Category Archives: Labor party

‘Placement poverty’ to be tackled in Labor budget with new payments for student teachers and nurses

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Midwives and social workers will also be given $320 weekly payment for undertaking mandatory work placements at university

Student teachers, nurses, midwives and social workers will receive a $320 weekly payment during their mandatory placements under a new cost-of-living measure in the May budget.

The Albanese government will establish a commonwealth practical payment for 68,000 university students and 5,000 vocational education and training students undertaking mandatory workplace placements as part of their courses.

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Queensland MP claims she was drugged and sexually assaulted

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Police investigating after Brittany Lauga allegedly assaulted in central Queensland town of Yeppoon

Queensland Labor MP Brittany Lauga has alleged she was drugged and sexually assaulted in the central Queensland town of Yeppoon last weekend, and claims other women may also have been similarly attacked.

Lauga posted a statement on social media, saying she had contacted police early on the morning of Sunday 28 April.

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Bonza urged to pay April wages; data breach exposes family violence, sexual assault data – as it happened

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PM responds to reports regional women camping out, sleeping in cars

Anthony Albanese has commented on reports that carparks in regional areas are being opened for women to sleep in tents or their cars.

We have allocated funding through our Housing Australia Future Fund for emergency accommodation for women and children escaping domestic violence. I will be in discussions with the states and territories as well about what more can be done.

We know that the circumstances where a woman is escaping a violent situation [and] has to sleep in her car or surf on a couch of a friend and rotate around, we hear stories about that as well, is unacceptable in 2024. We need to do better. There’s no question about that.

We need to look at bail laws. More importantly, we actually need to look at how we can keep women, or victims and children in the home environment and force the perpetrator to leave. We have a program in NSW called the Staying Home: Leave Violence program. There are over 138 LGAs in this state at the moment, only 91 have access to that program, even though we know it is incredibly effective. We need programs like that funded immediately, not just across NSW but across the country.

I am optimistic about who we are as a country and our capacity to take responsibility for ourselves. The time of us to do this is now. We don’t have three months, which is what the government is suggesting, to wait and see what happens next. By then another 23 women will have lost their lives.

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Bonza fleet’s grounding extended – as it happened

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Prime minister says trial ongoing into funding for women escaping violence

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking to ABC RN about yesterday’s announcements after national cabinet.

Well, there is already a trial going ahead. We want to make sure that the processes are in place [so] that they will begin within the next financial year as a permanent program, not just offering financial support, but as well as offering support for referral services, risk assessments, safety planning, and other support …

This isn’t something that you solve with a meeting on one day. This is something that governments are determined to take action on. For some of us this is deeply personal, for others, it is incredibly important.

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Australia news live: Pauline Hanson ‘plainly targeted’ Greens senator with well-known racist phrase, court told

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Final submissions begin in racial discrimination case brought by Mehreen Faruqi against Hanson. Follow the today’s news live

As we flagged earlier, the treasurer Jim Chalmers will today announce foreign investment changes, with approvals to be made quicker and greater scrutiny to be placed on potential risks.

You can read all the details on this from Peter Hannam below:

Right now, we treat investments from right around the world more or less the same. We want to streamline it for the less-risky investments so we can devote much more time and energy and resources to screening the sorts of investments that we’re seeing in critical industries – like critical minerals, critical infrastructure, critical data, and the like.

This is all about strengthening the foreign investment framework to make sure that investment is in the national interest. We want to maximise the right kind of investment, but we want to minimise risk and that’s what these changes I’ll announce today are all about.

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Labor to fast-track foreign investment to help fund future industrial policy

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Treasurer Jim Chalmers will set a target of 30 days to clear cases as he seeks money for build-to-rent and energy transition

Foreign investment approvals will be made quicker but greater scrutiny will be placed on potential risks as Australia tries to balance economic and security interests, treasury Jim Chalmers will say on Wednesday.

Treasury will set a target to process half of foreign investment cases needing approval within 30 days after from next January, Chalmers will tell the Lowy Institute in Sydney. It will also seek more funds from abroad to support so-called build-to-rent housing ventures and the energy transition off fossil fuels.

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Albanese heckled at Canberra rally to end violence against women – as it happened

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Dai Le says funding for domestic violence prevention more important than a royal commission

Asked about social media platform Twitter and Elon Musk’s claims that efforts to ensure a video of a stabbing of an Assyrian priest be taken down globally would constitute a threat to “free speech”, Dai Le says supports the government’s effort but has concerns about potential overreach:

Honestly, how can we not stop images of violence?

What I think government needs to do is to get the funding and target that to communities. Communities are experiencing high domestic violence. Getting it implemented … ,making sure that we don’t alienate one group from another [is important].

It’s just not something people can take. It is very emotional for people and me as a person who escaped Vietnam and being a child who ran from the war, it’s very traumatic for me and very traumatic for people in my community.

I think that everybody, from my understanding, would like a two-state solution.

