Category Archives: Liberal party

Australia news live: Christine Holgate says she was ‘bullied’ and Australia Post chairman fabricated evidence

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Holgate says she was ‘humiliated’ by prime minister Scott Morrison; man dies of coronavirus in Queensland. Follow all the latest news and updates, live
• Australia won’t purchase Johnson & Johnson jab
• AstraZeneca blood clotting: what is this rare syndrome?
• Andrew Laming blocked from recontesting next election
• More than half of Australians think vaccine rollout is too slow

Wow, it’s been a busy few hours! With that, I’m going to hand you over to Michael McGowan to take you through the rest of the afternoon.

Christine Holgate gave some evidence about executive bonuses. It is a little confusing and we’ll come back to it, because even the senators seem a little confused about what is being said. And it’s important we get it right, so I’ll head back over the transcript to see what she was saying there.

Liberal senator Sarah Henderson has the question call now. She says she has been very moved by Holgate, and what she went through. She asks whether she thinks the questioning on the 22 October estimates hearing was fair.

Holgate:

In all honesty, I didn’t consider whether it was fair or not fair. I absolutely respect and Senator Carr, forgive me but you’ve asked me many tough questions over my time with you (“that’s my job,” Carr says)...and I was about to say ‘that’s your job’.

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NSW police passed up SA offer to take statement alleging sexual assault against Christian Porter

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Request to travel interstate to take accuser’s statement was rejected in March 2020 because it was not deemed essential, documents reveal

The New South Wales police passed up an offer by South Australian police to take a statement alleging sexual assault against Christian Porter – apparently without putting the option to the victim – new documents reveal.

The documents, produced to the NSW Legislative Council after a motion by MP David Shoebridge, reveal how a request to travel interstate to take the statement was rejected in March 2020 because it was not deemed essential.

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Coronavirus Australia live update: Scott Morrison announces 20m more Pfizer vaccine doses after problems with AstraZeneca-led rollout

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Vaccine rollout faces delays as authorities scramble to secure alternatives to AstraZeneca such as Pfizer for under-50s over blood clot fears. Follow updates live

Labor MP Josh Burns has criticised the government for failing to deliver vaccines to aged care staff and residents, noting the issue is unrelated to fresh concerns about the AstraZeneca vaccine causing blood clotting in those under 50.

Burns’ comments follow reports in the Guardian this morning that the federal government is expected to miss a self-imposed target on delivering “pop-up” hubs to vaccinate critical aged care staff and has given no details on the proposal to workers, despite multiple requests for information and meetings from the nursing union.

We’ve not had any federal aged care providers in Macnamara receive their vaccinations or have any indication on what day they are going to be having them, not to mention the staff that are still vulnerable and haven’t been vaccinated.

The frustration that Australians rightly have is that the promises that have been made have not been made by the Labor Party, they’ve been made by Greg Hunt, they’ve been made by Scott Morrison, they’ve been telling Australians that they’ve got it under control, that all is well, they are going to be vaccinating Australians and they haven’t been.

Related: Australia’s aged care nurses still in the dark about promised ‘pop-up’ vaccination hubs

Women need more information about contraceptive options, experts said, after concerns over rare blood clots linked to the AstraZeneca Covid jab prompted a debate over side-effects caused by certain forms of the pill.

On Wednesday the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said that evidence that the jab could be causing a rare blood clotting syndrome was growing stronger. As a result the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended that healthy people under the age of 30 who were at low risk of Covid should be offered a different vaccine if possible.

Related: Contraception blood-clot risk: ‘public need better access to advice’

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Australia news live: mass Covid vaccination hub for Sydney could be operational in ‘couple of months’

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Gladys Berejiklian says a NSW Covid immunisation centre will be capable of administering 30,000 doses a week; EU denies blocking further shipments of AstraZeneca earmarked for Australia. Follow the latest updates, live

Australia needs to manage the increasingly complex relationship with China, even as the government seeks areas to diversify its export markets, according to a new report out this afternoon.

The Asia Taskforce – which includes the Business Council of Australia and Asia Society Australia – calls for a target of boosting Australia’s exports to 35% of GDP by 2030 (up from 29% in 2019).

