‘Hold him to account': Warning to Albo
The Prime Minister commands a massive 94-seat majority in the House of Representatives, but the Senate is another matter.
Labor will need to work with either the Greens or the Coalition to pass legislation through the chamber – a task far easier said than done.
For many of the Albanese government's more progressive items, such as legislating penalty rates, the Greens are more natural partners, but Senator Nick McKim said on Monday his party would hold Mr Albanese 'to account'. CANBERRA, Australia – NewsWire Photos – September 12, 2024: Australian Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young and Senator Nick McKim hold a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia
'The results were pretty clear in the Senate and I wasn't that happy with the PM telling the Senate and the Greens to get out of the way shortly after the election,' Senator McKim told Nine's Today.
'We haven't been put into the Australian parliament to get out of the Prime Minister's way.
'We've been put in there to hold him to account.
'And we do expect him to deliver, and we expect him to engage in some of the really meaningful issues, whether it's climate change, whether it's protecting nature, whether it's the housing crisis in Australia.'
He went on to say the Greens needed 'to see solutions that are commensurate with the scale of the challenges facing the country'.
'We're here to work constructively and cooperatively with Labor,' Senator McKim said.
'We hope that they would take the same approach to us.' SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – NewsWire Photos – Thursday, 1 May 2025: Finance spokeswoman Jane Hume pictured speaking about the release of the Coalition's election costings at Bligh Street, Sydney. NewsWire / Monique Harmer Credit: News Corp Australia
Meanwhile, demoted Liberal senator Jane Hume took a similar line.
She was opposition finance spokeswoman under Peter Dutton and championed some of the Coalition's most controversial policies.
Senator Hume was booted from the frontbench after Labor's federal election landslide decimated the Liberal Party.
Acknowledging the Coalition had 'hit a low point in their primary vote', she pledged to 'work every day' to claw back support.
'We're going to work every day to rebuild trust with the Australian people, to make sure that they know that we're listening to their concerns and responding to them, sticking with our values,' Senator Hume told Sky News.
'Of course, those important values of reward for effort, lower taxes, growing the economy, managing the budget responsibly.
'But at the same time, we have to make sure that this three years we are holding this very bad government to account, because the last three years delivered nothing other than a cost of living crisis where people saw their standard of living go backwards and economic growth stagnating.
'The last thing we need is another talk fest – we need an economic plan.'
More to come.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
16 minutes ago
- Sky News AU
Former prime minister Scott Morrison warns China's recent 'charm and flattery' masks long-term ill intent
Former prime minister Scott Morrison has told a United States congressional committee China's recent "charm and flattery" masks long-term ill intent, in a pointed warning about economic coercion. Mr Morrison was invited to testify before the US House select committee on the Chinese Communist Party on Wednesday, local time, in order to offer insight into how Australia dealt with hostility from Beijing. In 2020, the former prime minister led calls for an inquiry into the origins of Covid-19, sparking a backlash from Beijing which resulted in trade restrictions worth billions of dollars. The election of the Albanese government in 2022 has since resulted in those sanctions being unwound, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese seeking to normalise ties and encourage economic cooperation. However, Mr Morrison warned the thaw in relations should not be taken as a sign China had abandoned its coercive tactics. "After the failure of the CCP's coercive efforts to break our resolve, the PRC (People's Republic of China) took advantage of the change in government following the 2022 federal election to effect a reset and adopt a different set of tactics," he told the committee. "This included abandoning their economic and diplomatic bullying and coercion for more inductive engagement laced with charm and flattery. "That said, the PRC still continues to engage in intimidatory behaviour by their military against Australia when it suits them, without remorse. "While the CCP's tactics may have substantially changed, their objectives remain the same." Mr Morrison warned that although Beijing had adopted a more conciliatory tone, which was on full display during Mr Albanese's recent visit, China remained determined to "neutralise" public support for government actions countering their activities and to overtake the US as the dominant force in the Indo-Pacific. As a result, the former prime minister argued the US and its allies must "never become casual about the potential threat" posed by Beijing and called for more work to deepen partnerships in the region aimed at limiting China's influence. Mr Morrison's testimony was in contrast to the tone Mr Albanese had used throughout his recent visit to Beijing. The Prime Minister had been keen to talk up the importance of Australia's economic partnership throughout his trip, saying he wished to see an increase in investment from both countries. Mr Albanese also spruiked a new tourism campaign which aimed to encourage Chinese citizens to holiday in Australia. In his remarks to the US congressional committee, Mr Morrison suggested such an approach played directly into Beijing's hands. "Recently the Lowy Institute completed a survey which found for the first time in quite a number of years there is a greater value on the economic partnership with China than concerns about the security threat," he said. "That is an objective of the CCP, that Western democracies will go to sleep on the threat."
Sydney Morning Herald
43 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Planning a trip to the US? Don't mention the Donald
There are those who misguidedly believe that not only should sport and politics never mix, travel and politics shouldn't ever coexist either. Fat chance. As the world has witnessed with international sport over the decades, the notion that it and world events can be separated has proved historically risible, and now we witness overseas travel becoming markedly more politicised. Nowhere is it more starkly illustrated than what appears to be the weaponisation of tourism for political purposes by the Trump administration and its facilitators, who appear to be Googling overtime in search of any criticism of the president and his policies. This article, and others I've written critical of US treatment of tourists under the Trump administration in my role as travel editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, will likely render any visit by me to the United States a risky proposition. I'm not complaining. For me, it's no loss. It's still a wide, wonderful and mostly welcoming world out there, and word has it that our far more rational Canadian friends could do with a little Antipodean love in the form of a holiday there. Loading So forget about yours truly, and consider the recent case of a reader of the Traveller title of the above publications. Only a few hours before the departure of his flight earlier this month to visit his daughter in the US, Australian Bruce Hyland received notice from American immigration authorities that he would not be permitted to enter the country. This news came after having been approved to visit. 'No reason for a cancellation was provided [for the decision to refuse entry],' Hyland writes in his Traveller letter, 'so one is in the Kafkaesque situation of having breached some official procedure, while having no way to appeal the decision or determine what that procedure could be.'
AU Financial Review
2 hours ago
- AU Financial Review
Beijing targeted Australia to send warning to US, says Morrison
Washington DC | Former prime minister Scott Morrison says Beijing's trade bans on Australian goods and diplomatic freeze during his leadership were aimed at making an example of a key US ally in the Indo-Pacific, where it seeks to gain control of neighbouring democracies. In a rare appearance for a former foreign leader in front of a congressional committee, Morrison warned on Wednesday (Thursday AEST) that the Chinese Communist Party has taken advantage of its growing economic power since the 1990s to build capacity to challenge the global order.
