Category Archives: Anthony Albanese

‘Apoplectic’ environment groups halt Coalition attack ads to take aim at Albanese over species’ ‘death warrant’

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Exclusive: Australia’s top green organisations suspend anti-nuclear power ads to fund campaign against Labor’s move to protect salmon industry

Australia’s leading environment organisations have abruptly suspended advertising campaigns attacking the Coalition’s plan to introduce nuclear power and are instead funding ads accusing Anthony Albanese of signing “the death warrant” of an endangered species.

The shift from criticising the Coalition to Labor on the cusp of an election campaign was agreed by the bosses of green groups – including the Australian Conservation Foundation, Greenpeace, the WWF Australia and the Climate Council – at what campaigners described as an emergency meeting on Saturday.

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What a $5,000 ticket will and won’t get you at one of Canberra’s budget night fundraising soirees

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As you decipher how the budget may alter your life on Tuesday night, your politicians will be raking in the cash by wining and dining donors and lobbyists

As you decipher how the federal budget may alter your life on Tuesday night, your politicians will be raking in the cash by wining and dining donors and lobbyists in Canberra.

This year’s budget night fundraisers – often concealed from the general public – could be something of a final hoorah. New laws capping campaign spending will soon make these budget night soirees less important, at least financially.

Tickets will have to be publicly disclosed as gifts, meaning there will be a record of those who sipped champagne with politicians and filled the party coffers. But these changes won’t apply until 2026. For now, the show goes on.

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Bob Brown urges Greens to punish Labor at election if Albanese amends law to protect salmon farming

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PM’s pledge to protect Tasmanian industry will weaken laws already failing to protect natural sites and at-risk species, environmentalists say

Former Greens leader Bob Brown has urged the minor party not to preference Labor ahead of the Liberal party in Tasmanian seats at the upcoming election if the Albanese government legislates to effectively exempt salmon farming from national environment laws.

Conservationists have sharply criticised Anthony Albanese’s pledge that he will rush through legislation next week to protect the salmon industry in Macquarie Harbour, on the state’s west coast, from the potential results of a long-running legal review.

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PBS-listed medicine to cost no more than $25 a script if Labor re-elected

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Election pledge part of Albanese’s focus on cheaper medicines as a cost-of-living measure that will also help reduce inflation

A re-elected Labor government would reduce the price of PBS-listed medicines to no more than $25 a script, in a major new election pledge to be included in next week’s budget that builds on Anthony Albanese’s focus on cheaper medicines as a cost-of-living measure.

With the formal election campaign to start within weeks, where Labor will focus strongly on health as a key issue, Albanese will on Thursday deliver a major speech promising that four out of five medications on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme would become cheaper under the plan which would cost the government $689m.

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Guardian Essential poll: Albanese scores highest approval rating in almost 18 months as support for Dutton slips

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PM’s approval rating increases to 46%, up four percentage points since the last poll, as Labor and Coalition run neck-and-neck on a two-party preferred basis

More Australians approve of Anthony Albanese as the country’s leader than disapprove of him for the first time in almost 18 months since the referendum on the proposed Indigenous voice to parliament.

Albanese’s approval rating has increased to 46%, up four percentage points from earlier in March, the latest Guardian Essential poll shows, while his disapproval rating fell to 45%.

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New drugs added to PBS; alleged e-scooter bandit arrested – as it happened

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This blog is now closed

Bandt: government could deliver cheap renewable energy

The Australian government could use publicly owned electricity generators and retailers such as Snowy Hydro to offer power at cost to households and businesses, Bandt says.

I think a surplus mentality, understanding that we have got an enormous amount of sun and wind and if we back it up with storage, we could really drive down the cost of electricity in this country, and make it a place that you bring your businesses to from overseas, deliver cheap electricity for households. A mind shift is needed and the government could play a big role in that given its stake in a publicly owned generator.

We need to fast-track the build of renewables and also of storage.

But look, we have to wait to see – is there a peace [deal]? What is the agreement? What is the request that is being made? There are things that could be done right now, though. The ABC reported a couple of weeks ago that Australia is still the largest buyer of Russian oil. And it’s meant to be sanctions imposed.

