Category Archives: Anthony Albanese

Politicians in Australia need better security as debate becomes more polarised, expert says

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Prime minister doesn’t want to see interaction with public reduced but admits he is concerned about ‘escalation of rhetoric in some of our political debate’

It would be a “tragedy” if Australian politicians were forced to withdraw from the public and rely more heavily on security, Anthony Albanese has said, after an assassination attempt on Donald Trump prompted a focus on the safety of federal MPs.

Some politicians say they have been concerned about increasing harassment and violent acts targeting MPs, while others argue against boosting security. However, some experts believe it is time to rethink the safety arrangements for elected members in Australia.

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Australian PM says ‘no place for violence in democratic process’ after Trump assassination attempt

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Anthony Albanese says he is relieved to hear Donald Trump is safe after shooting at campaign rally in Pennsylvania

Anthony Albanese says he is “relieved” that former US president Donald Trump is safe after a shooting at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, calling the incident an “inexcusable attack”.

The Australian prime minister said there was “no place for violence in the democratic process” as other politicians decried the assassination attempt four months out from the US presidential election.

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Anthony Albanese appeals to western Sydney amid Muslim voting campaigns on Gaza war

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The seats of Blaxland and Watson have higher percentages of Muslim voters than Labor’s 2022 winning margin

Anthony Albanese has appealed to voters in Labor’s heartland seats in western Sydney not to dump the party over the war in Gaza, insisting his MPs are “working hard to deliver” practical improvements.

The leader of the house, Tony Burke, and the education minister, Jason Clare, are among the Labor MPs considered to be vulnerable to campaigns run by new groups known as The Muslim Vote and Muslim Votes Matter.

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Australia news live: religious sect allegedly thought 8-year-old diabetic ‘should not use insulin’, court told; Alice Springs curfew won’t continue

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The curfew declaration will conclude at 12.55pm today, local time. Follow the day’s news live

The mayor of Alice Springs, Matt Paterson, spoke to ABC News Breakfast just earlier as authorities meet to determine whether a three-day curfew on the central Australian town will be extended.

He is “still waiting to hear” whether the curfew will be extended – a decision for the police commissioner. Asked whether he believes it should be extended, Paterson says:

It’s obviously worked in the CBD, but we are hearing that it is pushing crime out into the suburbs. So we’ll wait to see what happens. Ultimately, the community gets to have a breath while there’s extra resources and police in town, so we’ll just wait to see what’s decided …

The curfew is a reaction to events over the past week or so, and we can’t continue to put these in. We need to think about the long-term solutions.

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Greens and academics criticise appointment of antisemitism envoy – as it happened

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Flights have been cancelled or delayed out of Brisbane airport this morning as thick smoke blankets the city.

According to the Brisbane airport website, nine domestic flights and two international flights have been cancelled. On social media, the airport wrote that widespread fog across Brisbane was “slowing movements on ground and limiting visibility.”

Flights are still departing but there are delays due to the reduced visibility.

Participants will be able to check accessible scorecards that will show what services DES providers offer and how they rate for quality and effectiveness, helping them make an informed choice when selecting their provider.

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Australia news live: Albanese announces special envoy to combat antisemitism, says Jewish students ‘worried’ to wear school uniform

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Meanwhile, attorney general to outline updated legislation to crackdown on money laundering. Follow the day’s news live

The minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, said that when it comes to the Alice Springs curfew, politics needs to be left out of it.

Speaking with ABC RN, Burney said:

This issues in Alice Springs have been a long time in the making … [The issues] will only be addressed over a long-term funding commitment, which we’ve made from the federal government.

We certainly are concerned that this is going to continue to increase and potentially overwhelm the hospital systems.

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Police seek Sydney woman’s partner over alleged stabbing death – as it happened

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Australians feel ‘crushing burden’ from humanitarian crises

Many Australians are feeling a “crushing burden” as they see images from multiple humanitarian crises around the world, a prominent charity says.

I think sometimes people see this stuff on the news or read about it in the newspaper and they feel like they have to carry this burden on their own shoulder, and so they have nothing in between crisis and themselves.

And they look at something like what’s happening in Gaza and Israel, what’s happening in Ukraine, what’s happening now in Sudan, and think how can they possibly make a difference? What can they possibly do to make that situation better? And so it feels like a crushing burden.

