D-day looms for embattled Premier
Tasmanian parliament will resume its debate on the no-confidence motion against Premier Jeremy Rockliff, which could see him toppled or a snap election called.
Opposition Leader Dean Winter tabled the motion, citing the Premier's handling of the state's ailing economy, the handing of the Spirit of Tasmania replacement ferries and the AFL stadium project.
MPs debated the motion for about 10 hours before parliament was suspended and Wednesday and will resume on Thursday at 10am.
A majority of the 35-seat House of Assembly have indicated they will vote in favour of the motion. This would weaken the minority Liberal government which has 14 MPs compared to Labor's 10.Mr Rockliff flagged he was willing to force a snap election, just 15 months after the state went to an early election. Premier Jeremy Rockliff (centre) flanked by Eric Abetz and Deputy Premier Guy Barnett defended his handling of the economy. Nikki Davis-Jones Credit: News Corp Australia
The Premier on Wednesday made an impassioned speech in his allocated 30 minutes, calling on crossbenchers to seriously consider the consequences if he was defeated.
'Do they really want to follow a wrecker who has come in day in day out and targeted individual members with disdain who did nothing more than to have the courage to put their hand up to make a difference to the Tasmanian people,' Mr Rockliff said.
'Whatever the outcome is, I implore this parliament to put Tasmanians first.
'They do not want an election. Dean Winter wants an election.
'What the Tasmania people want is stability, certainty and strong leadership.'
In introducing the motion, Mr Winter said it gave him 'no pleasure to move this motion'.
'But under our system of government, if the Premier does not have the support of the majority of the House, then they cannot continue,' the Opposition Leader said.
'I don't believe I can in good conscience allow this Premier to continue. Tasmania needs change, not more of the same.'
The Greens have indicated they are willing to form a minority government with Labor should Tasmanians head back to the polls just 15 months after the last state election.
More to come
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ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Australia reacts to Tasmanian political upheaval throwing AFL team, stadium, budget into doubt
The toppling of Tasmania's premier has drawn strong reactions from across Australia. Some are calling it a "fiasco" while others say the turmoil has turned the state into the nation's "laughing stock". "Tasmania is always a controversial state, immature politicians, not well-informed people," one observer wrote as the no-confidence motion in Jeremy Rockliff played out live on Thursday. "We left Tasmania 12 months ago just because of the incompetent bunch of people running the state," another said. With Tasmanians now facing the prospect of an election being called as early as next week — despite electing the Rockliff Liberals as recently as March last year — the upheaval has shone an unforgiving spotlight on the smallest state. Here is what members of the public and political experts have made of what has unfolded. The spectre of yet another trip to the ballot box — the fourth in seven years — has not been welcomed by many observers, with one describing it as "a clown show". "An utter garbage abuse of power from Labor and the Greens … the last thing anyone wants is another costly election," PoliticalNuffy wrote. "You would think that many of these elected folk are anti their own state," said Clive. "The no-alition soon found out that this type of rubbish is not in Australia's best interests. Landslide loss. So the wise ones in Tasmania are perpetuating the same mistakes." "A lot of what is going on here would be resolved if Tasmania had a more normal structure with a majoritarian lower house and a proportional upper house," Nicholas offered. Tasmanian Policy Exchange director Richard Eccleston said Labor may have misjudged Mr Rockliff's willingness to fight on. "I think Labor was hoping that it would lead to a change in leadership of the Liberal party," Dr Ecclestone said. "Perhaps the most significant thing that became crystal clear yesterday was the premier's commitment to stay on as leader of the Liberal party and to fight an election campaign. Mr Rockliff may be well known to voters — but, in the minds of some, for the wrong reasons. "Rockliff is holding the state to ransom for a vanity project that will cost us all in the long run," Jason said. Opposition Leader Dean Winter and Labor did not escape the vitriol either. "All Labor seem to be doing is proving they would be no better than the current degenerate rabble," Tim said. "Where is Labor's alternative budget? How can they say with a straight face that the Liberals are bringing Tasmania to financial ruin when they have not produced an alternative," asked Tracy. Kevin invoked the Game of Thrones terminology: Bob was similarly unimpressed: "Not entirely sure what Winter is doing here. Does he seriously believe Labor would win a majority on its own if another election is held? Even the Liberals couldn't do that," he said. "Seems a bit delusional." Former Liberal premier Will Hodgman, was scathing in a post to X: Mr Winter's assertion he did what he did because the premier had "wrecked" the state's debt position did not fly with many. "We are a laughing stock of our country, all because of a budget?" asked Jez. Others wondered what alternatives Labor would have presented. "Can somebody please share the alternate plan and budget that should have been presented this week by the opposition?" queried Phil. "There's no question the Rockliff govt's 2025-26 budget is an epic mess, but to throw the state into an unprecedented depth of uncertainty is not smart. I fear Winter has spectacularly miscalculated," said Ryan. Niko wanted to know "how on earth is blowing a billion dollars on a stadium supposed to make young people want to stay in the state"? Speaking of the stadium, the looming election has resulted in speculation the state's AFL team — the existence of which is conditional on the building of the arena at Macquarie Point — won't happen. That has not gone down well at all. "For too long Tasmania has been treated like poor cousins and now we are being treated like complete fools," said Chris. "If this stadium fails there will be an exodus of young people … Tassie loses the young already due to bigger opportunities elsewhere, this will change little," wrote Garry. And then there is the Spirit of Tasmania "fiasco", as Graeme pointed out. "Rockliff has shown how incompetent he is, as demonstrated by the TT Line and TasPorts fiascos." Oliver also used the F-word: Ruth asked, "can we stop amplifying the importance of the stadium?" "A whole state's future is at stake here, for example, how we afford to deliver the education and health services needed. Former premier Peter Gutwein yesterday told ABC Radio Mornings removing Mr Rockliff as premier could lead to "catastrophic outcomes" such as investments stalling. "That uncertainty, especially if the stadium and the team don't go ahead, will lead to a view from the mainland and investors within Tasmania that you just simply cannot trust the state of Tasmania to carry through on decisions," Mr Gutwein said. One ABC audience member agreed, saying projects like the stadium were "vital to the future economic growth of Tasmania" and would "unlock massive opportunities not just for the AFL team but for business, tourism, hospitality and beyond". "That said, this current parliament couldn't organise its way out of a paper bag."
The Advertiser
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- The Advertiser
Chaos: 'Part-time' pollies, super unliked tax, Trump's beef and the Wiggles!
