Tasmanians head to the polls for snap election
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ABC News
10 minutes ago
- ABC News
The aggressive courting of Tasmania's crossbench MPs is heating up with two weeks until fresh no-confidence motion
After weeks of uncertainty, Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff's bid to be recommissioned for another term was endorsed by the state's governor on Wednesday morning. The decision led to bookmakers paying out on bets for the election, and plenty of big grins from Mr Rockliff. And he's been hard at work finalising a shake-up to his cabinet that could be announced as soon as Thursday morning. But things aren't as finite as they seem. In just two weeks, state parliament will be recalled. And Labor leader Dean Winter has confirmed Mr Rockliff's government will face a motion of no-confidence when that happens, barely two months after a successful no-confidence motion triggered July 19's snap state election. So how can it be the case that after an election that was supposed to resolve all the uncertainty, we're back here again? Firstly, the 2025 election no-one really wanted delivered an eerily similar parliament to the one elected a year before. In 2024, there were 14 Liberals, 10 Labor MPs, five Greens and six other crossbenchers — three Jacqui Lambie Network MPs and three independents. This time around, there were again 14 Liberals, 10 from Labor and five from the Greens, and six others on the crossbench. The only real change is that there are five independents, and one Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MP. The Liberals are still in minority and the tensions that existed before the election — about a lack of transparency from the government, concerns about its handling of big projects and the budget — are still very live. Also, unlike last year's election, where Mr Rockliff's reaction to winning just 14 seats was to immediately move to secure four confidence and supply agreements in a bid to deliver stability, this time he hasn't tried. He's argued the agreements are good, but not necessary. Then there's the matter that at least 19 of the 35 lower house MPs are either Labor MPs or from the progressive side of politics — the five Greens and independents David O'Byrne, Peter George, Kristie Johnston and Craig Garland. That, plus the lack of confidence and supply agreements, has opened the door for Labor, who didn't try to govern after the last election in 2024 or two months ago following the successful no-confidence motion it moved to step up negotiations with the crossbench. That's the other huge difference to what unfolded two months ago. Labor is actively trying to form a minority government of its own, despite winning just 10 seats. To do that, it needs the support of the Greens, plus at least three other crossbenchers. So there are two parties trying to win over the six non-Green members of the crossbench, and only one of them has picked a side, with independent MP Craig Garland saying he'll vote for a no-confidence motion and support the formation of a Labor government. It means those five other crossbenchers — including three entirely new to parliament in independents Peter George and George Razay and Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MP Carlo Di Falco — have less than two weeks to decide if they want to depose Mr Rockliff and install a government led by Mr Winter instead. They're all being aggressively courted by the Liberals and Labor, who will meet with all six on Thursday. In her decision published on the Government House website, Governor Baker said Mr Rockliff's incumbency meant he had the right to remain in office until parliament decided whether it had confidence in him. And with Tasmania's constitution requiring premiers and ministers to be commissioned within seven days of the election writs being delivered, Governor Baker says she could not afford to wait for a parliamentary vote. "I consider myself bound to make an appointment within that period, because the state must not be without a government," Governor Baker said. But the return date of August 19, much sooner than some were expecting, means that the political uncertainty won't last for too much longer. Within two weeks, Tasmanians will have an answer to the question an election couldn't solve: Who's going to be the state's next long-term premier? Both sides have mounted arguments about why it should be them. But the biggest task now sits with Mr Winter, who sat at the helm while his party suffered a 3.1 per cent statewide swing against it and failed to win a quota in his own right in the seat of Franklin. He's got to make Tasmanians understand why the parliament is again debating kicking out a premier who received more than two quotas in his seat of Braddon. And convince people that this time, a no-confidence motion is a positive move to install a Labor government, not a negative tactic to oust a popular premier when he's got no plan to lead the state himself. And he's got to convince the crossbench, including a Greens party he's at least publicly ignoring, that he's the right man to lead the state, despite his party being rejected at the election. And convince them to risk facing public backlash and support a no-confidence motion, knowing full well all the commentary that doing so will lead to. Despite the governor's decision, Tasmanian politics is still extremely turbulent. And there will be huge consequences for the party, and the leader, caught on the wrong side of the power play that's still got weeks to unfold.
