Category Archives: Coalition

Scott Morrison grilled on Coalition funding for new dam – politics live

Posted on by

Anthony Albanese asks PM why he’s raising hopes on dam support. Plus Jacqui Lambie raises concerns over Turkish invasion. All the day’s events, live

Because it is only “radicals” who care about the climate, apparently.

#owningtheleft

Labor's declaration of a climate emergency is just a sop to the superglue protestors and radical greens. Labor remains desperate to receive the support of the radical activists despite what they've said since the election. Labor can't be trusted to fight for jobs.

Tony Burke jumps up to congratulate Tony Smith on the integrity award he received today (have a look a few posts down and check out Kenneth Hayne’s speech) and thanks him for some of the difficult decisions he took during the medevac debate (you may remember that Smith stuck to the parliament rules, and ensured the parliament had a vote, and also ordered the solicitor general advice Christian Porter was relying on to shut down the debate, be tabled – which revealed the advice was not iron-clad).

Scott Morrison then gets up to add his congratulations, and a few in Labor respond with “now you think about it” to which Morrison gets very upset and accuses Labor of politicising the moment.

Continue reading...

Q&A: Tim Wilson defends joining Hong Kong protests

Posted on by

Coalition MP accused of hypocrisy for disparaging Australian Extinction Rebellion protesters

Government backbencher Tim Wilson has defended his decision to join pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and said environmental protests in Australia have a right to operate “so long as they stick within the law”.

Wilson joined protesters in Hong Kong last week but was accused of hypocrisy because of previous comments disparaging protests in Australia.

Continue reading...

Labor MPs condemn suggestion they adopt Coalition climate change policy

Posted on by

Joel Fitzgibbon’s climate change ‘settlement’ is rejected but Labor will allow the government’s ‘big stick’ energy policy to pass

Joel Fitzgibbon has copped a blast in the left and right caucus meetings for declaring Labor should adopt the Coalition’s Paris emissions reduction target rather than pursue ambitious cuts to carbon pollution.

The internal unrest came as the shadow cabinet was expected to sign off on Monday night on a shift in Labor’s attitude to the controversial “big stick” policy of the Morrison government.

Continue reading...

Coalition refuses to say how much Scott Cam is being paid as ‘national careers ambassador’

Posted on by

Labor criticises government for hiring The Block star, claiming it’s cut $3bn from vocational education since coming to office

Labor has blasted Michaelia Cash for refusing to say how much taxpayers are paying The Block star Scott Cam to promote vocational education in his new role as “national careers ambassador”.

At a press conference on Thursday the skills and employment minister said Cam’s pay for the 15-month role was “commercial in confidence” but suggested spending was “about outcomes” and reflected the fact the government had secured “one of the highest profile people in Australia”.

Continue reading...

Australian Christian Lobby backs sacking of employees with no ‘Christian sexual ethic’

Posted on by

ACL director Martyn Iles says businesses should have greater powers to hire and fire, but denies Christians have a ‘special vendetta’ against LGBT people

The Australian Christian Lobby has backed calls for religious businesses such as aged care providers to gain more powers of hiring and firing employees who do not conform to religious teachings.

In a debate at the National Press Club on Wednesday the ACL director Martyn Iles backed calls from the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference for greater powers to fire employees who don’t conform to a “Christian sexual ethic” but claimed Christians don’t have a “special vendetta” against the LGBT community.

Continue reading...

Donald Trump’s bizarre logic damages US allies’ trust in intelligence sharing | Daniel Flitton

Posted on by

The US president appears to believe Australian spies are part of a deep-state conspiracy. Australia should be wary of the risks of getting drawn into his defence

It really is a poke in the eye – the “Five Eyes”, that is. Donald Trump’s telephone call to Scott Morrison, revealed on Tuesday in the New York Times, where he pressed for help in investigating the origins of the Mueller inquiry, will doubtless put a further strain on what is otherwise a very close intelligence-sharing partnership between the United States and Australia.

Why? Because aside from the unwanted political distraction of putting Australia at the centre of another Trump tirade (just as Morrison was seeking to apply the blowtorch to Labor at home for what he called “naive and immature” remarks about China), the twisted logic of Trump’s allegation is truly extraordinary.

