Australia politics live: Sam Mostyn sworn in as governor general; international student visa fees more than double overnight | Australian politics

Erin Dale appointed as illicit tobacco and e‑cigarette commissioner

Australia now has an “illicit tobacco and e‑cigarette commissioner” who will focus on the ciggy and vape hidden market.

This is to be no more mango-tango-unicorn rizz flavours in the vaping world – it is now all plain or mint, which of course, will lead to all sorts of interesting ways to bring in razzle-dazzle vape options.

Erin Dale, who is the ABF assistant commissioner leading the tobacco and e-cigarette taskforce, is the new commissioner tasked with keeping “unicorn poo” and “horny strawberry” out of Australian hands.

The Illicit Tobacco and E‑cigarette Commissioner will be an essential role in coordinating efforts to combat the threat of illicit tobacco and e-cigarettes. The Commissioner will build on and strengthen existing arrangements, to ensure a more integrated whole-of-government response.

The establishment of this position builds on Australia’s multi-layered approach to reduce smoking and vaping rates in Australia – through stronger legislation, enforcement, education and support.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie seconded Rebekha Sharkie’s private member’s bill and says it is beyond time for the Albanese government to act on gambling:

It’s now just been over a year since the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, chaired by the late Ms Peta Murphy, released its report into online gambling and its impacts on those experiencing gambling harm. But the federal government still hasn’t responded to the report, or enacted any meaningful reforms to combat gambling advertising. This is entirely unacceptable.

It’s way beyond time for the government to stop kowtowing to the gambling industry, the media and the big sporting codes, and instead focus on protecting Australians from predatory industries like this by banning all online gambling advertising. Until that happens, people, including children will continue to be exposed to gambling ads that normalise the practice.

PM likens Labor team decision making to team sports

Q: But they can’t speak their mind about it. And if they do, it’s put down to Greens tactics.

Albanese:

Well, that’s not true. The contradiction … was there in Senator Payman’s interview yesterday, which she chose to do in order to disrupt Labor and what we are doing today, the day before the most significant assistance that has been given to working people in a very long period of time.

That was a decision that Senator Payman made and Senator Payman made alone.

… If you are a member of a team, you know – I watched the Hawks win their fifth game in a row yesterday. The way that they won was that they’re not the best team on paper, but they act as a team. They pass the ball to each other. They don’t just kick at random. They don’t say, ‘We won’t worry about the rules, we’ll throw rather than handball’.

… They listen to the coach’s instructions.

Labor is a ‘broad party’ with a ‘diversity of views’, Albanese says

Q: She’s a young Muslim woman following her heart, though. And I just want to ask, just to put this to you, what about the Muslim Australian community? It’s not like she’s crossed the floor on something like tax policy. This is an issue that goes far deeper than that for many voters. What would you say to them who are hearing this? Is it enough to say, “Look, sorry, that’s just not the way we do things in the Labor party”?

Albanese:

Well, I engage very directly with the Islamic community in my own electorate and indeed throughout Australia with faith leaders of all faiths. And I understand that this is a very difficult period that we are going through, which is why we need actually real solutions, not gestures and stunts from the Greens that were designed, be very clear, this stunt from the Greens was designed to put Fatima Payman in a difficult position. It was designed to do that.

It wasn’t designed to assist Palestinians in Gaza. It wasn’t designed to advance the peace process. And it was counterproductive.

Q: Does it not suggest, forgive me for interrupting, prime minister, but does it not suggest, though, that if you want more diversity in your party, which is a good thing … that is going to mean there is a diversity of views, and maybe that means loosening up this idea that there always needs to be 110% party unity?

Albanese:

No, you have a diversity of views expressed in the Labor party. And we are a broad party, we’re a party full of people who have strong ideas and strong values.

PM says opposition is a ‘rabble’ because they do not have Labor’s rules on voting

Paul Karp covered this interview off earlier, but here is how Anthony Albanese dealt with the questions on senator Fatima Payman in an interview with Tom Oriti from ABC News Radio:

Q: Why can’t Labor be a broad church like those opposite in the Coalition often proudly claim they are? Wouldn’t the public accept that? Does there always need to be 100% solidarity?

Albanese:

They’re a rabble opposite, Thomas. And that’s where you have at the moment, the National Party tail wagging the Liberal Party dog because you have a leader in Peter Dutton who doesn’t say no to anyone, whether it be people in his Caucus saying that Covid was all a conspiracy, whether it be people who support Vladimir Putin and have defended him in his caucus, or whether it be this unfunded thought bubble on nuclear energy. What we have is a process where people participate, people respect each other and people don’t engage in indulgence, such as the decision last week. Labor supports a Palestinian state existing alongside an Israeli state. We don’t support a one-state solution. The resolution moved by the Greens does nothing to advance the peace process. Pretending that the Senate recognises states is, quite frankly, untenable. And the resolution that was moved by the Greens … didn’t acknowledge two states at all, unlike Senator Wong’s position, which was a principal position of two-state solution to advance the cause of a sustainable peace in the region, that’s what we need. And that’s a collective position that Labor has had.

Parliament sitting starts with bill on gambling ads

The parliament session has started – and Mayo independent, Rebekha Sharkie, has introduced a private member’s bill to tackle interactive gambling advertising.

You can find the bill’s details here.

The government is yet to announce its strategy for dealing with gambling, but has said it wants to do it as a whole. The crossbench is running out of patience, though.

