Category Archives: Liberal party

Peter Dutton calls for Liberal senator to resign after third inappropriate touching allegation

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Liberal leader says third allegation came after he expelled David Van, who says he ‘will fully cooperate’ with investigation and is ‘stunned that my good reputation can be so wantonly savaged’

The leader of the Liberal party, Peter Dutton, says he has been made aware of another allegation of inappropriate touching against Senator David Van since he expelled him from the party room on Thursday and called for Van to resign from the parliament.

Dutton said he raised a further allegation with Van on Friday morning, after learning of it on Thursday night.

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David Van says he doesn’t agree with decision to remove him from Liberal party room

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Senator hits back at move which Peter Dutton said was not a ‘judgment on the veracity of allegations or any individual’s guilt or innocence’

Senator David Van has said he doesn’t agree with Peter Dutton’s decision to stand him down from the Liberal party room, following allegations made in the Senate by Independent Lidia Thorpe.

Van spoke to journalists after arriving at Melbourne airport late Thursday. He was asked by a reporter “do you think Peter Dutton’s decision is fair?”, Van responded “no, I don’t.”

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Senator removed from party room – as it happened

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Liberal senator David Van is speaking to Sydney radio 2GB about independent senator Lidia Thorpe’s allegations in the Senate yesterday.

Thorpe withdrew the remarks to comply with the Senate’s standing orders but said she would be making a statement on the issue today.

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Liberal MPs break ranks to call for inquiry into Brittany Higgins’ leaked text messages

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Andrew Bragg and Bridget Archer make call after Network Ten asks AFP to investigate alleged leaking of evidence in Bruce Lehrmann trial

Liberals Andrew Bragg and Bridget Archer have broken ranks to call for an inquiry into how Brittany Higgins’ text messages were leaked, with Bragg labelling debate in the Senate where the Coalition is pursuing Katy Gallagher “very ugly”.

The pair made the call after the finance minister denied misleading the Senate about her knowledge of Higgins’ allegation before it aired and Network Ten asked the Australian federal police to investigate how Higgins’ texts became public.

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Central bank going ‘rogue’, senator claims – as it happened

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Burke says the loophole only applies to where the business has agreed on a minimum rate of pay:

The loopholes are really simple … which is, if an employer agrees with their workforce and registers, this should be the rate of pay.

You shouldn’t then be able to go to a labour hire company and completely undercut what you’ve just agreed to.

Yesterday was one of the one of the strangest debates I’ve ever found myself in – because business was running a passionate campaign against a policy that the government is not proposing, that the government’s not going to do. And to me, it would sound like a bad idea anyway.

Effectively the way business were arguing yesterday – there was someone on PM yesterday afternoon, claiming that somehow this would prevent hairdressers from being able to pay different rates of pay for the people in their employment. Just not true.

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Australia news live: economists push interest rate forecasts higher; teens arrested over violent carjacking

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Eight teenagers in police custody after allegedly dragging woman from car on the Gold Coast. Follow the day’s news live

Business groups argue ‘same job, same pay’ laws would disadvantage workers

I mentioned a little earlier that business groups have glommed together to launch a campaign against the federal government’s proposed “same job, same pay” industrial relations laws.

The so-called ‘Same Job, Same Pay’ proposals does not mean equal pay for men and women. It does not speak of fairness and justice, as its name falsely represents.

It means by law, employers will have to pay workers with little knowledge or experience exactly the same as workers with decades of knowledge and experience.

Without a real threat of losing passengers to other airlines, the Qantas and Virgin Australia airline groups have had less incentive to offer attractive airfares, develop more direct routes, operate more reliable services, and invest in systems to provide high levels of customer service.

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Australia news live: China in focus for PM’s Vietnam meeting; plastics treaty draft under way

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Anthony Albanese will meet with Vietnamese prime minister Pham Minh Chinh, as well as the Communist Party general secretary, the president and the chairman of the national assembly. Follow the day’s news, live

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will meet Vietnam’s top leaders in Hanoi today as part of an official state visit.

He’ll begin his day visiting the Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam’s communist revolutionary leader and first president, before meeting with Vietnamese prime minister Pham Minh Chinh, as well as the Communist Party general secretary, the president and the chairman of the national assembly.

