Category Archives: Liberal party

Victorian Liberal leader dumps candidate linked to conservative church a week out from state election

Posted on by

Matthew Guy announces Renee Heath will not sit in party room following newspaper investigation into City Builders Church

The Victorian opposition leader, Matthew Guy, has dumped an upper house candidate who is a member of a conservative church from the Liberal party a week before the state election.

Renee Heath is still expected to be elected to parliament, given she occupies the top position on the Liberal party’s ticket for the eastern Victorian region.

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

Continue reading...

Albanese meets Chinese premier Li Keqiang at summit – as it happened

Posted on by

Victorian opposition vows to restrict gas produced in the state from being exported in a bid to reduce household bills; Anthony Albanese speaks to Chinese premier Li Keqiang at East Asia Summit gala dinner. This blog is now closed

Two historic military planes collided and crashed to the ground Saturday during a Dallas airshow, federal officials said, sending plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky.

Officials didn’t immediately make clear how many people were on board the aircraft or if anyone on the ground was hurt. Nonetheless, an ABC News producer – citing reporting from a colleague – said on Twitter that at least six people, all crew members, were feared dead after the crash.

Continue reading...

Jacqui Lambie’s instinct is to blow the IR debate up while David Pocock is all ears – that’s why he is the kingmaker

Posted on by

Lambie has been quick to judge the workplace bill as a union power-grab but Pocock is accumulating ideas around his proposal to split the legislation

When David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie found their way into the Senate’s balance of power, Labor’s chances of passing bills brightened.

Both have a reputation as pragmatists, but when it comes to navigating its complex industrial relations legislation through the Senate by winning one of their swing votes, the government is not spoiled for choice.

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

Continue reading...

Teal candidates secure top spots on ballot papers ahead of Victorian state election

Posted on by

Daniel Andrews also listed first in his seat in Mulgrave, while Matthew Guy will appear sixth in Bulleen

Teal independent candidate Nomi Kaltmann will be placed at the top of the ballot paper in the tightly held seat of Caulfield during the Victorian state election, with Daniel Andrews also securing the most coveted spot in Mulgrave.

Kaltmann was one of two teal candidates in Melbourne’s south-east to secure the top spot, after all 88 lower house seats and eight upper house regions had their ballots drawn for the 26 November poll on Friday afternoon.

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

Continue reading...

Inquiry consensus to pave way for Labor’s anti-corruption body

Posted on by

Integrity bill likely to be legislated before end of 2022 despite crossbench and Coalition disagreements on some issues

The national anti-corruption commission inquiry will recommend parliament pass the government’s bill, paving the way for Labor’s model for the integrity body to be legislated in the final parliamentary sitting fortnight of 2022.

The joint select committee will report consensus on Thursday, underscoring support across the political spectrum for the integrity body, despite crossbench and Coalition attempts to amend Labor’s model.

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

Continue reading...

NSW eyes voluntary gambling cards as minister blasts pokies venues as ‘bloated concrete bunkers’

Posted on by

Retiring planning minister Rob Stokes says poker machine gambling has turned clubs into ‘brutal, unwelcoming junk spaces’ and ‘enslaved’ people

A significantly expanded voluntary trial of cashless gambling cards is firming as the most likely response to a scathing New South Wales Crime Commission report, which found only a mandatory scheme would be effective in combating money laundering in the state’s pubs and clubs.

As pressure mounts on the government to tackle gambling reform in the lead-up to the March election, a senior government minister, Rob Stokes, upped the ante with a blistering speech on Wednesday night, saying the state’s clubs have been “distorted and disfigured” by their reliance on poker machine revenue. He called for a ban on “gambling advertising that programs young people to a lifetime of addiction”.

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

Continue reading...

Coalition complains of ‘witch-hunt’ during question time – as it happened

Posted on by

Federal government paying contractor $900,000 for review of naval shipbuilding

The federal government is paying a contractor $900,000 to carry out a new review of naval shipbuilding issues with the findings due by January.

Australia has the expertise and capability. What we don’t have yet is the scale to deliver the graduates and skills in the quantities required …

I’m here to tell you today is that whatever submarine design ends up being chosen, we won’t be able to build and operate it locally unless we address the fundamental issue of Australia’s workforce capability gap.

Nuclear science should clearly be the first cab off the rank for this program, but this approach will also be necessary across the broader advanced capabilities of Aukus including in cyber and computing, engineering, space and quantum physics.

An Aukus pathways program, jointly developed with Defence, could feature a portfolio of tailored degree programs providing a pathway for students to gain qualifications in an Aukus-related field and then progress to a position in Defence working on Aukus programs.

Continue reading...

AFP foil plan to import $1.6bn of liquid meth in coconut water bottles – as it happened

Posted on by

People have been cleared to return to their homes as flood threat eases in Victoria, but the Bureau of Meteorology is warning of renewed flooding in parts of NSW. This blog is now closed

Chalmers on the size of government debt and making it ‘sustainable’

The treasurer is asked whether the government will consider rethinking taxes like GST and PRRT.

