Category Archives: Anthony Albanese

Noel Pearson says Indigenous voice is not about ‘party politics’ and will cut wasteful spending

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Pearson says referendum is not a competition ‘between blue and red’ after Anthony Albanese’s Garma festival speech

The prime minister’s Garma speech was the “unequivocal” support for an Indigenous voice to parliament of an Australian leader, not a party politician, the Cape York leader, leading “yes” campaigner and Guugu-Yimithirr lawyer Noel Pearson has said.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, told the Garma festival in north-east Arnhem Land on Saturday that he would not defer or delay the referendum, and dismissed “no” campaigners as being “desperate to talk about anything but the actual question”.

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PM accuses Coalition of ‘creating noise and confusion’ over voice – as it happened

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Australia has ‘nothing to fear and everything to gain’ from a yes vote, Anthony Albanese says. This blog is now closed

Albanese says he won’t announce date of voice vote at Garma

Albanese will not announce at Garma what date the voice to parliament referendum will be held on:

I’ve made it clear a year ago what the timetable would look like, that it would be in the last quarter of this year. Obviously when we get into December, you are into the rainy season, so that gets knocked out. September, it could be held then except we have the footy finals.

We’ll make an announcement soon. We’ll talk through with the Australian Electoral Commission and make sure it’s an appropriate date, one that doesn’t clash with other events.

What is occurring with this referendum is it’s a clear proposition … the words are clear that have been put forward, they’ve been passed by the parliament, overwhelmingly by the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Indeed, across the parliament, both sides say they support constitutional recognition. Both sides say that you need to legislate the voice. The only difference is that Peter Dutton is saying that if you actually … enshrine it in the constitution, that that is something that they oppose.

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Anthony Albanese vows ‘no delaying or deferring’ of Indigenous voice vote

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In Garma speech, PM says there is ‘nothing to fear and everything to gain’ and no vote in referendum would only lead to ‘more of the same’

There is “nothing to fear and everything to gain” from an Indigenous voice to parliament, Anthony Albanese has said at the Garma festival in Arnhem Land on Saturday, in his strongest pitch yet for Australians to vote yes in the upcoming referendum.

The prime minister promised to stay the course on the vote, due between September and December this year.

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‘An opportunity to be lifted up’: Anthony Albanese hails local clan council as model of Indigenous voice at Garma festival

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The event began with a solemn and loving tribute to beloved late Gumatj leader Yunupingu

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has reaffirmed his commitment to implementing the Uluru statement in full, saying “no one will be hurt by a yes vote in this referendum, but we have an opportunity to be lifted up”.

Asked by reporters if he still was committed to the Uluru statement in full, Albanese simply answered: “yes”.

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Australia news live: ‘nonsense’ to suggest Qantas has an outsized influence over Albanese government, Alan Joyce says

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Queensland to give free meningococcal B vaccine to infants, children and adolescents

The meningococcal B vaccine will be made free for infants, children and adolescents in Queensland.

After hearing the stories of heartbroken Queensland families, I had to act.

We know the meningococcal B strain can be lethal and – if a young person is lucky enough to survive the disease – it’s likely they will develop permanent and sometimes devastating complications.

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Albanese lashes Dutton over Garma festival no-show as leaders trade barbs over Indigenous voice

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PM and opposition leader spar over referendum, apology to the stolen generations and the prospect of treaty in heated parliamentary debate

Anthony Albanese has accused Peter Dutton of “undermining the interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people” by opposing the Indigenous voice, launching a strident defence of the referendum and criticising the opposition leader for declining to attend the Garma festival this weekend.

As the Coalition again pursued the government in question time over the treaty element of the Uluru statement from the heart, asking how long it would take and what it would cost, Albanese sought to re-focus attention on the referendum. The prime minister questioned why the Liberal party opposed a constitutionally enshrined voice despite backing a legislated model, claiming the opposition was seeking to divide the nation.

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Past and present public servants to be investigated – as it happened

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Home prices to keep rising despite higher rates: REA

National property prices are expected to increase by up to five per cent in 2023, having already lifted more than two per cent since the start of the year, AAP reports.

We saw price increases despite rising interest rates and reduced borrowing capacities and anticipate moderate price increases to continue over the coming months.

