Albanese closes conference – Labor now officially in campaign mode
And that’s it. Labor is now officially in campaign mode – the platform will be used to create the policies for the next election.
We’ll be signing off now too – you can catch up on all the day’s events at the Guardian’s Australia news live blog – and we will be back with Politics Live when the budget is handed down in the second week of May.
In the meantime, please, take care of you. There is a lot happening, and not a lot of it is good – and we know how frustrating and hurtful it can all seem. But you’re not alone and we are listening – and doing our best to amplify as many of your voices as possible.
I hope you get a break. Queensland, I hope you come out of lockdown. And I hope everyone’s load gets a little lighter.
So please – take care of you.
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Anthony Albanese just managed to say “on your side” 17 times in about five minutes, so that has to be some sort of record.
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And it’s done. Let the logging off begin.
May we never have to go through another online conference again.
And the final part of the speech:
I said at my speech at the National Press Club, almost two years ago now, that we’d go through stages – we’d have the review, then we’d have the vision statements, then we’d have the platform, and then we’d have increased policy rollout.
Well, we’ve begun the policy rollout, and we’re now in the home straight to the election, and it’s up to all of us – parliamentary members, our rank and file, the members of the mighty trade union movement and generous volunteers.
We can do it. We will do it together.
We will give Australia the government it needs and deserves – an Australian Labor party government.
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Anthony Albanese finishes with a flurry of sentences that all end with ‘Labor is on your side’ and he says it enough to cause my eye twitch to become an eye turbine, powerful enough to power the Guardian office.
Anthony Albanese:
Importantly, we’ve generated the light that we need for the road ahead. Now Scott Morrison has none of this, no light, no road ahead, and the only voice he truly hears is his own.
When he leaves office, Australians will ask ‘what was the point of this nearly decade-long government?’
For Scott Morrison the fundamental truth that a prime minister must govern for all Australians is just one more idea beyond his grasp.
He showed that with his repeated question that he used to use in parliament all the time: ‘Whose side are you on?’, he used to ask.
He doesn’t say it any more, because we all know that he’s on his own side.
Our conference has made loud and clear that Labor’s message to Australians is this: We are on your side.
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Of the ‘small’ disagreements Labor members have had over its platform, Anthony Albanese says:
We’re not a choir looking to sing lockstep in unison. What we look for is the big, powerful harmonies.
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Anthony Albanese is now doing the thank yous.
It’s 3.05pm.
It feels very strange to be saying this on day two of a Labor conference – but it is almost done.
The word before the conference was all the issues were being worked out ahead of the conference. And we have seen that play out. The lingering fights – free trade, gas and some foreign affairs wording – were ironed out, with the platform all but sewn up.
What does that all mean? Well, you are going to be hearing a lot more about ‘Labor values’ at the next election, but not necessarily policies. It’s a slimmed down platform, which means it will be a slimmed down policy pool.
It’s going to be a lot more about the feel, or the vibe, rather than ‘here is our answer for this’.
For example, there isn’t a 2030 target as part of this platform – and I don’t think we will get one before the election. Instead, we will hear about how Labor plans on addressing climate change, and listening to the experts – and you will see the Glasgow conference in November picked up, and echoed – but you won’t be hearing numbers. Get used to that – it’s going to be values, not concrete policy announcements.
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Just in case anyone doubted the major parties are in election mode, Labor appears to be coordinating outfits for policy announcements/pic opportunities.
Electric cars are cheaper to run – and under Labor, they’ll be cheaper to buy too.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) March 30, 2021
Labor’s Electric Car Discount will cut taxes and make electric cars more affordable, giving families a genuine choice. pic.twitter.com/Ty5mYQp9nv
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This just seems like showing off:
Delegate Burke is in the Banner Room. Arts and crafts with heart. Automatic 10/10. #alpconf21 #OnYourSide pic.twitter.com/CrY9DsBH6C
— ALPConferenceRoomRater (@AlpRater) March 31, 2021
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We are absolutely rocketing through this final chapter.
Sally McManus has lent her support to it – but there doesn’t seem to be any disagreements.
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The Labor conference is back on for its final session – developing our people.
This is about childcare, education, welfare and inequality.
Tony Burke and Tanya Plibersek are leading this one.
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This is absolutely becoming an issue:
The states are doing what they can with the vaccines they've got.
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) March 31, 2021
We need guaranteed supply and delivery times from the Federal Government. pic.twitter.com/2dHTW1VHa5
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Greg Hunt is being sent out to give a vaccine rollout update later this afternoon.
