Election 2022: CEO 'stood down' over election photo
The CEO of one of Australia's most recognisable brands has been "stood down" after appearing in campaign material for a Coalition MP.
less than 2 min read
April 26, 2022 - 7:02AM
Welcome to week three of the federal election campaign, with Australians heading to the polls on May 21.
The CEO of Guide Dogs Victoria has been stood down "pending an internal investigation" after using her platform to endorse Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.
Karen Hayes had endorsed the Liberal MP for Kooyong on promotional material including pamphlets where she appeared holding a guide dog puppy in images that the charity said it was not aware of and in no way involved in.
Mr Frydenberg last week called the issue "confected outrage", but Sky News today confirmed Ms Hayes had been stood down pending an internal investigation.
It comes as the Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese enjoys a comfortable lead over Prime Minister Scott Morrison, despite spending the Anzac long weekend locked up in Marrickville with his dog Toto after testing positive for Covid on Friday.
An exclusive Newspoll conducted for The Australian confirms Labor is leading the Coalition 53-47 on a two-party-preferred basis, unchanged from the last two Newspolls conducted since the election was called.
The first week of the campaign was dominated by questions around Mr Albanese's economic credentials after he was unable to name the unemployment rate, while in week two the focus shifted to national security after China signed a security deal with the Solomon Islands.
The Prime Minister has also been dogged by controversy over comments about transgender people by Liberal candidate for Warringah Katherine Deves.
Follow along for all the latest updates.
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Payne: 'Labor playing politics with national security'
Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne has fronted the media in Sydney to reassure Australians that the Morrison Government has not dropped the ball in the Pacific.
The Solomon Islands and China signed a historic security deal that has increased concerns about Beijing building a military base in the region.
The Labor Party today pledged to "restore Australia's place as security partner of choice" with the Solomons, outlining plans to increase foreign aid to Pacific if Anthony Albanese is elected Prime Minister on May 21.
But Ms Payne said the plan lacks substance and accused Labor of "playing politics on national security".
She said it is "not helpful to speculate" on whether China will build a military base in the Pacific but reiterated Prime Minister Scott Morrison's comments from Monday that such a move would be a "red line" for Australia.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says he is "extremely disappointed" after the CEO of Guide Dogs Victoria was stood down "pending an internal investigation" after using her platform to endorse him.
Karen Hayes had endorsed the Liberal MP for Kooyong on promotional material including pamphlets where she appeared holding a guide dog puppy in images that the charity said it was not aware of and in no way involved in.
Mr Frydenberg last week called the issue "confected outrage", but Sky News today confirmed Ms Hayes had been stood down pending an internal investigation.
In a statement on Tuesday, Guide Dogs Victoria confirmed Ms Hayes had been stood down pending an internal investigation.
"Guide Dogs Victoria can confirm CEO Karen Hayes has been stood down pending an internal investigation following the distribution of political materials that included comments from the CEO purporting to be on behalf of Guide Dogs Victoria and publicly endorsing a political candidate," the statement read.
"The purpose of the investigation is to understand what happened and to ensure it never happens again."
The Treasurer issued a statement on Tuesday afternoon, calling Ms Hayes a "highly effective and widely respected CEO of Guide Dogs Victoria for more than a decade".
"Josh has worked closely with Ms Hayes and Guide Dogs Victoria over many years in his capacity as Member for Kooyong, including on major infrastructure projects," a spokesperson said.
"He will await the outcome of Guide Dogs' internal processes before commenting further."
Under Australian charity and not-for-profit regulations, charities must not “promote or oppose a political party or a candidate for political office” or risk its registration.
The Treasurer is under threat in his inner-city Melbourne seat from independent candidate Monique Ryan.
The two are going back and forth over where and when a televised debate will take place, but for the time being, neither appears willing to meet on the others' terms.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been caught out texting during an Anzac Day ceremony in Darwin in a moment that is both agonisingly relatable and dividing opinion online.
