Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
AstraZeneca vaccine now recommended for over-60s;Sydney’s eastern suburbs cluster grows; Victoria records no new local cases. Follow the latest updates live
Does the acting Prime Minister agree that no adult worker should be paid less than the minimum wage?
Well, Mr Speaker, as I said in my previous answer, we’re operating under the same conditions for wages, for industrial relations, and was established by the then Labor government. And the government’s record and I appreciate that whilst he didn’t mention this in his question, but it’s talking about worker exploitation and wage underpayment, and we have zero tolerance for any exploitation of workers.
And that includes the underpayment of wages and entitlements by any employer. We have zero tolerance. And the government has taken unprecedented action to protect vulnerable workers. Since 2016...
We have committed more funding to the Fair Work Ombudsman, strengthened their investigative powers to compel witnesses to provide evidence, and increased penalties up to 10 fold for worker exploitation.
People who work should be paid a fair and decent wage.
Tony Burke asks Michael McCormack about a woman named Kate, who took a job picking fruit, on ‘piece rates’ (a common way fruit pickers are paid) and was forced to find food in supermarket garbage bins, as she couldn’t afford food, despite working seven days a week.
McCormack starts talking about the minimum wage. Which this woman doesn’t receive (something Burke points out)
I take the member for Watson’s point. But we are operating under the same system of wages and industrial relations that we did when Labor were in government. And indeed, and indeed - there was a wage decision case made this week, this week.
As he said, we have had - we’ve got an industrial relations framework which reflects what was introduced by the previous government.
And Mr Speaker, I make it very clear our government has zero tolerance for any exploitation of workers. And is committed to ensuring that workers have the opportunity to make a positive contribution to the Australian economy, without the fear of exploitation. We have the highest minimum wage in the world, and we have extensive safeguards in place.
Does parliament even happen if the motion to remove Andrew Laming from his committee role isn’t defeated?
Heading into the Chamber for the daily Laming.
Scott Morrison told Australians Andrew Laming would stand down from all his roles, then allowed him to keep a ~$20k Committee role.
Every day we move a motion calling on the PM to keep his word & every day Lib MPs vote against it
In 10 minutes of my life I will never get back, I just watched Michael McCormack on Sky News (fun fact, you can skip ahead to any point of a McCormack interview and it still makes as much sense if you listened to it straight through.
And of course, even during a trade deal interview, he can’t help but take a swipe at the Greens.
We don’t things just to annoy the Greens, although I think the Greens annoy the hell out of everybody.
I mean I’ve yet have yet to ever see them, condemn the Extinction Rebellion protests, I’m yet to ever see them exalt what our farmers do.
Campaigners say minister’s decision must be ‘first step’ in returning Murugappans to Queensland
The immigration minister, Alex Hawke, says the government’s decision to allow the Murugappan family to live in community detention in Perth will not provide a pathway to permanent resettlement in Australia.
Lawyers for the family welcomed the government’s announcement on Tuesday that they will be removed from Christmas Island, but insisted it must be a “first step” to returning them to the Queensland town of Biloela.
Scott Morrison was denied a one-on-one meeting with Joe Biden yesterday, at the PM’s first meeting with the US president, because Boris Johnson joined it.
Labor’s Penny Wong said it was disappointing that Morrison could not have a one-on-one meeting with Biden.
[The three-person meeting] was an opportunity that presented because we’re all here and so it was mutual.
It was a great opportunity for my first meeting, of course, with the president. I mean I’ve known Boris for many years.
The Australian army is investigating allegations of bullying and harassment of officer cadets at the University of Sydney regiment. Allegations include searches through women’s underwear drawers and a nearly three-month period in which cadets were forced to work seven days a week with no days off.
PM resists pressure to commit Australia to 2050 climate deadline as he talks up hydrogen, LNG and carbon capture and storage
Scott Morrison has inked deals with Japan and Germany to develop technology to help reach “a net zero emissions future” – but continues to resist international pressure to formally commit Australia to a firm 2050 deadline.
