‘Maybe they're fearful': Albanese government ‘entirely captured' by gender ideology
'There is no sensible explanation for why other than that they [Australian government] are entirely captured by gender ideology,' Ms Wong told Sky News host Danica De Giorgio.
'And maybe that they're fearful as well.'
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Perth Now
42 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Huge call on new Aussie WFH laws
Senior Labor MP Tanya Plibersek has been grilled on if Labor will look to overturn new work-from-home legislation being introduced in Victoria to enshrine two days of WFH per week as a right or introduce it themselves. Ms Plibersek said the government supported working from home as long as it could be done 'sensibly', but the legislation was ultimately a matter for the Victorian government. 'We're making it very clear that we support work from home at a federal level as long as it can be done sensibly in negotiation between employers and employees,' Ms Plibersek said on Sunrise. 'We've got a lot of public servants, for example, who work a couple of days a week from home. It's supported productivity.' Tanya Plibersek said the legislation was a matter for the Victorian government, but Labor supported work-from-home policies. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan announced plans to legislate WFH protections for workers who could 'reasonably' carry out their duties from home. Ms Allan said the reform was about recognising modern work patterns and protecting employees from having flexible arrangements arbitrarily revoked. 'It's working now, but we know that we need to protect it,' Ms Allan said on Today. 'We need to protect it for workers but also make it really clear for employers as well who are already doing this that working from home should be a right, not a request.' When asked if the federal government supported or would overrule the proposed legislation, Ms Plibersek said how the plan would work was up to the Victorian government. 'That's up to the Victorian government. We're not going to put a tick or a cross,' she told Sunrise. Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan announced the bold plan to legislate work from home two days a week as a legal right. NewsWire / Nadir Kinani Credit: News Corp Australia Ms Plibersek acknowledged remote work wasn't possible for some professions, but the benefits were clear where it could be used. 'If you're a nurse in emergency, you can't work from home. If you're a bus driver, you can't work from home. But we support work from home for Australian workers where it's practical, that fits in with the requirements of their job,' she said. 'Our position as a Commonwealth government is very clear. We support work from home.' The Victorian Chamber of Commerce has raised 'major concerns' on whether the plan could create 'inequality' in the workforce due to the small percentage of people being granted such a right. Concerns have also been raised by the chamber about whether the WFH proposal is unconstitutional if enterprise bargaining agreements are already in place, as they operate under the federal jurisdiction. Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce said legislating WFH rights was 'silly'. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce criticised the idea of legislating WFH rights, calling it 'silly' and warning against government interference in workplace agreements. 'I think it's something that's got to be worked out between the employer and the employee, and legislating that you can is just as silly as saying you're not allowed to,' Mr Joyce said on Sunrise. 'It's not for us to jump into that space, but the government legislating is doing precisely that … I don't think the government should be there.' Despite the concerns, Ms Plibersek said support for WFH remained high. 'We know that Australians value it and when Peter Dutton tried to get rid of it in the last election, there was quite a backlash,' she said.
West Australian
2 hours ago
- West Australian
Australia news and politics live: Emissions reduction ‘central' to boosting productivity
Scroll down for the latest news and updates. Labor MP Ed Husic says the recognition of Palestinian statehood would undermine the terrorist organisation Hamas. 'On the point of whether or not this rewards Hamas, I would put it differently…I would actually say it fundamentally undermines them and undercuts their standing,' he told ABC Radio National Breakfast on Monday. 'And the fact that you've set up a state, reformed the democracy and the Palestinian Authority, demilitarised Hamas, I think undercuts it significantly.' 'So I would actually say for people who want to see Hamas removed out of the equation, this is the way to go. Recognition is the way to go.' Labor MP Ed Husic, who took part in the pro-Palestine march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Sunday, described the protest as a 'tremendous example of a peaceful assembly'. Speaking to ABC Radio National, Mr Husic said the demonstration sent a powerful message to politicians, many of whom have 'underestimated' the depth of feeling among Australians regarding the crisis in Gaza. Among the prominent figures marching alongside Mr Husic were notable figures such as Julian Assange, Bob Carr, Mehreen Faruqi and Craig Foster. 'It was a tremendous example…of people coming out in force to let governments know how deeply they feel and how much they want governments to act on the concerns they have, triggered by horrific images we've seen out of Gaza,' he said. He added, 'I think people in particular believe it's just not right. Not only is it not legally right under international humanitarian law to treat kids in the way that they've been treated in Gaza, but it offends our values as people, and so people turned up in large number.' 'I think this is a wake-up call for Australian politics.' Australia's defence force is growing for the first time in years with applications rising and retention rates improving. Defence enlisted more than 7000 full-time personnel in 2024/25, which is the highest annual intake in more than 15 years, and a 17 per cent increase from 2023. The Federal Government aims to reach 69,000 permanent defence force personnel by the early 2030s and has introduced targeted initiatives to address declining recruitment. Significant investments had helped support current defence workers and grow the force for the future, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said. 