Latham ordered to pay independent MP’s legal costs after losing defamation case – as it happened
There is a lot of uncertainty in polling. Despite the individual polls results, Labor has yet to show a clear lead in Guardian Australia’s modelling. The model averages the polls over the time they are in the field and factors in sample sizes, previous results and the “house effects” (bias towards a party) of each pollster.
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Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the best overnight stories and then Krishani Dhanji will be your guide.
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Stock markets in Europe and the US have seen heavy losses after yesterday’s announcement by Donald Trump of tariffs on US trading partners. Anthony Albanese’s government is still considering its response but has unveiled $1bn in loans to help Australian exporters after the tariff hit. We have more coming up.
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The US president’s economic warfare has made him politically toxic with Australian voters. Although the situation is fraught with difficulties for Albanese – will it crash our economy? – there could be political benefits because Peter Dutton has in the past tried to align himself with Trumpist themes such as being “strong” on defence and immigration. Our political writers have their analysis, and in the blog in a minute we’ll look at a new poll showing that Dutton is losing popularity with voters.
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Key events
What we learned today, Friday 4 April
Emily Wind
Well, this has been an absolutely massive week – and we’re only on day eight of the election campaign. Here are all the main takeaways from what went down today:
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Anthony Albanese wrapped up the first week of election campaigning with a stop in his home city of Sydney.
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He spoke at a Daily Telegraph-hosted event in western Sydney, committing to extend the $20,000 instant asset write-off for small businesses and tradies for another year.
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Peter Dutton, also in western Sydney, made a $231m roads funding announcement at the same event.
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The opposition leader’s popularity with voters has plummeted, according to the latest YouGov poll, with his approval rating at its lowest since taking on the Coalition’s top job. Albanese solidified his lead as preferred PM, leading 45% to 38%.
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Dutton denied reports his relationship with the mining magnate Gina Rinehart is cooling, saying WA mining makes an “enormous contribution” to Australia.
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The trade minister, Don Farrell, said the government would use critical minerals as a negotiating tactic with the US over tariffs.
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ANZ joined the other three major banks in predicting an interest rate cut in May.
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Voting trends among gen Zers in the western world point to young men favouring more rightwing parties while young women are leaning more to the left.
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The climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, and the shadow minister, Ted O’Brien, are scheduled to debate each other next Thursday.
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The former One Nation leader Mark Latham’s homophobic tweet about political rival Alex Greenwich could cost more than triple after he was ordered to pay the independent Sydney MP’s legal costs.
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The former Liberal MP Petro Georgiou has died at the age of 77.
Enjoy your weekend, and take care.
Head of Salmon Tasmania steps down after less than two years
The head of Salmon Tasmania, Luke Martin, has stepped down after less than two years in the job, the Mercury reports. It says the former department of primary industries secretary Dr John Whittington will replace him.
Martin took on the role in May 2023, replacing Sue Grau, who lasted less than 18 months in the job. The Salmon Tasmania chair, Lyall Howard, said in a statement:
Luke has been an outstanding advocate for our industry over the past two-years. He has led our industry with passion, skill and determination whilst navigating the challenging circumstances with Macquarie Harbour. Without him, the west coast community would be facing an uncertain future.
Luke will leave Salmon Tasmania with the respect and thanks of our industry from the very highest levels of our companies to the thousands of salmon workers and their families across the State.
Former MP Petro Georgiou has died aged 77
Benita Kolovos
The former Howard government MP Petro Georgiou has died at the age of 77, his family has confirmed.
Georgiou spent 16 years representing the seat of Kooyong in federal parliament, where he was an advocate for immigrants and refugees, and previously advised the former prime minister Malcolm Fraser, directed the Victorian Liberal party branch and helped establish SBS.
Georgiou’s successor in the seat, Josh Frydenberg, said the former MP was “widely respected for his integrity, intelligence and commitment to the local community”.
Petro was a small ‘l’ Liberal who had a big impact.
The Victorian Liberal leader, Brad Battin, called Georgiou a “principled advocate for human rights and a greatly respected figure in the history of our party”.
I recognise and celebrate the important legacy he leaves behind – particularly his strong voice in debates on multiculturalism, refugees and civil liberties, and his commitment to ensuring the Liberal party remained a broad church.
