Labor open to increasing defence spending
Labor has revealed it's open to increasing defence spending and boosting military forces.
Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy says $57 billion of additional funding has been made since Labor took office.
Mr Conroy has criticised a new Cost of Defence report, which hints at the Coalition injecting more cash into defence, as well as suggesting the defence force is not prepared for near-term conflict.
It follows remarks made by the US this week, which has called on Australia to increase funding to 3.5 per cent of GDP.
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Sky News AU
2 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Labor defends Western Sydney Airport after shadow transport minister accuses them of targeting Liberal electorates with jet noise
Transport minister Catherine King has hit back at the Opposition after Labor was accused of concentrating jet noise over Liberal-held electorates. Ms King announced a ministerial directive for Airservices Australia to make 'Reciprocal Runway Operations' (RRO) the default at night at WSIA. RRO requires aircraft to take off and land facing the same direction—towards the southwest—but using opposite ends of the single runway. Ms King claimed the directive was to 'achieve the overall lowest possible impact on surrounding communities'. Shadow transport minister Bridget McKenzie claimed to Sky News on Thursday Labor was "attempting to concentrate nighttime aircraft noise over Liberal held electorates of Lindsay and Hume". But Ms King hit back on Friday, arguing Senator McKenzie "should be ashamed" for turning the new airport into a political dispute. "Senator McKenzie should be ashamed of herself for attempting to politicise Western Sydney International's flight paths, which are a highly technical and complex process that has taken years to get right," Ms King told "Let's not forget, it was the Coalition Government who selected the orientation of the runway and airspace design in the first place– the two most significant determinants of flight path design. "We've been working hard to fix their mess, including undertaking the most comprehensive community consultation program for any airspace development in Australian history, and we've found alternatives that could be safely implemented within the bounds of what we inherited, the biggest beneficiary of which is in fact Wallacia – which you'll find is not in a Labor electorate. "Perhaps Senator McKenzie should suggest what changes the Coalition would make and how they will impact communities across Western Sydney." Labor holds 11 of the 14 seats in the broader Western Sydney region, and Ms McKenzie said the Minister's directive would disproportionately impact the few Liberal seats in the area. 'Part of Labor's noise mitigation strategy is a risky ministerial direction to have planes fly head-on towards each other for take-offs and landings at night," she said. 'The government waited until after the election before finalising flight paths and attempted to hide the announcements behind the completion of runway construction.' Ms King's direction to Air Services Australia was to make reciprocal runway operations the "default operating mode" between 11pm and 5.30am. Western Sydney International Airport is expected to begin operations in 2026.
ABC News
4 hours 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
4 hours ago
- 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. 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. 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.
