NewsBite

Rex Patrick

October 2023

Former independent senator Rex Patrick.

Senate’s Transparency Warrior flings the invisibility cloak

Former independent senator Rex Patrick has turned the FOI game into a tidy earner, lodging documents for corporates, while shielding identities.

  • Mark Di Stefano

January 2023

Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie says she could use other ways to get access to the Prime Minister’s diary.

Jacqui Lambie threatens Senate action to see PM’s diary

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese could be forced to hand over his official diary if the independent pushes through action in the Senate.

  • Ronald Mizen
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese denied a request from the Financial Review to see his diary.

Anthony Albanese’s diary: PM demands $1344 to see who he’s met

Transparency experts have labelled the prime minister’s approach to releasing extracts of his diary disconcerting and unreasonable.

  • Ronald Mizen

June 2022

Rombout Swanborn makes flexible solar panels at Arnhem, in the Netherlands.

Meet the man bringing cut-price solar to Australia

A snap decision to save an experimental solar panel factory from the scrap heap is key to Andrew Forrest’s plan to make Australia a hydrogen superpower without relying on China. Listen to episode 2 of the Tech Zero podcast.

  • Peter Ker and Lap Phan

May 2022

Warringah independent candidate Zali Steggall said Scott Morrison’s support of Katherine Deves was one reason that she didn’t trust him.

Zali Steggall unloads on Scott Morrison in debate

Teal independent member for Warringah Zali Steggall unloaded on Prime Minister Scott Morrison at a debate in Canberra, saying she questioned his trustworthiness.

  • Ronald Mizen
Advertisement

March 2022

Senator Rex Patrick

Rex Patrick talks to Holmes à Court about possible lower house tilt

Weighing his future ahead of the federal election, the crossbencher discussed support from the cashed up Climate 200 group

  • Tom McIlroy
Nick Xenophon wants to return to federal politics five years after a failed bid to enter state parliament.

Rex Patrick reconsiders plans after Xenophon flags comeback

Former South Australian independent Senator Nick Xenophon has declared he will run for the Senate at the federal election.

  • Phillip Coorey

February 2022

Senator Patrick says Australia’s oil and gas reserves need to be developed with national interest in mind.

Call for oil and gas benefits czar

Senator Rex Patrick has called for a body to be set up that ensures Australia’s national interest is served through the development of oil and gas reserves.

  • Updated
  • Angela Macdonald-Smith
Embarrassing defeat: Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.

Josh Frydenberg sustains full-body gravel rash

Frydenberg’s complete lack of political judgment has been exposed for all to see.

  • Joe Aston
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg painted the numbers as expected.

Frydenberg rolled on proxy advice changes

The Senate has overturned Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s controversial proxy advice regulations just three days after they came into force.

  • Michael Read

January 2022

Exploiting oil resources carries long tail risks to cover remediation and environmental protection.

Dud deal costs oil industry $3.4b

A seven-year-old dud sale of a depleted oil tenement in the Timor Sea has morphed into the biggest hit to the oil and gas industry since the petroleum resource rent tax was introduced in 1987.

  • Tony Boyd
Pauline Hanson says she’s the victim of “cancel culture”.

One Nation rebuffs attempt to kill off proxy overhaul

Pauline Hanson says the Parliament has no time for Rex Patrick’s posturing.

  • Andrew Tillett
Labor Senator Deborah O’Neill is concerned the government does not have the constitutional right to pass its controversial litigation funding bill.

Senate committee demands A-G show how class action changes constitutional

A senate committee has ordered the Attorney-General’s department to show how the Morrison government has the constitutional power to enact its controversial proposed class action law reforms.

  • Hannah Wootton

October 2021

Commissioner of Taxation Chris Jordan.

ATO boss facing rare Senate contempt order over JobKeeper list

Tax commissioner Chris Jordan faces jail time or a fine of up to $5000 over the growing transparency stand-off.

  • Tom McIlroy

September 2021

Senator Gerard Rennick: “If people are being denied a right to earn an income, there should be full transparency of the decisions  being made.”

Rennick to cross floor on national cabinet secrecy laws

LNP senator Gerard Rennick says he will vote against the government’s move to exclude national cabinet from information disclosure laws.

  • Ronald Mizen
Advertisement

JobKeeper mistakes top $1b in payouts

Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan says about $203 million has been voluntarily repaid by firms which made big pandemic profits

  • Updated
  • Tom McIlroy
Pauline Hanson

One Nation blocks JobKeeper transparency push

Standing in the way of moves by Rex Patrick and Labor for a public register of JobKeeper recipients, Malcolm Roberts has proposed a new audit.

  • Tom McIlroy
South Australian Senator Rex Patrick has been trying to close the loophole for rich listers.

Rex Patrick threatens ATO boss with contempt of parliament

Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan faces referral to a parliamentary committee over JobKeeper recipient data.

  • Tom McIlroy

August 2021

Josh Frydenberg says Labor’s attempts to disclose JobKeeper details are an attack on small business.

Row intensifies over disclosing JobKeeper recipients’ details

Business groups and the government have rounded on attempts to publicly disclose the individual details of companies that received JobKeeper payments.

  • Updated
  • Phillip Coorey
“They simply didn’t need taxpayer support and they should give it back to people who need it.“: Labor MP Andrew Leigh.

Labor pushes for JobKeeper recipients to be identified

A Senate amendment would reveal all companies with turnover above $10 million that got COVID-19 wage assistance payments

  • Tom McIlroy

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/person/rex-lyall-patrick-jbn