Australia news live: Greens call for ‘Dutton-proofed’ election debates; new $20 permit for travellers to UK comes into effect;
Greens calling for laws to ‘Dutton-proof’ upcoming federal election leaders’ debates
Sarah Basford Canales
The Greens want to see Labor pass laws declaring the ABC official hosts of the upcoming federal election’s leaders’ debates in a bid to “Dutton-proof” the event.
The minor party also wants to carve out its spot on the stage alongside the major parties’ leaders, claiming it is “more important than ever” given the possibility of a minority government.
The party’s communication spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, will announce the proposal today, arguing voters deserved to watch the debate for free and for it to be moderated by the “most trusted media outlet in the country”. She said:
This is a simple and common-sense proposition; our national broadcaster should be the home of our national election debates. When it comes to our democracy and a fair and balanced leaders’ debate, we can’t leave it to the Murdoch[-owned] media.
During the 2022 federal election, three debates were held on commercial television, including one behind a paywall on Sky News.
The former prime minister, Scott Morrison, accepted invitations to appear on the commercial networks but refused a request by the ABC.
Months after Anthony Albanese was elected prime minister, the ABC called for legislation to ensure it hosts and broadcasts at least one leaders’ debate during a federal election campaign.
Hanson-Young said “election debates should be about providing information to Australian voters, not about securing ratings for billionaire media moguls”.
Key events
Hanson-Young rules out Greens support for Coalition minority government
Asked if the Greens would ever help the Coalition form minority government, Sarah Hanson-Young clearly ruled this out:
Let me be really clear, the Greens in no way are interested in facilitating the leader of the nasty party in Australia, Peter Dutton, from ever getting the keys to the lodge. And we will be the insurance in the parliament to stop that.
If there’s other cross benches who might back Peter Dutton and put him in as prime minister, you know, that’s up for them to explain. But we will hold any Dutton government to account in the Senate, we’ll stop Peter Dutton from pushing people’s power prices nuclear, we will stop his dangerous attack on renewables and his culture wars that want to drive division in this country rather than unity.
‘Stakes are really high’ for upcoming federal election: Sarah Hanson-Young
On the PM’s pre-election campaign blitz, Sarah Hanson-Young said she understood why he was out and about so early in the year because “the stakes are really high”.
She said the Greens are “fired up” and “ready to go whenever the prime minister decides to call the election.”
We are living in a world where our climate is getting worse. Our environment is on the brink of collapse. We’re losing native species and habitat and natural spaces at a rate like never before, and we have a huge cost of living crisis that’s impacting very vulnerable groups within our community, and we need solutions …
The polls are showing clearly that neither Labor nor Liberal can form a majority government. That means it’s important that parties like the Greens are there, front and centre, giving a voice to the community, a voice to the environment, and will be prepared to hold Labor to account and Peter Dutton to account.
Hanson-Young concerned Musk would begin ‘platforming nasty side of Australian politics’
Speaking about the so-called alliance between tech giants and the likes of Donald Trump, Sarah Hanson-Young said this was a “really worrying sign” that wouldn’t just impact the US.
She said tech platforms had global influence, and “you can already see Elon Musk thinking that he wants to flex his political muscle now outside the US and into across the world.”
I mean, frankly, he’s the kind of bloke you know, we all know, the person who thinks they’re the smartest man in the room. Elon Musk seems to think he’s the smartest man in the world. That’s the ego of these blokes.
The Greens senator said she wouldn’t be surprised if Musk “starts platforming the nasty side of Australian politics, and even starts to platform [Peter] Dutton more than Anthony Albanese.”
Krishani Dhanji
Hanson-Young says Meta decision to remove factcheckers would result in ‘free for all on misinformation’
The acting Greens leader, Sarah Hanson-Young, has just been on the ABC’s RN Breakfast, talking about Meta’s decision to strip away their factcheckers.
Hanson-Young says it will result in a “free for all on misinformation and disinformation”.
Hanson-Young accused Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, of bowing down to Donald Trump, and “making big profits at the expense of community safety”.
What Mr Zuckerberg has announced similar to what, of course, Elon Musk had done a couple of years ago, is to rip the rug of any type of decency out from underneath users and allow … whoever is the loudest, whoever is the angriest, whoever is the most outrageous, to have their views heard.
Albanese defends length of visit to NT as part of election blitz
Speaking about his election blitz, Anthony Albanese was asked about criticism from the shadow Indigenous affairs minister, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, that it was a “blink and you’ll miss it trip” to the Northern Territory.
