Cressida O’Hanlon has significant lead in Dunstan though there are many early votes yet to be counted
Labor’s Cressida O’Hanlon is nervously waiting, hoping to be confirmed as the next member of South Australia’s House of Assembly.
The 51-year-old business mediator is on track to win the seat of Dunstan with a 2.9%, two-party-preferred lead over her Liberal rival Anna Finizio.
Continue reading...The federal opposition leader’s calls to include nuclear power in Australia’s energy mix has so far failed to win support from his state colleagues
The federal Coalition faces a battle with the states on its proposal for nuclear power stations at the sites of decommissioned coal power plants, with state premiers and opposition leaders alike largely against Peter Dutton’s proposal.
Labor governments and Coalition oppositions in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia are either outright opposed to the plan or have failed to endorse it.
Continue reading...SA government seeks legal advice on whether new laws criminalising concealing or interfering with human remains could keep inmate in jail
A man imprisoned for his involvement the Snowtown murders, one of Australia’s most notorious crimes, could be free within months.
Mark Ray Haydon was convicted for his role in the so-called “bodies in the barrels” murders in Snowtown, South Australia, in the 1990s. Eight of the 11 people killed were found in barrels in a disused bank vault in the town, which is 150km north of Adelaide. A 12th death was linked to the killers.
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Crossbench say Australia needs to ‘get cracking’ on Cop15 commitments
More reactions are coming in after the close of the biodiversity Cop15 – which leading scientists have called “vastly more important” than the Cop27 climate meeting, because it decides the “fate of the living world”.
We need to get cracking on implementation to deliver on commitments.
Continue reading...Labor and Liberal members deny making any such agreement with Enid Lyons List, a group with stated aim of getting more ‘pro-life’ women into parliament
The anti-abortion group at the centre of a storm claims parliamentarians from both sides have promised to try to “turn this tide back” on South Australia’s new abortion laws.
Joanna Howe of Enid Lyons List said politicians have agreed to “take forward” a bill that her organisation is working on.
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Continue reading...NSW MP Gareth Ward denies historic sexual abuse allegations; South Australian hospital system ‘under extraordinary strain’ new premier says, as at least 23 Covid deaths recorded nationally; Anthony Albanese proposes award in late Victorian senator Kimberley Kitching’s honour. This blog is now closed
Peter Malinauskas has promised to keep his shirt on from now on, after a photo of his muscled torso made quite a stir in the world of Australian politics.
ABC radio host Patricia Karvelas:
During the campaign, you were photographed shirtless in swimming shorts, and it caused a bit of a stir. I have to ask you ... the Australian’s Greg Sheridan said jokingly on [ABC] Insiders that you’re “far too good looking”. Which I thought was quite a statement. What have you made of the reaction to that picture?
Do you have any idea how much grief I’ve copped around the place as a result of that?
Have they told you just to buff to be premier?
They’ve piled it on, let me tell you. I haven’t stopped copping it, and I deserve every bit of it.
We were announcing a big investment at our major aquatics centre here in South Australia and a whole bunch of us jumped in for a swim in our boardies with our kids there. And, yeah, it got a bit more attention than I anticipated, fair to say.
So you’re going to keep your shirt on from now on?
Damn straight!
I think we’re about to see a federal election where a cost of living is a front and centre issue. And I think Australians get the price of petrol, but they can’t control the price of groceries.
The way we address cost of living as a nation is to start having an incomes policy focus on how we improve working in small businesses to improve the productivity of their labour, so they can earn a higher income. And that’s why education, training and skills is so important.
Continue reading...Peter Malinauskas to become state’s 47th premier as Liberal government deserted by voters after just one term
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Labor has won the South Australian election, with the premier, Steven Marshall, conceding defeat to the opposition leader, Peter Malinauskas, on Saturday night.
The Labor party was on track to win 25 seats and form a majority government after it recorded a 7.3% swing in its favour.
