Category Archives: Labor party

WiseTech shares surge after CEO stands down – as it happened

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Dutton and Shorten weigh in on Queensland state election

The federal opposition leader, Peter Dutton, and the NDIS minister, Bill Shorten, both spoke with the Today show earlier from Queensland, before the election.

He’s focused on the issues which affect Queenslanders: housing, health, cheaper transport and of course tackling youth crime. So we’ll find out soon enough who’s going to win.

The fact is that it’s time for a change in Queensland and law and order is out of control.

Well, yes, he did. He did three days ago and, despite that, the government’s scare campaign continues.

The scare campaign on a sensitive issue that has been run, quite frankly, crosses the line, and we’re better than that as Queenslanders … There won’t be changes to abortion laws and Queenslanders need to know that.

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Australians must keep up the fight for abortion rights, Jacinta Allan warns

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Exclusive: Conservative forces pose ‘genuine threats to the protections women have fought for and won’, Victoria’s premier says

Jacinta Allan is warning that the battle for abortion rights must continue as conservative forces pose “real and genuine threats to the protections women have fought for and won” amid “frightening” debate in South Australia and Queensland.

Victoria’s Labor premier made her strongest comments to date on abortion in an interview with Guardian Australia, just days before Queenslanders go to the polls in an election that has become dominated by the issue.

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Albanese rejects China’s claim that Australia plagued by ‘systemic racism’ – as it happened

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The Rail, Tram and Bus Union of NSW (RTBU) conducted a five-minute work stoppage early this morning, which is leading to delays across the network.

Sydney Trains says this has led to minor delays and “larger than normal gaps in services may be experienced”, according to an alert:

Trains stops and platforms may change at short notice and some trains may be cancelled. Extra travel time may be experienced in some cases and you may need to change to continue your trip.

The action was set to happen in select locations across the network to ensure we could ramp up stoppages whenever needed.

The rail agencies continue to bargain in good faith with the Combined Rail Unions for a new enterprise bargaining agreement. Sydney Trains are working to minimise the disruption to commuters as much as possible.

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Coalition’s building standards freeze could see a ‘Grenfell Tower inferno’ in Australia, Labor says

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Peter Dutton’s proposed 10-year freeze to national building codes would be a shame, one industry leader says, ‘given the serious impacts of our changing climate’

The industry minister, Ed Husic, has accused the opposition of condemning Australians to live in “shoddy” homes that could result in a “Grenfell Tower inferno” onshore, after it revealed plans to freeze building standard improvements for a decade if elected.

The proposal has already drawn criticism from housing experts and the independent ACT senator David Pocock, but some industry groups have also distanced themselves from the 10-year freeze to national building codes.

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Thorpe rebuffs Indigenous leaders’ criticism of protest – as it happened

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More on news media bargaining code and funding of media publishers

One of the committee’s key recommendations was a digital platform levy on companies like Meta and Google, which some have described as a tech tax to fund public interest journalism.

So in parts of Europe, for example, there’s a 2% digital services tax. You could look at a public interest journalism levy.

The issue that we have fundamentally here is the … offshoring of the digital platform’s profits, where currently they pay very little tax because they argue that they don’t operate in Australia, even though they’re getting this enormous profit yield of the advertising on their platforms. So that’s another thing that has to be resolved within legislation in order to impose a tax.

But simply imposing a tax and feeding [it] into media organisations … won’t fix the issue if Meta continues to deprecate news content – that is, reduce the exposure of news content to its consumers.

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Thousands greet royals at opera house – as it happened

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The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has been speaking with ABC RN about a range of issues – including Lidia Thorpe’s actions at King Charles’ parliamentary reception yesterday.

Dutton argued that “sometimes people make it all about themselves, and I think that’s what yesterday was.” He said it “didn’t advance anyone’s cause” and “add[s] to the self promotion … that she seeks.”

The vast majority of people have been very welcoming the king’s visit, and I think it’s been an opportunity to underscore the stability in our democracy, our rule of law, separation of powers, all of those institutions that we inherited from our British heritage.

That’s part of the success story of our country, and it’s a good reminder during his visit [that] if we change it, I think we want to be very careful about the system we’re changing to and whether or not we would be a safer, more secure, community and environment for decades to come or not.

