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All eyes will be on the high court from about 10am, when it hands down its decision on whether Qantas illegally sacked its ground staff three years ago. The TWU brought the case and Qantas has appealed it all the way to the high court.
You can read some of the previous reporting here:
Continue reading...Shadow home affairs minister calls for extra checks ‘at the very least for MPs who work on sensitive committees’. Follow today’s live news updates
Ley defends pharmacists’ opposition to 60-day dispensing rule for prescriptions
The interview then gets to the issue of pharmacists and the change the government made to allow for 60-day dispensing (two-for-one prescriptions) which will save chronically ill patients up to $180 a year (as well as money on less trips to the doctor, travel etc.) but will cost pharmacists up to $150,000 a year (from the fourth year of the change) in lost dispensing fees (plus people buying fewer ‘incidentals’ such as jelly beans).
I’ve been in contact with many pharmacists over recent weeks, including those who left their businesses and assembled here a couple of weeks ago and I really am concerned about the impact this policy change is going to have.
I’m hearing [about] pharmacies who are already laying off staff. They’re already letting people go and most importantly, they can’t continue to provide the previously free support services that they used to …
Because they’ve told me.
Because if the government has changed the contract it has with pharmacy and is paying them less, they have to change their business in response. It’s as simple as that.
I would like to absolutely recognise the contribution she has made. She has been a trailblazer for our party. She has changed national politics and I have seen the work that she’s done over many years, much of it very modest, very behind the scenes, very in community.
So people often think of her as a defence and foreign affairs minister. I’ve seen her as a local champion for Western Sydney, and disadvantaged people across this country, and I have yeah, I mean, I’ll be really sad to see her go.
Always standing up for Australia’s national interest and a safer, stronger region. It’s as simple as that.
I think we did extremely good work with the Solomon Islands and, indeed, with the Pacific and people are looking at this through the lens of Covid and suggesting that we could have done more when, in fact, travel was an impossibility. I think that issue is well and truly being put to bed.
Continue reading...Campaigners are keen for federal politics to take a backseat so the campaign can get more attention
The yes campaign is looking forward to reigniting momentum in its campaign after the coming parliamentary sitting week – the last before the referendum on 14 October – with a nationwide series of major community events, performances and a further advertising blitz.
“The real campaign kicks off after Thursday,” a yes campaign source said, referencing the end of the parliamentary week. “It’s really a month-long campaign.”
Continue reading...Discussions had reached an impasse over the use of geographical indicators for products such as prosecco and feta
The prime minister says there have been positive signs in long-stalled negotiations over a free-trade deal between Australia and the European Union.
Anthony Albanese held talks with European leaders on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi, India, with time running out for the deal to be finalised by the end of the year.
Continue reading...Talks on deal had been stalled due to impasse on geographic indicators for products such as feta and prosecco. This blog is closed for now
Asked what a no vote will say about Australia, Pearson says he withhold judgement until the night of the referendum.
I will make that judgement the day after the referendum. I believe we still have the capacity to do the right thing. I tell you one thing, though, I just don’t believe when the hand of friendship and reconciliation is extended from Indigenous people that at the end of the day, their love will be unrequited. I can’t believe that. I cannot believe we’re still in an Australia where that hand would be just slapped aside. This unrequited love is my worst nightmare. I just don’t believe Australians are capable of that at this time in our history.
The separation was there in 1901. The original separation, the original equality was in our constitution in 1901. What we’re going to do in 2023 is fix that exclusion, fix the omission, fix the lack of recognition and when we do that, our constitution will be whole. We will complete the commonwealth of Australia and it will be a great thing to do.
In relation to the scope issue, David, our opponents in the no campaign said that somehow we’d be dictating policy on nuclear submarines. That wasn’t reasonable. That wasn’t a fair representation of the scope.
Continue reading...A key calculation of the Australian PM’s team is that dialogue is of value, even if both sides agree to disagree
In a far cry from Henry Kissinger’s secret trips to China in the 1970s, Anthony Albanese’s planned travel to the country has been an open secret for months.
Still, the Australian prime minister’s confirmation this week that he had accepted an invitation to fly to Beijing is another key step in his government’s efforts to “stabilise” a relationship that hit rock bottom in 2020.
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The Bureau of Meteorology is urging people in western Sydney, southern and central ranges and the Hunter region to tidy up loose items around their yards as damaging winds are extending over the areas today.
Gusty storms may hit Sydney and the Central Coast today, while there are possible severe storms heading to the Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast this afternoon, with a risk of damaging winds and large hail, the BoM says.
Continue reading...Follow today’s live news updates
If you want to make a submission to the government about the Australian aviation industry, the link to the green paper is here
The green paper is public consultation. It comes before the white paper, which is a discussion paper provided to the parliament. White papers lay out the issues with context (the whole picture as it were) and then make recommendations on what needs to happen.
I consulted colleagues prior to the decision, but the decision was mine.
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Tasmanian hospitals experiencing significant demand, public asked to reconsider attending
Tasmanians are being urged to stay away from the state’s two main hospitals unless it’s an emergency as they face “significant demand”.
The hospitals are closely managing elective surgery activity to maintain access for emergency demand. This includes working with private hospitals to access contracted bed capacity and elective surgery.”
I think the Qantas board has to seriously consider some of the decisions that they have been making. I mean, not for nothing, you’re in front of the competition watchdog for what is alleged to be quite egregious behaviour.
You have also sought to, as I said, keep on your balance sheet half a billion dollars of your customers’ money rather than giving it back in the middle of a cost of living crisis. (The flight credits)
Continue reading...Anthony Albanese will launch strategy amid intense debate over decision to block Qatar Airways’ request for further flights to Australia
Australia should expand flights to key south-east Asian markets such as Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, according to a sweeping economic blueprint to boost trade.
