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Four ADF members killed in Taipan crash, Marles confirms
By Caroline Schelle
Four ADF members onboard a Taipan helicopter been confirmed dead, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said today.
“There was a catastrophic incident and with every passing hour, it is now clear that any hope of finding Captain Lyon, Lieutenant Nugent, Warrant Officer Laycock and Corporal Alexander Naggs has been lost,” Marles said today.
From left L-R, Joseph (Phil) Laycock; Alex Naggs; Dan Lyon and Max Nugent.
All four were members of the 6th Aviation Regiment based in Holsworthy in Sydney.
The crew members went missing during military training exercises near the Whitsunday Islands off Queensland, on Friday night.
More to come.
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Watch: Deputy PM Richard Marles provides update on Taipan crash
The Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, and Chief of the Defence Force General Angus Campbell, are in Canberra today and will hold a press conference.
Watch live below:
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Shane Wright’s opinion piece about the looming end of cash and why it will fuel conspiracies is sparking plenty of discussion with our subscribers.
@kristen.herplace says: “Nothing wrong with a cashless society…other than the fact it leaves us 100% reliant on IT 100% of the time.”
@Denis Cartledge writes: “I gave plastic a good going over during Covid but have reverted back to cash for almost all my transactions. Cash flow monitoring with plastic is hopeless and I have a finance background. One doesn’t need massive and voluminous spreadsheets for running a household.”
ABBA sang about money, money, money. But the nature of money is changing as cash starts to disappear.Credit: AP
@Citizen says: “By all means do away with $100 & $50 notes for a start, but retain smaller denominations so we still have the option for small transactions. This will make it more difficult for criminals to stash large sums but still give us some flexibility. Bank fees should also be banned on small digital transactions too, after all the point of technology is to reduce cost as well as save time and increase productivity.”
What do you think? Let us know using the link above.
Liberals won’t stop JobSeeker increase, Dutton says
By Caroline Schelle
Circling back to Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who confirmed the Liberal Party wouldn’t stand in the way of a $40 increase to JobSeeker.
But the Liberal leader said the Coalition would push for changes to increase incentives to work.
Dutton wants to maintain the current rate for welfare recipients and allow them to take home $300 a fortnight, while receiving full benefits.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will support the government’s bid to raise JobSeeker by $40. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
It would mean people on the benefit could work up to 10 hours per fortnight, but the opposition leader said he didn’t believe the proposal would be supported.
“The amendment won’t get up because we don’t have the numbers, and ultimately if that goes down as we suspect it will unfortunately, because I think it’s good policy, we’ll support the government’s increase of $40,” Dutton told reporters in Canberra.
Dutton said if the Coalition won government at the next election, it wouldn’t repeal the increase.
The government announced the JobSeeker payment increase in the May budget.
With AAP
Pocock wants veto for new coal mines to consider harm to future children
By Mike Foley
Independent senator David Pocock has sprung a test of the Albanese government’s climate action convictions by forcing it to reject or support a proposed new law that would compel the government to ban new fossil fuel projects to prevent harm to current and future generations of children.
Pocock’s Duty of Care and Intergenerational Equity Bill, to be introduced to the Senate today, applies to ministers with power to approve or fund fossil fuel projects.
Independent ACT senator David Pocock.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
It would bar them from making major decisions that are likely to increase greenhouse gas emissions when doing so would pose a material risk to children’s health and wellbeing now and in generations to come.
His move targets Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, who has veto powers to block coal, gas and other major development approvals. Plibersek is a senior member of Labor’s Left faction, whose rank-and-file members are campaigning to end fossil fuel developments.
But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected any moratorium on new coal and gas plants as disastrous for the economy. Plibersek has approved three new coal mines in two months.
Former Liberal senator David Van returns to parliament
By Angus Thompson
Newly independent senator David Van has attended parliament for the first time since being sent to the crossbench over allegations of inappropriate conduct towards women.
Van attended the Senate this morning in his new spot next to United Australia Party’s Ralph Babet after this masthead reported last week his return this week was uncertain due to illness.
Van, who denies all claims of inappropriate behaviour against him, was cast from the Liberal party room by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton following three allegations over his behaviour towards women.
Senator David Van in the Senate this morning. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Independent senator Lidia Thorpe in June accused Van on the floor of parliament of “sexually assaulting” and harassing her, in claims he strenuously denies.
Former liberal senator Amanda Stoker then said she had been touched inappropriately by Van, while Dutton said a third woman had also made a complaint against Van.
Van’s continuing parliamentary presence raised further questions about where he would sit in the Senate, given his ousting from the opposition bench placed him in closer proximity to Thorpe.
Independent senator backs government housing bill
By Natassia Chrysanthos
Independent senator David Pocock has backed the government’s housing bill and dismissed the Greens’ calls for two-year rent freezes, which he said would not fix the major problems with Australia’s housing market.
The fight over housing is ramping up in parliament this week as the federal government prepares to reintroduce its $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) bill.
The Coalition has opposed the bill, meaning Labor needs the Greens to pass the legislation.
Independent senator David Pocock has backed the government’s housing bill. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
However, the Greens want the government to commit to a two-year rent freeze and more public housing.
If the Greens and Coalition team up to block the bill, the government could call a double dissolution election.
