Category Archives: Anthony Albanese

Anthony Albanese to push ‘family-first’ security treaty in address to Papua New Guinea parliament

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Australian PM to call for ‘a swift conclusion to negotiations’ to treaty and say both countries should ‘work as equals with our fellow Pacific states’

Anthony Albanese will seek progress on a new security treaty during a visit to Papua New Guinea, pushing a “family-first approach” amid increasing competition with China for influence in the Pacific.

On Thursday the Australian prime minister will become the first foreign government leader to address PNG’s parliament and will say he sees the relationship as “a bond between equals”.

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China raises Australia’s hopes over detained pair and trade disputes amid thaw in relations

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Chinese envoy in Canberra largely positive about enhancing ties between countries while stepping up criticism of Aukus security deal

China’s ambassador to Australia has offered a glimmer of hope about the cases of two Australians detained in China, saying he wants a “solution” to be found as quickly as possible as Canberra continues to push for their release.

Xiao Qian also revealed that Chinese and Australian officials were in talks in Geneva about resolving their trade disputes, and he held open the possibility of resuming two-way talks about human rights.

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Defence personnel deployed to aid flooding recovery – as it happened

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Voice leaders ‘tired of political games’

A leading Indigenous voice to parliament advocate has lashed the “tired political games” marring discussion around the proposed advisory body, AAP reports.

Constitutions are for principle. The machinery is for parliament. The High Court of Australia was recognised in 1901 and set up via legislation several years later … it’s a normal constitutional approach.

The Uluru Statement was issued to the Australian people because as Australians we are tired of political games. This isn’t about politicians and politicking, this is about the Australian people and our future.

You can’t just say to the Australian public as the prime minister, ‘you vote at an election … on a Saturday and we’ll give you the detail on the Monday’. It’s a very serious decision to change our constitution.

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Australia live news update: fifth child airlifted to hospital with irukandji jellyfish sting; Albanese and Dutton trade insults over Indigenous voice

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Federal opposition leader wants Labor to legislate its preferred model before referendum is held this year. This blog is now closed

‘I’m genuinely interested in advancing the cause of reconciliation’

Peter Dutton is asked about whether the prime minister has been given a copy of his letter – Anthony Albanese has said he has not received it – and Dutton says a copy has been provided to the prime minister’s office and he expects “he will respond in due course”.

I don’t think that’s unreasonable. Certainly not racist. It’s not being opposed to reconciliation. It’s all about, frankly, just being informed about what it is they’re being asked to vote on. I don’t think that is unreasonable to ask the prime minister to provide that.

I’ve met with the prime minister and I’m grateful for the meetings that we’ve had and he knows that I’m genuinely interested in advancing the cause of reconciliation.

I’m speaking of millions of Australians, we’re asking you the reasonable questions.

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Albanese accuses Dutton of engaging in ‘culture war stunts’ over Indigenous voice

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Opposition leader has demanded more detail, saying lack of clear information will condemn referendum to failure and damage reconciliation efforts

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has accused the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, of engaging in “cheap culture war stunts” over the Indigenous voice to parliament.

Dutton on Sunday demanded – in a letter to Albanese also released to the media – more detail on the proposed body which will be voted on at a referendum by the end of 2023.

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ADF airlifts food to Western Australia areas hit by floods – as it happened

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Australian Defence Force planes now able to use the airstrip at Fitzroy Crossing as weather improves. This blog is now closed

“Bonza the bogan airline” sounds like a crap children’s book, but it’s an interesting story about another moving part in Australia’s turbulent air transport industry. Also, Elias Visontay managed to get budgie smugglers into it, making the skimpy swimwear somewhat of a sub theme on the blog today:

Waters at Menindee expected to peak

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Anthony Albanese ‘confident’ about Aukus deal despite US submarine scepticism

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Defence minister Richard Marles says Australia will need to make its own industrial contribution for the US and UK deal

Australia is on track to announce plans to buy new nuclear-powered submarines from the US and UK, despite scepticism in Washington, the Albanese government says.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the defence minister, Richard Marles, said Australia’s relationship with the US remained strong after revelations two US senators raised concerns to the president, Joe Biden, the Aukus deal between the three countries could kill off America’s submarine-building industry.

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NSW Health warns of rise in invasive bacterial infections – as it happened

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Warning as cases of meningococcal disease and invasive group A streptococcus rise. This blog is now closed

Albanese government and Business Council agree to disability employment pilot

The Albanese government has announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Business Council of Australia to create and implement a “new disability employment pilot”.