We have already found $22bn in savings, $28.5bn in budget improvements overall. We kept real spending growth flat across the forward estimates. We have got the debt down over the forward estimates. We have let 99% of the temporary revenue surge from higher commodity prices flow through to the budget.

That is good progress when we have shown in doing that … you can move sensibly on all fronts, restraint, trimming spending, sensible tax reform, you can make the budget more sustainable and that will be the task of the two or three budgets remaining in this parliamentary term as well.

We need to work out how do we maintain a focus on Australians with a disability and their families, how do we put them front and centre, and at the same time make sure that spending on the NDIS is sustainable and important part of that is making sure we get value for money for every dollar that is spent in what is a really important, really, really important service that we provide to Australians.

I do understand there is a substantial part of the community that would prefer that that PRRT take was higher.

We haven’t been working up an option to do that to change the PRRT arrangements but the treasury has been commissioned by my predecessor and by his predecessor to do some of this work around the taxing point in the PRRT.

We do want to make sure Australians get a good return for their resources. We need to balance that against the investment that’s been made into the sector. When I get that advice from I will engage in it a meaningful way and I will listen to it.

We have seen I think as you acknowledged in your first question, on this topic, company taxes are up quite substantially. That’s a good thing and we have let that flow through to the budget. The PRRT, there’s a modest increase. I will wait to see what the treasury advises us on the conclusion of the review that my two predecessors put in place.

Continue reading...

Victorian public schools to get free lunches under opposition election pledge

Posted on by

The opt-in program would be implemented by the end of 2026 in an effort to ease cost of living pressures and support nutrition of students

All Victorian public school students would be provided with free lunches under a major cost-of-living election pledge by the state’s opposition.

The healthy lunches program was unveiled on Sunday, just weeks before early voting opens on 14 November for the state election where more than half of voters are expected to cast their ballot paper before polling day.

Sign up for our free morning and afternoon email newsletters from Guardian Australia for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Federal budget 2022 reply speech live: opposition leader Peter Dutton to respond to Labor’s October budget – latest updates

Posted on by

Leader of the opposition to give his reply to the treasurer Jim Chalmers’ first budget. Follow the day’s news live

The Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi will give notice of a private senator’s bill she will introduce today aiming to halt the indexation on student loans and increase the repayment threshold to above the median wage.

Faruqi says it is one way which would help ease the cost of living burden on people with student debt:

Student debt is no small problem. About three million people in Australia have the burden of student debt.

At a time when the cost of living is biting hard, governments can no longer ignore the student debt crisis and its impacts.

What we have said all the time is that we want wages to grow, and we want them to stay growing. Not to have a short-term growth and then have at the expense of potentially higher unemployment.

So that’s the first thing. The second thing is we’ve got to get an IR system that drives productivity. That’s not about working harder for less, it’s about working smarter. It’s about creating the environment where people use new technology, where they innovate, where they share ideas, where they open new markets, where they have more skilled people.

Continue reading...

Investigation into Liberals’ ‘Ditch Dan’ donations won’t be finished before Victorian election

Posted on by

The Victorian Electoral Commission is examining donations made during the 24-hour fundraiser

An inquiry into the Victorian Liberals’ “Ditch Dan” donations drive will not be complete before voters head to the polls.

The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) confirmed Thursday that the outcome of its investigation into the 24-hour fundraiser in August won’t be known until after the 26 November state election.

Sign up for our free morning newsletter and afternoon email to get your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Treasurer says Taylor’s fingerprints ‘all over’ energy policy chaos – as it happened

Posted on by

Over on Sky News, the questions were all about the next budget:

Host: Joining us live now in Canberra is the prime minister, Anthony Albanese. Prime minister, good morning to you. So, a safe budget to pay for your election commitments. Are tax increases and spending cuts next?

Hang on, Pete. We’ve just had the budget last night. You’re now talking about future budgets. Let’s talk about what we did last night. What we did last night was to fulfil our election commitments, provide cost-of-living relief with cheaper childcare, cheaper medicines, more paid parental leave, more support for affordable housing. And we want to get wages moving again. We did all that without putting pressure on inflation by targeting our investments in things like infrastructure, improving the National Broadband Network, making sure that there’s that growth in the economy without putting pressure on inflation. That was our focus last night. And we managed to achieve it.

Look, we inherited a trillion dollars of debt, Peter, as you know. We inherited a trillion dollars of debt with not much to show for it. What we did last night was to make $22bn of savings. We took the revenue gains that have come through, 99% of those revenue increases from the higher costs of fuel and energy, we put them straight to the budget bottom line, 99% of them. So it was a responsible budget that saw a significant drop in the deficit to $37bn from what was anticipated. That is a responsible thing to do. Because we want to make sure that we fight inflation because that is necessary if we’re going to get real wages moving in the way that we want them to.