A month on from the federal election and it has been chaos as usual on the Australian political scene despite a truce declared on the main post-plebiscite entertainment in the Coalition's civil war and spill talk surrounding Nationals leader David Littleproud dying down. Meanwhile, Labor has hit the ground running by approving Woodside's massive North West Shelf gas project for the next 70 years, putting a big question mark internationally over Australia's climate stripes and stewardship of ancient rock art, and then recruiting a rogue Greens senator who had fought tooth and nail to stop the approval. In fact, Dorinda Cox really let the Albanese government know what she thought about the decision just days before jumping aboard the Albo train because, as all parties involved suggested, including Greens leader Larissa Waters, their "shared values" make the new pairing a good fit. After Senator Cox left the Greens shrinking parliamentary army, bullying allegations against her emerged, including a complaint lodged by former Green and now Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe. The prime minister thought had been resolved, but maybe not, awks. A highly unsavoury text message that Senator Cox allegedly wrote was then leaked regarding her thoughts about Senate colleague Pauline Hanson. Her defection also now makes it four seats the Greens have lost to Labor in recent weeks after former leader Adam Bandt, Max Chandler-Mather and Stephen Bates were waved bye-bye by voters at the ballot box, a perk of the landslide election win that will provide Albo with joy long after he leaves office. Also waving goodbye for now is Liberal candidate for Bradfield Gisele Kapterian, who won the seat by eight votes after preferences were tallied a couple of weeks ago. However, the slender margin demanded a recount, the result of which saw Independent Nicolette Boele handed the seat this week by just 26 votes. She joins Zali Stegall, Allegra Spender and Sophie Scamps as the fourth Independent woman who has taken a formerly safe Sydney seat from the Liberal Party By the by, at least six MPs suspect their devices were hacked over the past year, according to the Department of Parliamentary Services via The Canberra Times, in what an expert says is likely just the tip of the iceberg. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has released the parliamentary schedule for the rest of 2025, and it is a little light on for sitting days. In fact, people who know these things suggest the schedule is the lightest attendance requirement for parliamentarians to travel to Canberra for about 20 years. A very senior MP was so taken aback by the situation that they labelled the workplace a "part-time" Parliament. "I must Google this, obviously in election years we will have fewer sitting weeks than normal, but I'd love to know the last year we only had eight sitting weeks in Parliament," the MP told ACM. "It's really part-time, isn't it? Especially now with the whole not sitting for almost eight weeks after the election." There are always four sides to every story. The ABC quoted a government source on Friday morning to say that US-slaughtered beef was being positioned as a bargaining chip to help reset trade ties in the face of US President Donald Trump's tariff regime that has slapped a 50 per cent impost on steel and aluminium, along with the 10 per cent universal duty. US beef producers have been able to access Australian markets since 2019 if they can ensure that the animals are born, raised and slaughtered in the US, while restrictions remain on Canadian and Mexican cattle slaughtered in America. Australia has been undertaking a review of those biosecurity rules, after the Trump administration requested they be lifted. The media report said pork would stay off-limits due to swine flu and other risks, but the beef bit prompted Nationals leader David Littleproud to urge Labor not to compromise Australia's biosecurity credentials in negotiations with the US. "The United States uses cattle from Mexico and Canada in their supply chain that poses a potential risk to our industry and ignoring those risks would be dangerous," he said. Meanwhile, the PM said in a radio interview that compromising on biosecurity was not on the table. "We'll never loosen any rules regarding our biosecurity," he said. "If things can be sorted out in a way that protects our biosecurity, of course we don't just say no ... but our first priority is biosecurity.. When ABC host Raf Epstein prodded Albo a bit more in asking whether beef slaughtered in the US that was raised in Mexico or Canada would be allowed into Australia, the PM said: "Full stop. Exclamation mark. It's simply not worth it.". Agriculture Minister Julie Collins backed that up in a statement, saying any decision to allow expanded access for US beef to Australia would be based on science and evidence and that "all products entering Australia have to meet rigorous biosecurity standards". Cattle Australia chief executive Chris Parker said the key issue that must be solved before any move can be considered relates to the traceability of cattle born across the US southern or northern borders. Meanwhile, the Chicago Tribune is reporting that US agriculture officials are warning that ground beef sold at Whole Foods markets nationwide may be contaminated with potentially dangerous E. coli bacteria. Why did the Greens entourage cross Adelaide's Hindmarsh Square? Because they didn't see any television cameras. On Monday, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young scheduled a media conference to talk about "South Australia's drought and the Prime Minister's visit to SA". But when print journalists rocked up to hear what the Senator had to say, they found the square was bare. A quick phone call solved the mystery. The senatorial entourage bailed when none of the local television news crews turned up - must of all been up north following Mr Albanese around a drought-stricken sheep property. Nationals' deputy leader Kevin Hogan has slammed Labor's new super tax as "verging on the immoral", while the first policy position agreed by the Coalition's new shadow cabinet is to officially oppose the proposal. 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Treasurer Jim Chalmers' proposal, panned by economists, academics, ALP luminaries and business leaders since it was introduced in 2023, is to increase taxation on super balances over the high-value threshold from 15 to 30 per cent, including on unrealised capital gains. As it stands, the revenue-raising measure will not be indexed to inflation or wage growth. The situation perfectly illustrates why the words Canberra and chaos sit together so snugly. Around the grounds this week and the South Australian branch of the Liberal Party voted to walk back its support of net-zero, we suspect Alex Antic was somehow involved. The good people of Tasmania may be heading for a by-election after the upper house blew up the leadership of Premier Jeremy Rockliff. And a silly sexist quip made during a debate about gender quotas from the bloke appointed to run the NSW branch of the Liberal Party, Alan Stockdale, was a step back in time, or revealed he had never caught up with it. The lead balloon went down on Tuesday when Mr Stockdale told the NSW Liberal Women's Council that "women are sufficiently assertive now" and that the Libs "should be giving some thought to whether we need to protect men's involvement". The 80-year-old's joke was as popular as a few of the budgets the former Victorian state treasurer delivered for Liberal Premier Jeff Kennett. Stockdale apologised, however, party honchos were forced to spend a chunk of the week dousing the chaos the comments created, with federal leader Sussan Ley saying she "encourages assertive women to join the Liberal Party". Australia's fresh produce industry has formed a very healthy new relationship with The Wiggles for a national campaign to encourage children to eat more fruit and vegetables. The International Fresh Produce Association Australia campaign was launched at Hort Connections in Brisbane and comes as new research shows less than half of Aussie parents say that fruit and veg actually make up most of their children's snacks. The Wiggles have rolled out a jingle by rewording their classic banger 'Fruit Salad Yummy Yummy' to 'Fruit and Veggies Yummy Yummy'. Blue Wiggle Anthony Field said the collaboration was a natural fit. "We are so excited to be part of this campaign," he said. "With more than 30 years of singing songs like 'Fruit Salad Yummy Yummy' and 'Hot Potato', this partnership takes our commitment even further, really showing children just how fun and delicious healthy eating can be." Shire councillor Sherryl Chilcott sent ACM a video capturing the soothing sounds of large hailstones hitting a tin roof after being dumped from a thunderstorm that washed over Wagin, in Western Australia's wheatbelt, earlier this week. A month on from the federal election and it has been chaos as usual on the Australian political scene despite a truce declared on the main post-plebiscite entertainment in the Coalition's civil war and spill talk surrounding Nationals leader David Littleproud dying down. Meanwhile, Labor has hit the ground running by approving Woodside's massive North West Shelf gas project for the next 70 years, putting a big question mark internationally over Australia's climate stripes and stewardship of ancient rock art, and then recruiting a rogue Greens senator who had fought tooth and nail to stop the approval. In