Politics latest: Peter Dutton heads to Israel for official visit

Peter Dutton will meet with senior government officials and those impacted by the October 7 attacks during a three-day trip.

Peter Dutton has travelled to Israel to meet with senior members of the Israeli government. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Welcome to The Australian's rolling coverage of news from Canberra and around the country.

Live Updates

7:20 pm July 29, 2024 Highlight

'Devotion to democracy': Dutton heads to Israel

Joanna Panagopoulos

Peter Dutton has travelled to Israel to meet with senior members of the Israeli government.

The three-day trip by the ­Opposition Leader follows a visit by a parliamentary delegation of Coalition MPs, including frontbenchers James Pater­son, Dan Tehan, Bridget McKenzie and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, in March.

Foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham led a cross-party delegation with Labor MP Josh Burns in December.

Mr Dutton said he would “meet with senior members of the Israeli government, as well as members of the community that were impacted by the October 7 attacks”.

“The connections between Australia and Israel are deep and abiding,” a statement from Mr Dutton’s office read.

“Today, Australia and Israel have a strong bilateral relationship traversing trade, agriculture, technology, security and more.

“It’s a relationship which will only grow stronger built around our devotion to democracy in a world where our values and way of life faces old and new threats.”

4:49 pm July 29, 2024 Highlight

Home Affairs Minister to fly to Indonesia to consult on bilateral law, security

James Dowling

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke. Picture: NewsWire / David Beach

In his first act as Home Affairs Minister, Tony Burke will be flying to Indonesia to consult on bilateral law enforcement and security agreements.

Mr Burke, who was sworn in to his new portfolio on Monday morning, later confirmed his attendance at the tenth Indonesia-Australia Ministerial Council on Law and Security, saying the meeting was the "Home Affairs portfolio's key bilateral engagement with Indonesia".

“Indonesia is one of our most important bilateral partners, including on civil maritime security, people smuggling and countering violent extremism,” Mr Burke said in a statement.

“It is the primary forum to consult and set priorities on law enforcement, civil maritime security, and counter-terrorism and transnational crime cooperation.”

As a part of these proceedings he will meet with Indonesia’s Security Affairs Minister Hadi Tjahjanto and co-chair a counter terrorism and transnational security meeting in Bali.

3:25 pm July 29, 2024

Nampijinpa Price says work for the dole is a priority for McCarthy

Paige Taylor

Coalition Indigenous affairs spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price says fixing the dormant work for the dole scheme in remote communities must be a priority for Malarndirri McCarthy as she begins work as the Albanese government's new Indigenous Australians minister.

The program – known as the Commonwealth Development Program – has been voluntary since 2021 when politicians on both sides of politics acknowledged it needed to be overhauled. The CDP was found to barely function in some locations in part because it required participants to have a wifi connection, a mobile phone and good English to meet reporting requirements. In consultations with communities in every state and the NT, the jobs program is being redesigned with mutual obligations including that participants must attend work.

Senator Nampijinpa Price told The Australian on Monday that she hoped Senator McCarthy would succeed in getting the work for the dole program back on track.

“The Indigenous Affairs portfolio is languishing under the Albanese government," Senator Nampijinpa Price said.

"Too many organisations such as NAAJA, the Land Councils and other aboriginal corporations are showing signs of being unfit for purpose.

"It is my hope that Malarndirri McCarthy will use her appointment as Minister for Indigenous Australians to improve these bodies so that they start functioning the way they should be; to get the CDP back on track and to ensure that resources in the portfolio are being used effectively to improve the lives of some of our most marginalised who Minister McCarthy now represents.”

On Monday the women-led Uluru Dialogue welcomed the swearing in of Senator McCarthy as the new Indigenous Australians minister and flagged its intention to continue to work towards constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians. Uluru Dialogue campaigned for a constitutionally-enshrined Indigenous voice to parliament which was voted down at the referendum on October 14 last year. Co-chairs Megan Davis, UNSW Scientia and Balnaves Chair in Constitutional Law, and Pat Anderson, who has been appointed an officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service in Aboriginal health, are now leading a movement with support from some of the 6.2 million Australians who voted yes at the referendum.

