Australian Politics

From war crimes and robodebt to the Leppington Triangle and the Thales scandal, no-one suffers real consequences for any abuse of public office.

In short:

Frontbencher Murray Watt says Qantas has not been given a soft treatment in return for flight perks.

Anthony Albanese reportedly requested free upgrades directly from Qantas boss Alan Joyce, among several others he was offered.

What's next?

The opposition says Mr Albanese must explain whether he made personal requests to Mr Joyce.

46 per cent of Australians have put off treatment due to cost, and 76 per cent have struggled to find bulk-billing doctors. Expanding Medicare to cover dental has overwhelming support.

Ausgrid; Saputo; Grill'd; Virtus Health; ANU; NSW public servants; Brockman; WA Child Protection workers; Vic TAFEs; CFMEU; SCT; WA Police; Joe de Bruyn; IGGS; Kiama Council & more

Despite claims that the health system is a poor productivity performer, Australia's public health system is more efficient than the private sector and delivers world-leading outcomes.

The ACTU says up to one million workers will have unfair dismissal rights, protections from wage theft and job security protections scrapped if proposed changes to workplace rights go ahead.

Ever wonder why Parliament is more interested in the rights of landlords than in fixing housing affordability.

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In short:

The future of an NRL team based in Papua New Guinea could be dependent on a promise from the Pacific nation not to increase security or defence ties with Beijing.

A potential deal that would see Australia provide $600 million to set up a side in Port Moresby includes an assurance no security deal with China is signed by the Pacific nation.

What's next?

Australia and PNG are nearly ready to sign the deal to create the NRL team, which the Australian government has described as a way to bring the two nations closer together through soft diplomacy.

The new laws are coming into force in the current election. It is a sweeping change impacting all councils. It makes councils much less representative - it means that one ticket of councillors can have 51% support but 100% of all seats on the council.

Based on the speeches, it sounds like basically everyone was against Labor on this, both the VEC expert recommendation, and also pretty much everyone in state parliament except Labor - see the linked hansard starting from page 30. That said, when the Greens proposed an amendment to it, the Liberals voted with Labor to defeat it, and the single-member ward thing became law.

The simple fact is that it is not enough to “punish Labor” in the coming elections. The real challenge is to build a political alternative to Labor that will act for the majority, not slavishly serve the billionaire class.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission Inspector has announced she has launched a formal investigation into the regulator’s refusal to investigate six public officials referred by the Royal Commission into Robodebt.

For anyone missing the significance, the Inspector announced "looking into" complaints about the NACC decision months ago, but this is the first time the word "investigation" has been used.

The distinction is important because once a formal “investigation” is commenced the NACC Inspector has additional powers, including the power to obtain documents.

Go Annabel. The history of taxation is not only interesting but vital knowledge.

De-paywalled link.