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Mehreen Faruqi to appear on Insiders
Deputy Greens leader Mehreen Faruqi will be speaking to ABC Insiders host David Speers this morning.
Continue reading...Category Archives: Anthony Albanese
Fatima Payman’s exit reveals ‘chasm’ between Labor and traditional base over Palestine, party insiders say
Exclusive: Senator’s resignation disappointing to ‘thousands of rank-and-file ALP and union members and Labor supporters’
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Labor’s Friends of Palestine group has warned of “a chasm” between the Albanese government and “huge swathes of the party’s traditional base” as it described Fatima Payman’s resignation as a symptom of a bigger problem.
A day after the first-term senator quit Labor, to remain in the upper house as an independent, pro-Palestine campaigners complained that Payman had been placed “in an untenable position” by the federal leadership team.
Continue reading...Dutton says ‘Australia can learn’ from new British PM’s nuclear stance – as it happened
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- Cricketer Usman Khawaja accuses Peter Dutton of ‘fuelling Islamophobia’ over Muslim candidates comments
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‘Pretty clear’ Fatima Payman has been planning to join crossbench for a ‘long period’, minister says
The finance minister and manager of the government in the Senate, Katy Gallagher, is speaking with ABC RN after Fatima Payman’s resignation yesterday.
It’s difficult to go into, you know, when the decision was made – only Senator Payman knows that – but we do know, now that it’s been done, it’s a matter of fact that there had been obviously discussions about her role as an independent senator and for some time.
I think the way these decisions have been made by Senator Payman make it pretty clear that she has been thinking about this for a long period of time, and it was executed this week …
Continue reading...Cricketer Usman Khawaja accuses Peter Dutton of ‘fuelling Islamophobia’ over Muslim candidates comments
Australian cricket star labels opposition leader’s remarks an ‘absolute disgrace’ as newly formed Muslim Vote group sparks debate
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Australian cricket star Usman Khawaja has accused Peter Dutton of “fuelling Islamophobia”, after the opposition leader said he was concerned about a future minority Labor government relying on crossbench support including “Muslim candidates from western Sydney”.
Dutton’s comments also prompted criticism from industry and science minister Ed Husic. “There’s not only been a Muslim candidate from western Sydney for more than a decade now, there’s also two of us who serve as ministers,” Husic said, refering to himself and early childhood minister Anne Aly.
Continue reading...Senator says PM’s office planted seed about crossing floor – as it happened
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- Fatima Payman’s decision to quit Labor party will ‘empower opponents on far right’, Wayne Swan says
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Josh Burns says Labor motion to recognise Palestine as part of the peace process is ‘the bare minimum’
Josh Burns finished with:
This motion before the House is the bare minimum. It says that we support the recognition of a Palestinian state as part of a peace process. That peace process is something that I hold onto and that I have held onto my entire life.
That peace process says that we are all people, above all, and that there has to be a way through this. There has to be a way through this conflict. I wish that we could pull a lever here in Australia and it would all end today, but we have seen time and time again that that is not the case.
There are so many intractable parts of this conflict. I have a degree in this conflict, and I still don’t quite know how to fix it.
I know that there are players who are desperate to end the peace process and to try and disturb any efforts towards peace. I know that trees take years and years and years to grow and can be cut down in a second, and that is what the Middle East has demonstrated over and over again.
Continue reading...Labor branch in Albanese’s electorate passes motion supporting Fatima Payman
Members in Leichhardt ‘express solidarity’ with the rebel senator and say they share her ‘strong support’ for Palestine
A Labor branch in Anthony Albanese’s own electorate has passed a motion expressing support for the dissident senator Fatima Payman, even as expectations grow she is poised to quit the party.
Labor’s Leichhardt branch – which is within the prime minister’s Sydney electorate of Grayndler – passed the supportive motion at a scheduled meeting on Wednesday night.
Continue reading...Australia politics live: Labor caucus endorses Payman suspension; Watt says no plan to ban live cattle exports
PM calls for ‘a long-term solution in a peace process’ between Israel and Palestine. Follow today’s news headlines live
Shorten says he thinks Labor party is trying to give Senator Payman ‘space and time’
Bill Shorten continues:
I see why people feel so strongly. They can feel so strongly about the hostage is not being returned, or the deaths in Gaza. People could feel also very strongly about the near million deaths in Sudan.
I can get these very incredibly strong issues. And if you come from particular communities, they’re even more intense, although that doesn’t need to be the prerequisite.
Before I deny something, what’s your source?
No, I don’t believe that.
… Because I wasn’t there and I don’t believe it. I actually think the prime minister, Senator Wong and the leadership are handling a complicated issue pretty well.