Popular support for the open economy cannot be taken for granted. Retreating to old familiar relationships in western markets, falling behind in Asia literacy and failing to build connections with new Asian business partners should not be seen as a serious default choice when consumption in Asia will likely fuel future global growth.

The Greens are once again calling for an independent rapid review into the vaccine rollout to identify any issues and restore public confidence.

Senator Rachel Siewert, Greens spokesperson for health, said in a statement:

With targets missed, persistent problems with vaccine supply, and troubles getting the available vaccines to where they’re needed, the rollout of these vital jabs hardly inspires confidence...

We shouldn’t let this devolve into a game of finger pointing and blaming shifting between the federal and state governments. This pointless squabble doesn’t inspire confidence in the rollout, and can only serve to add further delays to the process.

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Coalition will hold up gender parity in Australia’s parliament for decades, thinktank says

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If just one in two new Liberal-National MPs are women, it could take until next century, according to the McKell Institute

It could take more than two decades for Australia’s House of Representatives to reach gender parity, even if women win two in every three seats gained by the Coalition in the next few elections, according to new modelling.

The modelling by the McKell Institute, a progressive thinktank, indicates the growing momentum for quotas to increase the Liberal party’s share of female candidates won’t be a silver bullet for equal representation of women and men in the lower house.

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John Barilaro attacks Turnbull over ‘war on Coalition’ and says NSW ‘firmly committed’ to coal

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NSW deputy premier says ‘there will be no moratorium on coal in the Upper Hunter or anywhere else in the state’

The New South Wales deputy premier, John Barilaro, has rejected Malcolm Turnbull’s call for a moratorium on new coalmines in the state and demanded the former prime minister “set aside his war on the Coalition”.

Turnbull said on Wednesday he believed coalmine proposals and approvals in the state’s upper Hunter Valley were “out of control”.

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Besieged MP Andrew Laming says his behaviour has been ‘reinvented into harassment’

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Queensland Liberal defends ‘completely dignified’ photo of woman bending over but apologises for ‘feelings I’ve caused’

Under-seige Morrison government MP Andrew Laming says his online behaviour has been “re-invented into harassment” and that the “facts are on my side”, claiming he only ever asked “hard questions” but apologised “for how it’s made people feel”.

The Queensland MP, who asked for privacy as he takes a month’s paid leave as he undertakes “clinical counselling”, and courses in “empathy and appropriate communication”, has explained his side of the story in a 16-minute interview with his local radio station. Laming has said he will not stand at the next election, but said he had no plans to leave the parliament until his term was completed.

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Australia news live: premier announces three-day lockdown for Brisbane as Queensland records more Covid cases

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State reports four new local cases; Nationals MP Anne Webster lodges complaint over alleged sexual harassment in parliament. Follow the latest updates
• Queensland Covid hotspots
• Queensland authorities contradict earlier advice about Covid case hosting ‘party’
• Coalition women call for MP drug and alcohol testing in response to sexual misconduct crisis

The Victorian state government won’t release a three-page email chain in which a decision to put Melbourne under a coronavirus curfew was made, reports Karen Sweeney from AAP.

Victorian opposition MP David Davis requested all documents relating to the curfew to be released under Freedom of Information.

These are the documents that relate directly to the decision to put Melbourne under a curfew and the reality, in our view, is there is little reason the documents should not be in the public domain.

We have one document - it is three pages of an email chain containing legal advice.

It is a single document - it may just be a single decision has to be made by the tribunal...

It’s just hard to see why this has been strung out for so long.

It’s worth considering how soon this lockdown is coming after the end of jobkeeper and how close it is cutting it to the start of the federal government’s half-priced plane ticket program.

Jobkeeper ended on Sunday, and the tourism sector support program is slated to start on 1 April.

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Andrew Laming to quit politics at next federal election over ‘appalling’ behaviour towards women

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Queensland MP allegedly took a photo on his mobile phone of a young woman’s bottom when visiting a Brisbane business in 2019

Federal Liberal MP Andrew Laming has pleaded for privacy after announcing he will not recontest the next election, saying he will seek immediate help to improve his behaviour.

