Category Archives: Liberal party

Trent Zimmerman says moderate MPs ‘prevailed’ over Barnaby Joyce on net zero emissions

Posted on by

Liberal MP tells North Sydney candidates debate that moderates won commitment despite opposition from Nationals

Liberal party MP Trent Zimmerman says he and fellow moderate MPs “prevailed” over the deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, in securing a net zero climate target, saying the Nationals leader was opposed to the policy.

Zimmerman, a key Liberal party moderate facing a serious challenge to hang on to the North Sydney electorate from the independent Kylea Tink, told a Sky News debate on Thursday that he would push for “stronger” emissions targets if the Coalition was re-elected.

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

Continue reading...

Australia’s foreign minister denounces China’s ‘secret’ security deal with Solomon Islands

Posted on by

Marise Payne says other members of the ‘Pacific family’ share concerns but she rejects claims her government ‘dropped the ball’ in the region

Marise Payne has denounced the “secret” terms of China’s security deal with Solomon Islands, while insisting “no document signed and kept away from public view” would change Australia’s commitment to answering Pacific countries’ needs.

The foreign affairs minister said the agreement was “not transparent” – unlike Australia’s existing security treaty with Solomon Islands – and was also being hidden from other Pacific countries.

Continue reading...

In 2019 inequality was a big federal election issue. Now it’s off the radar

Posted on by

How does your area compare for housing stress, socioeconomic disadvantage and income? In the first of a series about Australian electorates, we look at inequality and wealth

In the 2019 election, inequality was a major campaign theme. In the run up to polling day, the then Labor leader Bill Shorten declared inequality killed hope and created a fault line in politics by fostering a “sense of powerlessness that drives people away from the political mainstream, and down the low road of blaming minorities, and promising to turn back the clock”.

Back then, Labor promised to pursue measures like the abolition of franking credits – characterised by Shorten as “unsustainable largesse for high-income earners” – and curbs to negative gearing. These policies raised the revenue underpinning Labor’s then antidote – projected increases in social spending in areas like health and education.

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

Continue reading...

Australia politics live updates: inflation figure highlights cost of living ‘triple whammy’, says Labor; Frydenberg takes aim at ‘fake independents’

Posted on by

Labor launches economic plan after CPI increases to 5.1%; Frydenberg says ‘teal’ independents ‘a slogan and a billboard’; home affairs minister implies timing of China security pact is ‘political interference’; Jason Clare says Coalition ‘at war with itself over climate change’; Australia sending extra military assistance to Ukraine; at least 43 Covid deaths recorded – follow all the day’s news

Nationals deputy leader Bridget McKenzie will address the press club today.

Paul Kelly, Daryl Braithwaite, Lime Cordiale and Grinspoon will be playing a major free concert in Lismore next month, in an attempt to boost morale in the wake of recent flood devastation in the region.

Continue reading...

Payne says China military base in Solomons would be a ‘red line’ – as it happened

Posted on by

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...

AOC and Swimming Australia threaten legal action over billboards claiming ‘women’s sport is not for men’

Posted on by

Conservative lobby group uses images of elite swimmers in ads targeting ‘woke politicians’ but Emily Seebohm says Advance acted ‘without my consent’

The Australian Olympic Committee and Swimming Australia are threatening a conservative lobby group with legal action for featuring images of elite female swimmers on billboards it is using to campaign against trans women’s participation in sport.

The AOC will send a legal letter to the conservative group Advance on Tuesday alleging the billboards are using its intellectual property without permission, a spokesperson said on Monday night.

Continue reading...

Anzac Day commemorated; ABC reviewing presenter’s social media activity – as it happened

Posted on by

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...

Australia live news updates: Scott Morrison accuses Labor of ‘sewer’ tactics over Gladys Liu ad; Daniel Andrews attacks ‘cruel’ trans debate; 17 Covid deaths

Posted on by

Coalition and Labor to focus on Northern Territory as week three of the federal election campaign begins. Follow all the developments live

Queensland Health has issued a recall notice for vegan chocolates after they were found to contain milk.

More details would be provided but it looks as if the Foods Standards website is offline for maintenance.

Continue reading...

Scott Morrison refuses press conference as John Howard calls teal independents ‘anti-Liberal groupies’

Posted on by

Warringah MP Zali Steggall accuses former prime minister of using ‘appalling sexist language’

The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, did not take questions from media on Saturday – despite addressing a campaign rally and touring a boating, camping and fishing store for the cameras on the New South Wales Central Coast.

