Third leaders’ debate to be hosted by National Press Club as emotions run high after Daily Telegraph story. All the day’s events, live
The leaders are in place, and so are we.
Ring the bell!
The Sydney Morning Herald and the Age reports that Clive Palmer’s political party is “undecided” on vaccines.
You are not reading that wrong, and yes, we have been here before – it was just with Pauline Hanson last time.
This election for the Liberals has always been Morrison or bust because the party has nothing much left to offer
We are going to have to wait and see what Scott Morrison bowls up at his official campaign launch on Sunday, but the forward sizzle before the event has been, how can I say this politely? Unusual.
Over the past 24 hours, we’ve had the Liberal party leader and the campaign spokesman both out to stress that Sunday’s set-piece will not be about the Liberal party, which is odd, given a campaign launch is traditionally an event to launch the Liberal party’s campaign for re-election.
Continue reading...Prime minister blames ‘cowardly activists’ after egg misses his head. The economy is again in the spotlight, as both parties wait to hear if the bank will cut interest rates. All the day’s events, live
Prime Minister attacked by a protester at the Country Women’s Associations meeting in Albury. The egg missed his head, but the vision shows that her hand did not. @9NewsBorderNE #9NewsAt6 pic.twitter.com/Bvg0rITray
AAP has also reported the woman accused of attempting to egg the prime minister was protesting against the government’s asylum seeker policies:
Outside the venue, the protester told reporters she didn’t mean to knock the other woman down.
“I don’t want to give a report, no thank you. I’ve got to go to work. No comment,” she told reporters.
Continue reading...Labor leader says he doesn’t share former PM’s concerns that the nation’s spy chiefs are damaging our relationship with China. All the day’s events, live
Well that looks like it answers that question
Don’t expect people like Peter Dutton and Tony Abbott at the Liberal campaign launch - they are busy defending their seats says @JoshFrydenberg who is on tv with me very soon #auspol19
It’s amazing the differences an election campaign can make to people’s positions.
From ABC Adelaide, where Georgina Downer is again trying to take the seat of Mayo off Rebekha Sharkie:
Mayo Liberal candidate Georgina Downer says the minimum wage is “about right” after previously pushing for it to be abolished along with penalty rates.
In an interview with ABC Radio Adelaide this morning, Ms Downer backtracked on comments she made while working at the Institute of Public Affairs about the role of the Fair Work Commission.
Continue reading...With Bill Shorten a key player in the demise of both Rudd and Gillard, it’s a message that needs reinforcing
It wasn’t clear from our vantage point up the back how Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard reacted to the sequence of homilies at Labor’s 2019 campaign launch designed to tell voters the party had learned from the mistakes of the last period in government.
The former combatants walked into Bill Shorten’s event together, projecting tranquility and geniality, the joint entrance a modest mic drop executed in the low key spirit of show, don’t tell.
Continue reading...Zaki’s renunciation of her Afghan citizenship may be incomplete and Morrow faces claims she posted anti-asylum seeker posts online
The Liberal candidate for Canberra, Mina Zaki, may be ineligible to sit in parliament because the renunciation of her Afghan citizenship appears to be incomplete.
And the Labor party is facing some pressure to disendorse its candidate for the Western Australia seat of Durack, Sharyn Morrow, over alleged anti-asylum seeker posts on social media.
Continue reading...In an election focused on climate change, the Greens should be surging. But pressure is building inside the beleaguered party
It’s a climate change election but the political party with the utmost ambition on climate – yes, the Greens – is somehow on the outer. Flagging in the polls, cold-shouldered by Labor, the Greens have spent the campaign jostling elbows with a bunch of high-profile independents in the inner cities and battling the alt-right in the Senate.
