Category Archives: Coalition

Anthony Albanese leaves open Labor’s stance on high-income tax cuts

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Likely new Labor leader sets up battle with Coalition, calling on Scott Morrison to split tax cut package

Anthony Albanese says Scott Morrison should split the income tax cuts package when parliament resumes after the election, signalling Labor is still on the fence about whether to support tax cuts for Australians on high incomes.

After Queensland rightwinger Jim Chalmers quit the Labor leadership field on Thursday, leaving Albanese with a clear path to replace Bill Shorten as Labor leader, the high-profile New South Wales leftwinger told reporters it wasn’t sensible for the Coalition to bake in tax relief for the top end several years in advance.

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Federal election 2019: Penny Wong and Kristina Keneally join Labor MPs backing Albanese for leadership – politics live

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ALP searches for a new leader to replace Bill Shorten as Palaszczuk seeks Adani approval timeline by Friday. All the day’s events, live

Prime Minister @ScottMorrisonMP & I met with Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe in Sydney this morning.

The independent @RBAInfo helps maintain stability of our currency as well as the employment, economic prosperity & welfare of the people of Australia. pic.twitter.com/moLeByzxbK

I'm not saying "economic anxiety" isn't often a euphemism for racism. But we prob should stop wondering why Townsville people are receptive to any hope of jobs pic.twitter.com/W4ir9Xa2Di

You’ll notice how often jobs comes up in this piece. Townsville is absolutely struggling. And minor parties did make all the difference.

Related: The story behind Herbert, the most marginal seat in the country – Australian politics live podcast

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Barnaby Joyce agitating for return to cabinet as Morrison prepares frontbench

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Labor facing factional battle between Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen

The former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce is positioning himself for a return to cabinet following the Coalition’s shock election win, as Scott Morrison prepares to unveil his new-look frontbench as early as next week.

The jockeying within the Coalition comes as Labor’s leadership contest crystallises, with a factional battle looming between the shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen, and leftwinger Anthony Albanese.

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Federal election 2019: Tanya Plibersek will not contest Labor leadership ballot – politics live

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Deputy leader says ‘now is not my time’ to run for Labor leadership, as Coalition inches towards majority after Australia’s election. Follow all the day’s events

The count continues, as do the Labor leadership deliberations.

We should find out tomorrow if it will be a contested ballot, or if Anthony Albanese, as the only declared candidate, is elected unopposed. Jim Chalmers, Chris Bowen and Clare O’Neill (as a deputy contender) are names repeatedly thrown around as maybe challengers.

And the Liberals have just moved ahead in Macquarie – it’s only 20 or so votes at this stage – but it’s the first time the Liberals have been ahead in the count. If that trend continues, Scott Morrison is looking at holding 78 seats.

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Australian federal election 2019: Labor leadership talk begins after Morrison’s ‘miracle’ win – politics live

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Coalition seeks final seats to form majority government after winning Australia election. Meanwhile Labor faces leadership contest and recriminations. Follow all the latest updates, live

The AEC has laid out its plan for the remaining count:

Our team is today progressing the count and undertaking the significant and essential large-scale task of sorting, securely packaging and transporting all declaration votes – votes cast outside of an elector’s home division. This involves millions of ballot papers and more than 40,000 transport routes.

“This logistical activity occurring today is huge and complex, and illustrative of the highly manual process we undertake in delivering the count for the federal election,” [AEC commissioner] Tom Rogers said.

The business community is turning its attention to a potential minority government. From AAP:

Business groups are hoping for a sensible approach to how the country is run after prime minister Scott Morrison unexpectedly won the federal election, albeit in a possible minority Coalition government.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO, James Pearson, hopes the speeches made by Mr Morrison and outgoing Labor leader Bill Shorten on the importance of bringing Australians together will translate into a “sensible and calm approach” as government is formed.

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Australia’s ruling Coalition claims election victory in major upset

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Scott Morrison’s government set to hang on to power despite polls predicting his demise

It was billed as the climate change election, and the climate lost.

Despite enduring its hottest year on record and a series of environmental calamities that have brought the climate emergency into sharp relief, Australia has voted for the centre-right Liberal party and its coalition partner, and against taking forceful action on the climate crisis.

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Australian federal election 2019: Tony Abbott concedes defeat to Zali Steggall in Warringah – politics live

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Western Australia seats crucial as Queensland swings to LNP. Follow all the updates and analysis, live

It’s worth noting that the polls have predicted a very different result to what we are seeing now.

