Daniel Andrews backs federal plan to boost migration – as it happened

Labor’s plan to tackle skills shortages would lift the annual migration cap from 160,000 to between 180,000 and 200,000. This blog is now closed

Bowen says climate reforms will help Australian industry avoid carbon tariffs

Bowen says how this will work has yet to be determined and gives a nod to an upcoming discussion paper, with the details to be hammered out in consultation with industry. But he raises some interesting points that this needs to happen as there is a growing risk Australian industry will be exposed to carbon tariffs if nothing changes.

This will help us avoid these, by showing the EU and the rest of the world, you don’t need to slap tariffs on our manufacturers and our producers because Australia is working with industry to get emissions down in a very sensible way.

The safeguard mechanism is taking the 315 biggest emissions and working with them to reduce emissions, because if we don’t, we will continue the 10 years of no reductions from those facilities and it won’t cut the mustard.

Any facility which emits more than 100,000 tonnes … whether it is new or existing, which is just increasing its activity, we are not having the same architecture. They will be put on a trajectory to net zero, facility by facility. We have designed this in a very sensible way.

Continue reading...

Two women shot dead in Sydney’s south-west killed in targeted ‘assassination’, police say

The women – aged 48 and 39 – died after the offender opened fire on them as they sat in a car in Revesby on Saturday night

New South Wales police say the shooting that killed two women on a Sydney street was a planned and methodical “assassination”.

Two women – aged 48 and 39 – died after the offender opened fire on them as they sat in a car in Revesby. Two people in the back seat – a girl aged 16 and man aged 20 – were not seriously injured.

Continue reading...

Selling Covid antivirals over the counter a ‘recipe for disaster’ – as it happened

The Pharmacy Guild has pushed for the drugs to be made available without a prescription at community pharmacies due to national GP shortages. This blog is now closed

Peter Dutton pressed on voice to parliament

Opposition leader Peter Dutton appeared on ABC’s 7.30 last night and it is worth revisiting for the exchange with host Sarah Ferguson about whether he will commit his party to supporting the voice to parliament.

SARAH FERGUSON: Let me move back into the domestic realm. At the start of parliament, you participated in the smoking ceremony, you allowed your face to be painted and then in your speech you quoted Noel Pearson and seemed to endorse Pearson’s call for constitutional recognition. What would prevent you now from taking the next step and backing the referendum on the voice?

PETER DUTTON: Well, I quoted Noel Pearson for whom I have a great deal of respect, and you can go back and look at the quote and there are many elements to that because there were several paragraphs that I quoted him on.

If we could get that to 60 per cent, then already you would go a long way to addressing part of the supply shortage of teachers.

Continue reading...

NSW Labor MP Walt Secord apologises amid bullying allegations

MP says he can be ‘too blunt and too direct’, after release of landmark review into workplace culture

A senior New South Wales Labor frontbencher has unreservedly apologised amid allegations he bullied staff in the office of former Labor leader Jodi McKay.

After a landmark review into the workplace culture in the state’s parliament was released on Friday, Labor’s shadow police minister Walt Secord released a statement saying he was aware of his “shortcomings” and committing to “addressing my behaviour”.

Continue reading...

NSW becomes second state to ban Nazi flag and symbols

Intentionally bearing swastikas can now land a person in jail for up to a year and a fine of over $100,000

Intentionally waving a Nazi flag in New South Wales or displaying memorabilia bearing swastikas could now land a person in jail for up to a year, along with a fine of over $100,000.

The Crimes Amendment (prohibition on display of Nazi symbols) Bill 2022 swiftly and unanimously passed the NSW upper house on Thursday.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Clive Palmer ordered to pay part of Mark McGowan’s legal costs; 87 more Covid deaths – As it happened

Federal court orders Palmer to pay undetermined sum in half of defamation proceedings between the pair; Senator Jim Molan calls for National Press Club not to host Chinese government officials. This blog is now closed

ACT warns of scam health texts

ACT Health says it has been made aware of scam text messages claiming to be services such as HealthDirect or Medicare.

Continue reading...

The looming questions for John Barilaro ahead of his reappearance before a NSW inquiry

Former deputy premier is set to reappear on Friday before an inquiry into his appointment to trade role

After a turbulent break that saw the New South Wales government engulfed in a saga over trade appointments, the return of parliament from its winter recess failed to ease the pressure on the premier, Dominic Perrottet.