fact, Dorinda Cox really let the Albanese government know what she thought about the decision just days before jumping aboard the Albo train because, as all parties involved suggested, including Greens leader Larissa Waters, their "shared values" make the new pairing a good fit. After Senator Cox left the Greens shrinking parliamentary army, bullying allegations against her emerged, including a complaint lodged by former Green and now Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe. The prime minister thought had been resolved, but maybe not, awks. A highly unsavoury text message that Senator Cox allegedly wrote was then leaked regarding her thoughts about Senate colleague Pauline Hanson. Her defection also now makes it four seats the Greens have lost to Labor in recent weeks after former leader Adam Bandt, Max Chandler-Mather and Stephen Bates were waved bye-bye by voters at the ballot box, a perk of the landslide election win that will provide Albo with joy long after he leaves office. Also waving goodbye for now is Liberal candidate for Bradfield Gisele Kapterian, who won the seat by eight votes after preferences were tallied a couple of weeks ago. However, the slender margin demanded a recount, the result of which saw Independent Nicolette Boele handed the seat this week by just 26 votes. She joins Zali Stegall, Allegra Spender and Sophie Scamps as the fourth Independent woman who has taken a formerly safe Sydney seat from the Liberal Party By the by, at least six MPs suspect their devices were hacked over the past year, according to the Department of Parliamentary Services via The Canberra Times, in what an expert says is likely just the tip of the iceberg. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has released the parliamentary schedule for the rest of 2025, and it is a little light on for sitting days. In fact, people who know these things suggest the schedule is the lightest attendance requirement for parliamentarians to travel to Canberra for about 20 years. A very senior MP was so taken aback by the situation that they labelled the workplace a "part-time" Parliament. "I must Google this, obviously in election years we will have fewer sitting weeks than normal, but I'd love to know the last year we only had eight sitting weeks in Parliament," the MP told ACM. "It's really part-time, isn't it? Especially now with the whole not sitting for almost eight weeks after the election." There are always four sides to every story. The ABC quoted a government source on Friday morning to say that US-slaughtered beef was being positioned as a bargaining chip to help reset trade ties in the face of US President Donald Trump's tariff regime that has slapped a 50 per cent impost on steel and aluminium, along with the 10 per cent universal duty. US beef producers have been able to access Australian markets since 2019 if they can ensure that the animals are born, raised and slaughtered in the US, while restrictions remain on Canadian and Mexican cattle slaughtered in America. Australia has been undertaking a review of those biosecurity rules, after the Trump administration requested they be lifted. The media report said pork would stay off-limits due to swine flu and other risks, but the beef bit prompted Nationals leader David Littleproud to urge Labor not to compromise Australia's biosecurity credentials in negotiations with the US. "The United States uses cattle from Mexico and Canada in their supply chain that poses a potential risk to our industry and ignoring those risks would be dangerous," he said. Meanwhile, the PM said in a radio interview that compromising on biosecurity was not on the table. "We'll never loosen any rules regarding our biosecurity," he said. "If things can be sorted out in a way that protects our biosecurity, of course we don't just say no ... but our first priority is biosecurity.. When ABC host Raf Epstein prodded Albo a bit more in asking whether beef slaughtered in the US that was raised in Mexico or Canada would be allowed into Australia, the PM said: "Full stop. Exclamation mark. It's simply not worth it.". Agriculture Minister Julie Collins backed that up in a statement, saying any decision to allow expanded access for US beef to Australia would be based on science and evidence and that "all products entering Australia have to meet rigorous biosecurity standards". Cattle Australia chief executive Chris Parker said the key issue that must be solved before any move can be considered relates to the traceability of cattle born across the US southern or northern borders. Meanwhile, the Chicago Tribune is reporting that US agriculture officials are warning that ground beef sold at Whole Foods markets nationwide may be contaminated with potentially dangerous E. coli bacteria. Why did the Greens entourage cross Adelaide's Hindmarsh Square? Because they didn't see any television cameras. On Monday, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young scheduled a media conference to talk about "South Australia's drought and the Prime Minister's visit to SA". But when print journalists rocked up to hear what the Senator had to say, they found the square was bare. A quick phone call solved the mystery. The senatorial entourage bailed when none of the local television news crews turned up - must of all been up north following Mr Albanese around a drought-stricken sheep property. Nationals' deputy leader Kevin Hogan has slammed Labor's new super tax as "verging on the immoral", while the first policy position agreed by the Coalition's new shadow cabinet is to officially oppose the proposal. Labor's contentious plan to double taxes on superannuation balances above $3 million will be one of the first bills up for discussion when Parliament resumes next month, with a clear pathway to pass the legislation into law opened by the Greens which offered the government in-principle support earlier this week but will push for the policy to go further and drop the threshold to $2m. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was asked in a media conference whether it was fair that some farmers may have to pay the tax, and may end up having to sell their farms, as some of their farms are self-managed super funds? "Well, there's not anything new here. This has been before the Parliament for about two years," Mr Albanese said. "What we need to do is to make sure that our superannuation system is fair. That is what we are setting about to do." Treasurer Jim Chalmers' proposal, panned by economists, academics, ALP luminaries and business leaders since it was introduced in 2023, is to increase taxation on super balances over the high-value threshold from 15 to 30 per cent, including on unrealised capital gains. As it stands, the revenue-raising measure will not be indexed to inflation or wage growth. The situation perfectly illustrates why the words Canberra and chaos sit together so snugly. Around the grounds this week and the South Australian branch of the Liberal Party voted to walk back its support of net-zero, we suspect Alex Antic was somehow involved. The good people of Tasmania may be heading for a by-election after the upper house blew up the leadership of Premier Jeremy Rockliff. And a silly sexist quip made during a debate about gender quotas from the bloke appointed to run the NSW branch of the Liberal Party, Alan Stockdale, was a step back in time, or revealed he had never caught up with it. The lead balloon went down on Tuesday when Mr Stockdale told the NSW Liberal Women's Council that "women are sufficiently assertive now" and that the Libs "should be giving some thought to whether we need to protect men's involvement". The 80-year-old's joke was as popular as a few of the budgets the former Victorian state treasurer delivered for Liberal Premier Jeff Kennett. Stockdale apologised, however, party honchos were forced to spend a chunk of the week dousing the chaos the comments created, with federal leader Sussan Ley saying she "encourages assertive women to join the Liberal Party". Australia's fresh produce industry has formed a very healthy new relationship with The Wiggles for a national campaign to encourage children to eat more fruit and vegetables. The International Fresh Produce Association Australia campaign was launched at Hort Connections in Brisbane and comes as new research shows less than half of Aussie parents say that fruit and veg actually make up most of their children's snacks. The Wiggles have rolled out a jingle by rewording their classic banger 'Fruit Salad Yummy Yummy' to 'Fruit and Veggies Yummy Yummy'. Blue Wiggle Anthony Field said the collaboration was a natural fit. "We are so excited to be part of this campaign," he said. "With more than 30 years of singing songs like 'Fruit Salad Yummy Yummy' and 'Hot Potato', this partnership takes our commitment even further, really showing children just how fun and delicious healthy eating can be." Shire councillor Sherryl Chilcott sent ACM a video capturing the soothing sounds of large hailstones hitting a tin roof after being dumped from a thunderstorm that washed over Wagin, in Western Australia's wheatbelt, earlier this week. A month on from the federal election and it has been chaos as usual on the Australian political scene despite a truce declared on the main post-plebiscite entertainment in the Coalition's civil war and spill talk surrounding Nationals leader David Littleproud dying down. Meanwhile, Labor has hit the ground running by approving Woodside's massive North West Shelf gas project for the next 70 years, putting a big question mark internationally over Australia's climate stripes and stewardship of ancient rock art, and then recruiting a rogue Greens senator who had fought tooth and nail to stop the approval. In fact, Dorinda Cox really let the Albanese government know what she thought about the decision just days before jumping aboard the Albo train because, as all parties involved suggested, including Greens leader Larissa Waters, their "shared values" make the new pairing a good fit. After Senator Cox left the Greens shrinking parliamentary army, bullying allegations against her emerged, including a complaint lodged by former Green and now Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe. The prime minister thought had been resolved, but maybe not, awks. A highly unsavoury text message that Senator Cox allegedly wrote was then leaked regarding her thoughts about Senate colleague Pauline Hanson. Her defection also now makes it four seats the Greens have lost to Labor in recent weeks after former leader Adam Bandt, Max Chandler-Mather and Stephen Bates were waved bye-bye by voters at the ballot box, a perk of the landslide election win that will provide Albo with joy long after he leaves office. Also waving goodbye for now is Liberal candidate for Bradfield Gisele Kapterian, who won the seat by eight votes after preferences were tallied a couple of weeks ago. However, the slender margin demanded a recount, the result of which saw Independent Nicolette Boele handed the seat this week by just 26 votes. She joins Zali Stegall, Allegra Spender and Sophie Scamps as the fourth Independent woman who has taken a formerly safe Sydney seat from the Liberal Party By the by, at least six MPs suspect their devices were hacked over the past year, according to the Department of Parliamentary Services via The Canberra Times, in what an expert says is likely just the tip of the iceberg. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has released the parliamentary schedule for the rest of 2025, and it is a little light on for sitting days. In fact, people who know these things suggest the schedule is the lightest attendance requirement for parliamentarians to travel to Canberra for about 20 years. A very senior MP was so taken aback by the situation that they labelled the workplace a "part-time" Parliament. "I must Google this, obviously in election years we will have fewer sitting weeks than normal, but I'd love to know the last year we only had eight sitting weeks in Parliament," the MP told ACM. "It's really part-time, isn't it? Especially now with the whole not sitting for almost eight weeks after the election." There are always four sides to every story. The ABC quoted a government source on Friday morning to say that US-slaughtered beef was being positioned as a bargaining chip to help reset trade ties in the face of US President Donald Trump's tariff regime that has slapped a 50 per cent impost on steel and aluminium, along with the 10 per cent universal duty. US beef producers have been able to access Australian markets since 2019 if they can ensure that the animals are born, raised and slaughtered in the US, while restrictions remain on Canadian and Mexican cattle slaughtered in America. Australia has been undertaking a review of those biosecurity rules, after the Trump administration requested they be lifted. The media report said pork would stay off-limits due to swine flu and other risks, but the beef bit prompted Nationals leader David Littleproud to urge Labor not to compromise Australia's biosecurity credentials in negotiations with the US. "The United States uses cattle from Mexico and Canada in their supply chain that poses a potential risk to our industry and ignoring those risks would be dangerous," he said. Meanwhile, the PM said in a radio interview that compromising on biosecurity was not on the table. "We'll never loosen any rules regarding our biosecurity," he said. "If things can be sorted out in a way that protects our biosecurity, of course we don't just say no ... but our first priority is biosecurity.. When ABC host Raf Epstein prodded Albo a bit more in asking whether beef slaughtered in the US that was raised in Mexico or Canada would be allowed into Australia, the PM said: "Full stop. Exclamation mark. It's simply not worth it.". Agriculture Minister Julie Collins backed that up in a statement, saying any decision to allow expanded access for US beef to Australia would be based on science and evidence and that "all products entering Australia have to meet rigorous biosecurity standards". Cattle Australia chief executive Chris Parker said the key issue that must be solved before any move can be considered relates to the traceability of cattle born across the US southern or northern borders. Meanwhile, the Chicago Tribune is reporting that US agriculture officials are warning that ground beef sold at Whole Foods markets nationwide may be contaminated with potentially dangerous E. coli bacteria. Why did the Greens entourage cross Adelaide's Hindmarsh Square? Because they didn't see any television cameras. On Monday, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young scheduled a media conference to talk about "South Australia's drought and the Prime Minister's visit to SA". But when print journalists rocked up to hear what the Senator had to say, they found the square was bare. A quick phone call solved the mystery. The senatorial entourage bailed when none of the local television news crews turned up - must of all been up north following Mr Albanese around a drought-stricken sheep property. Nationals' deputy leader Kevin Hogan has slammed Labor's new super tax as "verging on the immoral", while the first policy position agreed by the Coalition's new shadow cabinet is to officially oppose the proposal. Labor's contentious plan to double taxes on superannuation balances above $3 million will be one of the first bills up for discussion when Parliament resumes next month, with a clear pathway to pass the legislation into law opened by the Greens which offered the government in-principle support earlier this week but will push for the policy to go further and drop the threshold to $2m. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was asked in a media conference whether it was fair that some farmers may have to pay the tax, and may end up having to sell their farms, as some of their farms are self-managed super funds? "Well, there's not anything new here. This has been before the Parliament for about two years," Mr Albanese said. "What we need to do is to make sure that our superannuation system is fair. That is what we are setting about to do." Treasurer Jim Chalmers' proposal, panned by economists, academics, ALP luminaries and business leaders since it was introduced in 2023, is to increase taxation on super balances over the high-value threshold from 15 to 30 per cent, including on unrealised capital gains. As it stands, the revenue-raising measure will not be indexed to inflation or wage growth. The situation perfectly illustrates why the words Canberra and chaos sit together so snugly. Around the grounds this week and the South Australian branch of the Liberal Party voted to walk back its support of net-zero, we suspect Alex Antic was somehow involved. The good people of Tasmania may be heading for a by-election after the upper house blew up the leadership of Premier Jeremy Rockliff. And a silly sexist quip made during a debate about gender quotas from the bloke appointed to run the NSW branch of the Liberal Party, Alan Stockdale, was a step back in time, or revealed he had never caught up with it. The lead balloon went down on Tuesday when Mr Stockdale told the NSW Liberal Women's Council that "women are sufficiently assertive now" and that the Libs "should be giving some thought to whether we need to protect men's involvement". The 80-year-old's joke was as popular as a few of the budgets the former Victorian state treasurer delivered for Liberal Premier Jeff Kennett. Stockdale apologised, however, party honchos were forced to spend a chunk of the week dousing the chaos the comments created, with federal leader Sussan Ley saying she "encourages assertive women to join the Liberal Party". Australia's fresh produce industry has formed a very healthy new relationship with The Wiggles for a national campaign to encourage children to eat more fruit and vegetables. The International Fresh Produce Association Australia campaign was launched at Hort Connections in Brisbane and comes as new research shows less than half of Aussie parents say that fruit and veg actually make up most of their children's snacks. The Wiggles have rolled out a jingle by rewording their classic banger 'Fruit Salad Yummy Yummy' to 'Fruit and Veggies Yummy Yummy'. Blue Wiggle Anthony Field said the collaboration was a natural fit. "We are so excited to be part of this campaign," he said. "With more than 30 years of singing songs like 'Fruit Salad Yummy Yummy' and 'Hot Potato', this partnership takes our commitment even further, really showing children just how fun and delicious healthy eating can be." Shire councillor Sherryl Chilcott sent ACM a video capturing the soothing sounds of large hailstones hitting a tin roof after being dumped from a thunderstorm that washed over Wagin, in Western Australia's wheatbelt, earlier this week. A month on from the federal election and it has been chaos as usual on the Australian political scene despite a truce declared on the main post-plebiscite entertainment in the Coalition's civil war and