‘Human hand grenade' Jane Hume sacked from new shadow cabinet
GXO Strategies Director Cameron Milner says the 'human hand grenade' Jane Hume has been turfed out of the Liberal shadow cabinet.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has finalised her new shadow cabinet, delivering a frontbench reshuffle following internal tensions in the Coalition joint party room.
'Could she blow up the Coalition campaign any harder than she did on the work from home and the Chinese spies,' Mr Milner said.
'It's good to see that finally incompetence gets punished.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
Taxpayers have foot the bill for over $1 million in unused furniture, as Department of Parliamentary Services accused of having 'culture of waste'
Australian taxpayers have foot the bill for at least $1.5 million in unused furniture, with the Department of Parliamentary Services accused of overseeing a "pervasive culture of waste". The revelation that millions worth of furniture was now gathering dust in off-site storage came via a DPS response to questions on notice from a Senate Estimates hearing in March. Inquiries into the cost of furnishing Parliament House began following uproar over the cost of several individual pieces was disclosed earlier this year. Departmental representatives were grilled over a $20,000 custom desk made for then DPS Deputy Secretary Cate Saunders and $35,000 prototype standing desks for parliamentarians. Among the demands made of public servants in March was a comprehensive list of furnishings and their relative costs, with the department subsequently producing a ledger of what it called its "tagged" collection. In its responses to questions on notice, the DPS revealed 21 TV cabinets, collectively worth $45,920, 14 cocktail and TV cabinets, worth $40,152, and 11 executive desks, worth $$35,588, were among the $1.5 million in items held in storage. The department also admitted it had used $23,463.64 in taxpayer funds on designing a standing desk for parliamentarians, and a further $11,895.02 on constructing it, only to then decide it was not "feasible" to retrofit existing desks for sit-stand capability. "Due to concerns with retrofitting the desks, to include (for example) information and communication technology (ICT) internal cabling, and the weight of the desktop not being compatible with available lifting mechanisms, modification of existing desks has not been assessed as feasible," the DPS said in response to a question on notice. Despite this, the DPS said the project remained ongoing. "DPS will consider how best to progress available furniture options for use in Parliament House, including consultation mechanisms with parliamentarians," the department added. While the DPS argued it could not present an estimate of the collective value of all furniture held in both off-site storage facilities, it confirmed: "Collective value of furniture in storage at the main facility is currently valued at $1.5m". The department's "tagged" collection ledger was collectively valued at $844,512.72 for 891 pieces of furniture, including $59,628 for 37 lounge chairs and $35,900 for seven meeting tables. Speaking at the Senate Estimates hearing in March, then shadow finance minister Jane Hume suggested she was shocked at the amount of taxpayer money being used to buy and store furniture, before accusing the DPS of overseeing a "pervasive culture of waste". Senator Hume acknowledged Parliament House should not be furnished with items which looked as though they had come "off a hard rubbish collection", but argued the department should take steps to rectify the spending. "Perhaps the taxpayer can recoup some of the waste of that department's decisions by maybe selling some of the stuff that is off-site that we are clearly never going to use," she said.
Perth Now
3 hours ago
- Perth Now
Early election looms as state leaders trade blame
A state election is inching closer as an embattled premier refuses to stand down to spare voters the pain of returning to the polls. Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff is preparing to call an early election as soon as Tuesday after narrowly losing a no-confidence motion in state parliament. The state Liberal leader could have stood aside or been removed to allow his party to continue to govern in minority with crossbench support. But he is forging ahead with plans to recall parliament on Tuesday to pass a bill to ensure government workers can keep getting paid, before asking Governor Barbara Baker to call an election. She could approve his request or ask another Liberal MP or Labor leader Dean Winter to try to form minority government. Mr Rockliff said an election date would likely be set this week and confirmed he would lead the party to the poll. "Dean Winter's guaranteed the election," he told reporters on Sunday. Tasmanians were sent to the ballot box for a state election as recently as March 2024 and another would mark the fourth in seven years. The unofficial election campaign has already kicked off, with Mr Rockliff revealing former federal MP Bridget Archer will run for Liberal preselection in the state seat of Bass. Mr Rockliff also confirmed the Liberals would not pull a previous pledge to introduce a five per cent levy on short-stay rentals, including Airbnb listings. The levy would partially offset the cost of waiving stamp duty for first-time buyers purchasing homes worth up to $750,000. Mr Winter is sticking to his guns in ruling out forming government with the Greens, without whom Labor doesn't have the numbers. He has defended bringing forward the no-confidence motion over the state budget, privatisation concerns and the Spirit of Tasmania ferry debacle, and doubled down on calls for Mr Rockliff to resign. "He's carrying on at the moment like a spoiled child that's been given out in a game of cricket," Mr Winter said. "And then instead of just accepting the umpire's decision he's picking up his bat and ball and going home."
West Australian
3 hours ago
- West Australian
Early election looms as state leaders trade blame
A state election is inching closer as an embattled premier refuses to stand down to spare voters the pain of returning to the polls. Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff is preparing to call an early election as soon as Tuesday after narrowly losing a no-confidence motion in state parliament. The state Liberal leader could have stood aside or been removed to allow his party to continue to govern in minority with crossbench support. But he is forging ahead with plans to recall parliament on Tuesday to pass a bill to ensure government workers can keep getting paid, before asking Governor Barbara Baker to call an election. She could approve his request or ask another Liberal MP or Labor leader Dean Winter to try to form minority government. Mr Rockliff said an election date would likely be set this week and confirmed he would lead the party to the poll. "Dean Winter's guaranteed the election," he told reporters on Sunday. Tasmanians were sent to the ballot box for a state election as recently as March 2024 and another would mark the fourth in seven years. The unofficial election campaign has already kicked off, with Mr Rockliff revealing former federal MP Bridget Archer will run for Liberal preselection in the state seat of Bass. Mr Rockliff also confirmed the Liberals would not pull a previous pledge to introduce a five per cent levy on short-stay rentals, including Airbnb listings. The levy would partially offset the cost of waiving stamp duty for first-time buyers purchasing homes worth up to $750,000. Mr Winter is sticking to his guns in ruling out forming government with the Greens, without whom Labor doesn't have the numbers. He has defended bringing forward the no-confidence motion over the state budget, privatisation concerns and the Spirit of Tasmania ferry debacle, and doubled down on calls for Mr Rockliff to resign. "He's carrying on at the moment like a spoiled child that's been given out in a game of cricket," Mr Winter said. "And then instead of just accepting the umpire's decision he's picking up his bat and ball and going home."