The primary vote gap between Labor and the Coalition is a lot bigger than the polls suggested.

For those who missed when I was talking about Dawson a few weeks ago in the campaign, the mood there was that the stories were part of a southern conspiracy to remove George Christensen.

So they fell in behind him.

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Morrison knew in 2016 of Australia’s resettlement of Rwandans accused of killings

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Exclusive: US advice was that the men, who have refugee status and were accused of murdering tourists in Uganda in 1999, presented no security threat

The national security committee of cabinet was briefed about all aspects of the American refugee swap deal in late 2016, including the resettlement of two Rwandan men accused of murdering tourists in Uganda.

Guardian Australian understands the NSC was briefed, and the then treasurer, Scott Morrison, the home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, and the foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, were aware of all the elements of the agreement signed by Malcolm Turnbull and Barack Obama in 2016.

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Federal election 2019: Bill Shorten says Labor ‘the only game in town’ on wages – politics live

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Labor leader wants to bring together business groups and unions for meeting, as Bob Hawke calls Shorten a ‘consensus leader’. All the day’s events, live

Today the high court has released its full reasons for its decision in the case brought by former Liberal National Queensland president Gary Spence to challenge Queensland’s developer donation ban. Orders were delivered in April upholding Queensland’s ban, closing a loophole that would have allowed developers to donate to candidates in the federal election campaign.

The first thing to note is that Spence did not come close to winning on the point of whether the ban impermissibly burdens the implied freedom of political communication.

Scott Morrison ‘aspiration’ count:

14 May – 21 times

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‘Suddenly the police came’: 76-year-old climate protester arrested outside Liberal MP’s office

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Caroline Danaher remains unapologetic after being charged with trespassing in front of Sarah Henderson’s office

A 76-year-old woman arrested and charged for trespassing at Liberal MP Sarah Henderson’s office said she’ll be back again to protest against political inaction on climate change, and that “every one in this country should be doing the same to their local representatives”.

Every Friday for the past four months, Caroline Danaher has sat outside Henderson’s office with two deck chairs. In 40C heat or in the rain, her goal is a meeting with Henderson, whose office is in the marginal Victorian seat of Corangamite.

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Federal election 2019: Labor’s Belinda Hassan target of suspected arson attack – politics live

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The ALP’s candidate for Dawson confirms ‘scary incident’ where the fuel tank of her car was broken into. All the day’s events, live

And then it ends with this:

PK: Finally, you want to remove Josh Frydenberg, who fought hard for the National Energy Guarantee and for a compromise to move forward on climate change and energy. Is that a smart move?

Patricia Karvelas: One of the critiques of you is past involvement in Link Energy’s purchase of fossil fuel assets in 2010. Do you regret that?

Oliver Yates: I think the question is you need to see it was a company who bought them before I was even on the board. This is part of the Liberal dirt sheet. It’s round to everybody...

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Labor says it will match Coalition’s deposit scheme for first home buyers

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Chris Bowen says the opposition can afford the policy because it is ‘closing loopholes’ for the wealthy

Labor will match Scott Morrison’s election pitch to first home buyers, saying it can afford to support the government’s home deposit scheme because it is “closing loopholes” for the wealthy.

After the Coalition used its campaign launch on Sunday to announce the new housing affordability measure, Labor’s shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen, criticised the government for the 11th-hour decision, but supported the proposal.

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Coalition and Labor both pounce on lower Reserve Bank forecasts

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Some of central bank’s new numbers match budget while others undermine it

The Reserve Bank’s quarterly economic forecast has been used as campaign fodder by both Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten after some predictions matched those of the government but some undermined it.

On Friday the central bank said it was now forecasting year-average growth of 2.25% for 2018-19 and 2.5% for 2019-20. The figures for this financial year are down on those given by the RBA three months ago, but are “consistent” with the Coalition government’s federal budget forecasts, Scott Morrison said.

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Federal election 2019: Older Australians are waiting for Shorten with baseball bats, says Dutton – politics live

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Home affairs minister makes rare appearance on the campaign trail while Tanya Plibersek says Labor is ‘not contemplating a royal commission’ into media monopolies. All the day’s events live

OMG the Sky ticker has actually changed to “Latham calls out political correctness”.

This has made my day.