Abortion is a very personal choice, and every Queenslander deserves the level of support and care we are offering with this investment.

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Australia news live: Albanese calls Starmer to congratulate UK’s new PM on ‘emphatic victory’; de Minaur celebrates ‘lucky’ Wimbledon ride

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Mehreen Faruqi to appear on Insiders

Deputy Greens leader Mehreen Faruqi will be speaking to ABC Insiders host David Speers this morning.

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Fatima Payman’s exit reveals ‘chasm’ between Labor and traditional base over Palestine, party insiders say

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Exclusive: Senator’s resignation disappointing to ‘thousands of rank-and-file ALP and union members and Labor supporters’

Labor’s Friends of Palestine group has warned of “a chasm” between the Albanese government and “huge swathes of the party’s traditional base” as it described Fatima Payman’s resignation as a symptom of a bigger problem.

A day after the first-term senator quit Labor, to remain in the upper house as an independent, pro-Palestine campaigners complained that Payman had been placed “in an untenable position” by the federal leadership team.

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Dutton says ‘Australia can learn’ from new British PM’s nuclear stance – as it happened

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‘Pretty clear’ Fatima Payman has been planning to join crossbench for a ‘long period’, minister says

The finance minister and manager of the government in the Senate, Katy Gallagher, is speaking with ABC RN after Fatima Payman’s resignation yesterday.

It’s difficult to go into, you know, when the decision was made – only Senator Payman knows that – but we do know, now that it’s been done, it’s a matter of fact that there had been obviously discussions about her role as an independent senator and for some time.

I think the way these decisions have been made by Senator Payman make it pretty clear that she has been thinking about this for a long period of time, and it was executed this week …

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Cricketer Usman Khawaja accuses Peter Dutton of ‘fuelling Islamophobia’ over Muslim candidates comments

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Australian cricket star labels opposition leader’s remarks an ‘absolute disgrace’ as newly formed Muslim Vote group sparks debate

Australian cricket star Usman Khawaja has accused Peter Dutton of “fuelling Islamophobia”, after the opposition leader said he was concerned about a future minority Labor government relying on crossbench support including “Muslim candidates from western Sydney”.

Dutton’s comments also prompted criticism from industry and science minister Ed Husic. “There’s not only been a Muslim candidate from western Sydney for more than a decade now, there’s also two of us who serve as ministers,” Husic said, refering to himself and early childhood minister Anne Aly.

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Senator says PM’s office planted seed about crossing floor – as it happened

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Josh Burns says Labor motion to recognise Palestine as part of the peace process is ‘the bare minimum’

Josh Burns finished with:

This motion before the House is the bare minimum. It says that we support the recognition of a Palestinian state as part of a peace process. That peace process is something that I hold onto and that I have held onto my entire life.

That peace process says that we are all people, above all, and that there has to be a way through this. There has to be a way through this conflict. I wish that we could pull a lever here in Australia and it would all end today, but we have seen time and time again that that is not the case.

There are so many intractable parts of this conflict. I have a degree in this conflict, and I still don’t quite know how to fix it.

I know that there are players who are desperate to end the peace process and to try and disturb any efforts towards peace. I know that trees take years and years and years to grow and can be cut down in a second, and that is what the Middle East has demonstrated over and over again.

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Labor branch in Albanese’s electorate passes motion supporting Fatima Payman

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Members in Leichhardt ‘express solidarity’ with the rebel senator and say they share her ‘strong support’ for Palestine

A Labor branch in Anthony Albanese’s own electorate has passed a motion expressing support for the dissident senator Fatima Payman, even as expectations grow she is poised to quit the party.

Labor’s Leichhardt branch – which is within the prime minister’s Sydney electorate of Grayndler – passed the supportive motion at a scheduled meeting on Wednesday night.

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Australia politics live: Labor caucus endorses Payman suspension; Watt says no plan to ban live cattle exports

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PM calls for ‘a long-term solution in a peace process’ between Israel and Palestine. Follow today’s news headlines live

Shorten says he thinks Labor party is trying to give Senator Payman ‘space and time’

Bill Shorten continues:

I see why people feel so strongly. They can feel so strongly about the hostage is not being returned, or the deaths in Gaza. People could feel also very strongly about the near million deaths in Sudan.