‘Clear eyes and a big heart’: PM welcomes Sam Mostyn to governor general role

Anthony Albanese gave a speech upon Sam Mostyn being sworn in as governor-general:

In Sam Mostyn, our nation has the right leader.

Sam, you are a person of intelligence and compassion. Of loyalty and integrity.

You have clear eyes and a big heart – and both have shaped your vision of who and what we can be as a nation.

Throughout your life, and across your great breadth of experience in the worlds of law and business and sport, in corporate Australia and the not-for-profit sector, you have always been ready to put yourself forward for others.

They are the qualities that she will bring to representing our nation as governor general.

You have walked the talk, a human catalyst with an unrelenting capacity for making things happen.

On Fatima Payman’s assertion that she is representing what the rank and file members of the Labor party want to see from their representatives, Katy Gallagher says:

I respectfully disagree with Senator Payman on that matter. You know, all of the issues in the Middle East are felt deeply across our caucus. They have been a subject of much discussion and, indeed, policy decisions that have been taken by the Australian government, including at the United Nations.

You know, we have consistently, for months, called for a ceasefire. We have supported the people of Gaza with financial assistance and aid. We have urged Israel not to act when it has threatened to do so. Our position has been very strong under the leadership of the PM and the foreign minister.

And so, I don’t agree with Senator Payman. I think those issues, the issues and concerns of our membership have been reflected in our decision-making.

‘We want her to remain within the Labor party’, Katy Gallagher says of Fatima Payman

The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, held a doorstop (quick press conference) with the intention of talking about the tax cuts and other cost of living relief measures coming into effect with the financial year.

But the decision to suspend senator Fatima Payman dominated the questions.

Gallagher:

I think we’ve tried to respond, and we all accept – all of us deeply feel the issues in the Middle East, you know, the horrific events we’re seeing in Gaza – we all do … which is why our position as a government has been so strong under the leadership of the prime minister and the foreign minister. And so, we have tried to support Senator Payman. We’ve been mature and respectful. But ultimately, these are decisions that she has taken and the caucus has had to respond.

… We want her to remain within the Labor party. She was elected as a member of the Labor party. And she, you know, for the people of Western Australia, she is their Labor senator.

But it is ultimately a matter for her. She has made decisions over the past week. There have been consequences to those decisions. But now, any further decision she takes is a matter for herself, and she has to be responsible.

Paul Karp covered off the possibility the government would go this route in increasing student visas in April – but the government stayed very quiet about its plans.

Well, this was sent out without a lot of fanfare.

From today, the fee for international student visas will increase from $710 to $1,600.

The government says it is part of its plan to “restore” integrity in the sector, as well as “reflect the increasing value of education in Australia”. But it is also about cutting the number of international students, which is part of the government’s overall migration cut.

The government release describes this as “the ongoing implementation of the migration strategy”.

Along with that is these measures:

• Increasing the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold from $70,000 to $73,150 based on annual indexation, the second increase under this government after it was frozen for a decade at $53,900.

• Shortening the duration of Temporary Graduate Visas and reducing the age eligibility.

• Ending “visa hopping” by closing the loopholes that allow students and other temporary visa holders to continuously extend their stay in Australia, in some cases indefinitely.

• Enhancing mobility for temporary skilled migrants to reduce exploitation and drive productivity, by extending the amount of time temporary skilled migrants can remain in Australia between employer sponsors from 60 days to 180 days.

• Implementing the Strengthening Employer Compliance Bill 2023 to provide new criminal measures against employers engaging in the exploitation of migrants.

• Introducing the a Workplace Justice Visa Pilot to enable temporary visa holders to remain in Australia for a short period when pursuing workplace justice.

The 21-gun salute has been fired and it is all official-official – Sam Mostyn is the 28th governor general of Australia.

Mostyn continues:

Care is at the heart of our distress, of the shocking number of deaths of women through family violence and at the heart of our growing acceptance and celebration of cultural, sexual and gender diversity in all its forms.

Our focus on mental health, particularly for young Australians is an act of care, as is the focus of on our aged and disability sectors where respect and dignity will define that care.

I hope we can continue to extend that sense of care to our beautiful continent, landscapes and the natural environment.

But also to our institutions, our public debates and our sense of civic responsibility. To the way in which we challenge ourselves and one another and engage in the contest of ideas that will guide the tough decisions that are needed for our country to thrive.

Care has a deep and resonant place in our Australian identity.

Care is that gentle thought and the outstretched hand that Australians have always been read to share when great challenges present themselves. Care is the quieter better part of ourselves and it is that sense of care that [husband] Simeon [Beckett] and I will seek to depict and amplify as we take on this role.

Sam Mostyn then turns to what she hopes to see from a future Australia, bringing in some of the themes from her previous advocacy work:

If I can capture in a few words my aspirations for our country, I believe these testing times call for an unstinting focus on kindness, on care and on respect.

Across my career and particularly in the past decade, I have seen how care can be an uplifting force. I have seep it in the reform of work places, where inclusion and respect now prevail.

I have seen it in our renewed focus on the roles of teachers, nurses, care workers, volunteers and all frontline workers, not just during the crises of bushfires, floods and Covid-19, although very much amplified by those times. I have seen it in the advancement of women in all parts of society, in leadership roles, sport, in economics, our regulators, even slowly but importantly in the trades and on building sites.

While too much paid and unpaid care still falls to women, we are now focused on addressing that challenge while also encouraging men to confidently take on care roles and responsibilities with pride. That’s not just good for women and men but for our economy and our entire Australian society.