Latest news with #DavidPocock
Sydney Morning Herald
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Secretive Albanese government goes backward on transparency
Labor is hiding information from the public more often than the Morrison government despite campaigning on a platform of integrity, frustrating a critical accountability mechanism intended to maintain faith in bureaucrats and keep politicians honest. Analysis by the Centre for Public Integrity shows Canberra's culture of secrecy has sunk to its worst point in more than a decade, with the proportion of freedom of information requests released in full plunging from almost half in 2021-22 to just 25 per cent under Labor in 2023-24. The government is increasingly releasing documents to the public filled with black ink covering up key sections of text and Labor is more often ignoring Senate votes requesting details on policies and ministers' decision-making. Independent senator David Pocock said the data under Anthony Albanese's watch was shameful compared to the prime minister's predecessor, Scott Morrison. 'To be more secretive than the government of a prime minister who had five secret ministries is something the Albanese government should be deeply embarrassed about and ensure they fix in their second term,' he said. Rejection of freedom of information requests over nine years of Coalition government hovered between 10-18 per cent, but spiked to 24 per cent in Albanese's first term. And the proportion of documents granted in full dropped from almost 60 per cent in 2012 to 25 per cent in the year to July 2024. Official reviews of these decisions to block information found that only 45 per cent of the refusals were made on legitimate grounds, meaning more than half the justifications for secrecy were flawed. Attorney-General Michelle Rowland's spokesperson pointed out that the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner had its funding boosted by Labor, a move endorsed by the Centre for Public Integrity.
The Age
4 hours ago
- Politics
- The Age
Secretive Albanese government goes backward on transparency
Labor is hiding information from the public more often than the Morrison government despite campaigning on a platform of integrity, frustrating a critical accountability mechanism intended to maintain faith in bureaucrats and keep politicians honest. Analysis by the Centre for Public Integrity shows Canberra's culture of secrecy has sunk to its worst point in more than a decade, with the proportion of freedom of information requests released in full plunging from almost half in 2021-22 to just 25 per cent under Labor in 2023-24. The government is increasingly releasing documents to the public filled with black ink covering up key sections of text and Labor is more often ignoring Senate votes requesting details on policies and ministers' decision-making. Independent senator David Pocock said the data under Anthony Albanese's watch was shameful compared to the prime minister's predecessor, Scott Morrison. 'To be more secretive than the government of a prime minister who had five secret ministries is something the Albanese government should be deeply embarrassed about and ensure they fix in their second term,' he said. Rejection of freedom of information requests over nine years of Coalition government hovered between 10-18 per cent, but spiked to 24 per cent in Albanese's first term. And the proportion of documents granted in full dropped from almost 60 per cent in 2012 to 25 per cent in the year to July 2024. Official reviews of these decisions to block information found that only 45 per cent of the refusals were made on legitimate grounds, meaning more than half the justifications for secrecy were flawed. Attorney-General Michelle Rowland's spokesperson pointed out that the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner had its funding boosted by Labor, a move endorsed by the Centre for Public Integrity.
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Upper house pushing Labor on 'secret' gambling ads plan
The federal government is about to be forced to release a draft response to a landmark gambling reform report, which has been left untouched for more than two years. Communications Minister Anika Wells, who picked up the portfolio after Labor's May 3 election win, has flagged upcoming changes to gambling advertising. Her first meeting outside of department briefings was with Rod Glover, the husband of late Labor MP Peta Murphy, who championed a ban on gambling ads. A draft response by the communications department to the "you win some, you lose more" report handed down by a bipartisan parliamentary committee was prepared for the previous minister in November 2024. But the department refused to release the 32-page document under freedom of information laws. The Murphy report's key recommendation was to phase out gambling advertising on television and online, which received unanimous support from Labor, coalition and crossbench MPs on the committee. Labor's draft policy, which was never formally released but briefed to stakeholders in mid-2024, included banning betting ads during, before and after live sports broadcasts and limiting them to two an hour outside of that parameter. Independent senator David Pocock is pushing to have the draft recommendations and ministerial briefings released under a Senate order for the production of documents, after freedom of information requests were similarly rejected. The Liberals and the Greens have given their support, meaning his order is set to pass the Senate on Wednesday, giving Labor