Category Archives: Coalition

Coalition’s nuclear power plan is ‘economic insanity’, Jim Chalmers says on eve of major Dutton speech

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‘It will cost more, it will push prices up, it will take longer,’ treasurer says of opposition leader’s ‘fantasy’

Coalition plans to build seven nuclear power plants are “economic insanity”, Jim Chalmers has said, in the lead-up to a speech by Peter Dutton that is expected to provide new details of the policy.

The federal opposition has outlined plans to build seven nuclear reactors across five states, should it win the next election, with the first to be built by 2035 to 2037 at the earliest.

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NSW nurses and midwives announce strike – as it happened

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Australia’s ‘sex report card’ released

The latest Australian Study of Health and Relationships was revealed at a conference in Sydney this week held by the International Union Against Sexually Transmitted Infections.

Rent assistance went up by $25 and … average rents have gone up by more than $100. What might look like a big percentage increase is, frankly, fuck all, and that’s one of the reasons that this is so upsetting.

When CRA is indexed, the amount of rent that you have to pay before you get any rent assistance increases. So the proportion of your rent, where you qualify for it, reduces if you aren’t receiving the maximum payment.

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NSW government announces free weekend train travel in bid to avoid industrial action – as it happened

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Australia “abstained with great disappointment” on the Palestinian-drafted resolution at the United Nations general assembly in New York early this morning, the Australian ambassador to the UN has said.

The resolution – which sought to act on a recent advisory opinion of the international court of justice – was passed with 124 votes in favour and 14 against. Australia was one of 43 countries to abstain, including the UK, Canada and Germany.

That is why we abstained with great disappointment.

We wanted to vote for a resolution that directly reflected the ICJ Advisory Opinion.

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Coalition plan to give first home buyers access to super would benefit ‘those who already own housing’

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Saul Eslake report finds plan would cause Australian property prices to rise at a faster rate

The Coalition’s plan to allow first home buyers access to their superannuation would heavily favour older and wealthier people, with the median couple aged 25 to 34 likely to be able to withdraw only $18,000.

That is the conclusion of Saul Eslake, the principal of Corinna Economic Advisory, in a report commissioned by the Super Members Council which points to “six decades of evidence” that policies to boost housing demand “result in more expensive housing to the benefit of those who already own housing”, rather than boosting ownership.

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Australia news live: Labor’s preliminary refusal of Pep11 gas project ‘an amazing step forward’, Scamps says; total fire ban announced for parts of NSW

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On the double-dissolution threat floated by Anthony Albanese yesterday, Sarah Hanson-Young says:

Again, why, why be so bullish about this? The Australian people don’t need a panicked prime minister who wants to press the exit button because he can’t get his own way.

They want a government that’s willing to work across the parliament. Now, a third of Australians voted for parties other than Labor or Liberal at the last election. And they did that because they want a parliament that works for them.

We want to fix it. We want to give the government the opportunity to fix it. I’m not just interested in saying no to things. I want to get outcomes. I guess that’s my concern.

This prime minister seems to have such a chip on his shoulder, doesn’t want to work with anyone. Just wants to do it all his way. I don’t think this is a very good sign for the future. Come on, come on, prime minister, you know, let’s put – put aside the politics and get on with getting some outcomes.

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Albanese targets Greens on ‘gesture-based’ climate politics in speech defending Labor’s business policies

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PM says Labor’s nature-positive legislation provides ‘vital certainty’ and talks up mutual respect in an address before the Business Council of Australia

Anthony Albanese has accused the Greens of “gesture-based climate amendments” to Labor’s environment legislation in a speech defending his government’s reform record and its relationship with big business.

In an address to the Business Council of Australia on Tuesday evening, Albanese said Labor is “pro-business and pro-worker” and sought to distinguish himself from Peter Dutton by arguing he respects their views even when he disagrees.

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Labor push for vote on help-to-buy bill delayed in Senate – as it happened

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White House marks three years since signing of Aukus agreement

Happy three-year anniversary of the signing of Aukus, to those who observe.

Three years ago, President Biden and our Australian and United Kingdom partners committed to Aukus, an enhanced security partnership that promotes a free and open Indo-Pacific that is secure and stable.

As this partnership has grown, it has strengthened the security of our allies in the region as well as our own security here at home. Over the past three years, our countries have made significant strides in supporting Australia’s acquisition of a conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine capability.

That is bad news for Australian solar homes.

To create space for inflexible nuclear power plants ramming energy into the grid, millions of household solar systems will be the first casualty.

Solar power is already being switched off in South Australia when it makes so much free power available that it exceeds electricity demand.