'In 2025, the ADF is now growing again for the first time in almost four years, (and) while there is much more work to do, we are confident these positive trends will continue.' Read the full story here. Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce says net zero is a 'lunatic policy' that is hurting the poorest Australians due to increasing power prices. 'It's outrageous, and it's premised around this lunatic policy called net zero. We're not going to achieve net zero. We are going to deindustrialise Australia. We are going to smash the Australian economy,' he told Sunrise. Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek questioned Mr Joyce on his solution to cheapen energy prices. 'What is his alternative?... What is his plan? If he doesn't want renewables, what does he want?' 'I will go back to coal-fired power,' Mr Joyce responded. Mr Joyce also slammed the Productivity Commission's report, which called for an expansion of the safeguard mechanism. 'It's going to make it harder for manufacturing to come to Australia and heavy industries to come to Australia,' he said. Legal experts have warned that Sunday's demonstration on the Sydney Harbour Bridge could result in further disruptions, with no law preventing future applications for protests. Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek was asked on Sunrise if the pro-Palestine rally, which had a turnout of over 90,000 people, sets a precedent for other advocacy groups. 'I think Australians understand that the peaceful right to protest is important in our democracy, but we wouldn't want to see the Harbour Bridge shut down every weekend,' she said. 'I think Australians do want to send a message that there has been too much death, too many people have lost their lives, and we want to see the hostages return, we want to see humanitarian access to Gaza, we particularly don't want to see children starving to death as a result of this conflict,' she added. On the other hand, Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce said that the protest will start a precedent. 'Once you've got one issue saying, 'this is really important to us,' and I don't doubt for one second how important this is, everyone wants to see an end to the war, but you create a precedent for other groups,' he said. 'That's not how it's supposed to work.' An answer to Australia's languishing productivity lies in its response to the threat of climate change, an independent government advisory body has found. Adapting to growing climate-related risks while also reducing emissions and transitioning to clean energy will enable higher productivity growth and living standards, according to an interim report by the Productivity Commission. The findings come as Treasurer Jim Chalmers prepares to convene a roundtable in search of a solution to the nation's lagging productivity. 'Australia's net zero transformation is well under way,' commissioner Barry Sterland said. 'Getting the rest of the way at the lowest possible cost is central to our productivity challenge.' Read the full story here .
Perth Now
3 hours ago
- Perth Now
'Wake up': Gaza supporters' march is a warning for MPs
Australians have sent a clear message to their political leaders after tens of thousands of people marched across an iconic landmark in a show of support for Palestine. More than 90,000 people braved the rain for a pro-Palestine protest at the Sydney Harbour Bridge, as thousands more took part in similar rallies in Melbourne and Adelaide, to voice their concerns about the Gaza Strip. High-profile participants at the Sydney protest included Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, former Socceroos captain Craig Foster, former Labor foreign affairs minister Bob Carr and federal Labor MP Ed Husic. "Just as some underestimated the amount of people that would turn up on the bridge, I think Australian politics has underestimated how strongly Australians feel about this issue," Mr Husic, a former cabinet minister, told ABC radio on Monday. "This is a moment - a wake-up call - for Australian politics. "When I looked in that crowd, you had people that you would expect ... protesting, but there was a lot of middle Australia there and that's something that can't be ignored." NSW Police praised the behaviour of the protesters but had to force them to turn around about an hour into the march on the bridge because of the "risk of injury, due to the huge number of people taking part". Federal Liberal senator David Sharma, a former diplomat who once served as Australia's ambassador to Israel, said the protests had made him "uncomfortable". "One of the things we've tried to do through this and many other foreign conflicts is stop the importation of foreign conflicts, make sure they're not allowed to be brought into Australia," he told Sky News on Monday. "I don't like the idea of a major piece of infrastructure being disrupted for people to campaign about something going on overseas where Australians have very little influence." Tens of thousands of Australians have historically taken to the streets in protest of international wars such as the Vietnam War and the Iraq War. Israel's military campaign began after militant group Hamas - which Australia deems a terrorist organisation attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people and taking more than 251 hostages. The ensuing bombardment and blockade of Gaza have killed more than 60,000 people, according to Gaza health ministry sources. Gaza's population of 2.1 million people is projected to face high levels of acute food insecurity, including one million people who face emergency levels of food insecurity, according to the United Nations. The federal government on Monday announced an additional $20 million to support aid organisations in delivering food, medical supplies and other lifesaving support in Gaza.
