Ken Wyatt says politicising welcome to country ‘just adds to the division’
Former Liberal minister Ken Wyatt is on RN Breakfast and says welcome to country ceremonies are about being welcomed into “somebody’s home or somebody’s homeland”, and believes politics should “stay out of it”.
Wyatt was the first Indigenous minister for Indigenous Australians, but lost his seat in 2022, and left the Liberal party entirely during the voice to parliament referendum over the party’s stance.
Wyatt is asked whether he’s disappointed in how Peter Dutton, who has said the ceremonies are “overdone”, has handled the issue.
I’m disappointed with anybody who doesn’t take the time to understand the importance of friendship, welcoming and acknowledging that you are part of the community and you’re being welcomed into somebody’s home country, home region, and to politicise it just adds to the division. We have enough challenges in dealing with so many issues.
I think when you start to politicise elements of Aboriginal affairs or cultural practices, then you start a process of allowing division to occur.
Key events
Katter’s Australian Party MP Nick Dametto has revealed he was cautioned by Queensland police over an incident where he unintentionally took alcohol into an Indigenous community earlier this month.
Dametto posted a photograph of himself holding a can of full-strength Great Northern beer on Curacao Island on Good Friday on his Facebook page earlier this month.
The island is part of the Palm Island local government area, which is covered by an alcohol management plan banning drinks over 4% alcohol by volume. The Great Northern original lager is 4.2% strength.
He made what’s called a personal explanation in parliament on Tuesday morning.
At the time, I was unaware that I may have been in breach of the Palm Island Alcohol Management Plan…
Mr speaker, the incident was subsequently investigated by Queensland Police, and following the investigation, an adult caution was issued. I can advise the house that the matter is now finalised.
Stephanie Convery
Rugby Australia has confirmed that it will conduct live Welcome to Country ceremonies at all its Wallabies home games this year.
Rugby Australia’s confirmation that it will continue with the ceremonies follows comments from Football Australia, who yesterday said in a statement to the Guardian:
Football Australia remains deeply committed to Reconciliation in Australia. As the ‘world game’, it is our responsibility and privilege to share the rich histories and cultures of Australia’s First Nations peoples with the world.
Our First Nations peoples and cultures are important [to] our game. We continue to find meaningful ways to show our respect, including through Acknowledgments and Welcomes to Country at major events, staff and leadership gatherings, and large stakeholder meetings. Our new national team jersey proudly pays homage to the deep cultural heritage, artistry, and enduring spirit of First Nations peoples, carrying their stories onto the global stage.
Guardian Australia contacted major sporting organisations about their policies regarding incorporation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander protocols into public events in the wake of renewed debate about the matter over the weekend.
That was sparked after a small group of people, including known neo-Nazis, booed during Welcome to Country ceremonies ANZAC Day dawn services being performed by Aboriginal elders, and NRL club Melbourne Storm came under fire for being accused of cancelling a Welcome to Country at its Anzac Day NRL match at the last minute.
The NRL and AFL did not respond to requests for comment.
Dutton checks out fruit and veg at Nowra farmers’ market
Josh Butler
Peter Dutton is visiting a farmers’ market in Nowra, wandering the aisles and inspecting some of the fruit and vegetables on offer at the store. He’s with local Liberal candidate Andrew Constance.
Dutton has chatted briefly to a few customers doing their shopping, and is talking to The store owner about cost of living pressures like power bills.
The Liberal Leader hasn’t done many of these unscripted public appearances, where the environment is less controlled. The shop isn’t busy, but there are a small number of people doing their groceries. It’s always funny to see unsuspecting punters, just going about their daily errands, accidentally wander into a photo op when their local shop or street is taken over by a politician’s visit.
Dutton is wandering the aisles, with his wife Kirrilly picking up some fruit and yoghurt. Dutton lingered at a display of sweet potatoes, picking up one tuber and checking it out for a while – perhaps hamming up for the cameras, considering that he has hiked his family’s nickname for him is “Mr Potato Head”.
The owner is talking about the costs for delivery and storage of fresh goods. Dutton says cost pressures are “economy wide”.
‘How do you cost things when you are all over the shop?’
The PM is asked a final question on the Coalition’s accusation that Labor is engaging in a “spend-a-thon”.
Albanese says that his party has now put out their costings, and turns the attention back to the Coalition, who are yet to release theirs.
This mob, to be fair to them, it must be difficult for them to find costings because from day-to-day their policies change. How do you cost things when you are all over the shop?
He then takes a tangent, criticising the opposition over a variety of issues – including on media reports about a Exclusive Brethren members volunteering for Coalition, and the Coalition’s decision to do a preferences deal with One Nation.
Albanese questioned about cuts to public service consultants and contractors
Albanese is pushed on whether the Labor party is also cutting down the public service, like Peter Dutton, by promising to get rid of more consultants, contractors and labour hire, to save $6.4bn over the forward estimates.
The figure was unveiled in yesterday’s costings released by the treasurer and finance minister.
Albanese goes on the defensive and says: “That is completely not right”.
What we’re cutting out [is] some of the waste. Some 54,000 consultants over the period of office. I have met people… who used to be a deputy secretary of the department earning reasonable wages, $200,000 for a senior role.
Now they are working half the time, getting paid double the amount under when the Coalition were in office, doing the same thing providing advice as consultants for the big four firms in particular. A complete collapse.