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Politics live: Senate question time spars over housing and the economy; plan for Australia to build rocket motors for ‘world’s most advanced missiles’

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Albanese says it’s a ‘good thing’ Trump is safe after apparent assassination attempt

Anthony Albanese has responded to news about an apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

Everyone wants the democratic process to be peaceful and to be orderly. This incident in the United States is of concern, again. It is good that President Trump has said that he is safe and that the incident, the details of which are still coming out, so it’s not quite clear all of those details but what is clear is that President Trump is safe. That is a good thing.

The first round of Labor’s Housing Australia Future Fund and National Housing Accord programs will deliver 4,220 social and 9,522 affordable homes, including 1,267 homes for women and children escaping domestic violence and older women at risk of homelessness.

In just the first round of these programs, the Albanese Government is directly supporting more social and affordable housing than the Liberals and Nationals did in their entire nine years in office.

Housing Australia has recommended contract negotiations for 185 projects, with construction on almost 40 per cent of the 13,742 dwellings forecast to get underway this financial year.

Round one of the programs’ funding will unlock $9.2 billion of investment in social and affordable housing across Commonwealth, State and Territory government, and the private and community housing sectors.

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John Howard weighs in on stoush between NSW and federal Liberals – as it happened

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Assistant treasurer says Elon Musk post is ‘crackpot stuff’

The assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, has said Elon Musk labelling the Australian government as “fascists” is “crackpot stuff”.

And whether it’s the Australian government or any other government around the world, we assert our right to pass laws which will keep Australians safe – safe from scammers, safe from criminals.

And, for the life of me, I can’t see how Elon Musk or anyone else, in the name of free speech, thinks it is OK to have social media platforms publishing scam content, which is robbing Australians of billions of dollars every year. Publishing deepfake material, publishing child pornography. Livestreaming murder scenes. I mean is this what he thinks free speech is all about?

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Labor’s stalled environmental agenda under pressure from left and right

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While the Greens remain hopeful of compromise, the PM has indicated he wants a deal struck with the Coalition

Anthony Albanese is rejecting demands from the Greens and some Senate crossbenchers to subject development projects to climate-impact assessments and remove forestry’s effective exemption from environmental protection law, as the government negotiates on stalled legislation with parties to the left and right.

The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, is in talks with the Greens, crossbenchers and the Coalition over legislation to establish an environment protection authority.

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Australian politics live: Labor confirms aged care deal; AEC abolishes Kylea Tink’s electorate; parliamentary standards bill passes Senate

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Helen Haines condemns ‘stitch up’ over Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission bill

Independent MP Helen Haines is furious at what she calls a “stitch up” between Labor and the Coalition that “weakens the transparency of the new Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission”.

The bill as currently drafted means serious findings could be made about an MP, but they could face no sanction and the public could never know.

I want to see more transparency around this process.

The government made two last-minute changes to its own legislation that would reinforce the major party duopoly, ensuring no member of the crossbench can be deputy chair of the parliamentary standards oversight committee. What a stitch up!”

We’re going to have the same people on the joint select committee as on the privileges committee, meaning the people who are meant to make sure the whole system is working are the same people who are part of it.

I’m really staggered by this, and it isn’t right.

We’re taking a stand against the unchecked greed that’s fuelling the cost-of-living crisis, and we’re urging the parliament to support this critical reform.

Our bill will put an end to corporate price gouging by making it illegal for corporations with substantial market power to charge excessive prices for goods and services.

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Jacinta Price alleges ‘opportunists’ claiming Indigenous heritage to block resources projects

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Shadow minister for Indigenous Australians says Albanese government ‘turning a blind eye’ to alleged ‘weaponisation’ of identity

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has claimed “opportunists” are making “false claims” to membership of Indigenous groups to scuttle resource projects seeking environmental approval.

The shadow minister for Indigenous Australians made the claim on Wednesday while defending a Coalition plan to designate which Indigenous groups would need to be consulted by project proponents, as revealed by the shadow resources minister, Susan McDonald, at a Minerals Week event.

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Australia politics live: Labor’s hate speech bill will not not criminalise vilification; man who ‘flipped the bird’ in parliament was not signed in by politician

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Dan Tehan outraged over tattered flag after devastating winds

Liberal frontbencher Dan Tehan is continuing to moonlight as Australia’s flag hall monitor.

While values are still rising at the national level, albeit at a slowing pace, beneath the headline figure, we’re starting to see some weakness, particularly in Victoria.

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Australia politics live: Littleproud heckled at Canberra farmers protest; Greens senator urges Chalmers to override RBA and cut interest rates

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Peter Dutton and David Littleproud addressed the crowd of hundreds from as far as Western Australia. Follow today’s news live

PM speaks on social media ban for kids

Anthony Albanese is doing the media rounds this morning, speaking on the government’s announcement it will ban children from social media platforms. This came after the South Australian announcement yesterday it would be moving to ban children under 14.