There are 2.1 million Australians with disability of working age, but only 53.4% are in the labour workforce. We also know 93% of working-age people with disability face difficulties finding work due to the lack of suitable employment and perceived limitations of their disability.

This new employment pilot seeks to address this and provide significant benefits to people with disability, employers and businesses, the economy and the broader community.

There has been a big increase as a consequence of the indexation made necessary by this higher inflation. And so that indexation is flowing through I think in welcome ways to people who are on payments. There will always be an appetite to do more and to do better when it comes to these payments. And we will always do what we responsibly can to support people, particularly people on low and fixed incomes.

It’s not something I’m contemplating because ... our position on those tax cuts hasn’t changed. And it’s not the only factor frankly in the budget which people are talking about right now, in welcome ways. As we get towards the budget, that I’ll hand down in May, there’s a lot of pressure on the budget when it comes to aged care, health care defense, spending the NDIS, the cost of servicing the trillion dollars of debt that we inherited from our predecessors.

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Lifesavers rescue 1,200 over holiday period in Australia – as it happened

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‘Challenging night’ for WA fire crews in south-west

Earlier today, Western Australian Department of Fire and Emergency Services incident controller Peter Thomas said it had been a “challenging night” for fire crews in the south-west, as bushfires threaten the region.

So our volunteers from the Donnybrook area across the south-west [who have] come to deal with this incident.

We’ve had some strong winds that have been coming consistently from the east, but been fairly strong and making it challenging for our crews.

When we allow sportspeople from Russia to participate in the Australian Open, we do exactly what Putin wants.

It doesn’t matter what flag Russian Federation players compete under. It has Ukrainian blood on it.

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Covid testing for China travellers ‘not an especially onerous requirement’, Chalmers says – as it happened

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Opposition calls on government to explain decision to implement restrictions on travellers arriving from China. This blog is now closed

China travel situation the ‘first test of the Albanese government’, Liberal MP says

The shadow assistant minister for mental health, Melissa McIntosh, is among those from the Coalition criticising Labor’s decision not to follow health advice on imposing conditions on travel from China.

The Coalition always supports the best interests of Australians and the safety of Australians ... Now I think this is really the first test of the Albanese government when it comes to pandemic management.

And it’s quite perplexing that on New Year’s Eve, the chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, sent a letter to the health minister, Mark Butler, stating he did not feel these restrictions on Chinese travellers were really required. And then a day later, the health minister has gone against the health advice, of the chief medical officer of this country, and imposed those restrictions. I think Australians very much deserve answers when it comes to the government’s decision, why did the government go against the chief medical officer’s advice and what’s the plan now they’ve implemented these restrictions?

One of the reasons why Australia got through the pandemic as one of the best countries in the world to do so was because we followed Australia’s medical advice. Australia’s medical advice. Not following other countries.

I think it’s really important we’re consistent in what we do as a nation ... when it comes to following the advice. And as I said, this is really a first test of the Albanese government. It’s leading people to be confused. Why would you have the chief medical officer say one thing, and the government ignore that, and do another?

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The Albanese government has had a solid start. Now comes the hard part

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Labor has grown in popularity since its election in May, and ticked off a number of campaign promises. But harder decisions await in 2023

The year ended on a high for the Anthony Albanese, with opinion polls showing the Labor government and its leader are only growing in popularity, across all states.

The new government spent its first seven months ticking off election promises and recalibrating Australia’s standing on the world stage. Albanese aimed to keep politics off the front page as much as possible. In that, it has been somewhat successful, with the biggest headlines featuring his predecessor, Scott Morrison. But every honeymoon must come to an end and as we head into 2023, the domestic political challenges for the Albanese government will soon loom large.

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PM’s China dialogue comments ‘sneaky’, opposition says – as it happened

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Authorities to crack down on taxi and rideshare rip-offs

The Point to Point Commissioner is expecting a busy New Year’s period, after a “landslide of complaints” to the taxi industry hotline in the lead-up to the holiday period.

Businesses in the hospitality, tourism and retail industries heavily rely on a transport system that is safe, reliable and cost-effective to get Sydneysiders around our city.

If the system fails on delivering this service then people will not come into the city, which in turn will have an adverse knock-on effect on other businesses as a result.