I can get these very incredibly strong issues. And if you come from particular communities, they’re even more intense, although that doesn’t need to be the prerequisite.

Before I deny something, what’s your source?

No, I don’t believe that.

… Because I wasn’t there and I don’t believe it. I actually think the prime minister, Senator Wong and the leadership are handling a complicated issue pretty well.

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Fatima Payman leaves Labor with little choice after vowing to cross floor again

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Australian senator has given voice to many who condemn the Israel-Gaza war while earning the scorn of her caucus colleagues

Fatima Payman’s career as a Labor politician is over.

The indefinite suspension from the Labor parliamentary caucus that Anthony Albanese imposed on her during a short conversation at the Lodge in Canberra on Sunday afternoon has the same effect as expulsion. She will not return to the fold.

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Fatima Payman indefinitely suspended from Labor caucus – as it happened

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“I think he has the capacity,” Marles says when asked if Joe Biden has what it takes for the next four years. “I’ve got no doubt there will be no issues in relation to that.”

Marles says Biden administration doing ‘fantastic job’

We work very closely with him and we are very pleased with how we’re progressing with the United States both in terms of their position in the world, but also in terms of our equities, most significantly, of course, the Aukus arrangements that we have in place.

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Fatima Payman suspended from Labor caucus over vow to cross the floor again on Palestine

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Party spokesperson says WA senator ‘placed herself outside the privilege’ of participation in caucus after defiant TV interview

WA Labor senator Fatima Payman has been indefinitely suspended from the Labor party’s parliamentary caucus after she was summoned to a meeting with the prime minister at the Lodge on Sunday.

Payman’s previous one-week caucus suspension was upgraded after a Sunday morning television interview in which she vowed she was prepared to repeat her rebellion of last week and cross the floor in the Senate to support recognition of a Palestinian state.

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Albanese says ‘no place for extremism in Australia’ after teen allegedly enters MP’s office with ‘intention to kill’

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Jordan Patten, 19, allegedly wrote a document in which he expressed a desire to attack Labor politicians before visiting Tim Crakanthorp’s office

Anthony Albanese has declared “there’s no place for extremism in Australia” after a 19-year-old man was charged with planning a terrorist attack after he allegedly entered a New South Wales Labor MP’s office carrying “knives and tactical equipment”.

The prime minister was on Friday asked about a document allegedly written by Jordan Patten who was arrested on Wednesday. A Sydney magistrate on Thursday said police would allege Patten had intended to kill Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp “due to his position in the Labor party”.

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Fatima Payman admits she ‘upset a few colleagues’ by crossing the floor – as it happened

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Housing minister Julie Collins is speaking to the ABC RN about Labor’s build-to-rent bill which was knocked back in the Senate yesterday, with the Greens and the Coalition combining to delay it:

What we want to do is get this done. We’ve already been consulting, we announced it in the previous budget. Any delays will actually stop the pipeline of construction and the certainty for the sector.

What we want to do is get more affordable homes and more homes of every type on the ground as quickly as we can.

We’re saying they have to have a minimum of 10% to be eligible for the tax concessions that we’re talking about for each development.

That’s what our consultations and our discussions with the sector have done and, as I said, this is not the only thing we’re doing for affordable homes … My point here is that they continually delay and block housing up every time by coming together and having this unholy alliance between the Liberals and the Greens in the Senate, because they’re more interested in votes than they are about people.

We’re not open to negotiation and we want to get this done.

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‘Hero’ homecoming for Julian Assange was political grandstanding, former Asio boss says

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Ex-US ambassador Dennis Richardson says Albanese government’s reception for WikiLeaks founder minimises legitimate concerns about his activities

The Australian government’s “hero” homecoming for Julian Assange was political “grandstanding” and minimises legitimate concerns about the impact of his activities with WikiLeaks, according to a former senior bureaucrat and Asio chief who served as ambassador to the United States.

Dennis Richardson said the prime minister’s phone call to Assange when he landed in Australia on Wednesday night was inappropriate, given that Assange had pleaded guilty to espionage in legitimate US legal proceedings.

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