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Queensland Liberal National party members have begun agitating for an urgent post-election state council meeting to bring to a head internecine conflicts between the party’s membership, its office bearers and its state leader.
As counting continues in a number of close seats, the LNP’s numbers are likely to go backwards in the next parliament. In her concession speech on election night, Deb Frecklington said she intended to remain as the state leader.
Former deputy premier and treasurer’s seat of South Brisbane was the only seat lost by Labor on election night
Voters in Brisbane’s inner suburbs have turned out in unprecedented numbers for the Queensland Greens who have won at least two city seats at the state election, including that of Labor’s prominent left faction leader Jackie Trad.
Across four electorates spanning the Brisbane CBD and surrounding northern and western suburbs, the Greens polled more than a third of primary votes.
Polls suggest narrow Labor win over Liberal National party but neither side willing to predict result. Follow live
The early counting is good for Labor in Townsville - a minor swing in their favour. Townsville is Labor’s most marginal seat but actually the least likely of three seats in the northern city to flip.
Labor folks are more pessimistic about the Townsville seat of Mundingburra and Barron River, on the outskirts of Cairns.
On Jackie Trad’s chances, Steven Miles says:
The one thing I know about Jackie, she won’t have left one stone unturned to try to hold South Brisbane in what will be challenging contest.
But let’s be clear, it is only challenging because the Liberals had chosen to preference her. If they had preferenced the Greens last, then Jackie wouldn’t be in trouble at all.
There is one Green member in Parliament[Michael Berkman, Maiwar] and that is because of Labor’s preferences, so he that’s crazy he talks about principles. It was amazing enough after the last election when there was a lot of discussion about what the LNP should do at the seat of South Brisbane and basically a revolt from our members with regards to the fact that we didn’t do what we’ve done this time.
Jackie Trad is very polarising, particularly amongst our supporters and they are very comfortable with the decision that has been made. In fact, in some ways you could say that they it, and now we will see what the result will be.
A controversial $1.3bn project brings together angry voters from across the political spectrum in Mark Robinson’s electorate of Oodgeroo
This week residents in Cleveland, a bayside community south of Brisbane, received a letterbox flyer from their local MP, the ultraconservative Liberal National Mark Robinson, talking up his environmental credentials.
All things being equal, the election campaign in Robinson’s safe seat of Oodgeroo would be a foregone conclusion. The born-again evangelical, who employs former Australian Christian Lobby head Lyle Shelton in his local office, won the seat with 52% of the primary vote in 2017.
State’s chief health officer says it was ‘inappropriate’ to single out migrant community in Casey
Victoria’s chief health officer, Brett Sutton, has apologised for comments he made singling out Melbourne’s Afghan community in relation to a Covid-19 outbreak in Casey.
Sutton made the apology as the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, announced 21 new coronavirus cases and seven more deaths in the state on Saturday. It was the lowest number of new Covid-19 cases in the state since 24 June.
Victoria police have fined 76 people over the past 24 hours, including eight for not wearing a face mask.
Examples include three men “located in a carpark with no legitimate reasons for being there” and one man and one woman who drove from Tarneit to St Kilda East “to buy fried chicken”.
Queensland will re-open its border to people from the ACT from 25 September, the health minister Steven Miles has just announced.
Andrews thanked all Victorians for the role they played in getting the daily coronavirus numbers down below 100.
I’d simply say that, whilst tomorrow’s numbers will be for tomorrow, we are all pleased to see a ‘1’ in front of these additional case numbers, and to a certain extent it is perhaps at that level a little quicker than I thought it might be.
Of course, this Sunday marks the three weeks since the curfew was imposed. Next Wednesday marks three weeks since the most significant workplace restrictions came into effect. To be at this point shows that the strategy is working....
I want to thank each and after Victorian who is making a big contribution to this strategy working. I want to thank them and their families. I want to thank people from all backgrounds, from all parts of the state. No matter your perspective, this is a challenge that none of us are immune from. We’re all in this together. We say that a lot, but it’s true. It’s absolutely true. And because I think more and more Victorians are making the best choices and looking out foreach other, and therefore everybody, we are seeing these numbers come down.
We’ll see what tomorrow holds. But there’s no room for complacency, there’s no way we can assume that this is over. It is an ultra-marathon, and we’re not halfway yet.
The Victorian and federal governments have set up a $15m joint disability response centre, which Andrews said is “essentially mirroring the arrangements we have in aged care”.
There are currently 62 active Covid-19 cases in disability care sectors, across 60 different sites.
We’re grateful to them. That’s not easy. But with that payment, that’ll mean that we can support them to, in turn, keep their clients safe. We all know that, in that sector, that’s what they’re motivated to do – to provide the best care and support to their clients.
Again, I thank the prime minister and the federal government for their partnership. This is yet another example of us working together to deal with a common challenge. And it’s really important that, given the vulnerability of many people across these settings, it’s very, very important that we have a singular focus, and all the senior people around the table at the same time, and that funding to be able to limit the amount of workers who are going to multiple sites.
Japan’s theme parks have banned screaming on roller coasters because it spreads coronavirus. “Please scream inside your heart.” https://t.co/DJjC40H0Ap
Scott Morrison was asked about Annastacia Palaszczuk’s comments about singling out Queensland on the Nine network this morning:
Well, I haven’t. There’s an election in Queensland, so I’m not surprised that the political rhetoric is amping up. Look, we’re keeping all of the country together to focus on this. I made similar comments about the changes in borders in South Australia yesterday. So, look, I think you can file that under a Queensland election.
