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The Guardian - AU
National
Cait Kelly (now) and Christopher Knaus (earlier)

Anthony Albanese and Jenny Morrison attend same Easter service – as it happened

Labor Scott Morrison Anthony Albanese
Labor leader Anthony Albanese shakes hands with Jenny Morrison as they attend the Good Friday service at St Charbel’s Monastery in Sydney.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese shakes hands with Scott Morrison’s wife Jenny Morrison as they attend the Good Friday service at St Charbel’s Monastery in Sydney. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

And with that we are going to put this blog to bed - thank you for spending Good Friday with us.

Before we go, let’s re-cap the big ones:

  • Federal party leaders attended Good Friday services, amid a campaign trail ‘truce’ for Easter.
  • Anthony Albanese, Jenny Morrison and Tony Abbott attended the same Easter service.
  • The Centre for Public Integrity warned a federal anti-corruption commission that is unable to hold public hearings would be largely ineffective.
  • Huge airport queues moved quickly but Easter flights departed without baggage amid airport staff shortages.
  • Golfing great Jack Newton died aged 72.
  • More aged care deaths in 2022 than the first two pandemic years combined.
  • Liberal senator Ben Small resigned because of dual citizenship.
  • One Nation dumped Brisbane candidate Rebecca Lloyd.

I am off - my friends have managed to find the only pub open in Melbourne for dinner - but we will be back tomorrow to do it all again.

Updated

Election promises or pork barrelling? Check out the Guardian’s Pork-o-meter:

Retired judges have criticised the Morrison government’s broken promise on the federal anti-corruption commission as a “massive policy failure”, saying the Coalition’s explanation for walking away from the pledge was “spurious”.

One Nation dumps Brisbane candidate

One Nation has dumped Rebecca Lloyd – their candidate for the seat of Brisbane.

Lloyd, who is aligned with the “freedom movement” has reportedly been ditched because she refused to work with party leaders.

We are chasing more on this and I will bring it to you when we’ve got it.

It comes just days after the Australian Electoral Commission announced it is investigating a Facebook page that is linked to Lloyd and promotes candidates opposed to vaccination mandates:

Updated

Fine print casts doubt on AFR and News Corp’s claims about Labor leader. Plus: Leigh Sales quits Twitter, writes Amanda Meade.

The federal government has joined the Victorian government in giving $2 million to the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday appeal.

Updated

Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe on Twitter:

Updated

Scott Morrison has said on Twitter that two officers involved in yesterday’s crash in Tasmania have been discharged from the hospital.

The crash involved members of the prime minister’s security detail, with the car rolling while carrying four police officers.

Updated

One reader from regional Victoria has emailed to say their internet has been down since 2pm.

We are currently not sure what is behind the outage and will bring you more when we have it.

Updated

Loving this for you NSW ...

More than 1,000 Covid deaths in residential aged care deaths this year

There have been more Covid-19 deaths in residential aged care this year than the first two years of the pandemic combined, AAP reports.

Data from the federal health department released this week showed 1,088 people in residential aged care died so far in 2022.

There were a total of 918 deaths in the centres as of 31 December 2021.

Some 28,028 people have contracted Covid-19 in Australian residential aged care centres since the pandemic started.

AAP has contacted the federal health department for comment.

Updated

Anthony Albanese, Jenny Morrison and Tony Abbott attend same Easter service

This morning Anthony Albanese was joined by the prime minister’s wife Jenny Morrison and former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott at the Good Friday service at St Charbel’s Monastery in Punchbowl in Sydney.

Jenny Morrison and daughters Abbey and Lily were greeted by Albanese, as was Abbott, AAP reports.

Albanese did a reading at the service and sat in the front row with his frontbench colleagues Tony Burke and Jason Clare.

New South Wales governor Margaret Beazley was also in attendance.

In his Easter message Albanese said those impacted by recent floods would be remembered in his Easter prayers. He said:

The feeling of hope inspires us all as we begin to emerge from the pandemic and look towards a better future.

I send my very best wishes to the many people celebrating this weekend and hope you can finally gather safely with your family and in your churches.

