Labor looks to negotiate with the Coalition to get several pieces of legislation through parliament. Follow today’s news live
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27m agoCoalition to work with Hanson on migration bill
1h agoMelon gaffe a ‘national embarrassment’ even if Japanese government unconcerned, Ted O’Brien says
2h agoIndependent MP accuses Labor of ‘listening to the money and the power’ on gambling ad policy
2h agoRBA predicted to hold cash rate
Speaking of One Nation’s immigration bill, Ted O’Brien tells News24 that he’s open to working with “anybody who is going to make Australia safer.”
He says the Coalition are working on their own immigration bill, and that the opposition “won’t be political” in dealing with the issue.
We are open to working with anybody who is going to make Australia safer. I don’t particularly care where they come from. We’re yet to see all the detail, right? So if, at the end of the day, ours is a better bill, of course, we’ll be pursuing ours over it but I think the right thing to do by Australia is not to be overly political on these issues. If somebody wants to genuinely bring forward a bill, absolutely, let’s engage in good faith, have a look at it.
We are open to working with anybody who is going to make Australia safer. I don’t particularly care where they come from.
We’re yet to see all the detail, right? So if, at the end of the day, ours is a better bill, of course, we’ll be pursuing ours over it but I think the right thing to do by Australia is not to be overly political on these issues. If somebody wants to genuinely bring forward a bill, absolutely, let’s engage in good faith, have a look at it.
In two separate cases in June 2022 and in November 2023, the high court struck down Coalition-era laws that gave the home affairs minister power to strip dual nationals of Australian citizenship for engaging in suspected terrorist activities.
The shadow home affairs minister, Jonno Duniam, also told News24 this morning that the Coalition would work with One Nation on the bill:
We’ll work with them on that legislation, it is important we get it right. We’d love to see it go off to a Senate committee to make sure that people who know a little more than we in the Senate know, legal experts to make sure it is robust. We want to shut the door on terrorists, we’ve been trying for years to do this.
We’ll work with them on that legislation, it is important we get it right. We’d love to see it go off to a Senate committee to make sure that people who know a little more than we in the Senate know, legal experts to make sure it is robust.
We want to shut the door on terrorists, we’ve been trying for years to do this.
Albanese to meet with Vietnam’s president at Parliament House
The president and general secretary of Vietnam, To Lam, is in Canberra today, currently meeting with the governor general, Sam Mostyn.
Lam arrived in Sydney yesterday, in time for the government to announce that VietJet would start flying into the new Western Sydney airport.
The president will then head over to Parliament House to meet with Anthony Albanese and the pair will later provide joint statements to the media.
We can probably expect China and Donald Trump to be on the agenda for the talks.
Malinauskas didn’t consult with federal counterparts on AI royal commission
Yesterday’s announcement that South Australia would hold a royal commission into artificial intelligence would have taken some by surprise yesterday – including the federal government.
The SA premier, Peter Malinauskas, has done his own media rounds this morning plugging the announcement, but says he didn’t give the commonwealth a heads up.
No, this is something that we’re pursuing as a state government because of course within our federation sub-national governments or states are responsible for a whole range of areas of service delivery that are quite separate to considerations of the federal government.
Earlier, independent MP Kate Chaney told RN Breakfast it was good the premier was “realising the magnitude of this issue” but said a royal commission wasn’t the right mechanism.
It’s very slow, takes too long. I wrote a letter to the Coalition and some others a few weeks ago pushing for or seeking support for a joint standing committee on AI because I do think we need parliamentary oversight … But Peter Malinauskas has at least recognised the urgency of this issue.
PM ‘still under the thumb of the gambling companies’: Greens senator
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young says she’s sceptical of negotiations between the opposition and government over gambling reforms, worried they won’t go far enough.
She stops by the cameras stationed outside the Senate entrance:
We haven’t seen any details from the government, as to how far they’re willing to go, I am sceptical that the prime minister is still under the thumb of the gambling companies.
She also responds to the bill Pauline Hanson wants to introduce a bill to strengthen powers to cancel or refuse passports and toughen bail laws for terrorism charges. It’s legally tricky territory with the high court previously ruling that a minister could not strip the citizenship of a dual national.
Pauline Hanson is a one trick pony. She preys on people’s fears and on their grievances … If Pauline Hanson really wants to help people in Australia, become with [the] cost of living crisis, she would focus on that rather than on where people have come from.
Albanese congratulates new ACTU secretary
Anthony Albanese has congratulated Melissa Donnelly, who will replace Sally McManus as secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions.