In a joint statement, Professor Davis and Ms Anderson said that they agreed with former Indigenous Australians minister Linda Burney that the opportunity for a referendum would come again.

"Linda said the result was a great opportunity that was missed but it will come back some day. We agree. Awareness of constitutional recognition, and the First Nations support for it, has never been more critical," they said.

"While we continue to review the data and build the movement with our 6.2 million fellow Aussies, we celebrate the appointment of the Hon. Malarndirri McCarthy as she takes over the portfolio. We warmly welcome, congratulate and look forward to working with her.

"With Linda’s retirement and Malarndirri’s appointment, we celebrate the formidable leadership of First Nations women.

"Our work continues."

2:13 pm July 29, 2024

Peter Dutton stands by Barnaby Joyce

Rosie Lewis

Peter Dutton is standing by his frontbencher Barnaby Joyce after the maverick MP used a gun analogy to encourage voters to get rid of Anthony Albanese and two Labor ministers, with the Opposition Leader saying the former deputy prime minister’s apology was appropriate.

The Prime Minister called for Mr Joyce’s resignation on Monday after his comments from a protest against an offshore wind zone in the Illawarra surfaced.

“The bullet you have is that little piece of paper. And it goes in the magazine called the voting box and it's coming up. Get ready to load that magazine. Go ‘goodbye, Chris (Bowen)’, ‘goodbye, Stephen (Jones)’, ‘goodbye, Albo’,” Mr Joyce said.

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley refused to condemn the remarks but conceded she wouldn’t have used that language.

Mr Dutton told The Australian: “Mr Joyce has apologised and that is appropriate.”

Mr Joyce apologised for using the metaphor when pressed on why he said it on morning television.

1:17 pm July 29, 2024 Highlight

Risk of 'far more savage' Middle East conflict: Albanese

Noah Yim

Anthony Albanese says that there is a risk of a “far more savage conflict” starting in the Middle East following the deaths of Israeli civilians because of a strike reportedly launched by Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“The great risk of escalation – we certainly don’t estimate that – you could see trouble brewing there,” the Prime Minister told Sky News.

He spoke about his joint statement with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“The danger of escalation – that’s the third statement that I’ve put out with the New Zealand and Canadian prime ministers – and one of the things that the statement talked about really up high was the Iranian-backed proxies – effectively – the danger of them whether it be Hezbollah, Hamas, or the Houthis, engaging in an escalation,” he said.

“We saw that with tragic consequences for those Israeli citizens who lost their life over the weekend. We continue to see a loss of life in Gaza including of innocent civilians and that is why we backed in the US peace deal put forward by President [Joe] Biden. It is time for all parties to agree to that ceasefire and those arrangements.

“We want to see hostilities cease. We want to see hostages released. We want to see a pathway towards peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians in the region. And we certainly warn of the risk that is there of an escalation.

“I mean, Hezbollah are a very different organisation from Hamas. They represent a risk of a far more savage conflict occurring with consequences for Israel, for Lebanon, for the Middle East, and for world peace.

“I take this opportunity to repeat the government’s warnings and declarations that people shouldn’t be travelling – Australian citizens shouldn’t be travelling – to that region given the instability which is there and the risks of escalation which are there.”

12:59 pm July 29, 2024

Government has brought stability: Albanese

Noah Yim

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese holds a full ministry meeting inside the Cabinet Room at Parliament House. Picture: David Beach/NewsWire

Anthony Albanese says his government has brought “stability” and has presented it as a selling point for Labor with an election due within a year.

“It will be the first time since the 2004 election if I’m successful – so it'll be more than 20 years – since we’ve had any continuity at all in leadership,” he told Sky News. “And that is something that my government has brought. Stability.

“Today we’ve had the first reshuffle after more than two years and two months. That compares with four reshuffles under Peter Dutton and in spite of that, he went almost 300 days – 292 in fact – before he replaced [former opposition financial services spokesperson] Stuart Robert – just left the spot vacant of that portfolio. You’ve had dysfunction on the other side, what you’ve had with this Labor government is stability, order, consistency, going forward.