With the climate crisis taking centre stage on the final day of the G7 summit in Cornwall, England, the prime minister stuck to his preferred approach of focusing on technologies such as hydrogen, rather than signing up to more ambitious medium- and long-term emission reduction commitments.
Labor’s Penny Wong says it’s disappointing the Australian prime minister did not secure a private meeting with the US president
Scott Morrison has met with Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G7 summit and agreed to work closely on challenges in the increasingly contested Indo-Pacific region including China.
Regional issues dominated the Australian prime minister’s first face-to-face meeting with the US president late on Saturday – but the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, also attended in what became a trilateral engagement.
Defence minister says increased presence good for both countries and it’s time for a discussion about ‘threats we face’
The Australian defence minister, Peter Dutton, has backed increasing the number of American military personnel rotating through the Northern Territory and having US navy vessels operate from a base near Perth.
Dutton said on Thursday it would be in the interests of both Australia and the US to strengthen their defence relationship – but indicated the details would be a matter for further talks.
Travel to regional Victoria likely to be barred when lockdown ends Thursday midnight and federal wages support package to be cut off. Follow updates live
Khorshid is asked about the Victorian government’s response to the pandemic, and in particular the current lockdown.
He says:
The AMA has been supportive of the actions of the Victorian government. I think the public expects to be kept safe and this is what is necessary to be kept safe when we’re in an evolving situation. As information comes in, things become clearer, decisions become easier to make. I think the best thing for us all to do is support the advice that’s been given by the chief health officers around the country.
My colleague Paul Karp asked Omar Khorshid about the AMA’s concerns about the recent proposed changes to Medicare rebates.
He asked if the AMA’s concerns have been addressed and what he made of Labor’s warnings of a government assault on Medicare. Are we likely to see another “Mediscare campaign”?
I certainly hope we’re not going see a Mediscare campaign. The sad reality of Medicare is successive governments over the entire life of Medicare have failed to index it properly, and have therefore effectively cut Medicare for 30 years. This review that the AMA has supported was designed to modernise the MBS, and it has taken five years to do, we have a few quibbles and issues with how it was done, but at the end of the day the AMA is supportive of the review process and of most of the outcomes.
Prime minister to say it should be up to sovereign nations to chart their own course and Australia does not support ‘setting false deadlines’
Scott Morrison is resisting international pressure to lock in more ambitious climate commitments, declaring Australia opposes setting targets for certain parts of the economy or “false deadlines for phasing out specific energy sources”.
Before he sets off for the G7 summit in the UK later this week, the prime minister will use a foreign policy speech to say that “ambition alone won’t solve the problem of actually reducing emissions”.
Three aged care workers and a nursing home resident confirmed to have coronavirus; tensions between state and federal government continue over financial support as Victoria enters its fourth day of lockdown
The Garma festival, one of the largest indigenous gatherings, has been cancelled for Covid reasons.
AAP has the story:
A school in Melbourne’s north has shut its doors, after confirming in a letter to parents that a student had tested positive.
Mercy College at Coburg sent out the letter, announcing the school was shut earlier this afternoon.
Although the student was absent for most of last week, following advice from the Department of Health and Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS), Mercy College Coburg has enacted a preliminary closure from this afternoon, as requested.
This closure will allow time for the school and the DH to work through any contact tracing that may be required.
Australian and New Zealand prime ministers talk up closeness of ties as Ardern is forced to defend ‘soft’ stance on Beijing
The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, has warned that “there are those far from here that would seek to divide us”, during a press conference with his New Zealand counterpart, Jacinda Ardern, that focused on how the two countries handle China.
The leaders emphasised unity in the face of Beijing’s increasing regional influence and Morrison said any forces trying to scupper the partnership would not succeed.
Hundreds urged to get tested after positive cases went to a Collingwood game at the MCG, a salon in Bendigo and more cafes in Melbourne inner-city suburbs
A majority of voters think a sprint to an early election would be opportunistic, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll. Follow live updates
From today, anyone over the age of 16 who lives in regional South Australia is eligible for a Covid vaccination – you will have to prove you are a local.