That comes after federal government ministers, including David Littleproud, were sent out this morning to criticise the states’ handling of the vaccine rollout, telling them to ‘pull their finger out’. It was meant to be a criticism of the Queensland government, which has instigated a lockdown after two positive cases turned into a cluster. The latest outbreak was traced back to an unvaccinated doctor and nurse at a Brisbane hospital.
But both Queensland and NSW have come out absolutely swinging at the suggestion the states are to blame for the delays in rolling out the vaccines, pointing the fingers back at the federal government for its delivery schedule. Gladys Berejiklian has been particularly pointed.
Now the federal government is in damage control. Scott Morrison isn’t going to ‘play politics’ even though some of his own ministers absolutely sought to, kicking off the latest verbal skirmish, and deflecting the blame back. Hunt is now giving a facts and figures update – but it is worth looking at when some of these deliveries were made. Berejiklian says NSW only received some deliveries in the last 24-48 hours, which the federal government was counting in its ‘here is how many we have sent out’ list, but the short timeframes have made it impossible for the states to plan.
Berejiklian:
As soon as we know what supply we are getting. We often find out two days before we get it or the day before we get it.
We appreciate the difficulties, but we need to know.
We have been cooperating with the federal government in relation to their argument that supply is lumpy because, until we get the manufacturing up and running – and we completely accept that and that is why we have been patient and quietly getting about our business. But to wake up to those reports is contrary to what we have been working towards because we appreciate that they can’t tell us all the time what we are getting because of the issues that are before them.
They therefore need to offer us the same opportunity to respond to untrue statements about NSW lagging in relation to this.
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Penny Wong has entered the sub-tweeting chat:
In these last weeks we have seen extraordinary work by many women journalists, keeping a focus on issues which have too long been unspoken.
— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) March 31, 2021
Dismissing this as a “crusade” or “unapologetic activism” undermines their work and deliberately misses the point.
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Even though the conference has been rather by the by, there are some who are still managing to find joy from it.
Delegate Hart is in Tasmania. Double mantle fireplace 🔥🔥. Certificates. Add a plant and take a Hansard off the stack holding up the camera. 8/10 #ALPconf21 #OnYourSide pic.twitter.com/K7NcuG7X6L
— ALPConferenceRoomRater (@AlpRater) March 31, 2021
George Simon, the NSW Labor assistant general secretary, has written a piece for the Left faction’s Challenge magazine, which looks at the definition of the Labor base – and some people’s very narrow definition of that:
So what does it mean when some people say they’re putting the labour back in Labor? Who are they standing for when they say they are fighting for the Labor base? It’s unlikely they’re talking about the nurse living in Cambridge Park, the Indian-Australian retail worker in Revesby, the receptionist in Woy Woy, or the school cleaner in Seven Hills. They are normally referring to a very narrow segment of Labor’s electoral coalition and one that cannot deliver us government on its own.
Electoral campaigns are full of contradictions and opportunity costs. A policy offering that wins you votes in one community can often come at the expense of votes in another community. At the heart of it, [Joel] Fitzgibbon is offering a strategy to hold on to his seat of Hunter but at what cost? As a party of government, we have a responsibility to find a platform that can win the full range of seats we need to form government while staying true to our enduring values.
To win the next election, Labor can build a platform capable of meeting the aspirations of people being left behind by this government and this economy. Those who are being left behind are diverse. If we want to win back trust and support amongst communities that rejected us in 2019, we should fight for all of them.
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The Labor conference is on break – it is all but done.
There is a little bit more to go, on ‘developing our people’, but all the main issues have been worked out.
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Mark McGowan, currently the most popular Labor figure in the country, has delivered a ‘why we need to win’ speech via video to the Labor conference.
Labor is hoping some of McGowan’s popularity will rub off on Anthony Albanese and the federal team when it comes down to it at the next election. That is usually not the way of things – people can vote for Labor state governments, but federally vote for the Coalition in the same area and do – but given some of the big losses in WA, both from a state perspective, and the losses of big names federally, there is hope for gains in the west.
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Naaman Zhou took a look at the vaccine rollout a little earlier today:
Australia has administered nearly 600,000 doses of the Covid vaccine, which is 3.4m shots short of a 4m dose target set by the prime minister, Scott Morrison, for the end of March.
The current figure is also 1m doses short of what’s needed to meet the government’s revised target of 4m doses administered by the end of April.
Australia’s chief health officer, Prof Paul Kelly, said on Tuesday there had been 597,000 doses of either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine administered to date. That’s 15% of Morrison’s original target.
The prime minister in January said that he was aiming for 4 million people to have received their first of two doses by the end of March.