Anthony Albanese shakes hands with Jenny Morrison.
Anthony Albanese shakes hands with Jenny Morrison. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
The congregation rises.
The congregation rises. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Albanese, Margaret Beazley and Tony Abbott catch up.
Albanese, Margaret Beazley and Tony Abbott catch up. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

Two Liberal party candidates for the forthcoming federal election have been accused of “plagiarising” ads from the recent successful state campaign of South Australia’s Labor premier, Peter Malinauskas.

Hopes for record Good Friday Appeal

As volunteers return to raise funds for Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital, the Victorian government has pledged $2m to the annual Good Friday Appeal in the hopes of it beating another record, AAP reports.

The Victorian government has again donated to the hospital, topping up generous donations that last year saw more than $17m raised, slightly down on the record $18m in 2020.

With $2.5m from the state last year and $8m the year before, the taxpayer dollars have ensured the hospital’s charitable endeavours will continue.

The appeal is critically important for the smallest people not only in Victoria but nationally and internationally, premier Daniel Andrews said on Friday.

“We don’t just do good paediatric health in Victoria, we do the very, very best,” he said.

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews during the Good Friday Appeal at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews during the Good Friday Appeal at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Photograph: Con Chronis/AAP

This year the total will tip over $400m raised over 91 years. The extra funds will help the appeal, which still faces some Covid-related impacts.

The last three years have been like no others, Andrews said. “To have come close to raising a relatively normal amount of money is testament to just how special people know the role of the Children’s Hospital is,” he said.

Updated

Health authorities are urging caution following the emergence of a hybrid Omicron variant of Covid-19 in Australia.

The recombinant variant, known as XE, is a combination of BA.2 – “stealth Omicron” – and BA.1 – the original and highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus.

Easter flights depart without baggage amid airport staff shortages

The expected rush at the country’s busiest airports has passed after fears of Easter holiday chaos but staff shortages meant some travellers arrived at destinations without their bags, AAP reports.

At Sydney airport travellers were urged to arrive two hours early on Good Friday, but queues remained under control, and wait times to pass check in and security peaked at about 45 minutes.

Both Qantas and Sydney airport have called more than 300 members of their corporate employees to assist with ongoing shortages in the terminals.

Qantas said it continues to face a staff shortage, and a small number of its flights had departed without baggage in recent days.

“Decisions were made to have these flights depart without baggage to ensure that customers could get to their destination and not face long flight delays or cancellations,” a Qantas spokeswoman said.

The bags will be put on later flights, and then sent to customers by courier.

“We really appreciate people’s patience and understanding and apologise for the inconvenience,” the spokeswoman said.

There were queues at Sydney airport on Thursday ahead of the Easter long weekend.
There were queues at Sydney airport on Thursday ahead of the Easter long weekend. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

More than 200 Qantas head office managers are working at airports to assist with worker shortfall.

The airline opened additional security screening lanes at Sydney’s domestic terminal and Jetstar has begun using larger Boeing 787 Dreamliners, usually reserved for international flights, for its Melbourne to Cairns and the Gold Coast routes.

Some 120 corporate staff from Sydney airport are also donning green vests and working as support staff over Easter.

It follows days of chaos at airports around the country with staff shortages due to Covid-19 isolation rules.

Updated

Liberal senator Ben Small resigns because of dual citizenship

WA Liberal senator Ben Small has released a statement on his resignation.

Small says he has resigned after learning from the New Zealand High Commission on Thursday that he had been a citizen of New Zealand.

I have today written to the President of the Senate to advise him of matters related to my citizenship status and to resign as a Senator for Western Australia.

My resignation is the result of me becoming aware that I was, until recently, a dual citizen of Australia and New Zealand.

I was born in Perth in 1988 and have always been an Australian citizen. At the time of my birth, my mother was an Australian Citizen and my father, who was born in New Zealand, was an Australian Permanent Resident.

I had always understood that I had no entitlement to New Zealand citizenship based on the laws that applied at the time of my birth.