Apologies - an earlier version of this post left of ‘South’ which is a very important qualifier.
Someone please just fire me into the sun. Get it over and done with.
The current deputy prime minister apparently thinks “rapping” is awkwardly moving your shoulders while holding your arms up like a zombified pterodactyl and ugh.
Mike Pezzullo announces digital permit system to verify vaccination status; NSW Upper Hunter byelection results heap pressure on Labor as federal politicians return to Canberra. Follow all the updates live
Tanya Plibersek gets straight into it - asking about Grace Tame’s comment on the Betoota Advocate podcast (we reported that a few posts below)
Can the Prime Minister confirm that was his response to this brave woman’s extraordinary speech?
I would agree it was, indeed, a very brave speech, Mr Speaker. I can’t recall the exact words I used, Mr Speaker, but I wouldn’t question that in any way shape or form, what Grace Tame has said. That is roughly my recollection. That was a very brave statement.
That is exactly what I meant when I said that to her on that occasion. It was a very proud moment for her and her great struggle and challenge over a long period of time and what she did on that occasion was speak with a very strong voice about what had occurred to her, Mr Speaker.
Security guards who work for the Australian embassy in Kabul have staged a peaceful protest on the streets of the Afghan capital, campaigning for access to visas and resettlement in Australia, fearing for their lives and the safety of their families.
In September, Australia, following the US and other coalition forces, will withdraw their military from Afghanistan, after 20 years of war.
Coalition backs $600m gas plant as IEA warns against new fossil fuel use; concerns over speed of vaccine rollout continue with Melbourne hubs below capacity. Follow latest updates
With that I shall depart, leaving the amazing Christopher Knaus in my place to take you through the afternoon.
Just a bit more from that Scott Morrison interview with 2GB earlier today:
The prime minister has brushed off criticism about the red carpet treatment he recently received at an Australian airbase.
We have nothing to do with that, I mean, I just walk out of a plane and whatever is there is there...
I have nothing to do with what the defence forces do when you step out of a plane. So it was nice of them to receive it. It wasn’t the first time that’s happened.
One passenger onboard Saturday’s repatriation flight from India tests positive for Covid in Howard Springs quarantine facility in Darwin. Follow all the latest news live
Health Minister Greg Hunt has stepped up to speak at a press conference in Somerville in Victoria, giving an update on the vaccination program.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian earlier today expressed surprise at a legal loophole that allows students to bring knives into schools.
It comes after a 14-year-old boy at Glenwood High School in Sydney’s North West faces serious charges after allegedly stabbing a 16-year-old boy with a “religious knife.”
Students should not be allowed to take knives into school under any circumstances and I think it doesn’t pass the common sense test.
Even if they’re not using weapons, others might take them from them so I was very taken back when I learnt that.
Schools in NSW are among the safest places in the community, and Glenwood High School is one of those schools.
We are currently working with the department and community representatives to discuss how best to enable students to meet aspects of their religious faith and, at the same time, to ensure our school remains a safe place.
Prime minster says rigorous testing essential for entering country but Anthony Albanese says government failed stranded citizens
Scott Morrison has rejected suggestions Covid-positive Australians were “unfairly blocked” from returning from India, despite conceding problems with the pre-flight testing regime.
About 80 returnees are now in quarantine in the Howard Springs facility in the Northern Territory after they landed from India on Saturday following the lifting of the travel ban from the virus-ravaged country.
You will feel the chill if you live in southern #SA, #NSW and all of #Vic and #Tas, as cold fronts move through from the Southern Ocean, bringing a 3-day wintery blast of cold, wet and windy weather.
The Australian Signals Directorate refuses to say who was behind an attack on parliament’s IT systems in March, despite confirming it knows who it was.
The parliamentary services department confirmed an outage of the system that manages mobile devices was caused by the department shutting the system to prevent an attempted intrusion into the parliamentary computer network.