But the country has fallen well short of that target due to international supply issues, natural disasters including the New South Wales floods, errors and booking issues.
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Greens leader Adam Bandt has responded to Labor’s gas amendments to its platform:
Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, says Labor at its national conference has joined the Liberals by backing gas and having no 2030 target, leaving voters who want action on climate change with only the Greens
“Gas is as dirty as coal. If you back new gas fields, you’re not serious about stopping the climate crisis,” Bandt said.
“With Labor’s national conference falling in behind the Liberals’ gas-led recovery and refusing to adopt a 2030 target, Labor is letting Scott Morrison off the hook. No hat-tips to renewables or bare-minimum EV policies can make up for a gas-fuelled lack of 2030 climate targets.”
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Oh and the missile announcement today?
The Morrison Government will accelerate the creation of a $1 billion Sovereign Guided Weapons Enterprise, boosting skilled jobs and helping secure Australia’s sovereign defence capabilities.
The Department of Defence will now select a strategic industry partner to operate a sovereign guided weapons manufacturing capability on behalf of the Government as a key part of the new Enterprise.
The new Enterprise will support missile and guided weapons manufacturing for use across the Australian Defence Force.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said creating a sovereign defence industrial capability was a key priority for the Government while also creating new opportunities for jobs and small business growth.
They have used “accelerate” there because it is an old announcement – it was made last year. So today was about bringing forward a project which had previously been announced.
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NSW health minister Brad Hazzard says he is “as angry as I have ever been”.
In the questioning, Gladys Berejiklian, when asked about how many doses NSW has rolled out, said:
There is no point in delivering something to us a day ago or two days ago and saying you haven’t rolled them out.
Queensland has also criticised the federal government’s supply of vaccines.
So what you have now, is the two states who were at absolute loggerheads with each other for most of the past year over border closures, now united in criticising the federal government for its vaccine supply rollout.
Annastacia Palaszczuk and Gladys Berejiklian aren’t known for having a warm relationship. Neither would go out of their way to back the other unless it was important. And they are both saying the same thing here.
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Gladys Berejiklian has responded to Scott Morrison’s vaccine rollout deflection this morning.
Respectfully of course – they are from the same side of politics. But Berejiklian is making it clear that there have been failures in the rollout and the states – at least not hers – are not all to blame.
Berejiklian:
This is the point, it is unfair to go out publicly and comment on the rollout when you literally only let the state know in the last 24-48 hours [you haven’t] delivered what those new doses are.
What the people of New South Wales, I hope, know is that we are working night and day to get all the doses out as quickly as possible.
I don’t know any other state that has 100 hubs either up and running or in the process of and I also say this: 100,000 doses that we have issued in five weeks and it is slightly over, I am being conservative.
It is actually 150,000 doses that have been given out in New South Wales, it is a mighty effort.
We have had floods and we kept vaccinating people. We have had challenges and we haven’t been distracted.
I am normally a team player and I don’t engage in the he said/she said, however where public interest is concerned, we are getting our residents as safe as possible and as quickly as possible is concerned, I will stick up for my state and my workers.
Can I also make this point, we have offered on a number of occasions that we are happy, more than happy to do far in excess of the 300,000 we have been allocated.
We support the GP network, our GPs are as frustrated as we are. We support them, we support the pharmacies but all of us should be working together. I have said on many occasions we need all hands on deck if we are even going to get to the October deadline of having everybody vaccinated. I am keen to do that.
It is in our state’s interest, it is in our nation’s interest to do that but I do agree and minister Hazzard has been working behind the scenes and we need to have one rollout plan which involves the states and the commonwealth together, rather than the he said/she said that has to stop.
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NSW MP Michael Johnsen has resigned from parliament.
The former Nationals MP is under investigation for sexual assault – allegations he has denied. Johnsen resigned from the party when the story broke, after the ABC reported yesterday Johnsen had been texting a sex worker while in parliament, sharing a lewd video of himself taken in a parliament precinct bathroom with her. Nationals leader John Barilaro said Johnsen’s position in the parliament was “untenable” and advised he resign as a MP.
He has now done that.
There will be a byelection in the Upper Hunter - and the NSW Coalition government is in minority
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Back to the Labor conference, the most contentious issue leading into the platform conversation, in terms of energy and environment, was the position on gas.
Here is where they landed (without fight on the day):
Labor recognises and supports the critical role that gas plays in the Australian economy. Labor recognises that gas has an important role to play in achieving Labor’s target of net zero emissions by 2050. Labor’s policies will support Australian workers in the gas extraction industry, building on Labor’s legacy of supporting sufficient and affordable gas supply for Australian industry and consumers. This includes support for new gas projects and associated infrastructure, subject to independent approval processes to ensure legitimate community concerns are heard and addressed.