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Low and slow: the tactics that have made the Greens a threat in traditionally safe Queensland Labor seats

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With an aggressive on-the-ground campaign, the party is courting multicultural communities in outer Brisbane

At a suburban park in Logan, more than 20km from the Brisbane CBD, two dozen Greens volunteers stop to take a photograph before heading out to knock on doors.

These are the sorts of intensive “social work” style campaigning efforts that have been responsible for the leftwing party’s growth in Brisbane’s inner suburbs, culminating in the capture of three federal seats in 2022.

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Jacinta Allan’s pitch to young voters on housing affordability snags Liberal Nimbys ‘hook, line and sinker’

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In pitting millennials against boomers, the Victorian premier is setting the stage for a 2026 election fought on housing

It’s no coincidence Jacinta Allan chose Brighton – a bayside suburb of Melbourne with a median property price of $3.3m – to unveil her most significant policy to date.

With a reputation as a wealthy, predominately white enclave, and as the centre of a safe Liberal electorate of the same name, it is unlikely the Labor premier had many fans in the area on Sunday, even before she announced her bold plan to seize planning controls around Middle Brighton and North Brighton train stations.

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‘I believe I can win’: the immigrant hoping to upset Labor in western Sydney stronghold

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Ahmed Ouf, a pharmacist from Egypt, says local election success means he can take Blaxland from Jason Clare

Brimming with confidence after barreling his way onto Cumberland council, Ahmed Ouf has his eyes on a bigger prize: the historically safe Labor seat of Blaxland.

“Labor didn’t believe I could get onto the council, but I proved them wrong. And we are confident we will to do it again. I’m not here to shake a narrative, or to swing a seat, I believe I can win,” he said.

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Big business calls for $10bn housing reform fund to reward Australian states that streamline supply

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Business Council of Australia also recommends phasing out stamp duty and fast-tracking migrant workers for building industry

The nation’s peak business body has called for a $10bn housing reform fund that will pay out to states that fix the regulation and planning bottlenecks contributing to the supply crisis.

The Business Council of Australia is also pushing for the nation-wide removal of stamp duty on homes, warning that it disincentivises people from moving to smaller dwellings and freeing up larger homes.

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Victorian premier pushes ahead with housing plan to rezone affluent areas despite anger from locals

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Brighton residents chant ‘Shame, premier, shame’ as they surround the pub where Jacinta Allan announces policy

Victoria’s premier has taken aim at opponents of government plans for high-rise apartments to soar above Melbourne’s inner suburbs.

Jacinta Allan on Sunday announced a plan to create 50 new “activity zones” to help deliver more than 30,000 additional homes across Melbourne by 2051.

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Labor retains power in ACT election as swing goes to independents

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ABC election pundit Antony Green calls win for Labor-Greens coalition on Saturday night

Australia’s “for ever government” has lived up to its name, with Labor retaining power to extend its record reign in the ACT beyond a quarter of a century.

The ACT Labor leader, Andrew Barr, already the longest-serving political leader in the country, fended off a negative swing and an independent surge to win his third election as chief minister.

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Major football codes and gambling firms directly lobbied Albanese’s office on ad ban, documents show

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NRL, AFL and betting companies intensified efforts to try to influence PM in lead-up to finals

Newly released documents show how in the lead-up to footy finals the NRL, AFL and major wagering companies accelerated and intensified their efforts to directly lobby the prime minister’s office to influence a proposed gambling ad ban.

The gambling industry’s peak body sought to bypass the responsible minister and discuss ad ban issues directly with Anthony Albanese, according to documents tabled in parliament on Friday, which revealed details of letters, emails and meeting agendas and memos.

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Australia news live: Bondi beach reopens after tar-ball pollution; tornado warning for Victoria

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Waverley council says no remaining evidence of the debris could be found at Bondi, Bronte and Tamarama beaches. Follow today’s news live

Max Chandler-Mather continued, and told ABC News Breakfast:

I would argue in this instance in the context of one of the worst housing crises we have seen in generations … now is precisely the time where we need more than tinkering around the edges and we need substantial change.

