Category Archives: Anthony Albanese

Australia live news updates: Scott Morrison accuses Labor of ‘sewer’ tactics over Gladys Liu ad; Daniel Andrews attacks ‘cruel’ trans debate; 17 Covid deaths

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Coalition and Labor to focus on Northern Territory as week three of the federal election campaign begins. Follow all the developments live

Queensland Health has issued a recall notice for vegan chocolates after they were found to contain milk.

More details would be provided but it looks as if the Foods Standards website is offline for maintenance.

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Scott Morrison refuses press conference as John Howard calls teal independents ‘anti-Liberal groupies’

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Warringah MP Zali Steggall accuses former prime minister of using ‘appalling sexist language’

The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, did not take questions from media on Saturday – despite addressing a campaign rally and touring a boating, camping and fishing store for the cameras on the New South Wales Central Coast.

Labor has repeatedly criticised the prime minister for “going missing” on the Solomon Islands security deal with China, with questions raised over when the federal government became aware of the draft security pact.

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Morrison refuses to hold press conference; Steggall accuses Howard of ‘sexist language’ after ‘groupies’ remark – as it happened

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US says it will ‘respond accordingly’ if China allowed to establish military base in Solomon Islands. This blog is now closed

Frydenberg was also asked on Sunrise whether he was worried after his rival, Kooyong independent Dr Monique Ryan, drew the number one position on the ballot draw yesterday while he drew number seven.

There’s the luck of the draw when it comes to the ballot, you just accept it and you move on.

No. Because we’ve got a full court press with respect to our Pacific friends ... we provide about two-thirds of developmental assistance.

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Australia politics live news: Albanese says he’s ‘had better days’ in first TV interview since Covid diagnosis; PM says Pacific leaders under ‘enormous pressure’

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China doesn’t ‘play by same rules’, PM warns of China’s influence in Pacific region; Labor’s frontbench to replace Albanese in physical campaign; WA premier Mark McGowan tests positive for Covid; Morrison attacks NSW independent commission against corruption for ‘sickening’ treatment of Gladys Berejiklian; at least 46 Covid deaths recorded— live updates

Speaking to ABC Brisbane this morning, (he truly has been everywhere this morning) Scott Morrison was asked his thoughts on the ABC:

We continue to fund the ABC, we continue to keep up the pace on ensuring that it is a competent and professional broadcaster and particularly to support the work that the ABC does in regional areas.

I think the recent floods once again highlighted, I think the ABC at its best, and that’s when it’s providing important information in the middle of natural disasters and things of that nature.

At the start of this week [December 2021], the prime minister told reporters: “Gladys was put in a position of actually having to stand down and there was no findings of anything.”

Fact: Berejiklan resigned as premier in September, voluntarily.

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Sharma labels Deves’s comments on trans people ‘reprehensible’ – as it happened

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Dave Sharma condemns comments of Warringah candidate Katherine Deves; Labor MP Terri Butler’s electorate office hit by car; nation records at least 50 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

Q: But senator, I do want to take you up on that. This was the debate we were having in the dying days of the parliament, and all the national security experts and veterans in the field say it was unhelpful and that the ALP was anything other than supporting Australia’s policy, so why are you continuing this line of attack?

Simon Birmingham:

The Labor party have created the points of difference in the way they expressed themselves and the language they used. When last in office, let our investment in our defence forces whittle away to the lowest share of the economy. We brought it back to 2% of the GDP, and having that credible investment is what has enabled us to strike new defence pacts and partnerships with countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, making us a credible partner for defence and strategic investment in areas of artificial intelligence, in missile equipment and investment, and the nuclear-powered submarines.

I think we have seen a Labor party, who when China were making decisions to apply trade sanctions and tariffs against Australia, Labor seemed to want us to reach a compromise with China rather than to stand up for Australia.

Anthony Albanese spoke at the National Press Club not that long ago – he suggested we should negotiate or settle some of the points with the Labor party – sorry, with China. Well, ultimately, we have to stand up for Australian interests.

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Anthony Albanese tests positive to Covid but vows to continue election fight

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The Opposition leader says he will continue to work from home while isolating despite being forced off campaign trail for a week

Anthony Albanese says he intends to push ahead with his campaign despite being forced to isolate at home for seven days after being diagnosed with Covid.

The opposition leader released a statement, saying he would “continue my responsibilities as alternative prime minister and will be fighting for a better future for all Australians”.