Greens leader Richard Di Natale gave a rousing speech to the National Press Club on Thursday, pumped after an Easter family road trip from Melbourne to Brisbane with his predecessor Bob Brown’s Stop Adani convoy which will finish in Canberra on Saturday. Di Natale rattled off a list of impressive achievements in his first full term as leader of the Australian Greens, including paving the way on marriage equality, the banking and disability royal commissions, Medevac laws and a national anti-corruption body. Electorally, however, there is little sign the Greens are about to reap the rewards of its “thought leadership” among the parties.
Continue reading...The second debate of the campaign produced more sparks than the first, with the Labor leader branding the PM ‘a classic space invader’
Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten have clashed over their tax and climate policies in the second debate of the election campaign.
In a wide-ranging discussion between the two leaders in Brisbane on Friday night, undecided voters put questions to the leaders ranging from support for veterans to climate change.
Continue reading...Jessica Whelan, the Liberal candidate for Lyons, says comments posted under her name not made by her and were doctored
The major parties are standing by the two latest candidates in hot water for offensive social media posts attributed to them after a flurry of resignations overshadowed the third week of campaigning.
Speaking in Tasmania on Thursday, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, said he would stand by the Liberal candidate for the seat of Lyons, Jessica Whelan, who has denied making derogatory online comments about Muslims.
Continue reading...Minister grilled about Lyons candidate Jessica Whelan, who claims her Facebook page was doctored. Meanwhile, the climate policy debate heats up. Follow all the updates, live
Pre-poll is happening in droves.
About 375,000 people have cast a pre-poll vote after three days of early voting, running at approx 125,000 votes per day so far. This compares to a total of 225,000 votes at the same stage of the 2016 federal election. #ausvotes #auspol
Asked about preference deals, and whether the Coalition, being a coalition, had to accept blowback for their partner’s choices, David Littleproud had this to say:
I hardly see it’s disingenuous where we have a democracy, where the Australian people decide. They walk into the ballot box, not me, and they get to determine where they put each number on that ballot paper. And that’s the way it should be. This is merely a way that parties have come to an agreement around where they believe they should go, the least worst possibility, if you don’t want to vote for us. But the reality is, it is and always will be the gift of the Australian people. And it’s something we should always fiercely protect.”
Related: At the mercy of minors: Labor and LNP wrestle for hyper-marginal Herbert
Continue reading...Several candidates quit ahead of election after deluge of offensive behaviour exposed
In a whirlwind 48 hours, the Australian election has lost a host of its most controversial candidates.
From homophobic comments about sitting MPs to secret strip-club footage, to Facebook posts about naked centaurs, a deluge of racist, sexist and bizarre behaviour has claimed the careers of four candidates in only two days.
Continue reading...Opposition leader stresses Labor unity as Victorian Libs dump candidate over anti-Islam comments. All the day’s events, live
Not politics, but because we all need some light relief from time to time – Chris Kenny has quit twitter for about the third time.
It really, really is just the day for it.
The Sydney Morning Herald has a breaking story on another Victorian Liberal candidate facing the sack – this time for comments he made about his would-be party room colleague Tim Wilson because he had the temerity to be born gay.
The candidate’s comments came in response to a post by another commentator, Michael Taouk, who said he was not in the Liberal party, calling for the “Liberal grassroots” to “remove preselection from that notorious homosexual Tim Wilson”.
Mr Taouk wrote: “No true Christian can fight on the same side of that man.”
Continue reading...Michael McCormack raises eyebrows saying his party is ‘aligned with One Nation’ more than Labor or Greens
The Nationals leader, Michael McCormack, has unveiled a new statutory authority for water infrastructure in an effort to contain a bush boilover at the election – and has declared his party is happy to enter preference deals with One Nation because their policies align.
McCormack used a speech to the National Press Club on Tuesday to unveil a new Northern Australian Infrastructure Facility-style body for dams, with the new body charged with using “the best available science” to examine how large-scale water diversion projects could be established to deliver reliable and cost-effective water to farmers and regional communities.