The footage first emerged on Channel 10’s news on Monday night but has quickly gone viral as voters reacted to the Prime Minister fondling his phone towards the end of the service.
Mr Morrison was captured still texting as Labor deputy leader Richard Marles stands to attention to applaud.
Scott Morrison was texting during an Anzac Day service in Darwin.
As Mr Marles and another NT Labor MP Luke Gosling stand to their feet, Mr Morrison quickly puts his phone away and looks around before joining in the applause.
According to those who attended the ceremony, Mr Morrison was texting right at the end, around the same time organisers told the crowd the formal part of the service was over.
Scott Morrison has been forced to join the plane with the media pack after his aircraft sprung a leak on Tuesday.
The torrential rain in Townsville has temporarily put the Prime Minister's plane out of action.
The issue is expected to be fixed soon but Mr Morrison has joined the plane with the media so as not to hold up the schedule for the day.
They’re mopping up a water leak on the plane… is what we are being told. No hello for the media as the PM gets on our much less fancy flight. pic.twitter.com/KynY4GC10d
Penny Wong says a Labor government would work with the United States to block any attempt by China to set up a naval base in the Solomon Islands.
The Shadow Foreign Minister was speaking in Darwin earlier to announce Labor's Pacific strategy.
"Let's be clear, the prospect of a Chinese base less than 2000km from Australia's coastline is dramatically detrimental to Australia's security interests," Ms Wong said.
"That has occurred on Mr Morrison's watch. Their response appears to be more chest beating. There is no point in beating your chest if you're beaten to the punch. We will make clear, as [United States] coordinator Kurt Campbell and others have, our view about this. But I think the other thing we have to do is to do what we are seeking to outline with this package, which is to do more work to secure the region."
Picture: Tim Hunter
Ms Wong was pressed on whether Labor would work with the United States to block the base, which Prime Minister Scott Morrison said over the weekend would be a "red line" for Canberra and Washington.
"I have responded to that broadly with this – we will always work with the United States to secure our region," she said.
"I have said repeatedly, the US is the indispensable partner in our region and the nation when it comes to the security of the Indo-Pacific. But what we need to understand is we can't simply handball our mistakes to the US. The reality is this is on Australia. The Australian government, led by Mr Morrison, has left a vacuum and we have seen what has occurred as a consequence. We will always work with our friend and ally, the United States."
Scott Morrison has hit back at criticism the government did not do enough to prevent a deal being signed between China and the Solomon Islands, saying it was his government that started to seriously engage with the Pacific "like few others".
"It was the Solomon Islands Prime Minister who rang me and said, 'Can you please send support to deal with the security situation in the Pacific?' They did not ring the Chinese government, they rang our government and we responded and our AFP are still there," the PM said.
Picture: Xinhua
However, Mr Morrison did not want to reveal what further actions would be taken if the "red line" was crossed and a Chinese military base was built in the Solomons.
"It would not be responsible for me to speculate in public about what Australia, United States and others would be doing in circumstances such as that," he said.
The PM also took a jab at Labor's plan to boost Australian broadcasting in the region. "I sent in the AFP, the Labor Party wants to send in the ABC when it comes to their Pacific solution," he said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has claimed Australia can't "risk" a Labor government, firing up over the opposition's "weak" economic plan.
Mr Morrison said if his government wasn't running a strong economy then they wouldn't have been able to spend millions of dollars on rebuilding and restoring Australia's defence forces.
"If we weren't running a strong economy, if we weren't managing our finances, we couldn't have done any of those things, as that's why we say a strong economy means a stronger future," he said.
"You can't risk labour because they can't manage an economy, which means they'd be a weak economy and with a weak economy, then the essential services that you rely on, are put at risk."
Picture: Jason Edwards
The Prime Minister's comments came following a visit to TEi Services, and engineering and steel fabrication company in Townsville on Tuesday.
Mr Morrison also warned Australia must continue to protect against potential cyber attacks.