The strategy, to be released by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, on Wednesday, also calls on the government to cut foreign investment barriers, fast track visas and urgently improve Australia’s “south-east Asia literacy”.
Continue reading...Follow today’s live news updates
The corporate regulator is suing Westpac after it allegedly failed to appropriately respond to hundreds of financial hardship requests from bank customers.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) said in a statement on Tuesday it had started civil proceedings in the federal court seeking financial penalties to be imposed on the major bank.
All of these customers told Westpac they were experiencing financial hardship.
Many of these customers also told Westpac about their difficult circumstances and vulnerabilities, including their inability to work, the impacts of serious medical conditions or their carer responsibilities.
This error meant we didn’t provide some of our customers with the help they needed. For this, we are deeply sorry.
The broader picture here is the we’re seeing big corporations at the moment making record profits off the back of everyday people, these big corporations line up to public handouts when the going gets tough and then when they get back into a more healthy situation, they just pocket the profits and they pass the costs on to everyday people and we think it’s time to say enough is enough and it’s time for these big corporations [to be] made to act in the public interest and that’s government’s job.
Continue reading...Anthony Albanese is expected to announce the new economic blueprint during his trip to the Indonesian capital Jakarta
Anthony Albanese will fly to Jakarta this week to launch a major new strategy to deepen Australia’s trade and investment ties with south-east Asia and hedge against top trading partner China.
Despite China recently reopening the door to key Australian exports that it shunned at the height of diplomatic tensions in 2020, the Albanese government wants to diversify economic ties to reduce exposure to further political tumult.
Continue reading...Health minister’s office confirms government has accepted expert body’s advice. This blog is now closed
AMA says Coalition should ‘get out of the way’ of 60-day dispensing changes
The Australian Medical Association has welcomed the start of 60-day dispensing and urged the Coalition against reversing the decision. The opposition is expected to attempt to overturn the decision with a disallowance motion when parliament resumes next week.
Patients have waited for five years to get the hip pocket savings this policy delivers due to hardline opposition from pharmacy owners. It’s time for patients to get a fair go and for the Coalition to get out of the way of this long overdue health reform and to stop defending pharmacy owner profits.
Continue reading...Prominent yes campaigner and Cape York leader ‘surprised’ by former PM’s message to ‘maintain the rage’. Follow the latest updates live
Jane Hume to vote no despite anticipated home state yes
Liberal senator Jane Hume appeared on the Today show earlier this morning, saying she would be voting no in the upcoming referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament, however she conceded her home state of Victoria will likely vote yes.
My home state is probably where there’ll be a Yes. But the yes vote is very well resourced from corporates and individuals and that’ll be ramping up. I don’t think the No campaign can take anything for granted in these last few weeks.
That describes both the yes and the no case. They can make up their own mind.
Continue reading...The formal announcement of a voice referendum date triggers a campaign from both the yes and no camps, before Australians eventually head to the polls. Follow today’s live news updates
Report points to Snowy 2.0 project costs blowing out to $12bn
Nine’s Sydney Morning Herald and the Age are this morning reporting that the cost of Snowy Hydro’s 2.0 giant pumped hydro project has doubled in six months to $12bn.
Continue reading...South Australia and Tasmania expected to decide future of voice to parliament as Anthony Albanese confirms date at Adelaide rally
The Indigenous voice referendum date will be announced at a large community rally in Adelaide’s outer suburbs on Wednesday, kickstarting a campaign to change Australia’s constitution for the first time in nearly half a century.
Albanese will join South Australia’s premier, Peter Malinauskas, in Elizabeth in Adelaide’s north, to confirm the referendum date. If held on 14 October, as widely anticipated, it would kickstart a 45-day campaign.
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Victoria bans Nazi salute, symbols and gestures in public
The Victorian government will today introduce legislation to parliament to ban the Nazi salute.
Victorians have zero tolerance for the glorification of hateful ideology. We’re making sure people who use these symbols and gestures to harass, intimidate and incite hate are held accountable for their cowardly behaviour. While we wish making these laws wasn’t necessary, we will always tackle antisemitism, hatred and racism head-on – because all Victorians deserve to feel accepted, safe and included.
Continue reading...Comments follow Coles and Woolworths announcing annual profits of more than $1bn even after a spike in cost-of-living pressures on households. Follow today’s live news updates
A Gold Coast city councillor has been charged with murder, AAP reports.
A 58-year-old man was found deceased inside an Arundel property by emergency services, after police were called to the residence around 3pm yesterday.
Continue reading...Guardian Australia analysis shows yes and no campaign advertising is focused more on SA, Tasmania and WA, and less on east coast states
The date of the voice to parliament referendum will be announced in Adelaide due to its strategic importance for both the yes and no campaigns, with the potential for South Australia to be the swing state that decides the outcome of the vote.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, confirmed on Wednesday he would announce voting day for the voice referendum in Adelaide next week on the 30 August. Referendum day is widely expected to be 14 October.
Continue reading...Supermarket operator posts 4.8% rise in full year cash profit, lifted by strong rise in groceries revenue. Follow today’s live news updates
AEC monitoring disinformation about electoral processes
Rogers said the AEC has seen an increase in mis- and disinformation over the last few years, particularly around the electoral process itself.
It’s all about the electoral process. We’re seeing an increase in [disinformation]. We’re seeing an increase in threats to staff. Which is very disappointing. And we’re monitoring that very closely.
At the last federal election, we had similar issues. We’re seeing behaviours we haven’t seen previously. The people who work elections are community members … Treat people with respect and civility.
We’re ready for it whenever it may be. That’s what we do in any case. We’re used to these events when we don’t know the date until a few weeks out. We’ve got all systems go.
We would ultimately like the rate to be exactly the same as the general roll, but it’s very close.
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