of vote, but suffered 12% swing against it since last election three years ago

The Liberal party faces having to negotiate with an expanded crossbench to hang on to power in Tasmania after winning the biggest share of the vote in the state election, but falling short of a majority of seats in parliament.

By late on Saturday, the Liberals, led by premier Jeremy Rockliff, were leading the poll with nearly 36.9% of the vote, but had suffered a 12% swing against it since the last poll three years ago.

Continue reading...

Voting closes in Tasmania’s early election as hung parliament looms

Posted on by

Labor’s Rebecca White is hoping to unseat Australia’s only remaining Liberal government and return her party to power after 10 years in opposition

Australia’s last Liberal government is hoping they can defy opinion polls and be returned in majority, as polls close in Tasmania.

The state Liberals are chasing a record fourth successive term, while Labor is aiming to end a decade in opposition.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

Follow the day’s news live

‘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.

Continue reading...

Liberal MP urges Australia to follow US in TikTok crackdown, calling app a ‘serious threat’ to national security

Posted on by

Shadow home affairs spokesperson James Paterson labels social media platform a ‘bad faith actor’

The shadow home affairs spokesperson has labelled TikTok a “bad faith actor” and a “serious threat” to Australia’s national security, urging the Albanese government to follow the United States in its crackdown on the video-sharing app.

The Liberal senator James Paterson said he was not advocating for a total ban on the popular app but wants Australia to emulate the United States in its bid to force the Chinese tech company that owns TikTok to divest its business in the US.

Paterson told ABC’s Insiders on Sunday he hoped changes to the app’s ownership structure would lower the risk of Australian data being harvested by the Chinese government and prevent its influence in spreading disinformation.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Queensland Labor vulnerable on two fronts as Greens target Brisbane’s commuter belt

Posted on by

Housing pressures and the cost of living crisis mean Steven Miles’ government is under threat from the Greens in Brisbane and the LNP in the regions

The old Inala roller skating rink in Brisbane’s south-west has been vacant for more than 15 years. For many locals, it is a symbol that progress moves slower in the outer suburbs.

Earlier this month, the Greens’ campaign for the Brisbane city council election announced plans to buy the building and turn the site into a public pool.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australia news live: alleged fry pan-wielding university stabber pleads not guilty; Melbourne and Sydney make list of ‘world’s coolest streets’

Posted on by

Northcote’s High Street and Sydney’s Foster Street make urban hit list. Follow the day’s news live

Ballarat mayor: ‘ripple effect’ of miner’s death will be with community for a long time

Ballarat mayor Des Hudson also spoke to ABC News Breakfast about the Ballarat mine incident, and said:

It’s a tragic story where a worker who has gone to work at the start of the day and unfortunately has got returned home to his family or loved ones. That’s not the way any workday should pan out. So, our hearts and minds and love is with the family of that person who has died.

And the ripple effect of this will be with them for a long time as they work through the process. Obviously, there will be an investigation as to what happened, as you would expect in any workplace death. But also just that sense of loss that I’m sure will be with them in the days, the weeks and the months ahead as well as they continue to have to come to work.

Continue reading...

Passengers treated after ‘technical problem’ – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

Outer suburban drivers overtake inner-city drivers in EV uptake

New data from the Electric Vehicle Council shows that outer suburban drivers have overtaken inner-city drivers in their EV uptake.

I think some tired stereotypes about EVs in Australia will need to be updated.

What this data tells us is that the average EV buyer lives in the suburbs and might well be keen to use the new car to take the kids camping on the weekend. They might even be thinking about towing a boat.

Continue reading...