Continue reading...Fatima Payman leaves Labor with little choice after vowing to cross floor again
Australian senator has given voice to many who condemn the Israel-Gaza war while earning the scorn of her caucus colleagues
Fatima Payman’s career as a Labor politician is over.
The indefinite suspension from the Labor parliamentary caucus that Anthony Albanese imposed on her during a short conversation at the Lodge in Canberra on Sunday afternoon has the same effect as expulsion. She will not return to the fold.
Continue reading...Fatima Payman indefinitely suspended from Labor caucus – as it happened
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- Fatima Payman defies ‘cold shoulder’ from Labor colleagues to declare she would cross floor again on Palestine
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“I think he has the capacity,” Marles says when asked if Joe Biden has what it takes for the next four years. “I’ve got no doubt there will be no issues in relation to that.”
Marles says Biden administration doing ‘fantastic job’
We work very closely with him and we are very pleased with how we’re progressing with the United States both in terms of their position in the world, but also in terms of our equities, most significantly, of course, the Aukus arrangements that we have in place.
Continue reading...Fatima Payman suspended from Labor caucus over vow to cross the floor again on Palestine
Party spokesperson says WA senator ‘placed herself outside the privilege’ of participation in caucus after defiant TV interview
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WA Labor senator Fatima Payman has been indefinitely suspended from the Labor party’s parliamentary caucus after she was summoned to a meeting with the prime minister at the Lodge on Sunday.
Payman’s previous one-week caucus suspension was upgraded after a Sunday morning television interview in which she vowed she was prepared to repeat her rebellion of last week and cross the floor in the Senate to support recognition of a Palestinian state.
Continue reading...Albanese says ‘no place for extremism in Australia’ after teen allegedly enters MP’s office with ‘intention to kill’
Jordan Patten, 19, allegedly wrote a document in which he expressed a desire to attack Labor politicians before visiting Tim Crakanthorp’s office
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Anthony Albanese has declared “there’s no place for extremism in Australia” after a 19-year-old man was charged with planning a terrorist attack after he allegedly entered a New South Wales Labor MP’s office carrying “knives and tactical equipment”.
The prime minister was on Friday asked about a document allegedly written by Jordan Patten who was arrested on Wednesday. A Sydney magistrate on Thursday said police would allege Patten had intended to kill Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp “due to his position in the Labor party”.
Continue reading...Fatima Payman admits she ‘upset a few colleagues’ by crossing the floor – as it happened
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- Albanese says ‘no place for extremism in Australia’ after teen allegedly enters MP’s office with ‘intention to kill’
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Housing minister Julie Collins is speaking to the ABC RN about Labor’s build-to-rent bill which was knocked back in the Senate yesterday, with the Greens and the Coalition combining to delay it:
What we want to do is get this done. We’ve already been consulting, we announced it in the previous budget. Any delays will actually stop the pipeline of construction and the certainty for the sector.
What we want to do is get more affordable homes and more homes of every type on the ground as quickly as we can.
We’re saying they have to have a minimum of 10% to be eligible for the tax concessions that we’re talking about for each development.
That’s what our consultations and our discussions with the sector have done and, as I said, this is not the only thing we’re doing for affordable homes … My point here is that they continually delay and block housing up every time by coming together and having this unholy alliance between the Liberals and the Greens in the Senate, because they’re more interested in votes than they are about people.
We’re not open to negotiation and we want to get this done.
Continue reading...‘Hero’ homecoming for Julian Assange was political grandstanding, former Asio boss says
Ex-US ambassador Dennis Richardson says Albanese government’s reception for WikiLeaks founder minimises legitimate concerns about his activities
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The Australian government’s “hero” homecoming for Julian Assange was political “grandstanding” and minimises legitimate concerns about the impact of his activities with WikiLeaks, according to a former senior bureaucrat and Asio chief who served as ambassador to the United States.
Dennis Richardson said the prime minister’s phone call to Assange when he landed in Australia on Wednesday night was inappropriate, given that Assange had pleaded guilty to espionage in legitimate US legal proceedings.
Continue reading...Shorten says NDIS ‘too important for political games’ after bill blocked – as it happened
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- Peter Dutton says tax cut plan ‘too costly’ and Dickson locals would ‘riot’ against any wind farm plan
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Wong rejects Birmingham’s criticism, says US alliance ‘deep and strong’
Asked about her Liberal counterpart Simon Birmingham’s criticism of Anthony Albanese’s phone call with Julian Assange and his claims that the deal to release Assange has “damaged” the US-Australian alliance, Penny Wong says:
That’s not not correct and disappointing that Simon would go to the alliance. He would know that our relationship with the United States is deep and strong.