Labor has repeatedly criticised the prime minister for “going missing” on the Solomon Islands security deal with China, with questions raised over when the federal government became aware of the draft security pact.

Continue reading...

Coalition scrimps on MPs as Climate 200-backed independents outspend them in key seats

Posted on by

Liberal MP labels teal independents’ digital advertising outlay ‘immoral’ as it surpasses party’s candidates by tens of thousands of dollars

Liberal MPs in at-risk “teal” seats are being left with little financial support from the Coalition in the lead-up to the election, at the same time as they are being outspent on advertising by their independent challengers.

Analysis by Guardian Australia of the key seats being contested between Liberal MPs and Climate 200-backed independents shows that the Coalition has committed a total of just $92m out of a total of almost $6bn in discretionary spending made since the beginning of the year.

Continue reading...

Australia politics live news: Albanese says he’s ‘had better days’ in first TV interview since Covid diagnosis; PM says Pacific leaders under ‘enormous pressure’

Posted on by

China doesn’t ‘play by same rules’, PM warns of China’s influence in Pacific region; Labor’s frontbench to replace Albanese in physical campaign; WA premier Mark McGowan tests positive for Covid; Morrison attacks NSW independent commission against corruption for ‘sickening’ treatment of Gladys Berejiklian; at least 46 Covid deaths recorded— live updates

Speaking to ABC Brisbane this morning, (he truly has been everywhere this morning) Scott Morrison was asked his thoughts on the ABC:

We continue to fund the ABC, we continue to keep up the pace on ensuring that it is a competent and professional broadcaster and particularly to support the work that the ABC does in regional areas.

I think the recent floods once again highlighted, I think the ABC at its best, and that’s when it’s providing important information in the middle of natural disasters and things of that nature.

At the start of this week [December 2021], the prime minister told reporters: “Gladys was put in a position of actually having to stand down and there was no findings of anything.”

Fact: Berejiklan resigned as premier in September, voluntarily.

Continue reading...

Sharma labels Deves’s comments on trans people ‘reprehensible’ – as it happened

Posted on by

Dave Sharma condemns comments of Warringah candidate Katherine Deves; Labor MP Terri Butler’s electorate office hit by car; nation records at least 50 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

Q: But senator, I do want to take you up on that. This was the debate we were having in the dying days of the parliament, and all the national security experts and veterans in the field say it was unhelpful and that the ALP was anything other than supporting Australia’s policy, so why are you continuing this line of attack?

Simon Birmingham:

The Labor party have created the points of difference in the way they expressed themselves and the language they used. When last in office, let our investment in our defence forces whittle away to the lowest share of the economy. We brought it back to 2% of the GDP, and having that credible investment is what has enabled us to strike new defence pacts and partnerships with countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, making us a credible partner for defence and strategic investment in areas of artificial intelligence, in missile equipment and investment, and the nuclear-powered submarines.

I think we have seen a Labor party, who when China were making decisions to apply trade sanctions and tariffs against Australia, Labor seemed to want us to reach a compromise with China rather than to stand up for Australia.

Anthony Albanese spoke at the National Press Club not that long ago – he suggested we should negotiate or settle some of the points with the Labor party – sorry, with China. Well, ultimately, we have to stand up for Australian interests.

Continue reading...

Australian politics live: NSW and Victoria to ease Covid isolation rules; Morrison says Solomon Islands-China pact exposes ‘very real risk’

Posted on by

Penny Wong says Morrison government’s handling of Solomon Islands the ‘worst Australian foreign policy blunder in the Pacific since the end of world war two’; NSW and Victoria to ease Covid restrictions from Friday night; undecided voters will put questions to the rivals at a Brisbane forum tonight in first leaders’ debate of 2022 election campaign; NSW reports 15 new Covid deaths and Victoria 14. Follow all the day’s news

For followers of South Australian politics, the good burghers of Bragg in Adelaide’s east are headed back to the polls, with Vickie Chapman announcing she will quit politics at the end of the month, triggering a by-election.

Chapman is a moderate Liberal and the new SA Liberal leader, David Speirs is ... not in the same faction.

Labor appears to have lost ground in the opening week of the federal election campaign according to the latest Guardian Essential poll, but a majority of respondents still think Anthony Albanese will be Australia’s next prime minister.