Following a series of reports about Laming’s poor behaviour towards women, including an incident where he allegedly photographed a woman’s bottom, the Queensland MP said he would “own those mistakes” and quit parliament.

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Tasmania election 2021: Peter Gutwein sends state to early poll

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Premier Peter Gutwein announces election will be held a year early, a month before opposition leader is due to give birth

Tasmania will head to the polls for an early election after its Liberal government was plunged into minority.

Premier Peter Gutwein has announced the election, which was not due until May 2022, will be held on 1 May.

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Liberal MPs say super guarantee rise could be used to pay for aged care

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An increase from 10 to 12% could fund royal commission recommendations without an income tax levy, Jason Falinski and Katie Allen say

Liberal MPs have proposed setting aside the increase in the super guarantee from 10 to 12% to fund healthcare in later life and aged care, as a means to pay for royal commission recommendations without an income tax levy.

Jason Falinski and Katie Allen called for consideration of the idea in comments to Guardian Australia after Scott Morrison described the minimum estimated $10bn a year of funding required to improve aged care as a “challenge to all of us” the government hoped to solve in the budget.

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Australia news live: Scott Morrison apologises over ‘insensitive’ harassment claim; rain eases

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PM issues Facebook statement saying he ‘deeply regrets’ raising a sexual harassment claim in response to question from journalist; forecast improves on east coast but flood waters still pose risk. Follow all the latest news and updates, live

The bells have rung for the House sitting - but day three of estimates is upon us as well.

The Treasury secretary is up from nowish, if you want to tune in

The two News Corp major city tabloids have made their displeasure with Scott Morrison for attacking a Sky News journalist during his press conference yesterday abundantly clear this morning.

Despite the mea culpa from the PM late yesterday the Herald Sun and the Daily Telegraph carry very negative front pages and unflattering mocking headlines: “Sco-woe” and “Sco-D’oh”

FRONT PAGE
Read today's paper: https://t.co/H9DzehmZVI#sydney #NSW #newspaper #frontpage #news pic.twitter.com/yvYOq7zDdA

TODAY'S FRONT PAGE.
Wednesday March 24
Read the digital edition in our app or online > https://t.co/qEcoijKR39
.
.
.#Melbourne #Victoria #FrontPage #newspaper #news pic.twitter.com/QnX389rBM0

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Australia politics live: Morrison says issue of ‘vile language’ by staffer has been dealt with; IR bill passes Senate

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Pared-back bill now relates only to casual employment; government faces scrutiny over its botched vaccine booking website. Follow all the latest updates

Four Corners has announced its episode for Monday. Here is the release:

On Monday Four Corners investigates how and why Brittany Higgins’ story was kept quiet for almost two years.

It does not bode well for the Centre Alliance “alliance” if its two remaining MPs can’t come to an agreement of whether or not there was an agreement.

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Australia politics live: organisers of March4Justice rally reject PM’s offer of closed door meeting

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More than 100,000 women are expected to march in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to demand action in response to allegations of workplace abuse. Follow latest updates

Michael McCormack Michael McCormacked his way through an interaction with Janine Hendry this morning, when she asked him for action - and for change.

He ‘can’t give that assurance’.

#March4Justiceau organiser @janine_hendry bumped into Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack in the Parliament corridors ... here's how it ended. @10NewsFirst #auspol pic.twitter.com/fnkr3nam0h

Janine Hendry, a founder and organiser of the March4Justice, explained to the ABC this morning about why organisers turned down Scott Morrison’s offer of a private meeting with a small number of march delegates:

I think it is really quite disrespectful to the women whose voices need to be heard to have a meeting with our prime minister behind closed doors.

I have invited the prime minister, as I have all other sitting members of parliament, to come and march with us, to come and listen to our voices. I don’t think it is really a big ask – we have come to Canberra.