“The minor reshuffle that we have brought forward as a result of the decision of ministers [Linda] Burney and [Brendan] O’Connor to retire … I think that stability does matter. The revolving door, made us – I know – internationally, people were looking at us going, what sort of operation is this when you have a different prime minister every couple of years?

“And we saw that in the UK of course, with three British prime ministers that I met in the first six months of holding the office of Prime Minister of Australia. Now that wasn’t a good thing, and I think under our system, it wasn’t a good thing that you have had such a turbulent time in Australian politics over the last couple of decades.”

12:54 pm July 29, 2024

ASIO removal from department 'logical thing to do': PM

Noah Yim

Anthony Albanese has defended his removal of ASIO from the Home Affairs Department, saying that it was a “logical thing to do”.

“Home Affairs will look after border security and those issues as well as looking at immigration,” he told Sky News. “It was a logical thing to put ASIO together with the AFP.

"We inherited a system that was simply dysfunctional. And we’ve had a trinity of reports from Christine Nixon, from Dennis Richardson, and indeed the former head of Prime Minister and Cabinet under the former Liberal – Coalition government who’ve all spoken about the dysfunction that was there in home affairs.

“So what we’ve done is talk those issues through, come up with a sensible proposition.

“Tony Burke will be excellent. Tony Burke has of course served in the portfolio in the past, he’ll be ably assisted by Matt Thistlethwaite and Julian Hill, and I have appointed as well Peter Khalil in the area of social cohesion – that's important – as well as Andrew Charlton, doing work as an envoy on the whole issue of cybersecurity, digital resilience, these are big issues and big challenges for the country going forward.”

The Prime Minister batted away early criticism of Mr Burke on his record as a former immigration minister, including criticism from opposition home affairs spokesperson James Paterson.

“James Paterson has a shocking message to Australians that all you need is to be negative and oppose everything,’ he said. “I mean, this is a guy … who said that myself and [Foreign Affairs Minister] Penny Wong should apologise to Israel over the Zomi Frankcom issue where an Australian lost their life where the IDF have acknowledged that was as a result of a mistake.

“It's about time James Paterson stood up for the Australian national interest instead of just playing politics. The only person and group who send messages to people smugglers which could give them some heart is the Coalition. What we’ve done is put in place operation sovereign borders with more funding than it has ever received since it was created. Simple as that.”

12:38 pm July 29, 2024

Joyce language could 'incite' violence: Albanese

Noah Yim

Anthony Albanese says opposition veterans affairs spokesperson Barnaby Joyce should be dumped from the opposition frontbench, arguing his remarks comparing voting to firing a bullet could incite violence. Here is what he told Sky News, now that the full interview has aired.

“We have seen what has occurred with the attempted assassination of former President Trump in the US, we have seen violence committed against members of parliament including two who have lost their lives in the Westminster system in the UK,” the Prime Minister said.

“This is someone who of course has used language in the past when it comes to climate change that has sought to incite division … This is a new level and it is time that this bloke had a good look at himself but it is also time that Peter Dutton showed a bit of leadership, had a fifth reshuffle.

"He’s already got more members of his frontbench than there are backbenchers. He’s got 45 – he’s got a bigger frontbench than the government has – so one can leave the frontbench, he’ll still have more people shadowing than there are ministers.

“He continually – this was a conscious thing, I’ve seen the footage … this was a statement to a rally, that was very clear, it is completely unacceptable and Peter Dutton needs to make a decision over whether he will back this up or whether he’ll just take action … I heard the deputy leader of the Liberal Party – of the opposition – this morning, said they weren’t words that she would use but refused to condemn it.”

When asked whether Mr Joyce’s language could “incite” violence, Mr Albanese said: “Of course it does. How else could you view it? Except to see that this was using language that should never be used anywhere to use these sorts of things.

