Urban congestion funding for Coalition and marginal seats far outstrips safe Labor seats, report finds

At last election, just one of 71 Coalition promises worth $100m or more based on approved business case, says Grattan Institute

The government’s controversial urban congestion fund is pumping tens of millions of dollars more into marginal and safe Coalition seats than strong Labor electorates, a new report has found.

The Grattan Institute on Sunday released a damning report examining the way successive governments have used transport spending promises to further their political interests.

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Australia live news update: Payne calls Russia’s actions in Ukraine ‘war crimes’; Steven Marshall quits as Liberal leader after SA election loss

Scott Morrison says Russia must pay ‘high price’ for Ukraine invasion as further measures announced; Steven Marshall steps down after losing South Australia election to Labor and Peter Malinauskus; Josh Frydenberg says federal budget measures won’t ‘overheat’ economy; four Covid deaths in NSW and three in SA. Follow all the day’s news

The federal finance minister, Simon Birmingham, is appearing on ABC’s Insiders now, and of course, has been asked why the Liberals experienced a landslide loss in the state election there overnight.

Birmingham says that a number of voters were potentially tricked by “misleading statements” about Labor’s ability to stop ambulance ramping.

I think always when an election is lost, there are a number of factors at play. I think that history will judge Steven Marshall’s government for its policy achievements and management more kindly than the electorate did yesterday. The economic confidence he delivered to South Australia, the ongoing growth in what will be higher-paying, more highly skilled [workers] in SA for many years to come, the transformation of schooling SA, investments in hospitals, these will be positives which he will be marked up for but clearly a disappointing day for the Liberal family in SA to have that result.

The campaign was one in which we saw the Labor party run a very targeted, very singularly focused campaign around hospitals and ambulances. I think there were many misleading aspects to that campaign and even the Electoral Commission found so in the last day or so, but that again is a reminder to all of us that we can’t underscore the potential for Labor to run these types of scare campaigns just like they did with mediscare back in 2016, particularly when they can roll out the public sector unions to devastating effects.

So is that your take on this election result, the electorate was tricked?

No, not entirely. I do think that Labor’s campaign was effective, but I also think, as the Electoral Commission found, that it was based on misleading statements and that of course is something that does mean that some voters potentially were tricked but equally I think Covid did play a very difficult role for Steven Marshall.

When he opened the borders from SA to the rest of the country on 23 November, it was 24 November, the very day after that Omicron was first reported to the World Health Organization as a variant of concern. You couldn’t have had perhaps more unlucky timing than Steven Marshall faced in that regard and that the carefully calibrated plans he had for reopening were clearly blown out of the water at that time and that did create real challenges for the Government through the run-up and lead-up to the election, and, of course, in terms of what the narrative of their campaign was.

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South Australia election: Labor win should have Morrison government ‘trembling’, ALP says

Scott Morrison dismissed state and federal comparisons, saying ‘Anthony Albanese is not Peter Malinauskas’

The South Australian election result should have Scott Morrison’s Coalition “trembling” ahead of the federal poll, Labor says, after Peter Malinauskas became the first opposition leader to defeat an incumbent government since the start of the pandemic.

The outgoing premier, Steven Marshall, announced on Sunday he would step down as Liberal leader after the landslide loss to Labor, saying he “takes full responsibility for the result” and accepts “the will of the people”.

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Against the foil of the Morrison government, Dominic Perrottet’s flood response has been pragmatic

The NSW government knows the more it is held up against the Coalition in Canberra, the better it looks despite its own shortcomings

It’s hard to imagine many inside the New South Wales government were particularly upset with veteran Nationals backbencher Geoff Provest when he aimed both barrels at the prime minister over his response to the state’s flood disaster this week.

Hardly the state government’s most prominent attack dog, Provest did not miss in his assessment of Scott Morrison after his north coast electorate of Tweed was inexplicably excluded from extra disaster funding announced by the prime minister last week.

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‘Disrespectful and wrong’: lawyers slam Coalition’s push to restore power to deport Aboriginal non-citizens

Federal government’s appeal against the release of NZ man due to his claim of Aboriginality is being criticised as ‘a significant step backwards’

The Morrison government’s plan to restore its power to deport Aboriginal non-citizens has been criticised as “disrespectful and wrong” and a “significant step backwards” in the recognition of Aboriginal societies.

Both claims are made in submissions to an appeal by the federal government to overturn the landmark Love and Thoms decision.

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Pressure mounts on Morrison government to include flooding in $10bn reinsurance pool

Politicians at state and federal level back calls to expand Northern Australia cyclone scheme to other natural disasters across the country

The federal government is under increasing pressure to expand its reinsurance pool for cyclone damage to include flooding, with calls for the Coalition to pass the legislation in the final days of parliament before the looming election.

Politicians across the political divide, at state and federal level, have backed calls to expand the $10bn Northern Australia reinsurance pool for cyclone damage to cover more natural disasters, across the country. Several Coalition members – including Warren Entsch, one of the scheme’s principal advocates, and Kevin Hogan, representing the Lismore-based electorate of Page – have thrown their weight behind the changes, as well as north coast MPs Janelle Saffin and Tamara Smith.