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Scott Morrison fends off claim Solomon Islands-China pact is worst foreign policy failure since 1945

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Prime minister defends Canberra’s ‘calibrated’ approach to Honiara and tries to turn criticism back on Labor

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has fended off accusations that he is responsible for “the worst Australian foreign policy failure” in the Pacific since the end of the second world war after the Solomon Islands struck a new security pact with China.

Labor has seized on the new agreement as evidence that Australia has been asleep at the wheel while China has cemented its influence in the region, with leader Anthony Albanese saying more should have been done to prevent it from going ahead.

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Australian politics live: NSW and Victoria to ease Covid isolation rules; Morrison says Solomon Islands-China pact exposes ‘very real risk’

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Penny Wong says Morrison government’s handling of Solomon Islands the ‘worst Australian foreign policy blunder in the Pacific since the end of world war two’; NSW and Victoria to ease Covid restrictions from Friday night; undecided voters will put questions to the rivals at a Brisbane forum tonight in first leaders’ debate of 2022 election campaign; NSW reports 15 new Covid deaths and Victoria 14. Follow all the day’s news

For followers of South Australian politics, the good burghers of Bragg in Adelaide’s east are headed back to the polls, with Vickie Chapman announcing she will quit politics at the end of the month, triggering a by-election.

Chapman is a moderate Liberal and the new SA Liberal leader, David Speirs is ... not in the same faction.

Labor appears to have lost ground in the opening week of the federal election campaign according to the latest Guardian Essential poll, but a majority of respondents still think Anthony Albanese will be Australia’s next prime minister.

The latest survey of 1,020 respondents shows Labor’s standing in the two-party preferred “plus” measure is down three points in a fortnight, and there has been a two point increase in the number of undecided voters. But 55% of respondents believe Labor will win on 21 May.

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Guardian Essential poll: Labor loses ground in first week of campaign but remains ahead of Coalition

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Albanese’s disapproval rate rose by five points but over half of all respondents still believe Labor will win the next election

Labor appears to have lost ground in the opening week of the federal election campaign according to the latest Guardian Essential poll, but a majority of respondents still think Anthony Albanese will be Australia’s next prime minister.

The latest survey of 1,020 respondents shows Labor’s standing in the two-party preferred “plus” measure is down three points in a fortnight, and there has been a two point increase in the number of undecided voters. But 55% of respondents believe Labor will win on 21 May.

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Australian politics live: PM says Coalition ‘won’t be doing any deals’ with independents; green energy ‘first mover advantage’ lost, says Albanese

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Record number of Australians enrol to vote; Morrison says he won’t allow embattled Warringah candidate to be ‘silenced’; Australia losing green energy opportunities due to Coalition inaction, Albanese says; Shorten launches Labor’s NDIS policy; nation records 18 Covid deaths. Follow all the latest news

These two are debating each other on Sky News tonight

Former South Australian senator Nick Xenophon, who is making another tilt at the Senate, wants a royal commission into housing affordability in Australia.

With house prices rising in Adelaide, and around the country by almost a quarter in just a year, the issue of young Australians being able to afford to buy their own home is becoming more and more vexed, and there are policy failures all round at a local, state and federal government level.

Only a royal commission can tackle this issue head-on by looking at a range of solutions that will get us back on track to make the dream of home ownership attainable once again.”

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Cashless welfare: Labor vows to end compulsory use of basics card

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Opposition last year committed to scrapping the cashless debit card and says continued use of basics card will be voluntary

Labor has given a clear signal it will end the basics card as a compulsory scheme, allowing more than 20,000 welfare recipients in the Northern Territory to exit the program.

Anthony Albanese last year committed to scrapping the cashless debit card, which operates in trial sites in Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia and until recently was run solely by the private banking provider Indue.

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Australian politics live: Morrison to visit Perth as Liberal divisions grow over Katherine Deves; Albanese gets mixed reception at Bluesfest

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Anthony Albanese gets mixed reception at Bluesfest in Byron Bay, while Scott Morrison has a brain fade moment at a press conference and walks away from a young woman asking him about climate policy; NSW records four Covid deaths and Victoria one. Follow all the latest news

New South Wales has released its Covid numbers for the last 24 hours, with 11,166 new cases and sadly four deaths.

It might be a little later today before we hear from the Liberal campaign, given the time difference with Western Australia.

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Ruston will ‘take the universal out of universal healthcare’, Labor says – as it happened

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Labor says Anne Ruston as health minister if Coalition re-elected should ‘send a shiver down the spine’; WA records eight Covid deaths, NSW six, Victoria two and Tasmania one. This blog is now closed

Marise Payne has told the ABC’s Insiders she does not share the views expressed by Katherine Deves about transgender and gender diverse people that have prompted calls for her to be dropped as the candidate for Warringah.

