POLITICIANS – AUSTRALIA

Docked pay, red cards for badly behaved politicians

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Original article by Olivia Ireland
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 21-Aug-24

The federal government will belatedly introduce a bill on Wednesday to establish an Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission. The proposed commission was one of the key recommendations of a landmark 2021 report by former sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins, and it was originally intended to be operation by the end of 2023. It will have the power to investigate allegations of breaches of parliamentary standards by MPs, senators and their staffers. Amongst other things, politicians could be be suspended from parliament or be fined up to five per cent of their base salary for any breaches of the standards.

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PM calls for Barnaby Joyce to be sacked for telling voters to use votes as bullets

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Original article by Courtney Gould, Tim Fernandez
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 30-Jul-24

National Party MP Barnaby Joyce has apologised for using an inappropiate metaphor during an anti-wind farm rally in NSW on Sunday. Joyce likened a ballot paper in the upcoming election to a bullet and the ballot box to a gun’s magazine; he stated that voters should "get ready to load that magazine" and says goodbye to Chris Bowen, Anthony Albanese and the local MP Stephen Jones. Albanese has urged Opposition leader Peter Dutton to remove Joyce from his frontbench, contending that the analogy was completely unacceptable and could potentially incite violence behaviour. Joyce’s comments followed the recent failed attempt to assassinate former US president Donald Trump.

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NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Not Labor they elected as people reel from Gaza war

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The New Daily – Page: Online : 9-Jul-24

Fatima Payman says people who voted for a Labor government have told her that it is now not serving their interests, when being asked why the now independent senator was not quitting her seat. Payman quit the Labor Party last week after crossing the floor on the issue of Palestinian statehood, claiming the government was not moving quickly enough on the matter. She claims that it is not just Australia’s Muslim and Palestinian communities that are being affected by the war in Gaza, saying it has "been impacting each and every person with a conscience and a heart out there".

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Albanese mulls reshuffle to re-energise troops

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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.

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

Exiled Payman defiant after PM tells her to consider her position as senator

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Original article by Paul Sakkal, James Massola
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 2-Jul-24

Senator Fatima Payman claims she has been "exiled" by her federal Labor colleagues as a result of her defying party convention and crossing the floor over the conflict in Gaza, and that their actions appear to be aimed at intimidating her into resigning from the Senate. Her comments come a day after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese summoned Payman to The Lodge to advise that she was suspended indefinitely from the Labor caucus, while it has been confirmed that Albanese told Payman that she should consider her position as a parliamentarian.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

PM locked out by war protests

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Original article by Dennis Shanahan, Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 5-Jun-24

The security protection of federal MPs and Parliament House has been ramped up in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel on 7 October and the resultant pro-Palestine demonstrations across Australia. It has been revealed that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has not used his electorate office in Marrickville since early January due to concerns about the safety of his staff. Meanwhile, federal police and intelligence agencies are believed to have advised parliamentarians that anti-Israel demonstrations have been infiltrated by Islamic extremists.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Mehreen Faruqi v Pauline Hanson: Greens senator tells court attacks on white people not racist

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Original article by Karen Middleton
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 30-Apr-24

Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi is suing One Nation senator Pauline Hanson over a social media post in which Hanson told Faruqi to "pack your bags and piss off back to Pakistan", with Faruqi describing the post as "the ultimate racist slur". Appearing as the first witness in the case on Monday, Faruqi was accused by Hanson’s lawyer, Sue Chrysanthou SC, of being a hypocrite, with Chrysanthou claiming Faruqi had made and endorsed racist remarks about white people. Faruqi denied that verbal attacks on white people are racist, claiming that racism is also about power and the use of that power to perpetrate racism and oppress people; she claimed that power in Australia is held by white people.

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AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY

Bridget Archer leads criticism after Peter Dutton compares pro-Palestine protest to Port Arthur massacre

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Original article by Sarah Basford Canales, Luca Ittimani
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 12-Apr-24

Opposition leader Peter Dutton is under growing scrutiny over a recent speech in which he raised concern about the growing incidence of anti-Semitism in Australia. Liberal backbencher Bridget Archer has questioned the appropriateness of Dutton’s comment in which he said that pro-Palestine protests at the Sydney Opera House on 9 October were "akin to a Port Arthur moment in terms of their social significance". Archer says this comment was "incredibly disrespectful" to the victims and survivors of the Port Arthur massacre, while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Dutton "went too far". Dutton says he was referring to former prime minister John Howard’s strength as a leader; the Port Arthur massacre resulting in stricter gun laws in Australia.

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LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Minister snubs US: Kiwis are closest

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Original article by Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 19-Mar-24

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham says comments by Trade Minister Don Farrell that the US is not Australia’s closest ally are "errant and disturbing". Farrell made the remark when asked on Monday why Australia had resumed funding to Gazan aid body UNRWA when the US had not, with Farrell stating that Australia was independent, and that over the course of history, New Zealand was its closest internat­ional ally, rather than the US. Birmingham said Farrell’s statement was something he would have expected from the Greens, not a senior government minister.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Wong urges ASEAN leaders to guard against conflict

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Original article by Joe Kelly, Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 5-Mar-24

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has told the ASEAN-­Australia special summit that a conflict in South-East Asia could cause the same level of devastation currently being seen in the ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine. She urged ASEAN leaders to be bold and to commit to a "preventive architecture" in order to prevent the outbreak of conflict in the South-East Asia region, with Wong saying she wants to see a region where each country can pursue its own aspirations, and one where no country dominates and no country is dominated.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE