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From 2h ago Jacqui Lambie welcomes government’s allied health cap backdown Jacqui Lambie has thanked the minister for “hearing us loud and clear” after the government scraps a proposed cap on allied health services for veterans. The $5,000 cap was due to take effect on 1 July 2027. Lambie, the Tasmanian crossbench senator and veteran, is debating her bill in the Senate which would permanently block any government from being able to impose caps on health services for veterans.
She says the bill is needed to protect veterans in the future. double quotation mark If a veteran needs treatment because of their service, they should be able to get that treatment ... Their access to necessary treatment should not be restricted simply because some bean counter somewhere thought he could save the department money. Because you can never, ever put a price on veterans’ life.
It would be welcome news for more than half a million Australians (581,139) who have served or are currently serving in the ADF. By the numbers: 84,865 are current serving members and 496,276 are former serving members. Key events 19m ago Hanson scolds reporter for asking about ‘racism’ accusation from Payman 1h ago Rockhampton’s Fitzroy River endorsed for 2032 Olympics by world rowing and paddle bodies 2h ago ‘Have a beer’: Lambie celebrates veterans allied health cap backdown but defends Keogh 2h ago Jacqui Lambie welcomes government’s allied health cap backdown 3h ago ‘He has let them down’: Coalition push for no-confidence vote on Matt Keogh 3h ago Labor backs down on $5,000 allied healthcare cap for defence veterans 4h ago ‘Welcome to politics’: Canavan defends Brethren church involvement in election 4h ago Joyce says Labor’s migration plan almost ‘exact replication’ of One Nation's 4h ago People with child support debts to be banned from leaving Australia 5h ago Albanese government to improve safety in child support system 5h ago Australia breaks into top 10 global gender gap rankings 5h ago Long-anticipated immigration changes drop today Patrick Commins NoM falls to 292,000 in the year to March Net overseas migration eased to 292,000 in the year to March, from 299,000 in December, according to new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The data comes less than an hour out from a major address by Tony Burke , the minister for home affairs, at the National Press Club, where he will release Labor’s migration plan amid an increasingly heated debate about the number of people arriving and staying in the country, mostly on temporary visas. Net overseas migration, or Nom, surged following the end of Covid-era lockdowns, peaking at an annual pace of 556,000 people in September 2023 after turning negative two years earlier. While well down on those peaks, Nom remains above the roughly 250,000 run rate leading into the pandemic, and above the government’s target of 225,000.
Melissa Davey MND Australia calls for urgent action on aged care algorithm MND (motor neurone disease) Australia have urgently called for transparency and the return of human override to an aged care algorithm being used by the government to determine the level of support and funding Australians are entitled to. It follows reporting by Guardian Australia that before the algorithm was added to the Integrated Assessment Tool (IAT), department of health officials were grappling with the removal of human override powers and the impact this would have on aged care assessors who they had promised would be the ultimate decision makers. Instead, Guardian Australia revealed assessors were left distressed and in turmoil when the department removed their override powers and forced assessors to accept decisions made by the algorithm, which in many cases was leaving vulnerable older people without the level of support they needed, forcing them into aged care earlier and leading to the worsening of their health conditions.
MND Australia CEO Clare Sullivan said people living with rapidly progressive conditions cannot afford further delays. She said: double quotation mark For months, MND Australia has been raising serious concerns about a system where an algorithm can determine the level of care someone receives without an assessor being able to intervene when the outcome is clearly inappropriate. We welcomed the government’s commitment to review the system, but three months have now passed.
People living with MND do not have the luxury of waiting indefinitely for answers. MND Australia has previously presented evidence showing significant variation in IAT outcomes for people living with MND. Sullivan said: double quotation mark We are calling for transparency around how decisions are made and meaningful human oversight where an outcome does not reflect a person’s needs.
Read more: Hanson scolds reporter for asking about ‘racism’ accusation from Payman Luca Ittimani Pauline Hanson has rebuked a reporter for asking about her decision to team up with Fatima Payman , who previously called her racist, to demand more staff. In 2024, Hanson attempted to have Payman investigated for an alleged section 44 citizenship issue. Payman responded in the Senate, before being forced to withdraw: double quotation mark You’re not just vindictive, mean, nasty, you bring disgrace to the human race.
