Category Archives: Bill Shorten

Australia news live: Andrew Hastie warns of ‘breakouts of strategic disorder’ across globe; high court gives government win in ‘steering wheel’ visa case

Posted on by

High court rules in favour of Andrew Giles in long-running case featuring a ‘bizarre’ photo of a signed ministerial brief next to a steering wheel. Follow today’s news live

‘Aid workers are to be protected’

Penny Wong was also asked to provide an update on the work done by Mark Binskin so far, who was appointed special adviser on Israel’s response to the deaths of World Central Kitchen aid workers, including Australian Zomi Frankcom.

There are positive engagements and we appreciate that this is a very important issue for Australia. We have been saying for a very long time it is important that international humanitarian law be adhered to.

Under international humanitarian law, as you know, aid workers are to be protected. Demonstrably, there was a deadly failure of deconfliction – deconfliction being the ways in which making sure that defence forces are aware of where humanitarian workers are so they can be protected and there was a deadly failure.

We’ve made no such decision, the discussion I want to have is to look at what is happening in the international community where there is the very important debate about how it is we secure long-lasting peace in a region where which has known so much conflict.

Continue reading...

Albanese government not ‘engaging deeply and honestly’ over NDIS overhaul, Queensland premier says

Posted on by

Bill Shorten hits back at criticism from state leaders including Steven Miles, as federal government unveils bill kicking off response to landmark NDIS review

The Albanese government has been accused of not engaging “deeply and honestly” with states and territories over plans to overhaul the NDIS after a landmark report recommended sweeping changes to restore confidence in the scheme and curb growing costs.

The annual budget for the scheme, which provides crucial supports for more than 600,000 Australians with a disability, is expected to rise to more than $50bn in 2025-26.

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

Continue reading...

Australia politics live: Shorten to table bill to overhaul NDIS; Black Summer inquiry to deliver findings

Posted on by

The Labor minister will present the proposed legislation to the lower house this morning. Follow the day’s news live

Ceasefire motion: Birmingham pushed for stronger condemnation of October 7 attacks

Simon Birmingham attempted to amend the motion to include a stronger condemnation of October 7 (the Australian parliament has passed motions condemning Hamas and the events of 7 October in the past).

We acknowledge the government in putting forward a resolution seeking to reflect much of the UN Security Council resolution; however, it is the opposition’s view that that does not say enough. It does not say enough to reflect the totality of the UN Security Council resolution nor does it say enough about the totality of what should be Australia’s clear, unequivocal moral conviction in this conflict.

That is why I present and seek leave to move amendments in this chamber, which would better reflect the UN Security Council resolution—namely, that the call for a ceasefire was for an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan, a ceasefire that would secure the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and that that can then lead to a sustainable ceasefire.

I know that this motion may not reflect every aspect of all our positions on these issues, but there is enough here to agree on. I ask senators to look for the points that are in front of them. Whether senators consider themselves a friend of Israelis or Palestinians or both, as I do, we should be able to come together in agreeing on the urgency of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. When hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are starving, we should be able to come together to underline the urgency of an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan leading to a sustainable ceasefire as per the UN Security Council resolution; we should be able to come together to demand Hamas comply with the Security Council’s demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages; and we should be able to come together to demand that the Netanyahu government comply with the Security Council’s demand that all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale are removed.

If the divided United Nations Security Council could come together on these issues then we ought to be able to do likewise. If countries as different as Algeria, Ecuador, France, the United Kingdom and others can agree on these points, then we ought to be able to do likewise. Not a single country voted against this resolution, and we should recognise what it means that not one of the permanent five members of the Security Council stood in the way. Right now we are faced with reports from the United Nations that 650,000 Palestinians in Gaza are starving and well over a million are at risk of starvation. Right now more than 1.7 million people in Gaza are internally displaced.

There are, as I have said, increasingly few safe spaces to go. Right now there are more than 130 hostages still being held by the terror group Hamas, and we condemn Hamas’ actions as we have always done.

Continue reading...

