Key posts 1 of 3
Latest posts 1.21pm
Tuesday’s top stories By Liam Mannix G’day, Liam Mannix here. I’ll be with you on the blog this afternoon. Here are the top stories we’ve been covering today:
The government has dismissed Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s proposal for a referendum on giving politicians the ability to deport dual citizens out of hand. This masthead reported that Dutton sees a referendum as a serious prospect if he wins the election, as part of his tough on crime agenda. Treasurer Jim Chalmers this morning called the idea “quite bizzare”. Read more here. US President Donald Trump’s tariff agenda continues to create whiplash across Australia and the world. Consumer confidence dropped 3.1 per cent over past week and US stocks are down.Foreign Minister Penny Wong today said Australia had highlighted the two-to-one trade surplus the US had enjoyed with Australia – but that wasn’t enough to stave off a hardening of the US’s position in favour of universal tariffs.
In better news for the local economy, the Reserve Bank of Australia said household spending was growing again and there appeared to be positive local momentum. And in the Middle East, the Israeli military says it has carried out extensive strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza, while medics there reported casualties in a series of the most violent airstrikes since the January 19 ceasefire began. 12.53pm
Liberal voters turn on Dutton, launch anti-nuclear campaign By Mike Foley A new group of Liberal voters is campaigning for Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to ditch his policy to build seven taxpayer-funded nuclear power plants across the country, warning it is set to cost him an election win.
“This is the Liberal Party’s version of Bill Shorten’s negative gearing policy,” said Andrew Gregson, spokesman for the Liberals Against Nuclear group.
Gregson was referring to the former Labor leader’s famously controversial reforms that many argue contributed to a shock loss in the 2019 election.
While declining to detail the size of the group’s membership or financial backers, Gregson said it can draw on “considerable” funding.
Gregson said:
It’s a group of Liberal supporters, liberal voters, and indeed some Liberal Party members who are desperately concerned that the Liberal nuclear policy is going to cost it the election.
The party is very close to the lodge, and this policy we see as a significant barrier to them achieving it because out here in voter land, people hate it.
The policy as a whole completely defies liberal values… the Liberal Party has been removing itself from huge government assets for decades and now all of a sudden they want to reverse it and invest in the biggest government assets the country’s ever seen. That’s just nonsense.”
Liberals Against Nuclear advertising includes television advertising, social me
Read More