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Australia will not revise critical minerals-for-tariffs exemption deal rejected by Trump administration

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Resources minister says she is ‘sad’ the US did not embrace a more reliable supply of minerals for renewable energy and battery technologies

The Australian resources minister was saddened the US did not accept an offer of guaranteed supply to critical minerals in return for steel and aluminium tariff exemptions, and has warned the package will not be improved.

Australian diplomats proposed a more reliable supply of critical minerals – which are essential for renewable energy, computer and battery technologies – as they sought exemptions from a 25% tax on steel and aluminium imports.

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Alfred may have blown Albanese’s election plans off course, but now the PM can show he has the common touch

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The prime minister has more reason than most to be the boots on the ground after 63% of voters said he is not in tune with ordinary Australians

Anthony Albanese might have expected to have been on his campaign plane on Monday, flying between marginal seats on the first day of the election trail proper.

Instead he’s sloshing around in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred – the weather event that was meant to bear his name and blew his election announcement plan right off course.

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Almost 230,000 properties without power as ex-tropical cyclone brings more dangerous rain

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South-east Queensland and northern NSW face further heavy downpours

More than 230,000 households and businesses are without power and flash flooding alerts have been issued for coastal areas in the aftermath of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred.

The warnings follow heavy rain across southeast Queensland overnight and are clustered around the Brisbane, Gold Coast, Logan and Ipswich council areas.

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Twelve soldiers remain in Lismore hospital after army trucks rolled in northern NSW

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Two personnel in serious condition after accident near city lashed by torrential rain brought by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred

Twelve soldiers remain in hospital – two in a serious condition – after two army trucks carrying troops rolled on a country road near Lismore on Saturday evening as ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred lashed the northern New South Wales coast and southern Queensland.

Thirty-two defence personnel were involved in the crash – members of the 2nd Combat Engineer Regiment, part of the 7th Brigade based at Gallipoli Barracks in northern Brisbane – just after 5pm on Tregeagle Road, 9km south-west of Lismore.

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Tropical Cyclone Alfred live updates: wind and rain intensify as category 2 storm nears south-east Queensland and northern NSW

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BoM path track map predicts TC Alfred will cross coast on Saturday near Brisbane, the first storm of its size to do so in decades. Follow the latest updates today

Welfare recipients told to perform mutual obligations as cyclone bears down

We have a news story this morning about the impact the cyclone is already having on life in Queensland.

Fallen trees and giant stands of bamboo blocked the single road to our farm until the army and council brought heavy machinery to clear a path some time after.

We were without running water or power for days, maybe weeks, the packing shed a makeshift kitchen where we ate meals cooked off a gas barbecue and drank instant coffee made with rainwater and UHT milk to the hum of a generator.

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Cyclone Alfred live updates: BoM tracking map forecast shows category 2 storm hitting Brisbane and south-east Qld; landfall in Queensland and NSW delayed as storm slows – latest news

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BoM path track map predicts TC Alfred will cross coast on Friday near Brisbane, the first storm of its size to do so in decades. Follow the latest updates today

Speaking of preparations, adjunct senior lecturer at the Centre for Disaster Studies at James Cook University Yetta Gurtner gives advice here:

Chalmers confident insurance companies ‘know their responsibilities’

I’m confident they know their responsibilities and obligations to people.

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Social media firms criticise ‘irrational’ exemption of YouTube from Australia’s under-16s ban

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Meta, TikTok and Snapchat release statements in campaign protesting Labor’s handling of contested legislation

Meta, TikTok and Snapchat have criticised the Albanese government’s handling of the social media ban for under-16s, launching a campaign against what they have labelled an “irrational” and “shortsighted” decision to exempt YouTube from the contested legislation.

The three tech platforms made submissions to a government consultation process on the ban – rushed through parliament at the end of 2024 with little inquiry – calling for a re-evaluation of Labor’s approach and demanding YouTube be subject to the same restrictions they will be.