Georgiou is survived by his partner, Roxanne, and his two children, Dino and Alexia.
The election campaign so far, with Krishani Dhanji
We’ve just wrapped the first full week of the election campaign. So what’s happened? Some meeting with babies, a lot of hi-vis vests and, of course, over it all the looming spectre of Donald Trump’s tariffs on seemingly the entire world.
Guardian Australia’s Krishani Dhanji brings you up to speed on what’s happened in the election so far:
Former Liberal MP weighs in on Dutton’s comments about ideology in schools
The former Liberal MP Jason Falinski has weighed in on Peter Dutton’s rhetoric about ideology in the education system, and how this may impact the Liberals’ attempts to regain teal seats.
Falinski is the former MP for Mackellar, which is now held by the independent Sophie Scamps.
Speaking on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing this afternoon, Falinski suggested ideology in schools wasn’t at the front of people’s minds in teal seats:
In upper middle class, highly educated socio-demographics, those sorts of messages are not so much not resonating, but not at the top of people’s minds – especially in NSW – so they are messages directed to other demographics and communities in Australia.
Do those comments cause damage? Falinski said they didn’t, and argued:
If your sense of the situation is the education system in your part of the world is working well, what you would tend to find is people will ignore those types of messages. But if you are in other parts of the country where people are worried about more time spent on ideology than education per se, they are messages that will resonate quite well with you.
He argued that in all teal seats, parents are “opting out” of public education and choosing to put their children in private education.
Peter Lewis on voting differences between gen Z women and men
Peter Lewis, an executive director of research company Essential, spoke with the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing just earlier to reflect on the election campaign so far – we’re only on day eight, believe it or not.
He spoke about the voting trends apparent with gen Z, saying young women were moving more to the left and young men to the right:
The women are moving progressive – much more likely to vote Green, want action on climate and disapprove of Donald Trump. The lads are a totally different story altogether … [They] were by far the most supportive of what Donald Trump is doing – like, it was off the charts, even more so than boomers – and more likely to support Peter Dutton …
[There’s] a global phenomenon around young men which is not your normal political story, and it is one to watch as the election gets closer.
Lewis said the gender divide “cleaved in the late stages of the [Scott] Morrison government” but, even then, the differences were not as strong and there was an idea younger generations were more progressive.
Benita Kolovos has also looked into this apparent difference between young women and men’s voting patterns and values – you can have a read below:
Natasha May
NSW doctors to strike for three days after ‘18 months of failed negotiations’
In a statement released after this morning’s hearing, Asmof’s executive director, Andrew Holland, said:
Asmof has determined that it will proceed with the planned industrial action from 8 to 10 April. Doctors have been left with little choice. After 18 months of failed negotiations, our members are striking because they feel they have no other way to be heard.
Right now, doctors across NSW are working dangerously long hours in severely understaffed hospitals. The result is a workforce that is exhausted and burning out, and patient care is being put at risk.
We have spent 18 months in good faith trying to fix this through negotiation. The [Chris] Minns government walked away from the table. If they won’t come back and put forward genuine solutions, there will be no progress, and this crisis will continue to escalate.
This strike action will go ahead as planned across NSW hospitals. It will be conducted in a safe and responsible manner. Emergency departments and critical care units will remain safely staffed, and patient safety will not be compromised.
Natasha May
Doctors union to provide all communications regarding strike plans to NSW Health before 2pm
In a second urgent hearing held at 11.20am, the Industrial Relations Commission sought to clarify the matter of what documents Asmof was required to provide NSW Health by way of informing the government of its strike plans.
Dan Fuller, the barrister representing NSW Health, said Asmof’s covering letter suggested it knew about potential further industrial action that it was “not able to communicate to us”.
Fuller said the direction given by the IRC to provide NSW Health the strike plans should capture emails sent by Asmof members informing the union of different local health districts’ plans and file notes of plans discussed in meetings.
Fuller said there were inconsistencies in the strike plans Asmof had provided. For example, they don’t say anything about strikes in Westmead’s emergency department but NSW Health was aware there were significant numbers of doctors planning to strike from that department.
Fuller said it was possible perhaps members had not yet communicated their plans to Asmof, but he believed “there are documents that exist that have not been provided to us”.
