Category Archives: Tony Burke

Creative Australia boss forced to refute rumour he had resigned as fallout over Khaled Sabsabi dumping continues

Posted on by

Adrian Collette sends all-staff email denying that he and the chair of Creative Australia’s board had quit amid calls for resignations

The beleaguered CEO of Creative Australia, Adrian Collette, has quashed rumours that emerged overnight that he and the chair of the body’s board, Robert Morgan, had resigned.

“There is a rumour circulating on social media that Robert Morgan and I have resigned,” said his email to all staff of the government arts funding organisation, sent just after 8.30am on Friday.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

‘No artist’ will want to represent Australia at Venice Biennale after Sabsabi dumped, former museum head says

Posted on by

Elizabeth Ann Macgregor says Tony Burke has questions to answer after Khaled Sabsabi’s offer was rescinded but the arts minister has denied involvement

The Australian Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale is likely to remain dark next year for the first time, the former director of the Museum of Contemporary Art says.

Elizabeth Ann Macgregor on Tuesday weighed into the fracas over Creative Australia’s decision to rescind its Venice Biennale contract to Lebanese-born Australia artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino, just six days after announcing the pair would be Australia’s representatives at the 2026 prestigious international art event.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Convicted murderer among three members of NZYQ cohort to be resettled in Nauru under deal struck by Labor

Posted on by

Three non-citizens with criminal histories taken into immigration detention in preparation for removal from Australia, home affairs minister says

Three members of the NZYQ cohort of non-citizens, including a convicted murderer, will be resettled in Nauru after the Albanese government struck a deal with the tiny Pacific nation for an undisclosed sum.

The trio were placed into immigration detention in preparation for their removal from Australia after being granted 30-year resettlement visas by Nauru on Saturday, the home affairs minster, Tony Burke, announced on Sunday.

The NZYQ cohort includes non-citizens released into the community in Australia as a result of a landmark 2023 high court decision, where the court ruled in favour of “NZYQ”, a stateless Rohingya man, who faced the prospect of detention for life because no country had agreed to resettle him, due to a criminal conviction for raping a 10-year-old in Australia.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

More than 80,000 at risk of deportation from Australia under Labor bill likened to UK’s failed Rwanda plan

Posted on by

Bill gives authority to federal government to pay third countries to accept unlawful non-citizens on a removal pathway

More than 80,000 people are susceptible to deportation from Australia to third countries paid to take them under Labor’s new bill which has been likened to the UK’s failed Rwanda deportation plan.

At a Senate inquiry hearing on Thursday, home affairs department officials confirmed that the migration amendment bill could affect far more people than those released from immigration detention by the high court but insisted it did not expand the cohort of those eligible for removal.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

An estimated 75,400 people with no valid visa in the Australian community.

4,452 people on bridging visa E, so they can make “acceptable arrangements to depart Australia”.

986 people in immigration detention.

193 in community detention.

246 on bridging visa R, released as a result of the high court’s NZYQ ruling that indefinite detention is unlawful.

A further 96 people on BVRs that predated that decision.

Continue reading...

Four foreign nationals removed from Australia after reportedly being found on remote NT island

Posted on by

Australian government won’t say if four reportedly found on Croker Island have been taken to country of departure, of origin, or to regional processing centre on Nauru

Four non-citizens reportedly found on remote Croker Island in the Northern Territory have been removed from Australia.

The ABC reported the four foreign nationals were found on Monday on the island north of Garig Gunak Barlu national park, near Arnhem land.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

‘We don’t want them in Australia at all’: Labor wants more powers to re-detain and remove non-citizens to third countries

Posted on by

Tony Burke introduces bill to facilitate removal of unlawful non-citizens and regulations to reimpose ankle bracelets and curfews on those released after high court’s NZYQ decision

The Albanese government has introduced a bill to facilitate removal of non-citizens from Australia, including paying third countries to accept people released from immigration detention, triggering cancellation of their bridging visas and possible re-detention.