Continue reading...

Downer’s relaying of conversation with Trump aide caught PM and colleagues by surprise

Posted on by

Sources insist Alexander Downer’s talk with America’s top diplomat in London about conversation with George Papadopoulos was unauthorised

Alexander Downer relayed information to the American chargé d’affaires in London in July 2016 about his now infamous conversation with George Papadopoulos, then a foreign policy adviser to Trump – a move that took the then prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, and senior colleagues by surprise.

Guardian Australia understands Downer’s conversation with Papadopoulos was recorded in a diplomatic cable back to Canberra.

Continue reading...

Liberal senator to outline a model for an Indigenous voice to parliament

Posted on by

Andrew Bragg wants to honour the Uluru Statement of the Heart and uphold parliamentary sovereignty

The Liberal senator Andrew Bragg says an Indigenous voice to parliament should be formed by a network of Indigenous communities across the country, in a “bottom-up” approach that would ensure First Nation voices had a direct say to parliament.

Bragg, who has strongly endorsed constitutional recognition, will use a speech in Canberra today to build the case for an Indigenous voice to parliament, outlining a model that he says would honour the Uluru Statement of the Heart, while also upholding parliamentary sovereignty.

Continue reading...

Australia’s relationship with China in a ‘terrible’ state after Morrison’s US visit, Labor says

Posted on by

Richard Marles accuses PM of taking ‘pot shots against our largest trading partner’ amid US-China tensions

Labor’s shadow defence minister, Richard Marles, says Australia’s relationship with China is in a “terrible” state following Scott Morrison’s visit to the United States.

Speaking fresh from a visit to Beijing, Marles said that Morrison’s “megaphone diplomacy” alongside Donald Trump about China’s status as a developing country had inflamed tensions.

Continue reading...

Inquiry urges Bishop and Pyne ministerial standards probe be reopened

Posted on by

Senate committee says investigation into former ministers Julie Bishop and Christopher Pyne was flawed and should be reopened

A Senate inquiry has called for the reopening of an investigation into the former ministers Julie Bishop and Christopher Pyne taking industry jobs connected with their portfolios, saying the initial probe had failed to ask “crucial questions”.

The Senate inquiry into Bishop and Pyne’s post-political appointments delivered its report on Thursday, urging that the incoming secretary of the department of prime minister and cabinet reopen an investigation into whether ministerial standards were breached.

Continue reading...

Ensuring integrity bill: officials contradict Christian Porter on union deregistration

Posted on by

Coalition bill would allow deregistration for single instances of unprotected industrial action, inquiry told

Departmental officials have contradicted Christian Porter’s claim the Coalition’s union penalty bill does not allow deregistration for single instances of unprotected industrial action or breaches of court orders.

Officials from the attorney general’s department told an inquiry on Wednesday that although the Ensuring Integrity Bill was similar to the existing law in that respect, it would expand the type of breaches courts can punish with the strictest penalties.

Continue reading...

Scott Morrison ducks questions on Australia’s emissions strategy for 2050

Posted on by

UN climate summit focus is on net zero by 2050 but Australian PM says challenge ‘not just about climate change’

Scott Morrison has ducked questions about when his government will develop an emissions reduction strategy for 2050, despite signing on at the Pacific Islands Forum to a communique pledging to develop one next year.

The Australian prime minister is also copping flak at home for his decision to signal in a speech in Chicago that China needed to be treated like a developed economy both in global trade and climate change negotiations – meaning Beijing would need to make a significant commitment towards emissions reduction.

Continue reading...

Angus Taylor says Josh Frydenberg knew of family interest before grasslands meeting

Posted on by

Then environment minister knew of Taylor family’s interest in farm being investigated for alleged illegal clearing

Josh Frydenberg, then the environment minister, knew his ministerial colleague Angus Taylor had a family interest in a farm being investigated for alleged illegal clearing of grasslands when Taylor met with environment department officials to discuss endangered grassland regulations, according to Taylor.