News.com.au
40 minutes ago
- News.com.au
New Zealand's mining dream isn't over, it's back in the race for gold
New Zealand's government led by the business-friendly National Party is keen to boost mining investment Mining friendly policies and the country's prospectivity have increased its attractiveness Gold plays dominate with Uvre the newest company in the country New Zealand may not be the first port of call for resource companies looking for the next big project, but this does not detract from the fact that the country has a rich mineral bounty. The victory of the conservative and business friendly National Party during the November 2023 election has also led to a marked improvement in business sentiment. This is best illustrated in the latest edition of the Fraser Institute's Annual Survey of Mining Companies, which ranked New Zealand as the twelfth most attractive mining jurisdiction in the world, beating out previous power houses such as Western Australia at number 17. Respondents to the survey expressed decreased concerns over uncertainty concerning what areas will be protected, uncertainty over regulation enforcement and uncertainty regarding environmental regulations. New Zealand has flagged interest in doubling its mining exports to NZ$3bn by 2035 and has introduced measures such as the 'Fast Track' legislation, which accelerates permitting processes dramatically by introducing a one-stop shop for permitting. A legend speaks Mining legend Norm Seckold, who was recently appointed as a director of Uvre (ASX:UVA) following the acquisition of his company Octagold and its portfolio of gold projects in the country, believes New Zealand now has all the right ingredients that make it a tasty mining destination. Speaking to Stockhead, he said one reason was the overtly pro-mining stance of the current government and Minister for Resources Shane Jones in particular with the other being its remarkable prospectivity. 'It's relatively underexplored compared to, for example Western Australia where there are lots of new discoveries but it is a very active and competitive exploration market,' he added. 'You've got this highly efficient, very capable exploration industry in West Perth with lots of very smart guys and a whole lot of companies competing for projects. 'But that just hasn't been applied to New Zealand and I just think the opportunity has been overlooked and it shouldn't be because of projects such as the 8Moz Macraes mine in the South Island that has been in production for over 30 years.' Along with the 10Moz endowment on the North Island, it points to the country having serious deposits. 'It's not a little half-million-ounce thing that you hope you can grow a bit, they tend to have scale,' Seckold said. All this matches up closely with his philosophy to exploration which ranks the project first, the location second and the politics in equal second or third place. 'The project, geology and prospectivity has to be number one. And New Zealand is extraordinarily prospective,' he added. The same prospectivity also led Seckold to break one of the tenets of his (admittedly ad hoc) philosophy, which is to focus on the important part. Octagold, which was originally formed by a couple of his former colleagues that then successfully enticed him to become the largest shareholder, had pegged out large tracts of ground over four granted projects, another that is under application and yet another that is being looked over. 'It's a little bit against my religion. I'm a great believer in focus,' Seckold said jokingly about the large landholdings that Uvre now owns. 'I think the whole point is, I can see the rush coming, so despite my beliefs, here's an opportunity and we don't want to just sit there and watch other people pick up the good projects.' Attractive projects As for why he decided to get involved with Octagold, Seckold said the best indicator of where a gold mine could be found was where the old timers had been mining and pointed to Santana Minerals' Rise and Shine discovery as a classic example. 'That's the old Bendigo Goldfield, which was a high grade, low tonnage mine a hundred years ago, or less,' he noted. 'But what happens is you apply more modern geoscience and you find a multi-million ounce deposit. He added that the rising gold price had meant that economically viable open pit mines could now extend to depths of 300m or more compared to between 60m and 70m in the early 1980s. Lower grade finds are also viable and both factors create opportunities. 'The other thing is, there are very good public records in New Zealand and good ore libraries like there are here (in Australia), and you can just see the data,' Seckold added. 