Continue reading...Did you listen to Barnaby Joyce’s laboured interview – or Turnbull turning up on a reality TV show? Test your knowledge here
According to Captain GetUp – the confusing, supposedly-satirical parody of GetUp, founded by rightwing group Advance Australia – who is Captain GetUp’s biological father?
Richard Di Natale
Adam Bandt
Bill Shorten
Kevin Rudd
What did a voter in Strathfield say to Scott Morrison when he greeted her with “Ni hao” on the first weekend of the campaign?
“Goodbye!”
“Sorry, I don't understand what you mean."
“And a Ni Hao to you too mate”
“I’m Korean”
What is Scott Morrison doing in this picture?
Cheering at a Cronulla Sharks supporters event
Singing in church
Singing the national anthem
Announcing the date of the election
How many times did Barnaby Joyce say "Labor" in his 30 minute interview on water buybacks with Patricia Karvelas?
22
47
65
80
What is between Scott Morrison’s teeth in this picture?
Spinach
A bit of meat pie
A fly
Raw onion skin
What is Jenny Morrison reacting to in this picture?
The full audio of Barnaby Joyce’s Patricia Karvelas interview
Scott Morrison describing his tips for maintaining a healthy marriage
A candidate describing Labor's franking credits policy
A voter who just told her he wants an electric car
Which newspaper columnist was photographed in a Tony Abbott campaign shirt, and uploaded to Abbot's own Instagram and Twitter, on the first weekend of the campaign?
Andrew Bolt
Piers Akerman
Peter Fitzsimons (with matching bandana)
Gerard Henderson
Sydney barrister Bridie Nolan made news when she gave a 300 word statement to the Daily Telegraph criticising Warringah candidate Zali Steggal – who is the former wife of Nolan’s husband. On her website, what did Nolan describe herself as?
"Ruthlessly accomplished"
“Lethally competent”
“Devastatingly experienced”
“Extremely experienced and incredibly devastating”
What baffling question did Bill Shorten ask of an adult man in an Adelaide shopping centre during week 2?
“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
“Hope you’re having an OK school holidays”
“What was your ATAR?”
“Do you like Bluey?”
Just before the close of nominations on 23 April, the prospective Nationals candidate for the seat of Whitlam had to withdraw because he was a British dual citizen. What was his incredibly British-sounding name?
Stephen Walker-Jones
John Buckingham-Peters
James Harker-Mortlock
David Mountbatten-Maguire
What Channel 10 reality TV show did former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull turn up on – for some reason – in week 2 of the campaign?
Bondi Rescue
Bachelor in Paradise
Gogglebox
I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here
The day the election was called, Tasmanian Labor senator Helen Polley posted a baffling homemade video where she:
Wore a large sombrero, then waved it in the air saying “Adios amigo!”
Put a banana on her head and said “The Liberal government has to split!”
Started playing a small snare drum, saying Tasmanians were going to "drum the Liberals out of town."
Rode past the camera on a skateboard and said "Cowabunga!
In week 3, John Howard took to the streets to campaign for Liberal candidate Fiona Martin in the seat of Reid. When asked, he admitted he hadn't met her before, but had "heard" good things. What positive thing did he say?
“I heard that she won every vote in the pre-selection in her local branch."
“I heard that every business owner on this street loves her and knows her name."
“I heard that she attended Santa Sabina school in Strathfield, which I know quite well."
“I heard that she was a captain of the Strathfield Strikers, a local football club."
13 and above.
12 and above.
11 and above.
10 and above.
9 and above.
8 and above.
7 and above.
6 and above.
4 and above.
3 and above.
2 and above.
1 and above.
5 and above.
0 and above.
Continue reading...Scott Morrison also defends deal as Coalition attacks Labor’s childcare plan as ‘communist’. All the day’s events, live
Both campaigns are now in debate prep mode, so we are going to power down for the moment.
But it’s just a break, not goodbye. We’ll be back just before 7pm eastern time to bring you the blow-by-blow of the first leaders’ debate.
