Category Archives: Labor party

The challenge for the Victorians party, born from lockdown anger

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New party hopes to win up to 10 seats in November’s state election, but political insiders and observers have doubts

A new party born out of frustration with Covid lockdowns and a dislike for the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, is eyeing as many as 10 seats at the upcoming state election, though political insiders have cast doubt on their chances.

The Victorians party was launched a year out from the 26 November state election and has since received sustained media coverage, helping it to attract about 5,000 members.

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As the temperature cools, the heat is on Chris Bowen

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Gas shortages, reported delays to major projects and coal-fired power woes are among the gifts handed to the new energy minister

It’s a shame Chris Bowen can’t harness some of the heat from his baptism of fire as new energy minister because it could come in handy this winter.

Even before he’d been sworn in, Victoria nearly ran out of gas. This week, there were more coal-fired power woes – with AGL Energy down to six of its 11 units operating – and a new winter demand record in Queensland for electricity.

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Labor says Dutton ‘desperate’ to distract from defence failures – as it happened

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Nadesalingam family arrive back home to Biloela; New Zealand ‘heartened’ by Albanese government’s climate stance; Australia records at least 40 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

Jacinda Ardern will be raising Australia’s controversial deportation policy in today’s meeting. Asked if she has knowledge of whether the government is prepared to “water it down a little bit”, she replies:

Just to be clear, the issue we have is not with deportation. We deport as well. If a New Zealander comes to Australia and commits a crime, send them home ... but when someone comes here and essentially, hasn’t even really had any connection with New Zealand at all ... have all their connections in Australia and are essentially Australian, sending them back to New Zealand, that’s where we’ve had the grievance.

I’ve heard the prime minister prior to winning the election speak to his acknowledgement that that is the part of the policy that we’ve taken issue with. Even that acknowledgement says to me he’s hearing us, he knows it’s a problem.

It’s been a bugbear for us for a long time so I would like to see movement on it.

We talked about music on occasion but I’m not sure I would’ve picked necessarily the right music if I think I was given that task.

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Albanese vows to reconsider Australia’s deportations rules in olive branch to New Zealand

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Jacinda Ardern welcomes ‘reset’ in trans-Tasman relationship after years of tension over visa cancellations on character grounds

The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has vowed to consider changing how the government handles visa cancellations in an olive branch to ease longstanding tensions with New Zealand.

The pledge to look at tweaking the scheme prompted the visiting New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, to declare the talks in Sydney on Friday allowed for “a reset” in the trans-Tasman relationship.

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Nation records 59 Covid deaths as NT announces closure of quarantine facility – as it happened

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Two charged after remains found on Glass House Mountains; Victoria’s health workers to receive $3,000 one-off payment; nation records 59 Covid deaths as boosters recommended by Atagi for at-risk children between 12 and 15. This blog is now closed

Capacity mechanism is a priority to bring on renewables, energy ministers say

The first meeting of energy ministers yesterday evening indicated there will be a new intensity in federal-state-territory coordination.

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PM says prospect of Chinese naval base in Cambodia ‘concerning’ – as it happened

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Prime minister responds to reports of Chinese naval base in Cambodia; nation records 29 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

There’s no magic fix for inflation, Jason Clare says

Education minister Jason Clare appeared on the Today show this morning alongside Scott Emerson.

Inflation is through the roof. Wages are through the floor. We have got interest rates knocking at the door. The Reserve Bank ... have made it clear there will be a number of interest rate rises, which makes it harder for people with big rate rises already. Especially for people who are ahead in their mortgage, but if you have just signed up and the bank says you have to pay more, it will make it harder and harder.

There is no simple magic fix to this.

The market expects them to increase interest rates because we have an inflation problem in the economy and rising interest rates were something that the Reserve Bank governor flagged before the election and that is the trajectory we are on, but just because these interest rate rises are expected, it won’t make them any less difficult for a lot of people who are already confronting cost-of- living pressures.

That is the unfortunate reality. There is no point mincing words about that. Our job is the government is to make sure that after some of this near-term cost-of-living relief runs out that it is replaced by responsible long-term sustainable cost-of-living relief in areas like medicines and childcare, getting power bills down over time and getting real wages moving again.

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Energy companies urged to find more gas for Australia as Labor mulls supply ‘trigger’ to ease price surge

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Resources minister signals ‘very positive’ talks with gas corporations and suggested managing coal supply could relieve market pressures

New minister Madeleine King has asked resource companies to find more gas to direct into Australian markets as she considers pulling the so-called gas “trigger”.

However, the resources minister has also claimed more coal supply was key to combating a brewing energy crisis.

