Category Archives: Coalition

Missing in action: five issues the major parties are avoiding in the 2022 federal election

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Key areas such as conservation, the arts, science and education have been neglected in a narrowly focused campaign

With two weeks to go until the 2022 federal election, most of the key policy offerings from the major parties have already been outlined – but there are some big gaps. From conservation to education and the arts, both Labor and the Coalition have been short on detail. Here are six areas where voters are left in the dark:

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Marise Payne holds first meeting with Solomon Islands counterpart since China security pact

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Anthony Albanese says meeting ‘about time’ as Scott Morrison says Australia reassured Solomons would not host military base

A meeting between Australia’s foreign minister, Marise Payne, and her Solomons Islands counterpart for the first time since a security pact with China was signed overshadowed campaign announcements on Saturday.

On day 27 of the campaign, and just two weeks out from the federal election, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, was campaigning in Perth, while the Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, was in Tasmania.

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Morrison pledges $20m for tourism; Shorten tests positive as 44 Covid deaths recorded – as it happened

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Foreign minister meets Solomon Islands counterpart in Brisbane; poll shows independent Sophie Scamps has real prospect of taking seat from Liberal Jason Falinski; Bill Shorten tests positive for Covid; NSW records 19 Covid deaths; Victoria nine, Queensland five, Tasmania two, NT one, SA two and WA six. This blog is now closed

Coalition and Labor have so far pledged billions for local projects. But not all sides of the electoral fence are reaping the benefits, write Elias Visontay and Nick Evershed.

Last night Marise Payne met with the foreign minister of Solomon Islands, Jeremiah Manele, in Brisbane. The pair discussed the rising tensions between the two countries.

Australia has been consistent and clear in stating our respect for Solomon Islands’ sovereign decision-making, however we have reiterated our deep concerns about the security agreement with China, including the lack of transparency. I again reinforced this in my meeting tonight. We agreed that Australia remains Solomon Islands’ security partner of choice.

I again welcomed Prime Minister Sogavare’s assurance that Solomon Islands will not be used for a foreign military base.

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Independents slam ‘dirty tactic’, reporting fake campaign signs; 30 Covid deaths – as it happened

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Independents report ‘misleading and unauthorised’ campaign signs; Scott Morrison won’t say if he will resign in case of hung parliament; Anthony Albanese backs royal commission into the pandemic; trans rights ‘debate’ ‘hugely regrettable’, Liberal senator says; at least 30 Covid deaths recorded. This blog is now closed

How does Andrew Bragg think Dave Sharma and Trent Zimmerman are feeling, given their seats are under threat:

As I say, I don’t agree with the analysis. I think the Liberal party has been a strong party of government because we have been able to represent a whole lot of different people across our country and we are doing that right now through things like strong climate policies, but also a social liberal agenda which protects minority groups such as the LGBTI community which I addressed last night at the Equality Forum.

Well, people are entitled to their opinions. I don’t always agree with everything you say and I don’t always agree with what my colleagues say. We are entitled to have our own views and cross the floor and make our own statements known where it is appropriate.

I mean, I’m not a commentator on these things. People are entitled to their own views. I think I have been very clear we have a strong voice for people in the cities and people should absolutely vote for Dave Sharma and Trent because they’ve done a great job in standing up for their communities.

I don’t agree with Mr Turnbull’s analysis. We have done important work for people who live in the inner cities on things like achieving the net zero 2050 commitment, and also developed economic policies which favour the inner city on things like fintech and cryptocurrency and we have made important commitments, as I spoke about last night to the equality forum, on HIV, listing Prep on the PBS.

The idea we are a party only for the bush or for the bushes is not true, or for the burbs is not true. We govern for all Australians.

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Path to victory: the seats that will decide the 2022 federal election

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Labor needs to gain seven seats to form majority government while the Coalition must offset any losses with gains elsewhere

Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese are preparing for the final sprint to the 21 May election finish line when Australia will decide who forms government.

Labor can sniff victory, but the Liberals are not giving up, hoping the final fortnight may yet see the undecided voters stick with the devil they know.

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Labor denounces Peter Dutton’s ‘conspiracy theory’ that China wants Coalition to lose election

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In election debate, Labor’s Brendan O’Connor says defence minister’s line of attack on China is for his own political purposes

Australia’s defence minister declared he has “no doubt” the Chinese Communist party wants the Morrison government to lose the election, prompting the opposition to denounce the appeasement claims as a “conspiracy theory”.

