Labor finalises candidates in crucial seats ahead of election

Jana Stewart to take Kimberly Kitching’s Senate spot amid factional in-fighting in Victoria over federal intervention

Federal Labor has finalised its candidates in a number of crucial seats ahead of this year’s election, including the controversial choice of Andrew Charlton to contest Parramatta and a consensus replacement for Kimberley Kitching in the Senate.

Nominations for vacant positions closed on Monday, with only one candidate to replace each of Kitching, retiring Victorian left senator Kim Carr, MP Julie Owens and right faction MP Andrew Byrne.

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Australia live news update: man drowns at Sydney beach; Labor’s Katy Gallagher says ‘mean girls’ label ‘diminishes women’; 11 Covid deaths

Man drowns on Sydney’s northern beaches; Labor senator Katy Gallagher says she had no ‘difficult arguments’ with Kimberley Kitching beyond what was normal in politics; Victoria records five Covid deaths and 7,466 new cases; NSW records one death and 17,450 new cases; Queensland records 7,738 new cases and one death; Western Australia records 7,197 new cases, four deaths. Follow developments live

The NSW Labor opposition has outlined a plan for the state to rebuild and recover from the devastating floods that have left about 1,500 people in emergency accommodation and damaged or destroyed about 95,000 homes, AAP reports.

The federal and New South Wales governments were too slow to act in the immediate response and have been too slow in their support, NSW Labor has said in a statement today.

The difference is, David, we’re looking for maximum community benefit and economic benefit while the government’s looking for maximum political benefit.

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Kim Carr bows out after three decades as Labor senator for Victoria

Veteran cites death of Kimberley Kitching and ‘determined urgings’ from his children as reasons for his decision to step down

The veteran Labor senator Kim Carr has bowed out of the Senate contest in Victoria, marking an end to his almost 30-year career in parliament.

Carr had lost the support of powerbrokers to remain on the Senate ticket but had indicated he was prepared to fight to remain in the upper house, to which he was first elected in 1993.

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Japanese encephalitis declared disease of national significance – as it happened

Rex Patrick to reveal political intentions tomorrow after Nick Xenophon announces run for Senate; Japanese encephalitis declared disease of national significance; Liberals select candidate for Bennelong; fifth arrest this week over climate crisis protest; Morrison says having Putin at G20 ‘a step too far’; at least 35 Covid deaths recorded. This blog is now closed

Here’s the latest on that rain to come, which is already hitting Sydney.

Australia is risking its economic security in a future crisis by being too dependent on foreign-flagged commercial ships, a former navy chief, Tim Barrett, has warned.

When push comes to shove, the place where the ship is registered is king. They can tell their ships where to go, what to do and what to carry. We don’t have an ability to do that except for the handful we have left.

To be entirely dependent on others is very concerning.

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Australia news live update: NSW government seeks to suspend MP facing charges; nation records 26 Covid deaths

NSW government seeks to suspend Gareth Ward; Craig Foster lashes treatment of asylum seekers in National Press Club address; new research suggests long-lasting Covid immune response from vaccine-induced T-cells; at least 26 Covid deaths recorded; Atagi expected to green light fourth booster shots for some Australians. Follow all the day’s news live

David Koch:

Have you spoken to the “mean girls” – Kristina Keneally, Penny Wong – in the last week or so since Kimberly Kitching’s death about the allegations of bullying?

I think that term is really unfortunate.

She used it, it is not just us.

There is a lot of people speaking on other people’s behalf at the moment. I think that in politics, there are a range of people who are involved in party politics who play it pretty hard. One of those was Kimberly Kitching. She was somebody who engaged in politics and was passionate about her belief and from time to time that could produce some conflict. But it needs to be done in a way that is respectful, in a way that is understanding, and attempts to reach consensus.

It is rather bizarre ... I am always available and indeed I lobby regularly to be on the Sunrise program. I am always happy to discuss things with the media, but I won’t be taking lectures from a prime minister who visited Lismore and had strict streets shut off so victims of floods could not get near him.

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SA hospitals under ‘extraordinary strain’; Perrottet asks MP to resign after charges – as it happened

NSW MP Gareth Ward denies historic sexual abuse allegations; South Australian hospital system ‘under extraordinary strain’ new premier says, as at least 23 Covid deaths recorded nationally; Anthony Albanese proposes award in late Victorian senator Kimberley Kitching’s honour. This blog is now closed

Peter Malinauskas has promised to keep his shirt on from now on, after a photo of his muscled torso made quite a stir in the world of Australian politics.

ABC radio host Patricia Karvelas:

During the campaign, you were photographed shirtless in swimming shorts, and it caused a bit of a stir. I have to ask you ... the Australian’s Greg Sheridan said jokingly on [ABC] Insiders that you’re “far too good looking”. Which I thought was quite a statement. What have you made of the reaction to that picture?

Do you have any idea how much grief I’ve copped around the place as a result of that?

Have they told you just to buff to be premier?

They’ve piled it on, let me tell you. I haven’t stopped copping it, and I deserve every bit of it.