Don’t wait for a flare to rise from Canberra, until you get started.

The campaign has truly begun. Get out there, talk to your family, talk to your friends.

This is your moment.

I urge you to campaign for a future you want to see.

We will win this referendum, conversation by conversation. Silence doesn’t make history, people make history.

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Greens decry property tax breaks costing 78 times what Labor proposes to spend on social housing

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Max Chandler-Mather says magnitude of the tax concessions ‘morally reprehensible’ as stoush continues over housing crisis

The value of tax breaks given to property investors is 78 times the promised minimum spend on social housing under the Albanese government’s flagship fund, new data released by the Greens shows.

Max Chandler-Mather, the Greens’ housing spokesperson, described the magnitude of the tax concessions as “morally reprehensible” as the minor party digs in on opposing the housing Australia future fund (Haff) in its current form.

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Megan Davis dismisses Coalition concerns over Indigenous treaty, saying ‘none of this is secret’

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Exclusive: Uluru statement from the heart architect says information on Labor’s approach to treaty has been ‘on the public record for over half a decade’

Uluru statement from the heart architect Prof Megan Davis says information about the voice and treaty has been “in plain sight” since 2017, downplaying the Coalition’s concerns about treaties and noting such agreements are already in train across multiple states.

Labor has committed to the 2017 Uluru statement in full, including treaty, the second element of the statement, with Anthony Albanese making the pledge on multiple occasions, including his election victory speech.

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Labor to meet Greens over housing bill – as it happened

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RFS predicts severe bushfire season to come

Firefighters are scrambling to catch up on bushfire preparations as NSW braces for a hot summer, AAP reports.

The No 1 factor for that not going ahead was the weather conditions, the rain, the flooding, that’s meant the crews weren’t able to get out and do that important work in communities.

There is plenty more to be done and this boost in mitigation personnel will enable even more vital work to be undertaken.

This is a tragedy. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the Australian Defence Force personnel on board. All were from the 6th Aviation Regiment based at Holsworthy army barracks in Sydney and valuable members of our community.

Our thoughts are also with those who served alongside these four young men – their friends and colleagues in uniform – and the broader defence community.

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Asylum seeker walking 1,000km from Ballarat to Sydney to raise awareness about temporary protection visas

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Neil Para and his wife and two eldest children have been on a temporary protection visa since they arrived in Australia in 2012

For 11 years, Neil Para’s life has been riddled with uncertainty.

He fled war-torn Sri Lanka for Malaysia in 2008 in search of a safer life for his growing family, temporarily leaving his pregnant wife behind.

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News live: economists wary ahead of RBA rates decision; agriculture minister says Australia is free of lumpy skin disease

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Anthony Albanese says increasing the income-free area for jobseeker would have ‘unintended consequences’. Follow live news updates today

PM says he would ‘rather not have’ double dissolution trigger as housing bill to be reintroduced

Anthony Albanese has spoken to ABC Sydney and FiveAA about Labor’s $10bn housing Australia future fund bill, which is going to be reintroduced to parliament, possibly providing a trigger for a double dissolution election.

That doesn’t necessarily provide for an early election, it could go into 2025 – but what it does is mean that can be a focus and you have a joint sitting after a double dissolution is held, but I just want this legislation to be passed … Their spokesperson [Max Chandler Mather] put this in writing in an opinion piece in a magazine, essentially saying that if this is just waved through and happens we won’t be able to continue to door knock and campaign on it. Well, I don’t want to play politics with this – I want to get this done. We have a mandate for it, and the Senate should pass it.

The truth is you do need appropriate development, particularly along public transport corridors … But it’s true sometimes local government can get in the way because people want to oppose anything at all that looks like development. But the truth is we do need to increase housing supply, that’s the key.

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Australian military helicopter crash: missing crew identified as Albanese pays tribute

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Taipan helicopter was taking part in joint military training exercise Talisman Sabre when it crashed in waters off Queensland’s Whitsunday Islands on Friday night

The four missing crew of a helicopter which crashed during a military training exercise in waters off Queensland have been identified, as navy divers and allies assisted with the search on Sunday.