Bill Shorten to introduce NDIS reform bill as fight looms with states

Posted on by

The legislation aims to cut ballooning costs, and return the scheme to its original intent of supporting people with a permanent disability

The Albanese government is forging ahead with planned changes to the NDIS, including plans to curb the amount participants can claim in budget top ups, amid a looming fight with state and territory leaders over who should pay for disability services.

The NDIS minister, Bill Shorten, will introduce a new bill on Wednesday morning as part of the government’s first tranche of reforms to return the scheme to its original intent of supporting Australians with permanent disability and tackle issues with its ballooning costs.

Continue reading...

Extra $25bn needed to make NDIS sustainable by boosting other disability services, actuary says

Posted on by

Chair of Actuaries Institute committee says money could go towards establishing early intervention programs for those with developmental delays

Governments will need to invest an additional $25bn over the next five years if they are to achieve plans to rein in the NDIS’s growth by lifting disability services outside the scheme to a high enough level, a leading actuary has estimated.

It comes as disability organisations, particularly those advocating for the autism community, raise concerns about who will be able to access the scheme in the future, and whether those who can’t join the NDIS can still be well supported.

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

Continue reading...

Marles will ‘make right decision in Australia’s interest’ over deploying navy vessels to Red Sea, Farrell says – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

Up to 49 tonnes of illicit drugs prevented from reaching Australia

Australian federal police and international law enforcement partners have prevented up to 49 tonnes of illicit drugs from reaching Australia throughout the past financial year.

The AFP cannot overstate the amount of harm that 29 tonnes of methamphetamine could have caused to the community if it had not been intercepted by law enforcement.

On average, close to 12,000 Australians are hospitalised from methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin use every 12 months.

Continue reading...

Labor accused of being more concerned with NDIS costs than people with disabilities

Posted on by

Former ACT minister Emma Davidson voices unease after states and territories given just one month to review landmark report into scheme

A former ACT disability minister has accused the federal government of being more concerned with costs than people with disabilities after giving states and territories just one month to review a landmark report into the NDIS.

The ACT Greens MLA Emma Davidson, who was the territory’s disability minister until a cabinet reshuffle on Monday, said she agreed with decisions made by national cabinet this month but said they weren’t for the “right reasons” in a lengthy letter published on Friday.

Leaders met for a national cabinet meeting in early December where the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, agreed to extend the GST “no worse off” guarantee for a further three years, estimated to cost $10.5bn, in exchange for a joint funding agreement for additional disability services to complement the NDIS.

Continue reading...

Steven Miles confirms run for Queensland Labor leader – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

Palaszczuk reveals she changed her mind in recent weeks

It was only a couple of months ago that Annastacia Palaszczuk insisted she would lead the Labor party to next year’s state election.

I feel refreshed, I feel energised and I’m absolutely determined to lead the party and this government to the next election. I just want to make that very clear to everybody.

In 2015 Annastacia promised good, decent government for the people of Queensland. That’s exactly what she’s delivered for the last nine years. Congratulations on your premiership. You are one of the true Qld Labor greats

Continue reading...

Bill Shorten says it would have ‘helped’ if high court released reasons for indefinite detention ruling earlier

Posted on by

High court demolished indefinite detention system and ‘within one month the Albanese government’s resolved it’, Labor minister says

Labor frontbencher Bill Shorten said it would have been “helpful” if the high court had given its reasons for ruling indefinite detention was unconstitutional at the same time it handed down its decision.

The Albanese government has spent the last month weathering criticism it was too slow to react to the high court’s decision, which overturned a 20-year precedent allowing the government to indefinitely detain refugees and migrants it could not deport.

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

Continue reading...

Australia news live: Daniel Andrews fires up over ‘Dictator Dan’ moniker; festival-goers warned about heatwave conditions

Posted on by

Former Victorian premier gives first interview after resignation, saying ‘the haters hate and the rest vote Labor’. Follow the day’s news live

James Ashby to stand for One Nation in Queensland seat

James Ashby, the chief of staff to One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, will stand for the party in the seat of Keppel at next year’s Queensland state election, AAP reports.

The Nationals are dead in Queensland’s parliament while the Liberals are lurching further left in their attempts to secure inner-Brisbane seats.

Continue reading...