Today, the two have joined with independent MP Dai Le to ask for more parliamentary staff, or for an independent body to make staffing decisions. Speaking to reporters in Canberra, they were asked about Payman’s past comments and whether she stood by them. Hanson said: double quotation mark Don’t raise that with me.
I’m not interested. ... It’s not about whether she believes it or not, and I think that’s wrong to ask that of her, of that question ... Payman said: double quotation mark Australians want to see politicians act in a mature way, to put their differences aside when it comes to common causes ...
When Labor do that it’s called being pragmatic, making deals. But when we do it, we are under fire as, ‘oh, you know, you’ve made comments about each other in the past’. She blamed Anthony Albanese for her staff facing burnout and psychosocial hazards due to the “whim of a petty man”.
Hanson said she had two personal staff, with three more for the parliamentary party, and she wanted staffing equivalent to what the Greens have. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, independent senator Fatima Payman and independent MP Dai Le speak to reporters in parliament. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP No bipartisanship to be found on Labor’s migration policy, says Angus Taylor Angus Taylor says there’s no common ground to be found with the government over migration policy, ahead of Tony Burke’s announcement at the national press club today.
Taylor says the government has failed to meet its own net overseas migration targets in the post-Covid years. double quotation mark When the numbers are too high and the standards are too low, it’s not going to be bipartisan. We disagree with what they have been doing. It’s wrong ...
They have come in over their own targets every single time. Now, there’s absolutely nothing in what we see to suggest that it’s going to change. We are just going to get more of the same.
He says the government has become too reliant on migration to keep the economy afloat. Matt Canavan adds: double quotation mark I welcome a belated recognition from Labor’s immigration minister that they agree, but the question has to be asked – what the hell has Labor been doing for the past four years? Rockhampton’s Fitzroy River endorsed for 2032 Olympics by world rowing and paddle bodies Andrew Messenger Rockhampton’s crocodile-inhabited Fitzroy River has been endorsed as the 2032 Olympics rowing venue.
The river – about 650 kilometres north of Brisbane – will host rowing, para rowing, canoe sprint and para canoe events for the 2032 Games. The state government announced the plan to host the event in the regional city after lobbying by mining magnate Gina Rinehart – but it sparked a backlash by Australia’s rowing community , largely due to fairness concerns. The premier, David Crisafulli, told parliament this morning that the plan had been endorsed by World Rowing and Paddle Worldwide, after a technical assessment by the government’s games infrastructure authority.
“The Fitzroy has passed with flying colours,” Crisafulli said. double quotation mark It’s official. Signed, sealed and delivered. World Rowing president, Jean-Christophe Rolland, said: double quotation mark Based on the extensive analysis undertaken, we now know that the Fitzroy River is capable of providing fair competition conditions during the period of the Games, consistent with the requirements of Olympic and Paralympic Rowing.
‘It should never have happened’: Taylor repeats call for Labor to dump Matt Keogh Angus Taylor has savaged the government after Labor backed down on a $5,000 allied health cap for veterans, and reiterated his call for the minister responsible to be sacked. Taylor tells journalists in a press conference that the government’s budget is “unwinding in front of our eyes”. double quotation mark The prime minister shouldn’t have just scrapped the cap. He should have scrapped the minister.
This minister is not up to the job. He’s failed veterans time and time again. Matt Canavan says that while it’s good the decision has been overturned, there is still a lack of trust among veterans with the government. double quotation mark The problem now for the veterans community and our country is that there’s clearly a breakdown in trust between the veterans community and this minister ...
The most depressing thing to hear as the veterans came down in the past few months was their statements that they don’t know if they’d encourage their own children or others to join the defence force, given how they’re being treated here. Matt Canavan and Angus Taylor. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP ‘Have a beer’: Lambie celebrates veterans allied health cap backdown but defends Keogh Jacqui Lambie has said veterans should celebrate and have a beer, after the government backed down on a policy capping allied health services for veterans to $5,000.
Lambie has also secured a win over Labor in the Senate after the Coalition and Greens supported her bill to ban any future caps on health services for veterans. The bill won’t make it through the house though, where the government has a majority. She tells veterans: double quotation mark Have a great weekend.