Lt Gen Simon Stuart, chief of the Australian army, said the families of the men had given permission to name the four soldiers: Capt Daniel Lyon, Lt Maxwell Nugent, WO Class Two Joseph Laycock and Cpl Alexander Naggs.

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Greens insist they won’t back down on housing bill despite Albanese’s double dissolution threat

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Minor party plans to door-knock Labor electorates in a ‘national day of action’ as it continues to call on the prime minister to include rent relief in package

The Greens remain defiant in the face of Anthony Albanese’s double-dissolution threat over his housing bill, insisting the minor party will continue to push for rent relief to be part of the package.

Queensland Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather said the party remained willing to negotiate but would not be pushed into supporting Labor’s $5bn housing Australia future fund (Haff).

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Birmingham says opposition doesn’t ‘fear’ early election – as it happened

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Housing bill squabble to bring back possibility of double dissolution election

Parliament resumes next week after a five-week hiatus over winter, which means all the squabbles and fights we left in June are starting to whirl up again – chief among them housing. As Daniel Hurst reported this morning, Labor is going to bring back its housing bill to the house in October, where it will pass. Once it hits the Senate, things get a little more dicey. If it’s rejected by the Greens, who so far aren’t seeing what they want from the government, then the government has a double dissolution trigger.

The early indications are that there was a 50m exclusion zone around the deceased.

All efforts had been made to cover the body but at certain stages of the forensic examination, that body did need to be uncovered so the forensic police could do their work for the coroner and unfortunately, those children did walk past.

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NSW police taskforce to investigate spate of shootings – as it happened

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Wholesale power prices down from a year ago but still at elevated levels

Emissions from Australia’s main electricity grid dropped more than 6% in the June quarter from a year ago to a record-low for the period, and wholesale prices stabilised, the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo) said.

I think some of the people who are raising issues in the US Congress about this are saying ‘look the US has its own issues about its industrial base, its capacity to up its submarine production.’

But you know, what Aukus is about is actually augmenting the capacity to supply submarines in the region. And we Australia will be injecting money into the US industrial base.

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Essential poll: sizeable support for Daniel Andrews’ decision to scrap Commonwealth Games

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Almost 60% of people support players receiving equal pay in the Women’s World Cup

More than 40% of Australians agree with Daniel Andrews’ controversial decision to scrap the Commonwealth Games, with his home state most supportive of the move, new polling shows.

While critics bemoaned the decision as “an international embarrassment”, the latest Guardian Essential poll found Australians were less invested, with 41% of those polled agreeing with the Victorian government’s decision, while 36% disagreed and 24% were unsure.

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Labor faces internal fight over native forest logging despite emissions pledge

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Labor’s Environment Action Network says draft national platform ‘very, very weak’ on opposing native forest logging and land clearing

Labor has significantly beefed up its commitment to reduce emissions in the gas industry but still faces a fight at its national conference over “weak” policies on native forest logging.

Labor’s Environment Action Network (Lean) has now signed up 294 branches for its push to end native forest logging and broad scale land clearing, but both policies were omitted from the draft national platform distributed to delegates on Monday.

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Albanese says it’s ‘dumb’ to expect change without Indigenous voice in talkback radio clash

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PM tells 2GB radio’s Ben Fordham that media have a responsibility not to ‘raise red herrings’ after being repeatedly questioned over impacts of voice proposal

Anthony Albanese has branded it “dumb” to suggest outcomes for Indigenous Australians can improve without a voice to parliament in the constitution, muscling up to conservative critics of the referendum proposal.

The prime minister made the comment in a testy interview on 2GB Radio, warning that media have a responsibility not to “raise red herrings” and urging Australians to read about the actual question for themselves.

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Fadden byelection: Peter Dutton’s leadership given breathing room as LNP retains Gold Coast seat

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Cameron Caldwell wins retiring member Stuart Robert’s seat with Labor candidate Letitia Del Fabbro conceding less than 90 minutes after polls closed

The Liberal leader, Peter Dutton, has been given some breathing room with the LNP comfortably retaining its safe Gold Coast seat of Fadden.

Labor, which had debated whether to even run a candidate in the poll, went into the byelection expecting the LNP to win – it was always about by how much.

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