Category Archives: Anthony Albanese

One Nation senators and David Pocock granted second adviser amid backlash over crossbench staff cuts

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More senators and MPs due to meet Anthony Albanese next week after crossbenchers warned cuts could slow Labor’s legislative agenda

One Nation senators and independent David Pocock have been granted an extra adviser each, as the Albanese government softens cuts to crossbench staff.

But the decision to give Pauline Hanson, Malcolm Roberts and Pocock six staff each instead of the slated five is unlikely to stem demands from independent MPs in the lower house that they need more staff too.

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Australia news live: childcare workers announce strike; election violence in PNG; Frydenberg joins Goldman Sachs

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Childcare workers have voted to strike in September, after years of poor pay and conditions

Linda Burney says she’s ‘not going to be rushed’ on Indigenous voice referendum

Linda Burney, the minister for Indigenous Australians, is on ABC radio speaking about the enshrinement of the Indigenous voice in the constitution.

This is not just symbolic, it is going to have real impacts on the lives of First Nations people.

I am not going to be rushed into timelines. We are going to do this properly.

I would find it incredulous for people not to support what is a very generous and gracious ask.

Remember that this is an advisory body only. It is not usurping the sovereignty of the parliament. Is is not a third chamber.

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Albanese labels Morrison’s comments about not trusting government ‘astonishing’

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PM accuses his predecessor of making ‘nonsense throwaway conspiracy’ claims about the UN at a church in Perth

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has accused his predecessor Scott Morrison of making “nonsense throwaway conspiracy” claims about the United Nations that were unworthy of a national leader.

Albanese branded Morrison’s comments during a church sermon on the weekend as “astonishing”, after the defeated Coalition leader said: “We don’t trust in governments. We don’t trust in the United Nations, thank goodness.”

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Australia news live updates: Greens aim to ‘improve and pass’ Labor climate bill; Andrews rules out mask mandates as nation records 90 Covid deaths;

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No change in Operation Sovereign Borders policy

Clare O’Neil is asked about the desperate situation in Sri Lanka, where many people are trying to find a way out.

Operation Sovereign Borders is Australian government policy.

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Anthony Albanese stops short of calling for Australians to work from home amid Covid surge

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Prime minister says people should stay home if they are sick but there is no prescriptive position on working from home

Anthony Albanese has stopped short of calling for Australians to work from home if they can, as the chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, advised yesterday in the face of the rising Covid wave, saying the nation needed a “balance” to also consider the interests of business.

Despite numerous questions across a radio interview and a press conference about the latest recommendation from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee that employers should allow working from home if feasible, the prime minister did not directly make that request himself.

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Australia news live; treasurer says fuel excise cut ‘too expensive to continue’; Denis Napthine resigns as NDIA chair; 31 Covid deaths

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Gorgeous images coming through from Tasmania where snow has fallen this morning.

NSW premier Dominic Perrottet is on ABC Radio following the national cabinet meeting which has seen emergency isolation payments reinstated.

If the state is taking away people’s liberty, then the state has an obligation to provide financial support.

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PM criticised for ‘delaying’ flood support announcement – as it happened

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Labor adopting ‘take it or leave it’ approach, says Bandt

Bandt warns the government is adopting a “take it or leave it” approach to negotiating climate legislation, when there are real issues to address, such as the extent of climate ambition and how to phase out fossil fuels.

We’re saying that’s not our position. We’re saying we’d be willing to have discussions with the government but these are the things that have to be on the table. We’re not going into it with ultimatums.

I’m not talking about bottom lines and ultimatums but you can’t even have this discussion if the government is saying it’s my way or the highway, which is with where, with respect to the target, where they’re at at the moment.

If we’re negotiating climate legislation, then this government, now they’re in power, has to grapple with the question of are they going to open up more coal and gas projects that could potentially blow 43% out of the water? Just one of those projects could do that.

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AMA welcomes Albanese’s decision to extend Covid-19 pandemic leave payments after national cabinet meets

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Prime minister Anthony Albanese says support will continue until the end of September amid winter Covid wave set to peak in August

The Australian Medical Association has welcomed the federal government’s backflip on emergency Covid payments, and says they should say in place as long as necessary.

“They should never have been removed,” president Omar Khorshid said.

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Smiles and unity at the Pacific Islands Forum mask tough questions shelved for another day

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While leaders presented a picture of harmony, more vexing topics like Australia’s fossil fuel ambitions and China were kicked down the road

At the close of the Pacific Islands Forum the leaders emerged from their retreat smiling, cut a giant cake with a sword and then, in an impromptu moment of diplomatic bonhomie, posed for a selfie after Anthony Albanese whipped out his phone, Ellen DeGeneres style.

It was, quite literally, a picture of harmony.

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Australia live updates: PM to meet with state and territory leaders at emergency national cabinet meeting as Covid hospitalisations soar

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Australia’s chief medical officer will give a briefing to state and territory leaders on Saturday and the pandemic leave payment is expected to be extended. Follow live

There were 11,082 new cases in the last reporting period, and 66 people are in intensive care.

First home buyers blowing their budgets

Underquoting is where a property is listed at a price lower than what it’s worth to bait buyers.

It’s illegal but it does happen, particularly in the case of auctions, where underquoted prices can attract more buyers and lead to a bidding war.