However, late last Wednesday 6 April, as part of preparations for the upcoming election, Liberal Party officials queried whether I may have an entitlement to New Zealand citizenship. Within 24 hours I took steps to engage with the New Zealand High Commission to clarify my status and, if necessary, to renounce any eligibility or right to New Zealand citizenship that I might have.

Yesterday afternoon, Thursday 14 April, the New Zealand High Commission confirmed that I had been a citizen of New Zealand and, further to my application, granted a renunciation of any New Zealand citizenship rights.

While the question of my ineligibility to have been appointed to a Senate casual vacancy would need to be confirmed by the Court of Disputed Returns, I believe that my circumstances are sufficiently clear and it is most appropriate that I promptly resign from the Senate myself.

As a result, I have today provided my resignation to the President of the Senate.

I remain strongly committed to fighting for the issues that matter to Western Australians, especially the small businesses across WA whose interests I have championed. Now that any questions around my eligibility have been resolved, I look forward to continuing to campaign across WA as a candidate for the Senate and to ensuring the Morrison Government can continue to implement our plans for an even stronger Australia.

Liberal senator Ben Small has resigned after learning he was a citizen of New Zealand citizen.
Liberal senator Ben Small has resigned after learning he was a citizen of New Zealand citizen. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

The West Australian is reporting WA senator Ben Small has resigned because of dual nationality breaches Australian Constitution.

We will bring you more on this as it develops.

Updated

WA records one Covid death and 7,990 new cases

Western Australia has recorded 7,990 new Covid cases today. There are 197 people in hospital, four of which are in ICU.

One previous death has been included in today’s figures – a woman in her 90s.

Updated

The Community and Public Sector Union has put out a statement in response to the secretary of the department of veterans affairs appearing at the royal commission into defence and veteran suicide yesterday.

The CPSU says that understaffing and under-resourcing of the department have had critical and tragic consequences for Australian veterans:

“Since 2015, the Coalition Government has imposed an arbitrary cap on the number of staff that Australian Public Service Departments can directly employ.

DVA Secretary Liz Cosson explained that the government’s ideological cap on permanent staffing in the department had led to an increased use of costly casual and labour hire contracts.

Ms Cosson stated DVA’s reliance on less experienced staff to process veterans’ complex disability and injury claims had contributed to a growing backlog.

The backlog of veterans’ claims, which has been building for years, now stands at 65,000.

When asked whether she believed the backlog, and resulting delays in processing claims, contributed to an increased risk of veteran suicide, Ms Cosson said she believed it did.”

CPSU deputy president, Brooke Muscat, said the Morrison government “owes veterans an apology”:

“The Coalition government has for years wilfully ignored the risk to the mental health and lives of veterans caused by delays and backlogs in claims processing.

It has made a conscious choice not to address the root causes and put the lives of veterans in jeopardy.

They should own up to their failings and acknowledge the devastating impact they have had on veterans, their families, and the workers struggling to support them.”

Updated

Never mind the bollocks: Albanese’s non-gaffe on immigration was just media hysteria, writes, Katharine Murphy.

From AAP:

NSW cafe owners are being warned to expect visits from union officials to ensure they are paying correct penalty rates over the Easter weekend.

All four days of the long weekend are public holidays, with hospitality and retail staff eligible for penalties of up to double time and a half.

Unions NSW assistant secretary Thomas Costa says young casual workers are particularly vulnerable to exploitation.

“Union officials will be out in force across NSW this Easter long weekend making sure businesses are paying their staff their full penalty rate entitlements,” he said on Friday.

“Most employers are excellent so it’s really important they don’t have to compete with people who are ripping off their staff.”

Workers should ensure they know their rights and contact their union if there is any doubt, he said.

Employees are also being reminded it is voluntary to work on public holidays.

Updated

Hello everyone! This is Cait Kelly – I will be with you for the rest of this Easter Good Friday.

If you want to contact me - hit me up on Twitter on @cait__kelly or email: cait.kelly@theguardian.com.

Let’s get into it!

