As it turns out, the important items on the Prime Minister’s agenda this week – in lieu of attending the NATO Leader’s Summit in the US – were electorate visits in must-win marginal seats in Queensland, where he announced some of Labor’s new candidates.
But we’re still not heading to an election! Just preparing for one, according to the PM today.
Election preparation is well and truly underway in Queensland, with the major parties spending this week debating the merits of the LNP’s latest youth crime policy which proposes to treat young offenders as adults if they commit a number of serious crimes.
Before we take a look at what dominated the political news cycle this week, let’s take a look at some of the headlines:
- Brisbane couple accused of being Russian spies, charged with espionage.
- 3000 jobs on the line as BHP suspends nickel operations.
- Air and water quality warning after massive Melbourne factory fire.
- Shipping crises fuel fears inflation could tick upwards.
- Margot Robbie debuts baby bump while holidaying in Italy.
- Far-left coalition of parties seize unexpected win in French elections, set to plunge the country into political chaos.
Politics
Japan and Korea back Australia’s pushback against China’s cyberspying
Despite having put on a friendly front just weeks ago when Chinese Premier Li Qiang was in town, Australia this week escalated its pushback against Chinese cyber espionage activities.
Australia and key regional partners, including Five Eyes nations, along with Germany, Japan and South Korea, issued an advisory on Tuesday calling out a Chinese spy agency for “conducting malicious cyber operations for the PRC Ministry of State Security (MSS).”
It’s the first time Australia has led a cyber attribution against the MSS, having previously joined other attributions led by international partners. The fact that Japan and Korea also backed the call is unusual, with the Asian nations preferring to downplay their public critique of China.
The government says the spy group, known as APT40, has infiltrated public and private sector networks in Australia, as well as government systems across the South Pacific.
China’s foreign ministry predictably refuted the claims, saying the US was responsible for its own sweeping cyber surveillance program and that they “urge relevant parties to open their eyes and make the right judgment”.
Mark Dreyfus unveils new money laundering regime
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus was joined by AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas this week at the National Press Club to launch the government’s crackdown on terrorism financing and money laundering.
The new regime will expand current anti-money laundering laws that apply to financial institutions and casinos to capture real estate and professional services industries, with security agencies concerned these industries are being targeted by criminal syndicates to launder money and conceal wealth.
The AG said the former Coalition Government had neglected important reforms in this area, putting Australia at risk of being ‘grey-listed’ by global financial watchdog the Financial Action Task Force and allowing organised crime to flourish.
A second round of consultation has just wrapped up and the government plans to introduce legislation “as soon as possible”, with a number of other flagged reforms in the AG’s portfolio – including an overhaul of Australia’s Privacy Act and changes to religious discrimination protections – still to progress.
Labor deals with the fallout of Senator Payman’s resignation
Labor’s grassroots membership is split over the damaging defection of former Labor Senator Fatima Payman last week over her views on Palestine.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s foundational faction, the NSW Young Labor Left, is hosting Senator Payman as a guest speaker at a function next week supporting the Palestine cause – although the event’s official ties to the Party have been disputed.
Prominent Young Labor members have been quoted this week supporting Senator Payman and criticising long held caucus rules that ban Labor MPs and senators from crossing the floor of Parliament to vote against the approved caucus position.
Senior Labor MPs have previously raised concerns about the rule, with current Energy Minister Chris Bowen calling them “too restrictive” a decade ago.
Meanwhile, Labor figures are said to be poring over UK election results where – despite a massive swing towards Labour – senior members of Keir Starmer’s frontbench team lost their seats to pro-Palestine independents, with ‘The Muslim Vote’ organisation rapidly gathering momentum in Western Sydney.
PM appoints antisemitism envoy
The government this week appointed Ms Jillian Segal AO as Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism to address harmful antisemitism stemming from left-wing activism in the wake of the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel.
At the same time, the Prime Minister announced the government would shortly appoint a Special Envoy for Islamophobia.
The Coalition welcomed the appointment but continued their campaign to push for an inquiry into Antisemitism on University Campuses.
Ms Segal is a former President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and Chair of the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce. She will advise the prime minister and Multicultural Affairs Minister Andrew Giles on issues of anti-Semitism, and promote education and awareness of the issue.