The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, introduced the bill to “strengthen the government’s power to remove people who have had their visas cancelled to third countries” on Thursday.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Burke accuses Dutton of trying to ‘throw kerosene’ on public debate over Middle East

Posted on by

Home affairs minister says he will cancel visas of people waving Hezbollah flags at rallies as experts point to nuanced community perspectives on group

The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, has accused Peter Dutton of seeking to “raise the temperature” of public debate over conflict in the Middle East, after protests on the weekend included some people holding the Hezbollah flag.

The opposition leader on Monday suggested parliament should be recalled to enact new anti-terror laws that would cover such actions, if it was not already illegal.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Assange says he is free because he ‘pled guilty to journalism’ – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

National weather forecasts

Sticking with the weather, here’s a look at the forecasts across Australia’s capital cities today:

Continue reading...

Ex-Manus Island detainees stranded in PNG threatened with eviction over unpaid rent

Posted on by

Exclusive: About 70 people who sought asylum in Australia remain in Port Moresby, having been previously held in immigration detention

Asylum seekers stranded in Papua New Guinea have been threatened with eviction if an alleged $110,000 rental arrears debt is not paid, leading to urgent calls for the Australian government to intervene to prevent them becoming “homeless”.

The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) wrote to the home affairs department revealing that refugee families with 10 children at Latitude apartments in Port Moresby face eviction on Friday unless the bill is paid by Thursday.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Government gives itself power to pay any non-citizen to leave Australia

Posted on by

Exclusive: Greens decry expansion of scheme to ‘all non-citizens’ – including those whose asylum claims were rejected after arriving by air – as a ‘bribe’

The federal government has quietly given itself the power to pay any unlawful non-citizen to leave Australia or for foreign countries to resettle them, in what the Greens have labelled an attempt to “bribe” asylum seekers.

New regulations made on 15 August expanded the return and reintegration assistance program (RRAP), which currently pays up to $7,500 cash plus expenses to people on bridging visas, or those who arrived by boat, to leave Australia.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

‘Grade five instincts’: why sook is the new insult of choice in Australia’s parliament

Posted on by

In the rough and tumble of the House of Representatives, this barb stands out as an oldie but a goodie

In the hardbitten bear pit of politics, any sign of weakness is pounced on.

The latest favourite barb to be hurled about the federal chamber is “sook” – an oldie but a goodie. A slightly gentler insult than “snowflake”, “bedwetter” or “old jellyback”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

‘Labor doesn’t care what we think’: doctor to take on Tony Burke in safe western Sydney seat

Posted on by

Exclusive: Dr Ziad Basyouny is the first of several independents expected to challenge federal Labor seats amid the Israel-Gaza war

While there are many things driving the independent candidate Dr Ziad Basyouny to challenge Tony Burke for the seat of Watson in Sydney, there is one word that wraps them all together.

“Injustice,” Basyouny declared, speaking from his medical practice in Lakemba.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Government will consider pathways for Palestinians fleeing Gaza to stay longer in Australia, Burke says

Posted on by

Calls for humanitarian approach offered to Afghans in 2021 and Ukrainians in 2022 to be extended to Palestinians as visitor visas expire

The new minister for home affairs, Tony Burke, has confirmed he is looking at ways to allow Palestinians who fled to Australia to stay longer, saying no country should send people back to Gaza right now.

Burke said it was understandable that the government used visitor visas as its first response to the crisis, but acknowledged action was needed because the visas were expiring and the Israeli offensive was continuing.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

CFMEU could be deregistered ‘if that’s what needs to be done’ after allegations, minister says

Posted on by

Federal workplace minister Tony Burke has asked for advice on the extent of powers following claims of criminal links within construction division of union

All options are on the table when it comes to tackling allegations of links between the construction union and organised crime, the federal workplace relations minister says.

Tony Burke has asked his department to advise him on ministerial powers to respond to reports alleging bikies were acting as union delegates and other links between construction projects and organised crime.

