What we learned, Tuesday 29 April
We’re going to leave it here for the day – thanks for following along. In case you missed it, here’s what happened today:
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has labelled Peter Dutton’s comments about country acknowledgments “pure culture-war stuff” that “turns a lot of people off”, saying that organisations should be left to decide whether they want their events to start with ceremonies of welcome.
The opposition still has not released its costings, despite being four days out until election day. Asked about it on the campaign trail, Peter Dutton says the costings will be provided “in due course”, adding the costings would “demonstrate that the bottom line will always be better under a Liberal government”.
The fight over the Brisbane seat of Griffith, which is held by the Greens’ housing spokesperson, Max Chandler-Mather, heated up today. Anthony Albanese, visiting the seat, took aim at the Greens MP, saying he had “personally held up” investments in housing. The Greens leader Adam Bandt hit back, saying Chandler-Mather had “done more than anyone in parliament for renters and first-time buyers”.
Former Liberal minister Ken Wyatt said politicising welcomes to country “just adds to the division”, saying that he was “disappointed” with anybody who did not take the time to understand the importance of being welcomed into someone’s home country or region.
Peter Dutton doubled down on his criticisms of the journalists covering his election campaign, calling the media “activists” and “so biased”, in an interview with Sky News last night. The comments came after Dutton referred to the ABC and Guardian Australia as “hate media” a few days ago, comments his Liberal colleagues tried to walk back, suggesting they had been made “tongue in cheek”.
Be sure to join us again tomorrow as we enter the final countdown to election day.
Updated
Welcomes to country not cited among ‘priorities’ for veterans in pre-election discussions between RSL and political parties
Welcome to country ceremonies were not mentioned by the Coalition, Labor or the Greens in their engagement with the RSL on matters identified as being top priorities to veterans.
The RSL wrote to all three parties earlier this month seeking information about how they would address “five priority” issues affecting the wellbeing of veterans in Australia.
The questions included:
What are your top priorities when it comes to implementing the recommendations of the royal commission?
How will your party ensure veterans and their families receive the advocacy support they require?
How do you and your party plan to eliminate barriers to essential healthcare for veterans and their families?
Can you commit to adequate funding and resources for DVA to ensure there isn’t a recurrence of the claims backlog?
In these turbulent times, how will your party ensure we are prepared to meet current and future national security challenges?
The RSL did not include any reference to welcome to or acknowledgment of country, nor did the official responses of all three major parties. The responses are now available on the RSL website.
Updated
