Category Archives: Liberal party

‘Voters don’t want a culture war’: Victorian Liberals raise concerns over preselections

Posted on by

Candidates include Evan Mulholland from the Institute of Public Affairs and Moira Deeming, who called for abortion laws to be repealed

Several Victorian Liberal MPs have raised concerns the preselection of candidates at the weekend could undermine efforts to present as a more progressive party ahead of the November state election.

Evan Mulholland, from the right-leaning Institute of Public Affairs, was preselected on Sunday for the top spot on the Liberal party ticket for the upper house Northern Metropolitan Region, replacing Craig Ondarchie. This came after Melton city councillor Moira Deeming was endorsed for the Western Metropolitan Region on Saturday.

Continue reading...

Linda Reynolds more than six months late in declaring series of share trades on register

Posted on by

Coalition senator blames ‘administrative oversight’ for delayed disclosure of shares including in Electro Optic Systems, which had previously been awarded millions in government contracts

Senator Linda Reynolds was more than six months late in declaring a series of share trades on her register of interests, including one involving a defence company which had previously been awarded millions in government contracts during her time as defence minister.

Reynolds, who was defence minister until March 2021 when she became government services minister, acquired shares in Falcon Metals, Electro Optic Systems Holdings and BrainChip Holdings in October and November 2021.

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

Continue reading...

Greens to seek changes to Labor’s integrity commission legislation to protect whistleblowers

Posted on by

David Shoebridge reveals suite of amendments including budgetary independence and lowering bar to investigations

The Greens will seek to amend Labor’s integrity commission legislation to protect whistleblowers and lower the bar for investigations, in a test for government cooperation with the crossbench.

On Sunday the Greens justice spokesperson, David Shoebridge, revealed the party in the Senate would adopt a suite of amendments requested by transparency experts to align the Labor proposal with the crossbench bill championed by independent MP Helen Haines in the last parliament.

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

Continue reading...

Australia live news: Jacinda Ardern meets Daniel Andrews; NSW floods ‘far from over’ as Sydney rain continues; RBA interest rates announcement

Posted on by

Jacinda Ardern meets with Daniel Andrews; Dominic Perrottet warns heavy rain forecast in NSW; federal disaster payments available to 23 flood-affected areas; RBA interest rate decision due; Victoria records 16 Covid deaths, NSW records 14, Queensland records 11. Follow the day’s news live

The federal government is making disaster relief payments available to 23 flood-affected areas in NSW, with emergency management minister Murray Watt saying the assistance would be “uncapped”.

Watt announced early on Tuesday that the federal and NSW governments were making assistance available through the commonwealth-state disaster recovery funding arrangements.

These are uncapped payments, they are demand-driven and they will be available for anyone who qualifies.

Continue reading...

Liberal MP was ‘patron’ of Queensland gun club for which he claimed to have ‘secured’ $20,000 grant

Posted on by

Ross Vasta says he had ‘no decision-making power over the process or the outcome’ in grant to Belmont Branch of the Sporting Shooters Association

A Liberal MP said that he “secured” a $20,000 grant for a gun club which lists him as its patron, raising questions about whether he should have disclosed his links to the organisation in his register of interests

Backbencher Ross Vasta posted on Facebook in 2018 that he had “secured $20,000” for the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (SSAA) club in Belmont, a grant that would allow them to lay asphalt over their dirt carpark.

Continue reading...

Warning over Omicron subvariants as nation records 23 Covid deaths – as it happened

Posted on by

Omicron BA.4/BA.5 likely to become dominant coronavirus strains in Victoria as nation records at least 23 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

The Australian literary community is paying tribute to the writer Frank Moorhouse, who died on Sunday, aged 83.

His publisher at Penguin Random House, Meredith Curnow, said in a statement to Nine Newspapers:

Renowned for his use of the discontinuous narrative in works such as The Americans, Baby and Forty-Seventeen, Frank Moorhouse has been an active participant in Australian literature for nearly 50 years.

The Edith Trilogy, made up of the astounding novels Grand Days, Dark Palace and Cold Light have not only brought immense pleasure to so many readers, but have also affected the career paths of many women. I feel so privileged to have worked with Frank on Cold Light.

It does happen a lot in plants – like Banksia, for example, after [Joseph] Banks.

Usually, a frog scientist of such prestige and contribution will get a frog [species] named after them eventually. [Marion Anstis] never had anything named after her.

Continue reading...

Peter Dutton says NSW Liberal party preselection delays were ‘completely unacceptable’

Posted on by

Nine candidates were preselected just days before the 2022 federal election amid bitter recriminations in the NSW branch

Peter Dutton has warned the New South Wales Liberal party it is “completely unacceptable” to preselect candidates on the eve of an election.

