PETER VAN ONSELEN: You get media releases all the time from politicians. Sometimes they’re interesting; 99.9 per cent of the time they are not. An example of one that’s not, from the Greens, that came in yesterday: they welcome Rio’s attempt to protect the new crab. God, who cares? Let’s be honest. I mean,…
PAUL MURRAY: Well, you just heard John O’Donnell, the branch president of the communication workers union in WA [Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union], saying that this labour hire system to get the NBN [National Broadband Network] built in WA… he thinks that the rates are so low that it’s going to end up as…
SIMON BIRMINGHAM: Yesterday in Senate Estimates it was revealed that this Labor Government has spent more than a million dollars of taxpayers’ money on focus groups, on polling and market research into their carbon tax; that they’re giving around $100,000 to the ACTU [Australian Council of Trade Unions] to help union officials sell the carbon tax;…
NINA MAY: The Prime Minister has criticised Opposition tactics blaming the carbon tax for potential job losses in the aluminium sector. LEIGH HATCHER: Alcoa has announced it’s reviewing the viability of its Victorian smelter, putting hundreds of jobs at risk. We’re live to Canberra now Sky News chief political reporter Kieran Gilbert.…
TOM TILLEY: Now, first to Canberra and you’ve probably been back at work for quite a few weeks already since your Christmas break but for our politicians today is their first day back in Federal Parliament and our reporter John Barrington has been walking and stalking the halls of power, finding out which issues…
STEVE CANNANE: Our panel tonight: Miriam Lyons from the Centre for Policy Development, Marius Benson from ABC NewsRadio, and economist and contributing editor to The Australian newspaper Judith Sloan. … STEVE CANNANE: Well, the future of Australia’s car industry has become the latest battleground for Labor and the Coalition. The Opposition has…
ELEANOR HALL: Let’s go now to the debate inside the federal Coalition about whether it should maintain the hefty Government subsidies to the car industry in Australia. The Federal Government says that every country that makes cars props up its local industry, and it’s accusing the Opposition of putting auto industry jobs at…
DAVID LIPSON: … first, to political matters much closer to home, I want to go straight to our political panel today. The Shadow Parliamentary Secretary, Simon Birmingham, joins us from Adelaide and, here in Canberra, Labor MP Andrew Leigh. Good morning to both of you gentlemen and happy new year. ANDREW LEIGH: Morning,…
KIERAN GILBERT: With me now, I’ve got Labor frontbencher Senator Kate Lundy and Liberal frontbencher Senator Simon Birmingham. Good morning to you both. KATE LUNDY: Good morning. SIMON BIRMINGHAM: Good morning, Kieran, Kate. KIERAN GILBERT: I want to ask you, first of all, Senator Lundy… I want to ask, you first…
LYNDAL CURTIS: Hello and welcome to Capital Hill. I’m Lyndal Curtis. If nothing else, the weekend’s Labor Party conference showed that the art of the impassioned speech is not dead, even though it’s rarely seen in the Parliament. The conference endorsed same-sex marriage and a conscience vote on the same. It also endorsed offshore…