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PM calls Putin’s actions ‘abhorrent’ after confirming he’ll attend G20 – as it happened

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Prime minister speaks in Jakarta after sharing bike ride with Indonesian president; Richard Marles says finding successor to Collins-class submarines is ‘No 1’ defence priority; Australia records at least 19 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed.

Similarly, on the Indigenous voice to parliament, Dutton said the Coalition is “very open to the discussion and what the government has to say”.

In principle, do we support anything that’s going to improve the situation of Indigenous Australians? Absolutely.

In Ted O’Brien we have someone with an exceptional background, a very considered person, a great communicator. And he did a report ... when he was on the backbench in the last parliament on nuclear energy. He had a particular focus on the latest generation, the small modular nuclear generation which can power up to 100,000 houses. So I’m not afraid to have a discussion on nuclear. If we want to have a legitimate emissions reduction, if we want to lower emissions reduction, that’s exactly the path president Macron has embarked on in France, it’s what prime minister Johnson is talking about in the United Kingdom ... I don’t think we should be afraid to talk about any technology that’s going to have the ability to reduce emissions and electricity prices. That’s something we can consider in time. I don’t think we should rule things out simply because it’s unfashionable to talk about them.

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Anthony Albanese vows to strengthen Australia’s ties on official Indonesia visit

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PM accompanied by senior ministers and business leaders as Labor’s regional diplomatic offensive continues amid growing China assertiveness

Anthony Albanese has declared he wants to strengthen the Australia-Indonesia relationship while deepening ties with south-east Asian nations amid escalating tensions prompted by China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific.

Australia’s prime minister touched down in Jakarta on Sunday night accompanied by senior ministers and a high-powered business delegation to pursue a two-day diplomatic full court press in Indonesia.

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New shadow foreign minister says he wants to work ‘constructively’ with Penny Wong – as it happened

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Simon Birmingham says Australian foreign policy should work with ‘one voice’; Anthony Albanese says Australia has ‘raised concerns’ with China after P-8A Poseidon intercepted by Chinese J-16 fighter aircraft; at least 30 Covid deaths recorded. This blog is now closed

NSW records five Covid deaths

The climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, has just shot back at Coalition criticisms of how Labor is handling the energy crisis.

We’re managing them very actively. As I said, the gas supply guarantee has already been activated and it’s already had an impact and I’m working very closely with my state and territory energy minister colleagues.

But, you know, advice from the previous government – which Angus Taylor has been happy to give out, and I noticed Peter Dutton has been giving out – is about as effective as advice from the captain of the Titanic on navigation skills.

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Chris Bowen says Labor ‘actively managing’ energy crisis as Dutton criticises response

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Bowen blames decade of inaction on renewables and limitations on gas trigger for preventing a swifter fix

Chris Bowen has rejected Coalition claims Labor is not doing enough to fix the energy crisis, labelling its input “as effective as advice from the captain of the Titanic on navigation skills”.

The climate change and energy minister told Sky News on Sunday the new government was “actively managing” the crisis but a decade of inaction on renewables and limitations on the gas trigger was preventing swifter fixes.

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Unions back minimum wage submission – as it happened

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Labor government recommends minimum wage be increased in line with inflation; Anthony Albanese says stopping new gas projects ‘doesn’t reflect the needs’ of economy; new monkeypox cases reported in NSW and Victoria; nation records at least 50 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

‘Pick up the phone and call your energy retailer’

The CEO of the Australian Energy Council, Sarah McNamara, appeared on ABC News Breakfast this morning to discuss the perfect storm the market is currently facing.

It is not a systemic market failure under way but there is a coincidence of factors occurring in the market, putting pressure on the wholesale price and that will put pressure on retail bills as well.

Most consumers won’t experience the kind of wholesale market price spikes we are seeing at the moment. That is because their retailers have hedging contracts to ensure their supply costs are smoothed out over time. However, because there is general upward pressure on prices, people are going to experience higher bills over the coming year.

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Morrison government failed to show cashless debit card scheme works, auditor general says

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Scathing report finds Department of Social Services has not demonstrated the program is meeting objectives

The auditor general has been highly critical of the former government’s handling of the cashless debit card, finding the Morrison government had not demonstrated whether the scheme was working despite operating trials across the country for more than five years.

A scathing Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) report, tabled in parliament on Thursday, said the Department of Social Services, which ran the program, had “not demonstrated that the CDC program is meeting its intended objectives”.

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Environment minister seeks ‘urgent briefing’ over scrapped recovery plans – as it happened

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Tanya Plibersek seeks ‘urgent briefing’ over Coalition scrapping of recovery plans; NSW man diagnosed with monkeypox; nation records 57 Covid deaths. Follow all the day’s news

Treasurer questioned on staff shortages in hospitality

Amid his media blitz, treasurer Jim Chalmers appeared on Sunrise this morning discussing energy woes.