The government faces two competing controversies. While the appointment to trade postings remains a focus, a new scandal involving the state’s outgoing building commissioner, a sacked minister and a property developer has raised a fresh set of questions for the government.

Continue reading...

NSW agent general to UK approved ad attacking Labor tax policy before 2019 election

Exclusive: In former role leading NSW Business Chamber, Stephen Cartwright approved campaign targeting a business policy in three key seats

The man appointed by the New South Wales government to a senior London trade role approved negative television ads that targeted a Labor business tax policy at the last state election in his previous job as head of the NSW Business Chamber.

Separately, a NSW parliamentary inquiry heard testimony this week that the NSW agent general to the UK, Stephen Cartwright, went over the head of his manager, Investment NSW chief Amy Brown, and messaged Liberal trade minister Stuart Ayres directly in a dispute about a cost of living allowance.

Continue reading...

Australia news live: GPs warn against over-the-counter Covid treatment as nation records 133 deaths from virus

New South Wales recorded 11,356 new Covid cases in the last reporting period and 30 deaths. There were 2,212 people in hospital and 55 in intensive care.

Bulk-billing statistics dishonest, minister says

The former government was not honest with Australians about the true state of bulk billing in Australia by selectively quoting only this [88%] figure

Primary care is in its worst shape since Medicare began. Across the country we hear stories of Australians not being able to get in to see a bulk-billing doctor, or GPs changing from bulk billing to mixed billing.

Continue reading...

NSW building commissioner’s resignation letter sent to Icac, Dominic Perrottet says

Letter has been the subject of intense speculation, amid reports it refers to a stop-work order

The resignation letter sent by former New South Wales building commissioner David Chandler when he abruptly quit last month has been sent to the state’s anti-corruption watchdog.

On Wednesday the NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, revealed the letter, which he had previously said he had not read, had been forwarded to the Independent Commission Against Corruption “out of an abundance of caution”.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Activists lose challenge to NSW laws banning secret filming of animal cruelty

High court rules laws criminalising secretly recorded footage and audio do not impose too great a burden on speech

Animal rights activists have lost a landmark high court case against New South Wales laws criminalising the use of secretly recorded vision from farms and abattoirs, which they said prevented their attempts to blow the whistle on animal cruelty and abuse.

The state, through its Surveillance Devices Act, makes it a criminal offence to use or possess footage or audio that was obtained using a listening device or hidden camera, and gives no public interest exemptions for doing so.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

John Barilaro-linked developer met with then NSW minister Eleni Petinos weeks before work ban lifted

Barilaro was not present at 2 June meeting and Petinos says she ‘did not take any action in relation to the matters’ raised by company

Sacked New South Wales minister Eleni Petinos held two meetings with a property developer linked to the former deputy premier John Barilaro weeks prior to the lifting of a stop-work order at a $500m development in Sydney’s west.

New ministerial diaries published on Tuesday show Petinos held two meetings with Coronation Property in June relating to “fair trading building related matters”.

Continue reading...

Flood inquiry finds serious failures by agencies and calls for Resilience NSW to be scrapped

NSW upper house inquiry identifies problems with the SES and says grant processes were ‘confusing’

A scathing report into the devastating 2022 New South Wales floods has found government agencies including the SES “failed” in the “greatest time of need” and has recommended the lead recovery agency, Resilience NSW, be abolished.

The upper house inquiry into the deadly flooding events made 21 findings and 37 recommendations, including a call for the state government to finalise long-term housing plans for flood-affected residents in places like Lismore.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

SES and Resilience NSW ‘failed’ to lead flood response, inquiry finds – as it happened

New threatened species listings include south-eastern glossy black-cockatoo

Two Australian species that were badly affected by the 2019-20 black summer bushfires have been officially listed as threatened.

The damage caused by the black summer bushfires is still being felt today and can be seen reflected in these listings today.

The fires had an immense impact on our environment, from a small reptile found in the mountains to a bird that is at home on the coast. There is still a lot of work to do.

It seems as though these positions are being offered around almost like lolly bags to senior members of the New South Wales government rather than what they’re intended to be, which is senior positions funded by the taxpayer. We shouldn’t operate like that in New South Wales. We’re slowly but surely finding out the contours of what is an absolute scandal.

