Latest news with #policyagenda
SBS Australia
20-07-2025
- Politics
- SBS Australia
PM pledges to deliver on policy as Parliament resumes
TRANSCRIPT The Prime Minister pledges a year of delivery with his policy agenda, as Parliament resumes Report examines the impact of aid cuts in Southeast Asia Belgian rider Tim Wellens claims his first Tour de France stage victory Anthony Albanese has urged MPs not to take their time in Canberra for granted, ahead of the resumption of federal Parliament. He's addressed the new and returning members at an official event hosted by Governor-General Sam Mostyn at Government House, part of the formalities before the official opening of the 48th parliament on Tuesday. "It is such a privilege to sit either in the House of Representatives or the Senate. And something that none of us should ever take for granted. There are always far more people wanting to be in this position than can fulfil it, and it is an honour each and every day." The new term will see Labor with an increased majority, holding 94 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives after a landslide election win. About 40 politicians are entering parliament for the first time. A new report has warned that health, education and environmental programs in Southeast Asia's poorest countries are under threat, as Western governments slash their foreign aid budgets. The report by the Lowy Institute finds China is leading the development race in Southeast Asia, as traditional donors like the United States and United Kingdom step away from the region. The third edition of the Southeast Asia Aid Map has indicated China increased its regional development spend in 2023 for the first time in three years. A research associate at the Lowy Institute, Grace Stanhope, told SBS News, the funding cuts will have a sizeable impact. "The lack of Western and European money going into Southeast Asia is a real problem. We're projecting a 20 per cent drop in bilateral foreign aid to the region by 2026." The United Nations migration agency says more than 128,000 people in Syria's Sweida province have been displaced by the violence over the last week. Residents in the Syrian city of Suweida say fighting has stopped, after Syria's Islamist-led government declared the Bedouins had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city. Syria's president announced a ceasefire over the weekend. Syrian interior ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba spoke to Sky News U-K, condemning the actions of Israel in launching dozens of airstrikes earlier on in the week. "(Many of them (dead bodies) killed by the militias, which became (belong) to (Druze religious leader Sheikh Hikmat) Al-Hijri. I want to see in two eyes, not in one eye. When we see in two eyes, we can solve the problem." At least 73 people have been killed in the last 24 hours [[Sunday local time]], while trying to access aid at various locations across Gaza, according to Gaza's health ministry. The highest death toll was in northern Gaza, where at least 67 Palestinians were killed as they waited for UN aid trucks to enter the strip through the Zikim crossing. Ehab Al- Zein was among those waiting for aid. "We were waiting for flour because of hunger. We wanted to eat and drink. Suddenly the tanks came out, surrounding us. They started shooting at us and we were unable to move. We could not get the flour and we remained surrounded for about an hour and a half to two hours. Some escaped, some were killed and others were injured. As you can see, this is our situation." Meanwhile, the Israeli military has issued evacuation orders for a crowded part of central Gaza, sparking fears of an imminent ground offensive there. It comes as Israel and Hamas continue indirect talks in Doha on a 60-day ceasefire and a hostage deal mediated by Egypt and Qatar - although there has been no sign of breakthrough. In cycling, Tim Wellens overpowered his breakaway companions in brutal fashion to claim victory on Stage 15 of the Tour de France. The Belgian national champion jumped away from a leading group of six some 43 kilometres from the finish and never looked back, beating compatriot Victor Campenaerts by one minute 28 seconds. Pogacar, still leads Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard in the overall standings, edging closer to a fourth Tour title. Wellens says it is a very special victory. "I knew I was going to be in a very beautiful list to finally complete my trilogy in the Giro, Tour and Vuelta, so I knew I had to enjoy the moment. I kept riding until the finish line because I just wanted a big gap to fully enjoy it and maybe put my bike in the air after the finish, but I was so happy to win that I forgot to do it."
Fox News
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Democrats take page from conservative playbook with new Project 2029
Democrats are taking a page from the conservative playbook. A group of leading Democratic Party thinkers is beginning to collaborate on a policy agenda for their eventual presidential nominee in the 2028 election cycle. And, as first reported by the New York Times, they're calling it Project 2029. It's an obvious play on the notorious Project 2025, the more than 900-page policy blueprint assembled by the conservative powerhouse Heritage Foundation think tank for the Republican Party's 2024 presidential nominee. Democrats repeatedly attacked Project 2025 during the previous White House race as a far-right threat to the nation. Then-GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and his campaign distanced themselves from the document, even as many Trump allies helped draft it. But Trump, during the opening months of his second tour of duty in the White House, executed much of what was proposed in Project 2025. And Russell T. Vought, who was a key member of the team that produced the document, now leads the Office of Management and Budget. The Democrats behind Project 2029 hope to rally White House hopefuls behind their policy framework as the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination race heats up following the 2026 midterm elections. The project is being spearheaded by Andrei Cherny, a onetime Democratic speechwriter and state party leader. "Avengers… Assemble!" he wrote in a social media post, as he spotlighted the New York Times story on Project 2029. Democrats are aiming to escape the political wilderness following 2024 election setbacks, when the party lost control of the White House and the Senate, and failed to win back the House majority. And 2025 polls have indicated the Democratic Party brand sinking to new lows. "After several Democratic presidential runs that featured the old guard, there is a hunger for the next generation of candidates and ideas," Jim Kessler, executive vice president for policy at the center-left Third Way, told Fox News. Kessler, who's involved with the project, added that the effort "is a chance for those candidates to see and test out new policy ideas. The advisory group runs the gamut of the Democratic ideological perspective, so these new ideas may not bring a consensus, but it can act as a showroom for presidential candidates to test drive." Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville, asked about Project 2029, welcomed more ideas to the party's conversation. But Carville told Fox News Digital that "the person Democrats need to look to, whose ideas will count, is the next presidential nominee. People can throw ideas out and the different candidates can respond in one way or another, but the idea that a political party can develop a message outside of having some power – it's been done before, but it's quite difficult." Word of Project 2029 comes amid continued divisions in the Democratic Party between its establishment and progressive wins. And it comes as the stunning victory in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary by outsider and 33-year-old democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani over former three-term Gov. Andrew Cuomo has reignited the party's argument over whether the Democrats' problem is their policy or their messaging.