The opposition leader gave that message to the NSW branch executive at a meeting on Friday evening, urging it to avoid a repeat of divisions before the 2022 poll, when nine candidates were preselected just days before the election was called.

Continue reading...

Education system ‘run by Marxists’: Jason Clare takes aim at Liberal senator over comments on teachers

Posted on by

Hollie Hughes told a Sydney Institute forum parents need to ‘turn the internet off’ as she gave reasons for the party’s election defeat

The education minister has blasted Senator Hollie Hughes for “crazy” comments blaming the Liberals’ low youth vote on “Marxist” teachers.

On Sunday Labor’s Jason Clare responded to the remarks, made by the New South Wales senator at a Sydney Institute federal election postmortem on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

Victoria names new ministers; Penny Wong to travel to south-east Asia – as it happened

Posted on by

Jacinta Allan appointed Victoria’s new deputy premier; Australia records at least 56 Covid deaths and Penny Wong to travel to Vietnam and Malaysia. This blog is now closed

There have been 21 Covid deaths in NSW. 1,453 people have been hospitalised, and 45 are in intensive care:

US president Joe Biden is calling on Americans to vote for officials who will restore abortion rights. This is how he described the overturning of Roe v Wade earlier:

So extreme that women could be punished for protecting their health.

So extreme that women and girls who are forced to bear their rapist’s child – of the child of consequence.

Continue reading...

Sussan Ley backs Peter Dutton’s decision to oppose emissions legislation but signals future room for change

Posted on by

Deputy opposition leader criticises government’s 43% reduction target but says Liberal party’s climate position is not fixed

The deputy opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has backed Peter Dutton’s decision to oppose government legislation to cut emissions by 43% by 2030, but signalled the Coalition’s climate policy could shift before the next federal election.

In an interview with Guardian Australia, the new deputy Liberal leader said it was “sensible” for the opposition not to jettison policies it took to the May election.

Continue reading...

Recruiter told to halt search for New York trade role a day before John Barilaro’s resignation

Posted on by

Exclusive: Email from head of Investment NSW said New York position would now be handled as an ‘internal matter’

The public servant responsible for handing John Barilaro a plum $500,000-a-year trade job in New York City told the recruitment firm searching for an appropriate candidate that it would be handled as an “internal matter”.

On 3 October, the day before Barilaro announced he would resign from parliament, Amy Brown, the chief executive officer of Investment NSW, told a representative of recruiter NGS Global the job would now be a “ministerial appointment” and that her services were no longer required.

Continue reading...

Public service shake-up continues with four new secretaries for government departments – as it happened

Posted on by

Dominic Perrottet called on to halt Barilaro appointment pending inquiry; at least 63 Covid deaths recorded nationwide. This blog is now closed

NSW teacher strike ‘about politics, not pay’, Kean says

Matt Kean has hit out at plans by public and Catholic school teachers to strike next Friday after receiving a 3% pay rise offer, well below the rate of inflation.

Our 3% pay increase is far more than the Labor government’s 1.5% pay increase for public servants down in Victoria.

So the same unions complaining about our generous pay rise up here in NSW and protesting aren’t marching in the streets down in Victoria.

A senior woman, a senior public servant with knowledge of financial markets and trade particularly with the United States was offered the job, it was rescinded by the New South Wales government.

We don’t know by whom. And then John Barilaro mysteriously was given it just last week.

Continue reading...

Fake Twitter accounts for new senator suspended – as it happened

Posted on by

Twitter suspends two fake accounts pretending to be Fatima Payman; nation records at least 59 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

Victoria is reporting a spike in Covid related deaths, after 28 people lost their lives overnight:

Rally outside NSW parliament to protest government’s wages policy

We are losing skilled teachers, nurses, cleaners – and we’re going to have more pressure in NSW for services to be provided that we can’t retain.

It’s not much to ask and the government needs to act.

Continue reading...

‘Fault all round’: Peter Dutton aims to deflect blame for Australia’s energy crisis

Posted on by

Liberal leader says Coalition made ‘huge investments’ in renewables when in power and blames states for locking up gas reserves

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has sought to deflect blame for the national energy crisis, saying there is “fault all round”, while blaming states for locking up gas reserves.

In a wide-ranging interview on the ABC on Sunday, the former defence minister also rejected suggestions he had relied on classified information to claim Australia could access two new Virginia-class submarines from the US by 2030, and held back support for an Indigenous voice to parliament.

Continue reading...

