Linda Reynolds announces plans to retire ahead of 2025 election

A major player during the Coalition’s nine years of power has confirmed she will retire at the next election.

Liberal senator Linda Reynolds will retire from federal parliament.
The Western Australian senator, who served as defence minister from 2019 to 2021, announced she would not seek pre-selection for the next election due in 2025.

She was first elected to the Senate in 2014. Her term expires on June 30 next year.

In a statement, she said she had advised the state Liberal Party she would not nominate as a candidate, ahead of preselections closing this week.

“It is rare in politics to have the opportunity to choose the time and circumstances of your departure, and my decision has been made after considerable reflection of what is behind me and the opportunities that are now ahead of me,” she said.

“Having achieved more than I set out to when I entered the Senate, there is no perfect time to leave politics, but this is the right time for me and for the WA Liberal Party to provide my successor with the same opportunities it has given me.”

Opposition Senate leader Simon Birmingham was quick to pay tribute to Senator Reynolds, heralding her for a track record of “dedicated service, leadership, and advocacy”.

“I look forward to continuing to serve alongside Linda for the remainder of her term and extend my deepest gratitude for her service to our country,” Senator Birmingham said.

“Linda’s strength, courage and dignity have been remarked upon by many. I have no doubt that in the years ahead Linda will continue to unwaveringly serve her community and our nation.”

Senator Linda Reynolds will not contest for re-election. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Senator Reynolds is currently suing former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins and her partner David Sharaz for defamation.

Her claims centre on social media posts made by the pair after Ms Higgins went public with allegations her colleague Bruce Lehrmann raped her in the senator’s office in 2019.

Mr Lehrmann’s 2022 jury trial was declared a mistrial due to juror misconduct and a planned retrial was abandoned by prosecutors due to concerns about Ms Higgins’ mental health.

He pleaded not guilty and has continued to deny the allegations.

Last month, a Supreme Court judge called on Senator Reynolds, Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz to resolve their defamation row ahead of mediation talks due this month.

Senator Reynolds also launched defamation action against the ACT government and former chief prosecutor Shane Drumgold, over a letter he wrote accusing her of “disturbing conduct” during Mr Lehrmann’s trial.

PM ‘absolutely’ supports doxxing move

Anthony Albanese confirmed he the government will support a cross-party proposal that will make “doxxing” illegal, after the private information of 600 Jewish Australian artists and creatives was published.

The proposal, put forward by Liberal MP Julian Leeser and independent Wentworth MP Allegra Spender, outlines means to prevent hte release of personal details of vulnerable Australians online based on ethnicity or beliefs.

“I’ve asked the Attorney-General to bring forward legislation in response to the Privacy Act review, including laws that deal with so-called doxxing,” the Prime Minister said on Monday.

“And let’s be very clear, these are 600 people in the creative industries ... who had a WhatsApp group, not heavily political, to provide support for each other because of the anti-Semitism we’ve seen.

“And what we’ve seen is these people be targeted. Now these people have a range of views about the Middle East. What they have in common is they are members of the Jewish community.

“The idea that in Australia someone should be targeted because of their religion, because of their faith, whether they be Jewish, or Muslim, or Hindu or Catholic – it’s just completely unacceptable.

“And that’s why I’ve asked as well the attorney-general to develop proposals to strengthen laws against hate speech. This is not the Australia we want to see.”

Albo dodges big cost of living question

Mr Albanese has dodged a grilling about whether he would reinstate a cut to the fuel excise in what could only be described as a relatively tame question time display.

Independent Fowler MP Dai Le praised the Albanese government’s changes to stage 3 tax cuts to benefit more taxpayers, but said families in her electorate were still hurting with mounting cost-of-living pressures.

She questioned whether the government would consider changes to the fuel excise.

The fuel excise is a flat sales tax levied by the government on petrol and diesel at the bowser, at a current rate of 49.6 cents for every litre of fuel.

Anthony Albanese did not use the term “fuel excise” in his response, instead using his three minutes to answer to spruik the tax changes.

“We’ve found a much more effective way of providing cost-of-living relief,” Mr Albanese said.

Bold plan to overturn VAD rules

An independent MP is seeking to stop doctors being prosecuted for giving advice about voluntary assisted dying via telehealth.

The Federal Court last year ruled that voluntary assisted dying was considered the same as suicide under the Commonwealth criminal code, meaning doctors can be charged under laws that prohibit a carriage service – including telehealth – to provide information about suicide.