Updated

Leaders scale back campaigning on Good Friday

It’s midday on Good Friday, so probably worth wrapping up the morning so far. Here’s what we’ve learned:

  • both Anthony Albanese and Scott Morrison attended Good Friday church services, limiting public campaigning and politics for the day. Morrison briefly spoke after a service in Chisholm, a marginal seat in Melbourne, where he appeared alongside local member Gladys Liu. Morrison said the day “was not about politics”.
  • Four police officers from Morrison’s security detail are recovering well following a crash in Tasmania on Thursday. All but one will have been discharged from hospital by the end of today. Morrison said the crash happened right behind his car and said he “feared the worst” after hearing the crash. He urged drivers to take care on the roads.
  • Morrison has continued to face pressure over the broken promise to legislate a federal anti-corruption commission. Integrity experts and former judges have described the broken promise as a “massive policy failure”, while Morrison’s frontbenchers suggested they would attempt to revive the issue next term. The Coalition has attempted to blame Labor for its own broken promise, something Chris Bowen described as “absurd”.
  • The airports were less busy than expected this morning. Queues have moved freely through the major airports in Sydney and Melbourne, according to reports, a welcome change after the chaos of the last few days.
  • Golfing great Jack Newton has passed away from undisclosed health issues. His death has sparked a series of tributes from the golfing world.
  • NSW recorded 16 Covid deaths, Victoria recorded seven deaths, and Queensland recorded two deaths. South Australia, meanwhile, has today dropped most of its mask requirements.

Queensland reports two Covid-related deaths

Queensland has reported two Covid deaths and 7,600 new cases.

Updated

Retired judge Anthony Whealy, now chair of the Centre for Public Integrity, has condemned the Morrison government’s attempts to blame Labor for failing to legislate its own anti-corruption commission.

Coalition ministers have continued this morning to say Labor’s lack of support meant it couldn’t bring the legislation to parliament.

Whealy told the Guardian the excuse was “spurious”.

The true reason for this massive policy failure is that, with a litany of scandalous rorts identified in audit reports, this government wishes to avoid proper scrutiny and being held publicly accountable.

You can read his full comments here:

Updated

Anthony Albanese is with a huge congregation for the Good Friday service at St Charbel’s Maronite Monastery in Sydney’s west. There’s a reported 5,000 people there, including Scott Morrison’s wife and two daughters, and former prime minister Tony Abbott.

We’ve updated our Pork-o-meter to add more than $1bn in promises made in the past 10 days. The Guardian has built the tool to track spending commitments throughout the campaign.

You can use the tool here to track how much your electorate is getting and monitor, in real time, which seats and states the party leaders are visiting.

South Australia has today relaxed its Covid restrictions, largely repealing its mask mandates.

Masks are now only needed in passenger transport, on planes and in airports, hospitals, healthcare settings, disability and residential aged care, prisons and pharmacies.

Updated

Both the ABC and Sydney Morning Herald are reporting that security guards at Sydney airport have been offered $1,000 bonuses to work every day over Easter to help alleviate the chaos caused by huge traveller numbers.

Singapore-based Certis, which is contracted to provide security guards for the airport, said it was going to pay staff the bonus if they worked every rostered shift from 14 April to 26 April.

The United Workers Union is concerned that will put pressure on workers to turn up, even if they are sick with Covid.

Damien Davie from the United Worker’s Union told the ABC the policy was an “unfair and reckless” way of boosting staff numbers.

If you don’t turn up for one shift, you lose the $1,000 bonus.

We’re concerned it’s putting pressure on people to come to work when they’re sick, which may see an explosion in the spread of Covid-19.

The crowds at major airports across the country are reportedly moving much more freely today, a welcome change after days of huge queues.

People queue on arrival at Sydney domestic airport ahead of the Easter long weekend.
People queue on arrival at Sydney domestic airport ahead of the Easter long weekend. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Updated

Just on the crash involving Morrison’s security team, police say they are still investigating and have called for witnesses.

Morrison’s security team were driving through Tasmania, where Morrison was campaigning on Thursday, when their car was involved in a collision near Elizabeth Town.