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Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto served with fresh defamation threat by ousted MP Moira Deeming

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Sixteen-page notice contains list of claims against Liberal leader as he faces another by-election after the resignation of veteran Ryan Smith

Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto has been served with a fresh defamation threat by ousted MP Moira Deeming, as the party faces a by-election headache.

Lawyers for Deeming, who was expelled from the parliamentary Liberal party this month for allegedly bringing discredit on the party, has issued a second defamation concerns notice to Pesutto.

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Victorian Liberals gear up for byelection following the resignation of Warrandyte MP Ryan Smith

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Potential candidates include opposition party’s federal vice-president and upper house MP Matt Bach as Labor considers whether to contest electorate

The Victorian opposition will face voters for the first time since John Pesutto took on the leadership, with a byelection to be held following the resignation of the long-serving Liberal MP Ryan Smith.

Several potential candidates have been floated since Smith announced on Wednesday he would step down from parliament on 7 July, triggering the byelection in his electorate of Warrandyte in Melbourne’s north-east.

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Queensland LNP criticised for ‘failure of leadership’ on voice – as it happened

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Why didn’t the Coalition government know about these issues?

Shouldn’t it have?

And that’s exactly I would imagine the issues that will be fleshed out by this inquiry it, because this has been a loophole if you like, but that said privacy provisions, particularly when you’re dealing with government agencies, are really important to engender trust.

Now, as I said, there are a number of processes under way. We’ve seen what happens in recent times, when there is ongoing media commentary or into matters that relate to criminal proceedings. So we should be very careful about being part of that commentary that might impact other proper processes.

Secrecy provisions are there and privacy provisions are there for very good reasons. Now, whether those privacy provisions manifested in the best outcome here is for others to say, but I don’t think we should throw the baby out of the bathwater. We want to make sure that people have trust in the ATO trust when they give information to agencies that it will be kept private.

But look, this will all be flushed out it will all be flushed out in two inquiries. One by the AFP – there’s been a reference made to them already. And the other by a Senate references inquiry and I don’t want to pre-empt exactly what that particular that references inquiry will find. My colleagues right across the chamber will be investigating this issue, I would imagine, very thoroughly along with others to do with the PwC scandal.

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Australia politics live: Lambie threatens to disrupt Senate over Afghanistan medals; question time under way

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Adam Bandt rails against Woodside’s exclusion from petroleum resource rent tax

Greens leader Adam Bandt is speaking to ABC radio RN Breakfast about the petroleum resource rent tax (PRRT) changes and in particular the fact that Woodside’s Western Australian North-West Shelf project isn’t included in it.

The tax is still broken, and they’re meant to be subjected to it. They should pay their fair share of tax. As I say, even after these changes, Australia only brings in a few $100 million extra from these big gas corporations that are making billions of dollars of profits. It’s about a 10th of what comparable countries bring in. If we made these guess corporations pay their fair share of tax. They’d be an extra $94 billion over the decade to go to things like delivering cost-of-living relief, funding a rent freeze, getting dental into Medicare.

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Australia news live: 3.8 magnitude earthquake largest to hit Melbourne in over a century

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Thousands of people contacted Geoscience Australia to report they felt shaking, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or serious damage. Follow the latest updates

Paterson says the Indigenous voice to parliament’s differentiation on the basis of characteristics people have no control over is “offensive to liberal principles.”

Asked about whether he agrees with his leader Peter Dutton, when he talks about the voice re-racialising Australia, Patterson says:

What proponents of the yes campaign are trying to do is to treat Australians differently. …what we are doing is putting into our constitutional something which treats people differently because of a characteristic over which they have control. And I think that is offensive to liberal principles. And we are all human beings and we’re all Australian, and we should be all treated equally before the law before the Constitution as well.

It is in Australia’s national interest that Ukraine prevail. We have to do everything in our power to ensure they do.

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Maria Kovacic: former NSW Liberal president will replace Jim Molan in Senate as Andrew Constance’s bid fails

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Kovacic ran for the lower house seat of Parramatta in the last federal election but was defeated by Labor’s Andrew Charlton

A former president of the New South Wales Liberal party will fill the Senate vacancy left by Jim Molan, who died of prostate cancer in January.

Maria Kovacic, who resigned from her official party position to run for the NSW Senate seat, defeated her closest challenger, Andrew Constance, a former NSW cabinet minister.

