Prime Minister Scott Morrison finds support as he condemns ‘abhorrent’ religious jibes
Former deputy prime minister John Anderson has described attacks on Scott Morrison’s faith as an ‘outrageous’ assault on the freedom of religion after the Prime Minister hit out at the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) for mocking him at worship on Easter Sunday.
NSW
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Former deputy prime minister John Anderson has described attacks on Scott Morrison’s faith as an “outrageous” assault on the freedom of religion.
The Prime Minister on Monday hit out after he was mocked by the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) when he was pictured raising an arm while worshipping at church on Easter Sunday, next to his wife Jenny and young daughters Lily and Abbey.
The West Australian chapter CFMEU posted the photo on social media with the caption: “Beware of false prophets (or should that be profits?)”
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Mr Morrison, a member of the Pentecostal Horizon Church, condemned those who attacked others based on their faith after a few days in which he was mocked and Liberal Jewish candidates had swastikas daubed on their election signage.
“I find those comments abhorrent,” he said.
“Just like I find the swastikas that have been put on Josh Frydenberg’s corflutes and on Julian Leeser’s corflutes (and) some of the mockery that has been made of my faith by the union movement over in Western Australia to be abhorrent,” he said.
“There was another one, another group, likening my praise in church on the weekend to some sort of Hitler salute. I mean, it’s disgusting. I think these grubs are gutless.”
Mr Anderson told The Daily Telegraph the jibes demonstrated there had been a cultural breakdown in recent years in which people felt comfortable to castigate Christians for their faith.
“These attacks can only take place because of a profound ignorance of our own history,” he said. “If we understood the basis of our freedoms we understand that the genius of harmony and Western society has been our ability to live with one another’s deepest differences.
“Our forebears paid a terrible price to establish these principles and then defend them and I think it is a shocking indictment on too much of today’s academia and the educational sector that they have not ensured we have passed on an understanding of these hard-won freedoms to our children.”
He said there had been failures on both sides of the political spectrum to defend religious freedoms.
“Freedoms lost are almost never regained and I genuinely believe Australia, like most of the West, is at a very dangerous tipping point,” he said.
“Now we feel free to hate those with whom we disagree and it is very dangerous … one of the things which is severely lacking from the discourse is a little plain old-fashioned decent Australian humility.”
Former moderator of the Presbyterian Church of NSW, pastor Mark Powell, said it was becoming difficult to practice religion in Australia, saying people felt “muzzled” in public debates.
ALP TO RAISE FOREIGN WORKER COST TO HELP AUSSIES GET JOBS
Foreign workers will have to be paid at least $65,000 a year and unions will have more influence over which industries can employ them, under a Bill Shorten-led government.
In a major win for the Labor leader’s powerful backers, the policy actually betters the Australian Council of Trade Unions demands for the minimum salary for migrant workers to be raised from the current $53,900 to $62,000.
The Labor leader argues changes to the skilled visa system are needed to protect Australian wages from being undercut by cheap overseas workers.
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The Daily Telegraph earlier this month foreshadowed Labor’s proposal which has raised concerns in the business community.
Regional employers in particular were worried it would exacerbate shortages particularly in industries where workers did not want to take on low skilled jobs with wages often below $53,900.
An overhaul of skills visas has been a major campaign for unions, including the ACTU, Australian Workers’ Union, and the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, which all claim businesses and were exploiting the system.
“Under the Liberals, everything is going up except people’s wages and too many local workers are being left at the back of the queue for local jobs,” Mr Shorten said.
“There are more than 1 million underemployed Australians wanting more work and youth unemployment is at 11.7 per cent, more than double the national average.
“At the same time there are almost 1.6 million temporary visa holders with work rights in Australia.”
If elected, Labor would legislate an Australian Skills Authority to slash the number of temporary work visas.
The ASA would have equal representation from government, unions and employer groups.
The Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) — the lowest wage a foreign worker could be paid — would also be immediately increased to $65,000 with annual indexing.
Australian Workers’ Union national legal officer Zachary Duncalfe argued that the $53,900 income threshold was “incredibly low” at a hearing of a Labor-controlled Senate inquiry into the skilled visa system.
But the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry labelled the work visa income threshold a “blunt instrument” and called for it to be axed.
“Employers in industries and regional areas where the market rate of skilled workers is often below the TSMIT should not be denied the opportunity to use the skilled visa program if they are experiencing shortages,” it stated in a submission to the inquiry.
South Australia’s business chamber argued that the existing $53,900 minimum already set a wage floor above the market salary for many skilled occupations.
— Sheradyn Holderhead
JOYCE SAYS QUESTIONS OVER DEAL ARE ‘CRAP’
Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has bumbled through an interview which questioned his role in the government’s 2017 Murray-Darling Basin water buyback deal, saying it was “not my job” to check the key details of the contract.
Mr Joyce said he did not question the price of the $80 million deal, or who would benefit from it, before agreeing — despite the parent company of the organisation being based in the Cayman Islands, a well-known tax haven.
“If you do not rely on competent advice from the department, who on earth are you going to rely on?” he told ABC Radio last night.
“I did not want to buy it, it was recommended to me by the Queensland Labor government. I do not negotiate the price, I do not negotiate the vendor.”
The former water minister said he did not “give a toss” about Labor’s suggestions he should appear at a royal commission. Mr Joyce refused to admit he made a mistake with the deal and said questions about the buyback were “a load of horse crap”.
The former Nationals leader’s defiant defence came as Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he was standing by his government’s handling of the Murray-Darling Basin as the opposition tries to flush out more details of the controversial water purchase.
Mr Morrison visited a Buddhist temple in outer Melbourne on Monday, where he offered condolences and support for the victims of terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka.
But he also faced questions about the $80 million 2017 water buyback from two farms.
Mr Morrison said he was satisfied Mr Joyce and Energy Minister Angus Taylor did not have a case to answer. “These arrangements were conducted at complete arm’s length from any ministers,” he said.
Labor is waiting to hear back from the Agriculture Department before deciding whether to back calls for a royal commission.
“It matters whether or not this was value for money,” Labor’s Tony Burke said.
$15M WILL HELP WOMEN KICK GOALS
A Sydney Swans women’s AFL team will be ready for the 2021 season with the Coalition on Tuesday confirming funding to ensure a high-performance centre for female athletes will be built.
The Coalition will promise the Swans the final $15 million needed to build state-of-the-art headquarters and community centre at Moore Park.
It means the club will finally have dedicated female facilities — a far cry from their current training grounds, which have just one female shower.
The $55 million project will transform the Royal Hall of Industries at Moore Park, combining the Swans’ mens and womens AFL teams, the NSW Swifts netball team, as well as an expanded Swans Academy for girls and boys.
Swans chief Tom Harley said the facility was the “biggest off-field announcement since the Swans moved to Sydney in 1982”.
“When the AFLW competition was launched we weren’t in the position to bid for a licence due to lack of facilities. This changes that,” he said.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said this was “a game-changer for women’s sport in NSW”.
— Anna Caldwell