We were announcing a big investment at our major aquatics centre here in South Australia and a whole bunch of us jumped in for a swim in our boardies with our kids there. And, yeah, it got a bit more attention than I anticipated, fair to say.

So you’re going to keep your shirt on from now on?

Damn straight!

I think we’re about to see a federal election where a cost of living is a front and centre issue. And I think Australians get the price of petrol, but they can’t control the price of groceries.

The way we address cost of living as a nation is to start having an incomes policy focus on how we improve working in small businesses to improve the productivity of their labour, so they can earn a higher income. And that’s why education, training and skills is so important.

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Labor government would present second 2022 budget to correct ‘decade of rorts and waste’, shadow treasurer says

Jim Chalmers says if elected, an Albanese government will deliver a ‘proper’ budget before the end of the year to amend ‘damage of the last 10 years’

A Labor government would present a second “proper” budget in 2022 if elected to correct the “decade of rorts and waste” they expect to be bookended by treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s budget next week.

The shadow treasurer, Jim Chalmers, will tell the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday an Albanese government would release its own budget by the time of the traditional mid-year fiscal update in December, if not sooner.

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Guardian Essential poll: voters mark Morrison government down on flood response

Separate Australian National University longitudinal survey suggests Coalition primary vote slumps to 32.2% with Labor in election-winning position

Voters are underwhelmed by the Morrison government’s response to recent catastrophic flooding in New South Wales and Queensland, and a majority fear disasters will be worse in the absence of significant action to address climate risks, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll.

The survey of 1,091 voters finds only 26% of respondents characterised the Coalition’s recent flood disaster response as good, while 40% thought poor and 34% said neither good nor poor.

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Digital code of conduct fails to stop all harms of misinformation, Acma warns

Need for damage to be serious and imminent before Facebook and Google take action means ‘chronic’ problems build, watchdog says – citing mistrust of vaccines

The code of conduct adopted by digital platforms, including Facebook and Google, is “too narrow” to prevent all the harms of misinformation and disinformation, Australia’s media regulator has warned.

The requirement that harm from social media posts must be both “serious” and “imminent” before tech companies take action has allowed longer term “chronic harms” including vaccine misinformation and the erosion of democracy, according to the Australian Communication and Media Authority.

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Urban congestion funding for Coalition and marginal seats far outstrips safe Labor seats, report finds

At last election, just one of 71 Coalition promises worth $100m or more based on approved business case, says Grattan Institute

The government’s controversial urban congestion fund is pumping tens of millions of dollars more into marginal and safe Coalition seats than strong Labor electorates, a new report has found.

The Grattan Institute on Sunday released a damning report examining the way successive governments have used transport spending promises to further their political interests.

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Australia live news update: Payne calls Russia’s actions in Ukraine ‘war crimes’; Steven Marshall quits as Liberal leader after SA election loss

Scott Morrison says Russia must pay ‘high price’ for Ukraine invasion as further measures announced; Steven Marshall steps down after losing South Australia election to Labor and Peter Malinauskus; Josh Frydenberg says federal budget measures won’t ‘overheat’ economy; four Covid deaths in NSW and three in SA. Follow all the day’s news

The federal finance minister, Simon Birmingham, is appearing on ABC’s Insiders now, and of course, has been asked why the Liberals experienced a landslide loss in the state election there overnight.

Birmingham says that a number of voters were potentially tricked by “misleading statements” about Labor’s ability to stop ambulance ramping.

I think always when an election is lost, there are a number of factors at play. I think that history will judge Steven Marshall’s government for its policy achievements and management more kindly than the electorate did yesterday. The economic confidence he delivered to South Australia, the ongoing growth in what will be higher-paying, more highly skilled [workers] in SA for many years to come, the transformation of schooling SA, investments in hospitals, these will be positives which he will be marked up for but clearly a disappointing day for the Liberal family in SA to have that result.

The campaign was one in which we saw the Labor party run a very targeted, very singularly focused campaign around hospitals and ambulances. I think there were many misleading aspects to that campaign and even the Electoral Commission found so in the last day or so, but that again is a reminder to all of us that we can’t underscore the potential for Labor to run these types of scare campaigns just like they did with mediscare back in 2016, particularly when they can roll out the public sector unions to devastating effects.

So is that your take on this election result, the electorate was tricked?

No, not entirely. I do think that Labor’s campaign was effective, but I also think, as the Electoral Commission found, that it was based on misleading statements and that of course is something that does mean that some voters potentially were tricked but equally I think Covid did play a very difficult role for Steven Marshall.

When he opened the borders from SA to the rest of the country on 23 November, it was 24 November, the very day after that Omicron was first reported to the World Health Organization as a variant of concern. You couldn’t have had perhaps more unlucky timing than Steven Marshall faced in that regard and that the carefully calibrated plans he had for reopening were clearly blown out of the water at that time and that did create real challenges for the Government through the run-up and lead-up to the election, and, of course, in terms of what the narrative of their campaign was.

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South Australia election: Labor win should have Morrison government ‘trembling’, ALP says

Scott Morrison dismissed state and federal comparisons, saying ‘Anthony Albanese is not Peter Malinauskas’

The South Australian election result should have Scott Morrison’s Coalition “trembling” ahead of the federal poll, Labor says, after Peter Malinauskas became the first opposition leader to defeat an incumbent government since the start of the pandemic.