spill talk surrounding Nationals leader David Littleproud dying down. Meanwhile, Labor has hit the ground running by approving Woodside's massive North West Shelf gas project for the next 70 years, putting a big question mark internationally over Australia's climate stripes and stewardship of ancient rock art, and then recruiting a rogue Greens senator who had fought tooth and nail to stop the approval. In fact, Dorinda Cox really let the Albanese government know what she thought about the decision just days before jumping aboard the Albo train because, as all parties involved suggested, including Greens leader Larissa Waters, their "shared values" make the new pairing a good fit. After Senator Cox left the Greens shrinking parliamentary army, bullying allegations against her emerged, including a complaint lodged by former Green and now Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe. The prime minister thought had been resolved, but maybe not, awks. A highly unsavoury text message that Senator Cox allegedly wrote was then leaked regarding her thoughts about Senate colleague Pauline Hanson. Her defection also now makes it four seats the Greens have lost to Labor in recent weeks after former leader Adam Bandt, Max Chandler-Mather and Stephen Bates were waved bye-bye by voters at the ballot box, a perk of the landslide election win that will provide Albo with joy long after he leaves office. Also waving goodbye for now is Liberal candidate for Bradfield Gisele Kapterian, who won the seat by eight votes after preferences were tallied a couple of weeks ago. However, the slender margin demanded a recount, the result of which saw Independent Nicolette Boele handed the seat this week by just 26 votes. She joins Zali Stegall, Allegra Spender and Sophie Scamps as the fourth Independent woman who has taken a formerly safe Sydney seat from the Liberal Party By the by, at least six MPs suspect their devices were hacked over the past year, according to the Department of Parliamentary Services via The Canberra Times, in what an expert says is likely just the tip of the iceberg. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has released the parliamentary schedule for the rest of 2025, and it is a little light on for sitting days. In fact, people who know these things suggest the schedule is the lightest attendance requirement for parliamentarians to travel to Canberra for about 20 years. A very senior MP was so taken aback by the situation that they labelled the workplace a "part-time" Parliament. "I must Google this, obviously in election years we will have fewer sitting weeks than normal, but I'd love to know the last year we only had eight sitting weeks in Parliament," the MP told ACM. "It's really part-time, isn't it? Especially now with the whole not sitting for almost eight weeks after the election." There are always four sides to every story. The ABC quoted a government source on Friday morning to say that US-slaughtered beef was being positioned as a bargaining chip to help reset trade ties in the face of US President Donald Trump's tariff regime that has slapped a 50 per cent impost on steel and aluminium, along with the 10 per cent universal duty. US beef producers have been able to access Australian markets since 2019 if they can ensure that the animals are born, raised and slaughtered in the US, while restrictions remain on Canadian and Mexican cattle slaughtered in America. Australia has been undertaking a review of those biosecurity rules, after the Trump administration requested they be lifted. The media report said pork would stay off-limits due to swine flu and other risks, but the beef bit prompted Nationals leader David Littleproud to urge Labor not to compromise Australia's biosecurity credentials in negotiations with the US. "The United States uses cattle from Mexico and Canada in their supply chain that poses a potential risk to our industry and ignoring those risks would be dangerous," he said. Meanwhile, the PM said in a radio interview that compromising on biosecurity was not on the table. "We'll never loosen any rules regarding our biosecurity," he said. "If things can be sorted out in a way that protects our biosecurity, of course we don't just say no ... but our first priority is biosecurity.. When ABC host Raf Epstein prodded Albo a bit more in asking whether beef slaughtered in the US that was raised in Mexico or Canada would be allowed into Australia, the PM said: "Full stop. Exclamation mark. It's simply not worth it.". Agriculture Minister Julie Collins backed that up in a statement, saying any decision to allow expanded access for US beef to Australia would be based on science and evidence and that "all products entering Australia have to meet rigorous biosecurity standards". Cattle Australia chief executive Chris Parker said the key issue that must be solved before any move can be considered relates to the traceability of cattle born across the US southern or northern borders. Meanwhile, the Chicago Tribune is reporting that US agriculture officials are warning that ground beef sold at Whole Foods markets nationwide may be contaminated with potentially dangerous E. coli bacteria. Why did the Greens entourage cross Adelaide's Hindmarsh Square? Because they didn't see any television cameras. On Monday, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young scheduled a media conference to talk about "South Australia's drought and the Prime Minister's visit to SA". But when print journalists rocked up to hear what the Senator had to say, they found the square was bare. A quick phone call solved the mystery. The senatorial entourage bailed when none of the local television news crews turned up - must of all been up north following Mr Albanese around a drought-stricken sheep property. Nationals' deputy leader Kevin Hogan has slammed Labor's new super tax as "verging on the immoral", while the first policy position agreed by the Coalition's new shadow cabinet is to officially oppose the proposal. Labor's contentious plan to double taxes on superannuation balances above $3 million will be one of the first bills up for discussion when Parliament resumes next month, with a clear pathway to pass the legislation into law opened by the Greens which offered the government in-principle support earlier this week but will push for the policy to go further and drop the threshold to $2m. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was asked in a media conference whether it was fair that some farmers may have to pay the tax, and may end up having to sell their farms, as some of their farms are self-managed super funds? "Well, there's not anything new here. This has been before the Parliament for about two years," Mr Albanese said. "What we need to do is to make sure that our superannuation system is fair. That is what we are setting about to do." Treasurer Jim Chalmers' proposal, panned by economists, academics, ALP luminaries and business leaders since it was introduced in 2023, is to increase taxation on super balances over the high-value threshold from 15 to 30 per cent, including on unrealised capital gains. As it stands, the revenue-raising measure will not be indexed to inflation or wage growth. The situation perfectly illustrates why the words Canberra and chaos sit together so snugly. Around the grounds this week and the South Australian branch of the Liberal Party voted to walk back its support of net-zero, we suspect Alex Antic was somehow involved. The good people of Tasmania may be heading for a by-election after the upper house blew up the leadership of Premier Jeremy Rockliff. And a silly sexist quip made during a debate about gender quotas from the bloke appointed to run the NSW branch of the Liberal Party, Alan Stockdale, was a step back in time, or revealed he had never caught up with it. The lead balloon went down on Tuesday when Mr Stockdale told the NSW Liberal Women's Council that "women are sufficiently assertive now" and that the Libs "should be giving some thought to whether we need to protect men's involvement". The 80-year-old's joke was as popular as a few of the budgets the former Victorian state treasurer delivered for Liberal Premier Jeff Kennett. Stockdale apologised, however, party honchos were forced to spend a chunk of the week dousing the chaos the comments created, with federal leader Sussan Ley saying she "encourages assertive women to join the Liberal Party". Australia's fresh produce industry has formed a very healthy new relationship with The Wiggles for a national campaign to encourage children to eat more fruit and vegetables. The International Fresh Produce Association Australia campaign was launched at Hort Connections in Brisbane and comes as new research shows less than half of Aussie parents say that fruit and veg actually make up most of their children's snacks. The Wiggles have rolled out a jingle by rewording their classic banger 'Fruit Salad Yummy Yummy' to 'Fruit and Veggies Yummy Yummy'. Blue Wiggle Anthony Field said the collaboration was a natural fit. "We are so excited to be part of this campaign," he said. "With more than 30 years of singing songs like 'Fruit Salad Yummy Yummy' and 'Hot Potato', this partnership takes our commitment even further, really showing children just how fun and delicious healthy eating can be." Shire councillor Sherryl Chilcott sent ACM a video capturing the soothing sounds of large hailstones hitting a tin roof after being dumped from a thunderstorm that washed over Wagin, in Western Australia's wheatbelt, earlier this week.