Have a beer. Have too many beers – do whatever. But the bloody cap has been scrapped.
You beauty, and we’re backing it up, making sure that they’re never ever going to try it again. But Lambie defends the veterans’ affairs minister, Matt Keogh , and department: double quotation mark I have seen more movement in the last two years since that royal commission than what I have in the whole 10 years I’ve bloody been up here, guys. They are working hard.
Jacqui Lambie. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP Patrick Commins IMF downgrades Australian economic forecast amid fears of interest rate hike The International Monetary Fund has downgraded its forecast for Australia’s economic growth in 2027, warning that the Reserve Bank may have to hike interest rates further to get price pressures back under control. The IMF also called on federal and state governments to tighten their belts, with a new report saying more disciplined budgets will rein in rising debt burdens and help solve Australia’s long-running inflation problem .
In a “concluding statement” that followed annual consultations with Treasury, RBA and Australian Prudential Regulation Authority officials, the Washington-based institution predicted that the economy would grow by 1.9% this year. But it shaved 0.1 percentage points off its forecast for real GDP growth to just 1.6% in 2027, flagging the downgrade was due to the higher likelihood of another RBA interest rate hike. double quotation mark Inflation remains a central challenge, while weak productivity growth is weighing on the economy’s potential. There is a risk that further large increases in global energy prices lead to stronger second-round effects and lift inflation expectations, warranting further tightening” in monetary policy.
Read the full story here: Ima Caldwell NSW parliament votes down bill targeting ‘sex-selective abortions’ A bill to criminalise “sex-selective” abortions has been defeated in the New South Wales upper house. The legislation, introduced by Libertarian John Ruddick , was voted down 21–16 in the Legislative Council on Wednesday. Defending the bill during its second reading, Ruddick cited 2025 Edith Cowan University research, frequently referenced by anti-abortion activists , which he said showed Indian and Chinese migrant families were more likely to have male children than the broader population.
Labor’s Cameron Murphy said he opposed the bill “in any form” in his second reading speech, referring to a 2020 NSW Health review that found 13 of 15,973 terminations between 2019 and 2020 were flagged for sex selection, 10 of which were likely “reporting errors”. In June, NSW’s health minister, Ryan Park said there was no evidence that sex selection was occurring in the state. NSW Libertarian MLC John Ruddick.
Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian Murphy also called anti-abortion activist Joanna Howe a “co - conspirator” of the bill, criticising her influence as a political lobbyist. Greens NSW health spokesperson, Dr Amanda Cohn , welcomed the defeat in a statement, calling the bill a “thinly veiled attempt to incrementally re-criminalise abortion”. double quotation mark The real impact of the bill would have been to create so much uncertainty and fear around severe criminal penalties that many health professionals would stop providing abortions. On Wednesday, One Nation NSW leader Mike Newman walked back comments made alongside Howe at a Tuesday anti-abortion rally, clarifying his party did not support an outright ban, but would move to restrict late-term and sex-selective procedures.
Coalition’s no-confidence motion against veterans’ affairs minister fails Unsurprisingly, the government has not voted with the Coalition to declare no confidence in the veterans’ affairs minister. And they have the majority in the house, meaning the vote fails. Crossbenchers Rebekha Sharkie , Dai Le and One Nation MPs David Farley and Barnaby Joyce support the Coalition’s motion.
Jacqui Lambie welcomes government’s allied health cap backdown Jacqui Lambie has thanked the minister for “hearing us loud and clear” after the government scraps a proposed cap on allied health services for veterans. The $5,000 cap was due to take effect on 1 July 2027. Lambie, the Tasmanian crossbench senator and veteran, is debating her bill in the Senate which would permanently block any government from being able to impose caps on health services for veterans.
She says the bill is needed to protect veterans in the future. double quotation mark If a veteran needs treatment because of their service, they should be able to get that treatment ... Their access to necessary treatment should not be restricted simply because some bean counter somewhere thought he could save the department money. Because you can never, ever put a price on veterans’ life.
It would be welcome news for more than half a million Australians (581,139) who have served or are currently serving in the ADF. By the numbers: 84,865 are current serving members and 496,276 are former serving members.
Source: The Guardian
