3 weeks ago
‘Nothing about Greens’ economic policy is realistic’ – Marles
Richard Marles was also asked about the Greens’ new “Robin Hood” reform proposal, to be outlined at the Press Club in a few hours’ time. Paul Karp had all the details on this earlier in the blog, here.
Marles argued there was “nothing about Greens’ economic policy which is realistic”.
Economic policy is far from the Greens’ strong suit. They [have] the luxury as a party that has never governed, and never will, to say whatever they like.
I make this point – the Labor party is not about doing deals with the Greens. We are focused on winning a majority at the next election in our own right and doing [what] we can manage the economy for all Australians.
Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
Joe Hinchliffe
Lockdown of major Queensland hospital lifted
The lockdown of a major Queensland hospital has been lifted after reports of an armed man on the loose proved unfounded.
A Queensland Police Service spokesperson said officers were called to the Logan Hospital at about 11.20am following reports of an armed person and that “access to the hospital was restricted”.
Rumours of a man with a gun spread quickly on social media, but the QPS spokesperson said that, “following a thorough search of the area and the building, no threat was detected,”.
We have spoken to the man and no further action was taken by police.
The lockdown was lifted at about 12.45am. A witness on social media reported that police had identified an “artefact” under the man’s blanket, but that it was not a firearm.
Adam Bandt defends Greens’ proposed 40% tax on ‘excessive profits’ of big business
Circling back to the Press Club, the Greens leader Adam Bandt has been taking questions from reporters.
He has been speaking about the Greens’ proposed 40% tax on “excessive profits” of big businesses, coal and mining companies, and said:
Every time that you talk about making the big corporations pay a bit more, they always squeal and say we’ll go somewhere else. People are still going to need supermarkets here, minerals and resources will stay here. They’ll need banks. We’re saying a bit more tax when you’re making obscene profits …
We have designed this to ensure there’s still continued investment. We’re just saying when you make these huge profits, do what other countries do and give a bit of it back to the public because that’s who you’re making the money off.
Bandt said that “other countries do this” and “they’re much better off as a result”.
When a nurse pays more tax than a multinational, something is deeply wrong. We can’t keep defending a system where nearly two in three gas corporations pay no tax.
Australian federal police walk off job for two hours
Australian federal police officers are currently walking off the job for two hours, from 1pm to 3pm Aest, amid a breakdown in pay negotiations.
The Australian Federal Police Association said the largest contingent to walk out is at the AFP headquarters in Canberra.
In a statement, AFPA president Alex Caruna said:
Yesterday AFP officers walked off the job in airports around the country. We were not able to draw media attention to this action for security reasons, but we know it was disruptive and costly.
AFP officers will not take any industrial action that will put anyone in danger, but we are prepared to be disruptive in our fight for a reasonable deal. Today’s walkout is just another warning shot.
We are prepared to continue our campaign of industrial action until attorney general Mark Dreyfus decides to offer a deal that won’t result in mass flight.
Hottest August day in seven years forecast for Sydney
Rafqa Touma
The Sydney heat is climbing closer to the forecast high of 28C for today – which would make it the hottest August day recorded in at least the past seven years.
The city hit 27.5C at 12.30pm today, matching last year’s highest August temperature of 27.5C on August 30.
Last year’s record was the hottest August day since 28.3C in 2015. Before that, it hit 29.2C in August in 2012. The all-time hottest August temperature was recorded in 1995 at 31.3C.
For context, the city’s average August temperature is 17.9C.
You can read more on today’s weather here:
Amy Remeikis
Circling back to the closing ceremony for defence and veteran suicide inquiry
One of the commissioners tasked with overseeing the royal commission, Dr Peggy Brown, has become emotional as she reflected on what she has heard over the past three years.
Brown spoke of the courage of those the commission heard from, the obstacles they had to overcome and the honour at being asked to hear their stories. Brown said one of the main lessons of the commission was “to listen to the voices” of those who were telling their stories.
We are stronger when we embrace their truth and allow ourselves to be informed by it, no longer attempting to diminish it or hide from it.