Well, we want to work with the states and territories. What we didn’t want to develop is eight different systems. We know this is a national issue and it’s pretty simple. We want to get kids off their devices and on to the footy fields, on to the netball courts, into the swimming pools.

We want them to have real experiences with real people, and we know that social media is causing social harm, which is why we put funding in the budget to have a trial to make sure that we get it right.

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‘Don’t run away’: Labor urged to collaborate with Greens and crossbenchers on environmental reforms

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Support for government’s environmental legislation offered in exchange for protections that deliver ‘immediate, tangible impacts’

Greens and crossbench senators have told the government not to “hide behind” Peter Dutton and Gina Rinehart and instead work with them on a better deal for the environment.

The Greens environment spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, and independent senators David Pocock and Lidia Thorpe offered to support legislation to establish a new environment protection authority (EPA) and a separate new agency to manage environmental information, if the government agreed to a series of proposals to strengthen environmental protections.

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Bridget McKenzie forced to deny her oped on aviation divestiture signals support for breaking up Qantas

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Just hours after opinion appears in AFR, shadow minister clarifies divestiture as ‘one of the various tools the treasurer needs to look at’ but not Coalition policy

The shadow transport minister, Bridget McKenzie, was forced to clarify the Coalition does not support breaking up Qantas just hours after floating the possibility of forced divestiture powers in the aviation sector.

McKenzie warned the competition watchdog’s review of the aviation sector “will be a failure if it does not address the role of divestiture” in an opinion piece in the Australian Financial Review on Monday.

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Julia Gillard urges Labor to retain 50% female quota, warning women still at risk of being dragged back

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Australia’s only female prime minister marks 30th anniversary of ALP’s affirmative action rule by advocating for its adoption across federal parliament

Julia Gillard is urging the Labor party never to remove its 50% female quota for parliamentary candidates despite surpassing it federally, warning there are forces – especially in the “toxic sewer” of social media – which can still drag women back.

In an interview to mark this month’s 30th anniversary of Labor’s controversial affirmative action rule, Australia’s first and, so far, only female prime minister reflected on the hope she expressed the day she left office in 2013, that it would be easier for the next woman who runs the country.

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Tanya Plibersek accuses Peter Dutton of intent to ignore Indigenous heritage for mining projects

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Environment minister lambasts opposition leader over vow to overturn her rejection of tailings dam at McPhillamys goldmine

Tanya Plibersek has accused Peter Dutton of planning to ignore evidence of historical Indigenous cultural practice and trash heritage protection laws to greenlight certain mining projects and companies based on “the vibe”.

The environment minister told Guardian Australia that Dutton’s vow to overturn her determination rejecting the proposed site of a tailings dam at the $900m McPhillamys goldmine development in central-western New South Wales showed he had no respect for research or official advice.

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News live: Australia’s ability to fight off deadly bird flu to be put to test in series of exercises

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Julie Collins describes avian flu situation as ‘dynamic’ as she highlights concerns about the impact to wildlife and agriculture

Census to include questions on gender and sexuality

Speers finishes up by asking Chalmers about the ongoing census questions palaver.

We have listened to the community. We worked very closely with the Australian Bureau of Statistics. LGBTIQ+ Australians matter. They have been heard and they will count in the 2026 census.

Really the message that we want to ensure that Australians hear from us today is that we understand the feedback that we got, we listened to that, we took it very seriously, we listened very genuinely.

We said we would find the best way to do this and I believe that we have and we will and the ABS will continue to refine the actual wording of the questions now that this additional topic has been add.

We want to make sure that we are maximising this really important economic relationship with our key trading partner. It’s a relationship which is full of complexity, but also full of opportunity and I want to help the government maximise that opportunity for the Australian people, workers, businesses, employers, investors.

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Senate committee told foreign student cap would ‘gut’ private education sector – as it happened

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Michele O’Neil said this isn’t about “expecting everyone to have the same opinion all of the time” but continued:

We’re a diverse movement, and people have strong opinions, but it is at its core about who we are and what we stand for. And we don’t walk away when things get tough, we face up to them. And angry individuals lashing out and blaming everyone except themselves doesn’t get us through this.

We need to stay steady on what is in the interest of working people and what’s in the interest of working people is good, clean, strong, effective unions with leaders who see their job as representing workers and their members, not acting in their own self-interest.

No … I think that it’s important that we realise that the union movement – the vast bulk of unions – want to stay part of the united union movement, and have made that really clear.

What I’m saying, Patricia, is we’re talking to all of our unions all of the time … I haven’t had any other unions threaten to quit.

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