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Penny Wong says better relationship with China possible if Coalition stops ‘playing politics’

Labor would not take ‘a backward step’ on China disagreements, Wong says, after foreign minister meets new Chinese ambassador

Labor’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Penny Wong, says it may be possible for Australia to achieve a diplomatic thaw with China despite the substantial differences between the two countries – if Scott Morrison abandons his “desperate” pre-election weaponisation of national security.

The foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, this week met China’s new ambassador to Australia who has made several overtures for dialogue since arriving in Canberra in January.

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Australia news live updates: Palaszczuk says too late for emergency declaration in Qld; Rio Tinto ditching Russia; 21 Covid deaths

Palaszczuk rejects Morrison’s move to declare national emergency in Queensland, where flood costs are ‘well into the billions’; Rio Tinto will terminate all contracts with Russian businesses; nation records at least 21 Covid deaths amid concerns over Omicron subvariant. Follow all the updates live

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is being questioned about his promises to keep the cost of living down as he chats to ABC News Breakfast:

Well, we have been making policies that have been driving down the cost of living, for example, around electricity prices which are down by 8% in the last two years.

They doubled under our political opponents, but what I was referring to last night is the international events in the Ukraine have seen a spike in oil prices, and that is flowing through with some people paying more than $2 a litre.

This high and increasing burden of skin cancer emphasises the need for continued investment in skin cancer education and prevention.

We know what needs to be done. Now is the time to do it so that one day Australia is no longer considered the skin cancer capital of the world.

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Scott Morrison says defence force ‘not available on a moment’s notice’ to respond to floods disaster

Prime minister visits Lismore as government declared national emergency to release more resources to help

Scott Morrison was met with a fiery reception in flood-devastated Lismore, as he defended the speed of his government’s response to the disaster, saying the ADF is “not available on a moment’s notice”.

Ahead of Morrison’s arrival in Lismore, the federal government declared a national emergency around the floods, giving the Commonwealth greater power to send in defence force assets and skirt around administrative “red tape” to get financial support out quicker.

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Australia news live update: Lismore flood level breaks 1954 record as Perrottet warns worse to come in NSW; Queensland death toll rises to eight

NSW premier says ‘unprecedented’ floods expected to get worse; Lismore residents call for help on social media as flood level hits record high; Australia lists Russia as ‘do not travel’ zone; Frydenberg discusses financial support for Ukraine ahead of Scott Morrison’s call with president; at least 12 Covid-related deaths recorded. Follow the latest updates live

Josh Frydenberg was asked if he believed the Russian president Vladimir Putin could turn the invasion into Ukraine nuclear.

He says it’s no secret that Putin may have ambitions beyond simply controlling Ukraine.

No one wants to see an escalation ... but these are the dangers of the times and the insanity of what Putin has done ... I’m worried there could be an escalation beyond the borders ...

I’m worried that there could be an escalation beyond the borders and no doubt. That’s what other European nations or neighbouring countries are concerned about ...

Just to get a sense of when will we find out the amount of money we’re committing to this issue ... we’re working the details through you will find out probably today.

I mean, we’re going to start with an initial payment. It will be in the millions, and it’s not going to be the same sort of quantum that United States or the United Kingdom would provide but you know, where we can ...

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Who said it? Australia’s political war of words over China – quiz

Match each diplomatic, inflammatory or amusing quote to the politician from which it emerged

In an increasingly heated political debate in the lead-up to Australia’s election, claims of appeasing China and even labels of “Manchurian candidates” have flown thick and fast.

The truth is both major parties have been recalibrating their China policy over the past decade in response to what they see as a more assertive nation under Xi Jinping.

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Australia news live updates: Queensland and Victoria to lift mask rules as nation records 33 Covid deaths

Clive Palmer cancels press club appearance; foreign minister condemns Russia’s declaration of Ukranian separatist independence as PM says Russia should ‘step back’; defence responds to China’s claim about laser incident; NSW and Victoria both record 14 Covid deaths, Queensland records five; mask rules lifted in Victoria from midnight Saturday and in Queensland next week. Follow the latest updates live

Jumping back to the Sydney train situation for a moment and the Rail, Tram and Bus Union state secretary, Alex Claassens, is discussing the return of limited train services with ABC News Breakfast:

Apparently, where we ended up late last night was we negotiated an outcome where trains will run today. We finally managed to get the management team to see some common sense and today they will be operating a service roughly around the half-hour to 15-minute mark.

They will then try and improve on that during the day. We will work together as much as we can to try to get as many trains on the tracks as we can, and you can imagine our disappointment yesterday morning when we got up like everybody else in Sydney to realise some genius had made a decision to cancel all of our train services.

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Scott Morrison’s China gambit is a Hail Mary from a flailing leader trying to galvanise fear | Peter Lewis

The majority of Australians support a position which is the polar opposite to the government’s current tub-thumping on national security

Scott Morrison’s efforts to politicise Australia’s complex relationship with China seems to be further soiling his own flagging reputation.