until the end of the month to comply or explain why they will continue to keep the documents secret. A third order requests correspondence between the prime minister and gambling sector representatives and lobbying efforts from sporting codes after he intervened to shelve any action before the election. Labor's inaction was "one of the biggest failures of the last parliament and a wrong I hope we can right this time", Senator Pocock told AAP. Reform advocates are keen to find a middle ground, arguing the longer the status quo goes on, the more people are being hurt as there are few restrictions on gambling advertising. While stakeholders are pushing for a blanket ban, there is an openness to compromise on restricting when betting ads can be broadcast on live TV. They're also pushing hard for a complete advertising ban on social media and on inducements, which is when gambling companies entice people to bet more by offering incentives such as bonus bets. But the gambling lobby is strongly against a blanket social media ban, instead saying technology could be used to avoid targeting children. The sector is similarly opposed to stopping inducements. There is a willingness to discuss stopping broad inducement advertising, but gambling companies want to retain the right to push advertising to people signed up to their platforms. The Murphy review recommended that the government immediately prohibit online gambling inducements and their advertising. Commercial broadcasters and sports codes argued they needed advertising revenue to stay viable, while gambling companies warned a blanket ban would push Australians into using illegal overseas wagering sites. The AFL and NRL receive tens of millions of dollars a year as a cut from gambling agencies. Some advocates are hopeful there will be an announcement on the next steps before the end of the year, with the federal government yet to respond to the landmark report 25 months after it was handed down. National Gambling Helpline 1800 858 858
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Pauline Hanson and One Nation colleagues turn their backs on Acknowledgement of Country inside Parliament - as she makes a surprising nomination for Senate leader
wasted no time stirring controversy as Parliament resumed, turning her back during the Senate 's Acknowledgement of Country ceremony on day one. The One Nation leader was joined in protest by her colleagues Malcolm Roberts and newly elected senators Warwick Stacey (NSW) and Tyron Whitten (WA). Hanson has long railed against Welcome to Country ceremonies, labelling them 'unnecessary' and 'divisive.' 'I've made this protest on my own for years, but today, our whole team made it clear: we've had enough of being told we don't belong in our own country,' Hanson said on Tuesday. 'We took this stand because we're listening to Australians, hardworking, decent people who are sick of being lectured to in their own country.' Back in September, the controversial Senator urged Australians to reject the tradition, claiming it excluded non-Indigenous people. 'If they are not to cater to white people, then why are white people constantly subjected to them? These welcomes are based on lies that Australia is not our home. So many people tell me they are just over it,' she said at the time. She also argued the ceremonies had been allowed to 'fester for too long' and should be scrapped from public events entirely. But Hanson's protest wasn't the only curveball she threw. In a surprising twist, the Queensland senator nominated progressive Independent David Pocock to serve as President of the Senate, a political move that left many in the chamber stunned. 'I would like to nominate David Pocock,' Hanson said. Pocock, a former Wallabies captain and senator for the ACT, is known for his strong stance on climate action and progressive reform, often clashing with Hanson's views. Caught off guard, Pocock politely declined the nomination. 'I am very flattered that you would put me forward,' he said. 'I would politely decline the nomination, but thank you.' Ultimately, Labor's Sue Lines was re-elected Senate President, a role she's held since 2022. Though Pocock was once a crucial swing vote during the Albanese government's first term, Labor's bolstered Senate numbers now mean it only needs the Greens' support to pass legislation. Hanson wasn't the only senator making a statement on opening day. Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi held up a pro-Palestine sign during Governor-General Sam Mostyn's address to mark the start of the 48th Parliament. Hanson is no stranger to headline-grabbing stunts. In 2017, she entered the Senate chamber wearing a burqa to push her campaign for banning the religious garment, a move that was widely condemned, including by then-Attorney-General George Brandis, who called it 'appalling.' Parliament returned on Tuesday for the first time since the May 3 election and will sit for two weeks. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Sussan Ley are set to face off in their first Question Time on Wednesday.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
In Australia's tightly choreographed return to parliament, unexpected moments ring out
