Category Archives: Coalition

Australian politics live: Scott Morrison says Chinese government should be ashamed of ‘repugnant’ tweet on ADF soldiers

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Prime minister calls on China to apologise and seeks removal of tweet; Victoria revamps hotel quarantine program under single agency with private security banned. Follow all the latest

Twitter hasn’t taken the Tweet down, as demanded by Scott Morrison, but it has censored it.

The image defaults to hidden with the message:

Shocked by murder of Afghan civilians & prisoners by Australian soldiers. We strongly condemn such acts, &call for holding them accountable. pic.twitter.com/GYOaucoL5D

And yet, no one is responsible. Governance in Australia is so, so broken

I don’t support wording of Labor’s motion but someone needs to resign over the #robotdebt fiasco. How is it that only female Ministers like Ley and McKenzie resign? Where is the Westminster Ministerial responsibly? #qt #auspol pic.twitter.com/lfAClWfphp

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Dfat reveals 36,875 Australians are stranded overseas, including 8,070 vulnerable people – live news

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Scott Morrison says Kylie Moore-Gilbert’s release from Iranian prison a ‘miracle’; Labor and Greens accuse Berejiklian over council grants; an Adelaide high school is closed after Covid case – follow updates

I’ll be passing over the blog to my colleague Michael McGowan, who will take you through the next part of the afternoon.

I’ve been Elias Visontay. Have a great afternoon.

The high court has granted special leave to appeal in a landmark case on casual employment.

In the Workpac v Rosatto decision the federal court found employees described as casuals could be owed further entitlements if they performed regular, permanent work.

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Mathias Cormann continues to talk up ‘green recovery’ in ‘vision statement’ for top OECD job

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Exclusive: Former finance minister’s pitch pushes ‘zero net emissions as soon as possible’, which contradicts record while in Australian government

Australia’s former finance minister Mathias Cormann is continuing to talk up the importance of a “collective green recovery” on the campaign trail to be the next secretary general of the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

In a “vision statement” for the position obtained by Guardian Australia, Cormann says undertaking “effective global action on climate change is a must and we must get to zero net emissions as soon as possible”.

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Australia demands China explain why it has been singled out on trade restrictions

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Australia’s trade minister says China should clarify why other nations maintained workable relations despite differences

China should explain why it appears to have singled out Australia with a range of import restrictions that have disrupted trade flows and undermined trust in the economic relationship, the Australian trade minister has said.

With Australia and its largest trading partner locked in a stalemate over how to end the tensions, Simon Birmingham also used a television interview on Sunday to accuse the Chinese embassy in Canberra of taking a number of unhelpful actions this year.

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Coalition paves way for scrapping planned rise in superannuation guarantee

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Retirement income review to emphasise Australians using ‘voluntary savings’, saying a lift in compulsory super rate would hurt wages growth

The Morrison government is laying the groundwork to scrap the already legislated increase to the superannuation guarantee, declaring the retirement income review has found current policy settings are suitable.

A summation of the retirement income review distributed by treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s office ahead of the report’s official release on Friday put greater emphasis on Australians using “voluntary savings”, including equity within their homes, ahead of raising compulsory superannuation contributions.

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South Australia Covid cluster grows to 20; NSW residents to get $100 dining vouchers – live news

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SA will reintroduce coronavirus restrictions after the number of confirmed and probable cases rises to 20; NSW announces that residents will receive four $25 vouchers to spend on eating out and entertainment. Follow the latest updates

Returned travellers quarantining in an Adelaide hotel linked to a coronavirus cluster are being told they may have to re-quarantine in a new hotel, regardless of how many days they have already served.

It means some returned travellers may be forced to quarantine for up to 28 days.

Travellers quarantining in an Adelaide hotel linked to a Covid-19 cluster are being told they may have to re-quarantine in a new hotel. Those due to finish today may be forced to quarantine for 28 days. These documents were given to guests @GuardianAus https://t.co/guSOkfaEWn pic.twitter.com/GrBY9211J6

It’s stressful, because they literally shove a letter under the door, but there was no knock or assistance to explain it to us ... People are due to leave this morning. Imagine being told you had to do it all again, imagine if you missed your flight.

Our room door has been closed since we moved in, nothing has been breached here. Moving us through and putting us on a bus, surely that brings more risk of spreading the virus?

The Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands (located in the remote north west of South Australia) will close their borders to for three weeks as the Covid-19 threat rises in South Australia.

The APY Board of Management closed the borders at midnight and says it will manage its borders via the legislated system of permits.

