Citing national security a dog whistle when you’re trying to demonise refugees, Steggall says
The interviewer says Peter Dutton would respond that he was talking about the need for greater security checks on people leaving a war zone; “a war zone where the ruling body in that war zone is proscribed, terrorist organisation”.
Zali Steggall responds:
With respect, we’re talking people that are fleeing a war zone. There is no evidence that Mr Dutton has put up that suggests that, for example, we have [given visas to people with a security risk] and let’s keep in mind and this using of national security is a true and tried dog whistle that comes out when you’re trying to demonise refugees – it’s always national security is always brought out.
But what we what this started with was me trying to tell the very human story of a beautiful family that came to Australia. They’re looking for peace and for an opportunity to raise their children in an environment that is safe.
You know, the father I had met, he wanted to start a nippers program in Gaza to ensure beach and water safety for the children, so no one is suggesting a loosening or a reduction of national security measures.
And this is just the typical and tried and tested way you demonise a minority by making others feel or inferring that there is going to be a relaxation.
And so I think you have to call out this tactic of trying to use national security and fear mongering of minority groups and so to then turn around and say it can’t be called out is playing right into that playbook of bullying.
Peter Dutton said he was not a racist when asked about Steggall’s comments last Friday.
Key events
Anthony Albanese said it wasn’t a delaying tactic, but the government “making sure that we get these reforms right”.
There is such a thing as the internet. There is offshore gambling as well, which is therefore difficult to regulate, and has implications across a range of areas as well, obviously, if you just move it offshore.
There are a range of issues that we’re dealing with, we’re consulting appropriately.
And one of the things that my government does is to make sure we don’t just take a position, try to ram it through. We consult with stakeholders. That’s a good thing. That’s how you get reform, right. That’s how you avoid unintended consequences, and that’s what we’re doing.
Albanese promises ‘further reforms’ to gambling ads
In an earlier interview with ABC radio’s Sabra Lane, Anthony Albanese was asked about the gambling ad reforms and Labor’s response, including the push from its own backbench to do more and said:
We’re a political party that has members who are very passionate about ideas. I’ve got no problem with that at all. What we’re doing as a government, though, is making sure that we get it right, and we will get it right, we will make a difference. The status quo is completely unacceptable, and there will be further reforms.
Zoe Daniel continues push to ban gambling ads
Independent Goldstein MP, Zoe Daniel, is continuing the push to have the government ban gambling ads.
Daniel introduced a private members bill seeking to do that 15 months ago. It has not moved through the house, and Daniel says it is time for the delays to stop. She said:
If the Albanese government believes another week of kicking the can down the road is going to save them from having to make the tough decision on banning gambling ads, they’re wrong. Australians have made it clear what they want. A total ban, and they want it now.
My private members bill is designed to protect Australians from the endless and incessant stream of gambling ads that are impacting on them, their families and loved ones. The community in Goldstein is crying out for an end to gambling ad avalanche. If the government is serious about dealing with this issue once and for all, it should support this legislation.”
Kylea Tink reintroduces bill to outlaw indefinite detention
North Sydney independent MP Kylea Tink is reintroducing a private members bill which would make indefinite detention illegal.
Tink’s bill would would “make it illegal for the Australian Government to detain someone seeking asylum for more than 90-days or to hold a child in detention”.
Tink said there was an “alarming” increase in the number of people being held in indefinite circumstances in “expensive and secretive offshore facilities”.
Australia’s immigration regime is uniquely cruel. There is no crime in our country that comes with a sentence of indefinite mandatory internment, yet we treat vulnerable people fleeing for their lives with less respect than we do heinous criminals. It’s past time that we had a government that is prepared to act in a manner consistent with our national values and aspirations.”
The response to the high court ruling which declared indefinite detention to be unconstitutional has once again made detention of refugees a politically troubled area. The response to the high court ruling and the resulting political firestorm was considered one of the reasons Andrew Giles and Clare O’Neil were moved from the immigration and home affairs portfolios in the recent cabinet reshuffle.
It is up to the government of the day, which controls the numbers in the house, to decide when to bring bills up for debate. This bill from Tink is unlikely to receive government support and most likely won’t be listed for debate for some time.
Humanitarian groups mark World Humanitarian Day
Today is World Humanitarian Day, as designated by the UN.
You can learn more about it, here.
Humanitarian and community groups have placed signs for the more than 450 humanitarian workers who have died while trying to help people in need, since 2023, out the front of the Australian parliament.
A group statement from the Australian Council for International Development, Australian Global Health Alliance, UNICEF Australia, PEN Sydney, the Jewish Council of Australia & Amnesty International said:
Today, we come together to honour the frontline workers who have lost their lives in humanitarian crises, representing their colleagues within our own society here in Australia.