She tells host David Speers:

I don’t share Ms Deves’ comments that she has made, but importantly she has apologised and withdrawn those views and as the prime minister said yesterday, in public life, we do have to be very careful about the way we express our opinions.

It is a matter for the organisation in New South Wales. I need to get on with my job, that’s what I’m doing. I don’t agree with the remarks she made, I’ve made that explicitly clear.

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Anne Ruston defends past comments that Medicare ‘is not sustainable’ after PM names her as health minister if re-elected

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Minister says Coalition is ‘not cutting Medicare’ as Labor accuses her of wanting ‘to take the universal out of universal healthcare’

Labor says the appointment of Anne Ruston to the health portfolio in a re-elected Coalition government would mean cuts to Medicare, pointing to past comments by the senator that the costs of the health scheme were unsustainable.

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, announced on Sunday that Ruston would take over the health and aged care ministry vacated by the retiring Greg Hunt, if the Coalition wins the election on 21 May.

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Scott Morrison backs Warringah candidate amid Liberal revolt – as it happened

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Prime minister under pressure as Liberals split over Katherine Deves’ candidacy; Anthony Albanese promises federal Icac within months. This blog is now closed

Victoria has recorded eight additional Covid-19 deaths overnight, with 408 people in hospital, 21 in the ICU and eight ventilated.

There were 9,559 new cases recorded.

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Anthony Albanese says PM’s broken federal Icac promise ‘fails the laugh test’ as Chalmers defends Labor campaign

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Shadow treasurer says Labor ‘match-fit’ for campaign and denies first week was a ‘shitshow’

Anthony Albanese has attacked Scott Morrison for blaming a lack of Labor support as the reason he couldn’t legislate his proposed anti-corruption commission, saying the argument “fails the laugh test”, as the federal opposition defended their rocky start to the election campaign.

On Saturday, as Labor unveiled a commitment to legislate a national anti-corruption commission by the end of 2022 if elected, both the prime minister and opposition leader faced questions over their ideal model for an integrity body, with Albanese suggesting Labor’s version would be stronger than the Coalition’s proposal that was widely panned and opposed by some government MPs.

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Anthony Albanese commits to anti-corruption watchdog by end of 2022, if Labor wins election

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Scott Morrison under pressure over integrity commission failure and $500,000 payout to ex-ministerial staffer

Anthony Albanese says he will legislate a national anti-corruption commission by the end of 2022 if Labor wins the election.

Albanese’s commitment, to be confirmed on Saturday, follows Scott Morrison declaring this week he will only revive his government’s heavily criticised integrity commission proposal if Labor and the Senate are prepared to pass it unamended.

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Australia news live updates: One Nation dumps Brisbane candidate; Anthony Albanese and Jenny Morrison attend same Easter service; 26 Covid deaths

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Rebecca Lloyd reportedly ditched from One Nation because she refused to work with party leaders; airport staff shortages cause baggage issues; more aged care deaths in 2022 than first two pandemic years combined; campaign trail ‘truce’ for Easter weekend; NSW records 16 Covid deaths, Victoria records seven deaths; Queensland records two deaths; first election debate confirmed for 20 April. Follow all today’s news

NSW has recorded 16 Covid deaths and more than 15,000 cases.

Queues are so far moving faster than expected at major airports, after a week of huge delays. There were some concerns about another chaotic day at the airport on Good Friday. About 80,000 passengers were due to travel through Sydney airport alone.

Queues are moving well at Sydney airport even as hundreds of people fill the country’s busiest airport as they head out for Easter holidays.

Airports around the country will remain busy over the break and school holiday period.

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‘Massive policy failure’: retired judges blast Morrison’s broken promise on federal Icac

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Former supreme court judge Anthony Whealy says Coalition’s explanation for not legislating a promised anti-corruption commission is ‘spurious’

Retired judges have criticised the Morrison government’s broken promise on the federal anti-corruption commission as a “massive policy failure”, saying the Coalition’s explanation for walking away from the pledge was “spurious”.

The Coalition is under pressure over its failure to introduce legislation establishing its proposed anti-corruption commission, despite promising to do so prior to the last election.

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PM cancels afternoon campaigning – as it happened

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Members of Scott Morrison’s security detail injured during campaigning in Tasmania; at least 45 more Covid deaths around Australia, with 21 in NSW. This blog is now closed

If you are in Sydney, you can have a little treat – free public transport (for 12 days).

As AAP reports:

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