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Australia news live: poll puts One Nation ahead of Labor as Joyce says party would ditch ‘most of Labor’s budget’ | Australia news
Key events
Andrew Messenger
Queensland premier says protesters had to be moved on for safety
Queensland premier David Crisafulli says protesters and an Aboriginal tent embassy had to be moved out of Brisbane’s Victoria Park this morning for safety reasons.
The Goori Camp embassy was issued a policy direction at 1am on Monday on behalf of the Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority.
It came after a series of arrests of protesters on Friday and a major rally against the project on Sunday.
Asked if they had been treated with respect, Crisafulli said
“Everyone’s got a right to protest ut from midnight this becomes a construction zone,” he said.
I think most people would acknowledge that the place to do that wouldn’t be in the middle of a construction site.
Crisafulli said the “vast majority of Queenslanders” want the state government to get on with building the stadium, and said the federal government had endorsed the plan.
Abbott unbothered by One Nation poll showing but says Coalition ‘obviously’ in competition
Tony Abbott, the new party president of the Liberals, said he wouldn’t get “too excited” by the poll showing One Nation’s surging support. But he told RN this morning he believes the country is in trouble and the Liberal/National Coalition is best positioned to lead the nation.
Abbott spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying:
Our economy is stagnant, our society is fragmenting, our security is imperiled, and yes, we don’t believe in ourselves nearly enough. I think the current government is making all of this worse. And it’s really important that we get a better government as soon as possible. …
Obviously, we are in a degree of competition with other parties and voices on the centre-right. But in the end, our opponent, our enemy, if you like, is a really bad Labor government, a really bad Green-left-Labor government. Which in its budget, [has led an] assault on aspiration and wealth creation.
Abbott went on to say it would take “hard work” to appeal to Australians, saying the Coalition was still “by far the most credible” alternative to the current government:
The point I make is: if you normally vote Liberal, if you’re interested in public life, if you think our country is in trouble, please don’t complain on the sidelines. Join the party and make a difference.
Andrew Messenger
Press conference gathers to break ground on controversial Olympic stadium
A team of sports figures is gathered for a press conference to break ground on the controversial Olympics in Victoria Park, Brisbane.
Security is high, with the park fenced off and Queensland police patrolling the area and access to the press conference tightly controlled.
There were five arrests on Friday as a protest camp was cleared to make way for the stadium. Hundreds of protesters gathered to criticise the project yesterday.
The state says it intends to start early works on the project today.
Scores of sports figures, including Lions CEO Sam Graham and Queensland Cricket CEO Terry Svenson, and junior players from West’s Juniors AFL club are gathered to mark the milestone.
There are 28 shovels marked “I helped build Brisbane stadium” set aside.
Barnaby Joyce says One Nation would get rid of ‘most of’ Labor’s budget
Barnaby Joyce said politics in Australia have “changed” amid a new poll that shows One Nation surging in support.
Joyce spoke to Channel 7’s Sunrise this morning, saying the latest data that suggests Pauline Hanson’s party is the most popular in the country amounted to an “incredible honour”, but he said he wouldn’t get ahead of ourselves as that would be “hubris”.
Joyce added:
It’s an indicator, not a vote …
It’s not One Nation that’s changed. It’s the Australian public that’s changed and they’ve changed in waves.
It’s not an aberration. It’s real.
Speaking alongside Tanya Plibersek, Joyce said if One Nation came to power, he would get rid of the Labor government’s “climate change department” and “most of your budget”.
Tom McIlroy
Solomon Islands prime minister to visit Australia
The new prime minister of Solomon Islands, Matthew Wale, arrives in Canberra tonight, the start of a significant visit for Australian foreign policy.
Wale replaced former PM Jeremiah Manele who was ousted from power in a no-confidence vote earlier this month. The contest was widely seen as a choice between Solomon Islands continuing close ties with China, or a rebalancing relations toward Australia and western allies.
Wale has long advocated a more cautious approach on ties with Beiking and is expected to push for a closer security relationship with Australia and the United States in office.
He will touch down in Canberra on Monday night, before high-level meetings on Tuesday and talks with prime minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday.
Located 1,600km north-east of Australia, Solomon Islands is considered strategically significant to Australia because of its proximity, its central location in the South Pacific, and its long history of security cooperation with Canberra.
