Category Archives: Peter Dutton

Australian intelligence agency advised departmental discretion on using Chinese equipment 14 months ago

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Government’s new commitment to remove devices made by Hikvision and Dahua from buildings sweeps 2021 advice aside

An Australian intelligence agency declared a year ago it was up to government departments whether to use equipment from Chinese companies Hikvision and Dahua, despite a new bipartisan push to remove such devices.

The advice from the Australian Signals Directorate was published in late 2021, at a time when the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, was defence minister.

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Albanese’s stance against public funding for yes and no voice campaigns backed by Birmingham

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Coalition frontbencher breaks ranks with Peter Dutton saying taxpayer funds should not be used for referendum campaigns

The Labor government is standing firm against calls for public funding for the yes and no campaigns for the voice to parliament referendum, even drawing backing from a Coalition frontbencher who appeared to break ranks with the Liberal leader’s stance.

Simon Birmingham said taxpayers shouldn’t foot the bill for campaign advertising, despite it being being a condition of opposition leader Peter Dutton’s support for the referendum bill.

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Peter Dutton warns Liberal moderates to vote against Labor’s safeguard mechanism overhaul

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After internal concerns were raised over Coalition position on crediting, opposition leader says he expects no one to break ranks

Peter Dutton has delivered a public warning to Liberal moderates, declaring he expects all MPs to toe the line and vote against the Albanese government’s planned overhaul of the safeguard mechanism.

After Guardian Australia revealed the opposition’s decision to reject the government proposal had triggered pushback both in the shadow cabinet and disquiet in the Coalition party room, Dutton told journalists on Wednesday he expected no one to break ranks.

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Guardian Essential poll: majority of Australians continue to support Indigenous voice

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With 65% of respondents supporting the change, survey suggests Peter Dutton’s soft no campaign is failing to shift sentiment

A majority of Australians continue to support a constitutionally enshrined voice to parliament, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll, including an overwhelming majority of young Australians.

The latest fortnightly survey of 1,000 respondents suggests a soft no campaign by the Liberal leader, Peter Dutton, unleashed over the summer break has, thus far, failed to shift voter sentiment, with 65% of respondents supporting the change, a two-point increase from the percentage recorded last December.

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Hillsong Church names married couple as leaders after Brian Houston resignation – as it happened

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Australian football player Kate Gill has spoken to the ABC this morning about the recently announced sponsorship of Fifa’s women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand by the Saudi’s.

Players have been expressing shock and frustration over the potential sponsorship deal, saying they have largely been left out over the decision to take the money.

When you look at the surface, you can see that it is a blatant disregard of their human rights treatment when you look at the country itself. LGBTI+ people are still regarded as criminals, and women over there still really face strict restrictions of their rights. And that’s notwithstanding the progressions that have been made as well. It just sat really uncomfortably when it was announced.

Those decisions then become the athletes. The athletes become the face of those decisions, and it’s really challenging when you don’t have full transparency over why these decisions are made and what has actually gone into the thought process behind this.

It’s putting a lot of pressure on the players. So I think it would be welcomed if they would sit down and have the discussions with the players so they can fully understand and ask questions as to why this needs to happen.

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Australia news live: voice working group says Dutton committed to ‘further talks’; Alice Springs report may not be made public until next week

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Australian batter Usman Khawaja has been cleared to join his teammates in India after his visa issues were sorted, AAP reports.

Pakistan-born Khawaja will fly out of Melbourne today, more than a day later than planned, after an anxious wait for his visa to be approved.

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Voice bill to come before parliament next month with campaigning to kick into gear quickly

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Anthony Albanese urges Peter Dutton to bring ‘an open heart’ when he meets with an expert Indigenous referendum group

A bill to amend the constitution to allow for the voice to parliament will be introduced next month, with referendum processes and campaigning expected to accelerate quickly from next week.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, implored Peter Dutton to bring “an open heart” on the voice when he meets with an expert Indigenous referendum group on Thursday, with the opposition leader challenged to make a “constructive contribution” as he faces a growing swell of community and corporate support for constitutional change.

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Guardian Essential poll: Albanese approval rating dips in sign of gruelling political year ahead

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Prime minister’s lowest result since last August doesn’t necessarily mean the end of government’s post-election honeymoon

Anthony Albanese’s approval rating has dropped five points over the summer as Peter Dutton ramped up what Indigenous leader Noel Pearson calls “a spoiling game” on the voice to parliament.

