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Court to rule in Pauline Hanson-Mehreen Faruqi case
A federal court judge is ready to rule on whether Pauline Hanson made a racial slur when she told Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi to go back to Pakistan.
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The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has been speaking with ABC RN about a range of issues – including Lidia Thorpe’s actions at King Charles’ parliamentary reception yesterday.
Dutton argued that “sometimes people make it all about themselves, and I think that’s what yesterday was.” He said it “didn’t advance anyone’s cause” and “add[s] to the self promotion … that she seeks.”
The vast majority of people have been very welcoming the king’s visit, and I think it’s been an opportunity to underscore the stability in our democracy, our rule of law, separation of powers, all of those institutions that we inherited from our British heritage.
That’s part of the success story of our country, and it’s a good reminder during his visit [that] if we change it, I think we want to be very careful about the system we’re changing to and whether or not we would be a safer, more secure, community and environment for decades to come or not.
Continue reading...Malarndirri McCarthy suggests bipartisan approach needed for ‘positive change’ as report shows key Indigenous measures sliding backwards
The number of Indigenous Australians imprisoned, taking their own life and losing children to out-of-home care have all increased in the first Closing the Gap report since the voice referendum was defeated.
Not only were key measures to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians sliding backwards, prompting concern from leaders, but parties to the national agreement for closing the gap still cannot agree on an approach to measure priority areas.
Continue reading...The current pair, Wang Wang and Fu Ni, will return to China this year. Follow the day’s news headlines
Labor ‘continuing to consult’ on Makarrata commission, Albanese says
Anthony Albanese says he will attend Arnhem Land’s Garma festival in August to “talk about a way forward” on Indigenous policy after the defeat of the voice referendum, keeping open the prospect of setting up a Makarrata commission to advance truth and treaty processes.
Treaty process is undergoing at the various states and that’s appropriate. With regard to Makarrata, we’re continuing to consult on those issues. said.
Indigenous leaders, of course, were very disappointed by the referendum result. I’ll attend Garma once again this year and sit down with people and talk about a way forward.
Continue reading...But the government is being urged to move more quickly in outlining policy after failure of voice referendum
Anthony Albanese says he will attend Arnhem Land’s Garma festival in August to “talk about a way forward” on Indigenous policy after the defeat of the voice referendum, keeping open the prospect of setting up a Makarrata commission to advance truth and treaty processes.
But key advocates for the referendum have urged the government to move more quickly in outlining its new agenda, including honouring the prime minister’s election night pledge to implement the Uluru statement from the heart “in full”.
Continue reading...A member of the stolen generations, the Yankunytjatjara leader was only reunited with her mother through a chance meeting 30 years later
Lowitja O’Donoghue, a Yankunytjatjara leader and activist, has died at the age of 91.
The Lowitja Institute announced her death on Sunday. A pioneering leader in Aboriginal advancement and recognition campaigns, O’Donoghue was a “formidable leader who was never afraid to listen, speak and act”, her family said.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Former PM accuses John Howard and Tony Abbott of ‘outrageously and wilfully misinterpreting’ result in attempt to return to ‘great assimilation project’
Indigenous Australians were always “fighting the wrong fight” with a voice to parliament, the former prime minister Paul Keating has said, and the failure of the referendum has now “ruined the game” for a treaty that could have properly acknowledged prior Indigenous ownership and dispossession.
In an interview with Guardian Australia, Keating accused the former Liberal prime ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott, and the historian Geoffrey Blainey, of “outrageously and wilfully misinterpreting” the referendum result in an attempt to return to “the great assimilation project”.
Continue reading...Yes supporters break week of silence by stating 14 October result was so mean-spirited it would remain ‘unbelievable and appalling’ for decades
Indigenous groups who supported the voice campaign have broken their week of silence to express shock and grief at last Saturday’s result, accusing Australians who voted no of committing “a shameful act whether knowingly or not”.
The 12-point statement – issued on Sunday evening and described as being the “collective insights and views of a group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders, community members and organisations who supported yes” – said Australia had chosen “to make itself less liberal and less democratic” by voting no at the 14 October referendum.
Continue reading...Albanese highlights ‘concerning’ Coalition voice rhetoric as Dutton targets PM over treaty and truth telling. Follow the day’s news live
‘We’re holding a thorough consultation process,’ Jacinta Allan says
Under the proposal, a government minister will appoint commissioners, though the Greens-chaired integrity and oversight committee will have the power to veto candidates.
A new parliamentary ethics committee
Improvements to mechanisms relating to public interest disclosures about MPs
Updates to the MP code of conduct
We’re holding a thorough consultation process to ensure we achieve the highest standards of conduct and integrity of MPs in all aspects of their work for Victorians.
Continue reading...Home affairs minister issues social media reminder that Hamas is listed as a terrorist organisation in Australia. Follow live
Here are some images of the Australian landmarks that were illuminated in blue and white colours last night in support of Israel.