Peter Dutton was challenged during a debate on Thursday to defend the government’s rhetoric that a Labor government would “appease” the CCP – after previous pushback from current and former national security officials – and said he believed it “very strongly”.

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Ruston dismisses suggestion Liberal party has ‘lost its way’; Hunter candidates square off – as it happened

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Jim Chalmers accuses Josh Frydenberg of lying about tax as treasurer and shadow treasurer pressed on NDIS in debate; Coalition ‘oblivious’ to pressures facing working families, Albanese says; border force won’t confirm reports of asylum seekers moved to Christmas Island; at least 56 Covid deaths recorded. This blog is now closed

In a move designed to hold on to what is known as the “grey vote”, the government has announced a two-year freeze on deeming rates, in response to the interest rate rise.

That means pensioners with cash deposits which will increase with the rate rise (interest rates on bank accounts go up too) won’t have to worry about hitting the cap of how much they can earn before their pension is impacted.

We have always said where there are good ideas we will support them. We sought to be constructive during the pandemic and did support many of the measures and, you know, looking at this decision today, we have said, yes, this is a good idea and we will.

He already has, we went to a religious service at a local synagogue and no doubt he has many competing requests on his ...

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Election 2022 live updates: RBA chief warns interest rates could hit 2.5% as Labor seizes on ‘cost of living crisis’

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Scott Morrison defends economic ‘shield’ after RBA lifts cash rate target from historic low; Philip Lowe says more interest rate rises to come; Jim Chalmers says central bank decision ‘a very serious development’; nation records 41 Covid deaths. Follow the latest updates live

Scott Morrison doesn’t get sick of the “silly” photo ops [silly photo opportunities being how the question was framed], he tells Melbourne radio’s Neil Mitchell, because he “doesn’t see them that way”.

He then gives a hero-gram to tradies.

I don’t fit in those ways, what I see is [being] out and about and doing what Australians do every day.

... What I enjoy doing is standing there with an apprentice who shows me what they’re learning, and then I’d have a go at it.

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ABC misses out on final leaders’ debate; key independents back call for robodebt inquiry – as it happened

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Channel Seven to host final debate of election campaign; crossbenchers back call for royal commission into robodebt scandal; Scott Morrison focuses on cost of living concerns; Anthony Albanese marches for May Day in Brisbane; Sally McManus would support wage increase for public sector workers; 13 Covid deaths recorded across the nation. This blog is now closed

Labor is still on the campaign sell for its first homeowner policy.

Jason Clare faced questions ranging from, “Is this too small to have an impact?” to, “Won’t it drive up house prices?”

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Albanese rallies against ‘fear and division’ at Labor campaign launch – as it happened

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Anthony Albanese and senior Labor members speak at ALP campaign launch in Perth; Scott Morrison speaks at Sydney rally; Coalition outlines e-safety plan; Greens announce LGBTQ+ equality plan; Victoria reports seven Covid deaths; NSW reports five; South Australia reports two. This blog is now closed

Simon Birmingham is pushed on what the Coalition will actually do on the cost of living but there isn’t a clear answer. See this exchange with Insiders host David Speers:

Q: So essentially to get wages going is to keep doing what you’ve been doing for the last nine years?

David, our plan is a comprehensive economic plan and in contrast to the Labor party. We have outlined clearly plans for … that jobs growth. Jobs growth fuelled by lower taxes and tax relief for Australians that continue to be implemented in terms of lower income taxes, support for more businesses.

David, it is a plan that we’ve outlined in quite a lot of detail, compared to ...

If you look at this year’s budget, small business, a particular focus in relation to investment in technology …

The approach we’ve taken is to fix a particular problem in the housing market and that was the fact that you had to save, of course, for your deposit, takes months and months, years and years, to get that 20% deposit to avoid having to pay mortgage insurance, that was meaning that people were having to pay rent at the same time as saving.

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Coalition criticises Labor’s housing policy because government could profit from price rises

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Scott Morrison argues Labor is ‘looking to make money out of this’ as Anthony Albanese pledges to cut cost of some mortgages by up to $380,000

The finance minister, Simon Birmingham, says Australians don’t want Anthony Albanese at the table with them sharing equity in their homes after Labor announced a policy to make homeownership more affordable for low and middle income earners.