Australia news live updates: Albanese extends Covid funding as nation records 51 deaths from virus; energy supply will meet weekend demand, Aemo says

Posted on by

NSW premier says health funding ‘a great start’ after national cabinet meeting; electricity reserves improve across National Energy Market; ASX plunges to lowest level since November 2020; nation records 51 Covid deaths. Follow live

The PM is making the rounds this morning, appearing on Sunrise and repeating his line that almost a decade of “delay and denial” under the former Coalition government led to the current energy crisis (I feel like this will be a recurring theme today.)

People want an end to the nonsense that’s gone on for the last decade.

You can’t fix 10 years of inaction in just 10 days but we are taking immediate action through Aemo to make sure that the lights stay on. At the same time, we’re making sure that we create the investment environment to make sure we get it right.

The gas is actually the property of the people of the state, whichever state that is, and there should have always been enough for the state and the country in question. It just seems to me to be very strange that there’s no gas for local people yet.

Coal-fired power generation is very old technology and very difficult for coal plants to cope with renewables coming onto the grid, basically, new renewables every minute

Continue reading...

Craig Kelly staffer Frank Zumbo told alleged victim he was ‘very affectionate’ due to Italian heritage, court hears

Posted on by

Zumbo, who has pleaded not guilty to 20 charges including sexual touching, insisted on driving woman to work so Liberal ‘spies’ wouldn’t see her catch bus

Former federal MP Craig Kelly’s office manager gave gift card vouchers to a young female employee and asked her to kiss him on the lips to repay the gesture, a Sydney court has heard.

Francesco “Frank” Zumbo, 55, is facing 20 charges, including sexual touching and indecent assault, linked to accusations by five women between 2014 and 2020. The third alleged victim gave evidence on Friday at Downing Centre local court.

Continue reading...

Matt Kean accused of ‘treachery’ by NSW Liberal colleague David Elliott over messages to journalist

Posted on by

Transport minister says he is ‘disgusted’ with treasurer over messages that allegedly asked reporter to question PM about Katherine Deves

The New South Wales transport minister, David Elliott, has accused his Liberal colleague Matt Kean of “treachery” during the federal election, after the treasurer was accused of telling a journalist to grill Scott Morrison over the controversial preselection of the anti-trans activist Katherine Deves.

Elliott on Monday told Sydney radio station 2GB he was “disgusted” with Kean over a report in the Australian that suggested the treasurer had asked a journalist to push both Morrison and the NSW roads minister Natalie Ward on comments made by Deves in the lead-up to the May poll.

Continue reading...

Treasury sounds warning over NSW credit rating ahead of big spending budget

Posted on by

While Moodys have forecast a stable outlook, spending measures spark warning over triple A rating

Treasury officials have warned the New South Wales government its triple A credit rating could be at risk as it prepares to hand down its final budget before the state election next year.

The Guardian understands that in the lead-up to the next budget on 21 June, Treasury told the government that a series of big spending announcements coupled with pressure on the state’s finances could lead to a downgrade in its prized triple A credit rating.

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

Continue reading...

The challenge for the Victorians party, born from lockdown anger

Posted on by

New party hopes to win up to 10 seats in November’s state election, but political insiders and observers have doubts

A new party born out of frustration with Covid lockdowns and a dislike for the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, is eyeing as many as 10 seats at the upcoming state election, though political insiders have cast doubt on their chances.

The Victorians party was launched a year out from the 26 November state election and has since received sustained media coverage, helping it to attract about 5,000 members.

Continue reading...

Labor says Dutton ‘desperate’ to distract from defence failures – as it happened

Posted on by

Nadesalingam family arrive back home to Biloela; New Zealand ‘heartened’ by Albanese government’s climate stance; Australia records at least 40 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

Jacinda Ardern will be raising Australia’s controversial deportation policy in today’s meeting. Asked if she has knowledge of whether the government is prepared to “water it down a little bit”, she replies:

Just to be clear, the issue we have is not with deportation. We deport as well. If a New Zealander comes to Australia and commits a crime, send them home ... but when someone comes here and essentially, hasn’t even really had any connection with New Zealand at all ... have all their connections in Australia and are essentially Australian, sending them back to New Zealand, that’s where we’ve had the grievance.

I’ve heard the prime minister prior to winning the election speak to his acknowledgement that that is the part of the policy that we’ve taken issue with. Even that acknowledgement says to me he’s hearing us, he knows it’s a problem.

It’s been a bugbear for us for a long time so I would like to see movement on it.

We talked about music on occasion but I’m not sure I would’ve picked necessarily the right music if I think I was given that task.

Continue reading...