LNP lets property developers be ‘diamond’ members after donations ban

For a special membership fee, developers will have access to Liberal National party events such as cocktail receptions

The Queensland Liberal National party will offer property developers free cocktails and other perks as part of a paid “diamond membership” package, following the state’s ban on them making political donations.

At its annual convention, which is being held across three days this weekend, the party said it would institute the new membership scheme, which allows developers and others to pay a $990 special membership fee.

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Queensland Coalition MPs push for inquiry to lift Australia’s nuclear power ban

Keith Pitt and James McGrath behind move, saying ‘we have to be able to investigate all options’

A group of Queensland Liberal National party MPs reportedly want parliament to consider the feasibility of nuclear power in Australia.

The energy source is banned as a source of power but several Coalition MPs will put forward a motion in the Senate to create a committee to investigate using nuclear power in the energy mix.

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Matthew Canavan emulates Tony Abbott with raw onion munch

National party politicians struggle to get attention during election campaigns, but Canavan reckons eating an onion with the skin on might take off

It’s enough to bring tears to voters’ eyes.

Four years after Tony Abbott munched on a raw onion, resources minister Matthew Canavan has followed suit.

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Australian election 2019: Coalition’s tax attack on Labor blunted as Dutton makes gaffe on disability

The day started with Scott Morrison talking about a $387bn Labor tax slug and ended with Bill Shorten calling a Peter Dutton jibe ‘disgusting’

Scott Morrison’s ambition to make day two of the election campaign all about a $387bn Labor tax slug has been disrupted by Treasury disavowing the number and Peter Dutton accusing his Labor opponent in Dickson of using her disability “as an excuse’’ for not moving into the electorate.

Morrison hit the hustings on Friday armed with what the government said was new Treasury numbers revealing Labor’s “tax hit on the economy” would be $387bn but, later in the day, the Treasury head Phil Gaetjens confirmed officials had costed Labor measures at the government’s request but had not provided a total, making it clear the calculation was the government’s number.

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One Nation’s James Ashby filmed seeking $20m from NRA to weaken Australia’s gun laws

Al-Jazeera journalist posing as gun campaigner films senior party figures in Washington DC soliciting financial support to help One Nation seize the balance of power

Senior One Nation figures James Ashby and Steve Dickson have been caught seeking millions of dollars of political donations from US gun rights group the National Rifle Association in a bid to seize the balance of power and weaken Australia’s gun laws.

The revelations are contained in an al-Jazeera investigation which used hidden cameras and a journalist posing as a grassroots gun campaigner to expose the far-right party’s extraordinary efforts to secure funding in Washington DC in September.

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Peter Dutton tops GetUp’s ‘hard right’ hit list for federal election

Tony Abbott in second place as activist group looks to extend list of targets

Peter Dutton is the most unpopular Australian politician among GetUp supporters, with the activist organisation now looking to extend its “hard right” MP target hit list for the upcoming federal election.

The home affairs minister, who is already facing an established GetUp campaign against him in his marginal Queensland seat of Dickson, dominated the activist group’s poll of most loathed politicians, attracting 22,028 first-place votes.

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