'You can see very high-grade assays in the Waitekauri project on the bottom level, they just didn't keep drilling far enough.' The brownfields Waitekauri project is the flagship asset that Uvre acquired and is just 8km west of OceanaGold Corporation's 10Moz Waihi gold mine and along trend from three other +1Moz gold deposits in WKP, Golden Cross and New Talisman Gold's Karangahake. One of the three main prospects, Jubilee, has historical production of 260,000oz of gold and silver and is believed to be a potential extension of Karangahake, Recent rock chip sampling has shown grades as high as 18.4g/t gold while early field mapping revealed a much broader area of post-mineral welded ignimbrite than previously recognised, something earlier explorers hadn't fully understood. Other projects include the 1104 hectare Lottin project east of Rotorua on the North Island, a potential VMS system considered similar in style to Australia's Golden Grove and Rosebery, along with the Roaring Meg, Oturehua and Invincible gold projects, all near Macraes and RAS on New Zealand's South Island. Invincible is also known to boast tungsten, which like gold sits on NZ's critical minerals list. Other ASX players While Uvre is now a significant player in New Zealand, it is still a relative newcomer to the country. New Age Exploration (ASX:NAE) operates the 265km2 Lammerlaw gold and antimony project in Otago that's believed to host Macraes-style mineralisation with 1km gold anomalies, bearing similarities to the gold mine which has produced more than 5Moz since opening in 1990. Lammerlaw also contains the historically mined Bella Lode, where gold was mined during the late 1800s with an average grade of 15g/t before the mine closed in 1901. Previous antimony-targeted exploration has also revealed three mineralised trends with rock chip samples of >30% antimony. The company's belief in Lammerlaw having Macraes-style mineralisation received a shot in the arm after its phase 1 drilling intersected mineralisation textures, pathfinder geochemistry and host rock type that's all consistent with early-stage Macraes-style mineralisation. Of the five holes drilled, four returned gold mineralisation with a top result of 2m at 1.05g/t along with elevated tungsten of up to 1750ppm, up to 680ppm arsenic and antimony. Company executive director Joshua Wellischs said the company would now seek to build on these results by targeting potential higher-grade shoots and drill towards a maiden resource. Also engaged in the gold game on the South Island is Siren Gold (ASX:SNG), which is advancing the Sams Creek project – a gold mineralised porphyry dyke that is up to 50m thick, extends for 7km along strike and has a vertical extent of at least 1km. Sams Creek has a resource of 953,000oz at an average grade of 2.4g/t that is contained within the Main Zone fold, one of several gentle northeast plunging folds the Sams Creek Dyke has been folded into. To date, 21,500m of drilling has been completed on the project with 90% focused on the Main Zone. However, similar folds have been interpreted at Riordans, Western Outcrops, Anvil and Barrons Flat along with Doyles and Main Zone extensions. These have the potential to significantly increase the current resource. Additional resources discovered in the Main Zone, Doyles, Western Outcrops and Anvil folds could be accessed from the potential Main Zone underground mine and hauled to the proposed SE Traverse processing facility. Siren expects a decision to be made on its mining permit application by the end of 2025. It then plans to complete infill drilling on the SE Traverse, Carapace and Main Zone by the end of Q2 2026 so the majority of the inferred resource can be upgraded to the higher confidence indicated category. This will be followed by updates to the resource and scoping study. Santana Minerals (ASX:SMI) has been progressing the Rise and Shine deposit within its Bendigo-Ophir project in the Central Otago Goldfields on New Zealand's South Island. Recent drilling has extended the high-grade domain (HG1) beyond the March 2025 indicated resource boundary by confirming mineralised continuity to the north and strengthening the case for future reserve growth. The drilling had targeted down-plunge extensions of Rise and Shine to improve definition of the inferred resource in the northern extent of the deposit with a view to upgrading it to the indicated category for potential inclusion in the mine plan. Notable results include 31.9m at 5.3g/t gold from 303.1m and 11.1m at 9.6g/t from 296.9m. Bendigo-Ophir has a contained resource of 2.34Moz at an average grade of 2.1g/t gold with Rise and Shine hosting the bulk of this at 2.08Moz grading 2.4g/t gold. It benefits from proximity to Queenstown and existing infrastructure including transportation, clean water, green hydropower and low cost power.