Four officers were hospitalised. Two Tasmanian police officers have been discharged. Two federal police officers remained in hospital overnight for “non-life threatening injuries”.

The crash happened just behind Morrison’s car, he says.

Tasmanian police issued a statement this morning:

Police are continuing to investigate a two vehicle crash involving an unmarked police car near Elizabeth Town yesterday.

The four police officers involved are recovering well- two Tasmania Police officers were discharged from hospital last night while two Australian Federal Police officers remain in hospital overnight for treatment for non life threatening injuries.

Anyone who witnessed the crash who hasn’t already spoken to police is asked to contact police on 131 444. Dashcam or other footage can be submitted via the Evidence Portal

Campaign trail 'truce' for Easter weekend

The major parties were reported to have called a truce today, limiting appearances and advertising.

Morrison keeps his appearance brief and avoids speaking about politics. But he has still appeared before the cameras.

Easter is not about politics. My faith isn’t about politics. What happened Good Friday and Easter Sunday means everything to me. It’s my faith. It has informed me, encouraged me, guided me over my entire life. It’s how I was raised in my family, in a church just like this one. My brother and I and mum and dad, and Jenny and I are seeking to do the same thing with our own family. Easter is about faith. It’s about hope. It’s about being able to look forward to the future with confidence and encouraged by your beliefs and it’s a very personal thing for me. And I really enjoyed the service this morning. It was very reflective and very simple and just very honest and the pastor’s message, reminded me of the days I was at a Baptist church many years ago, not long after Jenny and I were married. It was a pleasant time to be with a lovely church community.

He’s asked if he has spoken to his security team.

Not as yet. I’ve been able to send messages to them and I know they are grateful. I’m hoping to speak to them today. They were able to speak to their families yesterday, which I was pleased about. And so we are looking forward to their recovery but they are doing well and they are getting great support and have had particularly great support overnight down there at Launceston general hospital. Thanks very much everyone.

And that’s where he leaves it.

Anthony Albanese is at a church service in Sydney this morning.

Updated

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, is speaking briefly outside a church service in the Melbourne electorate of Chisholm, which he attended alongside the local member, Gladys Liu.

He says Easter is about “hope”.

Morrison says today is “not a day for politics”.

He also talks about the crash involving his security team in Tasmania yesterday. He says the crash was “right behind us”.

I want to thank everybody for the very kind messages that they have sent in relation to the four officers who were hurt yesterday in the terrible car accident that you would have seen. They are doing well, one of them is still in hospital, the other is expected to be discharged today. The other two Tasmanian police officers I understand are doing well. I want to thank Premier Rockliff for his kind message of support and all the other messages of support we had from other leaders as well from around the country. It was a terrible accident and a reminder that we have to be safe on our roads as we are moving around. But I do want to thank everybody for their very kind messages, they are making a good recovery and after hearing we heard the accident right behind us, it was right behind us and we had behind us and we obviously feared for the worst but thankfully – thankfully everybody is OK.

Updated

More aged care deaths in 2022 than first two pandemic years combined

AAP is reporting there have been more Covid-19 deaths in residential aged care this year than the pandemic’s first two years combined. AAP reports:

Data from the federal health department released this week showed 1,088 people in residential aged care died from Covid-19 so far in 2022.

There were a total of 918 deaths in the centres as of December 31, 2021.

Some 28,028 people have contracted Covid-19 in Australian residential aged care centres since the pandemic started.

The federal health department has been contacted for comment.

Meanwhile NSW has shared 100,000 rapid antigen tests from its state stockpile with Tonga after a request from the island nation.

Linens have also been provided by the government after 115 hospital beds were donated by Sydney hospitals.

“These resources will take the pressure off the people of Tonga, who are fighting the pandemic while working tirelessly to rebuild after the devastation caused by the tsunami,” Treasurer Matt Kean said.

pic

Updated

Government frontbenchers have tried to walk back the prime minister’s lack of commitment on establishing a federal corruption watchdog if he wins next month’s election.

Coalition ministers are claiming the government will again try to legislate the federal anti-corruption commission if it wins another term. That’s despite Scott Morrison this week effectively confirming the government would not meet its promise to legislate the watchdog, made prior to the last election.

