Albanese mulls reshuffle to re-energise troops

Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 4 : 3-Jul-24

There is growing speculation that the federal government will use parliament’s five-week midwinter break to revamp its frontbench team. Labor has to date avoided any changes to cabinet since taking office in May 2022, although several ministers have come under intense scrutiny over the management of their portfolios in recent months. The possibility of an early election may also prompt Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to consider a cabinet refresh. Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles are widely tipped to be most likely to be shifted from their current portfolios.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Scared, scarred: the women Giles forgot

Original article by Alexi Demetriadi, Rhiannon Down, Liam Mendes, Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 5-Jun-24

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles will announce a replacement for Ministerial Directive 99 by the end of this week. However, it could take up to six weeks for the new directive to take effect, based on Home Affairs’ advice to Giles in late 2022. Shadow immigration spokesman Dan Tehan says Giles must explain how he will deal with decisions made by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal during this period. Meanwhile, single mother Jesica Mills has revealed that she had lived in constant fear of a former neighbour after he subjected her to threats and harassment; the New Zealand-born career criminal was released from immigration detention in February under MD99. Giles is on record as having stated that Australia has an "obligation" to foreign-born criminals who have been in the country for most of their life.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, AUSTRALIA. ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS TRIBUNAL

Number of days since Giles’ last blunder: 0

Original article by Simon Benson, Rhiannon Down
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 4-Jun-24

The future of Immigration Minister Andrew Giles is under renewed scrutiny after he admitted that drones are not being used to monitor foreign-born criminals who were released into the community due to the High Court’s NZYQ ruling. However, Giles claimed that he had relied on advice from Department of Home Affairs officials when he initially claimed that 28 violent offenders were being monitored via drones. Meanwhile, it has been revealed that the controversial Ministerial Directive 99 was introduced in response to pressure from the New Zealand government over the deportation of NZ-born criminals. A government spokeswoman has indicated that Giles will announce a replacement for Directive 99 by the end of this week.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Coalition cautioned on super ministry

Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 4 : 12-Dec-17

There is growing speculation that the Federal Government could create its proposed ministry of home affairs before Christmas. The so-called super-ministry was slated to be set up by mid-2018, and will place federal agencies such as the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Border Force within a single ministerial portfolio for the first time. Labor’s Mark Dreyfus says Immigration Minister Peter Dutton should not be sworn in as the home affairs minister until the enabling legislation has been passed by parliament.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF IMMIGRATION AND BORDER PROTECTION, AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIAN CRIMINAL INTELLIGENCE COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Labor to target Nats’ decisions

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 9 : 30-Oct-17

A study of the Constitution suggests that any ministerial decisions made by the National Party’s Barnaby Joyce and Fiona Nash after 20 October 2016 could be legally challenged after the High Court ruled that they are not eligible to sit in parliament. Labor has made no secret of the fact that it plans to make life difficult for the Federal Government during Joyce’s absence from the House of Representatives. Joyce will have recontest his seat of New England in a by-election on 2 December.

CORPORATES
HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN PESTICIDES AND VETERINARY MEDICINES AUTHORITY, ONE NATION PARTY, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. JOINT STANDING COMMITTEE ON ELECTORAL MATTERS

Joyce and Nash should step aside, expert warns

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 31-Aug-17

Constitutional law expert Professor George Williams has told the National Press Club that cabinet ministers Barnaby Joyce and Fiona Nash should step down from their portfolios until the High Court determines whether they are eligible to be in Parliament. He says there is potential for all ministerial decisions they have made since the 2016 election to be subject to a legal challenge if they are disqualified from Parliament due to dual citizenship. Williams adds that an audit of all federal MPs and senators should not be held until the court hands down its ruling.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ONE NATION PARTY, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (AUSTRALIA)

Jury out on Turnbull security overhaul

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 19-Jul-17

Professor John Blaxland of the Australian National University is among those to have questioned the merits of the Federal Government’s move to create a national security "super-portfolio". Immigration and Border Protection Minister Peter Dutton will be in charge of the new Department of Home Affairs, which will embrace his existing portfolio as well as agencies such as ASIO, the Australian Federal Police and AUSTRAC. Some members of the Liberal Party’s moderate faction have also expressed reservations about the changes.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF IMMIGRATION AND BORDER PROTECTION, AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, AUSTRALIAN CRIMINAL INTELLIGENCE COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF TRANSPORT SECURITY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR-GENERAL OF INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY, AUSTRALIA. INDEPENDENT NATIONAL SECURITY LEGISLATION MONITOR, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF DEFENCE

Demand for PM to purge frontbench

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 28-Jun-17

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is expected to make changes to his frontbench team in late 2017, but some members of the Coalition’s conservative faction want a cabinet reshuffle to be undertaken much sooner. They are pushing for moderates George Brandis and Marise Payne to be dropped from cabinet and replaced with conservatives. The leaking of a speech at a private function by moderate Christopher Pyne provided the impetus for the conservative faction to push for change, with some suggesting that Turnbull’s leadership may at risk if they are not given more representation in cabinet.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF DEFENCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

New year headache hits PM

Original article by Sid Maher, Simon Benson, Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 10-Jan-17

Some Coalition MPs expect that embattled Health Minister Sussan Ley will be forced to resign over the controversy regarding travel expenses. Ley’s future is uncertain after she was temporarily stood down from the ministry pending two separate inquiries into her use of travel expenses. Cabinet Secretary ­Arthur Sinodinos will assume responsibility for her portfolio until the inquiries are completed. The Opposition has called for Ley to be sacked, while a number of Coalition MPs believe that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull should pursue a ministerial reshuffle.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIA. REMUNERATION TRIBUNAL, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF DEFENCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES

Jet-setting Ley fights to keep career flying

Original article by Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 9-Jan-17

The future of federal Health Minister Sussan Ley remains under scrutiny amid new revelations about her reimbursement for travel expenses. It has been disclosed that Ley submitted claims for the cost of travelling to the Gold Coast on New Year’s Eve in both 2013 and 2014. Ley has agreed to repay the expenses she incurred in May 2015 for travelling from Brisbane to the Gold Coast, where she bought an apartment. She had been in Brisbane on official ministerial business at the time. The Opposition has argued that she should be sacked.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, THE PHARMACY GUILD OF AUSTRALIA