On what he would do in terms of climate policies (given his history on the subject with the Gillard government):
It was Tony Windsor and I who forced the changes. Both sides have the ability to get on with embedding climate change into the processes of government. At the time we did have world-leading legislation.
I concede we lost control of the politics and that Tony Abbott, as the alternate prime minister, came in on a wave of, you know, that carbon tax message, which even his chief of staff, you know, after the event, has admitted was more about the politics than anything to do with policy.
Continue reading...Submissions to Australian Electoral Commission by a some United Australia party candidates fail to provide birth details of parents or grandparents
At least 19 United Australia party candidates have submitted incomplete or inconsistent information to the Australian Electoral Commission, failing to provide evidence they are eligible to run for parliament.
The candidates for Clive Palmer’s party have asserted they are not dual citizens disqualified by section 44 of the constitution, but have mostly failed to provide birth details of their parents or grandparents, even in cases where candidates admit parents or grandparents were born overseas.
Continue reading...Scott Morrison says Labor and the Greens present far bigger threat to the economy and jobs than the United Australia party
Bill Shorten has criticised the Liberal party deal to exchange preferences with Clive Palmer’s United Australia party.
Speaking in Hobart on Saturday where he announced that a future Labor government would invest $120m into Tasmanian tourism projects, the opposition leader did not deny that Labor officials had held discussions with Palmer over the course of the campaign, but said they would not risk preference swaps with the potential kingmaker in Queensland.
Continue reading...Former WA premier Colin Barnett cites businessman’s ‘appalling’ record while Shorten rebuffs the Greens on climate policy. Follow the day’s news live
Mikey Slezak, of the ABC (oh how we miss him), has a story overnight regarding the last minute sign off by the Morrison government on a controversial uranium mine one day before calling the federal election.
Then there was a sneaky “public announcement” by the environment department when it uploaded the approval document the day before Anzac Day.
I want to find out what on earth has happened. The minister made no comment, no announcement beforehand. It looks like it might have been rushed. We don’t know....The reason I can’t tell you I’m on this side or the other side, we need to know what on earth she has done and what her reasons for it and the minister has gone missing.
Tony Burke was also asked about Labor’s very specific, siloed commission of inquiry that only looks a the one water buyback conducted under Barnaby Joyce as minister from Eastern Australia Agriculture.
What we have announced is there is a specific transaction from Barnaby Joyce that is different to anything that Simon Birmingham, David Littleproud, Bob Baldwin, different to anything that any other minister has engaged with. And anything else … can be dealt with properly by the Australian national National Audit Office. This one, there was no tender. There [are] arguments about conflict of interest. And it has links all the way back to the Cayman Islands, where there is complete secrecy about who is involved. Everything else you don’t need coercive powers.
In terms of making sure that we’ve got probity, we will establish a national integrity commission and there will be an ongoing watchdog on probity. In terms of the purchases by Penny that you referred to, they went fully through the National Audit Office, a report in 2011 [and were] given a complete bill of health. If I was arguing that things should apply to every other member of the government who has been involved, then the government’s characterisation would be fair. The point is no other purchase is like this.
Continue reading...Home affairs minister previously said he will stay in parliament if Labor wins the election but he retains his seat of Dickson
Peter Dutton has sold his Canberra apartment, raising doubts about his plans to stay in parliament if the government loses next month’s election.
Dutton, who is fighting to hang on to his marginal seat of Dickson in Brisbane’s outer northern suburbs, has previously said he would stay on as an MP even if the Coalition lost government.
Continue reading...Scott Morrison says spending on wellbeing centres and jobs assistance is ‘about backing veterans and their families’
The Coalition has promised to spend $63m on veterans’ initiatives, including wellbeing centres and employment assistance.
Scott Morrison and the veterans affairs minister, Darren Chester, will announce the funding on Wednesday ahead of a campaign hiatus on Thursday for Anzac Day.
Continue reading...