Pro-Tibet protesters rallied outside Parliament House, calling on Foreign Minister Penny Wong to put human rights issues at the top of her meeting with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. Senator Wong and Mr Wang met for the seventh time in Parliament House on Wednesday, marking the first time a ChineseContinue Reading
Anthony Albanese has praised the partnership between Australia and the Philippines, saying the countries were united by a vision of a “peaceful, secure, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific”. Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr addressed both houses of parliament on Thursday, declaring the Philippines would “not allow any attempt by anyContinue Reading
More than seven million phone calls made to Services Australia were sent to voicemail last year, it has been revealed. Data tabled by Services Australia in Senate Estimates shows about 7,444,939 calls to the agency received a congestion message in the year to the end of December. Additionally, over 2Continue Reading
Chants to “free Palestine” have echoed out in the Senate chamber as the government continued to reject demands it call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict. Draped in a keffiyeh, Mehreen Faruqi, was flanked by her Greens colleagues as they staged the question time walkout on Monday afternoon. TheContinue Reading
Senators have been left “astounded” after top officials from Australia’s largest government agency failed to explain how wait times for Centrelink had gotten worse – despite the number of calls to the agency falling. Services Australia, which oversees Centrelink, has come under heavy scrutiny due to increased reports of longerContinue Reading
A group of landlords have aired their complaints about the difficulties of owning and renting out multiple properties in Australia, but their stories have been met with little sympathy from struggling tenants. The ABC published a story over the weekend looking at why landlords are selling their properties after aContinue Reading
Millions of Australians have been told to avoid Centrelink after staff walked off their jobs over a breakdown in pay negotiations. Staff from Australia’s largest government agency staged a mass strike after rejecting a proposed 11.2 per cent wage increase from the government. Centrelink recipients have been told there willContinue Reading
Regulations to rectify the power balance between landlords and tenants must be a priority amid Australia’s rental crisis, a new report has found. A senate committee examining the rental crunch handed down its interim report on Thursday afternoon. The recommendations for the federal government to take a co-ordinating role toContinue Reading
Protesters have rallied across the country to call on the government to end native to forest logging nationwide. Rallies were organised by the Bob Brown Foundation in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Perth and Hobart on Saturday. Events were also held in towns impacted by native forest logging, such as Ulladulla andContinue Reading
Hundreds of thousands of Australians could be about to score an increase to their welfare payments in Tuesday’s federal budget. In recent days, reports emerged that the budget would likely include an increase of $3.70 a day to JobSeeker payments in an attempt to ease cost of living pressures –Continue Reading