Morrison has attempted to blame Labor’s lack of support for failing to bring legislation to the lower house.

Employment minister Stuart Robert appeared on Nine’s Today program this morning, and said the government would seek to establish the body in its next term.

We will come back again and we will seek, through a bipartisan level, to get that going.

Simon Birmingham, the finance minister, said the election would give it a mandate to act on the body. That’s despite the government already having taken the issue to the election in 2019, which it won.

We’re not going to legislate for the type of reputation-destroying, star chamber model we’ve seen in NSW.

My colleague Luke Henriques-Gomes reports that the Morrison government has excluded flood victims outside Lismore from a new $350-a-week “top-up” paid to those unable to work.

You can read his full report here:

Golfing great Jack Newton dies aged 72

Australian golfing legend Jack Newton died overnight, aged 72.

Newton won the 1979 Australian Open, won once on the PGA Tour and was a three-time winner on the European Tour.

His family said he died overnight due to “health complications”. In a statement, they said:

(He) was a fearless competitor and iconic Australian, blazing a formidable trail during his professional golfing career between 1971 and 1983.

He fought back from tremendous adversity as only he could …

In true Jack Newton style, we will celebrate his incredible life, however, for now, our family asks for privacy and we appreciate everyone’s love, support, and friendship throughout his life.”

Newton is survived by his wife Jackie, daughter Kristie and son Clint. He has six grandchildren.

You can read the full story here:

Updated

Victoria records seven Covid-related deaths

Victoria, meanwhile, has recorded seven deaths and 9,600 new cases.

Updated

NSW records 16 Covid-related deaths

NSW has recorded 16 Covid deaths and more than 15,000 cases.

Updated

Airport queues moving

Queues are so far moving faster than expected at major airports, after a week of huge delays. There were some concerns about another chaotic day at the airport on Good Friday. About 80,000 passengers were due to travel through Sydney airport alone.

AAP has this report:

Queues are moving well at Sydney airport even as hundreds of people fill the country’s busiest airport as they head out for Easter holidays.

Airports around the country will remain busy over the break and school holiday period.

Around 80,000 passengers are expected to depart Sydney on Good Friday and they are being advised to arrive two hours early for flights.

Twitter users reported large lines at Sydney airport on Friday morning.

“Terminal busy but queue moving,” said one user.

Another reported a “dream run” through baggage-check and another said the airport was “busy but lines are moving OK”.

People travelling through Melbourne airport reported similar conditions, with one saying they made it through bag drop and security in under 10 minutes.

It follows days of chaos at airports around the country with staff shortages due to Covid-19 isolation rules a major factor in the delays.

For much of Thursday queues and wait times at Sydney airport were hours long but eased later in the day.

Melbourne will handle 76,000 passengers each day over the Easter period while Adelaide is anticipating 25,000 on Friday.

Monday will be Hobart’s busiest-ever day for flights, with more than 81 planes coming and going.

With the relaxing of coronavirus restrictions, Australians are set to spend $7.1bn this holiday season, according to research conducted by Roy Morgan.

More than 4 million Australians are planning a trip away this Easter, with 63% travelling within their own state and more than one-third heading interstate.

People queue on arrival at Sydney domestic airport ahead of the Easter long weekend
People queue on arrival at Sydney domestic airport ahead of the Easter long weekend. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Updated

The Q&A audience laughed at Liberal MP Andrew Bragg last night when he attempted to blame the government’s failure to legislate an anti-corruption commission on Labor.

The government has been under pressure over its broken promise on a federal Icac. The government drafted legislation, which was widely criticised, but never put it to parliament. Despite that, it is blaming Labor for its own broken promise.

Bragg told Q&A last night:

We’ve tried to establish an important institution and that hasn’t been possible and the Labor party wouldn’t agree so we’ll have to go it alone in the next term if we are returned to government.

Audience:

(LAUGHTER)

Bragg:

The point is you want to have an anti-corruption commission in Canberra to look at corruption, there are already things in the system like Senate estimates and the auditor general department which already exist, which are quite strong, but I think we should have an anti-corruption commission, it should be strong, it should have public hearings and I’m hoping we can deliver it in the next term.

