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ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Federal politics live: Penny Wong says Australia 'clear-eyed' about China
Foreign Minister Penny Wong says the government is "very clear-eyed" about China following a woman being charged with foreign interference. Follow all the updates in our live blog.
ABC News
3 hours ago
- ABC News
The Tasmanian state election is over — here's when we get a new government
For Tasmanians wondering when they might have a parliament in place and a government doing actual government things, it could still be weeks off. However, the official process to commission a government is underway. More than a fortnight since the Tasmanian state election, the writs are now expected to be returned to the governor. Once the writs — the written commands for the election of a new parliament — are returned, it starts a seven-day process during which Governor Barbara Baker must commission a premier and swear in at least some ministers. Premier Jeremy Rockliff has said he intends to request Governor Baker recommissions his government. But it remains unclear when exactly parliament will return. The Tasmanian Electoral Commission (TEC) will hold the declaration of the polls ceremonies for each electoral division today. These are formal ceremonies where the newly elected members of the House of Assembly are announced. After that, the electoral writs from each division will be returned to the governor. Electoral Commissioner Andrew Hawkey said the premier will meet with the governor once the writs have been returned. "The premier is the premier, until the premier is not the premier, essentially," Mr Hawkey said. "So, the premier will go to Her Excellency and there'll be discussions — similar to the ones prior to the election being called — about if they're sure they can form government." The governor will also need to determine when parliament will next sit. When parliament resumes, Mr Hawkey said the lower house will then need to elect a speaker. But how soon parliament resumes will be up to the discretion of the governor — although it must be within 90 days of the writs being returned. The timeline isn't fixed, with the governor having the option to bring parliament back sooner if she deems it necessary after meeting with Mr Rockliff. However, election analyst Dr Kevin Bonham told ABC Radio Mornings it could be more than a month away. "I would think, hopefully, as early as possible given the circumstances." If Mr Rockliff is recommissioned as premier, Labor's pathway to power would have to be through a no-confidence vote in the premier when parliament resumes. It's a scenario that's happened before in Tasmania. The 1989 election also resulted in a hung parliament, with the incumbent Liberals winning 17 seats and Labor 13. An accord between Labor and the five "Green independents" was made, meaning the new coalition had 18 seats, enough to form government. Returning Liberal premier Robin Gray refused to resign, instead asking then-governor Sir Phillip Bennett to call another election. Governor Bennett refused, and Mr Gray faced a no-confidence vote in parliament, which he lost. "He said, 'I can form government even though I'm in minority', there was no confidence and that transitioned directly into Michael Field's Labor government, with the Greens' support. "We may see something similar across the board. We don't know yet, we'll have to wait and see." Despite those similarities, the lower house today looks very different from that of 1989. If the Liberals are unable to form government, Labor would need to do it with support from a large crossbench. The Liberals have 14 seats, Labor 10, and the crossbench is made up of five Greens, five independents, and one Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MP. One of the independents — Craig Garland — has already ruled out doing a confidence and supply deal with the Liberals. And the Greens won't be offering their support to the Liberals either. Mr Rockliff has said, unlike last time, he won't rely on confidence and supply agreements to form government. Despite the general make-up of parliament appearing similar to last one, in terms of the major parties' seats, Dr Bonham said there was an important difference. "Last time, we had the very inexperienced Jacqui Lambie Network grouping, who didn't have such a strong sense of what issues they were standing on," he said.
The Australian
12 hours ago
- The Australian
Heathrow unveils £49 bn expansion plan for third runway
London's Heathrow Airport on Friday unveiled a £49-billion ($65 billion) expansion plan, including the costs of building a long-awaited third runway, approved by the UK government after years of legal wrangling. The runway would cost £21 billion, with flights expected to take off within a decade, while the rest of the privately-funded investment will go toward expanding and modernising the airport. Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport by passenger numbers, said the expansion would provide at least 30 new daily routes, more domestic connections and improved flight times. The increased capacity would almost double the number of annual passengers from 84 million currently to up to 150 million passengers annually. "It has never been more important or urgent to expand Heathrow," said chief executive Thomas Woldbye. "We are effectively operating at capacity to the detriment of trade and connectivity," he added. Despite fierce opposition from environmentalists and local residents, London mayor Sadiq Khan and some Labour MPs, the Labour government backed the new runway in January in a bid to boost UK economic growth. It would be a rare expansion in Europe, where countries are split between efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the needs of a strategic sector that has seen demand grow. Heathrow has submitted its proposal for the 3,500 metre runway to the UK government, which has also invited a rival proposal. - Green trade-offs - Heathrow's proposal includes £12 billion to fund a new terminal and £15 billion for modernisation. "A third runway and supporting infrastructure can be ready within a decade, and the full investment across all terminals would take place over the coming decades," Heathrow said in a statement. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is determined to deliver major infrastructure projects to revive the UK economy that has struggled to take off since the party came to power a year ago. The government is expected to also back expansion at Gatwick airport, south of the capital, in October -- having recently approved upgrades to London's Stansted, Luton and City airports. Britain's Supreme Court ruled at the end of 2020 that Heathrow could build the third runway, overturning a legal decision to block construction on environmental grounds. Local residents "will see their lives put on hold for a few more years while more money and time is wasted on a doomed scheme," said Douglas Parr, policy director for Greenpeace UK. He added the plans "export more tourism wealth out of the UK in the most polluting way possible." Arora Group, one of Heathrow's largest landowners, on Thursday said it will submit a rival bid to build a shorter third runway, promising lower costs and less disruption to local residents and the environment. "This is the first time the government has invited a competing proposal for Heathrow expansion," the UK-based property and hotel firm said in a statement. British Airways owner IAG's chief executive Luis Gallego said the rival bid was "credible" as the group announced its net profit jumped 44 percent to 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in the first six months of the year on "strong demand". "We always think that competition is good to improve things, and we have seen that in commercial aviation in the past," he added. Airport-owner Heathrow's latest investment proposal comes in addition to plans to invest £10 billion over the next five years in upgrades to boost passenger numbers, which would be largely funded by higher charges on airlines. ajb/jkb/rl
