Australian news and politics recap March 19: Dutton says citizenship referendum a ‘last resort’
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Key Events
PM ‘immature’ on national security: Dutton
Peter Dutton has hit out at Anthony Albanese, labelling him “immature” and “out of his depth” for dismissing concerns around guilty dual-citizens as “a thought bubble”.
“I find it completely and utterly astounding that the Prime Minister can’t stand up for the rule of law in our country,” he said.
It was revealed on Tuesday that the Liberal leader was considering pushing to hold a referendum over deporting convicted criminals who hold dual citizenships.
Mr Albanese has rubbished Mr Dutton’s proposal as a “thought bubble”, pointing out the Opposition Leader has been a vocal critic of holding referendums following the Voice.
A Coalition win would be ‘mandate to keep mining going’: Dutton
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has declared if he wins the upcoming election he will have a “mandate to keep mining going”.
He accused Labor of “abandoning WA” to chase Green votes in inner-city Melbourne and Sydney by not approving the North West Shelf development off WA’s northern coast.
He has promised to make a decision on the project within 30 days of being elected.
The project sat with WA department for six years before being given approval in December.
The Federal department pushed out its deadline by a month, to the end of March.
Mr Dutton had flown to Perth on Tuesday afternoon to help launch the campaign of Liberals Swan candidate Mic Fels in Lathlain.
ASIO link exposed in sensitive JFK files
The declassified JFK assassination files have revealed an incredible connection between the head of our top Australian spy agency and the director of the CIA.
7NEWS’ Chris Reason says the documents, declassified today by the Trump administration, reveal Sir Charles Spry, who was serving as the head of ASIO when John F. Kennedy was assassinated back in 1963, begged the CIA not to release certain documents.
The letter, written by Spry and sent to the CIA asked for “telephone calls to the Canberra Embassy before and after the assassination” to be kept secret.
The document is one of more than 80,000 pages of material released by US President Donald Trump on Wednesday in relation to the assassination of JFK.
Lawyer wants video tossed out in anti-Semitic nurse case
The Bankstown nurses accused of making sickening anti-Semitic threats to patients have faced court for the first time, with a lawyer flagging he wants a key piece of evidence tossed out.
Sarah Abu Lebdeh and Ahmad Rashad Nadir sparked outrage after a video posted on social media by Israeli social media personality Max Veifer allegedly showed them saying they would refuse to treat Israelis and kill them instead.
But Nadir’s lawyer later told reporters he plans to apply to have the key video tossed out of the evidence brief.
“The video ... was recorded without his knowledge,” Zemarai Khatiz said outside Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court.
“We will apply to have it excluded.”
If the application is successful, it would leave prosecutors with little other evidence to rely on in their cases against the nurses.
Canadian defence technology deal on the radar
Mr Albanese says his phone call last night with the new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, was “extensive” and a good opportunity to get to know each other personally.
Australia is now looking at selling a $6.5 billion defence radar system to Canada, a deal that was canvassed during the chat.
“This is a world-leading technology,” Albanese says.
“Australians are smart. We’re good at innovation. We want a future made in Australia and we want to export wherever possible, and this will be a significant export, if this deal is finalised.”
Dutton’s citizenship referendum a ‘soap bubble’
The PM takes aim again at Peter Dutton’s suggestion of holding a referendum to overrule High Court decisions and allow ministers to deport dual citizens convicted of serious crimes.
“This was a thought bubble without thought. It’s really more like a soap bubble,” Mr Albanese says.
He gives the metaphor another go a couple minutes later, when asked about today’s reports the Coalition wants to add questions on anti-Semitism to the citizenship test.
“It’s another soap bubble… yesterday’s didn’t make it until lunchtime so we’ll see what happens,” he said.
Woodside’s North West Shelf project going through ‘usual approvals’
On Woodside’s North West Shelf project, Mr Albanese says the minister is working through the usual approvals process.
“The project was with the State Government for a long time and has been with the federal government just a matter of weeks,” he says.
The project sat with WA department for six years before being given approval in December.
The Federal department pushed out its deadline by a month, to the end of March.
Peter Dutton yesterday said he would fast-track the approval.
Albanese praises public servants responding to cyclone crisis
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is speaking from a Services Australia office in Brisbane where he has again praised the work of the public servants there.
It’s a point he’s made repeatedly throughout the cyclone crisis, striking a counterpoint to the Coalition’s plans to cut 36,000 public servants.
Albanese says you can “see the best of Australia right here in this office” taking people’s calls and making sure the support payments get out to them.
Marles welcomes Ukraine ceasefire but warns Russia can’t be rewarded
Australia has welcomed the partial ceasfire between Russia and Ukraine but has sounded a wanrning over rewarding Russia for it’s aggressive invasion of its much smaller neighbour.
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said any peace terms needed to involve Ukraine, which had to be empowered throughout the entire process.
“The other point here is that it’s really important that Russia is not rewarded in what is put forward here and how this plays out,” he told Nine’s Today Show on Wednesday.
“We do want to see peace, but it can’t be peace on any terms.
“At the end of the day, Russia are the aggressors here, Russia are the ones who have done wrong and we need to be standing with Ukraine.”
Penny Wong says American tariffs ‘entirely unjustified’
Penny Wong admits the impact of Donald Trump’s first few weeks in the Oval Office has reverberated right around the globe.
Speaking at a business breakfast in Perth on Tuesday morning, the Foreign Affairs Minister said there had already been a great deal of change from Washington.
“President Trump’s American-first agenda envisages a very different role for America in the world and it is what the American people have chosen,” Senator Wong said.
“The President campaigned on change, and none of us should minimise the implications of this change.
“Over the first several weeks of the Trump administration, we have seen how broad all those implications are around the world.”