The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Albanese will need some nuance in facing a female opposition leader
Anthony Albanese loves a trophy, especially a human one. He prides himself on his various "captain's pick" candidates - good campaigners he has steered into seats. Way back in the Gillard days, he was key in persuading discontented Liberal Peter Slipper to defect. Slipper became an independent and Labor's speaker. The exercise helped the government's numbers, but the bold play didn't end well for Labor or for Slipper. The government was tarnished, and Slipper, relentlessly pursued by the Coalition and mired in controversy, eventually had to quit the speakership. The affair did produce Julia Gillard's famous misogyny speech, however. Now Albanese has another gee-whiz prize - Western Australian senator Dorinda Cox, who has defected from the Greens. Cox, after being defeated in a bid for Greens deputy leader, approached Labor and the PM drove her course to being accepted into the party. The manoeuvre makes a marginal but insignificant difference to Senate numbers - Labor will still need the Greens to pass legislation opposed by the Coalition. Taking in Cox is a risk, and some in Labor are looking at it askance. The prime minister's embrace of Cox contradicts Labor's argument when its Western Australian senator Fatima Payman defected to become an independent. It said then hers was a Labor seat and she should therefore resign. But this wouldn't be the first time expediency trumped consistency in politics. Cox, who is Indigenous and was spokeswoman for First Nations and resources in the last parliament, has been a fierce critic of extending the North West Shelf gas project, which the government has just announced. Albanese says he is confident she "understands that being a member of the Labor Party means that she will support positions that are made by the Labor Party". She has also faced allegations of treating staff badly. Labor discounts the claims against her, saying they are overblown and a product of Greens factionalism and toxicity. Certainly, she was given a tough time by the hard-left faction represented by deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi. Labor would be wise to ensure Cox feels supported in her new party home. Albanese perhaps calculates that the worst that can happen is there's a blow up and she defects to the crossbench. Labor could shrug and say, she was never really one of us. Snatching a senator from the Greens is particularly satisfying to Albanese because he hates the party so much. Last term, lower house Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather (defeated at the election) really got under his skin. More generally, the Greens held up important legislation, most notably on housing. In the new Senate, Labor will need only the Greens to pass legislation opposed by the Coalition. How new Greens leader Larissa Waters - who replaced Adam Bandt after he lost his seat - handles the party's relationship with the government will be crucial for the more contentious parts of Labor's legislative program. The usually low-key Waters will be under a lot of pressure. The Greens had a bad election, losing three lower house seats. Now they have lost a senator at the start of Waters' watch. Waters conceded on the Serious Danger podcast in late May that Labor had successfully run the narrative of the Greens as blockers. "So I do think we're going to need to be quite deft in how we handle balance of power in this term, [...] People want us to be constructive. They don't just want us to roll over and tick off on any old shit. They want meaningful reforms." Waters will want to pick her fights carefully, and also find ways of pursuing the Greens' agenda where the party co-operates. The first deal is likely to be on the government's legislation to increase the tax on those with large superannuation balances, which contains the controversial provision to tax unrealised capital gains. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and her team will confront some of the same problems as the Greens - when to oppose and when to seek to negotiate with the government. For his part, Albanese will have a novel challenge with Ley - what stance to adopt against the first female opposition leader, especially but not only in parliamentary clashes. After facing two alpha male Liberal leaders, Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton, a new approach will obviously be necessary. As one Labor man succinctly puts it, "Labor can't monster a woman". There can be no repeat of Albanese, a frontbencher a decade ago in the Shorten opposition, interjecting to urge a female colleague engaged in a stoush with Ley to "smash her". For Ley, trying to deal with the Liberals' multiple difficulties in attracting women voters and candidates must be high on her agenda. Former Liberal federal president Alan Stockdale, one of the three-person group currently running the NSW division of the party, showed himself part of the problem when this week he told the NSW Liberal Women's Council, "The women in this party are so assertive now that we may need some special rules for men to get them pre-selected". READ MORE: Stockdale said later he was being "light-hearted". Tone deaf might be a better term. Ley jumped on him. "There is nothing wrong with being an assertive woman. In fact I encourage assertive women to join the Liberal Party." The jury is out on whether Ley will be able to make any sort of fist of her near-impossible job. But in the short time she's been leader, she has shown she is willing to be assertive. She emerged from the brief split in the Coalition looking much steadier than Nationals leader David Littleproud, even though she had to persuade her party room to accept the minor party's policy demands. In her frontbench reshuffle, she was willing to wear the inevitable criticism that came with dropping a couple of senior women who had under-performed. As deputy leader, Ley adjusted her style a while before the election, toning down the aggression and sometimes wild attacks, that had characterised her performance earlier in the term. A Liberal source said she found her "line and length". As leader, she will have others, notably deputy Ted O'Brien, to do the head-kicking, giving her room to attempt to develop a positive political persona. Labor leaned into attacking Dutton - never afraid to name him. With Ley, Albanese might adopt the Bob Carr approach of avoiding using his opponent's name. At least until he finds his line and length in dealing with her. Anthony Albanese loves a trophy, especially a human one. He prides himself on his various "captain's pick" candidates - good campaigners he has steered into seats. Way back in the Gillard days, he was key in persuading discontented Liberal Peter Slipper to defect. Slipper became an independent and Labor's speaker. The exercise helped the government's numbers, but the bold play didn't end well for Labor or for Slipper. The government was tarnished, and Slipper, relentlessly pursued by the Coalition and mired in controversy, eventually had to quit the speakership. The affair did produce Julia Gillard's famous misogyny speech, however. Now Albanese has another gee-whiz prize - Western Australian senator Dorinda Cox, who has defected from the Greens. Cox, after being defeated in a bid for Greens deputy leader, approached Labor and the PM drove her course to being accepted into the party. The manoeuvre makes a marginal but insignificant difference to Senate numbers - Labor will still need the Greens to pass legislation opposed by the Coalition. Taking in Cox is a risk, and some in Labor are looking at it askance. The prime minister's embrace of Cox contradicts Labor's argument when its Western Australian senator Fatima Payman defected to become an independent. It said then hers was a Labor seat and she should therefore resign. But this wouldn't be the first time expediency trumped consistency in politics. Cox, who is Indigenous and was spokeswoman for First Nations and resources in the last parliament, has been a fierce critic of extending the North West Shelf gas project, which the government has just announced. Albanese says he is confident she "understands that being a member of the Labor Party means that she will support positions that are made by the Labor Party". She has also faced allegations of treating staff badly. Labor discounts the claims against her, saying they are overblown and a product of Greens factionalism and toxicity. Certainly, she was given a tough time by the hard-left faction represented by deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi. Labor