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Guardian Essential poll: RBA rate cut too little too late for many as Albanese’s rating dips again

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As the official start of the election campaign nears, almost one in two Australians don’t know who they will vote for or might change their mind

More than half of Australians believe last month’s cash rate cut was too little too late and a sign the Labor government’s economic plan is not working, but voters think Anthony Albanese is better placed than Peter Dutton to deliver cost-of-living relief and higher wages and safeguard Medicare.

Voters have again marked down Albanese, with his net approval rating dipping to minus eight in the latest Guardian Essential poll. But Australians believe his party would be better – or at least no worse – than the Coalition on some key issues.

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Albanese sidesteps questions on Trump as he backs Zelenskyy after White House confrontation

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PM pledges support for Ukraine but declines to directly comment on US president’s approach as community rallies in Sydney

Anthony Albanese has reiterated Australia’s support for Ukraine after a fiery meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But even as Sydney’s Ukrainian community rallied in protest, the prime minister declined to comment directly on how the confrontation might affect Australia’s relationship with the US.

US military support for Ukraine hangs in the balance and talks over a minerals deal deteriorated after a disastrous interchange at the White House that also included the US vice-president, JD Vance. The US president claimed his Ukraine counterpart was not “ready for peace” and accused him of “gambling with world war three”, before Zelenskyy left the White House early.

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Australia news live: Woodside doubles profits thanks to record production of oil; funnel-web spider shortage threatens antivenom program

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Australia’s largest oil and gas producer has doubled its profits to $5.6bn. Follow today’s news live

Senate estimates will be back under way today, and AAP has flagged a little of what we can expect:

Creative Australia bosses, including the chief executive, Adrian Collette, will front an estimates hearing and it’s expected they’ll be questioned about the selection body’s shock decision to ditch the Venice Biennale team.

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Albanese ‘confident’ US would come to Australia’s defence in event of attack

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PM tells Q&A that US relationship is ‘rock solid’ as he fields questions on cost of living, housing and antisemitism

Anthony Albanese says he is confident that the US would defend Australia if it were to come under attack, despite the change in leadership in the US, but that Australia needed to look after its own security and would make its own decisions on foreign policy, including on support for Ukraine.

The comments came on a special edition of the ABC’s Q&A on Monday night, in which the prime minister took questions from members of the public on foreign affairs, the cost of living crisis, housing and social cohesion, in a bid to win over voters ahead of the election being called.

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Coalition to match ‘dollar for dollar’ Labor’s plan to make GP visits cheaper in $8.5bn Medicare boost

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Less than half of Australians were always bulk billed when they saw a GP in 2023-24, government data says

The Coalition says it will match “dollar for dollar” Labor’s landmark $8.5bn proposal to dramatically increase Medicare bulk-billing rates for GP visits, pledging to meet Anthony Albanese’s commitment to make nearly all doctors’ appointments free.

Doctor’s groups have welcomed Labor’s pledge to fund 18m extra bulk-billed GP visits annually, but have warned some patients will still miss out because government rebates are sometimes still too low to cover the cost of all appointments. The health minister, Mark Butler, says nine out of 10 GP visits will be covered by 2030 under Labor’s plan, and has accused the Coalition of “cooking the books” on bulk-billing statistics during their time in office.

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China conducts second live-fire drill near New Zealand

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Report from New Zealand navy personnel comes a day after similar drill forced multiple airlines to change flight paths between Australia and New Zealand

China’s navy has reportedly conducted a second live-fire exercise in international waters, a day after a similar drill forced multiple airlines to change flight paths between Australia and New Zealand.

New Zealand navy personnel advised live rounds were fired from a Chinese warship in international waters near the island nation on Saturday.

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Anthony Albanese under pressure on salmon farming from both conservationists and industry

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The future of Tasmanian salmon farms has become a political issue centred on whether they can coexist with the endangered Maugean skate

Anthony Albanese is caught in a pincer movement over a pre-election pledge that he will protect salmon farming in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour, with conservationists and industry leaders both urging him to rethink the commitment.

The future of salmon farming in the harbour on the state’s west coast has become a sharp political issue centred on whether it can coexist with the endangered Maugean skate, an endemic ray-like species that has survived since the age of the dinosaurs.

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