POLITICIANS – AUSTRALIA

Canavan calls for retaliatory levy on iron ore to China

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 6 : 14-Dec-20

Former resources minister Matt Canavan contends that the federal government should respond to China’s import bans and punitive tariffs by imposing a levy on iron ore exports. Australia ships nearly 900 million tonnes of iron ore to China each year, and Canavan argues that a levy of just one per cent would raise more than $800m annually; this could be used to compensate companies that have been hit by China’s trade sanctions. Canavan notes that iron ore has not been affected by the trade war, as China cannot quickly and easily source an alternative supply.

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Regulator urged not to curtail BNPL

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 21 : 20-Nov-20

Liberal senator Andrew Bragg will use a StartUp Aus speech on 20 November to caution against over-regulating the ‘buy now, pay later’ sector. In the wake of the Australian Securities & Investments Commission’s recent report on the sector, Bragg will emphasise the need for ASIC to enforce the law rather than "pontificate on policy". Bragg will also use the speech to argue that the new national security in Hong Kong presents an opportunity for Australia to become a regional financial centre.

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LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

Labor bans all MPs from sexual relationships with their staff

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Original article by Latika Bourke
The Age – Page: Online : 12-Nov-20

The conduct of federal MPs has come under renewed scrutiny in the wake of an ABC report on the extramarital activities of cabinet ministers Christian Porter and Alan Tudge. Labor leader Anthony Albanese has announced that all of his party’s MPs will be prohibited from having intimate relations with members of their staff. The federal government’s so-called ‘bonk ban’ applies only to ministers rather than backbenchers. It was introduced by former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull following a series of indiscretions by Coalition MPs.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Labor hardhead urges Premier to approve coalmine

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Original article by Michael McKenna
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 13-Jul-20

Labor senator Anthony Chisholm has urged the Queensland government to approve the $900 million expansion of the New Acland coal mine, despite a legal challenge before the High Court. Labor’s former state secretary was considered the architect of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s election win in 2015. Chisholm notes that the government has been "cautious" in its handling of the New Acland approval, opting to wait until all legal issues have been resolved . However, he contends that circumstances have changed, and that jobs will be lost if approval for the extension is not granted.

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NEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Explosive text messages of a political assassin

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Original article by John Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 18-Jun-20

The crisis over Victorian Labor’s branch-stacking crisis has deepened, after details of text messages that federal MP Anthony Byrne sent to Adem Somyurek over several years were disclosed. The recordings that led to Somyurek’s downfall were made in Byrne’s electoral office; the two were once close allies, and friends of Somyurek say he cannot understand why Byrne turned against him. Amongst other things, the text messages that Byrne sent to Somyurek include derogatory comments about Labor colleagues.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Nat rebels humiliate leader

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 11-Feb-20

Former National Party MP Llew O’Brien has been elected deputy speaker of the House of Representatives. O’Brien quit the party following Barnaby Joyce’s failed leadership challenge, although he remains a member of the Liberal-National Party of Queensland; he has also given assurances that he will support the government’s legislative agenda. Meanwhile, O’Brien has revealed that he opposed a plan by Nationals leader Michael McCormack to hold a partyroom meeting in regional Victoria during Melbourne’s 2019 spring racing carnival. Chief whip Damian Drum was McCormack’s choice as deputy speaker.

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

Joyce warns PM: Nats to cross floor

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Original article by Dennis Shanahan, Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 7-Feb-20

The National Party remains divided in the wake of Barnaby Joyce’s failed bid to oust party leader Michael McCormack. Joyce and two other Nationals MPs have threatened to vote against Coalition bills after opponents of McCormack missed out on portfolios in a cabinet reshuffle. The rebel Nationals are in a position to block Coalition legislation, given that the government has a majority of just two seats in the lower house. Joyce has also criticised a proposal to change the party’s rules governing leadership spills.

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NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Agent of interference: How Labor’s top lawyer steered bureaucrats against ex-PM

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 31-Jan-20

Andrew Cooper, the Australian organiser of the 2019 Conservative Political Action Conference, was asked to register under the federal government’s Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme. The request was made by the Attorney General’s Department. According to documents released under freedom of information laws, Labor frontbencher Mark Dreyfus encouraged department officials to investigate whether the CPAC would trigger registration requirements under the scheme at a meeting in July. The Department also asked former prime minister Tony Abbott to register under the scheme as he was to speak at the event; both Cooper and Abbott rejected the requests. A spokesperson for Dreyfus says the opposition cannot tell public servants to do anything.

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AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

MPs warn of side effects if McKenzie fired

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 28-Jan-20

Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie remains under scrutiny over the ‘sports rorts’ scandal in her previous role as sports minister. Senior bureaucrat Phil Gaetjens will release a report into the allocation of sports grants in coming days, amid demands for McKenzie to lose her portfolio. However, some National Party MPs are concerned that removing McKenzie could embroil Prime Minister Scott Morrison in the scandal, as his office is believed to have passed requests for funds from Liberal MPs on to McKenzie’s office.

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

Turmoil as Nats split on rorts deputy

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 24-Jan-20

The future of Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie remains under scrutiny in the wake of the so-called ‘sports rorts’ scandal. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has indicated that he will take appropriate action when an investigation by top bureaucrat Philip Gaetjens is completed. However, National Party leader Michael McCormack has expressed support for his embattled deputy, although some Nationals MPs believe that McKenzie’s position is untenable. She was sports minister when the grants for community sports groups were allocated.

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