The PM said he had three days scheduled for the territory:
Jacinta Price wasn’t there on Christmas Day at the 50th anniversary of the commemoration of Cyclone Tracy. That was a really important event. I was there from [the] 23rd until Christmas Day, in the Northern Territory. This visit will be my 12th visit to the Northern Territory. More visits than the three Liberal prime ministers who preceded me [to] the Northern Territory over their almost decade in office.
Albanese defends under-16s social media ban amid Zuckerberg aligning with Trump
Anthony Albanese was also asked about the decision by Mark Zuckerberg to align himself more closely with Donald Trump, announcing that he was getting rid of factcheckers (see earlier post).
Is he worried Labor’s social media age restrictions could have picked a fight with Trump? Albanese defended the laws, saying they were about protecting young children and Australian families:
We make no apologies for standing up for the interests of young Australians. I know that our strong action is being watched right around the world, because other leaders that I have spoken to have indicated that they applaud the fact that Australia has taken this action. It went through the parliament with overwhelming support and it has the support of Australian families.
If Trump criticises the laws, will Australia stand by them? Albanese said they were “an Australian policy in the interests of young Australians”.
We’ll consult, obviously, as part of the legislation … but this is a sensible policy, responding to what is a new issue. A new technology which is having an impact on our youngest generation.
‘Terrible news’: Albanese on plane crash off Rottnest Island
The prime minister says his heart goes out to all involved in a plane crash off Rottnest Island yesterday.
As we flagged earlier, Anthony Albanese will travel to the Top End today amid an unofficial election campaign through Queensland this week.
Speaking to ABC News Breakfast from Cairns just a moment ago, he spoke on the crash and said:
This is terrible news. The pictures would’ve been seen by all Australians as they have woken up. My heart goes out to all those involved.
Australians finally freed from UK pub after spending days snowed in
Australians Naomi and Paul Wright have finally left the UK pub where they spent three days snowed in.
Thirty-three people were snowed in at the Tan Hill Inn in North Yorkshire, Britain’s highest pub, as an Antarctic blast sweeps the UK.
Naomi and Paul spoke with the Today show, describing their relief after farmers used their plough equipment to clear the roads for everyone inside:
They’ve actually cleared the roads for us, came up and said to anyone that wanted to get out needed to go now. So we dug the cars out … Everyone in the pub was cheering [and] all pitched in together. The guys came up with the ploughs, lined us up and basically it was a mad dash back to the highway.
If we didn’t get out in that short time frame today, we would have been there for another three or four days.
Naomi and Paul, from the Northern Territory, said there had been “a lot of drinking, a lot of eating, a lot of chatting [and] playing cards”.
Chalmers responds to report showing $7bn shortfall in budget for public sector wages
Jim Chalmers was also asked about a report in the Australian Financial Review showing a $7bn shortfall in the budget for public-sector wages – and why the government is forecasting almost no growth for the sector for three years from 2025/26?
The treasurer said it was “important to remember that the numbers in the budgets reflect the best current estimates that we have for departmental expenses, and those departmental expenses are considered each year from budget to budget”.
Usually what happens is that departments are required to meet these wage increases from within their existing allocated resources. That’s been standard practice for some time now, and that departmental funding is subject to regular indexation. But it’s important to remember [the] very, very important difference between us and our political opponents.
The Coalition want to slash a whole bunch of jobs that will cost more, it will deliver less, and it could herald a return to the days of robodebt. We saw how badly they mismanaged the public service. We’ve been cracking down on external consultants and contractors. We’ve been rebuilding the frontline capacity of the Australian public service, remembering that three-quarters of these new jobs are created outside of Canberra … and we will budget for that in the best most accurate way that we can.
Chalmers says government addressing cost-of-living pressures in ‘meaningful and responsible way’
Jim Chalmers was also asked about the resignation of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau amid the country’s cost-of-living crisis.
He was asked why he thinks Australians would give his government a pass and return them to power when cost-of-living pain is so great? Chalmers said they “don’t take any outcomes in the election for granted”.
The election will be very tough. It will be very tight. It will be contested as it always is, and as it always should be, and so we’re not complacent about the outcome of the election.
People are under very substantial pressure, and they often express themselves politically. Our job is to take the right economic decisions for the right reasons.
Chalmers argued the government was responding to cost-of-living pressures in a “meaningful and in a responsible way” and that “if our opponents were in charge, people would be much worse off”.