There’s many questions to be asked. At the end of the day we’re expected to believe of the 8 million people who live in New South Wales, John Barilaro was independently chosen to represent our interests. I think that ... stretches credibility.

Continue reading...

Bushfire recovery groups blindsided by reports Resilience NSW might be axed

Community organisations in Cobargo say the agency, which has faced criticism, has done some good in protecting against fires

Community groups from a bushfire-ravaged village in the hinterland of the New South Wales south coast fear they will be abandoned amid reports the new government agency established to coordinate disaster recovery might be axed.

But critics of the organisation, created in response to the Black Summer bushfires in May 2020, say Resilience NSW is an ineffectual layer of bureaucracy whose funds would be better spent on frontline services.

Continue reading...

‘Shitshow’ over John Barilaro’s NYC appointment keeps sucking the NSW government in

Analysis: Former deputy premier’s appearance at inquiry was always going to generate plenty of headlines

About 55m light years from Earth, a colossal black hole about 1,000 times larger than the sun known as M87 is slowly consuming the universe.

In New South Wales, there is John Barilaro, whose appointment to a New York trade role appears to be getting the job done much faster.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Australia news live: no colleagues raised concerns about job application, John Barilaro tells inquiry

The former NSW deputy premier is appearing this morning at a parliamentary inquiry into his appointment to a US trade job

Queensland commits $22m for livestock biosecurity taskforce

Queensland will set up a taskforce to help protect the state’s livestock from “unprecedented biosecurity risks” amid the threat of foot and mouth disease on Australia’s doorstep, AAP reports.

David Elliott was never promised a job outside of politics. That is deeply offensive and wrong. People will always say from time to time, discussions will be had in relation to when someone retires what they would like to do, that is normal.

From time to time, members of parliament – when they’re seeking to leave politics – will talk to colleagues in relation to what they might want to do next.

At that time, minister Elliott did not want to recontest the next election, but was interested in being part of the team going forward.

Continue reading...

NSW premier denies promising David Elliott a job outside politics

Dominic Perrottet said he did discuss other potential roles with the NSW transport minister, but there was nothing guaranteed

The New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, has told a Sydney radio station he and David Elliott talked about potential jobs the transport minister could do after retiring from politics, but denies any promises were made.

It is the first time the under-pressure premier has directly responded to weekend reports he offered to create an overseas trade job for Elliott or make him the agent-general in London.

Continue reading...

Push for wider Barilaro appointment probe; state funeral for Judith Durham – As it happened

Former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro is expected to appear at the parliamentary inquiry on Monday to answer questions about his appointment to a US trade job. This blog is now closed

Hastie ‘open-minded’ about visiting Taiwan

Hastie is asked if Australia could be doing more to help Taiwan.

We should be talking with everyone, we should be maintaining good relationships with everyone, and that’s true of Taiwan, as it is of China.

I’m open-minded to going there. I have a very full dance card... with a young family and enough travel as it is, but certainly I’m on the record that I would like to visit Taiwan at some point.

They have invited me... I will wait and see.

The advice I received from Defence as assistant minister for defence was that we were going to cover that gap with the life of type extension for the Collins class. They are still a regionally superior submarine.

The question is how quickly can we deliver a nuclear submarine or several of those boats to the Royal Australian Navy. That’s why I’ve said again, several times over the last month that Richard Marles as defence minister needs to be focused on delivering those submarines as quickly as possible. Every single day he should be thinking about it. When he wakes up he should be thinking about submarines. When he goes to bed, when he is asleep, he should be dreaming about submarines. We need political focus on delivering these submarines for our country.

Continue reading...

NSW Liberals pass preselection reforms to prevent repeat of election fiasco

Senator Andrew Bragg praises party for ‘modernising its mechanics’ after the state branch adopted his motion

• Get our free news app, morning email briefing and daily news podcast

Senator Andrew Bragg has heralded the passage of reforms by the New South Wales Liberal party as important to avoid a repeat of its preselection fiasco before the 2022 election.

The state party’s annual general meeting on Saturday adopted the NSW senator’s proposed reforms requiring the party to publish and follow a timetable for preselections within 12 months of an election.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...