Category Archives: Independents

Federal government under fire for hiring KPMG on health and climate while firm advises fossil fuels

Posted on by

Doctors and independent MPs say despite Labor’s reassurances, work should have been conducted by public servants and a clear conflict of interest exists

Doctors, health researchers and crossbench MPs have criticised the federal government for paying consultancy giant KPMG to help shape its national health and climate strategy, raising concerns about the firm’s work with the fossil fuel industry.

The new strategy, which will be delivered by the end of the year, will outline ways to ensure the health system is prepared for the impacts of climate change and suggest measures to reduce emissions.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Voice backers sign off on ‘simple, hopeful’ message for referendum pamphlet

Posted on by

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Daniel Andrews calls Victoria’s election funding laws ‘perfectly fair’ amid Climate 200 criticism

Posted on by

Simon Holmes à Court says the laws make it ‘nearly impossible’ for independents to successfully campaign

The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, says he has no plans to change election funding laws, despite claims from Climate 200’s founder, Simon Holmes à Court, that they make it “nearly impossible” for an independent to successfully campaign.

According to Climate 200’s submission to a parliamentary inquiry into the November state election, sitting MPs received a significant “head start” during the campaign thanks to changes to the law introduced in 2018.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

PwC walks back report used to claim Australia’s nature repair market could be worth $137bn

Posted on by

Report cited by environment minister in support of offset bill was criticised for inflated figures and lack of clarity on outcomes

PwC has walked back a report used to claim the nature repair market could be worth $137bn, accepting it measures “indirect spending towards biodiversity” but the amount spent on “threatened species conservation, with clear outcomes, is likely much less”.

The consultancy firm made that submission to a Senate inquiry examining the Albanese government’s nature repair market bill in response to a critique of the report from progressive thinktank the Australia Institute.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Greens and Coalition unite to refer bill to its own inquiry

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

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.

Continue reading...

Crossbench prepares to flex its power while NSW Labor still short of forming majority government

Posted on by

Gambling reform, planning changes and environmental issues put forward as crossbenchers’ priorities as counting continues

New South Wales Labor will come under pressure to go further on gambling reform than a modest trial of the cashless gaming card, with several crossbench MPs prioritising the issue as part of their support for a minority government.

Labor’s chances of forming a majority government were fading rapidly on Wednesday, after the party fell short in two key knife-edge contests after Saturday’s election.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australia politics live: Howard says Labor’s dominance won’t last long; emissions bill haggling down to the wire

Posted on by

The government is yet to strike a deal that will get its safeguard mechanism bill through the upper house. Follow the day’s politics live

Paul Fletcher won’t answer the question of whether or not he will run again in Bradfield.

He is dancing around this question like he is auditioning for the new Fred Astaire biopic. (Tom Holland has the role, and anyone who has seen his Umbrella dance will know why.)

I continue to consider serving the people of Bradfield to be an enormous privilege and … any rational politician always considers what they’re going to do as you come to the end of each term.

I’ve done that before the end of each past term, but what I can tell you is it’s an honour to serve the people of Bradfield. I continue to be committed to it, energetic in doing, so I spent most of Saturday across a whole range of polling booths engaging with my constituents. I enjoyed it. I found it energising, and I believe that the Liberal party has a very important role in serving the people of Australia and certainly in serving the people of Bradfield and that’s something I’m committed to.

I think the first point is that after three terms and 12 years, inevitably, it becomes harder to win a fourth term.

It’s the nature of our democracy of Australian democracy that the electorate starts to look for alternatives.

Continue reading...

Seats to watch: the NSW election is likely to come down to these key electorates

Posted on by

It looks like being close. The Coalition faces threats on a number of fronts but Labor’s path to victory is uncertain

The New South Wales state election on Saturday shapes as the closest in 16 years. The Coalition government, already in minority, is fighting to hold on after a series of scandals, high-profile resignations and a creaking economy.

It faces threats on a number of fronts: from Labor in Sydney’s west and in the south of the state; and from a clutch of teal and independent candidates in the city’s east.

Continue reading...

Teals and independents are fighting hard to win a seat in the NSW parliament. Have they done enough?

Posted on by

Three-horse races and optional preferential voting making calling seats ahead of Saturday’s state election a risky wager

Michael Regan, the independent running for the New South Wales seat of Wakehurst, has told staff he wants his to be the first seat called by the ABC’s election analyst, Antony Green, on Saturday night.

By that he means he wants to emulate the blistering win of the independent Zali Steggall, who scored a second term in the overlapping federal seat of Warringah in 2022 with more than 50% of the primary vote.

Continue reading...

What will it take to win the 2023 NSW election – and what happens if neither side wins a majority?

Posted on by

Labor needs to pick up nine seats, but if neither major party can get to 47 seats the crossbench will determine the next premier

After three terms in power, the Liberal-National coalition government in New South Wales appears to be on shaky ground, falling behind in the polls and currently operating without a parliamentary majority.

With two weeks to go until the election, there’s still a chance of the Coalition or Labor forming majority or minority government – although a Coalition majority appears least likely.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Sydney trains delayed due to ‘communication issue’ – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

Facing up to financial distress

It is not just academic though – there have been increased reports of people feeling distressed because of financial pressures.