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Australia news live: NSW reaches 50 days without a local Covid-19 case; virus detected in Adelaide wastewater

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SA Health says positive Covid-19 wastewater results may be linked to hotel quarantine, but further investigations are under way. Follow the latest updates

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has defended the pace of the vaccine rollout saying it can only be rolled out as fast as it’s being supplied by the federal government, reports AAP.

Queensland gave 6,300 people their first doses of the Pfizer jab last week, against a target of 3,000, but there’s been media criticism of the state’s slow rollout compared with other states.

All of this is being done in consultation with the Commonwealth, so please don’t disrespect the process...

We want to get it right, we want it to be rolled out smoothly, and of course we are making sure that the people have the adequate training to do this.

We are adapting very quickly to the numbers that we’re getting, but the Commonwealth are adjusting these numbers on a regular basis how much we’ll get.

And in some cases, as in the figures I was given like last week, we’re getting triple what we expected and they have to last us for a few weeks because they can’t necessarily guarantee (how much) we’re going to get each week.

Wentworth Liberal MP Dave Sharma’s idea for International Women’s Day seems to have backfired this morning after he handed out what I believe are pink carnations to women.

Sharma tweeted this out this morning:

Happy International Women’s Day.

Let’s make it a day when we strive to improve the respect, dignity and equality for every woman, everywhere.#internationalwomensday2021 #IWD2021 pic.twitter.com/pbpqfGdzp7

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Sarah Hanson-Young on the reckoning of parliament – Australian politics podcast

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After a turbulent two weeks in parliament, Katharine Murphy talks to Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young about her experiences in fighting toxic cultures in the workplace. They discuss the ways women in the spotlight can be supported, and whether the domino-like effect will continue

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Scott Morrison must call an independent inquiry into the Christian Porter rape allegation. It’s the only valid course | Katharine Murphy

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The PM needs to decide whether to let the attorney general’s defence be the last word on the case or to represent all the interests involved, including the alleged victim’s

If Christian Porter was somehow unaware that survivors of sexual assault in the #MeToo era have had enough of being silenced, the Australian of the year, Grace Tame, appeared at the National Press Club on Wednesday to remind him.

Only an hour or so before the attorney general confirmed the worst-kept secret on the internet – that he was the unnamed cabinet minister at the centre of a rape allegation from 1988 – Tame stood before reporters in Canberra and delivered a speech of piercing moral clarity.

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‘Get the trees back’: NSW minister wanted ‘clearance zone’ around highways after bushfires

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Andrew Constance confirms he demanded the now-sacked transport department head to fell trees 40 metres either side of highways but was refused

The New South Wales transport minister, Andrew Constance, demanded the now-sacked head of his department create an 80-metre “clearance zone” around highways after the 2020 bushfires, an order Labor says could have resulted in countless trees being felled if followed.

During the state’s budget estimates hearings on Thursday, Constance confirmed he had issued the directive to the former department head, Rodd Staples, following last summer’s bushfire crisis.

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Australia news live: Covid vaccine rollout begins; more questions over rape allegations

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Phase 1a of the vaccine program starts today; questions about the government’s response to Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations dominate parliament. Follow all the latest news and updates, live
• Melbourne doctors under review for promoting discredited Covid treatment
• Australia’s first Covid vaccinations rollout out
• Follow the global liveblog

It’s another for the ‘always look at the bright side’ file.

From AAP:

The Morrison government has released the findings of an investigation that the environment minister, Sussan Ley, ordered into her own department over the export of rare and endangered Australian parrots to Germany.

The investigation was prompted by a 2018 investigation by Guardian Australia’s Lisa Cox and Berlin bureau chief Philip Oltermann.

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Staff rebuked over failure to advise him of Brittany Higgins allegations, Scott Morrison says

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After comments about a ‘culture of disrespect’, prime minister responded it was not ‘confined to the parliament’

Scott Morrison has indicated that he has reprimanded his staff for not bringing a former government staffer’s rape allegations to his attention as soon as a reporter submitted questions earlier this month.

The prime minister has also taken umbrage at a major business group’s comments about a pervasive “culture of disrespect” in politics, with Morrison responding that “if any workplace thinks that this is just confined to the parliament, they’re kidding themselves”.

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