The new federal anti-corruption body will hold most of its hearings behind closed doors after Labor joined forces with the Coalition to vote down independent amendments to the legislation. The bill has now passed the lower house of parliament.
Helen Haines, the independent MP for Indi, who has been a champion of integrity in politics, proposed amendments that would have lowered the bar for anti-corruption hearings to be made public.
The MP also wanted to make it explicit that pork barrelling – where the government uses taxpayer money in grants and promises for electoral purposes (think the Morrison government’s sports community grants that benefited either Coalition seats or seats they were targeting) – be included in the scope for investigations.
But Labor sided with the Coalition in rejecting the amendments – even though it had earlier in the year indicated support for the new commission to investigate pork barrelling.
Top news
Labor Nacc move criticised | The national anti-corruption commission bill eventually passed the lower house without Haines’ amendments. Fellow independent MP Zali Steggall criticised Labor’s decision not to strengthen the body, saying it “misses the opportunity to take this legislation from good to great”. A coalition of transparency groups had earlier in the week issued a joint statement urging the government to make it easier for the anti-corruption body to hold public hearings.
Stuart Robert allegations | The Albanese government has ordered an investigation into contracts awarded in the government services portfolio, with Bill Shorten declaring under parliamentary privilege that “if and when public office has been used to enrich private mates, it is corruption”. A Nine newspapers report alleges former Liberal minister Stuart Robert had provided private advice to a lobbying firm that was pursuing lucrative government contracts and access to decision-makers including the current opposition leader, Peter Dutton. Earlier in the day, a spokesperson said Robert “completely rejects all assertions made in the article”.
AGL to close gas plant early | Energy giant AGL has brought forward the closure of Torrens B, its main gas-fired power plant in South Australia, to 2026. AGL – Australia’s largest carbon emitter – has been under pressure by billionaire activist Mike Cannon-Brookes to decarbonise at a faster pace.
Australian jailed in Iran | An Australian national is among at least 40 foreigners now held in Iranian jails amid pro-democracy protests across the country – and an escalating violent response by regime forces. A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said they had been refused access to assess the person’s welfare.
ABC reboots Mother and Son | Almost three decades after the original show ended, the great Australian sitcom is making a comeback in 2023, starring comedians Denise Scott and Matt Okine as Maggie and Arthur Beare. Okine has collaborated with the original writer, Geoffrey Atherden, to create a new program which explores ageing and changing family dynamics, with the added twist of the migrant experience brought by Okine, who is half-Ghanaian.
Canadian paramedic tragedy | Paramedic Jayme Erickson arrived at the scene of a road crash on an icy stretch of Alberta highway last week to help a wounded teenage girl. Because the injuries were so severe, Erickson did not immediately recognise that the casualty she was helping was her 17-year-old daughter. Montana Erickson was later taken off life support. “I am shattered. I am broken,” Jayme Erickson wrote to family and friends.
China iPhone workers protest | Police in Zhengzhou have dealt out beatings to workers protesting over working conditions and pay at the biggest factory for iPhones, as the country tries to contain a surge in Covid-19 cases. Foxconn, the biggest contract assembler of smartphones and other electronics, is struggling to fill orders for the iPhone 14 after thousands of employees walked away from the factory last month.
Scots protest | Bagpipes and “Yes” signs were on parade in Edinburgh last night local time, as hundreds gathered to protest the UK supreme court’s ruling on a second independence referendum. The court declared that the Scottish government can only proceed with a referendum with the permission of the British parliament. “Our colonial status has been confirmed – and the law is an ass!” read one sign.
Ticketmaster fiasco | The US Senate will examine the lack of competition in the country’s ticketing industry after Ticketmaster’s problems last week managing Taylor Swift’s upcoming tour. “Daily reminder that Ticketmaster is a monopoly,” congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, calling for the company to be broken up.
Bolsonaro’s party fined | A Brazilian court has fined the party of outgoing far-right president Jair Bolsonaro $6.4m for bad faith litigation after he attempted to overturn last month’s election results. Bolsonaro had challenged the election he lost to leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, arguing votes from some machines should be invalidated.
Full Story
World Cup 2022: chaos, protests and a glimmer of hope for the Socceroos
The cup is one of the most watched sporting events in the world but the treatment of LGBTQ+ people and migrant workers in Qatar has provoked international backlash. Our deputy sports editor, Emma Kemp, gives us an update from Doha in this 23-minute episode.
What they said …
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“I’m determined that this sort of cultural heritage destruction should never happen again in Australia. It is a shameful moment in Australia’s history.” – Tanya Plibersek, environment minister
Plibersek was announcing the federal government’s commitment to protect Indigenous heritage sites, accepting all but one of the recommendations of a report on Rio Tinto’s destruction of a 46,000-year-old sacred site at Juukan Gorge.
But the traditional owners at the heart of the disaster at Juukan Gorge say they are “angry and disappointed” by Plibersek’s announcement because they had not been consulted on the content.
In numbers
And Thanksgiving week has been particularly bad, with 22 people killed and 44 injured by guns. That includes six people killed at a Walmart store in Virginia yesterday, and last weekend’s deadly attack on a gay nightclub in Colorado.
Before bed read
Mehran Karimi Nasseri arrived without papers at Charles de Gaulle airport in 1988 and didn’t leave until 2006. He became world-famous as the man who lived in an airport, inspiring a 2004 film starring Tom Hanks. Nasseri died earlier this month, prompting Andrew Donkin – who had authored a book about the terminal man - to write this heartfelt feature to “remember my old friend”.
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