What are we going to do to alleviate those staff issues and how long is it going to take for that to happen?

Obviously there is a role for cheaper childcare so that if people want to work more and earn more we can tap [into] that really big workforce of parents that find it too hard because they get priced out of work by the childcare system. And we are up for ... conversation with business about migration settings to make sure that they are appropriate so that they are not a substitute for doing those other things at home.

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New minister for republic says ‘twilight’ of Queen’s reign chance ‘to discuss what comes next for Australia’

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Assistant minister Matt Thistlethwaite says ‘why wouldn’t we appoint an Australian as our pinnacle position?’

The man tasked with overseeing Australia’s transition to a republic says the work done over the next three years will ensure the country is “ready to go in a second term of an Albanese government”.

Matt Thistlethwaite was on Wednesday sworn in as assistant minister for the republic by the Queen’s representative in Australia, the governor general, David Hurley.

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Australia news live update: Labor ministry to be sworn in; Richard Marles admits no short-term solution on power prices

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Deputy PM says power prices a ‘real issue’ in cost-of-living crisis; new consent laws in effect in NSW; NSW plastic bag ban now in effect; ten women to be sworn into new cabinet, including Clare O’Neil as home affairs minister; Victoria records 17 Covid deaths, NSW records nine. Follow all the day’s developments

Richard Marles on power prices

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has imposed a price cap in Sydney, Brisbane and Victoria for the first time ever in response to record levels and a cold snap driving up gas use.

We have got a cost of living crisis in this country. That’s what has been left to us by the former government. And we have got a real issue with power prices. Again, that’s the legacy of having had a decade under the Liberals where they haven’t had a consistent energy policy. Where there has been no investment in getting renewable energy going and that’s now the challenge that we face.

It is not something we can solve overnight but ... there are some things that we can do sooner rather than later in terms of ... making childcare more affordable ... arguing for a wage increase for those on the minimum wage. There are issues here which are going to take longer but which we need to start addressing now ... around having a settled policy in relation to energy policy and getting our grid up to a modern standard where it can take on renewables which are cheaper.

I think all of us can see the impact plastic pollution is having on our environment. By stopping the supply of problematic plastic in the first place, we’re helping prevent it from entering our environment as litter, or going into landfill.

No one told these small businesses that plastic bags are banned … now they’re sitting on thousands of dollars’ worth of bags they can’t use.

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Anthony Albanese boasts of appointing ‘largest number of women ever in an Australian cabinet’

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Prime minister unveils new frontbench team which includes 10 female cabinet ministers with Clare O’Neil given home affairs

Anthony Albanese has boasted of appointing a record number of women to his cabinet and ministry as the prime minister announced a frontbench team that shifted Richard Marles into defence and Clare O’Neil into home affairs.

Tanya Plibersek has been given responsibility for environment and water and Chris Bowen is the climate and energy minister as expected, while campaign spokesperson Jason Clare moves into education. A number of newcomers – including Anika Wells, Kristy McBain, Ged Kearney and Anne Aly – were promoted into the ministry.

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Linda Burney tells Peter Dutton to be ‘on the right side of history’ regarding voice to parliament

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New minister for Indigenous Australians says after a decade of divisive political discourse ‘this is an opportunity for unity and for leadership’

The incoming minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, has urged the new opposition leader to return to “the right side of history” by offering bipartisan support for enshrining an Indigenous voice to parliament in the constitution.

Burney said on Tuesday there was “no shame” in learning from history and the forthcoming proposal was an “opportunity for Peter Dutton to show his much-talked-about different side”.

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Anthony Albanese tells Labor colleagues not to waste a day as he urges ‘more inclusive’ parliament

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Emotional prime minister gives first post-election address to caucus and confirms Indonesia visit this weekend

An emotional Anthony Albanese has urged his Labor colleagues not to waste a day in government while confirming he will go to Indonesia for his second overseas visit this weekend and convene the 47th parliament at the end of July.

The prime minister used his first post-election address to caucus on Tuesday, ahead of the appointment of his first cabinet and ministry, to outline his initial program as well as his expectations for the coming term of government.

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PM says ministry has more women than any other in history – as it happened

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Guide Dogs Victoria CEO Karen Hayes resigns; at least 56 Covid deaths recorded. This blog is now closed

Quotas ‘might be’ something for Liberals to consider, Sussan Ley says

Deputy leader of the Liberal party Sussan Ley followed David Littleproud.

It doesn’t need to be legislated, however those policy discussions will happen through our party room and our shadow cabinet ... Demonstrating you’re serious about climate change doesn’t just include a conversation about targets.

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