NDIS funding showdown looms as Shorten seeks new deal with states

Posted on by

Bill Shorten is due to release a review of the NDIS but says things won’t ‘change overnight’ amid resistance against moving some disability support services responsibilities to states

Bill Shorten is seeking to defuse a growing row with state and territory governments over funding for the NDIS, insisting the federal government does not want to “change things overnight”.

But with a showdown looming at national cabinet this week, disability advocates have urged leaders not to treat the community as “political footballs”.

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

Continue reading...

Centrelink to get 3,000 new staff in bid to deal with helpline and payment delays

Posted on by

Funding boost of $228m aims to return workers to frontline roles after millions of calls went unanswered

Centrelink call centres will get an additional 3,000 staff as part of an immediate $228m funding boost to speed up claim payments after complaints of blown-out call wait times.

More than 800 workers have already been recruited, with the remaining 2,200 to be employed in centres across capital cities and regional New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, the government services minister, Bill Shorten, announced on Sunday night.

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

Continue reading...

Scott Morrison a ‘bottomless well of self-pity’ with no ‘mercy’ for robodebt’s real victims, Bill Shorten says

Posted on by

Minister for government services says ‘real victims are all those Australians who lost trust in government’ due to scheme

Bill Shorten has accused Scott Morrison of being “a bottomless well of self-pity” with “not a drop of mercy for all of the real victims of robodebt”.

That outburst in question time followed the former prime minister’s defence of his involvement of the scheme in parliament on Monday, claiming Labor was pursuing a campaign of “political lynching” against him.

Continue reading...

Robodebt royal commission report handed down – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

Bill Shorten: robodebt commission report will be a ‘vindication’ for victims and their families

The NDIS minister, Bill Shorten, says today “is a vindication” for victims of the robodebt scandal with the royal commission report being handed down. He told ABC’s RN this morning:

The heart of this story today is the fact that real people unlawfully had debt notices … raised against them by the most powerful institution in Australia, the commonwealth government.

Two of these people, after receiving robodebt notices, subsequently took their own lives that I’m aware of.

Today is not the day [their mothers] want. What they really want is their sons to be alive.

One of the challenges we’re seeing across the country is great teacher shortages … COVID brought that timetable forward.

Classrooms are more complex, there is a great diversity of needs across the classroom, and as society changes a lot of teachers and education ministers are testifying about the impact of technology in classrooms.

Continue reading...

Bill Shorten has ‘no problem’ with public servants displaying support for Indigenous voice at work

Posted on by

Comments come after poster on voice was removed from an NDIS commission office over concerns it compromised impartiality

The federal minister for government services, Bill Shorten, has backed public servants displaying their support for the Indigenous voice referendum at work, after a stoush between unions and the NDIS commission over an information flier posted in an office.

Guardian Australia understands a Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) poster featuring referendum information, bearing a “unions for yes” emblem, was removed from a Melbourne NDIS commission office last week, upsetting the union.

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

Continue reading...

Bill Shorten says public servants adversely named in robodebt inquiry could face disciplinary action

Posted on by

Government services minister will await findings of commissioner Catherine Holmes before considering ‘what to do with those people’

The government services minister, Bill Shorten, has warned that public servants adversely named by the robodebt royal commission could face disciplinary action.

Shorten said he will await the findings of commissioner Catherine Holmes AC SC before making any moves, but that unfavourable findings will be enough for action.

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

Continue reading...

Australia news live: Labor will not lift jobseeker despite recommendation for ‘substantial increase’ to base rate

Posted on by

Follow the latest news live

Joyce describes Indigenous voice as ‘a consultative power by selected group’

Joyce says the voice will affect all Australians, not just Indigenous Australians, because a selected rather than elected body will move away from the democratic process.

It is a massive change to how democracy works because we’re now dealing with a consultative power by selected group, not an elected group … and that move away from the democratic process.

What I’m asking you is that you say on one hand that there’s no legislation … But you also make a claim about a model which doesn’t exist, you can’t have it both ways.

In all the narrative from Mr Pearson, to his Ms Langton, to the Calma Langton report, they talk about selection, not election.

So then you do think you’ve got a model?

Then let us see the legislation.

I just don’t believe that we should be inserting a racial clause into our constitution in 2023.