Interesting to note there that Bragg supports public hearings. The model his government has proposed would not allow public hearings for government corruption. Public hearings would only be possible for law enforcement matters.

Chris Bowen, also on the panel, said it was a nonsense that the government needed to wait for opposition agreement before introducing legislation.

I mean, Andrew’s model is a joke. Experts have said you would be better off doing nothing. But to this whole farce of an argument that somehow they couldn’t introduce legislation, they haven’t even introduced the legislation, because the Labor party wouldn’t sign on to it, that’s a very interesting development. So apparently now the government is not going to introduce any legislation unless we agree first. This is great news! This is wonderful news! It means we now have power of veto as the opposition. This is just complete nonsense.

Updated

Thinktank's Icac warning

The Centre for Public Integrity has warned a federal anti-corruption commission that is unable to hold public hearings would be largely ineffective.

Scott Morrison is under pressure over his government’s failure to legislate an anti-corruption commission, despite promises to do so ahead of the last election. Morrison came up with a policy proposal and draft legislation, but his model was roundly criticised by experts, including for its inability to hold public hearings. Morrison has previously likened the NSW Icac to a “kangaroo court”.

On Friday, the Centre for Public Integrity released a new report saying the ability to hold public hearings were “critical” to the success of recent Victorian Ibac and NSW Icac investigations. The NSW Icac was able to expose corruption to the public in 42 public hearings and 39 public reports between 2012-13 and 2019-20.

Geoffrey Watson, former counsel assisting NSW Icac, said “sunlight is the best disinfectant”. Watson, now a director with the Centre for Public Integrity, said “many investigations would not be successful without them”.

Corruption flourishes in the dark. Without public hearings the public may not find out about corruption investigations until years after the fact, if at all.

Retired judge Anthony Whealy, who is chair of the centre, said public hearings had not been overused by the NSW Icac.

Far from overuse, NSW Icac holds public hearings only in a fraction of its investigations when it is in the public interest to do so. Our research shows that, from 2012-2020, NSW ICAC held 979 private examinations and only 42 public inquiries.

A national integrity commission must be able to hold public hearings when the commissioner deems it is in the public interest to do so. It will be ineffective without this ability.

Updated

Labor’s Chris Bowen was on ABC Q&A last night and was asked when a Labor government would hold a referendum on the Indigenous voice to parliament.

He said he would prefer it to take place in the second half of the term of government, if that improved the prospects of success.

We want to see it happen. We want to see bipartisanship and I give credit to Andrew and his leadership here, he has been a very strong voice for a voice on his side of politics ... But he is not in the majority in his party and we should give him more assistance and recognise his work. But it will need bipartisanship. Only eight referendums have passed without bipartisan support in all our lives.So it’s unthinkable that we would put it to the people and lose. So I’d rather – to answer your question, Stan, I’d rather put it to the people and win in the second half of the term than put it to the people in the first half and lose. It’s not my place to commit to a date tonight, it is not my place.That is the place of consulting with First Nations people and with the delegates to the Uluru Statement and working with them.

Liberal MP Andrew Bragg says he believes it can be achieved within 18 months and nominated a date of 27 January 2024 as a “target we should try and set sail for”.

We must keep faith with the Uluru Statement and there must be a proper analysis, which is run by Indigenous people, principally, about what sort of amendments would be adequate to deliver that agency and that agenda from Uluru. I think we can achieve that within 18 months. I’ve always liked the idea of trying to improve the general debate around Australia Day. I do think that 27 January 2024 is a target we should try and set sail for.

Updated

Retailers are expecting a big boost from Easter long weekend sales, boosted by unrestricted regional travel and grocery sales.

AAP reports:

Retailers expect a $7.1bn boost over the Easter long weekend as many Australians get away for the first time in two years.

Research by the Australian Retailers Association and pollster Roy Morgan estimate $1.5bn will be spent on food alone, including seafood, hot-cross buns and Easter eggs.