Yes we have to continue to pursue them but the easiest way they could be resolved is by the Chinese government ending the sanctions on barley and wine. If they did that, then obviously, those disputes we no longer need to continue to take them – that would be the best thing that could occur, although I see no sign of that at the moment.

I see we’re dangling carrots out in front of the Chinese ... accession to CPTPP [Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership], which was something we never talked about, I see the new government is talking about it. This is very concerning – that they would offer access to that incredibly important trade arrangement to try and get the Chinese [government] to move.

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Anthony Albanese urges Australians not to travel to Ukraine but to donate to support war effort

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Ukrainian embassy in Australia says the number of enquiries about volunteering in the country has dropped off

The number of Australians enquiring about volunteering in Ukraine to fight against Russian forces has fallen, as the federal government warns citizens against travelling to the war-torn country.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, on Thursday urged Australians not to travel to Ukraine – in line with the federal travel advice – after the death of Victorian man Sage O’Donnell who was fighting in the conflict. Albanese said people often did not notify the government before travelling to Ukraine, meaning the number of Australians fighting there is unknown.

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Police say stabbing murder investigation could take weeks – as it happened

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Two teenagers are dead and a man has been hospitalised after a crash in South Australia’s mid-north.

Emergency services were called to the Augusta Highway at Lochiel at 7.30pm on Tuesday after a northbound car left the road and crashed into a tree.

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Claims Labor lacks detail on Indigenous voice are ‘rubbish’, Linda Burney tells Woodford folk festival

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‘We’re going to succeed with the referendum,’ Noel Pearson tells crowd ahead of 2023 vote

Linda Burney has rejected as “rubbish” suggestions that Labor has not released enough detail about the Indigenous voice to parliament, as the Liberals continue to call for a free vote in the referendum.

The Indigenous Australians minister and Anthony Albanese both gave major speeches at the Woodford folk festival on Wednesday, countering claims from the Liberal National Coalition that the body would not help improve outcomes for First Nations people.

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‘It can be a difficult time’: Albanese helps to serve Christmas meal for Australians in need

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PM spends Christmas morning at Ashfield Uniting Church in Sydney’s inner west along with NSW Labor leader Chris Minns

Anthony Albanese has joined volunteers to serve a Christmas meal to vulnerable Sydneysiders and has acknowledged Australians who are doing it tough at what should be a joyful time of year.

Albanese spent the morning the same way he does every year, at the Ashfield Uniting Church in his inner-western Sydney electorate with the Rev Bill Crews.

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Peter Dutton lets Christmas take a back seat to bad news in Yuletide address as Anthony Albanese expresses ‘gratitude’

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The PM, an election winner in 2022, starts his festive address noting Christmas is ‘such a special time of year’

When George V decided to broadcast a Christmas message to his British subjects in 1932 he started a tradition that leaders across the world continue to embrace. Some more successfully than others.

The recipe for the Christmas message is fairly simple – one part reflection on challenges from the past year, one part acknowledgment of current events and one part hopeful throw forward (with a dash of unity).

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Qantas sends back up plane to Azerbaijan after passengers fume – As it happened

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Qantas has apologised to passengers and thanked them for their patience after a Singapore to London flight was forced to land at Baku airport – This blog is now closed

Job agencies join calls to scrap elements of ParentsNext program

Job agencies running the contentious ParentsNext program have called on the Albanese government to scrap compliance from the scheme, with one suggesting the current system is “morally questionable”.

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Liberals hit back at election review ‘whitewash’ that attempts to blame incumbents for losing seats

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Former Liberal MP says problem was party ran a presidential campaign around ‘one of most unpopular leaders in Australian history’

Liberals have hit back at their party’s election review, calling it a “whitewash” designed to shift blame on to defeated MPs in order to downplay the unpopularity of Scott Morrison.

Despite the review acknowledging that the choice between Morrison and Anthony Albanese was “the most influential driver of voting intention”, critics have taken aim at a controversial finding that “some (not all) local members did not maximise the advantages of incumbency”.

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Wong says ‘the ice thaws, but slowly’ ahead of talks – as it happened

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Long delays on M7 at Prestons in Sydney

Traffic is banked up on the M7 in Sydney. Chanel 7 is reporting that a truck crash has caused the long delays.

They’re sharing their emotions and their grief because they believe this should never have happened.

It’s really important for us to have that public support. It inspires us to continue to do our job.

They’ve also lost two colleagues … so they are hurting incredibly.

A lot of work to be done to assist them as we move into the future because the pain will never go away.

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