TRANSCRIPT
- Peter Dutton claims Labor wants to resurrect the Voice to Parliament ...
- Greens launch campaign with call to 'reach for the stars' amid cost of living crisis ...
- Tony Popovic says he's confident the Socceroos will qualify for next year's FIFA World Cup.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton claims Labor has a secret plan to resurrect the Voice to Parliament by legislation.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong told a Betoota Advocate podcast on Tuesday the proposal for an advisory body, resoundingly defeated in a 2023 national vote, may in future be viewed in similar way to the long campaign for same-sex marriage.
But in an exclusive interview with SBS News, she later said her comments had been misinterpreted, clarifying the Voice is "gone".
Mr Dutton says it's too late for such a reversal.
"I think Penny Wong has let the cat out of the bag again. We don't support it full stop. So, let's be clear about it, Penny Wong has let the cat out of the bag. If you want to understand what this government would do with The Greens if they get elected, they will introduce the Voice by legislation. We will block it. So, if you want to vote for Labor and The Greens you get the Voice. This is not a backbencer, this is not someone who has just been caught off camera. This is Penny Wong, the most important confidant of the prime minister."
The federal Greens have officially launched their election campaign in one of the minor party's final chances to energise supporters ahead of polling day.
In an election dominated by cost of living concerns, the Greens say their progressive policies will make voters better off.
Their policies include expanding Medicare to cover dental, introducing higher taxes on billionaires and big corporations, and tackling housing affordability.
With the possibility of a hung parliament circling, Greens leader Adam Bandt says the major parties are failing to deliver bold ideas.
"Politics, and election campaigns should be about reaching for the stars, laying out a vision of how, in this wealthy country of ours, we can set ourselves up for the future and ensure that everyone can afford the basics. But instead, over the last five weeks, the Australian public has had to endure the battle of the band-aids, this contest between the timid and the terrible."
A senior counter-terror police officer is to give evidence today at the inquest into the fatal Bondi Junction stabbing attack.
On April 13th 2024, Joel Cauchi fatally stabbed six people and injured 10 others — including a nine-month-old baby — during a three-minute rampage at a busy shopping centre.
Cauchi, who was experiencing psychotic symptoms, was using a knife in the attack before being shot dead by Inspector Amy Scott, who is credited with saving lives.
United States President Donald Trump has convened a meeting of his Cabinet.
The meeting comes as the government reports that the US economy shrank at an annual rate of 0.3 per cent during the first three months of the year.
Behind the decline was a surge in imports as companies tried to get ahead of the sweeping tariffs on autos, steel, aluminium and almost every country.
Mr Trump has blamed the poor G-D-P numbers on his predecessor, Joe Biden, who has been out of office since January.
"I have to start off by saying that's Biden, that's not Trump, because we came in on January, these are quarterly numbers, and we came, and I was very against everything that Biden was doing in terms of the economy, destroying our country in so many ways."
He also told his Cabinet that China is doing very poorly right now because of his tariff war.
Kremlin spokespeople say while President Vladimir Putin is open to peace in Ukraine, the conflict is so complicated that the rapid deal sought by Washington is difficult to achieve.
United States President Donald Trump, who says he wants to achieve peace, has become increasingly frustrated in recent weeks by the failure to reach a deal.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says while Russia would prefer to achieve its aims peacefully, it has a duty to be victorious over Ukraine.
“The peace process continues. President Putin’s main goal is to achieve the aims he declared when starting the special military operation. We should secure our national interests. Is it preferable to achieve these goals peacefully? Yes. And initially, the president tried to achieve these goals peacefully.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says progress in resolving the war depends on Russia taking the first step of agreeing to an unconditional ceasefire.
To football now...
Socceroos coach Tony Popovic says he is confident his side can overcome the loss of midfielder Jackson Irvine and qualify for next year's FIFA World Cup.
Victory over Japan's Samurai Blue in Perth will all but seal Australia's qualification for the tournament with a game to spare.
Popovic has confirmed that Irvine will miss June's qualifiers against both Japan and Saudi Arabia due to a foot injury, but says it's an opportunity to recruit.
"We're trying to see what profile we need in midfield. Do we want someone more similar to Jackson with the way he gets forward really well and can get into the box late? Or do we want someone as well that can control the game in our build up? So, we’ve got to balance all that out and see what our options are."
Popovic has also confirmed the Socceroos will hold a training camp in Abu Dhabi next month, leading into the June window.