About one in 10 of the 2184 Australians surveyed said they would be spending more on food this year, while two-thirds said they would be spending the same.

Easter Saturday is one of the top 10 trading days of the year.

“For many, this is the first true holiday since the pandemic began,” association CEO Paul Zahra said, noting the long queues at domestic airports.

“Even Christmas last year was disrupted by the surge in Omicron cases and testing requirements to cross borders, which forced many people to cancel their plans at the last minute.”

Con Doukas arranges a fish display at Musumeci Seafoods at the Sydney Fish Market ahead of Easter long weekend celebrations.
Con Doukas arranges a fish display at Musumeci Seafoods at the Sydney Fish Market ahead of Easter long weekend celebrations. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Updated

Party leaders to attend Good Friday services

So what can we expect from the leaders today?

Both parties have agreed to an unofficial “truce”, according to News Corp. They will limit campaign advertising and public appearances for the entirety of Good Friday.

Both the prime minister, Scott Morrison, and the Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, are due to attend church services.

That follows the script from the last election, when Morrison avoided public appearances on Good Friday, waiting until Saturday to appear at Westmead Hospital in Sydney to hand out chocolate eggs to sick children.

The then opposition leader, Bill Shorten, volunteered at a Salvation Army hostel on Good Friday, but made no significant public funding announcements.

We are expecting Morrison and Albanese to resume public campaigning on Saturday, before again breaking on Easter Sunday.

pic

Updated

Both of the major parties have made significant commitments in the area of aged care in the lead-up to the election, following the aged care royal commission and the pressures of the pandemic.

But the nation’s largest home care provider, myHomecare Group, has issued a stark warning this morning. Speaking with the Guardian, its chief executive, Stuart Miller, said aged care workers were now at “breaking point”, facing huge turnover, increased demand for their services, abuse from families and low rates of pay.

He said the Coalition’s promised $800 bonus for workers, designed in part to help retain staff, was simply not working in home care. He said:

The outcome for us is that we are having to constantly manage which clients get the level of care that they need. We make sure those people who have urgent needs always get met, but sometimes it means your house might not get cleaned this week, it might have to wait until next week, and that’s a really unfortunate thing for everybody.

You can read the full story here:

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Sticking with the campaign, my colleague Paul Karp has taken an in-depth look at the seat of Curtin, in Perth, which has been in conservative hands since its creation.

Independent Kate Chaney, one of a crop of mostly inner-city independents backed by Climate 200, is seeking to change that. She’s running on a platform of greater action on climate change and integrity in politics.

You can read more about her prospects, and the mood on the ground, here:

Good morning

Hello and welcome to our live coverage for Good Friday.

It will be a relatively sleepy start to the Easter weekend, compared with the frenetic pace of campaign’s first week.

Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese will both attend church services today and have confirmed they will square off in the first leaders’ debate on 20 April, in Brisbane, in an event hosted by News Corp outlets Sky News Australia and the Courier-Mail. The debate is to be hosted by Sky News journalist Kieran Gilbert and will include questions from voters.

Morrison cancelled events on Thursday after members of his security detail were involved in a serious crash in Tasmania, resulting in hospitalisations.

The news comes as the Coalition faces continued criticism about its failure to legislate an anti-corruption commission, as promised.

The government is also facing questions about some of its candidates, including Scott Morrison’s hand-picked candidate in McMahon, Vivek Singha, who accused the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, of causing “hatred [and] fear” in India. That follows repeated apologies from the Liberal party’s candidate in Warringah, Katherine Deves, who compared her anti-trans activism to standing up against the Holocaust during a YouTube panel.

Meanwhile, the ABC is reporting that Labor has ditched a commitment to hold a referendum on becoming a republic within its first term, instead focusing on prioritising the referendum to establish an Indigenous voice to parliament.

We’re also expecting a busy day at airports across the country, after wild scenes in the last two days. The Australian reports 79,000 travellers are expected to go through Sydney Airport on Friday, just shy of the 82,000 on Thursday.

Strap in, we’ll keep you across all the latest developments.

Updated

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