Brown said the support the commission received ensured truths could come to the surface. She said in closing:
It will be three years, two months and one day when we hand up our general report. What comes next? Three, two, one – go.
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Bandt says Greens will run its biggest-ever campaign in bid for new lower house seats
Adam Bandt said that every election, the major parties’ share of the vote declines, and that confidence in shared-power parliaments is growing.
At the last election, we saw more Greens and independents elected to the lower house. There’s now a record number of members of parliament who aren’t from one of the major parties. This is a good thing.
But despite that, the political class still doesn’t get it. They have mistaken a lack of interest in their own political project – self-serving major-party politics – as being evidence of lack of engagement in politics full stop.
He said that the Greens held the balance of power in the Senate and would be running the biggest campaign in their history for lower house seats.
There are at least five new seats across the country where we believe we are in with a strong chance. In one of them, if only 300 people change their vote, the Greens could win the seat.
Back at the press club, and Greens leader Adam Bandt is making the pitch for Medicare to include dental care.
It’s far more important that everyone in this country has access to dental care than it is that big corporations are able to make billions of dollars of profits they send offshore tax free.
Labor likes to take credit for Medicare but after 40 years, they still haven’t put the money where your mouth is by expanding Medicare to include dental care. We’re not going to stop pushing them until they do.
Camera eye on falcons atop Melbourne skyscraper
Just jumping away from the Press Club for a moment:
The cameras that made the peregrine falcons a social media phenomenon are rolling again for a new breeding season, capturing a new female falcon incubating an egg atop Melbourne’s Collins Street skyscraper.
There are high hopes for this season after last year’s eggs were unable to hatch after the female stopped incubating, likely due to a territorial dispute.
The Greens leader said people were “losing confidence in the political class”, telling the Press Club:
The political class keeps saying that tackling these important issues that we all face isn’t their job. Whether it’s cost of living, the climate or the housing crisis, people want government to step up and deal with the structural issues which affect us all. People want outcomes that will make their life better and they deserve it.
Labor might want to blame the problem on things that they pretend are outside their control, and the Liberals might want to try and blame things they find threatening – like immigration – but people see through it. It’s clear that it’s corporate profit that’s winning the day.
Bandt said that “people want the politicians to get off their arse and act”, and began outlining the Greens “Robin Hood” economic strategy. (We had all the details on this earlier in the blog, here.)
Bandt likens big gas corporations to ‘parasitic leeches’
Moving to taxation, Adam Bandt argued that “big corporations treat paying tax like a discretionary item”. He described big gas corporations as “parasitic leeches” that “suck out gas, profits and leaving nothing but dangerous pollution and a degraded host”.
Sending revenue offshore and paying little if any tax, the gas corporations take our gas and leave very few benefits while destroying our climate and our environment…
How do they get away with it? They pay off politicians from Liberal and Labor with massive donations, undermining politics. The way the gas corporations operate, it seems like no one in this country is even shocked any more … No one is shocked to see Labor trample the rights of First Nations communities to push ahead with the Beetaloo Basin, just as no-one seems shocked when we see the PM posing in a Rio Tinto mining shirt. But it’s a slap in the face to [people] struggling to keep their head above water.
Greens leader compares Albanese photo op to Scott Morrison
At the Press Club, Greens leader Adam Bandt is taking aim at both major parties over the cost-of-living crisis.
Labor and the Liberals will not tackle the role problems that we all face. Instead, they’re refusing to act, tinkering around the edges, handing out a few hundred dollars here and there. Politics needs to do more than that … We can’t keep voting for the same two parties and expecting a different result.
Bandt argued that Labor had “lost themselves” and said:
People tell us that it’s harder and harder to tell Liberal and Labor apart. While people are being ripped off by the big supermarkets, the prime minister was just a few weeks ago posing for photos in a Coles high-visibility vest. It’s a level of disconnection with the realities that everyday people are facing that echoes Scott Morrison.
Not only have Labor refused to take on the big corporations and billionaires, they can’t even bring themselves to point out the role that big corporations have played in causing the cost-of-living crisis.
