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Watch: NSW premier’s press conference
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Deputy Premier Paul Toole are due to release the state’s independent flood inquiry report at 11am AEST.
Watch the pair’s press conference live below.
We need an Australian head of state: assistant minister for a republic
By Rachel Eddie
The Assistant Minister for the Republic has argued the country needs an Australian head of state who is accountable to the public after Scott Morrison was secretly sworn in to additional portfolios.
As Katina Curtis and James Massola have written, Governor-General David Hurley has been urged to explain his role in swearing-in the former prime minister to five ministries – health, finance, home affairs, treasury, and industry, science, energy and resources – in 2020 and 2021 without the knowledge of most of his senior ministers, including some whose responsibilities he took on.
The Assistant Minister for the Republic Matthew Thistlethwaite. Credit:Simon Schluter
Labor MP Matthew Thistlethwaite declined to criticise Hurley directly, but said if Australia was a republic then those appointments would never have been hidden.
“The role of the governor-general is to accept the advice of the prime minister, and there’ll no doubt be further discussion about that role, and what the governor-general knew and whether or not he should have told the Australian people about that,” Thistlethwaite told reporters earlier this morning.
“But in my view, it highlights the importance of us having a discussion in the future about having an Australian as our head of state, and someone who acts on behalf of the Australian people.
“Maybe then we can get more transparency and accountability in decisions such as this.”
The member for Kingsford-Smith, which covers Sydney’s south-eastern suburbs, said the saga would “no doubt stimulate debate and hopefully improve the discussion” about Australia’s constitution and head of state.
“It’s again one of the issues that we need to fix.”
Dutton pledges to never secretly appoint himself to extra portfolios
By James Massola
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says he would never secretly appoint himself to additional ministerial portfolios if elected prime minister in a bid to distance himself from Scott Morrison.
As regular readers of this blog will know, Dutton earlier this week defended the former prime minister and said cooler heads needed to prevail.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton during question time earlier this month. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
But a day after opposition frontbencher Karen Andrews called for Morrison to quit parliament, Dutton toughened his language and said that the former PM had done the wrong thing.
“Scott’s apologised, rightly,” the opposition leader told Mike O’Loughlin during an appearance on Tasmania Talks.
“I think it’s appropriate that he has apologised because what he did, clearly, was the wrong thing.
“It’s not something that I would do if I’m elected to be prime minister at the next election. And we’ll work with the government to make sure the checks and balances are put in place to make sure that it can’t happen again.”
Keep cost of living in the spotlight, Ley says
By Broede Carmody
John Howard isn’t the only senior Liberal doing the media rounds today.
Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley has appeared on pay TV to accuse Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of using Scott Morrison’s portfolio saga to his advantage.
Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
The Coalition frontbencher told Sky News that the PM wants a distraction from cost-of-living concerns as well as skill and worker shortages.
“The fact this is featuring so heavily today is a strong indictment on the focus and priorities of Mr Albanese,” she said.
“Australians want him to focus on the issues in their lives. Nothing in this is going to bring down your power bills.”
COVID drop among vulnerable ‘reassuring’
Former deputy chief medical officer Dr Nick Coatsworth says it’s reassuring there’s been a decrease in the number of Australians in vulnerable groups being infected with COVID-19.
With the number of total virus cases set to reach 10 million by the end of the month, Coatsworth says the risk caused by COVID to the public is getting smaller.
Former deputy chief medical officer Dr Nick Coatsworth.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
“The number of vulnerable people in Australia [with COVID] is decreasing because of the powerful effect of vaccinations, particularly four doses for those over 65 and the milder variants that we’re seeing emerging,” he told Sky News.
“Whilst the number of deaths, it’s certainly sad ... the actual risk to individuals is getting smaller.”
The current death toll from COVID in Australia stands at 13,000. That includes the 73 fatalities announced yesterday and a further 41 in NSW and Victoria alone as of this morning.
AAP
We need to rethink how we select governors-general: Lambie
By Broede Carmody
Returning to something that was raised earlier this morning, and Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie was asked by the ABC’s Patricia Karvelas whether Governor-General David Hurley has her support given his role in the Scott Morrison portfolio saga.
As you might already know, the governor-general is the Queen’s representative in Australia and their role is to, among other things, swear in ministers.
Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Here’s what the independent politician told Radio National:
I’ve made it quite clear about how I feel about governor-generals that’ve come out of the military in terms of being high-ranking officers.
We’re now at a royal commission. We are now hearing some of the most horrific stories coming out of people not just under [the Department of] Veterans’ Affairs but Defence. And you’ve got some of these governor-generals in the last 20 years who were in charge of Defence and them sitting in denial saying, nah, we think Defence is doing the right thing, blah blah blah.
So I just think we need to look at who we’re selecting with governor-generals.
Second NSW MP announces retirement
By Sarah Keoghan
Staying with NSW for a moment, and a state Nationals MP has announced he will retire at the next election in yet another blow for the Perrottet government.
Stephen Bromhead, the member for Myall Lakes, is the latest politician to announce he won’t contest the March 2023 election.
The backbencher said he is bowing out to focus on his family, having served in his position for 12 years.
“I would like to thank our community for your support during my term, especially the volunteers for your incredible backing,” he said in a social media post.
“I thank the National Party and my colleagues in parliament as we continue to deliver for regional NSW.”
The government has lost several members since the 2019 election.
Bromhead’s announcement comes after NSW Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello revealed he would also be retiring at the next state election.
NSW reports 8064 new COVID cases, 26 deaths
By Broede Carmody
NSW’s coronavirus numbers are also in.
The state has recorded 8064 new cases of COVID-19 26 additional deaths.
There are 2115 people in NSW hospitals with the virus. Of those, 52 are in ICU.
‘It’s not some kind of constitutional crisis,’ Howard says
By Broede Carmody
Former prime minister John Howard has reiterated that he wouldn’t have secretly appointed himself to additional portfolios during a pandemic.
However, the Liberal Party elder has called on Labor and others to put their criticism in perspective.
Former prime minister John Howard. Credit:Rhett Wyman
Here’s what he told ABC radio:
I understand why it’s been criticised, but it’s not some kind of constitutional crisis. And I think these calls for a sort of semi royal commission and so forth into what happened are a bit over the top.
I think what happened was unwise. Was it illegal? No, I haven’t seen anything illegal.
Victoria records 4732 new cases of COVID-19, 15 deaths
By Broede Carmody
Victoria’s official coronavirus numbers have been published.
The state has today reported 4732 new cases of COVID-19 and 15 additional deaths from the virus.
There are 518 people in Victorian hospitals with COVID. Of those, 29 are in intensive care.
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2022-08-17 01:26:02Z
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