Category Archives: Scott Morrison

Jacinda Ardern lashes Scott Morrison for ‘testing’ friendship over deportations to New Zealand

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New Zealand PM says Australia is deporting ‘your people and your problems’ using unfair policies

The New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has lashed Scott Morrison for “testing” the friendship between the two nations, accusing Australia of deporting “your people and your problems” using “unfair” policies.

Ardern took her strongest stance yet opposing Australia’s policy of deporting New Zealand citizens, no matter how long they had spent in Australia, if they had committed a crime.

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Liberal MP says Coalition needs to look at a 2050 net zero emissions target – politics live

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Trent Zimmerman says Australia needs to look beyond good target for 2030 as we head into Glasgow. All the day’s events, live

It’s time for who’s that MP?

It’s Andrew Wallace.

Asked about the Nationals (and some Liberals) who claim a net zero 2050 emissions target would bring about end of days, Trent Zimmerman tells the ABC:

No-one is saying that getting to 2050 with a net zero target is an easy task. It is a challenge.

We know in many areas we are doing really well.

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Malcolm Turnbull warns of ‘catastrophic’ future without net zero emissions goal – politics live

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The former prime minister has stepped into the climate debate, with a stark warning to moderate Liberals to act. All the day’s events, live

Greg Hunt will be giving the next coronavirus update at 1.10pm

Meanwhile, the lights keep flickering in Parliament House, which can only mean that my moods have begun to physically manifest.

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Deportees and a climate crisis: what’s on the agenda as Ardern meets Morrison

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Thorny issues await the two prime ministers when they meet in Australia this week

As gang violence in New Zealand soars – partly fuelled by Australian deportees, police say – prime minister Jacinda Ardern is heading to Sydney for her annual bilateral with Scott Morrison.

The issue of New Zealanders with only distant links to their home country being summarily shipped back to Aotearoa will again be on the agenda, but experts say it is unlikely Ardern will take as tough a stance as last year, when she said the issue was having a “corrosive” affect on trans-Tasman relations.

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Coalition reignites climate war over Labor’s emissions policy – politics live

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Government MPs have lashed out at Labor over its emissions target, with arguments in parliament’s corridors. All the days events, live

Parliament starts at 10am.

Tellingly, Joel Fitzgibbon is on board with Labor’s plan. Here he is writing for his local paper, the Newcastle Herald over the weekend:

The aspiration of carbon neutrality by 2050 (zero net emissions) offers a conservative and low-risk path to satisfying the commitment Malcolm Turnbull made in Paris on our behalf back in 2015.

First, it provides plenty of time to think and act, including the time needed to embrace existing and future technologies.

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Bushfire state memorial honours the 25 victims and the heroes of the NSW fires

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Families enter Sydney Olympic Park service through a guard of honour, with a row of 25 candles marking each life lost

The scars remain but traumatised communities are starting to heal as a state memorial honoured the lives lost and the heroes forged in the New South Wales bushfire crisis.

A public state memorial was held at Sydney Olympic Park on Sunday to recognise the devastating toll of the bushfires that ripped through much of NSW.

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RFS denies sacking volunteer firefighter Paul Parker, who swore at Scott Morrison

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In an interview on Channel Ten’s The Project, Parker said he had been told to leave RFS leading to the hashtag #IStandWithPaulParker trending in Australia

The Rural Fire Service is investigating claims that a volunteer firefighter who told the prime minister to “get fucked from Nelligen” in a viral news clip was “sacked’”by his local brigade.

Paul Parker told Channel Ten’s The Project on Sunday that he was chastised by the RFS for directing the expletive toward Scott Morrison and that he had been booted from the organisation, contrary to reports from the time that he had been stood down due to exhaustion.

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Albanese calls on Phil Gaetjens to make sports grants report public

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Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary must be seen to be independent, opposition leader says

The federal opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, has said top bureaucrat Phil Gaetjens must show his independence in the sports grants scandal “that just stinks”.

Gaetjens, the secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, wrote on Friday to the Senate inquiry into the sports grants saga that cost the previous sports minister, Bridget McKenzie, her job.

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Peter Dutton looking to ‘restrict the damage’ of high court Indigenous decision – politics live

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Parliament sits for the final time this week, with threats to the government’s promised surplus back in the spotlight. All the day’s events, live

The auditor-general will appear at the Senate inquiry into the sports grant affair in about 30 minutes.

Asked if he voted for Llew O’Brien in the deputy speaker ballot, Barnaby Joyce says it was a secret ballot and “the reason ballots are secret is that you don’t tell people how you vote. Otherwise don’t bother having them”. Which leads to this exchange:

Joyce: Who did you vote for at the last election?

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Morrison vows new approach to Closing the Gap as he says latest results ‘not good enough’ – politics live

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Prime minister says reality for Indigenous children a ‘national shame’ as Senate turns up the heat on the government to release the PM&C report into the sports grants affair. All the day’s events, live

Scott Morrison:

There remains much to do.

And we will do it differently by working together. By moving from a fixation with what is going wrong to a focus on strength.

Scott Morrison:

I am saddened that we have not met the target for child mortality but I draw hope and result from the fact that we are making progress in tackling the risk factors.