In a day of highly-choreographed tradition and ceremony, even a quiet unexpected moment lands with a thud. Like the black rod brandished by the usher in the Senate, banging against the door of the House of Representatives to summon MPs to the other chamber for the opening of parliament, two unscripted moments rang out against the otherwise soft solemnity of the opening of the 48th parliament. One, a sombre protest against Israel's bombing campaign on Gaza: a white sign held up as the governor general, Sam Mostyn, held centre court in the Senate, hours after the Labor government joined a major global joint statement condemning Israel for denying humanitarian aid to Palestinians. The second: far less consequential in the end. 'I nominate senator David Pocock,' Pauline Hanson told the upper house, unexpectedly putting forward her unlikely candidate for the Senate presidency. Pocock, the independent Canberran who made a name for himself in the last parliament as a thoughtful and often progressive voice, appeared the most surprised of anyone in the chamber. Deciding to respectfully decline the nomination, clearing the way for Labor's Sue Lines to be re-elected as president, Pocock said he was 'surprised as I think people in New South Wales were in game three of Origin'. The former rugby union star and Wallabies captain knew he was making a sensitive gag, after NSW's upset in the rugby league decider a few weeks ago, and he set off groans from Blues fans in the chamber. It wasn't immediately clear, to Pocock's team or to observers, where Hanson's nomination had come from, beyond it being a minor trolling exercise. Pocock later told the ABC he would 'have to talk to Pauline and see what the thinking was'. In comments to Guardian Australia, Hanson explained her logic. 'I think he'd make a better President than Sue Lines, and I'd like him to stop enabling Labor's habit of guillotining Senate debates,' she said. Hanson may have been emboldened to throw a wrench in the works of an otherwise basically pre-ordained voting process, thanks to her One Nation ranks doubling overnight. Two new senators, Warwick Stacey and Tyron Whitten, have joined her on the crossbench, swelling Hanson's ranks to four. It's her largest contingent since One Nation's short-lived glory days of 2016, when Rod Culleton and Brian Burston were elected then quit, and Malcolm Roberts (since re-elected) was forced out in the dual citizenship crisis, to be replaced briefly by Fraser Anning. How long Hanson keeps her representation at four is already a Parliament House parlour game of predictions. But her doubled numbers weren't the only major changes on the floor. The first speeches of the parliament came from Ali France and Sarah Whitty, the Labor giant-killers who dispatched Peter Dutton and Adam Bandt. France, who had her leg amputated after a car accident and whose son died of leukaemia last year, had the honour of the first address. 'People often ask 'How are you standing?'. I say, 'On one leg,' she said, to laughs from her colleagues. The pomp and ceremony of the opening day requires a regular tramping back and forth between the House of Representatives and the Senate, including relatively rare joint sittings of all members inside the Senate. It's one of the only times we see everyone in the one chamber, and it set up a pretty stark illustration of Labor's huge majority. To accommodate an extra 150 people on the Senate floor, dozens of extra chairs were put along the walls. But even then, and with many Labor MPs squeezing onto the normal Senate benches alongside their colleagues, the government members spilled over to the opposite side of the chamber, while there were many empty chairs behind the Liberal side. In the House, Labor members spill over onto benches normally occupied by crossbenchers; the crossbench now pushed up onto benches usually kept warm by the now-depleted opposition. Mostyn, representative of the British crown in the federal system, is usually all-but absent from the politics of the day. On Tuesday she presided over the key moments: greeting the re-elected House speaker Milton Dick and Senate president Lines, welcoming the members and senators to parliament with a warm speech, and, in a quirk of procedure that arguably still grates, delivering a speech written by the government about the prime minister's priorities for the coming term. Mostyn, a popular and affable GG, urged senators and members to look after themselves, each other, and their communities – to exercise what she called 'the muscle of care'. 'Debate the very tough issues of our time without anger, judgement or hate, but always with respect,' she told the parliamentarians. 'In its most powerful form, care is tough. It's accountable and measurable, but always essential to our nation's future and cohesion.' While the move was later derided by some in the government, it was care that prompted Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi – a Palestinian keffiyeh draped around her shoulders – to silently hold up a sign during Mostyn's speech. 'Gaza is starving, words won't feed them. Sanction Israel,' it read. While props are not allowed on the parliament floor, Faruqi was not pulled up, and her silent protest continued. As Mostyn's speech concluded, the parliamentarians filing out, the senator quietly put her request to Anthony Albanese as he walked past. 'Prime minister, Gaza is starving. Will you sanction Israel?' He appeared to give no response. Having sanctioned Israeli ministers, and signing Australia on to support multiple global statements condemning the Netanyahu government's actions – often to great criticism from the right-wing press and conservative politicians – Labor has pushed back on criticism from its left flank that it hasn't done enough. Still, on a day where the tightly-planned schedule barely wavered, the unexpected moments rang out like the cannons of the 19-gun salute on the Parliament's forecourt.
