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We’ve just spoken to St Vincent’s hospital and confirmed that the woman bitten by a shark in Sydney Harbour last night remains in hospital in a stable condition.
The woman, in her late 20s, was bitten on the right leg by a suspected bull shark in Elizabeth Bay last night.
Continue reading...The Howard government drafted a statement declaring its support for an emissions trading scheme before abruptly changing course
The Howard government drafted a statement declaring its support for an emissions trading scheme 20 years ago, only for the idea to be scuttled by business lobbying, newly released documents show.
Cabinet papers from 2003, released by the National Archives on Monday, show the then Coalition government was in possession of clear advice from Treasury that a broad-based market mechanism would be the cheapest way to reduce emissions.
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Watts has gone on to confirm that there are still 65 Australians stuck in Gaza that the government is “supporting” and are being provided consular assistance.
Watts says Dfat is working to get those individuals to the Rafah crossing and out of Gaza “as soon as possible”.
We know this is an incredibly distressing time for Australians in Gaza and their families and we are providing all possible support we can, communicating through all available channels the best information and options we have about their safety in a very difficult situation.
The circumstances on the ground are incredibly challenging and they are changing on a day to day basis. This is a conflict zone. It is a very difficult operating environment so we do the best job we can in the circumstances.
Crossings like this are the result of an enormous effort from Australian consular officials and diplomats in the region. So many conversations at the ministerial level, foreign minister Wong spoke with her counterparts in the region and we’re grateful that this initial cohort has made the crossing from Gaza to Egypt.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Former PM accuses John Howard and Tony Abbott of ‘outrageously and wilfully misinterpreting’ result in attempt to return to ‘great assimilation project’
Indigenous Australians were always “fighting the wrong fight” with a voice to parliament, the former prime minister Paul Keating has said, and the failure of the referendum has now “ruined the game” for a treaty that could have properly acknowledged prior Indigenous ownership and dispossession.
In an interview with Guardian Australia, Keating accused the former Liberal prime ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott, and the historian Geoffrey Blainey, of “outrageously and wilfully misinterpreting” the referendum result in an attempt to return to “the great assimilation project”.
Continue reading...A US news report claimed Donald Trump discussed secret US naval capabilities with the billionaire Australian businessman
It was a revelation that could have had explosive ramifications.
US news outlet ABC News reported that an “excited” Donald Trump allegedly discussed top-secret details of US nuclear submarines with the Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt, who later allegedly shared the information with at least 45 people, including “three former Australian prime ministers”.
Continue reading...Endorsement of former Australian prime minister revealed a day after Rupert Murdoch retired as chair of Fox and News Corp
The endorsement of former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott for a position on Fox Corporation’s board by Lachlan Murdoch shows he is “doubling down” on the company’s “right-wing crusading”, critics say.
Murdoch welcomed the nomination in one of his first moves since being announced as sole chair of both Fox and News Corp this week following the retirement of his father, Rupert Murdoch, at the age of 92.
Continue reading...Tony Abbott, Warren Mundine and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price were among those urging attendees to oppose the voice to parliament
“We are one,” the motto above the CPAC logo proudly blared on the lanyards around the necks of attendees for the Conservative Political Action Conference in Sydney on Saturday.
It clashed somewhat incongruously with the even bigger text attached to the bright red media passes given to the few journalists who came to cover the event: “FAKE NEWS”.
Continue reading...The no camp employs lobbyists that specialise in conservative Christian campaigning, Guardian Australia can reveal
The lobby groups campaigning to sink the Indigenous voice to parliament referendum have deep links to a number of conservative Christian organisations and consultancies, a Guardian investigation can reveal.
The no campaign is working with companies that appear to specialise in conservative Christian campaigning, including a US-headquartered marketing and fundraising firm that aims to help Christian nonprofit ministries “fulfill their mission”. Our investigation also shows links between the no campaign and the failed conservative push to defeat the marriage equality postal survey in 2017.
Continue reading...Alliance for Responsible Citizenship includes prominent Brexit voices and Bjørn Lomborg, who has questioned the urgency of the climate crisis
The former prime ministers Tony Abbott and John Howard are among six Australians who have joined a global group fronted by Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson and backed by a pro-Brexit hedge fund billionaire and a Dubai-based investment group.
The group – The Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (Arc) – has been gathering high-profile figures from politics, industry, academia and thinktanks for an inaugural three-day conference in London in late October.
Continue reading...Pearson says reconciliation efforts would be ‘dead’ if the proposal is rejected, while a yes vote would have ‘tectonic’ positive change
Indigenous leader Noel Pearson has called Tony Abbott’s calls to scrap the voice to parliament “absurd”, claiming the proposal has been examined longer than any other public policy idea, and warning that a no vote could lead to a future of “almost endless protest”.
Pearson, an architect of the voice, said on Monday that he feared reconciliation efforts would be “dead” if the referendum failed and predicted years of protests if the voice was rejected. By contrast, a yes vote would have “tectonic” positive change for the nation, he said.
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Continue reading...Former PM says the cardinal was ‘the greatest man I’ve ever known’, likening his treatment to a ‘modern-day crucifixion’
Former prime minister Tony Abbott has described George Pell, a man found to have failed to act on knowledge of child abuse, as “the greatest man I’ve ever known”, likening him to a saint and comparing his treatment to “modern-day crucifixion”.