"I’ll say this to Barnaby Joyce. You’re no Tim Fischer. Tim Fischer as leader of the National Party showed great courage and was a great Australian. He showed courage in standing up along with John Howard for bipartisan gun reform.

“You can use – surely – a whole lot of analogies could be used without resorting to using analogies about bullets, magazines, of weapons, and without speaking about people being said ‘goodbye’ and disappearing. And it’s unacceptable.

“This is a test for Peter Dutton – who will often go too far himself. But he hasn’t gone anywhere near this. This is a new level I have not seen from someone in public life in Australia.”

11:34 am July 29, 2024

Albanese addresses cabinet on key issues, Joyce comments

Noah Yim

Governor-General Sam Mostyn and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pose with members of the federal ministry after a swearing-in ceremony at Government House in Canberra. Picture: David Beach/NewsWire

Anthony Albanese is now addressing his cabinet in its first meeting since being sworn in earlier this morning at Government House.

The Prime Minister, speaking with cameras in the room, is running through key issues and has laid into Peter Dutton in relation to comments made by Nationals frontbencher Barnaby Joyce where he analogised voting with firing a gun.

“We seek to bring the country together, our opponents, particularly led by Peter Dutton, is someone who division comes as his natural instinct,” Mr Albanese said.

“We’ve seen some comments today that are unworthy of any Australian let alone a senior member of parliament, and that’s a test for Peter Dutton for whether that’s acceptable or whether he has his fifth reshuffle which should occur today as a result of those comments by Barnaby Joyce.

“It’s one thing to use extreme language of Whyalla being wiped out and roasts and other statements that he’s made due to his obsessive opposition to any climate action but it’s another thing to speak about – literally – people being wiped out.

“And there’s no place for that in Australian politics. We do not want to go down the road that we’ve seen some other democracies go with that intense polarisation and division in this country. So we’ll see whether Peter Dutton is up to that test today.”

Mr Albanese also addressed key issues. He spoke about inflation and wanting to see “further moderation in that, but one of the ways that we’re assisting is of course turning Liberal deficits into Labor surpluses”.

Mr Albanese also said “we, of course, as well want to make sure that we promote social cohesion and that we bring the country with us”.

He also spoke about energy. “We live in a changing environment as well and the transition we’re seeing in the global economy to net zero presents us with an incredible opportunity to seize,” he said.

11:13 am July 29, 2024

Dutton 'should have fifth reshuffle' over Joyce gaffe: PM

Noah Yim

Anthony Albanese says opposition veterans affairs spokesperson Barnaby Joyce’s comment that analogised voting with firing a gun is “completely unacceptable” and has called on Peter Dutton to remove him from the frontbench.

“That is completely unacceptable,” the Prime Minister told Sky News, in an early clip of an interview to be broadcast later today. “It's a test for Peter Dutton. Peter Dutton has had four reshuffles, he should have a fifth. And Barnaby Joyce should go.

“And this is the sort of language which has no place in any part of Australian society, let alone in public life and here you have a guy going to a rally calling for action, using analogies of guns, bullets, magazines, and ‘goodbye’ to three members of the government. What does this bloke have to do to lose his job?”

Mr Joyce over the weekend attended a rally where he told the crowd, “And the bullet you have, is this little piece of paper, it goes in the magazine called the voting box. It’s coming up, get ready to load that magazine. So goodbye, Chris … goodbye Albo.”

Mr Joyce earlier today apologised for the comment.

Mr Joyce, during an appearance on Channel 7 earlier this morning, was presented with footage of his appearance at a protest over the weekend where he appears to say: “And the bullet you have, is this little piece of paper, it goes in the magazine called the voting box. It’s coming up, get ready to load that magazine. So goodbye, Chris … goodbye Albo.”

“Well, the ballot paper is the weapon you have,” Mr Joyce said in response. “It shouldn't be a bullet. It should be a ballot paper. It's a ballot paper and ballot box.

When pressed by the host on the propriety of using the term “bullet” in the “lead-up to an election”, Mr Joyce apologised.

“I apologise for using that metaphor,” he said.