Chalmers: ‘There will be no reason to lose the AAA if Labor is re-elected’
The prime minister and treasurer are dismissing concerns of ratings agency S&P indicating Australia’s AAA debt rating could be in jeopardy if debt and deficit worsen.
Jim Chalmers said:
The ratings agency should be very pleased and reassured of the progress we made in the budget in just three years in office.
There will be no reason to lose the AAA if Labor is re-elected. We have shown … the enthusiasm for economic management. We have a good record for responsible economic management.
We value the AAA credit rating. We got them stable under Labor … We are providing exactly the right kind of responsible economic management the ratings agencies value.
Anthony Albanese said of Chalmers: “This bloke here is the only treasurer in a long period of time who has delivered two budget surpluses.
“We are indeed very proud of our record.”
Albanese says Dutton’s campaign will ‘go down very badly in his electorate’
Anthony Albanese says Peter Dutton has “gone away from his electorate” of Dixon, “not to it”.
“I think that will go down very badly in his electorate.”
He told press the opposition leader “showed a level of arrogance … very early on when he in an interview said he wanted to live in Kirribilli House”:
A Queensland prime minister who wanted to not live in the national capital but prefers Sydney to living in the prime minister’s residence in the Lodge. I think that will go down very badly in his electorate.
The prime minister said Labor will continue to campaign in Dixon.
Chalmers: ‘If we want to build more homes for Australia, we need to elect Renee Coffey’
The prime minister is joined by treasurer Jim Chalmers in Griffith.
Chalmers says electing Labor’s Renee Coffey in the electorate will bring tax cuts:
If we want to build more homes for Australia, we need to elect Renee Coffey to the Australian parliament. We need to elect Renee Coffey to the parliament if we want tax cuts.
Only one party is going to this election with a credible, costed, coherent economic plan and it’s the Labor party. And housing is at the absolute core of our responsible economic management.
Albanese takes aim at Chandler-Mather in visit to Griffith
Anthony Albanese is speaking live from the Brisbane electorate of Griffith.
The prime minister says the local MP, the Greens’ Max Chandler-Mather, has “personally held up” housing policies:
The local MP here has personally held up, as the Greens party housing spokesperson … investments in the Housing Australia Future Fund, held up the Help To Buy scheme, about shared equity in home ownership, held up the Build To Rent scheme that’s about private rental properties that will result in well over six figures of houses being built, according to the property council, according to the industry.
Krishani Dhanji
Paterson calls for Asio investigation into volunteers on Ryan campaign
Earlier on ABC News Breakfast, shadow home affairs minister James Paterson was asked about those reports in the Age, which Monique Ryan just addressed on Sky News.
He said the reports, if confirmed, would “constitute a serious act of foreign interference”.
An organisation connected to the [United Work Front] department, which is the overseas influence arm of the Chinese Communist party that Xi Jinping has described as his “magic weapon”, has been directing people to volunteer on the campaign of Monique Ryan in Kooyong.
I think it’s critical that the federal police and ASIO investigate this and Monique Ryan be transparent about what involvement she’s had.
To recap, Ryan said the volunteers had attended a dinner where Ji Jianmin had told them they should support Ryan, and Ryan has gone to the Australian Electoral Commission and Department of parliamentary services, telling them if they have any concerns, they should investigate.
Monique Ryan invites investigation into Chinese Australian volunteers ‘in the interests of full transparency’
Krishani Dhanji
Monique Ryan has responded to reports in the Age newspaper that volunteers wearing Ryan t-shirts have been filmed saying a community organisation, which has historical links to the Chinese Communist party’s foreign interference operation, told them to vote for the teal MP.
In the footage, the Age reports a woman says the instruction came from Ji Jianmin, president of the Hubei Association, an organisation that has been accused of working with the United Work Front Department, a department of the Central Committee of the CCP.
Ryan told Sky News:
[They’re] people who attended a dinner where a community leader [Jianmin] said that he supported me and he supported my values, and thought that I’ve been very supportive of the community in recent years, and for that reason he thought people should support me now. I’m grateful for the support the Chinese Australians have given me in the last three years.
Shadow home affairs minister James Paterson told ABC News Breakfast this morning that the federal police and spy agency ASIO should investigate the reports.
Ryan is asked whether she would support that investigation:
I don’t want there to be any concerns about this, and in the interests of full transparency, I’ve contacted the AEC and the Department of Parliamentary Services and given them the details that I gave to the Age yesterday about my relationship with those volunteers and with Mr Ji and I’ve said, look, if you’ve got any concerns, please investigate.
Martin Farrer
Why millions of Australians are casting their votes early
One of the most notable features of this federal election looks like the number of people who are voting early. Whether it’s to beat long queues or long drives, or just the convenience of getting it done before the weekend, we talk to pre-pollers and ask experts what it tells us about the way society is changing.
And in the latest of our Anywhere but Canberra series, Melbourne IT worker Irfan Syed tells us he is “struggling big time” with cost-of-living issues but will be voting Labor as he usually does because of their policies on health, immigration and the economy.
Josh Butler
Dutton lands in Nowra for visit to Labor-held seat of Gilmore
Peter Dutton’s campaign has landed in Nowra, in the Labor seat of Gilmore. The Liberal leader made the short flight from Sydney this morning, and we’re expecting an event with Andrew Constance, the perennial Liberal candidate, this morning.
In some political spotting this morning, we’ve just seen former Liberal minister Marise Payne outside the event. More to come soon.