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Taylor Swift makes Arias history; Tucker Carlson and Clive Palmer to headline ‘Australian freedom conferences’ – as it happened

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As we reported, X has provided an update on its legal challenge against Australia’s eSafety commissioner, stating it had complied with a direction to remove content from the Wakeley church stabbing.

However, underneath the post from the platform’s global government affairs team (which we quoted in our previous post), the video is available to watch in a reply to the post, as of 7.45am AEST.

The eSafety Commissioner required X to remove posts containing a video of the attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, filmed by an innocent bystander. [The bishop] has expressed his desire for the video to remain online.

X believes it has complied with the notice issued by eSafety, and with Australian law, by restricting all the posts at issue in Australia.

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Sussan Ley ‘really disappointed’ with Elon Musk – as it happened

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Hundreds gather in Sydney for Anzac Day dawn service

AAP has the details on Sydney’s dawn service where hundreds of people – including veterans – gathered under a full moon and clear skies for a solemn service in the CBD.

You who have loved will remember the glow of their glad young years, as you stand today to salute them in silence, with pride and with tears.

The best thing about the ceremony this morning is to see the number of people that come early in the morning.

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Sydney counter-terror raids – as it happened

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Inspired by similar protests in the United States, students from Sydney University established a protest on the quad in support of Palestine last night, stating they will remain until the uni cuts ties “with Israeli universities and weapons manufacturers”.

In the US, dozens of students have been arrested at pro-Palestine demonstrations at Yale University and New York University amid similar protests:

For six months now, we have watched bombs rain down on Gaza. These bombs hit their civilian targets because of the research carried out by universities like Sydney University... Students have a responsibility to stand up and refuse to be complicit in genocide.

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Senator’s X account removed – as it happened

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Anglicare says government spending eight times more on private investors than building housing itself

The Anglicare Australia executive director, Kasy Chambers, says the government must step up and intervene, instead of leaving housing to the private sector:

We found that the government spends eight times as much propping up private investors as it does on building housing itself. This approach is wrong, and it’s supercharging rents and house prices.

Housing cannot be left to hobby landlords and private developers. Only our government can ensure that rentals are affordable by building homes itself, and by fixing Australia’s unfair tax system.

289 rentals (0.6%) were affordable for a person earning a full-time minimum wage.

89 rentals (0.2%) were affordable for a person on the age pension.

31 rentals (0.1%) were affordable for a person on the disability support pension.

3 rentals (0%) were affordable for a person on jobseeker.

0 rentals (0%) were affordable for a person on youth allowance.

This is not hyperbole. It is Australia’s new normal.

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Labor considered altering stage-three tax cuts just after coming to power, FOI battle reveals

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Former federal senator Rex Patrick’s 16-month tussle shows Treasury provided Jim Charmers with a range of policy options

The Albanese government was considering tweaks to stage-three tax cuts as early as one month after being elected, despite repeatedly stating its position hadn’t changed, new documents reveal.

A two-page ministerial submission, released to former senator Rex Patrick after a 16-month freedom of information tussle, shows Treasury officials provided the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, with a breakdown of options to change the stage-three tax cuts, and claw back more revenue, in July 2022.

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Muslim and Arab Australians do not feel heard by Labor on war in Gaza, Ed Husic says

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Exclusive: Minister says he has spoken out on Israel’s military operations so others believe ‘their concerns have somewhere … to be vented and aired’

Ed Husic has conceded many Muslim and Arab Australians do not feel the Albanese government has listened to their concerns about the war in Gaza, while saying he is speaking out despite his role as a cabinet minister to amplify their views.

Husic told Guardian Australia he had felt driven to make several public interventions against the scale of Israel’s military operations in Gaza, in part so that people believed “that their concerns have somewhere to go to be vented and aired”.

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Australia news live: Dfat issues Middle East travel advice; Nationals concerned after fire ants spotted near Murray Darling Basin

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Reports of explosions in Iranian city of Isfahan prompt sell-off of stocks in Australia – and in other markets such as Japan. Follow the day’s news live

The NSW police commissioner, Karen Webb, is speaking to the media after a 16-year-old was charged with a “terrorist act” for allegedly stabbing a bishop on Monday and is expected to appear at a bedside hearing today.

She said members of the joint counter-terrorism team interviewed the alleged offender at a medical facility last night, and he was subsequently charged with a commonwealth offence for terrorism and refused bail.

We expect he will be attending a bedside court hearing today to determine bail. This relates to the stabbing of the Bishop [Mar Mari Emmanuel, who] we allege on Monday night [was] stabbed up to six times.

We also allege that the boy had travelled for 90 minutes to attend that location from his home address.

We’ve got a crisis of male violence in Australia. We know that it’s a scourge in our society, we know it must end and I think it’s really clear women can’t be expected to solve violence against women although it is time for men to step up.