Separately, more than 60 prominent Australians have signed an open letter from Safer World for All campaign warning the safeguards designed to protect humanitarian workers are breaking down.
It calls on the federal government to uphold its obligations under the Geneva Conventions and hold countries accountable for breaches of international humanitarian law.
AI a threat to musicians’ livelihoods, report warns
Tory Shepherd
Artificial intelligence is threatening human-made music and musicians’ income, the peak music rights’ organisation Apra Amcos says.
Kate Miller-Heidke, Jimmy Barnes, Peter Garrett, Missy Higgins and Tina Arena are among the 4,200 people who have contributed to a report released today that warns of the “potentially devastating impact” AI could have on the Australian and New Zealand industry. Almost a quarter of musicians’ revenues will be at risk by 2028, the report found, and more than eight in 10 musicians are worried they’ll no longer be able to make a living.
Apra Amcos chief, Dean Ormston, said it was “the equivalent of a fast-tracked industrial revolution”. He said:
We now know from this survey that artists are innovators and are embracing this incredible new technology, however government must put regulation and policy in place now to ensure that everyone is given the adequate credit, consent and fair remuneration for any works being used in AI platforms.
If the use of AI is unregulated and unlicensed it will be economically devastating. Creators pour their hearts and souls into their work, yet they’re facing a reality of seeing their creations exploited by AI platforms.
We urge the Australian and New Zealand governments to implement EU-style transparency guidelines on tech companies now to disclose the content that has been copied and used without permission to build AI platforms, with sanctions for non-disclosure. Without this, our industry is facing a very bleak future.
Birmingham outlines three sticking points over CFMEU legislation
Simon Birmingham is asked about the Coalition’s demands over the CFMEU legislation the government wants to get through the parliament. Birmingham says it could pass today if the government met three key points:
There remain three sticking points in the negotiations over the CFMEU. One is about having a minimum time that the union is put into administration.
We don’t trust the Labor government not to rush this process, so we want a minimum time.
The second is in relation to transparency, and having the administrator appear before Senate estimates, so that there is some transparency and accountability into this process.
And the third is in relation to political donations, and ensuring that the CFMEU cannot be donating to the Labor party or the Greens whilst they’re in administration and whilst their corrupt activities are cleaned up.
If Labor can come to the party and agree to those three very basic conditions, then this legislation can pass today.
Labor has already said no to making three years a set minimum, so looks like negotiations continue.
Birmingham defends colleagues who take defamation action
What does Simon Birmingham think about the number of Coalition frontbenchers who have taken legal action for defamation in recent years, given they have parliamentary privilege and can set the record straight through parliamentary processes, which records it on the Hansard?
Birmingham says:
Well, everybody can use any platform they want to try to set the record straight if they feel they’ve been unfairly maligned. But it also it is also a right of every Australian, whatever their political colour and whether they sit in a parliament or not, to expect that the laws of the land apply to them, and that includes the right to claim defamation if you feel you have been defamed.
On his understanding that Peter Dutton may be considering legal action against Zali Steggall for her comments, Simon Birmingham says:
I think throwing around slurs like racist allegations is quite contrary to the Labor party and what they promised last election and and is an instance of playing the man and not the ball.
And I expect we’ll probably, sadly, see a lot more of that in the run-up to the federal election, where it seems as if the entire Labor modus operandi is one of seeking to tear down Peter Dutton rather than to focus on the issues, be that fixing cost of living and addressing those challenges, or this debate about how we ensure proper standards to keep Australians safe and secure in the future.
Would Simon Birmingham use the same term that Peter Dutton did in his op-ed (see below for the quote). Birmingham says:
I use my words, my language, and I’m accountable for those.
Birmmingham pushes back at ‘slurs of racism’
Birmingham is then asked:
“Peter Dutton, in an op-ed in the News Limited papers has written ‘instead of debating the facts, Labor, the teals and the Greens accuse the Coalition of being racist and heartless. When they do, they prove they are not only Hamas’ useful idiots, they also expose their complete disregard for our national security’. Does accusing fellow MPs of being useful idiots for a terrorist organisation fit into Mike Burgess’s criteria for maintaining social cohesion?”
Birmingham replies:
I don’t think throwing around slurs of racism fits into that category. What I would note is that since October 7, tragically, there are many things that Hamas would be happy about in terms of how public debate in countries like Australia and elsewhere around the world has unfolded.
Asked again “What about the term useful idiots for Hamas being used by an opposition leader against fellow MPs?” Birmingham says:
As I was outlining, tragically, I think Hamas would be happy about the way some debates have unfolded, the way in which the government and others around the world have shifted the goalposts in relation to a two-state solution, and the approach to that that seems to no longer put ensuring peace, security and recognition of Israel’s right to exist at the forefront as part of that negotiation and offers the opportunity for an early or premature approach to recognition. These types of changes have given Hamas the type of wins that they would be happy to see.