Kate Chaney moved a private members Bill in parliament on Monday morning in a bid to overturn the ruling.

Ms Chaney said the issue needed to be resolved. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

She said people in rural and remote areas would overwhelmingly suffer if the ruling was upheld.

“This Bill is about equity. All states have allowed (voluntary assisted dying) because they value choice, compassion and dignity,” Ms Chaney said on Monday.

“This anomaly in the Commonwealth criminal code is actually denying people of all three of those.”

She said several state health ministers and attorneys-general wanted the issue resolved.

Labor under fire for crims on street

The Albanese government is under fire after it was revealed dozens of criminals released from immigration detention after last year’s landmark NZYQ High Court ruling are not required to wear electronic ankle monitors.

Question Time on Monday was dominated by the matter, with opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan putting seven questions to the immigration minister.

The first question he asked Andrew Giles was whether the government “can confirm that none of these individuals (without ankle monitors) pose a threat to the community?”

Mr Giles in response told parliament that a body of law enforcement officers had made the assessment the 36 did not pose a risk to the community.

“I am pleased the community protection board is up and has been providing appropriate advice on managing this cohort,” he said.

Mr Tehan was not impressed, going back six more times for questions about the group.

Mr Giles held firm, responding to Mr Tehan’s final question: “I say the release of these individuals was required by reason of the High Court”.

“A decision that would be a decision any government would have to comply with. I say again that the management of everyone in that cohort has been subject to the expert advice of the men and women of the community protection board,” Mr Giles said.

Why Barnaby was lying on ground in street

Barnaby Joyce says mixing alcohol with prescription medication led to the video of him lying on a popular Canberra street swearing on the telephone after a long sitting day.

The former deputy prime minister will be questioned by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton about the behaviour when he returned to parliament on Monday.

But Mr Joyce will skip a Nationals party room meeting where the incident will be discussed.

The video, published last week by Daily Mail Australia, shows the member for New England lying on the ground on the phone after he appeared to have fallen off a planter box late on Wednesday night.

Mr Joyce fell off a planter box and was videotaped lying on the ground: Picture: Daily Mail Australia

Mr Joyce told Sunrise he is not looking to excuse his actions but refused to weigh into speculation about his future on the Nationals frontbench or if he would be reprimanded.

“I made a big mistake. There’s no excuse for it. There is a reason. And it was a very eventful walk home, wasn’t it,” he said.

“I’m on a prescription drug, and they say certain things may happen to you if you drink, and they were absolutely 100 per cent right. They did.”

Asked whether he would seek help, Mr Joyce replied he was “not looking for sympathy”.

“I will just by that. What I said is what I said. I came back, I sat on a planter box, I fell off and I was videotaped. There you go. What else can you say?” he said.

Nationals leader David Littleproud stood by Mr Joyce, revealing there were “some other issues” the New England MP was working through and said that he was in need of support.

“This is something that he’s deeply embarrassed about. And he has made it very clear that this is not normal behaviour he undertakes, and there are extenuating circumstances surrounding that,” he told Sky News.

But Mr Littleproud stopped short of confirming Mr Joyce’s job on the shadow frontbench was safe.

Mr Joyce declined to weigh in on speculation about his future. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“I’ll have a conversation with Barnaby when he gets back to Canberra to make sure about where he’s sitting and where his head is in terms of making contributions, not just to parliament, but to the people of New England,” he said.

“I think he’s shown that even in his public statements subsequent that he still has a passion for representing people in New England.

“So he’ll obviously be working hard at that, reinforcing all that he’s achieved for the people in New England.”

On Sunday, Mr Dutton defended Mr Joyce and criticised passers-by for not checking on the MP’s welfare.

The Sunrise host asked if Mr Joyce was angry that someone chose to film him instead of helping him.

“Well, that’s a question for them, you know,” Mr Joyce said.

“For me, the good Samaritan was the was the Indian taxi driver who pulled over as I was walking home and said, ‘Do you need a lift, mate?’, which I obviously did.”

Mr Bandt has questioned the double standard at play. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Albo blasts ‘juvenile’ Greens

The Prime Minister has hit out at the Greens over their threat to hold up Labor’s Help to Buy scheme unless the minor party gets their way in altering investment property tax concessions.

Labor says it has no plans to tinker with negative gearing or capital gains tax concessions, but the Greens say the government won’t get their support on the shared equity scheme otherwise.

The party’s housing spokesman, Max Chandler-Mathers - noting that three quarters of Labor parliamentarians owned investment properties - put to Anthony Albanese why the government continued to support “big tax handouts”.