The latest survey of 1,020 respondents shows Labor’s standing in the two-party preferred “plus” measure is down three points in a fortnight, and there has been a two point increase in the number of undecided voters. But 55% of respondents believe Labor will win on 21 May.

Continue reading...

Solomon Islands-China pact is worst policy failure in Pacific since 1945, Labor says

Posted on by

Penny Wong accuses Coalition of mishandling situation, raising concerns of a potential Chinese military presence in South Pacific

Labor has lashed the Coalition in the wake of the newly signed security agreement between China and Solomon Islands, branding it “the worst Australian foreign policy blunder in the Pacific” in decades.

The Coalition government sounded the alarm over the deal, arguing the pact has been negotiated in secret and could “undermine stability in our region”. The foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, and the minister for the Pacific, Zed Seselja, said they were “deeply disappointed” by the deal, and would “seek further clarity on the terms of the agreement, and its consequences for the Pacific region”.

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

Continue reading...

Guardian Essential poll: Labor loses ground in first week of campaign but remains ahead of Coalition

Posted on by

Albanese’s disapproval rate rose by five points but over half of all respondents still believe Labor will win the next election

Labor appears to have lost ground in the opening week of the federal election campaign according to the latest Guardian Essential poll, but a majority of respondents still think Anthony Albanese will be Australia’s next prime minister.

The latest survey of 1,020 respondents shows Labor’s standing in the two-party preferred “plus” measure is down three points in a fortnight, and there has been a two point increase in the number of undecided voters. But 55% of respondents believe Labor will win on 21 May.

Continue reading...

Australian politics live: PM says Coalition ‘won’t be doing any deals’ with independents; green energy ‘first mover advantage’ lost, says Albanese

Posted on by

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.”

Continue reading...

Katherine Deves claims key role in controversial bill to ban trans women from women’s sport

Posted on by

Embattled Liberal candidate for Warringah says she worked with Tasmanian senator Claire Chandler on ‘Save Women’s Sport’ legislation

The Liberal party’s controversial candidate for the seat of Warringah, Katherine Deves, claimed a key role in developing legislation to exclude trans women from women’s sport that has been slammed by equality advocates as “divisive and unnecessary”.

Speaking at an event organised by a group called the Coalition for Biological Reality on the issue of “gender identity in law” in Hobart in February, Deves claimed she had worked with the Tasmanian senator Claire Chandler on developing the controversial “Save Women’s Sport” bill.

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

Continue reading...

US calls on Australia to increase 2030 emission reduction pledge to help prevent ‘greater destruction’

Posted on by

Senior official says US ‘determined that everyone raise ambition’ in tackling climate crisis and stresses need to keep heating below 1.5C

The US will urge Australia to increase its 2030 emission reduction pledge this year, with a senior official declaring it was “a long time ago” when the Abbott government set the target the Morrison government says is “fixed”.

The assistant US secretary of state for environmental affairs, Monica Medina, said the US was “determined that everyone raise ambition” in tackling the climate crisis in a bid to avoid “greater destruction”.

Continue reading...

Voters in hotly contested Liberal-held seat rank climate and environment over economy, poll finds

Posted on by

Integrity also considered key issue in poll that highlights pressures Coalition may face as it seeks to hold socially progressive seats

Voters in the Liberal-held seat of North Sydney have ranked climate and the environment as a higher priority than the economy, while they see integrity in politics as narrowly more important than the cost of living, a new poll shows.

With Scott Morrison placing the economy at the centre of his re-election pitch and playing down his broken promise to establish a commonwealth integrity commission, the poll highlights pressures the Coalition may face as it seeks to hold socially progressive seats.

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

Continue reading...

Ruston will ‘take the universal out of universal healthcare’, Labor says – as it happened

Posted on by

Labor says Anne Ruston as health minister if Coalition re-elected should ‘send a shiver down the spine’; WA records eight Covid deaths, NSW six, Victoria two and Tasmania one. This blog is now closed

Marise Payne has told the ABC’s Insiders she does not share the views expressed by Katherine Deves about transgender and gender diverse people that have prompted calls for her to be dropped as the candidate for Warringah.

She tells host David Speers:

I don’t share Ms Deves’ comments that she has made, but importantly she has apologised and withdrawn those views and as the prime minister said yesterday, in public life, we do have to be very careful about the way we express our opinions.

It is a matter for the organisation in New South Wales. I need to get on with my job, that’s what I’m doing. I don’t agree with the remarks she made, I’ve made that explicitly clear.

Continue reading...