Category Archives: Peter Malinauskas

Australian teens approaching age limit could be spared from social media ban, ACT leader says

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Exclusive: Andrew Barr says it ‘doesn’t make sense’ for existing users to be banned for a year or two before regaining access

It “doesn’t make sense” to remove existing teen users of social media from the platforms just a year or two before they regain access, Andrew Barr says.

The ACT chief minister’s comments point to the possibility that existing users could be grandfathered by the proposed social media ban so that they keep their accounts or are temporarily moved on to teen-friendly versions, such as that recently introduced for Instagram by Meta.

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Social media age limits to go before parliament ahead of next election, Albanese says

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Draft bill requires social media platforms to stop children in the restricted age range from accessing their services

The Albanese government plans to impose a minimum age for teenagers accessing social media and gaming platforms, with legislation to be introduced into parliament before the next election.

The prime minister will announce the nationwide move on Tuesday but will stop short of specifying the age, arguing the government wants to wait for the conclusion of an age-verification trial which begins its final phase this week.

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South Australia introduces ‘world-leading’ bill to ban political donations from elections

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Premier says move will end the ‘nexus between money and political power’ and challenges state and federal counterparts to follow suit

The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, has announced plans to ban political donations from state elections, paving the way for nation-leading electoral reforms.

The state’s electoral amendment bill announced on Wednesday night will ban electoral donations and gifts to registered political parties, members of parliament and candidates. The state will provide funding to allow parties and candidates to contest elections, run campaigns and promote political ideas.

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Labor on brink of historic win in SA byelection to snatch former Liberal premier’s seat

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Cressida O’Hanlon has significant lead in Dunstan though there are many early votes yet to be counted

Labor’s Cressida O’Hanlon is nervously waiting, hoping to be confirmed as the next member of South Australia’s House of Assembly.

The 51-year-old business mediator is on track to win the seat of Dunstan with a 2.9%, two-party-preferred lead over her Liberal rival Anna Finizio.

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South Australia becomes first state to enact Indigenous voice to parliament

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Premier hails ‘momentous legislation for our First Nations people’ while acknowledging it does not have unanimous support in state parliament

South Australia has become the first state to legislate for an Indigenous voice to parliament.

The Labor government’s bill passed the House of Assembly in a special sitting on Sunday.

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South Australian government faces fresh criticism for hosting Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour

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Human rights campaigners argue there is no difference between thwarted Saudi bid to sponsor Women’s World Cup and its rebel golf funding

The South Australian government’s support of a Saudi-backed golf tournament has come under renewed criticism after the kingdom’s failed attempt to sponsor the Fifa Women’s World Cup.

The LIV golf tour, which has reportedly received billions from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, will make its Australian debut at the Grange Golf Club in Adelaide next month despite being internationally condemned as an attempt to “sportswash” the regime’s human rights abuses.

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ABC staff to walk off job next week – as it happened

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Acting prime minister and defence minister Richard Marles has spoken to ABC News Breakfast this morning after the $368bn announcement of the Aukus deal yesterday.

In response to the reaction from China accusing Australia, the US and Britain of embarking on a “path of error and danger”, Marles defends making a decision that is in Australia’s national interest:

We are seeking to acquire this capability to make our contribution to the collective security of the region and the maintenance of the global rules-based order.

And one of the issues within our region we are witnessing the largest conventional military build-up that the world has seen since the end of the second world war. And it’s not Australia who is doing that, but that shapes the world in which we live.

We’re completely confident these are in complete compliance with non proliferation.

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Village evacuated as flood levees fail along Murray River in South Australia

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SES evacuates Walker Flat, east of Adelaide, after it was cut off by the deluge on Christmas morning

Dozens of homes and two caravan parks have been evacuated in South Australia as the flood levees continue to fail along the Murray River.

The State Emergency Service has evacuated the island village of Walker Flat, east of Adelaide, after it was cut off by the deluge on Christmas morning.

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South Australia floods expected to inundate thousands of homes as NT town hit by one-in-50-year deluge

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Murray River forecast to peak in coming days as 241mm of rain falls on Timber Creek in the Northern Territory in 24 hours

Thousands of residents in South Australia’s Riverland region are on high alert, with the rising Murray River forecast to peak in the coming days and thousands of properties expected to be inundated in coming weeks.

Meanwhile, a one-in-50-year flood has hit a remote town in the Northern Territory as authorities warn more rain is on the way for the rest of the territory.

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Non-essential activity on Murray River banned in South Australia with flood waters to peak at Christmas

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The Riverland faces its worst flooding in half a century as communities await the slow-moving disaster

A total ban on non-essential activity on the Murray River in South Australia has been put in place, as the Riverland faces its worst flooding in half a century.

Flood water from Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria has been flowing down to the state for weeks, merging into the Murray River, with the peak predicted to hit at Christmas.

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Union fury over Labor decision to split aged care pay rises – as it happened

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Crossbench say Australia needs to ‘get cracking’ on Cop15 commitments

More reactions are coming in after the close of the biodiversity Cop15 – which leading scientists have called “vastly more important” than the Cop27 climate meeting, because it decides the “fate of the living world”.

We need to get cracking on implementation to deliver on commitments.

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Construction of First Nations cultural centre in SA halted amid budget blowout

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Initially slated for 2025 at a cost of $200m, the Tarrkarri project is now $50m over budget and will be reviewed early next year

Work on Tarrkarri, slated as “the world’s leading First Nations cultural centre”, has been suspended amid cost blowouts.

The construction of Tarrkarri, which means “the future” in Kaurna, began in December 2021 in Adelaide, and it was due to open in 2025.

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