Continue reading...The opposition is ahead in the polls. Whether that translates into a win – and what it would mean for the federal election – isn’t certain
State elections are not always of great interest to people beyond the borders, but today’s South Australian poll is getting more attention than usual as it comes in the lead-up to the May federal election.
The latest poll shows Labor poised to tip out the Marshall government after just one term in power. It shows a swing of about 8%, putting Labor ahead 56 to 44 on a two-party preferred score.
Continue reading...Magistrate finds allegation he slapped fellow MP Connie Bonaros on the bottom not proven beyond a reasonable doubt
The South Australian MP Sam Duluk “behaved like a drunken pest” but has been acquitted of assault after allegedly slapping a fellow MP on the bottom at a parliament house Christmas party.
The accusation stemmed from Duluk’s conduct towards the SA-BEST upper house MP Connie Bonaros at the celebrations in December 2019.
Continue reading...SA to exit lockdown at midnight; NSW records 172 local Covid-19 cases overnight; Victoria lockdown to ease from midnight after state records 10 cases; Queensland records no new cases overnight. Follow all the day’s news
NSW press conference:
Inevitable Berejiklian is now being grill over Victoria’s sucsess which many are viewing as proof that NSW’s lockdown was too little, too late.
Victoria is now coming out of lockdown. Have they now shown us up? Should we have gone down harder and faster? They’ve done two weeks, we’re here in week five, and with no sign of things slowing down.
Oh look, I think it’s important to note that every state has had its own course during the pandemic.
Victoria is emerging out of its fifth lockdown, and I appreciate appreciate people want to make comparisons, but it’s also important to note that every state has had its own course. Every state has its own history of how they’re built with the pandemic.
Melbourne: schools, restaurants and bars open.
Sydney: 172 cases. Highest case number since the borders were shut and edging towards the 200 record.
NSW reports 145 local Covid-19 cases overnight; no lockdown announcement for Victoria today after 11 new local cases recorded; SA to lift lockdown from midnight tomorrow and another vaccine record. Follow the latest updates
Brittany Higgins has welcomed the government’s decision to accept all 10 recommendations of the Foster review into how federal parliament responds to serious incidents.
The government put out a press release announcing this earlier today.
I am so pleased to hear that all 10 recommendations of the Foster Review will be implemented.
These reforms, most notably the independent complaints mechanism, will ensure Parliament House is a safer workplace for all future employees. https://t.co/wNNkVy4y9D
Sydney Covid crisis could take months to recede if other outbreaks are anything to go by - depressing read (but with good charts) from @joshcnicholas looking at peaks and troughs of covid waves https://t.co/slr3A5O9gX pic.twitter.com/4zR7STbB3i
Continue reading...Mask-wearing mandatory for all indoor public venues, including public transport, as health authorities brace for more coronavirus cases due to the level of activity of a man in his 50s while infectious. Follow latest updates
Fairly wild photo of former Australian cricketer Brett Lee and broadcaster Neroli Meadows on a flight out of India (not sure where they’re going, surely we won’t lock up Bing, it’s been a big enough week for former Australian test cricketers as it is).
☣️ As COVID-safe as it gets …
Brett Lee and Neroli Meadows are prepared for the task to start their journey from India.
@Neroli_Meadows #IPL #IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/xGQIdvCy1P
This is quite a wonky but important national security story: there’s concern that the independent monitor of intelligence and security agencies could become too close to them.
A government member of parliament’s security committee has questioned whether the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security is too close to the agencies it is supposed to be monitoring, AAP reports.
The committee is scrutinising proposed laws intended to keep Australia’s close-knit network of intelligence agencies in check.
Liberal committee member Celia Hammond gathered evidence at Thursday’s hearing about the practice of intelligence agencies getting pre-operational advice from IGIS.
“Overall I think the danger, even with the best will in the world, is huge,” said Bret Walker SC, chair of the Law Council of Australia’s constitutional law committee and member of its criminal law committee.
“I think it is depriving oversight agencies of a critical degree of detachment.”
Just like judges don’t have lunch with litigants, consulting the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission about a transaction that might be insider trading was a very bad idea, Mr Walker said.
