Source : the age
Welcome to our live coverage of news from around Australia and the world.
Here’s what you need to know today.
- The ABC’s most senior news executive, Justin Stevens, has resigned after four years in the job, and the search for his replacement is already close to completion.
- Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth has defended plans to overhaul Workforce Australia, which do not involve re-publicising the employment services organisation privatised by the Howard government in the 90s.
- Queensland-based government MP Ali France (above), who unseated Peter Dutton at the last election, has been referred to the AEC over claims she is enrolled to vote at a vacant block of land in the Brisbane electorate.
- Independent MP Dai Le has criticised a lack of transparency over the returns and where the ISIS-linked families will live, worrying about members of her community who had “fled ISIS”. Kooyong MP Monique Ryan has said they should be spared from “aggressive media”.
- Australia’s war crimes investigator has referred concerns to the National Anti-Corruption Commission over media coverage of Ben Roberts-Smith’s arrest over alleged war crimes at Sydney Airport last month.
State of Origin Game One takes place tonight – rugby league’s night of nights, with Queensland and New South Wales battling it out for supremacy.
But as the teams take to the field tonight, there’s a battle of a different kind taking place in the NRL as power swaps between the biggest names in sports administration – Peter V’Landys and Andrew Abdo.
Today, national head of sport Neil Breen on the politics of the NRL, and whether too much power may land in the hands of one man.
Justin Stevens has taken to social media to confirm the news that he is resigning from his role as ABC News director, and from the ABC entirely.
“These four years have been incredibly tough but immensely rewarding,” said Stevens on LinkedIn.
“Having said that, for reasons both professional and personal, now is the right time for me to move on and for someone else to take over the helm.
“There is no more complex news organisation in the country, no more scrutinised institution, and few so laden with public expectations.”
The United Kingdom smashed a century-old temperature record for the second time in 24 hours on Tuesday as a spring heatwave scorched parts of Western Europe, triggering government warnings about risks to life.
The searing temperatures have led to seven deaths in Britain and France.
A temperature of 35.1 degrees was recorded at London’s Kew Gardens, breaking the 34.8-degree record set a day earlier at Kew.
Question time has ended, but not before one last little bout of controversy involving the shadow treasurer.
After being kicked out of the chamber for interjecting one too many times, Wilson took to X to vent his frustration.
“@AlboMP… wouldn’t answer [his question on CGT changes]. These are the incentives under the Albanese government: Deceive the public and you become PM, expose the deceit and get ejected from QT,” Wilson wrote.
Speaker of the House Milton Dick took umbrage once informed, ending question time with this admonition.
“I ask when he returns to the chamber to apologise to the chair, and remind members not to reflect on the chair in the chamber or on social media.”
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has committed a faux pas, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared to the chamber.
It’s the maroon tie he’s wearing ahead of tonight’s State of Origin match between the Queensland Maroons and NSW Blues.
But Chalmers has the prime minister, a Blues supporter, outnumbered.
Sixteen MPs are sporting maroon today, to 13 with blue.
That’s not including the two apparently uncommitted parliamentarians displaying both.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said federal police would continue investigating the women with links to Islamic State who have returned to Australia.
“Of the two cohorts that have arrived in recent weeks, there are three [women] currently behind bars,” Burke said.
“One charged with entering a declared area, two charged with crimes against humanity. No one should presume that at any point in time the work of the Australian Federal Police, in terms of investigating and gathering evidence, is over, and I would remind those opposite before we came to office, 45 people who had gone [to the Middle East] to fight had self-managed their return.”
The prime minister has paid tribute to Kumanjayi Little Baby, the five-year-old girl allegedly murdered in Alice Springs last month, as he marked Reconciliation Week on the floor of parliament.
“This week, Reconciliation Week, is a chance for all of us to recommit to doing better, because as a nation, we have to do better. All sides of politics have failed to do as well as we should have ever since Federation started, and indeed before,” Anthony Albanese aid during question time.
“All Australians have a great privilege of sharing this island continent of ours with the oldest continuous culture on earth, and the beginning of Reconciliation Week is an important time to note that we come together with First Nations Australians and recommit our efforts to shaping a future that is better for them and therefore better for our nation.”
Agriculture Minister Julie Collins has accused the opposition of running a scare campaign about whether farmers would be exempt from the government’s tax changes.
“They should be presenting the farmers with the facts,” Collins said, before quoting the National Farmers’ Federation following the budget.
“The NFF welcomes changes ensuring primary production income will be exempt from the new 30 per cent trust tax and confirmation there will be no changes to small business capital gains tax concessions,” she said.
Shadow treasurer Tim Wilson is also eager for today’s sparring match, incurring the wrath of Speaker Milton Dick when he leapt up too quickly to ask his first question.
“You have a habit of each time walking up to the dispatch box in a dramatic way. Just wait till you’re called,” Dick said.
He was irked by opposition MPs yelling “time” as the prime minister reached the end of his allotted time.
“I like to include as many questions as possible. So, if you could assist the speaker by not interjecting time, it would be greatly appreciated,” Dick said.
It’s the eve of Labor’s tax change legislation being introduced to parliament and the Coalition is sticking with its question time attack line.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor kicked off the session with back-to-back questions about tax, including asking whether the prime minister would index bracket creep – which happens to be the Coalition’s own policy.
Anthony Albanese is relishing the line of questioning, and was even seen having a laugh with his frontbenchers.
Over much shouting from both sides of the chamber, the prime minister said: “I welcome the question from the leader of the opposition … because tomorrow we’ll be introducing tax reductions, and they’ll have a chance to vote for it or to vote against it.”