And that is why we were able to advocate in the way we did. And ultimately, the pathway to resolving this, … had to be through the resolution of the legal process.
Dr Yang remains a priority for our government. We continue to raise his case with the Chinese authorities at all appropriate levels and we will continue to do so. It was obviously raised, as you know, when Premier Li was here.
What I would say is today I am very pleased to see Mr Assange reunited with his family in Australia.
Continue reading...Australia politics live: Plibersek says protecting koala habitat one of the conditions for approving Rinehart-backed gas project
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- Follow live: Julian Assange freed
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The Queensland government plans to establish a new greater glider forest park as part of a $200m plan to reform the state’s timber industry.
The premier, Steven Miles, will today announce he will ban logging in between 50,000 and 60,000 hectares of high value ecosystem within the Eastern Hardwoods region in Wide Bay, north of Brisbane.
In addition, a new park to protect the greater glider will be established in the south-east Queensland bioregion.
The state government will also appoint an advisory group to develop a 30-year plan for the sector. It will include representatives from the timber industry, forestry experts, the conservation sector, First Nations peoples, the Australian Workers’ Union, construction sector and outdoor recreational groups.
Queensland’s timber industry is the backbone of the housing and building sectors.
That’s why I’m doing what matters to support timber workers and the industry to continue building our state, while also increasing our protected area estate.
The terms of reference released today map out our priorities as a government – that is, timber supply security, environmental protections, jobs and diverse employment opportunities.
Australia politics live: Julian Assange leaves Belmarsh prison after plea deal and will return to Australia, WikiLeaks says
WikiLeaks X account has tweeted that ‘Julian Assange is free’. Follow today’s news headlines live
‘It’s just a lazy delay’
Bill Shorten says a further delay of the Senate vote on the NDIS bill won’t actually lead to any changes:
There’s no good reason on God’s green earth to have another eight weeks of review, which isn’t actually eight weeks.
There won’t be a whole lot of new submissions come in, there won’t be some brand new arguments not considered.
I’m horrified after 12 months of reviewing the NDIS and then another six months of discussing the review including [in] the last three a Senate committee having public hearings calling for submissions.
The opposition has used words never ever said before by them.
Continue reading...‘No one should judge’ WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for accepting deal, Australian MP says
Labor’s Julian Hill says prime minister Anthony Albanese deserves ‘enormous credit’ for pursuing the resolution of Assange’s case
The WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should not be judged poorly “for accepting a deal to get the hell out of there and come home” in light of his poor health, an Australian MP has said.
Australian politicians have reacted cautiously to reports of a plea deal to end the US pursuit of Assange in connection with the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents about the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, as well as diplomatic cables.
Continue reading...Labor seeks to raise incoming governor general’s salary by more than $214,000
Albanese government wants bill passed to lift Sam Mostyn’s salary by 43%, in line with estimated average of chief justice of the high court’s salary
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The Albanese government is seeking to raise the pay for the incoming governor general, Sam Mostyn, by more than $214,000, saying the change is appropriate because she is not receiving the same sort of additional pensions that previous officeholders have enjoyed.
Mostyn will be sworn into her new office on 1 July. Patrick Gorman, the assistant minister to the prime minister, introduced a bill into federal parliament on Monday morning which would raise the salary for the governor general from $495,000 to $709,017.
Continue reading...Labor and Greens strike anti-vaping deal – as it happened
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- Medicinal vapes to be sold over the counter at pharmacies after Labor and Greens reach deal
- Watch: Shadow minister Ted O’Brien ejected from parliament during energy debate
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David Pocock also spoke to the ABC about his private member’s bill that would see housing treated as a human right. He said it was needed because:
There’s no overarching national plan and this would legislate that these are the objectives, we want to see housing affordable, we want to reduce homelessness and then it would be up to the government to actually work out – how are we going to do that?
What are the policies that we think will address this?
One of my heroes Desmond Tutu used to say ‘don’t raise your voice, improve your argument’.
It’s pretty tragic the major parties tear the opposition down rather than improving their argument and making their plans stand on their own two feet.
Continue reading...Peter Dutton vows to override state nuclear bans as he steps up attack on PM
Opposition leader tells Liberal party officials that state premiers ‘won’t stop us’ and labels Anthony Albanese a ‘child in a man’s body’
Peter Dutton has vowed a Coalition government would override the states’ legislated ban on nuclear power, telling party officials on Saturday that state premiers “won’t stop us”.
The opposition leader made the comments in an address to the federal Liberal party council in Sydney, where he escalated his attacks on Anthony Albanese. He called the prime minister a “fraud” and a “child in a man’s body” that is “still captured in his university years”.
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