Like a bull in the proverbial, he has spent the past fortnight bombarding the airwaves with hastily googled dossiers and cold war-era panics to suggest an Albanese government would become an antipodean branch office of the Beijing Politburo.

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Australia news live updates: Perrottet urged to work with union over NSW train dispute; international border reopens; 17 Covid deaths

Perrottet urged to work with union over NSW train dispute; Peter Dutton says all signs on Ukraine ‘pointing in one direction’; at least 17 Covid-related deaths; Australia’s international border reopen for the first time in nearly two years. Follow the latest updates live

AGL Energy has rejected a takeover bid by tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and Canadian asset management giant Brookfield, saying the preliminary offer “materially undervalues the company”.

Brookfield and Cannon-Brookes’ Grok Ventures made the extraordinary offer to take over Australia’s most polluting company on Saturday, with a goal to shut its coal power plants earlier than planned.

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Morrison and Dutton are imperilling Australia’s national security to hang on to power | Katharine Murphy

The prime minister and the defence minister are imperilling Australia’s national security as they try to hang on to power

Too often, political journalism is the art of asking the wrong question.

We can preoccupy ourselves wondering whether or not a particular tactic will work. These are valid enough deductions, but the whole exercise can read like theatre criticism.

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‘Do your job’: Morrison urges MPs to point out stark difference between Coalition and Labor

Under-pressure prime minister tells party room ‘you haven’t seen me as focused as I can be yet … I know what the path is’

Scott Morrison has urged colleagues to ramp up examples of “sharp contrast” with Labor as the opposition signalled it could support a strengthening of the character test legislation despite previously helping to scuttle the proposal in the Senate.

The prime minister has revived the Coalition’s character test bill in the hope of wedging Labor on national security in the final sitting weeks of the current parliament. Morrison is attempting to regroup politically after an internal revolt scuttled his signature religious discrimination legislation last week.

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Australia politics news live updates: parliament marks anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations; at least 22 Covid deaths recorded

Parliament marks anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations; Acoss calls for next budget to address climate crisis; at least 22 Covid deaths recorded; treasurer asked about possible axing of low-income tax offset; politicians back in Canberra for final sitting week before federal budget. Follow all the day’s news

NSW treasurer Matt Kean is talking about the weekend’s byelection results. He says:

This wasn’t a referendum on the government ... these were four byelections that had unique issues in each of the seats.

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Uncertainty over jobs data due to Omicron as nation records at least 47 virus deaths – as it happened

Uncertainty over jobs data due to Omicron; Mark McGowan says WA border reopening still to be decided; Daniel Andrews announces LGBTQ+ support package; Victoria’s Covid rules under review as nation records least 47 Covid-related deaths; Scott Morrison condemns ‘bullying’ on Ukraine border. This blog is now closed

Things get trickier when Speers asked Keneally whether Labor believes schools should be allowed to hire and fire teachers based on whether they are gay or transgender under the law.

Keneally started by saying that “Labor also supports the right of religious schools, faith-based schools to be able to hire staff, whether it is teachers or other staff, that support the mission and the values of the school.”

And so it’s straightforward with children, we think there are some slight complexities with teachers and staff that should be looked at by the Australian Law Reform Commission.”

David, let’s look at what Labor did in the parliament this week. We do believe that people of faith deserve protection from discrimination and extending the law to do that and we think that should not come at the expense of increasing discrimination to other groups of people. We also believe that students at school should be protected and that reflected in the amendments we moved and supported.

So we would like to see the government now accept that amendment that has been supported by the House of Representatives with those five Liberals crossing the floor, and they should just get this bill done. The prime minister promised some years ago to people of faith he would provide this legislative protection. He promised in writing that he would protect children. He is – if he is going to break that promise, he needs to explain it to the Australian people.

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Australia news live updates: Victoria’s ‘code brown’ to end; WA records second Covid death of pandemic; Morrison ‘misled’ by MPs who crossed floor

Peter Dutton confirms Scott Morrison was misled by Liberal MPs who crossed floor on religious discrimination bill; Martin Foley says code brown declaration for Victoria’s hospitals will end Monday; at least 49 Covid deaths recorded nationally. Follow all the day’s news

An electric scooter rider has died after a collision with a station wagon south-east of Melbourne, AAP reports.

Police said a white Volkswagen station wagon was driving on the Princes Highway in Narre Warren on Thursday afternoon when it collided with the e-scooter.

The rider, who has not been formally identified, died at the scene. The station wagon driver was not injured and stopped to help the rider.

Major collision investigation unit detectives are investigating the crash.

Opinion:

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It began with a pre-dawn insurrection on religious discrimination and it got worse for Scott Morrison | Katharine Murphy

Clearly someone, or more than someone, wants to cause the prime minister some capital T trouble, but their endgame is entirely unclear

On Tuesday, Scott Morrison warned his colleagues disunity was political death. He told colleagues in the party room: “I’m going to lead, and I’m asking you once again to follow me to an election victory.”

Just before dawn on Thursday morning, five Liberals ignored the prime minister’s exhortation, and crossed the floor in the House of Representatives. The rebellion was bigger than senior figures had anticipated.

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