What we learned today, Monday 1 September
And that’s a wrap of our live news coverage this Monday. The day’s been dominated by reaction to Sunday’s anti-immigration rallies.
The Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi moved a motion on social cohesion, saying the rally over the weekend should be a “wake-up call”, and accusing other politicians of having downplayed or fuelled racism. Faruqi also called One Nation “merchants of hate”.
The minister for multiculturalism, Anne Aly, said she was glad the anti-migration rallies didn’t draw big crowds but neo-Nazis used the rallies to “prey on some legitimate concerns around housing and around cost of living”.
Anthony Albanese said the anti-migration rallies were about “sowing division”, and were “unfortunate” at best.
Australia’s social fabric is being “steadily eroded by extremism”, Sussan Ley said in a statement after yesterday’s rallies.
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, joined the ranks of politicians condemning the rallies. Minns told reporters he was “probably as confused as most people” about the protests’ origins.
On the other hand, Bob Katter, who attended one of the rallies, asked the prime minister about the increase in migration in Australia, and its impact on the budget. The independent MP said it was the “urgent demand” of 80% of Australians to stop migration.
In other news, the aged care minister, Sam Rae, was on the receiving end of a concerted effort by the Coalition to press the government on the delay of the Aged Care Act, and the rollout of home care packages. The effort spread across both houses of parliament.
Finally, speaking about the government’s Nauru deal, Zali Steggall, the independent member for Warringah, said Australia was on a “slippery slope” towards the US’s Ice-style approaches to immigration.
We’ll be back with more breaking political news first thing tomorrow. As ever, thank you for joining us.
Updated
Vegetable vendor denies cartel allegations
An update on our post earlier: A vegetable supplier has denied allegations of price fixing when selling to Aldi stores, after being taken to court along with three other producers by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Velisha Farms denied the ACCC’s accusation of breaches of cartel law. A spokesperson said the allegations against the company, its managing director, Catherine Velisha, and its senior sales manager, Kaushik Vora, were “very serious and we do not accept them”, adding:
We have retained lawyers and intend on defending these proceedings … Velisha Farms remains focused on supplying high-quality fresh produce to all our customers including Aldi and supporting our growers, partners and employees as it has done for many years.
Another of the producers facing allegations is Perfection Fresh, the second largest fresh vegetable supplier in Australia. A spokesperson for the company said it had engaged with the ACCC over the allegations, which it said related to “a small number of fresh produce that was supplied to one customer”. The company was committed to acting with integrity, transparency and in compliance with laws and regulation, they added.
Updated