When people are under extreme financial pressure, that has implications for their wellbeing more broadly. I mean, I think that is understood. And I’m sure that the governor in accepting that meeting understands that.

What we want to do as government is make life a little bit easier for people where we can, whether it’s with energy bills, whether it’s with cheaper early childhood education, cheaper medicines, trying to get wages moving again, financial security is a big part of what we’re focused on, particularly when these cost-of-living pressures are so acute.

Continue reading...

Teal independents join farmers in Liverpool Plains to oppose Santos gas development

Posted on by

Sydney-based MPs Kylea Tink and Sophie Scamps meet locals fighting coal seam gas project and Hunter pipeline

City-based teal independents have crossed the great dividing range to support Pilliga and Liverpool Plains farmers and traditional owners fighting a Santos coal seam gas project and the accompanying Hunter gas pipeline.

North Sydney MP Kylea Tink, who grew up in Coonabarabran on the edge of the Pilliga, returned to NSW’s north-western slopes on Wednesday with fellow independent Sophie Scamps to hear the concerns on local landholders.

Continue reading...

Teals and other NSW independents seek to kill controversial Pep-11 gas permit

Posted on by

Exclusive: Candidates hoping to hold the balance of power to push for state-level development bans

The “kingmaker” Sydney MP, Alex Greenwich, and a coalition of independent political hopefuls will attempt to kill the controversial Pep-11 gas exploration licence by banning development of the area through a change in New South Wales law.

The six independents, who could hold the balance of power in under two months, will on Saturday unveil a bill that would amend the State Planning Act to ban certain types of development on land and at sea, negating possible future federal approval.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Gas industry attempts to block price caps on fossil fuels shrugged off by Australian government

Posted on by

Crossbenchers express surprise at lack of direct lobbying from resource companies who may have been blindsided by ‘reasonable pricing’ test

Gas industry concerns that price caps on fossil fuels will damage investment and supply have been shrugged off by the majority of parliament, with lobbying efforts from fossil fuel companies unsuccessful in scuppering Labor’s plans.

Despite weeks of strong public criticism from coal and gas companies about the proposed price caps and increasingly apocalyptic claims of energy disasters if skyrocketing profits were reined in, the parliament will pass the government’s proposal on Thursday.

Continue reading...

Teal-style independent Helen Conway to run for North Shore in NSW election

Posted on by

Former corporate lawyer is backed by same group that supported Kylea Tink’s successful federal campaign

A former corporate lawyer who spent years at the helm of the federal government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency will challenge Liberal MP Felicity Wilson in the seat of North Shore at the New South Wales election in March.

Helen Conway will on Tuesday be announced as an independent candidate in the blue ribbon seat, with the backing of a “teal” community group – North Sydney’s Independent – that launched Kylea Tink’s successful federal campaign.

Continue reading...

Voters will reject Liberals if they don’t have enough female candidates, Matt Kean says

Posted on by

NSW treasurer savaged his party’s preselection processes and warned that the community expects more diversity in its parliaments

The New South Wales treasurer, Matt Kean, has savaged his own party’s preselection processes and membership, warning the Liberals risk losing voters at the March election if they fail to put up enough female candidates.

Kean, the party’s deputy leader, said he had been “devastated” that the state’s most senior Liberal woman, Natalie Ward, was not preselected in the ultra-safe seat of Davidson and had been beaten by a former staffer, despite having the premier’s support.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

‘Naccflip’: Greens back down on threat to overhaul national anti-corruption commission bill

Posted on by

Minor party resolves to support a crossbench amendment instead of Coalition on key appointment

The national anti-corruption commission bill is set to pass after Labor successfully stared down a Greens threat to support a Coalition amendment on the appointment of the Nacc commissioner.

On Monday Guardian Australia revealed the Greens’ threat to combine with the Coalition to require a super majority of three-quarters of the Nacc oversight committee to appoint a commissioner, in a move that could have derailed the bill.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Climate concern the main reason voters swung to independents at federal election, study finds

Posted on by

Nearly half of voters who switched to an independent candidate at 2022 election did so because of climate fears, researchers say

Concern about the climate crisis was the No 1 issue that prompted Australians to switch their vote to an independent candidate at this year’s federal election, according to in-depth social research.

It was the No 2 issue that led to people to swing to Labor, behind concern about the cost of living – including affordable housing.

Continue reading...

‘Teal wave’ turns out to be barely a ripple as number of Victorian independents goes backwards

Posted on by

Of four state election candidates backed by Climate 200, two remain in contention – but both trail Liberals

The “teal” candidate Kate Lardner has called for reform of Victoria’s “unfair” campaign donation laws with the number of independents in the state’s parliament certain to go backwards at the weekend’s election.

With independents claiming 10 seats at May’s federal poll, one of the key talking points heading into the Victorian election was whether the major parties would suffer a similar assault.

Continue reading...

Daniel Andrews vindicated in Victorian election that became a referendum on his pandemic response

Posted on by

Labor’s win allows Andrews to reshape his legacy, with his third term allowing him to become the party’s longest-serving premier

If the Victorian election was indeed – as the opposition framed it – a referendum on Daniel Andrews, voters have resoundingly backed the premier and his response to the pandemic.

At the time of writing, Labor looks on track to secure 50 of Victoria’s 88 lower house seats, just five short of its emphatic 2018 “Danslide” victory.

Continue reading...