Anthony Albanese was asked about Annastacia Palaszczuk’s comments yesterday, after she hit back on the border criticism (which included Scott Morrison) and said:
Well, look, I don’t believe that it’s appropriate, and I haven’t sought to politicise a response to the medical issues with regard to borders.
I’m not surprised that Annastacia Palaszczuk, who has shown tremendous leadership in Queensland, is frustrated at the comments of the Prime Minister given he has said time and time again it’s up to the states what happens.
Barclay McGain, who was forced to resign over schoolies video denigrating Indigenous culture, accuses Queensland LNP of not practising what it preaches on personal responsibility
A former Young Liberal National party member forced to resign over a series of offensive social media posts has accused the Queensland LNP of “throwing young teenagers under the bus” and of not practising what it preaches on personal responsibility.
Angus Taylor also spoke on the border closure issue while on the ABC:
Well, I think ultimately it’s a decision for Queensland but the advice coming in is very clear from the Chief Medical Officer and it’s clear what the New South Wales Premier has put her view as well.
What I want to see is opening up, getting things going again, jobs, investment and of course we have got to make sure all our policies are aligned with that at the federal level and we’d like to see states do the same and that includes our emissions policy which is all about strengthening the economy.
Speaking to the ABC a little earlier, Gladys Berejiklian says she did not think it was “logical at this stage to maintain those border closures for a prolonged period of time”.
She prefaced the comment with “that’s a matter for the Queensland premier and the Queensland government” before giving her opinion, so that might tell you how relations within national cabinet are starting to go.
New South Wales is in a position now where we’re really focused on jobs and the economy, and we’ll be able to get our industries up and running.
But for Australia to really move forward as a nation during this very difficult economic time as well as difficult health time, we do need our borders down, we do need to allow people to move between states, to live, to work, to see family.
Treasurer says in statement in lieu of the federal budget: ‘There is no money tree. What we borrow today we must repay in the future.’ Follow the latest news live
In what is becoming a common scene, there were long lines of international students waiting for donated meals today.
This footage was shot in Sydney where restaurants in Chinatown are offering free meals to students who have lost jobs and aren’t eligible for jobseeker or jobkeeper.
Quite incredible. A long line of international students in Sydney right now waiting for free food from a restaurant (line goes another 50m around the corner).
International students have been hard hit and aren't eligible for coronavirus stimulus payments. Many rely on free meals pic.twitter.com/eTDtRFU8Lw
Nathan Cleary, the Penrith Panther banned and fined by the NRL for being “untruthful” during the league’s investigation into his social distancing breach, has apologised.
“I’m obviously embarrassed with myself and I’m not happy with what I’ve done,” he told the club’s website. “I just to want to apologise for my actions. My actions were irresponsible, selfish and pretty stupid, to be honest.
Frontline health workers in Queensland have been denied a promised pay increase because they agreed to prioritise coronavirus preparations ahead of finalising an industrial agreement, their union says.
State says virus ‘is no different’ to floods, cyclones and bushfires as it prepares to ramp up pressure at Coag meeting
Queensland will use the upcoming meeting of state leaders and the prime minister to appeal to the federal government to open up its natural disaster assistance payments to local industries impacted by the coronavirus.
Scott Morrison has previously rejected Queensland’s request for the disaster recovery funding arrangements to be made available for businesses knocked by the economic slowdown resulting from Covid-19 on 4 February, and again on 28 February.
Mark Coleridge says move to legislate against the sanctity of the confessional will fail to make children safer
A move to compel Queensland priests to report child sexual abuse offences disclosed during confessions would fail to make children safer, Brisbane’s Catholic archbishop has said.
Mark Coleridge has opposed a state government plan to legislate against the sanctity of the confessional as an excuse, defence or privilege.
Deb Frecklington said she had ‘no choice but to remain grounded’ because she had children, and said the premier’s fashion choices were ‘too much’
Federal and state Labor MPs have rounded on the Queensland LNP leader, Deb Frecklington, after she criticised Annastacia Palaszczuk for her fashion choices and said she had “no choice but to remain grounded” because she had children.
In an interview with the Sunday Mail, Frecklington said Palaszczuk had “deliberately changed her image – the whole ‘Princess Palaszczuk’ is pretty obvious – but I haven’t changed mine”.
Young Liberal National party leader Barclay McGain filmed laughing after teenager he interviewed says Australia shouldn’t celebrate ‘a culture that couldn’t even invent the bloody wheel’
A Young Liberal National party leader has been suspended from the party after he was filmed laughing at a teenager saying Australia should “stop celebrating a culture that couldn’t even invent the bloody wheel”.
Barclay McGain, chairman of the Gold Coast Young LNP, is under investigation by his own party over what the state’s Labor government has called disturbing, racist comments about Australian Aboriginal culture.
Exclusive: accidental release of intelligence operative’s name in Annastacia Palaszczuk’s diaries blamed on ‘administrative error’
The Queensland premier’s office has mistakenly published the name of a secret intelligence operative in an extraordinary national security breach potentially punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
The name of the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (Asio) agent was accidentally published during the routine public release of Annastacia Palaszczuk’s diaries, a practice designed to boost government transparency.
For a special membership fee, developers will have access to Liberal National party events such as cocktail receptions
The Queensland Liberal National party will offer property developers free cocktails and other perks as part of a paid “diamond membership” package, following the state’s ban on them making political donations.
At its annual convention, which is being held across three days this weekend, the party said it would institute the new membership scheme, which allows developers and others to pay a $990 special membership fee.