Birmingham told the ABC on Sunday the Morrison government’s affordable housing initiative was the preferred model.

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Labor to help low and middle income earners buy home with shared ownership scheme

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Anthony Albanese will unveil $329m Help to Buy housing initiative as the centrepiece of Labor’s campaign launch in Perth

Anthony Albanese will provide help for Australians on low and middle incomes to buy houses by giving eligible applicants a commonwealth equity contribution of up to 40% of the purchase price of a new home, and up to 30% for an existing home.

The Labor leader will unveil the new $329m housing initiative as the centrepiece of Labor’s official campaign launch in Perth on Sunday. If Albanese wins on 21 May, Labor’s new shared equity housing policy will be implemented in addition to the Morrison government’s First Home Guarantee scheme.

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Albanese and Morrison to face off in second leaders’ debate of federal election, Nine says

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News of debate which will employ a panel of three journalists comes as Labor pledges robodebt royal commission and Coalition promises cheaper medicines

Anthony Albanese and Scott Morrison will go head to head in a second leaders’ debate less than a fortnight out from the federal election, the Nine network has announced.

It follows days of backroom negotiations between the two major parties while the opposition leader recovered from his recent bout of Covid-19.

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Labor pledges royal commission into ‘human tragedy’ of robodebt if elected

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Anthony Albanese vows to find those responsible for the scheme as Morrison says ‘the problem has been addressed’

Labor has promised to launch a royal commission into the discredited robodebt scheme if it wins government.

The automated matching of tax and Centrelink data to raise debts against welfare recipients for money the Coalition government claimed to have overpaid ran between 2015 and November 2019, and saw the government unlawfully raise $1.76bn in debts against 443,000 people.

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Coalition pledges to cut medication costs; 53 Covid deaths – as it happened

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Prime minister announces a $10 cut to PBS scripts from next year in an attempt to tackle cost-of-living pressure, while Labor vows to hold a royal commission into the robodebt scandal. This blog is now closed

Now some questions on China’s security deal with the Solomon Islands.

Morrison, asked about the timing of the announcement, says:

We’re very aware of the influence that the Chinese government seeks to have in this country. We, in fact, introduced laws to prevent it. So any suggestion that the Chinese government doesn’t seek to interfere in Australia – well, we didn’t put that legislation in for no reason. We put it in there to ensure that Australian security could be safeguarded from foreign influence in our own country.

The Chinese government would say that, wouldn’t they?

There are temporary measures that we put on the budget, longer term measures in the mid-year statement. It is a fairly common way that we do budgets …

This is a longer term measure and it will start next calendar year. So the reason that we’re talking about it now, normally we would make an announcement like that later in the year.

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Peter Dutton says Australia should be prepared for war – but are we?

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The defence minister’s rhetoric isn’t matched by reality with five key projects behind schedule, not fit for purpose, axed or facing other problems

Australia’s defence minister, Peter Dutton, said on Anzac Day: “The only way you can preserve peace is to prepare for war and be strong as a country, not to cower, not to be on bended knee and be weak.”

But how does this rhetoric about preparing for war match reality? We take a look at five significant defence projects that are either well behind schedule or have had major problems.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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Labor ‘gravely concerned’ by Karen Andrews’ claim about potential China election interference

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Kristina Keneally says home affairs minister must clarify comments or brief Labor on intelligence reporting of foreign interference

Labor has raised grave concerns about the home affairs minister’s use of “privileged access to intelligence reporting”, after Karen Andrews publicly alluded to a potential attempt by China at interference in the federal election.

The shadow minister, Kristina Keneally, has written to Andrews to remind her of “the vital convention that opposition is briefed on any developing matters of national security” during the election caretaker mode.

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Coalition climate policy forced big polluters to pay $15m for carbon credits in past year

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Scott Morrison says Labor wants to use government safeguard mechanism as a ‘sneaky carbon tax’ but it is already making big business pay for offsets

The Coalition last year required polluting businesses to buy 419,000 carbon credits at an estimated cost of $15m using a policy that Scott Morrison now falsely describes as “Labor’s sneaky carbon tax”.

Government data released last month shows that, under the Coalition’s so-called safeguard mechanism, major polluting companies had to buy 70% more carbon credits last financial year than in 2019-20.

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