In a statement on Monday night, the prime minister said McManus leaves the job with “the gratitude and well-wishes of the entire Australian labour movement.”
Melissa will assume the Secretary role at the end of August after seven successful years leading and growing the Community and Public Sector Union … It is a tremendous honour to lead the Australian union movement on behalf of all working people, and one I know Mel will succeed in.
McManus and the ACTU president, Michele O’Neil, both announced they’d step down after eight years in the job, but the later will finish up a little later this year.
Ted O’Brien says that just because the Japanese government has downplayed melon-gate, doesn’t mean Anthony Albanese’s gaffe isn’t a “national embarrassment”.
We’ve seen reports Japan sent a memo to the government last month suggesting they did not believe the prime minister’s comments about the pair of crown melons he received as a gift were made with “ill intention”.
O’Brien tells RN Breakfast that the fact that he’s speaking about the issue on national radio shows how bad the issue is, even if the Japanese government isn’t fazed.
He also confirms that he held a meeting with the Japanese ambassador to Australia to “express my deep regret about the prime minister’s remarks”.
This is one of our most important partnerships. This is a national embarrassment. Now, we can say, ‘yes, but, you know, some people think it isn’t.’ Well, here we are on national radio talking about it. The Australian prime minister has been inappropriate … I’m the shadow minister for foreign affairs. I don’t have the authority to apologise on behalf of the government or the prime minister. If I did have that authority, I would have done so.
This is one of our most important partnerships. This is a national embarrassment. Now, we can say, ‘yes, but, you know, some people think it isn’t.’ Well, here we are on national radio talking about it. The Australian prime minister has been inappropriate …
I’m the shadow minister for foreign affairs. I don’t have the authority to apologise on behalf of the government or the prime minister. If I did have that authority, I would have done so.
Opposition working ‘constructively’ with government on gambling
Anthony Albanese and Angus Taylor are still ironing out amendments to the government’s gambling legislation, which we know will involve some changes to inducements – but not much else.
The shadow foreign affairs spokesperson, Ted O’Brien, can’t say whether Coalition party room meeting will today land on a position.
He tells RN Breakfast he personally believes in the “importance of personal choice” but also that footy time should be “family time” and not gambling time.
People who want to have a punt should be allowed to have a punt. But we should also recognise it comes with harmful effects that need to be addressed … we’ve got to protect children from being exposed unnecessarily to gambling ads when really they should be spending time with family. I also believe in the importance of law and order, which is why we need to ensure that we push back against any predatory illegal behaviour of inducements and whatnot.
Yesterday Taylor also singled out acting on “predatory” inducements – which suggests we might not see a total ban on gambling inducements.
What happened to Tony Burke’s migration speech?
We’re all still pretty baffled in Canberra over what happened to Tony Burke’s National Press Club address.
The home affairs minister had been scheduled to address the press club and announce significant immigration reforms – but the speech was postponed at the 11th hour.
We’re told no one even asked about it at yesterday’s Labor caucus meeting.
Katy Gallagher is asked on RN Breakfast whether the new migration measures were finalised when cabinet also met yesterday, but she doesn’t say.
This is a big piece of work. Obviously we’ve been making a number of reductions. We’ve seen net overseas migration come down about 45% from its peak. There’s some additional work that Minister Burke is undertaking and when that work is complete he will announce what those measures are.
‘It’s not where everyone wants to be’, says Gallagher on gambling reforms
The finance minister says the government is negotiating with the Coalition on gambling inducements as it tries to find a pathway for its reforms through the Senate.
The prime minister in his televised address to caucus yesterday hinted some further action on tackling inducements, while the opposition says it wants to see “predatory inducements” for problem gamblers banned. It suggests we might see a partial ban on inducements, but not a full block.
Katy Gallagher has moved her way down the press gallery corridor and landed in the ABC’s RN Breakfast studio – she doesn’t have any further details on how negotiations are tracking.
She points to Labor’s national conference last month which agreed to explore how to better prevent online gaming and social media platforms from offering “embedded inducements” within video games and social media accounts.
She also defends the government’s response to gambling as a whole, after it took almost three years for the prime minister to respond to the landmark ‘you win some, you lose more’ parliamentary report.
I accept it’s not where everyone wants to be, but it’s a very, very strong response to a problem that exists in our community.
‘He did not mean it’ Gallagher dragged into melon-gate
Katy Gallagher has also been asked to weigh in on the PM’s melon comments – you can see a hint of exasperation in her face as she’s asked about it on Channel 9.