The country also sits near major undersea cable routes that carry most of the world’s internet traffic, with the security of that digital infrastructure of key importance.
One dead after house fire in Melbourne
A person has died and another was seriously injured after an early morning house fire in Melbourne, Australian Associated Press reports.
Emergency services were called to Newbury Street in Werribee, in Melbourne’s south-west, after reports of a fire just after midnight.
One resident died at the scene and another was taken to hospital with serious injuries, police said.
Fire crews arrived at the scene within three minutes, by which time its tiled roof was fully alight, Fire Rescue Victoria said.
A 40-year-old man was treated for burns. Authorities have not yet confirmed the age of the person who died, but media reports say it may have been a young child.
The circumstances surrounding the fire are being investigated and an arson chemist will attend the scene, police said.
Shadow treasurer says Coalition still major player amid stagnant polling
Tim Wilson, the shadow treasurer, said the Coalition needed to be “better” in light of the One Nation polling, but said any notion the opposition was now a minor party was “cute”, but untrue.
Wilson told RN:
What Australians are right now is despairing of the state of this government. … We need to be better and make sure that we clearly communicate to the Australian community what we’re going to do. But I’m absolutely convinced that, not just we will be here in the next parliament, but we will go on to win. …
I think there’s a chunk of voters who are just going into the orange paddock of despair because there’s a lot of noise and attention there, but we need to actually make it clear where we want to take the country.
Wilson said the Coalition still needed to ensure that “we’ve got ways to connect with people where they are, and particularly to speak to key constituencies”.
Health minister says don’t read ‘too much’ into polls showing surging One Nation
Mark Butler, the federal health minister, said he wouldn’t “read too much into the numbers” showing surging support for One Nation, noting the country is two years out from the next election.
He spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying:
There’ll be a million polls between now and the election day, which will determine future government.
I think we all understand that households are under enormous pressure right now. They have been for a period of time. We saw even before the war in Iran that our economy was pretty hot, building a lot of price pressures in the system, but that’s been greatly aggravated by the impact of this war in Iran. So I think you see that in the polls, you see it in private research.
People are just wanting government to deliver more relief.
One Nation the most popular party in the country, survey suggests
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation is the most popular political party in the country, a survey suggests.
AAP reports the Redbridge Group/Accent Research poll, published on Monday by the Australian Financial Review, shows support for One Nation has risen four points to 31%.
Labor’s primary vote is at 28%, down three points since the poll firm’s last survey a month ago and the government’s budget that was announced on 12 May, and the coalition dropped two points to 20%.
Support for the Greens dipped one point to 12% and backing for the “other” category of parties rose two points to 9%.
Labor leads One Nation 51% to 49% on the Redbridge poll’s two-party-preferred basis, calculated by asking respondents how they would direct their preferences.
The poll of 1005 voters was conducted between Monday and Thursday, and has a 3.4% margin of error.
Tom McIlroy
Aged care waiting times coming down, Labor says
Amid persistent delays and funding challenges, some aged care wait times have started coming down, according to the federal government.
The aged care minister, Sam Rae, said every person classified as urgent priority for the Support at Home program is getting funding within one month.
High-priority case wait times have dropped by a fortnight to between one and two months while medium-priority wait times have dropped from between eight and nine months to between six and seven months. Standard priority cases currently wait seven to eight months, down from 10 to 11 months in November last year.
Rae said the median wait for an assessment is consistently under one month, and the time for in-hospital assessments remains under one day.
“While we know there’s much more to do, these numbers are encouraging signs our methodical work to secure more care for more older Australians than ever is shifting the dial,” he said.
Older people told us they want care they can trust, close to home and at a fair price. We have listened, and Labor’s getting things moving in the right direction to ensure every older Australian can get the care they deserve, sooner.
Good morning
Happy Monday: Nick Visser here to take you through the news as we start off the week. Here’s what’s on deck:
One Nation is the most popular political party in the country, a new survey suggests. The poll, published Monday by the Australian Financial Review, shows support for Pauline Hanson’s party has risen four points, to 31%. Labor’s primary vote is at 28% and the Coalition sits at 20%.
Victorians are now eligible for two cost of living measures meant to help during the ongoing fuel crisis: 20% off vehicle registration and half-price public transportation until the end of the year. The state had instituted free public transport for the past two months, which ended on Sunday.
Stick with us, there’s more to come.