Tick the box that you believe in racial differentiation. You’ve just ticked the box that you believe in racial differentiation.

It’s the form that it comes in. I’ve got no problems with the statement of fact that Indigenous Australians were the first people in Australia.

I’ve got no problems with the constitutional recognition referendum on the premise that we see the details first … I’m talking to about a more proper and pertinent alternative approach, which means that we get all the details not some of the details, we see the legislation before we vote, we don’t get a blank check. And we also make sure that we see the proper legal opinion before we vote not someone’s opinion of the opinion, which is what Mr Albanese is going to give us.

Continue reading...

Government to target ‘criminal syndicates’ and ‘shoddy therapies’ in NDIS fraud crackdown

Posted on by

Bill Shorten wants to stop practices that treat people like ‘cash cows’ as he reveals taskforce had 1,700 tipoffs in a month

The Albanese government will target “unethical practices” and “shoddy therapies” as it broadens its crackdown on fraud against the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Bill Shorten has revealed.

The government services and NDIS minister will on Tuesday call for an end to practices that treat disabled participants like “cash cows”, such as pressuring them to pay for services they don’t need or that are not in their plan.

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

Continue reading...

Stuart Robert told lobbyist not to donate to Angus Taylor fundraising group as ‘it will be declared and it will hurt you’

Posted on by

Exclusive: Private emails from 2018 show Robert advised Synergy 360 boss not to join supporter network for Liberal colleague

The federal Liberal MP Stuart Robert told a lobbyist and potential donor not to donate to colleague Angus Taylor’s fundraising group as it would need to be declared and “it will hurt you”, emails obtained by Guardian Australia reveal.

Robert was sent an email from his friend David Milo, the chief executive of lobby group Synergy 360, inquiring about an invitation he had received to join the Hume Forum, “the official supporters’ network of federal minister and member for Hume, Angus Taylor”.

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

2 October 2018: the ECE tender opened – three companies including Infosys were shortlisted.

29 May 2019: the member for Fadden was appointed minister for human services and the NDIS.

26 June 2019: leaked emails reveal the minister met Infosys and his good friend Milo, a paid consultant to Infosys, in Sydney.

2 July 2019: final valuation was submitted – negotiations on value and period of contract continued for another four months.

8 November 2019: Infosys was awarded the first of four contracts valued at $18m.

19 November 2019: the minister met Infosys.

30 December 2019: the minister met his friend Milo on the Gold Coast, which triggered an email from Milo saying “minister gave insights on progress of Infosys and future opportunities”.

1 February 2020: the minister was guest speaker at an Infosys conference at Melbourne Park on the afternoon of the Australian Open tennis finals.

1 July 2020: Infosys was awarded a further $142m contract.

Continue reading...

Bill Shorten reveals review into Stuart Robert ‘lobbying scandal’ claims

Posted on by

The former Coalition minister denies he influenced government contracts, declaring in parliament he had ‘zero involvement’

Revelations that Stuart Robert met consultants who facilitated access for a company bidding for lucrative contracts in his portfolio of government services are “concerning”, Bill Shorten has told federal parliament.

Shorten, the government services minister, revealed after question time on Thursday that Services Australia and the National Disability Insurance Agency had agreed to establish a “joint review” into the “Synergy 360 lobbying scandal”.

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

2 October 2018: the ECE tender opened – three companies including Infosys were shortlisted.

29 May 2019: the member for Fadden was appointed minister for human services and the NDIS.

26 June 2019: leaked emails reveal the minister met Infosys and his good friend Milo, a paid consultant to Infosys, in Sydney.

2 July 2019: final valuation was submitted – negotiations on value and period of contract continued for another four months.

8 November 2019: Infosys was awarded the first of four contracts valued at $18m.

19 November 2019: the minister met Infosys.

30 December 2019: the minister met his friend Milo on the Gold Coast, which triggered an email from Milo saying “minister gave insights on progress of Infosys and future opportunities”.

1 February 2020: the minister was guest speaker at an Infosys conference at Melbourne Park on the afternoon of the Australian Open tennis finals.

1 July 2020: Infosys was awarded a further $142m contract.

Continue reading...