The Sydney Opera House:
Continue reading...In a late plea for a yes vote in the Indigenous voice to parliament referendum, the respected leader says he fears ‘for the future of my people’ if it is defeated
Noel Pearson says he will walk away from advocating for a “middle path” of compromise if the voice to parliament referendum fails, claiming reconciliation would not be viable in the event of a no vote.
The longtime Indigenous activist and respected community leader says he would instead allow a new generation of Indigenous leaders to chart a different path forward.
Pearson said he fears “for the future of my people” if the referendum is defeated on Saturday, making a late plea for voters to vote yes in recognition of Australia’s history and avoid a failure he says would be “ugly as sin”.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Uluru statement from the heart architect says information on Labor’s approach to treaty has been ‘on the public record for over half a decade’
Uluru statement from the heart architect Prof Megan Davis says information about the voice and treaty has been “in plain sight” since 2017, downplaying the Coalition’s concerns about treaties and noting such agreements are already in train across multiple states.
Labor has committed to the 2017 Uluru statement in full, including treaty, the second element of the statement, with Anthony Albanese making the pledge on multiple occasions, including his election victory speech.
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Continue reading...Discount chain, owned by Woolworths, says decision is due to feedback from staff and customers
Big W has abandoned in-store announcements that expressed support for the Indigenous voice to parliament, citing responses from customers and staff.
The discount chain, owned by supermarket operator Woolworths, recently used an acknowledgment of country across its stores that affirmed support for the constitutional change to be voted on at an upcoming referendum.
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Continue reading...Yes and no camps have been writing their competing essays, to be published by AEC on Tuesday
Supporters of an Indigenous voice to parliament say they are “ready to prosecute their simple, hopeful message” and will submit the official yes case to the Australian Electoral Commission on Monday.
The yes and the no camps have been drafting their competing essays, limited to 2,000 words each, with the two documents to be published online by the AEC on Tuesday.
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Continue reading...The no camp employs lobbyists that specialise in conservative Christian campaigning, Guardian Australia can reveal
The lobby groups campaigning to sink the Indigenous voice to parliament referendum have deep links to a number of conservative Christian organisations and consultancies, a Guardian investigation can reveal.
The no campaign is working with companies that appear to specialise in conservative Christian campaigning, including a US-headquartered marketing and fundraising firm that aims to help Christian nonprofit ministries “fulfill their mission”. Our investigation also shows links between the no campaign and the failed conservative push to defeat the marriage equality postal survey in 2017.
Continue reading...Opposition leader accuses Labor of politicising the royal commission findings and calls Bill Shorten a ‘political animal’
Peter Dutton has conceded that “mistakes” were made by “individuals” involved in the unlawful robodebt scheme, while warning against a “trial by media” on the findings of the royal commission.
At the Liberal National party’s state conference in Brisbane on Saturday, the federal opposition leader accused Labor of politicising the issue and referred to the government services minister, Bill Shorten, as a “political animal”.
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Continue reading...Newspaper publisher says ad ‘should not have run’ after federal independent MP Kate Chaney accuses no campaign of stoking ‘fear and hate’
The no campaign has been accused of using a “racist trope” in a newspaper ad which included a cartoon figure of an Indigenous voice campaigner appearing to dance for money.
Matt Kean, a New South Wales Liberal MP, lashed the Advance conservative lobby group for “a throwback to the Jim Crow era of the deep south”, saying the full-page ad in the Australian Financial Review had no place in Australian politics. A spokesperson for Nine, publisher of the AFR, later apologised and said the ad should never have run.
Continue reading...PM reels off names of prominent yes campaigners backing ‘a moment of national unity’
Anthony Albanese has suggested the media has a “responsibility” not to confuse voters about support for the voice among First Nations people, arguing that Indigenous critics are outnumbered by supporters.
The prime minister told ABC Coffs Coast radio that Indigenous leaders have been campaigning for the voice “for a long period of time” as their preferred model of constitutional recognition.
Continue reading...The PM says a yes vote should lead to more cost-effective health, education and housing programs for Indigenous people
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says a yes vote for the Indigenous voice to parliament will save money by helping to design more cost-effective programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Indigenous leaders from the Northern Territory came to Canberra on Thursday to urge Australians to listen to their “heart” to support the referendum, saying the voice would help address health, education and housing issues in their communities.
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Albanese takes swipes at the Greens
The Midwinter Ball was held overnight. It seems to have been a fairly staid affair but I am still ferreting out info.
Consulting firm PwC engaged in a “calculated” breach of trust by using confidential information to help its clients avoid tax and engaged in a “deliberate cover-up” over many years, a Senate committee has found.
PwC should be “open and honest” by promptly publishing the names and details of its partners and staff involved, the finance and public administration committee has recommended.
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