The first Guardian Essential poll for 2023 shows voter approval of the prime minister dipped from 60% in December to 55% in January – which is Albanese’s lowest result since last August. Voter approval of the prime minister had been steady during the last quarter of 2022, ranging between 59% and 60%.

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MP calls for action on crime in ‘under siege’ town – as it happened

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Pearson urges voice dissenters to ‘be smart’

Karvelas also asks Pearson about the concerns that are coming from the left, including Indigenous affairs spokesperson for the Greens, Lidia Thorpe, who will be calling for treaty before voice at the Invasion Day rally.

And when you have a breakthrough response, a breakthrough response like constitutional recognition, you’ve got to grab it. You’ve got to switch from protest to grabbing the opportunity.

… And I believe that a full response to the Uluru statement will achieve actual real reconciliation. We’re at a point in our history where the protest has achieved the result we desire. And, and so we’ve got to be smart about it.

This this year is the most important here in the past 235. That’s my assertion. This is the most important year and and this referendum is the most important question concerning Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians since the first fleet.

We’ve got to understand what is at stake, and that is the chance for reconciliation and if the referendum is kiboshed through game play and spoiling game by the opposition, we will lose the opportunity forever.

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Defence personnel deployed to aid flooding recovery – as it happened

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Voice leaders ‘tired of political games’

A leading Indigenous voice to parliament advocate has lashed the “tired political games” marring discussion around the proposed advisory body, AAP reports.

Constitutions are for principle. The machinery is for parliament. The High Court of Australia was recognised in 1901 and set up via legislation several years later … it’s a normal constitutional approach.

The Uluru Statement was issued to the Australian people because as Australians we are tired of political games. This isn’t about politicians and politicking, this is about the Australian people and our future.

You can’t just say to the Australian public as the prime minister, ‘you vote at an election … on a Saturday and we’ll give you the detail on the Monday’. It’s a very serious decision to change our constitution.

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Australia live news update: fifth child airlifted to hospital with irukandji jellyfish sting; Albanese and Dutton trade insults over Indigenous voice

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Federal opposition leader wants Labor to legislate its preferred model before referendum is held this year. This blog is now closed

‘I’m genuinely interested in advancing the cause of reconciliation’

Peter Dutton is asked about whether the prime minister has been given a copy of his letter – Anthony Albanese has said he has not received it – and Dutton says a copy has been provided to the prime minister’s office and he expects “he will respond in due course”.

I don’t think that’s unreasonable. Certainly not racist. It’s not being opposed to reconciliation. It’s all about, frankly, just being informed about what it is they’re being asked to vote on. I don’t think that is unreasonable to ask the prime minister to provide that.

I’ve met with the prime minister and I’m grateful for the meetings that we’ve had and he knows that I’m genuinely interested in advancing the cause of reconciliation.

I’m speaking of millions of Australians, we’re asking you the reasonable questions.

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Albanese accuses Dutton of engaging in ‘culture war stunts’ over Indigenous voice

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Opposition leader has demanded more detail, saying lack of clear information will condemn referendum to failure and damage reconciliation efforts

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has accused the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, of engaging in “cheap culture war stunts” over the Indigenous voice to parliament.

Dutton on Sunday demanded – in a letter to Albanese also released to the media – more detail on the proposed body which will be voted on at a referendum by the end of 2023.

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NSW Health warns of rise in invasive bacterial infections – as it happened

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Warning as cases of meningococcal disease and invasive group A streptococcus rise. This blog is now closed

Albanese government and Business Council agree to disability employment pilot

The Albanese government has announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Business Council of Australia to create and implement a “new disability employment pilot”.

There are 2.1 million Australians with disability of working age, but only 53.4% are in the labour workforce. We also know 93% of working-age people with disability face difficulties finding work due to the lack of suitable employment and perceived limitations of their disability.

This new employment pilot seeks to address this and provide significant benefits to people with disability, employers and businesses, the economy and the broader community.

There has been a big increase as a consequence of the indexation made necessary by this higher inflation. And so that indexation is flowing through I think in welcome ways to people who are on payments. There will always be an appetite to do more and to do better when it comes to these payments. And we will always do what we responsibly can to support people, particularly people on low and fixed incomes.

It’s not something I’m contemplating because ... our position on those tax cuts hasn’t changed. And it’s not the only factor frankly in the budget which people are talking about right now, in welcome ways. As we get towards the budget, that I’ll hand down in May, there’s a lot of pressure on the budget when it comes to aged care, health care defense, spending the NDIS, the cost of servicing the trillion dollars of debt that we inherited from our predecessors.