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Simon Birmingham urges China to respect ‘spirit’ of new Asian trade pact

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Australia hopes 15-country Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership will help reset economic relations with China

Simon Birmingham has urged China to respect the “spirit” – not just the letter – of the new 15-country Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

Australia is hoping the deal, signed on Sunday, will help reset economic relations with China after a rolling series of trade disputes or disruptions widely regarded as retaliation for Australian policies towards China.

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Q+A: Malcolm Turnbull clashes with News Corp’s Paul Kelly over climate coverage

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Former PM says Murdoch media has become ‘pure propaganda’ and is doing enormous damage to the world’s ability to respond to climate change

Malcolm Turnbull says News Corp has become an organisation for “pure propaganda” that has done enormous damage through its promotion of climate change denial.

In a heated exchange on Monday night’s Q&A, the former prime minister and the Australian’s editor-at-large, Paul Kelly, clashed over the media organisation’s treatment of climate science.

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Foreign spies could target Australian politicians using ‘unwitting relatives or friends’, Asio warns – politics live

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Federal parliament returns; Asio chief warns of ‘real threat’ from foreign spies; incoming Biden administration vows to sign back up to Paris agreement. Follow all the updates

The Senate has just voted up a motion rebuking the government over the weakness of its preferred model of National Integrity Commission.

The motion was voted up 28 to 25 with Labor, Centre Alliance, Rex Patrick, Jacqui Lambie and One Nation combining to warn the Coalition over the draft bill’s inadequacies.

Greens senator Larissa Waters motion stated:

Senate just passed a motion 28:25 for a strong corruption watchdog, listing all of the features the Gov’s weak model leaves out. A defacto vote on the Gov’s bill - the Senate can see through the fig leaf of the Gov’s belated and pathetic model that wouldn’t stop a thing! #auspol

Richard Marles says Labor is not pursing a royal commission into the Murdoch media empire and will “let Kevin speak for himself”.

Andrew Leigh officially tabled the Kevin Rudd-led petition, which had more than 500,000 signatures, in the parliament today.

We have talked about our position in relation to the media over a long period of time. Now, this is not something we have been considering. This is something Kevin Rudd has been pursuing in his capacity as a private citizen. I mean, I obviously note it is a significant petition in terms of those who have signed up to it and it has been presented to the parliament appropriately. That is where the matter is that in terms of the opposition.

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Australia news live: Victoria and NSW report no new Covid cases as Queensland pushed to open border

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Border restrictions continue to be eased as Australian politicians respond to US election result. Follow latest updates

The best doughnut, is a jam doughnut, followed closely by cinnamon.

Both fresh, of course.

Related: How doughnuts became Australia's symbol of Covid hope

News Hub reports New Zealand’s US ambassador has commented on the election. As government employees, ambassadors are prevented from indicating political views (despite being political appointments) but it looks like Scott Brown, for one, is feeling confident enough in the result to be a little honest.

From News Hub’s report:

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Former NSW auditor general blasts Coalition for attempting to ‘reduce scrutiny of government’ activities

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Tony Harris has criticised the Morrison government for slashing audit office funding and delaying federal anti-corruption watchdog

Tony Harris, the former New South Wales auditor general, has blasted the Morrison government for cutting funding to the Australian National Audit Office and for moving too slowly to establish a federal anti-corruption commission.

During an appearance before the Senate committee examining the sports grants saga, Harris said he believed there was “a pattern of behaviour that constitutes a goal” of reducing public scrutiny of government activity.

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Australian MPs pull out of dinner with Qatari ambassador over Doha airport incident

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Members of security and intelligence committee snub invite in protest at invasive treatment of women before flight to Sydney

Australian politicians from the major parties have pulled out of a formal dinner at the Qatari ambassador’s residence in protest at the invasive treatment of women at Doha airport.

Members of parliament’s security and intelligence committee have taken the stand as political pressure grows for the government to strengthen its response to the compulsory medical examination travellers endured before travelling from Doha to Sydney on 2 October.

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Asic admits it acted at ‘glacial’ pace over rent payments to deputy chairman

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Acting chair Karen Chester confirms at Senate inquiry that some of the advice KPMG gave its chairman related to tax minimisation

The acting chair of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Karen Chester, has admitted to parliament that the regulator acted with “glacial” speed in dealing with concerns about rent payments to its deputy chairman, Daniel Crennan QC.

Last week the auditor general, Grant Hehir, told the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, that payments of about $70,000 to Crennan and $118,000 to KPMG for tax advice it gave to the Asic chairman, James Shipton, breached public service pay rules.