“There is a real risk, a constant one, of all oversight supervisory bodies engaged in this sector of government activity, of those of us doing that work, being duchessed by the people we are meaning to be supervised.”
The new bill will expand the remit of the inspector-general to include ACIC and AUSTRAC, which gathers financial intelligence on money laundering, organised crime, welfare fraud, tax evasion and terrorism financing.
The committee also heard that the oversight bill is not dependent on the passage of the identify and disrupt bill that will add to surveillance powers and warrants for the Australian Federal Police and ACIC.
Inspector-General Christopher Jessup QC said it was critical in a democracy that intelligence agencies were subject to strong oversight and accountability mechanisms.
“Indeed, independent and credible oversight of intelligence activities is a core element of the public’s trust in intelligence agencies and their operations,” Dr Jessup said.
But the bill doesn’t include any intelligence functions of the federal police and Home Affairs.
Commonwealth Ombudsman Michael Manthorpe said there were already overlaps engineered into the system and the bill would add to them, but they could refer complaints or matters to IGIS.
“I have very specific oversight powers with respect to the various covert and intrusive regimes that exist for law enforcement,” Mr Manthorpe said
“But I also have a broad jurisdiction as the ombudsman under the Ombudsman Act to look at and inquire into complaints of a very wide array about administration in the Australian public sector.”
For the Morrison government, the bill introduced last December is in line with last year’s review of intelligence laws by former ASIO boss Dennis Richardson who also served as Defence secretary and foreign affairs chief.
Critics say the latest Richardson review is a watered down version of the Independent Intelligence Review of 2017, which found a “compelling case” to also include the federal police and Home Affairs.
George Williams, head of the Gilbert and Tobin Centre of Public Law, said the bill would leave significant gaps and wanted it extended to include all intelligence functions across government.
“It requires a specialised kind of oversight - the gold standard that IGIS provides,” Professor Williams said.
He also called for a broader body of work on Australia lacking the parliamentary oversight enjoyed by other members of Five Eyes, particularly the United States and the United Kingdom where parliamentary committees exercise more influence on powerful agencies.
Plus: aircrew driver tests positive for coronavirus in Sydney, and heavy rain and flash flooding forecast for northern NSW. Follow the latest updates
• Aircrew driver tests positive for Covid in NSW
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A severe weather warning has been issued for Wagga and much of the Riverina for flash flooding this afternoon.
Severe thunderstorms have been forecast for the entire region, all the way from Hay in the west, right across to the east coast, and from the Queensland border down to Tumbarumba.
⚡SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING⚡ for HEAVY RAINFALL. Warning current for much of central and eastern NSW and the ACT.
2hr Obs: 92mm @ Lismore.
30min Obs: 26mm @ Glen Alice, 25mm at Mt.Werong & 22mm @ Lake Burley Griffin.
⚠️Warnings: https://t.co/30woSZ6O2x#ifitsfloodedforgetit pic.twitter.com/L8OXMiSlAz
Victoria police commissioner Shane Patton has sought to differentiate between the police approach during the Black Lives Matter protest in Melbourne in early June and anti-lockdown protests that were broken up during the second wave, with many more fined.
Patton told a Victorian parliament Covid-19 committee on Wednesday that at the time of the BLM protest, the spread of Covid was not as big as it was later on in the second wave, and there weren’t the severe restrictions at the time that were seen later – in June, groups of up to 20 people could assemble.
We eventually made a decision to reluctantly allow that Black Lives Matter to go ahead, because of the emotion that was in the community, because of the emotion that was being displayed across the world.
And that’s what we did.
Continue reading...Commissioner to find $13bn plan to restore river took into account factors other than the environment’s needs when it set the amount of water needed to be bought back from irrigators
The Murray Darling Basin Plan is likely in breach of the commonwealth act that underpins it – the Water Act 2007, the South Australian royal commission into the plan is expected to find.
The report of the royal commission into the Murray Darling Basin Plan is being handed to the state governor on Tuesday but it is up to the SA government when it is released.
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