SBS Australia
an hour ago
- SBS Australia
How many Australians are fighting with Israel's military in Gaza? This group is monitoring
An Australian legal group says it is preparing a formal criminal complaint to the federal police seeking investigations into Australians serving with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for any potential offences committed. The Australian Centre for International Justice (ACIJ) reached out to the government in early June, requesting it issue warnings to the Australian public about the risks for Australians fighting for the IDF. It said such warnings should ensure citizens were aware "that engaging in hostilities with the Israeli military in the unlawfully occupied Palestinian Territory, may expose them to criminal investigation and prosecution under Australian law", or elsewhere "where there is evidence that they have participated in the commission of international crimes". Lara Khider, acting executive director of ACIJ, told SBS News: "We are currently monitoring at least 20 individuals who are serving or have served in the Israeli military, and are preparing criminal complaints to the AFP [Australian Federal Police] seeking investigations into potential offences against the Commonwealth." A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson confirmed to SBS News the department "does not track the movements of Australians overseas". "The Australian government encourages all Australians who seek to serve with the armed forces of a foreign country to carefully consider their legal obligations and ensure their conduct does not constitute a criminal offence," the spokesperson said. Is fighting for another army legal? Under Australian foreign incursion laws, it's not illegal to serve with a foreign government army — but recruiting someone to do so is. Australian authorities do not actively monitor Australians who may be serving in foreign armed forces, but the Australian Border Force may provide travellers leaving the country with information about their obligations under Australian law. Credit: AP The foreign incursion laws state it's an offence to enter a foreign country with an intention to engage in a hostile activity, unless serving in, or with, the armed forces of the government of a foreign country. It's illegal to recruit people to join an organisation engaged in hostile activities, or to serve in, or with, a foreign military. But the federal attorney-general can allow recruitment of people to serve with an armed force of a foreign country if "it is in the interests of the defence or international relations of Australia". "It is well known that Australians are currently serving in the Israeli military, and there have even been reported instances of recruitment occurring on Australian soil," Khider said. The exact number of Australians who've served or are serving has not been confirmed by Australian authorities. A freedom of information request in 2024 revealed ABF had intervened with three of four Australian citizens suspected of departing for Israel for military service since 7 October 2023. The Australian Border Force (ABF) previously confirmed that when it becomes aware that a person is departing Australia with the intention of travelling to a potential conflict zone, it "provides the traveller with information on their obligations under Australian law". The AFP said it cautioned all Australians who seek to engage in hostilities overseas to carefully consider their legal obligations and ensure their conduct does not constitute a criminal offence. "Any Australian suspected of committing a criminal offence while in a conflict zone may be investigated by the AFP, and, where appropriate, may face prosecution," a spokesperson told SBS News. The Australian Centre for International Justice is monitoring at least 20 Australians who have served or are serving in the Israel Defense Forces. Source: EPA / Abir Sultan The ACIJ pointed to the 2024 ruling from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that ordered Israel to prevent acts of genocide in its war on Gaza . In the ruling, the ICJ called on Israel to "take all measures within its power to prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to commit genocide", and ordered Israel to "prevent the commission of acts" that fall under under the Genocide Convention — which include "deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part"; and "killing members of the group". The ACIJ said Australia, as a state party to the Genocide Convention, has legal obligations to take all possible measures to prevent genocide. Australia is also party to a number of international human rights treaties and recognises the ICJ and its jurisdiction on international law matters. IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said last year the IDF is "a professional military committed to international law". Government warns Australians at the border SBS News obtained a copy of a letter from Attorney-General Michelle Rowland addressed to the ACIJ about the issue, in a reply dated 28 July. In the letter, Rowland said while it was not appropriate for the government to provide specific legal advice, "the government has been clear that all parties to the conflict must comply with international and relevant domestic legal obligations". Rowland said the government "continues to discourage" Australians from engaging in conflict overseas, and advocates for the protection of civilians, the upholding of international law and the unhindered flow of aid to the region. "The government continues to caution all Australians who seek to serve with the armed forces of a foreign country to carefully consider their legal obligations and ensure their conduct does not constitute a criminal offence," Rowland said in the letter. "Where appropriate, the AFP may work with foreign law enforcement agencies and international bodies as part of any potential investigation." However, ACIJ said it had been raising its concerns on the issue with the Australian government since December 2023 and said the government's reply was "manifestly inadequate". "The limited cautions issued to date do not sufficiently reflect the seriousness of the atrocities occurring against the Palestinians in Gaza," Khider said. "Issuing vague or weak cautions does not discharge Australia's obligations under international law. "The government must act with urgency and clarity to ensure that its international legal responsibilities are met, and that Australians are not complicit in atrocity crimes." An Australian war crimes investigation unit Greens senator David Shoebridge said his office had inquired nine months ago into why the Australian government was not tracking people fighting in the Israeli and Russian militaries, and had yet to receive a reply. "The Australian government's current policy is 'head in the sand'," Shoebridge said. "If you don't look for war crimes, you won't find them. "The conflict in these areas has only intensified, and concerns about people being implicated in war crimes have only heightened." "We know that thousands of people have been travelling to Israel over recent months, many to fight in the IDF, which is a concern when the government does not track or monitor who is fighting in this appalling war," Shoebridge said. The number of Australians serving or having served with the IDF has not been confirmed, but News Corp in 2023 reported there could be up to 1,000 who have served or were active reservists at the time. The Greens want a War Crimes Investigation Unit set up in Australia. "Other countries have these bodies, and they are effective. The lack of one in Australia makes everyone less safe."