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Coronavirus Australia live update: Daniel Andrews says ‘now is the time to open up’ after Victoria records no Covid cases

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From midnight tomorrow night Melbourne businesses will be able to start reopening as restrictions ease. Follow all the latest updates

If I could shout you all one, I would.

Unfortunately, I don’t get paid that much.

the culture pic.twitter.com/mfUM4aFIFc

Daniel Andrews is asked if he would have done anything different in hindsight:

I don’t have hindsight. None of us do.

All we have his hard work and an absolute determination do not listen to the loudest voices, not be pushed to ignore the science, not listen to those who would appeal for us to act out of absolute frustration and nothing more than that.

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‘Thinly disguised political research’ fed into Morrison government’s pandemic ads

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Officials are unable to say how much was spent on taxpayer-funded campaigns based on surveys by a longtime researcher for the Liberals

Officials from the Department of Finance have acknowledged that taxpayer-funded research undertaken by Jim Reed, a long-term researcher for the Liberal party pollster Crosby Textor, fed into two publicly funded advertising campaigns relating to economic measures launched in response to the pandemic.

But officials told the estimates committee they were unable to quantify or disclose the budgets for the two taxpayer-funded advertising spends.

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Parliament resumes as Victoria reports one new Covid case and NSW five – politics live

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Budget estimates continue with Australia’s coronavirus response on the agenda. Victoria’s hotel quarantine inquiry will reconvene for an extraordinary session while in NSW testing rates drop below 7,000. Follow all the latest updates

Keith Pitt, bless him, attempts a dixer on the Queensland resources industry which LNP candidates in central and north Queensland can cut up and put on their facebook page for three people to look at, but the dixer isn’t the right question, so he can’t use his zinger, or get his time back.

Neither can we.

Steve Burt, he is a typical driller, he is big, he’s bearded, he is rough as hessian underwear to be honest

Catherine King to Michael McCormack:

The Australian audit office told Senate estimates last night that it provided AFP on 10 July potential evidence about potential defrauding of the Commonwealth.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Whilst I appreciate this is the subject of many inquiries being made by Senate estimates, as you would expect, this is an inquiry, the Australian Federal Police are looking into it and the ANAO has referred this matter to the AFP, as has the Secretary of the Department of Infrastructure.

And, of course, an independent investigation is also going into the matter, being conducted by the Commonwealth Ombudsman Dr Thomas, the former Inspector-general of the Commonwealth Ombudsman, Dr Vivienne Thom.

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ALP pursues government over land deal as Coalition defends childcare scheme – as it happened

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Melburnians can now travel up to 25km and spend more time out of the house; and federal parliament resumes with Senate estimates. This blog is now closed

To recap:

In the off chance you aren’t completely fed up with Covid-19 data, the federal health department has been publishing a weekly snapshot of how each state is going.

This is an interesting tool for assessing the success of contact tracing in various states, especially as the case load in Victoria continues to drop.

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Coronavirus Australia live: Victoria reports 15 new Covid cases as NSW on high alert

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Victorian bar owner lodges legal challenge to the constitutionality of the state’s lockdown as fears in NSW grow over number of locally transmitted cases. Follow all the latest updates

Australian scientists have discovered that the virus that causes Covid-19 can survive for up to 28 days on surfaces such as the glass on mobile phones, stainless steel, vinyl and paper banknotes.

The virus survived longer on paper banknotes than on plastic banknotes and lasted longer on smooth surfaces rather than porous surfaces such as cotton.

Related: Virus that causes Covid-19 can survive up to 28 days on surfaces, scientists find

Today is the first day in more than two months that Victoria's statewide 14 day average has increased

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NSW deputy premier John Barilaro to lose driving licence – report

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The Nationals leader reportedly has a string of driving infringements including speeding in a ministerial car

The New South Wales deputy premier, John Barilaro, will reportedly lose his driving licence after a string of driving infringements in the lead up to his decision to take mental health leave last month.

The Daily Telegraph reported on Thursday that Barilaro, who took four weeks of leave from mid-September after his threat to blow up the Coalition government over plans to protect koala habitat backfired, is on the verge of losing his licence after being caught speeding while behind the wheel of a ministerial car.

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Scott Morrison says 2020 budget spending plans to go ahead even if forecasts proved wrong

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Prime minister says post-budget debate over underlying assumptions, including turbo-charged economic growth next year, is ‘overstated’

Scott Morrison has declared the government will deliver all the big-spending elements of Tuesday night’s budget even if the rosy assumptions underpinning the economic statement turn out to be wrong.

As the government embarked on the traditional media blitz to sell the budget, the Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, was preparing to use Thursday night’s budget reply speech to outline elements of new childcare policy and a commitment on energy.

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