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PM’s China dialogue comments ‘sneaky’, opposition says – as it happened

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Authorities to crack down on taxi and rideshare rip-offs

The Point to Point Commissioner is expecting a busy New Year’s period, after a “landslide of complaints” to the taxi industry hotline in the lead-up to the holiday period.

Businesses in the hospitality, tourism and retail industries heavily rely on a transport system that is safe, reliable and cost-effective to get Sydneysiders around our city.

If the system fails on delivering this service then people will not come into the city, which in turn will have an adverse knock-on effect on other businesses as a result.

Yes we have to continue to pursue them but the easiest way they could be resolved is by the Chinese government ending the sanctions on barley and wine. If they did that, then obviously, those disputes we no longer need to continue to take them – that would be the best thing that could occur, although I see no sign of that at the moment.

I see we’re dangling carrots out in front of the Chinese ... accession to CPTPP [Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership], which was something we never talked about, I see the new government is talking about it. This is very concerning – that they would offer access to that incredibly important trade arrangement to try and get the Chinese [government] to move.

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Australian taxpayers footed $87m bill for maritime surveillance for planes that ‘weren’t even flying’

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Surveillance Australia handed six-year extension just three months after auditor general found home affairs’ management of contract ‘not effective’

The home affairs department must hand over a list of all expiring contracts due for renewal after it extended a contract for civil maritime surveillance for six years, just months after a critical report found it had paid for flight time when no planes were in the air.

The auditor general in October 2021 found the department’s management of the contract with Surveillance Australia was “not effective” and “as a result, while surveillance services have been provided, the quantum and range of those services has fallen short of the contractual requirements”.

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Peter Dutton lets Christmas take a back seat to bad news in Yuletide address as Anthony Albanese expresses ‘gratitude’

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The PM, an election winner in 2022, starts his festive address noting Christmas is ‘such a special time of year’

When George V decided to broadcast a Christmas message to his British subjects in 1932 he started a tradition that leaders across the world continue to embrace. Some more successfully than others.

The recipe for the Christmas message is fairly simple – one part reflection on challenges from the past year, one part acknowledgment of current events and one part hopeful throw forward (with a dash of unity).

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Qantas sends back up plane to Azerbaijan after passengers fume – As it happened

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Qantas has apologised to passengers and thanked them for their patience after a Singapore to London flight was forced to land at Baku airport – This blog is now closed

Job agencies join calls to scrap elements of ParentsNext program

Job agencies running the contentious ParentsNext program have called on the Albanese government to scrap compliance from the scheme, with one suggesting the current system is “morally questionable”.

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Liberal party review of election loss finds 50% of candidates and new MPs should be women

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Review recommends setting a target for greater female representation but not a binding quota

The Liberal party should set a target for 50% of candidates and new MPs to be women, according to a review of the Coalition’s 2022 election loss.

Guardian Australia has confirmed the review, which is being finalised this week, will not recommend a binding quota despite highlighting the need to boost female representation as central to modernising the party.

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Bid to make key robodebt documents public blocked – as it happened

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Fans frustrated at last-minute World Cup arrangements

As fans and supporters made their way out of the Darling Harbour viewing site for the Socceroos’ round of 16 loss to Argentina, many expressed their frustration at the hastily organised event.

Lots of us got locked outside. It would have been good if they let some more people in. There were so many up there on stairs, it could’ve been more dangerous if they jumped around too much.

Six thousand people for a major sporting event is just not good enough. It looks like triple that number have turned up. It feels like they underestimated the number of people who would turn up today.

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Australia news live: interest rates tipped to rise next week; airport strike planned for next Friday called off

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Speaking on a panel of central bankers on Friday, Philip Lowe said it was possible to execute a soft landing for the economy. Follow live

Rishworth defends superannuation stance

There are still calls on the government to add superannuation payments to paid parental leave. Rishworth is asked if it’s something the government is committed to looking at in this term of parliament:

We’ve set up the women’s economic equality taskforce to look at a range of issues. Along with our childcare changes and our paid parental leave, we have really put women’s economic participation front and centre of this government, as a priority.

I think this is disingenuous by the opposition leader, there is plenty of detail of what a model would look like.

His party is clearly divided. He needs to be a leader when it comes to this.

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