Category Archives: Penny Wong

Anthony Albanese pledges to lower cost of PBS medicines and boost EVs at Labor campaign launch

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Opposition leader also vows to make gender equity an objective of the Fair Work Act if ALP wins federal election on 21 May

Labor has promised to reduce the cost of medicines on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme, roll out new charging infrastructure for electric vehicles and focus on improving pay equity for women if Anthony Albanese defeats Scott Morrison on 21 May.

The Labor leader used the party’s official election campaign launch in Perth on Sunday to unveil a promise to reduce the cost of drugs on the PBS by $12.50. Albanese told the party faithful gathered at Optus Stadium that meant the maximum price for medicines for millions of Australians would be $30.

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Payne says China military base in Solomons would be a ‘red line’ – as it happened

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Queensland senator Matt Canavan adds to uncertainty about Coalition climate commitments; foreign minister accuses Labor of ‘playing politics’ on national security after Penny Wong criticises Scott Morrison for ‘refusing to take responsibility in Pacific’; at least 50 Covid deaths as WA to ease mask mandate in some settings. This blog is now closed

Scott Morrison is in Townsville (north Queensland) today where he will be making announcements on energy.

Given what we just heard from Scott Morrison there, it’s worth your time having a listen to climate and environment editor Adam Morton on today’s Full Story podcast examining if the policy differences between the Coalition and Labor and ultimately asking: is either party preparing enough for the transformational change ahead?

Economic modelling should be used as a guide. Both sides of politics lean on it more as a forecast that will be fact ... I don’t think anybody can tell us exactly what our power bills will be in 2025, 2030, 2050 but no one disagrees that more solar and wind is good in terms of lowering prices because it is much, much cheaper to generate what’s in place.

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Labor pledges more foreign aid to Pacific with plan ‘to restore Australia’s place as first partner of choice’

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Seven-point plan also includes funding boosts for regional broadcasting and fight against illegal fishing

Labor will vow to increase foreign aid to Pacific island countries and ramp up patrols to fight illegal fishing, as it makes an election pledge to “restore Australia’s place as first partner of choice for our Pacific family”.

A boost to regional broadcasting is also part of the package, with Labor seeking to intensify political pressure on the prime minister, Scott Morrison, in the wake of China signing a security agreement with Solomon Islands.

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Australian politics live: NSW and Victoria to ease Covid isolation rules; Morrison says Solomon Islands-China pact exposes ‘very real risk’

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Penny Wong says Morrison government’s handling of Solomon Islands the ‘worst Australian foreign policy blunder in the Pacific since the end of world war two’; NSW and Victoria to ease Covid restrictions from Friday night; undecided voters will put questions to the rivals at a Brisbane forum tonight in first leaders’ debate of 2022 election campaign; NSW reports 15 new Covid deaths and Victoria 14. Follow all the day’s news

For followers of South Australian politics, the good burghers of Bragg in Adelaide’s east are headed back to the polls, with Vickie Chapman announcing she will quit politics at the end of the month, triggering a by-election.

Chapman is a moderate Liberal and the new SA Liberal leader, David Speirs is ... not in the same faction.

Labor appears to have lost ground in the opening week of the federal election campaign according to the latest Guardian Essential poll, but a majority of respondents still think Anthony Albanese will be Australia’s next prime minister.

The latest survey of 1,020 respondents shows Labor’s standing in the two-party preferred “plus” measure is down three points in a fortnight, and there has been a two point increase in the number of undecided voters. But 55% of respondents believe Labor will win on 21 May.

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Solomon Islands-China pact is worst policy failure in Pacific since 1945, Labor says

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Penny Wong accuses Coalition of mishandling situation, raising concerns of a potential Chinese military presence in South Pacific

Labor has lashed the Coalition in the wake of the newly signed security agreement between China and Solomon Islands, branding it “the worst Australian foreign policy blunder in the Pacific” in decades.

The Coalition government sounded the alarm over the deal, arguing the pact has been negotiated in secret and could “undermine stability in our region”. The foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, and the minister for the Pacific, Zed Seselja, said they were “deeply disappointed” by the deal, and would “seek further clarity on the terms of the agreement, and its consequences for the Pacific region”.

