The Albanese government on Sunday pledged $8.5 billion for Medicare, declaring this would enable all Australians to have access to bulk billing by 2030. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the policy at a rally in Tasmania, where the Labor seat of Lyons and the Liberal seat of Bass are in […]
Labor
Rebel Senator Fatima Payman has quit the Labor party and will serve as an independent following her suspension from the caucus. In a press conference on Thursday, Senator Payman, who said she would not align herself with any Muslim community-affiliated party, questioned the Labor party’s core values. “Unlike my colleagues, […]
In his latest foray into the climate change debate, Peter Dutton has sown fresh confusion around the opposition’s policy, whether intentionally or by failing to spell out what he means. It’s yet more frustration for potential investors in the energy and other clean industry sectors who crave greater certainty about […]
Last week’s budget was Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ third and – for practical purposes – final for the current parliamentary term. Even if the 2025 election is delayed long enough to give Labor another budget, that speech would represent more of an election manifesto than any deliverable legislation. We are therefore […]
The federal government’s push for tougher deportation laws is facing renewed criticism in the wake of a recent ruling by the High Court. The ruling, delivered last Friday, authorises the indefinite detention of non-citizens who resist deportation, stirring fresh opposition from political adversaries and community organisations. In March, the Government […]
The Albanese government came to power with a promise to be “strong on borders without being weak on humanity”. But there was little humanity in parliament yesterday as the government tried to force through some of the most draconian migration laws this country has seen in decades. The draft legislation was distributed […]
The Albanese government will tell the Fair Work Commission it should ensure the real wages of low paid workers do not go backwards. In its submission to the Annual Wage Review, the government stresses the July 1 tax cut should be on top of the wage increase for these workers, […]
After nearly two years of deliberation, two inquiries, and an election, the federal government has voted against enshrining Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe’s Private Members Bill, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), into law. The UNDRIP Bill, introduced to Parliament in March 2022, seeks to establish […]