Queensland
Plenty of denials about early elections but the PM was bouncing around marginal seats in Queensland this week announcing Labor candidates, including in Greens-held Ryan and outer-Brisbane Forde, held by the LNP’s Bert van Manen, which is being contested once again by Rowan Holzberger.
Labor’s Ali France will also line up again against leader of the opposition Peter Dutton in Dickson.
Premier Steven Miles braved a town hall meeting in Townsville when the government held its Community Cabinet in the regional city this week. If they were hoping for better optics in a region on the frontline of the youth crime crisis, it couldn’t have been worse after multiple stolen cars were crashed, dumped or set alight in 24 hours.
One of the cars was left trashed in front of the ‘Welcome to Townsville’ sign in the centre of town. That photo was shared by opposition leader David Crisafulli with the simple caption, “Queensland needs change”.
Crisafulli has faced his own criticism this week of the LNP’s “adult crime, adult time” policy announced over the weekend at the Party’s annual convention. While the policy has attracted support from some high-profile victims of crimes in the state, it’s come under fire from legal experts and youth advocacy groups, who say it won’t address the root causes of rising youth crime rates.
The proposed changes would apply to five offences – Murder, Manslaughter, Serious harm like wounding, Home and business break-ins and robbery, and Stealing cars and dangerous operation of vehicles – but the LNP’s youth justice spokeswoman Laura Gerber said an expert panel would consider whether to add more offences.
Global
Democrats begin to pull support for Biden as pressure mounts
It’s hard to believe just how extraordinary the events unfolding in the United States are, with the turmoil surrounding President Joe Biden intensifying this week as he hosted world leaders in Washington DC for the NATO summit.
This morning (Thursday evening local time) Biden faced reporters at a press conference for the first time in months, taking questions for nearly an hour about his fitness for the upcoming campaign. Answering a question about Vice President Kamala Harris’ qualifications for the top job, Biden referred to her as “Vice President Trump”, carrying on with his sentence appearing not to have realised the gaffe.
He had earlier introduced President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin” at the NATO summit. A slip of the tongue, sure, but in the context of mounting pressure over his mental capacity it was the last thing the White House needed.
As more and more sitting Democrats begin to publicly question if Biden is their best candidate to run against Donald Trump in November, this week also saw major donors like George Clooney – who recently hosted a $30m fundraiser for the President – pull their support.
It’s difficult to see how Biden survives from here.
Russian strike horrifies global community
Russian missiles on Monday struck Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital in a brutal attack on civilians which has shocked the world.
The images beamed across the globe sparked widespread condemnation of Russia, the major hospital treating not only children injured in the conflict but also those battling long-term or complex illness. Children still tethered to chemotherapy drips could be seen stumbling from the rubble of the shelled building.
At the NATO summit in Washington DC, leaders pledged $43bn in military aid for Ukraine, as the US announced it would deploy longer-range missiles to Germany to counter a growing threat from Russia to the rest of Europe.
Australia this week committed $250 million in weapons and equipment, and in a major step-up from our current involvement in the conflict, will become an operational partner by sending personnel to a new NATO security and training initiative.
Sport and Pop Culture
Australia’s best Wimbledon chance forced to withdraw
Devastation for Australia’s highest-ranked tennis player Alex de Minaur this week, forced to pull out of what would have been his first Wimbledon quarterfinals appearance after suffering a hip injury late in his Round of 16 match.
And it could get worse, with the injury also threatening the Aussie’s Olympic chances. The tennis program gets underway in just 17 days, making the prospect of a comeback slim.
There’s still hope for Australia in the doubles, with men’s duo Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell through to the semifinals despite being rattled by a shocker of an umpire’s call early in the second set of their quarterfinal.
Apple launches Vision Pro in Australia
Apple’s latest foray into virtual reality has finally come to Australia, with their mixed reality headset hitting local stores today.
The $6000 ‘spatial computer’ can be used to browse the internet, watch movies and make FaceTime calls. Not sure exactly why you’d want to do all that via a headset strapped to your face rather than the old-fashioned, regular way – but each to their own.
Apple CEO Tim Cook says the device marks ‘the start of a new era’ and says that people shouldn’t knock it ‘til they’re tried it. Maybe we’ll all be strapped to mixed reality headsets in a couple of years, but for now we’ll take his word for it.