Continue reading...

NSW Liberal MPs face potential preselection battles amid a frontbench exodus

Posted on by

Possible challengers from within the party are emerging in Holsworthy and Camden ahead of March election

The New South Wales government faces the possibility of losing two sitting Liberal MPs in bitter preselection contests as it deals with an ever-growing list of senior ministers departing at the next election.

Melanie Gibbons and Peter Sidgreaves, the MPs for Holsworthy and Camden, are each facing potential challengers from within the Liberal party ahead of the March poll, and could be set to join the growing list of government MPs heading for the exit doors.

Sign up for our free morning newsletter and afternoon email to get your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

NSW health minister Brad Hazzard to retire from politics at state election

Posted on by

71-year-old member for Wakehurst on Sydney’s northern beaches says it’s time for a ‘new beginning’

Long-serving New South Wales Liberal MP and Covid-era health minister Brad Hazzard has announced he will retire from politics at the state election, saying it is time for a “new beginning”.

The 71-year-old is best known for his role in trying to manage the Covid-19 crisis, fronting the media frequently to inform about the virus and urge adherence to recommended health measures.

Sign up for our free morning newsletter and afternoon email to get your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Mark Dreyfus refuses to say when Labor added high bar for public hearings to anti-corruption bill

Posted on by

Attorney general accused of using public interest immunity ‘improperly’ and adding exceptional circumstances test as ‘political decision’

Mark Dreyfus has refused to reveal when federal Labor added the high bar for public hearings to its anti-corruption bill, saying to do so “would be detrimental to the public interest”.

The move has prompted former independent senator Rex Patrick to accuse the attorney general of “using public interest immunity improperly”.

Sign up for our free morning newsletter and afternoon email to get your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

SES urges residents of several NSW areas to evacuate – as it happened

Posted on by

Flood waters in Victorian border towns reach record levels as residents of several NSW towns are urged to evacuate. This blog is now closed

Taylor: potential inflation decrease ‘a good thing’

Taylor is now discussing inflation and says the Coalition believes inflation will be down to 2.5% in the next financial year according to Labor’s forecasts.

I’ve got to say many of the investments I’ve seen out in regional New South Wales have added to productivity, very significant impact.

Continue reading...

Australia and Japan sign new security deal; flood waters peaking in northern Victoria – as it happened

Posted on by

Volunteers place 195,000 sandbags in and around Echuca, which could reach devastating 1993 flood levels. This blog is now closed

Australian ultrarunner on pace to break daily marathon world record

Did you know that you have the genes to be a long distance runner?

If you go back to our early genetics, basically, everyone has the genes to be a distance runner. Back 50,000 years ago, our survival depended on us being able to walk and jog long distances to be able to get food, and catch animals.

Continue reading...

Catholic archbishop backs Victorian Liberals’ proposed religious discrimination changes

Posted on by

Opposition’s promise to amend act has also been criticised by the state’s peak multicultural organisation

Victoria’s most senior Catholic has backed the Coalition’s proposal to amend the Equal Opportunity Act to allow religious schools to hire staff on the basis of faith, despite opposition from the state’s peak multicultural organisation and a leading Jewish group.

The Catholic archbishop of Melbourne, Peter Comensoli, said he supported the Victorian opposition’s election pledge, arguing “any leader who supports fairness to religious organisations is simply doing the right thing by all Australians”.

Sign up for our free morning newsletter and afternoon email to get your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australia news live: 120 schools to be closed on Monday amid Victorian flood crisis

Posted on by

Residents in Victoria’s north told to move to higher ground; Anthony Albanese and 100 ADF personnel on the ground as situation worsens. Follow live

Federal government ‘in conversation’ with NSW about Warragamba dam wall

King is asked about how the infrastructure spend is being divvied up with New South Wales clearly getting less than Labor-lead states. King says the decisions were based on the projects that had been submitted to the federal government ahead of the budget.

We will work with the New South Wales government as we lead into the May budget.

Of course we will look at it. At this stage we don’t have enough information from the New South Wales government on which to make a decision.

There is back and forth between Infrastructure Australia and the New South Wales department and I haven’t seen any of that yet.

This is for the early works of this project. We haven’t made any further commitments. We will talk to the Victorians around that as we go forward. They have an election they are facing and this will be a contested project, I’m sure, but something we have confidence in.

Continue reading...

NSW Labor pledges to boost transport and teaching staff ahead of 2023 election bid

Posted on by

Chris Minns has promised to build a local fleet of trains to replace the state’s ageing stock and 10,000 extra fixed teaching roles

New South Wales Labor leader Chris Minns has looked to galvanise party faithful 160 days out from the state election in March 2023.

He used a speech to a NSW Labor conference to promise a locally built fleet of trains to replace NSW’s ageing rail stock and 10,000 extra teachers.

Sign up for our free morning newsletter and afternoon email to get your daily news roundup

Continue reading...