Labor will ensure the industry assesses and manages environmental and other impacts, including on water reserves and co-existence with other agricultural activities, and engages constructively with landholders.
The Federal government must also institute policies like more rigorous use-it or lose-it conditions for offshore gas resources, a price related export control trigger, and domestic reservation policies to ensure environmentally approved gas projects are developed for the benefit of Australians, including as a feedstock to crucial strategic manufacturing industries including chemical and fertiliser production. Labor recognises the critical role gas-power generation plays in firming the National Electricity Market (NEM) and have regard to the advice of the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) in continuing to ensure reliability and price affordability as the NEM transitions to net zero emissions and as other technologies emerge.
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Scott Morrison also addressed Australian of the Year Grace Tame’s criticisms in his earlier press conference.
Here is a rundown of what Tame said, while in conversation with Kerry O’Brien for Griffith University overnight, as reported by Murph:
The Australian of the Year, Grace Tame, has criticised Scott Morrison for elevating Amanda Stoker as the new assistant minister for women, declaring that the Queensland senator had supported a “fake rape crisis tour” that inflicted great suffering on survivors.
Tame said Morrison had exhibited either very poor judgment, or cultural calculation, when he elevated the Liberal National party conservative who had conducted public advocacy “aimed at falsifying all counts of sexual abuse on campuses across the nation”.
“Needless to say that came at great expense to the student survivors who were already traumatised,” Tame told an event on Tuesday night.
Tame also turned her sights on Morrison in social media posts after the event at Griffith University. She said when she met the prime minister at morning tea on 25 January, “I spoke directly of the need for a permanent taskforce to tackle issues pertaining to sexual abuse.
“He dismissively insisted that such infrastructure already existed and functioned well.
Morrison responded with:
I wouldn’t share those views. I respect Grace and once again I congratulate her for those strong advocacy on the issues that have been so front of mind, they’ve always been front of mind for people who’ve been doing with these issues over generations and so of course, I respect her contribution.
And I know that Senator Stoker, is particularly keen to work with Grace Tame, as she takes on her new responsibilities.
And I think everybody’s got a contribution to make here and we’ll continue to do that in a respectful way that draws together, the experience of women from all walks of life, from all different perspectives.
And if anyone disagrees, as a country, you know, there’s nothing wrong with disagreeing with each other but I think we’ve got to find better ways to disagree and this comes and builds from a cultural perspective, this country, which I know, and I am sure Grace would agree is something that we need to continue to build.
You might notice that pattern I highlighted below show up in that answer.
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The conference has returned to “building Australia’s prosperity” – a chapter which was started yesterday and deferred to today. It’s mostly about “good local jobs” which shows the balancing act Labor is trying to work here.
Yes to protecting the environment, but also yes to protecting jobs – not all of which, by their very industry, marry up with protecting the environment.
Thinking forestry, or mining, or gas.
The message Labor is trying for is that existing jobs will continue to exist, but we are planning for the transition. But there are a lot of people, on both sides, caught in the grey area in between. And they are all very, very vocal.
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The Tasmanian Labor leader has published this on the Tasmanian Labor site, which, as one reader pointed out to me, isn’t exactly getting the *warmest* of receptions on social media:
Labor will protect resource industry where the Liberals failed
Published March 30, 2021
- Labor commits to legislate to protect workers from radical Greens
- The Greens destroy jobs of hardworking Tasmanians
- Labor wants to help the resources industry where the Liberals failed
A Labor Government will create the offence of aggravated trespass and put in place timber harvesting safety zones backed up with fines of $10,000 and up to 2 years in jail for individuals and up to $100,000 for entities.
Labor Leader Rebecca White said the days of dangerous workplace invasions are over and Labor is the only party that will establish realistic and workable protest laws.
“The Liberals failed to get their Workplace Amendment Bill through the Legislative Council because it was too broad and could have captured people protesting against the Liberal’s plan to privatise TAFE, or paramedics protesting about ambulance ramping,” Ms White said.
“A majority Labor Government has the numbers to get this through both houses of parliament.
“Labor is serious about protecting workplaces, while the Liberals only see this legislation as a political plaything.
“Labor has a solid plan based on effective laws from other states, not a Liberal rehash of the laws Bob Brown had thrown out of the High Court of Australia.
“We are more than ready to work in the best interests of the Tasmanian resources industry to draft legislation that will work without criminalising all protests.