Pocock, who supports the housing fund, said he was not personally worried about an early poll.
“[But] I think Australians will be pretty annoyed to be going back to an election. Frankly, I think they expect politicians to actually negotiate and come to agreement on policy,” he said.
“My view is that the HAFF is passed, and we can continue to have this debate around housing and continue to push the government ... The HAFF is not going to solve all the problems, but it’s one, it’s one, piece of the puzzle.”
Pocock also disagreed with the Greens’ call for a two-year rent freeze, saying it would not solve any of the major issues and would simply “kick the can down the road”.
“I would love [to see us] actually getting on with building social affordable housing. And moving on to the bigger question in all of this housing [debate] ... [which] is what is housing for? Is this a fundamental human right that people in our communities should be able to afford, to have a safe home? ... Or is this an investment vehicle, a wealth creation vehicle?” he said.
“Our tax has been set up for wealth creation. Wrongly or rightly, people have used that. We need to have a conversation about how we start to change that; how we start to address some ... root causes of the housing crisis. And for me, the two-year rent freeze doesn’t do that.”
Opposition leader says problem with Voice is ‘the product’
By Caroline Schelle
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has spoken about the Voice to parliament campaign, and lashed academics and inner-city elites who were “obsessing over the wrong thing” when it came to the proposal.
Dutton made the comments at a press conference in Canberra today when he was asked to respond to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s assertions that the Voice was not about a treaty.
Here’s what he told reporters:
The problem here - all these inner-city elites and academics and all of those in rarefied positions in Canberra are obsessing about the wrong thing.
It is not about the way in which it is being communicated, I see these functions that people are going to, shouting Yes at each other, [while] people in the suburbs ... they’re worried about their bills, they’re worried about their families, and they’re worried about the mortgage.
The problem with the Voice is the actual product. It is the design of the words.
It is the breadth of the scope, nobody is arguing about wanting to support Indigenous Australians or improving the situation in Alice Springs.
We are absolutely dedicated to that. That is not the problem. The problem is that it does much more beyond that.”
He was also questioned about remarks made by leading No campaigner Gary Johns, and whether he should remove himself from the campaign.
Johns said on Sky News that blood tests should be carried out to prove Aboriginality.
“In relation to Mr Johns, I have no comment,” Dutton told reporters.
Dutton has ‘no records’ of AFP briefing over suspected bribes
By Matthew Knott
Staying with Peter Dutton, who specifically addressed a story from this masthead, based on documents tabled in federal parliament, that the Australian Federal Police’s boss told him in July 2018 a Sydney-based businessman was under investigation over suspected bribes to Nauruan politicians.
Despite the verbal police warning, the Department of Home Affairs entered into a fresh contract with businessman Mozammil Bhoujani’s company a month later.
“There’s been some commentary around a briefing that I received,” Dutton told reporters at Parliament House today.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton checked his records about the AFP briefing. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“I’ve checked my records. I don’t have any record in my office of having received a briefing on that matter.
“I note the response from the Australian Federal Police to the question on notice; they don’t have any detail of information that was alleged to have been provided to me.”
He said as home affairs minister “you receive briefings on all sorts of matters”.
Dutton said it would have been “inconsequential” even if a briefing was provided as he did not involve himself in procurement matters.
“My experience in Home Affairs from Mike Pezzullo, down through to those officers who were involved in the liaison with PNG and Nauru is that they were first-class public servants, and I was very well served,” he said.
“If there are allegations to make in relation to departmental officers or third parties, they’re properly investigated by the NACC [National Anti-Corruption Commission].”
Dutton said he would regard any government inquiry that only examines his tenure as minister as “a political stunt”.
‘I have nothing to hide’ on Home Affairs allegations: Dutton
By Matthew Knott
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says he would be happy to refer allegations of suspicious Home Affairs procurement contracts to the National Anti-Corruption Commission, but believes any investigation should examine the period before he became home affairs minister.
Speaking for the first time on the issue since returning from leave, Dutton said that he believed he had been “caught in the crossfire” between Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil and long-time department secretary Mike Pezzullo.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton could face some difficult questions on offshore detention contracts.Credit: AAP
The Home Truths investigation by this masthead and 60 Minutes revealed that Australia’s offshore processing regime was marred by millions of dollars of suspect payments directed to local politicians in Nauru and Papua New Guinea – which the department failed to stop.
Among the revelations was that the Home Affairs Department handed a multimillion-dollar offshore detention contract to an Australian businessman just one month after federal police told Dutton, who was then the minister, that the man was under investigation for bribery.
Speaking to reporters in Canberra, Dutton said: “I had no involvement whatsoever in relation to the contract negotiations, the execution of the agreements. And that’s true for all of the predecessors back to 2012 ... And I have nothing to hide in relation to the matter.
“I’m very happy to co-sign a letter today with the prime minister referring these matters to the integrity commission. The minister obviously is at loggerheads with the secretary,” he said.
“If she wants to sack the secretary of the Department of Home Affairs, [she] should speak to the prime minister about that, but having this tit-for-tat - I feel like I’m in the crossfire of these attacks by minister O’Neil on Mr Pezzullo ... If the working relationship now is so dysfunctional between the minister for home affairs and the secretary, well that’s an issue for the prime minister to resolve.”
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