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It may be too late to stop China-Solomon Islands treaty, former Australian intelligence chief says

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Coalition urged to refrain from megaphone diplomacy as it tries to persuade Honiara to change course

China’s proposed treaty with Solomon Islands is an “adverse development for Australia’s security” but it may be too late to stop the deal, a former senior Australian intelligence official has warned.

Richard Maude, head of the Office of National Assessments from 2013 to 2016 and an experienced former diplomat, urged the Morrison government not to engage in megaphone diplomacy as it tried to persuade Solomon Islands to change course.

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

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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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China accuses Australia of ‘violent’ interference in Five Eyes response to Hong Kong election

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Allies voice grave concerns about ‘erosion of democratic elements’ after overhaul of electoral system

China has accused the Australian government of “violently interfering” in its internal affairs after Australia joined with its Five Eyes allies to voice grave concerns about the “erosion of democratic elements” in Hong Kong.

Pro-Beijing candidates have been confirmed to occupy nearly every seat in Hong Kong’s new legislature after an overhaul of the electoral system that authorities said would ensure “patriots run Hong Kong”.

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China accuses Australia of ‘political posturing’ over diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics

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Scott Morrison says athletes will compete in next year’s Games because sport and politics should not mix

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has confirmed Australian officials will not attend the Beijing Winter Olympics, joining the United States in a diplomatic boycott of next year’s Games and prompting accusations from Beijing of political posturing.

Morrison told reporters in Sydney it was “not surprising”, given the deterioration in the diplomatic relationship between Australia and China, that officials would not attend next year’s winter Games.

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‘We felt fooled’: France still furious after Australia scraps $90bn submarine deal

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‘Maybe we’re not friends,’ recalled ambassador says, claiming Scott Morrison ‘kept us in the dark intentionally’

French anger at the Morrison government’s decision to scrap its $90bn submarine program with France continues to boil over, with the country’s recalled ambassador saying it felt “fooled” by the announcement.

Jean-Pierre Thebault was ordered back to Paris in the wake of the Aukus announcement, which will see Australia enter into a strategic “forever partnership” with the US and the UK.

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‘Dire need’: Australia urged to offer more aid to Indonesia as Covid crushes health system

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Critics say government not doing enough to help neighbour as record cases deplete oxygen supplies

The Australian government has been urged to rapidly step up its assistance to Indonesia, amid warnings the sharp rise in Covid-19 cases is fuelling an “escalating crisis right on our doorstep”.

With aid groups fearing the Indonesian health system is on the verge of collapse, and with oxygen and bed shortages reported in some hospitals, there are growing calls for the Morrison government to help its most populous neighbour.

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ALP national conference 2021: Anthony Albanese to announce $15bn Covid recovery fund – live

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Australian Labor party gathers online to endorse slimmed-down election platform and debate industrial relations, trade and foreign affairs. Follow all the latest updates, live

Delegate Nizza Siano has put forward this one:

Labor’s policy should be framed to provide a positive and compassionate approach by a Labor Government to the treatment of refugees, rather than a reaction to the punitive and cruel approach of the Coalition Government. Refugees and those seeking asylum in Australia are to be welcomed under a Labor Government as assets who enhance this nation and our economy and provide positive contribution to our strong multicultural society.

In this chapter, Michael Danby will move this motion:

Labor calls on China to abide by its own constitution and laws which expressly allows for the cultural autonomy of the Tibetan people within the People’s Republic.

Tibetans must be allowed, as they are under Chinese law, to freely practice their religion, to learn and speak their language and to have official documents in the language of the vast majority of people living in the Tibetan autonomous zone.

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‘She was a very credible person,’ says friend of woman who claims minister raped her in 1988

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Jeremy Samuel says the incident ‘was a very, very heavy weight on her. I’m incredibly sad for her on so many levels’

Jeremy Samuel says he met the woman who has alleged she was raped by a cabinet minister in January 1988 during that same year.

“I was her friend,” Samuel told Guardian Australia on Monday. “I just want to say that my friend was an incredibly smart, witty, talented and capable person.”