Asmof’s executive director, Andrew Holland, said he agreed Amsof can provide the kind of documents Fuller mentioned, but said there was a strong likelihood the documents NSW Health thinks exist do not.
Holland said it was not the case that the union was aware of further strike action which it was not telling NSW Health about, but rather a case that “there may be other forms of action”. Holland said the issue was with the union getting feedback from “the stragglers” and it may make a commitment it would provide that “as soon as it is made available to us”.
Acting Justice Peter Kite gave directions that Asmof should before 2pm today provide to the health secretary all copies of documents recording strike action that will or may be taken next week, as well as when that action will take place and over what period.
Natasha May
Psychiatrists’ arbitration delayed until next Friday
The Industrial Relations Commission is delaying hearing the psychiatrists’ dispute with NSW Health while the doctors’ union representing psychiatrists is defying their orders and going ahead with a three-day strike for all members next week.
The expert evidence was meant to be heard in the IRC’s court in Sydney today in the matter between NSW Health and the Australian Salaried Medical Officers (Asmof), which is seeking a special levy to increase staff psychiatrists’ pay by 25% to stem the flow of specialist doctors leaving the public system.
However, that hearing has been delayed until next week due to the union defying the IRC’s orders in a separate matter arbitrating the pay of all doctors across the state. On Tuesday when the parties could not agree on a final pay offer, the commission ordered Asmof to refrain from industrial action, but the union is proceeding with its strike plans.
In a hearing at 10am this morning, Justice David Chin summarised the commission’s orders made yesterday that for the psychiatrists’ hearing to proceed today, Asmof was supposed to provide an affidavit that they will comply with the orders the IRC made that the union would not go ahead with a general strike.
The union’s barrister, Thomas Dixon, confirmed Asmof had provided no such affidavit.
Chin said the psychiatrists’ matter would be listed for directions next Friday 11 April (the day after Asmof’s industrial action ends) and that both parties should indicate the availability of their expert witnesses.
Dan Fuller, the barrister representing NSW Health, said Asmof has not provided it with the final copies of strike plans as they had been directed to do yesterday.
Luca Ittimani
How to protect your superannuation retirement savings
Hackers have targeted Australian superannuation funds this week, compromising some members’ data, according to the funds. But how do you protect your hard-earned retirement savings if you are a member?
AustralianSuper recommended members log in to their account and change their password to a strong, unique code not used on other websites.
Some funds allow members to set up multi-factor authentication on top of a password, though not all funds offer this security option.
After changing their password, members were also encouraged to check their bank account and contact details were correct and review their transactions or transfer requests.
If any customers noticed any details had been changed or unusual transactions, they should get in touch with their fund immediately, the government website Moneysmart advised.
Login pages for many super funds remained functional this afternoon, though some AustralianSuper members reported being unable to log in to their accounts.
Affected members could report suspected cybercrimes and seek round-the clock assistance at www.cyber.gov.au/report or on 1300CYBER1 from Australian cybersecurity centre advisers.
Members should also provide their fund up-to-date phone, email and postal contact details to ensure their fund can contact them quickly in the event of any suspicious activity.
Dutton scotches rumours he ‘disappointed’ Rinehart with Coalition gas plan
We brought you the news earlier that Peter Dutton shrugged off rumours he “disappointed” Gina Rinehart with his Coalition gas plans. You can now read the full story here:
Beaches much cleaner as litterbugs get the message
In some non-political news this afternoon, coastal litter on Australia’s beaches is down by more than one-third in a decade.
A 16% jump in areas completely free from plastic waste has also been recorded, AAP reports.
A CSIRO study surveyed inland, riverine and coastal habitats across six urban regions, recording lower levels of plastic pollution in Newcastle, Perth and the Sunshine Coast. Hobart and Port Augusta recorded more litter than before, however.
The CSIRO senior research scientist Denise Hardesty was heartened by an overall 39% reduction in plastic waste across Australia’s metropolitan coastlines:
Although there are still areas for concern, it’s exciting to see a significant decrease in plastic pollution as people around the country are becoming more aware of the harmful effects of plastic waste on people, communities and wildlife.
Food packaging and other plastics remain the most prevalent source of rubbish on beaches, and flexible plastics are particularly dangerous for wildlife.