There is a building consensus we need to scrap these tax handouts. Increasingly the biggest barrier is a prime minister [who has just] gone through multiple days of scandal for buying another property and being a property investor.

So I think there’s a real moment here the government should seize to make real substantial change to the lives of hundreds of thousands of renters, and the bottom line is the Greens are ready and willing to work with Labor to do it.

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Australia news live: Queensland LNP candidate alleges he was assaulted; Sydney Harbour Bridge closed after fatal crash

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New polling from the Australia Institute shows that Australians view the supermarkets as “public enemy No 1” in the cost of living crisis.

The Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work surveyed 1,014 voters, and 83% said supermarkets deserve some blame – or a great deal of blame – for the soaring cost of living.

Australians are pointing the finger squarely at supermarkets as public enemy No 1 in the cost-of-living crisis … More people blame supermarkets for the cost-of-living crunch than governments or banks.

The public’s appetite for increased supermarket competition is unmistakable. Nearly two-thirds of voters see it as crucial for alleviating cost-of-living pressures … There’s likely to be political rewards for taking actions that increase supermarket competition.

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Albanese’s $4.3m home purchase could increase pressure to change property tax laws, Labor MPs suggest

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Prime minister says he is focused on solving the housing crisis but the opposition has accused him of being out of touch with voters

Anthony Albanese may face renewed backbench pressure to ease capital gains tax concessions, as Labor MPs privately express dismay at his decision to buy a $4.3m waterfront home on the New South Wales Central Coast before an election in the middle of a housing crisis.

Some Labor MPs have suggested the feared political backlash over the prime minister’s house purchase may force the government to look again at removing some of the generous concessions to residential property investors.

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Rio Tinto praised for ‘breaking ranks’ to back revamp of environment laws – as it happened

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Queensland leaders to lock horns again in election debate

After their deputies traded blows, the Queensland premier and opposition leader are set to face off again ahead of the state election, AAP reports.

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Australia news live: Hanson-Young calls for investigation of live music ticketing allegations; culprit flees botched ram raid with arm on fire

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The federal government has announced targeted financial sanctions and travel bans on five Iranian individuals it says is “contributing to Iran’s missile program.”

A statement from the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said Iran’s missile program “poses a material threat to regional and international security”, with the 1 October attack on Israel a “dangerous escalation that increased the risk of a wider regional war.”

Australia will continue to hold Iran to account for its reckless and destabilising actions.

We’re holding ministers accountable when the premier of Tasmania refused to. This project – for people who don’t know – is $500m over budget, five years delayed.

It’s a completely debacle. Someone needed to take responsibility. The premier [was] saying he wouldn’t do that, the parliament decided it would act and, at the last moment, the deputy premier resigned.

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‘We’re not going to do deals’: Queensland premier favours LNP rule over Labor governing with minor parties

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Steven Miles says he would prefer Crisafulli minority government over horse-trading if he fails to win absolute majority at October election

The Queensland premier, Steven Miles, says he would rather see a minority LNP government in power after the 26 October state election than horse-trade with independents and minor parties.

In an interview with Guardian Australia, Miles says he wants a majority in his own right, ruling out any sort of supply and confidence agreement with One Nation, the Katter party, the Greens or independents.

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Dfat says it has told Israel ‘unacceptable’ targeting of UN personnel in Lebanon must cease – as it happened

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Jacinta Nampijinpa Price on Voice referendum, one year on

The shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, was on ABC News Breakfast earlier on the first anniversary of the Voice referendum.

We have been calling for an inquiry into statutory authorities for the last 18 months, which we believe need to be looked at closely because of their failures to ... well, not all statutory authorities, but some, in terms of their failures of how they’re supposed to serve the interests of those that they are supposed to represent.

And this has been ongoing now and something that the Albanese Government has continued to ignore. But those voices – especially of Traditional Owners – that I have been speaking to, are growing louder, with more concern. And, really, there is a need to fix the structures that currently exist, and it begins with an inquiry.

There’s no evidence at all that current laws led by the Albanese government are stifling businesses from employing people. In fact, we’ve actually created nearly 1 million jobs since coming to office a bit over two years ago … So unfortunately, for some of the leading business groups calling for this, the evidence of what’s going on in the economy just doesn’t back up their wish list.

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