Earlier this morning he said that a war involving Australia would most likely be started by "bits and bites" – referring to cyber attacks – not "bullets".
"We've already invested in building up our cyber capabilities, because in any conflict, as we saw, indeed, in Ukraine, the first things that happened was cyber attacks conducted by the Russian Government to undermine his power supplies or other critical infrastructure," Mr Morrison said.
Anthony Albanese will probably be wishing he'd stayed in bed.
Speaking from Covid isolation, the Labor leader has been torn to shreds by a furious Ray Hadley in an interview on 2GB this morning.
Hadley spent the 30-minutes savaging Albo on a wide range of topics, from his day one unemployment rate stuff-up, to going to Perth "when your electorate was underwater" – with the Labor leader claiming "Marrickville wasn't flooding" at the time – before a fiery blow-up about his asylum seeker policy.
Mr Albanese said his policy was the same as the government's, including boat turnbacks and offshore processing, but Hadley repeatedly insisted it would not work without temporary protection visas.
"You're terrified of what Kristina Keneally and Penny Wong will do to you if you do have them," Hadley said. "You know the only way to stop the boats is to have a three-pronged attack."
"We won't give them a visa," the Labor leader said.
"What, you're going to take them straight from the vessel onto another vessel and tow it to Nauru?" Hadley scoffed. "That's just fanciful. Don't call it Operation Sovereign Borders, it's your watered-down version."
Picture: Supplied
The discussion then turned to the Solomon Islands, with Hadley mocking Mr Albanese for suggesting Australia's lack of climate change support was the reason given China is the world's largest emitter.
"Well the fact is that we've dropped the ball on so many areas," Mr Albanese said.
"You said climate change, Anthony," Hadley said.
"No Ray, they say climate change," the Labor leader insisted.
"Oh, Anthony," Hadley said. "Prime Minister Sogavare will be driving around in a Ferrari in some South American country in five years because he's had his pockets lined by the Chinese. I know you can't say that, [but] that's what's happened. It's got bugger-all to do with climate change, you know that."
Mr Albanese replied, "It has to do with a whole range of issues."
At another point, Hadley demanded Mr Albanese repeat Julia Gillard's infamous pledge that "there will be no carbon tax under the government I lead".
"Can you say that today with some clarity?" Hadley said.
"Absolutely," Mr Albanese said.
"Just say it for me so I've got it on record, please," Hadley said.
"Well, we will have no carbon tax," Mr Albanese said.
Hadley wasn't satisfied. "No, well, let's make sure. 'There will be no carbon tax under any government I lead, ever'," he prompted.
"There will be no carbon tax, ever," Mr Albanese said.
After the interview, which continued in this fashion for some time, Hadley said he had received a few emails saying he had "bullied" Mr Albanese.
"If that's what I did, that's what I did," he conceded.
Australia made 'big blunder' scaling back broadcasting
While Scott Morrison has mocked Labor's plan to air "QandA in Honiara" as "farcical", experts say Australia does need to boost its Pacific broadcasting to win the soft power war.
University of Melbourne foreign policy expert Professor Michael Wesley told ABC RN's Patricia Karvelas on Monday that Australia made a "really big blunder" in 2017 when it drastically scaled back Radio Australia in the region.
"There is a great deal of affection for Australia and Australians among the vast majority of Pacific Island people," he said. "I think we should be investing but investing cleverly and building on the historical strengths that we have."
Prof Wesley said the greatest lesson from history was that to avoid war you need to prepare for war. "I think we need to get a lot more adept at our diplomacy," he said.
"I think we need to get much more practised at bringing together the three arms of our statecraft, which are defence, diplomacy and development assistance. We need to realise that foreign policy is not a secondary concern of state, foreign policy has now become the priority of our government, and our governments need to start investing in it with that in mind."
With the end of the three-year federal government term rapidly approaching, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese could call an election any day now. EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
