POLITICS

‘The federal government will remove predatory rent-to-buy lenders from the Centrepay debit service as part of wider reforms’, The Guardian reports.

‘Guardian Australia revealed this year how multiple energy retailers, including AGL, Origin and Ergon, allegedly used the system to continue deducting million of dollars from the welfare payments of former customers long after they had left or switched energy providers.’

From The Conversation: ‘Last month, US Republican lawmakers renewed calls to sanction officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in retaliation for the arrest warrants it issued against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.’

‘In contrast, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong reiterated the need to respect the “independence of the ICC and its important role in upholding international law”. ‘

In The Guardian: ‘The federal government has accepted 104 of the 122 recommendations of the defence and veterans’ suicide royal commission.’

‘The federal government will establish an independent inquiry into sexual violence in the Australian military and ensure serving personnel convicted of sex offences in either criminal or military courts face mandatory discharge.’

‘The United Nations has added its powerful voice to the chorus of criticisms levelled against new laws in Queensland, saying the legislation shows a “flagrant disregard” for children’s rights.’ – reported at www.sbs.com.au

‘ ‘Adult crime, adult time’ laws featured in Queensland parliament’s first sitting on Thursday as the Liberal National Party government fulfilled an election promise.’

Reported at theconversation.com: A national YouGov poll indicates that 77% of Australians support a proposed ban on social media for children under 16, reflecting a significant increase in support from 61% in August.

Concurrently, economic sentiment has improved, with 51% of voters now feeling financially comfortable.

In other polling data, political support remains closely divided between the Coalition and Labor, with various polls showing a nearly equal split in voter preferences.

The Guardian: ‘Anthony Albanese insists Labor’s plans to establish a national environmental watchdog are still on the table after he quashed a deal with the Greens in parliament’s final sitting week.’

‘ “It’s our intention to proceed with them, but we’ll proceed with them on the basis of our values that we put forward,” he said on ABC’s Insiders. ‘

From The Guardian: ‘The Australian government has restricted foreign diplomats bringing domestic workers into the country, a UN anti-slavery expert has reported, after two recent federal court cases exposed systemic exploitation a judge described as “slave-like working conditions”. ‘

‘Major changes to the Reserve Bank Act mean that, amongst other things, the bank will now have a second board solely responsible for setting interest rates’ reports the ABC

‘We now live in a world where the sainted independence of the RBA is such that the treasurer can’t even be seen to be giving it a few “helpful suggestions” about interest rates.’

‘Former Labor senator Fatima Payman has emerged as a key player in the collapse of a deal on environmental reforms.’ reports the ABC

‘Senator Payman’s decision not to back the legislation came as an “oh shit” moment for the prime minister’s office, said one person familiar with events this week, because it meant the government did not have the numbers in the Senate.’

The Saturday Paper reports that ‘after a long, long stand-off between Labor and the Greens over a package of bills reforming Australia’s environmental protection laws, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and Greens spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young finally reached an agreement that would have allowed their passage through the Senate.’

‘Then, late on Tuesday, Albanese reversed his position and pranged the whole agreement.’

According to The Guardian, ‘About 3 million Australians charged debts totalling $4.3bn by the Australian government may have been affected by an unlawful debt calculation practice.’

‘The release under freedom of information laws raises questions about whether the government can properly remediate what it has previously described as an “unquantifiable” potential liability.’

‘Despite it being illegal to recruit soldiers for foreign armies, the Israeli Defence Forces recruiters are hard at work here enticing young Australians to join Israel’s army.’ reports michaelwest.com.au

‘MWM understands a batch of Australian recruits is due to arrive in Israel in January, and this is not the first batch of recruits to receive assistance as IDF soldiers through this Australian program.’

ABC News reports that Megan Herbert has been named 2024 Political Cartoonist of the Year.

‘A selection of Ms Herbert’s work is also featured in Behind the Lines 2024: No Guts, No Glory, which officially opened today at the Museum of Australian Democracy (MoAD) at Old Parliament House. Impressive feats for a self-confessed industry rookie’

From www.benzinga.com: ‘The Greens, Australia’s third-largest political party, announced Wednesday that its Legalizing Cannabis Bill 2023 was voted down in the Senate by a margin of 13 to 24 votes, marking a setback in its push for reform.’

From Pearls & Irritations: ‘Julian Assange may no longer be behind bars, but his conviction casts a shadow over press freedom and the safety of journalists everywhere—a wrong Assange and his supporters world-wide are determined to set right by overturning his wrongful conviction via a presidential pardon from Joe Biden.’

‘Australian campaigners for Julian Assange are hopeful that prime minister Anthony Albanese can convince his friend outgoing US president Joe Biden to deliver a pardon for the WikiLeaks founder.’

Reported by Reuters: ‘Australia approved on Thursday a social media ban for children aged under 16 after an emotive debate that has gripped the nation, setting a benchmark for jurisdictions around the world with one of the toughest regulations targeting Big Tech.’

‘Between the investigations into Thales and the legal action of his chief of staff, it’s getting harder for the media to ignore the flaws of Richard Marles’ reports Bernard Keane at crikey.com.au

‘Two scandals continue to bubble away that reflect poorly on Richard Marles’

‘Australia plans to trial an age-verification system that may include biometrics or government identification to enforce a social media age cut-off, some of the toughest controls imposed by any country to date’ reports Reuters.

‘There will be very strong and strict privacy requirements to protect people’s personal information, including an obligation to destroy information provided once age has been verified, Albanese told parliament on Monday.’

‘The end of a parliamentary year is usually a mess. But 2024’s finale was beyond bad. A prime minister who likes to claim he runs an orderly government found himself presiding over a shambles, in which process was thrown to the winds and quick fixes and expedient capitulations became the order of the day’ – from The Conversation

‘If Australia is to have any influence at all in resolving the horrendous carnage now taking place in the Middle East it needs to demonstrate that it acts independently of American pressure.” writes Dennis Altman at Pearls & Irritations

‘The politicians who lament the fraying of our ties with Israel seem totally unconcerned about the impact of our position on countries far more significant to Australia, such as Indonesia and Malaysia, whose support for Palestine recognition goes far further than anything supported by the Albanese government.’