would be wise to ensure Cox feels supported in her new party home. Albanese perhaps calculates that the worst that can happen is there's a blow up and she defects to the crossbench. Labor could shrug and say, she was never really one of us. Snatching a senator from the Greens is particularly satisfying to Albanese because he hates the party so much. Last term, lower house Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather (defeated at the election) really got under his skin. More generally, the Greens held up important legislation, most notably on housing. In the new Senate, Labor will need only the Greens to pass legislation opposed by the Coalition. How new Greens leader Larissa Waters - who replaced Adam Bandt after he lost his seat - handles the party's relationship with the government will be crucial for the more contentious parts of Labor's legislative program. The usually low-key Waters will be under a lot of pressure. The Greens had a bad election, losing three lower house seats. Now they have lost a senator at the start of Waters' watch. Waters conceded on the Serious Danger podcast in late May that Labor had successfully run the narrative of the Greens as blockers. "So I do think we're going to need to be quite deft in how we handle balance of power in this term, [...] People want us to be constructive. They don't just want us to roll over and tick off on any old shit. They want meaningful reforms." Waters will want to pick her fights carefully, and also find ways of pursuing the Greens' agenda where the party co-operates. The first deal is likely to be on the government's legislation to increase the tax on those with large superannuation balances, which contains the controversial provision to tax unrealised capital gains. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and her team will confront some of the same problems as the Greens - when to oppose and when to seek to negotiate with the government. For his part, Albanese will have a novel challenge with Ley - what stance to adopt against the first female opposition leader, especially but not only in parliamentary clashes. After facing two alpha male Liberal leaders, Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton, a new approach will obviously be necessary. As one Labor man succinctly puts it, "Labor can't monster a woman". There can be no repeat of Albanese, a frontbencher a decade ago in the Shorten opposition, interjecting to urge a female colleague engaged in a stoush with Ley to "smash her". For Ley, trying to deal with the Liberals' multiple difficulties in attracting women voters and candidates must be high on her agenda. Former Liberal federal president Alan Stockdale, one of the three-person group currently running the NSW division of the party, showed himself part of the problem when this week he told the NSW Liberal Women's Council, "The women in this party are so assertive now that we may need some special rules for men to get them pre-selected". READ MORE: Stockdale said later he was being "light-hearted". Tone deaf might be a better term. Ley jumped on him. "There is nothing wrong with being an assertive woman. In fact I encourage assertive women to join the Liberal Party." The jury is out on whether Ley will be able to make any sort of fist of her near-impossible job. But in the short time she's been leader, she has shown she is willing to be assertive. She emerged from the brief split in the Coalition looking much steadier than Nationals leader David Littleproud, even though she had to persuade her party room to accept the minor party's policy demands. In her frontbench reshuffle, she was willing to wear the inevitable criticism that came with dropping a couple of senior women who had under-performed. As deputy leader, Ley adjusted her style a while before the election, toning down the aggression and sometimes wild attacks, that had characterised her performance earlier in the term. A Liberal source said she found her "line and length". As leader, she will have others, notably deputy Ted O'Brien, to do the head-kicking, giving her room to attempt to develop a positive political persona. Labor leaned into attacking Dutton - never afraid to name him. With Ley, Albanese might adopt the Bob Carr approach of avoiding using his opponent's name. At least until he finds his line and length in dealing with her. Anthony Albanese loves a trophy, especially a human one. He prides himself on his various "captain's pick" candidates - good campaigners he has steered into seats. Way back in the Gillard days, he was key in persuading discontented Liberal Peter Slipper to defect. Slipper became an independent and Labor's speaker. The exercise helped the government's numbers, but the bold play didn't end well for Labor or for Slipper. The government was tarnished, and Slipper, relentlessly pursued by the Coalition and mired in controversy, eventually had to quit the speakership. The affair did produce Julia Gillard's famous misogyny speech, however. Now Albanese has another gee-whiz prize - Western Australian senator Dorinda Cox, who has defected from the Greens. Cox, after being defeated in a bid for Greens deputy leader, approached Labor and the PM drove her course to being accepted into the party. The manoeuvre makes a marginal but insignificant difference to Senate numbers - Labor will still need the Greens to pass legislation opposed by the Coalition. Taking in Cox is a risk, and some in Labor are looking at it askance. The prime minister's embrace of Cox contradicts Labor's argument when its Western Australian senator Fatima Payman defected to become an independent. It said then hers was a Labor seat and she should therefore resign. But this wouldn't be the first time expediency trumped consistency in politics. Cox, who is Indigenous and was spokeswoman for First Nations and resources in the last parliament, has been a fierce critic of extending the North West Shelf gas project, which the government has just announced. Albanese says he is confident she "understands that being a member of the Labor Party means that she will support positions that are made by the Labor Party". She has also faced allegations of treating staff badly. Labor discounts the claims against her, saying they are overblown and a product of Greens factionalism and toxicity. Certainly, she was given a tough time by the hard-left faction represented by deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi. Labor would be wise to ensure Cox feels supported in her new party home. Albanese perhaps calculates that the worst that can happen is there's a blow up and she defects to the crossbench. Labor could shrug and say, she was never really one of us. Snatching a senator from the Greens is particularly satisfying to Albanese because he hates the party so much. Last term, lower house Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather (defeated at the election) really got under his skin. More generally, the Greens held up important legislation, most notably on housing. In the new Senate, Labor will need only the Greens to pass legislation opposed by the Coalition. How new Greens leader Larissa Waters - who replaced Adam Bandt after he lost his seat - handles the party's relationship with the government will be crucial for the more contentious parts of Labor's legislative program. The usually low-key Waters will be under a lot of pressure. The Greens had a bad election, losing three lower house seats. Now they have lost a senator at the start of Waters' watch. Waters conceded on the Serious Danger podcast in late May that Labor had successfully run the narrative of the Greens as blockers. "So I do think we're going to need to be quite deft in how we handle balance of power in this term, [...] People want us to be constructive. They don't just want us to roll over and tick off on any old shit. They want meaningful reforms." Waters will want to pick her fights carefully, and also find ways of pursuing the Greens' agenda where the party co-operates. The first deal is likely to be on the government's legislation to increase the tax on those with large superannuation balances, which contains the controversial provision to tax unrealised capital gains. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and her team will confront some of the same problems as the Greens - when to oppose and when to seek to negotiate with the government. For his part, Albanese will have a novel challenge with Ley - what stance to adopt against the first female opposition leader, especially but not only in parliamentary clashes. After facing two alpha male Liberal leaders, Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton, a new approach will obviously be necessary. As one Labor man succinctly puts it, "Labor can't monster a woman". There can be no repeat of Albanese, a frontbencher a decade ago in the Shorten opposition, interjecting to urge a female colleague engaged in a stoush with Ley to "smash her". For Ley, trying to deal with the Liberals' multiple difficulties in attracting women voters and candidates must be high on her agenda. Former Liberal federal president Alan Stockdale, one of the three-person group currently running the NSW division of the party, showed himself part of the problem when this week he told the NSW Liberal Women's Council, "The women in this party are so assertive now that we may need some special rules for men to get them pre-selected". READ MORE: Stockdale said later he was being "light-hearted". Tone deaf might be a better term. Ley jumped on him. "There is nothing wrong with being an assertive woman. In fact I encourage assertive women to join the Liberal Party." The jury is out on whether Ley will be able to make any sort of fist of her near-impossible job. But in the short time she's been leader, she has shown she is willing to be assertive. She emerged from the brief split in the Coalition looking much steadier than Nationals leader David Littleproud, even though she had to persuade her party room to accept the minor party's policy demands. In her frontbench reshuffle, she was willing to wear the inevitable criticism that came with dropping a couple of senior women who had under-performed. As deputy leader, Ley adjusted her style a while before the election, toning down the aggression and sometimes wild attacks, that had characterised her performance earlier in the term. A Liberal source said she found her "line and length". As leader, she will have others, notably deputy Ted O'Brien, to do the head-kicking, giving her room to attempt to develop a positive political persona. Labor leaned into attacking Dutton - never afraid to name him. With Ley, Albanese might adopt the Bob Carr approach of avoiding using his opponent's name. At least until he finds his line and length in dealing with her. Anthony Albanese loves a trophy, especially a human one. He prides himself on his various "captain's pick" candidates - good campaigners he has steered into seats. Way back in the Gillard days, he was key in persuading discontented Liberal Peter Slipper to defect. Slipper became an independent and Labor's speaker. The exercise helped the government's numbers, but the bold play didn't end well for Labor or for Slipper. The government was tarnished, and Slipper, relentlessly pursued by the Coalition and mired in controversy, eventually had to quit the speakership. The affair did produce Julia Gillard's famous misogyny speech, however. Now Albanese has another gee-whiz prize - Western Australian senator Dorinda Cox, who has defected from the Greens. Cox, after being defeated in a bid for Greens deputy leader, approached Labor and the PM drove her course to being accepted into the party. The manoeuvre makes a marginal but insignificant difference to Senate numbers - Labor will still need the Greens to pass legislation opposed by the Coalition. Taking in Cox is a risk, and some in Labor are looking at it askance. The prime minister's embrace of Cox contradicts Labor's argument when its Western Australian senator Fatima Payman defected to become an independent. It said then hers was a Labor seat and she should therefore resign. But this wouldn't be the first time expediency trumped consistency in politics. Cox, who is Indigenous and was spokeswoman for First Nations and resources in the last parliament, has been a fierce critic of extending the North West Shelf gas project, which the government has just announced. Albanese says he is confident she "understands that being a member of the Labor Party means that she will support positions that are made by the Labor Party". She has also faced allegations of treating staff badly. Labor discounts the claims against her, saying they are overblown and a product of Greens factionalism and toxicity. Certainly, she was given a tough time by the hard-left faction represented by deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi. Labor would be wise to ensure Cox feels supported in her new party home. Albanese perhaps calculates that the worst that can happen is there's a blow up and she defects to the crossbench. Labor could shrug and say, she was never really one of us. Snatching a senator from the Greens is particularly satisfying to Albanese because he hates the party so much. Last term, lower house Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather (defeated at the election) really got under his skin. More generally, the Greens held up important legislation, most notably on housing. In the new Senate, Labor will need only the Greens to pass legislation opposed by the Coalition. How new Greens leader Larissa Waters - who replaced Adam Bandt after he lost his seat - handles the party's relationship with the government will be crucial for the more contentious parts of Labor's legislative program. The usually low-key Waters will be under a lot of pressure. The Greens had a bad election, losing three lower house seats. Now they have lost a senator at the start of Waters' watch. Waters conceded on the Serious Danger podcast in late May that Labor had successfully run the narrative of the Greens as blockers. "So I do think we're going to need to be quite deft in how we handle balance of power in this term, [...] People want us to be constructive. They don't just want us to roll over and tick off on any old shit. They want meaningful reforms." Waters will want to pick her fights carefully, and also find ways of pursuing the Greens' agenda where the party co-operates. The first deal is likely to be on the government's legislation to increase the tax on those with large superannuation balances, which contains the controversial provision to tax unrealised capital gains. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and her team will confront some of the same problems as the Greens - when to oppose and when to seek to negotiate with the government. For his part, Albanese will have a novel challenge with Ley - what stance to adopt against the first female opposition leader, especially but not only in parliamentary clashes. After facing two alpha male Liberal leaders, Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton, a new approach will obviously be necessary. As one Labor man succinctly puts it, "Labor can't monster a woman". There can be no repeat of Albanese, a frontbencher a decade ago in the Shorten opposition, interjecting to urge a female colleague engaged in a stoush with Ley to "smash her". For Ley, trying to deal with the Liberals' multiple difficulties in attracting women voters and candidates must be high on her agenda. Former Liberal federal president Alan Stockdale, one of the three-person group currently running the NSW division of the party, showed himself part of the problem when this week he told the NSW Liberal Women's Council, "The women in this party are so assertive now that we may need some special rules for men to get them pre-selected". READ MORE: Stockdale said later he was being "light-hearted". Tone deaf might be a better term. Ley jumped on him. "There is nothing wrong with being an assertive woman. In fact I encourage assertive women to join the Liberal Party." The jury is out on whether Ley will be able to make any sort of fist of her near-impossible job. But in the short time she's been leader, she has shown she is willing to be assertive. She emerged from the brief split in the Coalition looking much steadier than Nationals leader David Littleproud, even though she had to persuade her party room to accept the minor party's policy demands. In her frontbench reshuffle, she was willing to wear the inevitable criticism that came with dropping a couple of senior women who had under-performed. As deputy leader, Ley adjusted her style a while before the election, toning down the aggression and sometimes wild attacks, that had characterised her performance earlier in the term. A Liberal source said she found her "line and length". As leader, she will have others, notably deputy Ted O'Brien, to do the head-kicking, giving her room to attempt to develop a positive political persona. Labor leaned into attacking Dutton - never afraid to name him. With Ley, Albanese might adopt the Bob Carr approach of avoiding using his opponent's name. At least until he finds his line and length in dealing with her.