The 2017 meeting between Taylor – then the assistant minister for cities – and environment department officials over critically endangered grasslands came while Taylor’s family’s company, Jam Land Pty Ltd, was being investigated for allegedly illegally poisoning grasslands on property on the Monaro plains of New South Wales.

Continue reading...

‘Gossip’: Morrison sidesteps claim Hillsong pastor snubbed by White House

Posted on by

Prime minister dismisses reports he lobbied unsuccessfully to have Brian Houston attend state dinner

Scott Morrison has sidestepped questions about whether he wanted the Hillsong Church pastor Brian Houston to be a guest at Friday night’s glittering black-tie state dinner hosted by Donald Trump, characterising the reports as “gossip”.

Asked whether it was true that he had lobbied to have Houston attend the dinner and been knocked back by the White House, the Australian prime minister told travelling reporters: “I don’t comment on gossip. It’s all gossip.”

Continue reading...

Scott Morrison heads to Washington for state dinner with Trump – politics live

Posted on by

Michael McCormack the acting prime minister as the government prepares to hand down its final budget statement. All the days events, live

From Josh Frydenberg’s office:

These outcomes demonstrate that the Government’s economic plan is working and confirm that the Budget will be back in the black and back on track for the 2019-20 year.

Importantly Australia has completed its 28th consecutive year of economic growth and maintained its AAA credit rating.

Josh Frydenberg (who is not yelling and for that we are all grateful)

The Australian economy is strong and ready for the challenges ahead.

As a result of the Morrison government’s economic plan and responsible economic management, the underlying cash balance in the final budget outcome for the 19/20 year is $13.8bn better than estimated at the time of the 2018/19 budget.

Continue reading...

Exiting the cashless welfare card trial is almost impossible, critics say

Posted on by

Government accused of ‘demonising vulnerable people’ after only 100 of the 5,000 people on the program allowed to leave

Only 100 of the more than 5,000 people on the cashless welfare card trial have been allowed off the scheme, and the process for exemption has been labelled humiliating and hard to understand.

The government argues the card, which stores up to 80% of a welfare recipient’s payment for use at selected stores, leads to a reduction in violence and harm related to drinking alcohol, illegal drug use and gambling.

Continue reading...

Coalition backbenchers sign off on ‘big stick’ energy laws but fear amendments

Posted on by

Some Liberals are concerned about the power to break up big companies being extended economy-wide

The Morrison government’s backbench economics committee has signed off on the long telegraphed “big stick” package but MPs, already uncomfortable about the proposal, have expressed reservations about how it might be amended in the Senate.

The package, which contains a power to break up big energy companies if they engage in price gouging, will go to the Coalition party room for approval on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

Barnaby Joyce and Tony Abbott decry ‘infanticide on demand’ at abortion rally

Posted on by

Former PM and deputy PM deploy incendiary language to describe decriminalisation bill being considered by NSW parliament

The former prime minister and deputy prime minister of Australia have claimed at an anti-abortion rally in Sydney that a proposed decriminalisation bill has nothing to do with decriminalisation.

Tony Abbott described the bill as “infanticide on demand”, while Barnaby Joyce described it as “the slavery debate of our time” while also perpetuating a false claim about pro-choice protesters on Saturday.

Continue reading...

Australian natural disasters minister’s complete about face: ‘I believe in climate science’

Posted on by

David Littleproud’s comments to parliament entirely at odds with earlier statement to Guardian Australia

Australia’s minister responsible for drought and natural disasters, David Littleproud, now says he accepts the science on manmade climate change, and “[I] always have”.

Littleproud’s comments to the House of Representatives on Thursday were entirely at odds with a written statement he made to Guardian Australia on Tuesday. In response to questions, Littleproud said: “I don’t know if climate change is man-made.”

Continue reading...

Environment officials sensitive about Angus Taylor grasslands meeting, emails show

Posted on by

Before the meeting an official asked about the Taylor company being investigated for alleged illegal land clearing

Department of the environment officials were acutely sensitive about meeting Angus Taylor over critically endangered grasslands while his family’s company was being investigated for alleged illegal land clearing in New South Wales, according to internal emails.

The information is revealed in correspondence that had previously been partially redacted from documents obtained by Guardian Australia under freedom of information laws in June this year.

Continue reading...