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Historical rape claim against current minister a ‘test’ for PM, Albanese says

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Labor leader says Scott Morrison must satisfy himself ‘the current make-up of the cabinet can continue’

Anthony Albanese has said a historical rape allegation against a current cabinet minister is a “test” for Scott Morrison, who must satisfy himself it is appropriate for the man to continue in his current position.

While agreeing that police were best to investigate the complaint of sexual assault, which allegedly occurred in 1988, the Labor leader argued on Sunday that Morrison must separately “assure himself … the current make-up of the cabinet can continue”.

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Australian MPs pull out of dinner with Qatari ambassador over Doha airport incident

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Members of security and intelligence committee snub invite in protest at invasive treatment of women before flight to Sydney

Australian politicians from the major parties have pulled out of a formal dinner at the Qatari ambassador’s residence in protest at the invasive treatment of women at Doha airport.

Members of parliament’s security and intelligence committee have taken the stand as political pressure grows for the government to strengthen its response to the compulsory medical examination travellers endured before travelling from Doha to Sydney on 2 October.

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ALP pursues government over land deal as Coalition defends childcare scheme – as it happened

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Melburnians can now travel up to 25km and spend more time out of the house; and federal parliament resumes with Senate estimates. This blog is now closed

To recap:

In the off chance you aren’t completely fed up with Covid-19 data, the federal health department has been publishing a weekly snapshot of how each state is going.

This is an interesting tool for assessing the success of contact tracing in various states, especially as the case load in Victoria continues to drop.

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Labor calls on Josh Frydenberg to front Covid-19 inquiry to explain jobkeeper ‘$60bn black hole’

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Penny Wong says treasurer should have ‘the courage’ to take responsibility for error as Coalition faces calls to expand wage subsidy

Labor will attempt to pressure the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, to appear before the Senate’s Covid-19 inquiry to explain the “$60bn black hole” in the jobkeeper program.

The move comes as the Morrison government faces growing calls to expand the wage subsidy to cover a wider group of workers, after revelations on Friday that the six-month program is now expected to cost the budget $70bn rather than $130bn.

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Police ask Clover Moore for statement on Angus Taylor – politics live

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Sydney lord mayor approached by police investigating accusations the emissions reduction minister relied on a falsified document to attack her. Follow all the day’s political news live

That’s where we’ll leave the live blog for the day. Thanks for following along.

It’s been another messy day. Many say the medevac repeal has made it one of parliament’s darkest.

Another development on the Angus Taylor front.

The City of Sydney’s lord mayor, Clover Moore, has been approached by police to provide a statement for their investigation into accusations Taylor relied on a falsified document to attack her travel-related emissions. The council said in a statement:

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Morrison’s ‘arrogance’ on climate blasted as Australia accused of ‘trying to destroy’ Pacific islands

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Labor says PM has trashed Australia’s standing as former Kiribati president urges review of Australia’s membership

Labor has accused Scott Morrison of trashing Australia’s standing in the Pacific and alienating its friends at the Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu, while a former president of Kiribati has urged Australia’s membership to be reviewed.

Anote Tong said the forum should consider possible sanctions or suspension of Australia for its continued “protestations” on coal and climate.

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Federal election 2019: Penny Wong and Kristina Keneally join Labor MPs backing Albanese for leadership – politics live

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ALP searches for a new leader to replace Bill Shorten as Palaszczuk seeks Adani approval timeline by Friday. All the day’s events, live

Prime Minister @ScottMorrisonMP & I met with Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe in Sydney this morning.

The independent @RBAInfo helps maintain stability of our currency as well as the employment, economic prosperity & welfare of the people of Australia. pic.twitter.com/moLeByzxbK

I'm not saying "economic anxiety" isn't often a euphemism for racism. But we prob should stop wondering why Townsville people are receptive to any hope of jobs pic.twitter.com/W4ir9Xa2Di

You’ll notice how often jobs comes up in this piece. Townsville is absolutely struggling. And minor parties did make all the difference.

Related: The story behind Herbert, the most marginal seat in the country – Australian politics live podcast

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