The Sky ticker currently says “Latham criticises ‘leftist elites’” and truly, it is not just death and taxes we can rely on any more in this crazy world, and I for one am grateful for some sort of consistency. It’s comforting.

It would only be more obvious if the ticker said something like “Latham stands against political correctness”, but I guess we have to save some things for tomorrow.

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Federal election 2019 leaders’ debate: Bill Shorten and Scott Morrison prepare to go head to head – politics live

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Third leaders’ debate to be hosted by National Press Club as emotions run high after Daily Telegraph story. All the day’s events, live

The leaders are in place, and so are we.

Ring the bell!

The Sydney Morning Herald and the Age reports that Clive Palmer’s political party is “undecided” on vaccines.

You are not reading that wrong, and yes, we have been here before – it was just with Pauline Hanson last time.

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Federal election 2019: Scott Morrison egged by protester in Albury – politics live

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Prime minister blames ‘cowardly activists’ after egg misses his head. The economy is again in the spotlight, as both parties wait to hear if the bank will cut interest rates. All the day’s events, live

Prime Minister attacked by a protester at the Country Women’s Associations meeting in Albury. The egg missed his head, but the vision shows that her hand did not. @9NewsBorderNE #9NewsAt6 pic.twitter.com/Bvg0rITray

AAP has also reported the woman accused of attempting to egg the prime minister was protesting against the government’s asylum seeker policies:

Outside the venue, the protester told reporters she didn’t mean to knock the other woman down.

“I don’t want to give a report, no thank you. I’ve got to go to work. No comment,” she told reporters.

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Federal election 2019: Shorten stands by security agencies after Keating comments – politics live

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Labor leader says he doesn’t share former PM’s concerns that the nation’s spy chiefs are damaging our relationship with China. All the day’s events, live

Well that looks like it answers that question

Don’t expect people like Peter Dutton and Tony Abbott at the Liberal campaign launch - they are busy defending their seats says @JoshFrydenberg who is on tv with me very soon #auspol19

It’s amazing the differences an election campaign can make to people’s positions.

From ABC Adelaide, where Georgina Downer is again trying to take the seat of Mayo off Rebekha Sharkie:

Mayo Liberal candidate Georgina Downer says the minimum wage is “about right” after previously pushing for it to be abolished along with penalty rates.

In an interview with ABC Radio Adelaide this morning, Ms Downer backtracked on comments she made while working at the Institute of Public Affairs about the role of the Fair Work Commission.

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Federal election leaders’ debate: no clear winner as Bill Shorten and Scott Morrison clash

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The second debate of the campaign produced more sparks than the first, with the Labor leader branding the PM ‘a classic space invader’

Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten have clashed over their tax and climate policies in the second debate of the election campaign.

In a wide-ranging discussion between the two leaders in Brisbane on Friday night, undecided voters put questions to the leaders ranging from support for veterans to climate change.

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Scott Morrison stands by candidate accused of anti-Islamic social media posts

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Jessica Whelan, the Liberal candidate for Lyons, says comments posted under her name not made by her and were doctored

The major parties are standing by the two latest candidates in hot water for offensive social media posts attributed to them after a flurry of resignations overshadowed the third week of campaigning.

Speaking in Tasmania on Thursday, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, said he would stand by the Liberal candidate for the seat of Lyons, Jessica Whelan, who has denied making derogatory online comments about Muslims.

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Federal election 2019: Littleproud distances himself from Liberal candidate’s ‘Islamophobic’ posts – politics live

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Minister grilled about Lyons candidate Jessica Whelan, who claims her Facebook page was doctored. Meanwhile, the climate policy debate heats up. Follow all the updates, live

Pre-poll is happening in droves.

About 375,000 people have cast a pre-poll vote after three days of early voting, running at approx 125,000 votes per day so far. This compares to a total of 225,000 votes at the same stage of the 2016 federal election. #ausvotes #auspol

Asked about preference deals, and whether the Coalition, being a coalition, had to accept blowback for their partner’s choices, David Littleproud had this to say:

I hardly see it’s disingenuous where we have a democracy, where the Australian people decide. They walk into the ballot box, not me, and they get to determine where they put each number on that ballot paper. And that’s the way it should be. This is merely a way that parties have come to an agreement around where they believe they should go, the least worst possibility, if you don’t want to vote for us. But the reality is, it is and always will be the gift of the Australian people. And it’s something we should always fiercely protect.”

Related: At the mercy of minors: Labor and LNP wrestle for hyper-marginal Herbert

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