Category Archives: Australian election 2022

Scott Morrison accuses Labor of ‘sewer tactics’ over Gladys Liu attack ad

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Opposition ads say Chisholm MP ‘spread fake news on Chinese messaging apps’ and had to return $300,000 in donations over national security concerns

The Coalition has accused Labor of “sewer tactics” over what Josh Frydenberg described as a “racist” attack ad targeting Liberal Gladys Liu, that accuses the Chisholm MP of spreading fake news and trying to trick voters at the previous election.

But Labor frontbencher Penny Wong has rubbished claims her party was vilifying Liu, saying there were “legitimate” questions over her conduct.

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Barnaby Joyce refuses to use term energy ‘transition’ because it ‘equals unemployment’

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Deputy prime minister made comments in coal community of Gladstone in Queensland as Scott Morrison makes $300m NT energy and jobs announcement

Deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce believes a “transition” from coal to cleaner energy “equals unemployment” in the regions, declaring the Coalition would not use the term during the election.

The Nationals leader has also backed the government’s clean energy fund to support coal, and for other government infrastructure funds to finance the construction of coal-fired power stations, but not for the building of cleaner hydrogen plants.

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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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Coalition scrimps on MPs as Climate 200-backed independents outspend them in key seats

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Liberal MP labels teal independents’ digital advertising outlay ‘immoral’ as it surpasses party’s candidates by tens of thousands of dollars

Liberal MPs in at-risk “teal” seats are being left with little financial support from the Coalition in the lead-up to the election, at the same time as they are being outspent on advertising by their independent challengers.

Analysis by Guardian Australia of the key seats being contested between Liberal MPs and Climate 200-backed independents shows that the Coalition has committed a total of just $92m out of a total of almost $6bn in discretionary spending made since the beginning of the year.

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Coalition MPs urge caution over ‘redundant’ bill to exclude trans women from female sport

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While some government moderates say Australia’s sporting codes are already managing the issue, the Christian lobby warns issue is not ‘going away’


Several Coalition MPs have questioned Senator Claire Chandler’s controversial bill to restrict trans women playing in female sports, calling for caution as they believe it is “redundant” or needs more work.

It comes as the Australian Christian Lobby said it expected Chandler’s bill would be revisited in the next parliament. Conservative lobby group Advance Australia has also launched a campaign calling for Coalition moderates Trent Zimmerman, Dave Sharma, Andrew Bragg and Warren Entsch – who it described as “numpties” – to be voted out at the election over their criticism of Warringah candidate, Katherine Deves.

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Scott Morrison’s Icac claims are ‘absolute rubbish’, say transparency experts

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Legal figures say it is ‘ridiculous’ for the PM to call the NSW corruption commission a ‘kangaroo court’ that has led to too many politicians resigning

Transparency experts have criticised as “absolute rubbish” Scott Morrison’s claims that the resignations of New South Wales Liberal premiers Nick Greiner and Barry O’Farrell show the Independent Commission Against Corruption is a “kangaroo court”.

On the defensive after effectively ditching his commitment to create a federal anti-corruption body, Morrison complained on Friday that the NSW Icac had resulted in politicians quitting “too many times”.

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China is exerting ‘enormous pressure’ on Pacific island nations, Scott Morrison says

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Morrison dodges questions on whether Australia knew of Solomon Islands-China pact amid ministers’ conflicting accounts

Scott Morrison says China is exerting “enormous pressure” on Pacific island countries, as the Australian prime minister fends off questions about whether his government was caught off-guard by the security deal with Solomon Islands.

Morrison said it was not “just as easy as picking up the phone or sending a foreign minister”, after Labor characterised the signing of the deal as the biggest Australian foreign policy failure in the Pacific since the second world war.

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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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NSW Nationals candidate tells congregation of her aim to ‘bring God’s kingdom’ to politics

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Kimberly Hone previously posted on social media that ‘one way to avoid domestic violence is to marry well’

The National party’s candidate for the marginal northern New South Wales seat of Richmond told worshippers at a Pentecostal church that her “ultimate goal” in politics was to “bring God’s kingdom to the political arena”.

The comments by the endorsed Nationals candidate, Kimberly Hone, have emerged alongside a series of old social media posts described by her opponents as “repulsive”, and include a post from 2017 that says “one way to avoid domestic violence is to marry well” with a broken Facebook link.

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Aged care sector questions Coalition claim home care workforce has grown by almost 15%

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Providers say they continue to face severe staffing challenges and ‘are not aware of any data that reflects this level of growth’

The aged care sector has questioned the Coalition’s claims that the home care workforce has increased by almost 15% in a matter of months, saying the figures appear at odds with the “severe staffing challenges” it is experiencing.

Aged care providers have repeatedly warned of the staffing crisis facing the sector, including in critically important home care services, where staffing issues have compromised the ability to provide some forms of support to older Australians in their own home.

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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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National teacher’s union ‘concerned’ by lack of detail in Labor’s public school funding policy

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AEU president backed funding announcement but criticised lack of timeline, while noting Coalition had offered ‘nothing at all’

The teacher’s union has criticised Labor’s education policy for a “concerning” lack of detail about when public schools will get extra funding.

Australian Education Union president, Correna Haythorpe, welcomed the policy to put public schools on a “pathway” to full funding but said the lack of a timeline “is of concern to us”.

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Labor to rethink Coalition’s ‘bewildering’ decision to scrap armed drones if it wins election

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Shadow defence minister Brendan O’Connor says cancellation of $1.3bn SkyGuardian program demands explanation

Labor will consider reinstating a $1.3bn program for Australia to acquire armed drones if it wins the election, vowing to review the Coalition’s “bewildering” decision to scrap it “as a matter of urgency”.

The shadow defence minister, Brendan O’Connor, said he was concerned there was a “very significant capability gap in the immediate future”, and he would seek detailed advice after the election.

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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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Refugees resettled in New Zealand from Australia to be permanently banned from returning

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Government says refugees will be stopped at border, even if they have become New Zealand citizens

Refugees resettled in New Zealand from Australia will be unable to return even if they’ve become New Zealand citizens, the Morrison government has announced.

The home affairs minister, Karen Andrews, revealed on Tuesday that Australia will prevent the resettlement deal for 450 refugees from becoming a “back door” by stopping would-be travellers at the border.

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Australia has ‘moral duty’ to take 20,000 more Afghan refugees, Catholic bishops say

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Election statement also calls for a special intake of Ukrainians and a wider reassessment of refugee policies

Australia’s Catholic bishops have called for a special intake of 20,000 refugees from Afghanistan, saying the country has a “moral duty” to do more.

As part of its election statement, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference said the country had an obligation to take more refugees from Afghanistan because of the support shown to Australian military forces.

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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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