I don’t think debating definitions is the way to go … We need to act, we need to educate ourselves, men need to step up, we need to talk to our sons, to our colleagues, to our friends. We need to work together to a solution. And I think going down some kind of almost a wrong path to say let’s redefine – it’s not about definitions. This is about action. We need to shift the way in which we think about this …

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Seven boss departs – as it happened

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Marles continues breakfast rounds to discuss defence spending

The defence minister, Richard Marles, has been making the rounds this morning and has also spoken to ABC RN about yesterday’s defence announcement.

The reason why we make the observation that an invasion of Australia is a very unlikely scenario, no matter what happens, is because any adversary that wished to do us harm could do so much to us before ever setting foot on Australian soil – and disrupting those specific sea lines of communication, which I’ve described, would obviously achieve that. That that is where the risk of coercion lies, as one example.

And in order to protect ourselves in respect of that, we do need the ability to [project], because if you think about it, … the geography of our national security when seen through those lands is not the coastline of our continent. It in fact, lies much further afield.

We’re looking at a substantial increase on what’s already in the Online Safety Act. So not only a large amount – so for example, a $3m fine for an offence and ongoing fines, but a percentage of turnover as well.

We know that the revenues of some of these online platforms exceed those of some nations and so it needs to be a meaningful and substantial penalty system that’s put in place.

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Labor’s deportation bill could affect 375 children born in Australia, advocates warn

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Greens senator David Shoebridge says hundreds of children face ‘real threat’ of being separated from parents or sent overseas to ‘unknown future’

Asylum seeker advocates have warned 375 Australian-born children could face orders to cooperate with their removal from the country under Labor’s deportation bill – because they’ve had protection claims denied under the controversial fast-track method.

The home affairs department has revealed that as at 31 December 375 people born in Australia who are fast-track applicants had been refused temporary protection or a safe haven enterprise visa.

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Australia news live: Marles says Labor ‘utterly committed’ to Brereton response but can’t say when work will be completed

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Unemployment ‘might take up a little bit’ when new numbers released later this week

Q: Given the economic conditions we’re seeing, what should households with mortgages expect?

[Inflation] won’t necessarily continue to come off in a perfectly straight line, but [it] is a fraction of what it was a couple of years ago when we came to office. That’s a good thing.

So we’ve got a whole bunch of things going for us in Australia, but enough to concern us as well about the global conditions about the way that people are still under considerable cost of living pressure.

The way that I would describe it to your listeners is we’ve got inflation lingering in parts of the world, we’ve got growth slowing in China and elsewhere, we’ve got tensions rising in the Middle East and the war in Europe. We’ve got supply chains which are straining and we’ve got a global economy which is fragmenting and transforming and so all of these factors are really important to us as we finalise the government’s third budget.

These are going to be these global conditions are going to be a really big influence on our budget, so the trip to DC which will be a pretty quick and make the most of it but it’s a good opportunity to take the temperature of the global economy.

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Australia news live: Bondi Junction killer’s father says he did everything in his power to help ‘very sick boy’ before stabbings

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Albanese on Bondi attacker’s motive: ‘The gender breakdown is of course concerning’

I just wanted to go back to the PM’s appearance on ABC radio earlier, where he was asked what he thought of the motive behind the attack.

NSW police have said they’re looking at that as part of the investigation.

The gender breakdown is of course concerning.

We’re working with Westfield. As I said, we handed back the crime scene last night. But it spread over seven floors at Westfield. It will take some time to prepare the stores for reopening. No doubt there’s some work to be done with stakeholders inside the Westfield, in terms of their own reaction and trauma to what has happened. So, that will be done very carefully, no doubt.

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Top environmental groups say some of Labor’s new laws could take conservation backwards

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Alliance says there’s not enough ambition in proposed laws to prevent extinctions, as promised by the environment minister

The Albanese government is backing away from a promise to substantially transform how nature is protected in Australia and is planning some changes that would make things worse, according to eight of the country’s top environment groups.

The conservation organisations said they were concerned the government planned to break up promised legislation for new environmental laws and defer some difficult reforms until after the next election, if it wins a second term.

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Include a “call-in” power that allowed the minister to take over a decision from a proposed environment protection agency (EPA) “at any time and for any reason”.

Allow developers to make payments to a new “restoration contributions” fund to compensate for damage their projects caused to the environment. This would remove a requirement that environmental offsets provide a “like-for-like” replacement for ecosystems or species affected by a development.

Fail to give the new EPA the “teeth” it needed to be an independent and effective environmental regulator.

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Many aged care workers may wait until 2026 for full pay increase as Albanese government requests phased implementation

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Commonwealth requests Fair Work Commission phase in full 23% increase over two years to prevent workforce shortages elsewhere

Aged care workers should wait until January 2026 for the full 23% pay rise ordered by the Fair Work Commission, according to the Albanese government.

The commonwealth has requested that the commission phase in the increase over two years, from January 2025 and 2026, to prevent “large one-off wage increases” that would add to workforce shortages elsewhere in the economy.

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