Continue reading...

Brain tumour patient had Centrelink payments suspended while in hospital recovering from surgery

Posted on by

Australian Council of Social Service says ‘unconscionable’ case shows why mutual obligations system must be ‘replaced with a fair system’ for jobseekers

A jobseeker is calling for an overhaul to the way suspensions are handled after his Centrelink payments were suspended while he was in hospital recovering from brain surgery.

The Albanese government is mulling an overhaul of the employment services system following a damning parliamentary review that criticised the mutual obligations system, which can suspend jobseekers’ welfare payments if they do not fulfil tasks such as attending meetings and submitting job applications.

Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads

Continue reading...

Australia joins international call for local content quotas on streaming TV platforms

Posted on by

Statement from peak bodies argues independence and viability of global screen industry under threat unless mandatory quotas for non-US content introduced

Australia has joined an international campaign calling on governments to provide better protection for local screen industries in a market dominated by global streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime.

Screen Producers Australia (SPA) issued a joint statement with counterparts in Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand and Canada, demanding regulation to force streaming services to make content that is relevant to local markets where they operate.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Victorian Labor at odds with federal party on industrial relations bill

Posted on by

State treasurer Tim Pallas warns amendments will encourage unions to refuse to bargain as he seeks meeting with Tony Burke

The Victorian government and employer groups have raised the alarm about amendments to Labor’s industrial relations bill, warning they will embolden unions to refuse to bargain with industry.

The Victorian treasurer, Tim Pallas, has written to the federal workplace relations minister, Tony Burke, warning the amendments will guarantee unions “will be no worse off on a clause by clause basis” if they dig in and seek an arbitrated outcome from the industrial umpire, encouraging unions to do so.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australian TV shows including Home and Away handed tax breaks in battle against Hollywood

Posted on by

‘We want to see more Australian stories shown on screen,’ arts minister Tony Burke says

Australian television shows such as Home and Away will be able to compete on a level playing field with Hollywood streaming companies such as Netflix, Apple Tv and Disney+, after federal government changes to tax laws in the industry.

Australian producers have long complained that local productions are unfairly disadvantaged because the tax breaks offered to the industry only apply to mega-budget productions that invariably only Hollywood studios can afford in Australia.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Climate protesters arrested at Port of Newcastle blockade – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

‘The biggest transformation in our country’s history’

Chris Bowen has been talking about Labor’s plans for reducing emissions, but he’s pressed on the fact that the government has been approving new coalmines and gas projects, which add to global emissions.

The way I see this, David, you can enter into a discussion with your international counterparts which we are doing which is us saying to them, “We will continue to be a reliable energy supplier but we want to work with you on your decarbonisation because we have advantages that you don’t have. We can provide renewable energy.” That is an important conversation to have.

Frankly the approach of others is more a slogan than a policy. We are making the biggest transformation in our country’s history and that involves both domestic policies and strong international engagements, as I will be doing over the next couple of weeks and we have been doing all the way through.

It will be treated in the budget statement of risks and liabilities in the normal fashion. But this is the right policy for the right times to ensure emissions come down and reliability goes up.

Continue reading...

Uproar in parliament as pharmacists jeer ministers – as it happened

Posted on by

Liberal deputy leader Sussan Ley is told to leave the chamber during chaotic question time. This blog is now closed

Liddle says ‘we don’t have the detail’ on how voice would work

When it is pointed out that what Liddle is describing sounds like the voice, the Liberal senator says:

No, because we don’t have the detail about who is going to be on that voice and how that’s going to work.

When you actually consider that funds for health, housing, jobs and actually come from Canberra and are sent to the states and territories, there is a lot more accountability that [doesn’t just sit] at the commonwealth level, but also in the states and territories and in those very organisations that are actually charged to deliver change, not just putting a grant application and deliver the same same, but deliver the change.

So that’s why I support that proposition much more and I want to make sure that people who are experts in the particular area of focus are actually the right people at the table.

Continue reading...