Homophobic tweet to cost Latham more than $500,000
Jordyn Beazley
The cost of former One Nation leader Mark Latham’s homophobic tweet about political rival Alex Greenwich could more than triple after he was ordered to pay the independent Sydney MP’s legal costs.
The federal court justice David O’Callaghan today ordered Latham to pay costs after Greenwich won his defamation case against Latham in September.
Greenwich was then awarded $140,000 in damages, and will now have his legal costs covered on a party-party basis, which normally covers about 70% of the fees incurred. Greenwich’s costs are estimated to be $600,000.
Latham posted a tweet that explicitly described a sex act during the 2023 state election, and a court later found it exposed Greenwich, who is gay and a prominent LGBTQ+ community advocate, to a torrent of hateful abuse including death threats.
Latham posted it in response to Greenwich describing Mr Latham as a “disgusting human being”.
Latham’s lawyer had argued the former One Nation MP should only have to pay a quarter of Greenwich’s costs.
Independent candidate continues tilt for seat despite section 44 eligibility question
An independent candidate for the seat of Fremantle says she will go ahead with her tilt for the seat, even though she has so far been unable to renounce her dual British citizenship.
Speaking on her daily campaign podcast, Kate Hulett said she wasn’t going to let “some silly paperwork nonsense” stop her, after making multiple attempts to renounce her dual citizenship ahead of the deadline.
She was born in Armadale and has two passports after being put on her mum’s passport as a baby. Dual citizens cannot sit in parliament. Hulett said:
As soon as I realised what this meant for my campaign I raced home, completed the application to renounce it, paid the exorbitant fee and assumed that would be that. Then the email from the Home Office came back saying that it may take up to six months to receive official confirmation.
Hulett said she has spoken to constitutional lawyers in Australia and the UK, written to UK MPs, spoken to the British High Commission in Canberra and called the Home Office in the UK “I don’t know how many times”.
I have taken every step I can to renounce my British citizenship before nominations close … So many people in my electorate came here from overseas or have family ties in other countries, and it’s absurd that it can stop them getting involved in the democratic process … I do not expect that some silly paperwork nonsense is going to stop me getting to election day and absolutely nailing the brief.
Bowen and O’Brien to debate each other next week
The climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, and shadow climate and energy minister, Ted O’Brien, are scheduled to debate each other next week.
The debate will be held at the National Gallery of Australia in Gandel Hall next Thursday, Guardian Australia has confirmed.
Mislabelled shipments led to Trump tariffs on uninhabited islands with no US trade
Trade tariffs imposed on tiny Australian territories that are either uninhabited or claim to have no trading relationship with the US appear to have been calculated based on erroneous trade data.
The data relates, at least in part, to shipments mislabelled as coming from remote Norfolk Island, or Heard Island and McDonald Islands, instead of their correct countries of origin, the Guardian can reveal.
You can read the full story from Kate Lyons and Nick Evershed below:
Albanese wishes he could ‘go to the pub with my mates, without anyone else’
Just circling back to Anthony Albanese’s earlier press conference in Blacktown, where he had a funny exchange with one of the reporters over whether or not he feels “straitjacketed” in his job as prime minister.
The journalist asked:
Just before, when you were on stage, there was a bit of a grizzle where you were asked if you were going to the footy and said, “I’m not allowed to have fun in this job.” Serious question – do you feel straitjacketed in this job?
Albanese responded with a laugh:
Look, I wish I could go to the pub with my mates, without anyone else – or any of you.
The journalist joked:
We’re not your mates?
The PM continued, and said:
No, without security with some of you as well! There are people here who I’ve had really good engagement with. It’s a different dynamic. One of them is laughing right here. You know, we can catch up and stuff. There are restrictions in the job but that’s part of the deal. That’s part of the arrangement and it’s an incredible privilege that I have.
Emily Wind here, I’ll be staying with you on the blog for the rest of the afternoon.
3.7 magnitude earthquake felt in Albury
Emily Wind
A magnitude 3.7 earthquake has struck near Albury, in the border region of Victoria and NSW.
According to Geoscience Australia, it occurred around 12.30pm this afternoon at a depth of 5.09 km, between Albury and Holbrook.
The closest town to where the earthquake occurred appears to be Mullengandra.