“Workplaces need protection from the radical Bob Brown Foundation and the Greens and legislation is key to this.
“The Greens destroy Tasmanian jobs and this cannot continue, Labor has a plan that will work to help protect Tasmanians workers where the Liberals failed.”
Rebecca White MP
Labor Leader
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For reasons unclear, the Labor conference is debating chapter one – Building Australia’s Prosperity – on day two, as the conference began the debate on chapter four.
These things move in mysterious ways. Time is relative and apparently so are chapter numbers.
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Back to Labor conference: all of the climate/energy amendments have passed without issue.
Again, it is indicative of the amount of work that has been done behind the scenes before the votes.
There was no dissenting: the whole chapter passed and we’ve returned to “building the nation”.
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It’s been pointed out many, many times, but Scott Morrison is a huge fan of passive language.
Issues that could bring criticism are framed as “well, I have heard that, this is how it has been done, and others have done it” without any acknowledgment that he is actually in charge of government policy and direction, and can have a direct impact.
It’s a masterful skill, which is deployed with impunity – the pattern usually goes, “I wouldn’t agree with this,” moving to a passive description of the issue, moving to deflecting of blame for the issue, moving to describing criticism as “politics”, finishing with “but we’re getting on with the job”.
It’s the same every time, no matter the issue – listen to him and you can almost predict the next sentence.
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Scott Morrison is defending the vaccine rollout – Australia is well behind the target the government set and promoted.
This apparently, is the fault of the states.
Morrison:
I wouldn’t over-interpret this. The vaccine schedule for delivery for 12 weeks have been provided to the states, I am not making any criticism. it is a big job, we are all doing it, the states and territories are doing it, with their frontline workers and hospitals and we are doing it through the GP rollout.
Of course at the outset when 3m or so vaccines are not able to be delivered to Australia because of the vaccine release out of Europe in particular, that was obviously going to impact the early success, but we are already at over 650,000 and I expect by next week we will be into the million and each week the distribution and the vaccination dosage gets stronger and stronger and stronger.
We are on track for our first dose for everyone by the end of October. In particular, the states and territories are moving through their workforce as is their part of the responsibilities copy we are working through through the GPs as we move into 1b and the 6 million Australians that are part of that.
It is not a race or a competition, I am interested in Australians being vaccinated safely with appropriate care and support given to all of them.
Australia has put itself in a position to have a manufactured vaccine here in Australia.
We are not relying, like most of the countries in the world, for vaccines to be coming from somewhere else. They are getting made here in Australia, in Melbourne. I was there last Friday, saw them coming off the line, heading out into the GP clinics in states around the country, so we are getting on with this, we are getting it done and it will continue to build a after day.
I am not interested in people wanting to play politics with vaccine and distribution, I will leave the politics to those who want to play politics.
It’s my job and the premiers’ job to get people vaccinated and that is exactly what we’re are doing.
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Anthony Albanese is touring flood-impacted areas in the seat of Macarthur in Sydney’s south-west.
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Space previously fell under Karen Andrews portfolio when she was the minister for industry, science and technology.
Christian Porter has that portfolio now but Melissa Price, the defence industry minister, is at this space forum, not Porter.
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Meanwhile, Scott Morrison is addressing a space forum.
We are into the energy chat at national conference.
First up: amending paragraph 20 to read:
Labor will work with unions and industry to ensure that the workers and communities affected by economic changes can will prosper in a modern energy economy.
Mark Butler introduced Chris Bowen for this chapter.
Much like Bill Shorten introducing Anthony Albanese yesterday, the optics is all about: we are all fine, we are all united and we are all moving forward.
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Good morning!
Welcome to day two of the strangest Labor national conference in recent memory. It’s online, it’s mostly disagreement-free and it’s aimed at slimming down a national platform before the next election, which means, for the most part, factional issues have been put aside.
Not having everyone in the room helps – there hasn’t been a lot of time for last-minute changes. Which means it’s a lot more clinical than we are used to – that’s not a criticism – Labor conferences are known for their robustness, so it’s just been a little strange to see everything so measured.
Today energy is the big ticket – and that’s been one of the issues Labor has been criticised most about by the Coalition.
We hear most of that has been worked out as well. The national platform sets the framework for the parliamentary teams policies – so these are the guidelines being set out for the election campaign. It’s why it’s worth paying attention to, and we’ll bring you all the updates as they come.
You’ve got Amy Remeikis on the blog, with Katharine Murphy, Sarah Martin, Daniel Hurst and Paul Karp on the detail. It’s going to be another long day – so grab your coffee and let’s get into it.
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