More Indigenous mothers are attending antenatal care in the first trimester and more are going to at least five antenatal sessions.

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Chief medical officer warns against coronavirus xenophobia – politics live

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The fallout from last week’s leadership spill continues, with rebel MPs refusing to fall into line. All the day’s events, live

There is a real pattern emerging of Nationals MPs wearing green ties with dark blue suits, and really I can see why the party room is in revolt.

Josh Frydenberg is yelling again, and I can’t transcribe it, because GUESSWHOTHATFINANCIALGENIUSWASSIRTAXALOT is doing my head in, and really, you only get one life.

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Prince William and Kate expected to visit bushfire-hit regions of Australia

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A formal invitation from the prime minister to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge is expected this week

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expected to visit Australia to tour regions affected by this summer’s bushfire crisis.

The trip would be Prince William and his wife Catherine’s second visit to Australia as a married couple.

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Indonesian president Joko Widodo addresses Australian parliament – politics live

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The fallout from last week’s leadership spill in the National party continues as Queensland MP Llew O’Brien quits party. All the day’s events live

The hands have been shaken and the talks had – Joko Widodo has left the chamber.

This is interesting.

Joko Widodo:

I would like to propose a number of priority agendas as we head into the century of partnership.

First, we must continue to advocate the values of democracy and human rights.

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Morrison staffer who helped club win grant caught on video urging crowd to vote Liberal

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Online video emerges as the Senate sets up an inquiry into the Coalition’s $100m sports rort grants

Video has emerged online of a member of Scott Morrison’s electorate staff being lauded for helping Cronulla Sailing Club win an $8,400 grant, as the Senate moved on Wednesday to set up an inquiry into the controversial $100m community sport infrastructure grant program.

In the video posted to Facebook, a representative of the club thanks the staffer, identifying her as “Scott Morrison’s PA”, for helping push her to apply for a grant for a new stainless steel barbecue. GrantConnect shows the grant was approved in December 2017 as part of the stronger communities program.

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National party tensions test Coalition as Scott Morrison reshuffles cabinet – politics live

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Prime minister must deal with the National party turmoil as the parliamentary year gets under way in earnest. All the day’s events, live

So what can we expect today, given that parliament is officially back and the climate fires have been acknowledged?

Well, probably an end to what has been described as the “sombre bipartisanship” between Labor and the Coalition.

Awwwwww. I bet he still believes in Santa Claus, the tooth fairy and that the Great Barrier Reef can be saved too!

Here’s Scott Morrison on Barnaby Joyce and the Nationals on the Nine Network this morning:

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30 years of Australia’s hollow promises on climate policy

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This summer, Scott Morrison has faced international criticism over his climate change policies. But this government is just the latest in a long line that have either failed on meaningful climate policy at home, or blocked stronger climate action on the world stage.

In this episode of Full Story, Guardian Australia editor Lenore Taylor explores Australia’s long track record of stalling on climate change action.

To learn more, you can read Lenore Taylor’s piece on Australia’s broken climate policy promises.

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‘New underclass’: Labor warns on Australia’s reliance on short-term migration

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Large numbers of easily exploited temporary migrants could have a ‘corrosive’ effect, says Kristina Keneally

Australia’s reliance on temporary migration is creating a new economic underclass that risks having a “corrosive” effect on the nation’s society, Labor’s shadow home affairs minister, Kristina Keneally, says.

In a major speech to the Curtin institute on Thursday night, Keneally will step up Labor’s attack on the government for its reliance on temporary migration, saying current trends could see as many as 3 million people – or 12% of the population – living in Australia on a temporary basis.

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Canberra fires live updates: capital of Australia faces renewed bushfire threat – latest news

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Huge fires to the south smother city with smoke amid weather forecast for heatwave and searing temperatures as Scott Morrison prepares to address National Press Club today. Follow live news and latest updates

From Tuesday night. A lot of ACT residents are comparing this fire to the devastating 2003 blaze.

Just a reminder of where we’re at. On Monday, a defence helicopter landed in the Namadgi national park, south of Canberra, and accidentally sparked what authorities have called the city’s “most serious” bushfire threat since the city’s devastating 2003 fires.

Tuesday saw dramatic images of the fire approaching Canberra’s southern suburbs, but conditions eased throughout the evening and the fire was downgraded from emergency level to watch and act just before midnight.

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Jacinda Ardern lets phone call from Scott Morrison go to voicemail – video

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The prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, lets a phone call from her Australian counterpart, Scott Morrison, go to voicemail during a press conference. Ardern was speaking about the idea of cooperating with Australia on an evacuation of citizens from Australia and New Zealand from coronavirus-hit Wuhan, China

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Coalition awarded $500,000 sports grant to rejected project after Andrew Broad quit

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Seat became hotly contested once the then National MP quit after allegations of improper conduct on a work trip

The Morrison government awarded a $500,000 sports grant in the rural Victorian seat of Mallee a year and a half after it was first rejected – when the seat became hotly contested due to the resignation of Nationals MP Andrew Broad.

The Northern Grampians shire council applied for the grant in September 2018 and was rejected in the first round of the controversial community sport infrastructure grant program, only to see the $500,000 Lord Nelson Park project in St Arnaud approved in April 2019, just weeks out from the election.

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