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Australia politics live: ABC journalists walk out to stand in solidarity with Stan Grant against ‘awful blight’ of racism

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Greens announce comedian Mandy Nolan as Richmond candidate for 2025 election

We are only a year into the Albanese government, but it’s never too early to be prepared, I suppose. The Greens have announced their candidate for Richmond at the next election – Mandy Nolan.

At the last election people were desperate to kick out the Liberals, but now they’re realising Labor also wants new coal and gas, which makes the climate crisis worse, as well as billions in handouts for property moguls, which pushes up rents and house prices. Labor has no plan whatsoever to help renters and Labor’s housing bill sees the crisis get worse.

Mandy’s already got a team of volunteers ready to hit the streets and talk to Richmond residents about how the Greens are the only party fighting for renters and climate action.

The Finance and Public Administration Committee (which includes department of parliamentary services and prime minister and cabinet).

The Legal and Constitutional Affairs committee, where it will be the Department of Home Affairs show.

The Environment and Communications committee will hear from the climate change and energy department as well as environment and water. (So power prices will dominate this one).

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Moira Deeming supporters boo and walk out on Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto at state council

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Group heckled Pesutto and held masks of Deeming’s face at party’s state council in Bendigo

Supporters of Victorian MP Moira Deeming have walked out of a Liberal party conference as tensions flare between members over the decision to expel her.

A small group clutching masks of Deeming’s face and a sign labelling the Liberal leader, John Pesutto, a “bully” shouted “shame, shame” as he took to the stage at the party’s state council in Bendigo on Saturday.

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Stuart Robert hands in official resignation, triggering byelection in Queensland seat

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Former Coalition minister had been under pressure from Labor after failing to attend parliament during budget week, despite still being an MP

Former Morrison government minister Stuart Robert will not return to the federal parliament after he officially resigned from politics by way of letter.

Robert announced his intention to resign on 6 May but did not give a date of when it would happen. He did not travel to Canberra for the budget week sitting, although staff were seen packing up his office.

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Australia news live: Dutton condemns ‘scumbags’ and ‘sick individuals’ after weekend Nazi display in Melbourne

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Ahead of Reserve Bank releasing board meeting minutes, opposition leader continues to accuse budget of being inflationary. Follow the day’s news live

Dutton also brushed off the idea that he needs to be careful with his language around migration.

Now in terms of the dog whistling comments and the rest of it. They are comments made by former Labor staffers who now masquerade as journalists. So I don’t take that as authoritative sort of assessment of my view which I think is quite valid.

The best thing we can do for Australian families at the moment is reduce their mortgage payments.

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Jacqui Lambie joins thousands of Tasmanians at rally against $715m AFL stadium

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The senator told the premier Tasmanians have had a ‘bloody gutful’ over the stadium and ‘you can stick it up your bum’

Thousands of Tasmanians have voiced their opposition to a $715m stadium critical to the state’s entry to the AFL, a day after the project brought the Rockliff government to its knees.

Australia’s only state Liberal government was thrust into minority status on Friday after two MPs quit, citing concerns over state debt and government transparency around the planned build on the edge of the Hobart CBD.

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Australia news live: John Pesutto praises Liberals’ ‘reform journey’ after Moira Deeming party room expulsion

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Controversial MP Moira Deeming expelled from Victorian Liberal party room; ally Renee Heath sanctioned. Follow live

Medicare benefits increase will help all patients, Butler says

The surprise centrepiece of the budget was $5.7bn increased funding for Medicare, including incentives to improve bulk billing for children and concession cardholders.

Rebates aren’t frozen, every rebate on the MBS [Medicare Benefits Schedule] in going to increase next year – the biggest Medicare increase across the board – every single service, for every single Australian.

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Moira Deeming expelled from Victorian Liberal party room after threat to sue leader John Pesutto

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Previously suspended for nine months, Deeming has been accused by colleagues of ‘bringing discredit’ to the party

The controversial MP Moira Deeming has been expelled from the Victorian Liberal party room.

Deeming’s colleagues voted 19 to 11 to expel her during a party room meeting on Friday morning, meaning she will have to serve the remaining three-and-a-half years of her term on the crossbench of the upper house of the Victorian parliament. She remains a member of the broader Liberal party.

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