The outgoing premier, Steven Marshall, announced on Sunday he would step down as Liberal leader after the landslide loss to Labor, saying he “takes full responsibility for the result” and accepts “the will of the people”.

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South Australia election: Labor wins government as Liberal premier Steven Marshall concedes

Peter Malinauskas to become state’s 47th premier as Liberal government deserted by voters after just one term

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Labor has won the South Australian election, with the premier, Steven Marshall, conceding defeat to the opposition leader, Peter Malinauskas, on Saturday night.

The Labor party was on track to win 25 seats and form a majority government after it recorded a 7.3% swing in its favour.

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Anthony Albanese says Kimberley Kitching never complained of bullying to him and furore ‘not constructive’

Labor leader says it is ‘a fact’ that he never received a bullying complaint from Kitching before she died

The federal opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, says the late senator Kimberley Kitching never raised complaints of bullying with him as he labelled political debate about her death not constructive.

Reports have emerged about the stress Kitching had been under within her own party before her death from a suspected heart attack, with Labor senators Kristina Keneally, Penny Wong and Katy Gallagher named in media reports as having ostracised her.

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Labor demands Christian Porter resign before election after changes to ‘blind trust’ disclosure rules

Porter had previously stepped down as minister after refusing to identify contributors to a trust that paid his legal fees in a defamation case

A rule change requiring federal politicians to list contributors to crowdfunding campaigns and financial trusts has reignited Labor’s call for Christian Porter to resign over his so-called “blind trust”.

But Porter has dismissed the latest Labor attack as “ridiculous”, arguing the changes are not retrospective.

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Pressure mounts on Morrison government to include flooding in $10bn reinsurance pool

Politicians at state and federal level back calls to expand Northern Australia cyclone scheme to other natural disasters across the country

The federal government is under increasing pressure to expand its reinsurance pool for cyclone damage to include flooding, with calls for the Coalition to pass the legislation in the final days of parliament before the looming election.

Politicians across the political divide, at state and federal level, have backed calls to expand the $10bn Northern Australia reinsurance pool for cyclone damage to cover more natural disasters, across the country. Several Coalition members – including Warren Entsch, one of the scheme’s principal advocates, and Kevin Hogan, representing the Lismore-based electorate of Page – have thrown their weight behind the changes, as well as north coast MPs Janelle Saffin and Tamara Smith.

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Penny Wong says better relationship with China possible if Coalition stops ‘playing politics’

Labor would not take ‘a backward step’ on China disagreements, Wong says, after foreign minister meets new Chinese ambassador

Labor’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Penny Wong, says it may be possible for Australia to achieve a diplomatic thaw with China despite the substantial differences between the two countries – if Scott Morrison abandons his “desperate” pre-election weaponisation of national security.

The foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, this week met China’s new ambassador to Australia who has made several overtures for dialogue since arriving in Canberra in January.

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Labor senator Kimberley Kitching dies suddenly in Melbourne aged 52

Federal leader Anthony Albanese says ‘the Labor family is in shock tonight at the tragic news’ that Kitching had died of a suspected heart attack

The Labor senator Kimberley Kitching has died suddenly of a suspected heart attack aged 52, prompting tributes from across the political divide.

The federal opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, said on Thursday night: “The Labor family is in shock tonight at the tragic news that our friend and colleague senator Kimberley Kitching has died suddenly in Melbourne. My sincere condolences to her family. Kimberley will be missed by us all.”

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Australia news live updates: Palaszczuk says too late for emergency declaration in Qld; Rio Tinto ditching Russia; 21 Covid deaths

Palaszczuk rejects Morrison’s move to declare national emergency in Queensland, where flood costs are ‘well into the billions’; Rio Tinto will terminate all contracts with Russian businesses; nation records at least 21 Covid deaths amid concerns over Omicron subvariant. Follow all the updates live

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is being questioned about his promises to keep the cost of living down as he chats to ABC News Breakfast:

Well, we have been making policies that have been driving down the cost of living, for example, around electricity prices which are down by 8% in the last two years.

They doubled under our political opponents, but what I was referring to last night is the international events in the Ukraine have seen a spike in oil prices, and that is flowing through with some people paying more than $2 a litre.

This high and increasing burden of skin cancer emphasises the need for continued investment in skin cancer education and prevention.

We know what needs to be done. Now is the time to do it so that one day Australia is no longer considered the skin cancer capital of the world.

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Scott Morrison says defence force ‘not available on a moment’s notice’ to respond to floods disaster

Prime minister visits Lismore as government declared national emergency to release more resources to help

Scott Morrison was met with a fiery reception in flood-devastated Lismore, as he defended the speed of his government’s response to the disaster, saying the ADF is “not available on a moment’s notice”.

Ahead of Morrison’s arrival in Lismore, the federal government declared a national emergency around the floods, giving the Commonwealth greater power to send in defence force assets and skirt around administrative “red tape” to get financial support out quicker.

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