Abbott spoke at Pell’s funeral on Thursday and variously described him as “one of our country’s greatest sons”, a “great hero” and a “saint for our times”.
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Continue reading...Former prime minister’s 84 disclosed public speaking activities to soon be marked ‘ceased’ on foreign influence register when he takes up position in US
For years, the former prime minister Kevin Rudd has disclosed details of state-linked media interviews – including with the BBC and Radio NZ – and other public speaking commitments on the Australian government’s foreign influence register.
His prolific postings are based on what the former Labor leader once labelled an “absurd interpretation” of his obligations by government officials.
Continue reading...Speaker after speaker – after wheeling out standard complaints about progressive politicians – poured scorn on the voice concept
Saturday’s CPAC conference in Sydney showed Australia’s political right is gearing up for a fight against the government’s proposed Indigenous voice to parliament – and highlighted the potential political perils of Anthony Albanese keeping many details of the constitutional change out of the public arena for now.
The Conservative Political Action Conference filled a small corner of the International Convention Centre, bringing a mixed assortment of federal senators, rightwing media personalities and international guests together for an audience of around 900. A hodge-podge of topics boiled down to broad grievances around “cancel culture”, “shadow banning” and “wokeism”; speakers variously criticised the “conservative cowardice” of Coalition politicians, the mainstream media and talk of “white privilege”.
Continue reading...Former Australian prime minister, senator Jacinta Price and former senator Amanda Stoker attack voice at conservative conference
Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has claimed the Labor government’s proposed Indigenous voice to parliament would “institutionalise discrimination” in a speech to a conservative political conference that focused heavily on criticisms of the Aboriginal consultation body.
The Coalition senator and Warlpiri woman Jacinta Price, who also spoke at CPAC in Sydney, described the voice as “racial separatism”, telling attendees they would be “called a name” if they opposed the change. Former Liberal senator Amanda Stoker described the concept of the voice as “terrifying”.
Continue reading...Anthony Albanese said visa delays were due to previous gutting of the public service, but said the government has reallocated staff from other areas into visa processing. Follow the day’s news live
Snow in the Blue Mountains
Residents in NSW are seeing snow as an icy blast sweeps through the south-east of the country.
We are genuinely overwhelmed by the incredible wave of support, love and messages we have received from so many people around Australia. This means so much to us as a family. Thank you to everyone for this. John will be blown away.
John will remain in hospital for a period of time for recovery and post operative treatment.
John has been through an eleven-and-a-half hour surgery in Melbourne yesterday and is now in a stable condition in ICU. The cancerous tumour was located in his mouth and it has been successfully removed. There is still a long road of recovery and healing ahead of us, but we know John is up for that task.
We are in awe of the incredible teams of healthcare professionals who have guided us through this very challenging time with such compassion. All of you undertook this big job and have given us a magnificent outcome. To all the surgeons, doctors, nurses and consultants – thank you one and all so very much.
Continue reading...Conservative lobby group uses images of elite swimmers in ads targeting ‘woke politicians’ but Emily Seebohm says Advance acted ‘without my consent’
The Australian Olympic Committee and Swimming Australia are threatening a conservative lobby group with legal action for featuring images of elite female swimmers on billboards it is using to campaign against trans women’s participation in sport.
The AOC will send a legal letter to the conservative group Advance on Tuesday alleging the billboards are using its intellectual property without permission, a spokesperson said on Monday night.
Continue reading...Scott Morrison this week admitted he didn’t know how much staples cost. Given similar questions have undone other politicians perhaps he was wise not to take a stab
Australians have been talking about foodstuffs this week after the prime minister was unable to nominate the price of a loaf of bread when quizzed during his National Press Club appearance.
A Sky News journalist on Tuesday asked Scott Morrison if he had “lost touch with ordinary Australians”. Could the PM, for instance, name the price of “a loaf of bread, a litre of petrol and a rapid antigen test?” Morrison stated that he “wasn’t going to pretend to you that I go out each day and I buy a loaf of bread and I buy a litre of milk”.
Continue reading...Trade minister Dan Tehan sees ‘real opportunities’ to help Taiwan, as he hopes relationship with China has not become permanently adversarial
The Australian government says it wants to help Taiwan decarbonise its economy, flagging this as the next area of cooperation with the democratically ruled island, amid ongoing tensions with China.
The trade minister, Dan Tehan, said he saw “real opportunities” to deepen energy ties with Taiwan, while arguing there was bipartisan recognition in Australia of “the greater assertiveness that we’re seeing from China”.
Continue reading...Embassy in Canberra describes former Australian PM as ‘a failed and pitiful politician’ after he raised concerns that Beijing ‘could lash out disastrously’
China’s embassy in Canberra has denounced the former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott for what it called a “despicable and insane performance in Taiwan”.
On a visit to Taipei to address a regional forum last week, Abbott raised concerns that Beijing “could lash out disastrously very soon” amid growing tensions over the future of Taiwan – and argued the US and Australia could not stand idly by.
Continue reading...The former Australian prime minister uses a speech in Taipei to call on Beijing to ‘scale back the aggression’
The former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has raised fears Beijing “could lash out disastrously very soon” amid growing tensions over the future of Taiwan – and argued the US and Australia could not stand idly by.
Delivering two high profile addresses to a regional forum in Taipei on Friday, Abbott dismissed claims that Australian officials were beating the “drums of war”, while calling on Beijing to “scale back the aggression”.
Continue reading...