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Albanese to restore Covid leave payment as emergency national cabinet meeting called

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Australia’s chief medical officer will give a briefing to state and territory leaders on Saturday as government backflips on pandemic support

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Anthony Albanese will propose that Canberra and the states extend the pandemic leave payment during a snap national cabinet briefing that has been expedited to Saturday.

The government has spent the past week signalling the existing $750 payment would not be extended over the winter for budgetary reasons, but that decision has been reversed after mounting pressure from backbenchers, premiers, and health experts.

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Labor backbenchers call for pandemic supports to continue as PM announces snap national cabinet meeting

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Exclusive: Federal Labor MPs join NSW Labor leader Chris Minns in calling for Albanese government to rethink decision on Covid policies

Labor backbenchers are calling on the government to restore Covid pandemic leave payments, saying the measure is needed for people struggling with the cost of living to help slow the spread of the virus.

It comes as the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has agreed to hold a snap national cabinet meeting on Monday morning with state and territory leaders, after Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk requested an update on the health advice and Covid situation from the chief medical officer.

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Nation records 78 Covid deaths – as it happened

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The International Monetary Fund could downgrade its expectations for global economic growth this month.

Its head Kristalina Georgieva has hinted as much, saying the war in Ukraine, higher than expected inflation and the Covid pandemic are to blame.

As G20 ministers and central bank governors gather in Bali this week, they face a global economic outlook that has darkened significantly.

Recent indicators imply a weak second quarter – and we will be projecting a further downgrade to global growth for both 2022 and 2023 in our World Economic Outlook Update later this month.

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Australian PM Albanese ‘very confident’ there will be no Chinese bases in Solomon Islands

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Prime minister Anthony Albanese’s comments come after meeting with Solomons leader at Pacific Islands Forum and despite Pacific nation’s security pact with China

The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has said he is “very confident” there will not be Chinese bases in Solomon Islands, despite the two countries’ security pact.

Albanese made the comments from Fiji, where he is attending the Pacific Islands Forum in a bid to reset relations with Pacific neighbours by outlining higher ambitions on climate change and asking for Australia to remain the region’s security partner of choice, not China.

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Labor backing fossil fuel projects could scupper Greens support for 43% target

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Adam Bandt vows to push Albanese government ‘further and faster’ on emissions reduction

The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, says the party’s support for the government’s climate legislation may hinge on whether it continues to back new fossil fuel projects, vowing to push Labor to go “further and faster” on its emission reduction goals.

Hitting back at the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, after he suggested the government would not negotiate with the Greens to pass the legislation through the Senate, Bandt accused Labor of being the “only obstacle” to greater climate ambition in the new parliament.

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More than 700 aged care Covid outbreaks – as it happened

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Cockroach alert at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane

As the Maroons and Blues prepare to face off in the State of Origin final decider tonight, another showdown is occurring between the SES and the “influx” of cockroaches in the stadium where the final will take place.

To be very clear, my government has not made this decision, this is a decision that was inherited from the former government and state governments.

I’d encourage concession cardholders to go and get the 10 free rapid antigen tests that they’re eligible for by the end of this month. There’s still a lot of time to go and do that. Of course, on top of that, there are free rapid antigen tests available in aged care facilities, across a range of areas as well in addition to that.

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‘We are family’: Anthony Albanese meets Solomon Islands PM amid tension over China deal

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Manasseh Sogavare says relationship with Australia is ‘strong’ despite his recent security pact with Beijing

Anthony Albanese has met with the Solomon Islands prime minister in Suva to discuss their common interests of climate change and regional security issues, despite recent tensions between the two nations over China.

It is the first time that Albanese has met Manasseh Sogavare. The relationship between the countries has become increasingly tense since the signing of the controversial security pact with China earlier this year, but ahead of the meeting Albanese reiterated the importance of the relationship and said it “will be even better after this afternoon”.

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‘Millions’ of Australians will be infected with Covid in coming weeks, health minister says

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Mark Butler is urging Australians to get their booster jabs as case numbers rise and pandemic supports are scaled back

The Australian health minister, Mark Butler, has warned “millions” of people will be infected by Covid in coming weeks, urging Australians to take boosters even as the government winds down other Covid supports.

On Wednesday, Anthony Albanese, doubled down on the federal government’s decision not to extend free rapid antigen tests for concession card holders beyond 31 July.

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Power struggle with China and regional rift in focus as Anthony Albanese heads to Pacific Islands forum

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Absence of Kiribati from the meeting is ‘really devastating’ to the body’s long-term strategy, security expert says

When Anthony Albanese touches down in Suva on Wednesday to attend his first Pacific Islands Forum, he will be walking in to a regional meeting that is putting on a brave face.

While it had been thought that the forum would be focused on the growing influence of China and as an opportunity for Australia to showcase its new climate credentials, Albanese will arrive to a group wrestling with other problems.

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End of rapid Covid test and telehealth subsidies criticised – as it happened

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Payments extended to eight more local government areas and sped up to prioritise victims over auditing; free Covid rapid tests for concession card holders to end this month. This blog is now closed

A new campaign has launched today to tackle racism by the Australian Human Rights Commission.

Chin Tan, the race discrimination commissioner, was on ABC Radio this morning discussing the campaign he says calls on all Australians to reflect on the causes and impacts of racism, not only on its victims but Australia’s collective wellbeing as a society.

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