Mr Albanese served back: “I’m sure that when he took that question to tactics committee he made Senator McKim and Senator Faruqi with their (investments) very upset”.

He then took aim at the Greens for once again threatening to hold up housing policies, making reference to the months of negotiations required with the party last year to pass the Housing Australia Future Fund.

“The idea that there will be a discussion with that juvenile approach that we have seen from those opposite will not occur because this is not a student council, this is a Parliament,” Mr Albanese said.

Joyce incident exposes ‘double standard’

While many politicians — such as sparring partner Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek — refused to sink the boot into Mr Joyce, Greens leader Adam Bandt says the incident highlights a double standard.

“I think if a woman politician had found themselves in a similar situation, I feel like there would be widespread condemnation. Indeed, we have seen that previously,” he said, referring to an incident involving a senator Lidia Thorpe and her tirade at a Melbourne strip club.

“The fact that a lot of people are just going to shrug this off is a bit of a wake-up call as to whether or not we’re applying the same standards right across the parliament here.”

He said that Mr Joyce’s party had previously been on the side of politics that “has tried to demonise many other people for health issues”.

“I’ll let Barnaby Joyce explain himself. What I would ask is that firstly, if we’re prepared to say – when people have issues, they need to get help and be upfront and we need to have a reasoned debate about it. That’s OK,” he said.

“So I’m asked for an equal standard to be applied across everyone – the whole parliament and the whole society.”

Union slams ‘scaremongering’ over right to disconnect

Bosses who claim the right to disconnect would put flexible work arrangements at risk have been accused of “scaremongering”.

Workers will soon have the right to ignore “unreasonable” contact from their bosses after hours under Labor’s third tranche of industrial relations reform, which passed the Senate last week.

Employer groups have claimed the change would end the arrangements that allow staff to duck out early to pick up their kid from school or go to doctor’s appointments.

But Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus downplayed the concerns as “scaremongering” and insisted it was a “sensible” change.

The right to disconnect was passed last week. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

“It just simply means that your employer shouldn’t unreasonably expect you to work unpaid,” she said.

“If you are being paid to answer emails and to respond after hours, or you’re being paid a lot of money, that’s totally fine.

“But it’s not okay for an employer to expect that you’re going to be monitoring your emails and responding to them working 24/7.”

The Greens senator who led the charge for the amendment, Barbara Pocock, said the employers group’s warning was not the intention of the law.

“That statement from leaders of employment … threatening women, carers, parents with the loss of their flexibility, if they say I’m not going to be available 24/7.

That is not the intention of the law that has been passed,” the Senator said.

“And it is really bad to hear that threat being posed. Flexibility is an important part of our workplaces.”

It comes as the Coalition vowed to repeal the law should it be returned to power at the next federal election.

Mr Shorten played down the push for Labor to revisit negative gearing. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Stage set for major fight over negative gearing 

A major election promise could be stalled unless the Albanese government walks back on its promise not to make changes to negative gearing.

The Greens are threatening to revoke their support for Labor’s Help to Buy scheme unless the government agrees to wind back negative gearing and capital gains tax, which it has repeatedly vowed not to do.

The $329m Help to Buy scheme was a centrepiece of Labor’s election campaign and will require backing from the Greens to pass if it’s likely opposed by the Coalition in the Senate.

After Labor’s major shift on stage 3 tax cuts, speculation has erupted over whether the government would scale back the use of negative gearing, a tax strategy allowing property investors who make a loss to reduce the tax they pay on their income.

Speaking with the ABC on Monday morning, Greens leader Adam Bandt said Labor should instead tackle the “big source of the problem” in the housing sector.

“Which is the billions of dollars in tax handouts that they’re giving to these wealthy property moguls which are hurting first home-buyers,” he said.

Mr Bandt criticised Anthony Albanese for owning multiple properties, accusing the Prime Minister of having a vested interest in not making too many changes to housing legislation.

Bill Shorten, who led Labor the 2019 election loss with a platform which included reform to negative gearing, told ABC Radio it was not something his party was looking at.

“It’s clear since then that Labour has decided to try other methods and mechanisms to support people being able to access housing,” he said.

“To the absolute best of my knowledge, it’s not something that the current government (has) been working on or focused on or thinking about.

The Government Services Minister said Labor had a “full book” of tax reform, including changes to the petroleum and reserve tax, super concessions and multinational tax reform.

“I think the sweet spot for housing reform is increasing supply and that’s what Labor’s working on,” he added.