ABC NewsMail - Afternoon Edition.
To receive this email with your preferred topics and in HTML (report summary, links to the full report and some images), enter your email address and click "edit your preferences" at:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/alerts/
Top Stories
*Live: Rudd takes the reins*
*Stephen Smith to retire from politics*
*Lower House passes 457 visa crackdown bill*
*Fugitive Snowden still holed up in Moscow airport *
-------Scroll down for more details-------
*Live: Rudd takes the reins*
Facing his first Question Time back in the top job, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has indicated that he will not stick with the election date chosen by Julia Gillard.
Mr Rudd was sworn in as Prime Minister this morning following his stunning win over Ms Gillard in a Caucus ballot last night.
Look back at how the story unfolded yesterday
Ms Gillard announced in January that the poll would be held on September 14, but Mr Rudd says he will "identify a date for an election" in accordance with the allowances under the Constitution.
Mr Rudd could hold the election as early as August 3 or hold off as late as November 30.
Facing fresh uncertainty over the election date, the Opposition has been demanding Mr Rudd name the date and make it soon.
Last night's ballot also triggered an avalanche of senior departures from Labor's ranks, with more than one-third of the Gillard ministry resigning, including Wayne Swan, Greg Combet, Craig Emerson and Peter Garrett.
Read the story here and follow our blog for rolling updates, images, video and analysis
embed
-------------------------
*Stephen Smith to retire from politics*
The fallout from Labor's leadership switch continues, with Defence Minister Stephen Smith announcing that he will quit politics at the next election.
Mr Smith has held the seat of Perth for two decades but says that is long enough.
"This is something that I cannot in all good conscience say to the people of Perth that I can continue to do win lose or draw at the next election for another three years," he told Parliament.
"Twenty years I can do, 23 years I can't."
Mr Smith says he will continue on as Defence Minister under Kevin Rudd's leadership until the next election.
He says the dramatic events of the past two days have given him the "clarity of thought" to make the decision to go.
"Can I thank the House for the way in which they have dealt with me over the years - sometimes harshly, most times benevolently," Mr Smith said.
"Can I also say that I'm very grateful to two prime ministers - Prime Minister Rudd and prime minister Gillard - for the opportunity that they have given me to serve."
Mr Rudd has thanked Mr Smith for his contribution, describing him as a first class Labor warrior.
Mr Rudd revealed his Cabinet colleagues liked to make fun of Mr Smith's methodical nature.
"He has this impeccably organised set of papers which basically organised like this and there is not a centimetre out of place," Mr Rudd said.
"So when he goes up and goes out of the room to get a sandwich or a drink, the thing you do is just twist it slightly and when he comes back he's entire visual universe is turned on its head."
Smith praises Defence chiefs
Mr Smith has been Defence Minister since 2010 and was foreign affairs minister in the Labor Government's first term.
In Opposition he held several shadow portfolios including health, communications and immigration.
He is also a former state secretary of the ALP in Western Australia.
Mr Smith has praised the defence chiefs he worked with - Angus Houston and David Hurley.
"I have as an individual defence minister on my watch seen more deaths than an Australian minister for defence since Vietnam," he said.
"It's at those moments when you look into the chief's eyes and you see the integrity, the decency and the commitment of those two individuals and they are both Australians of whom we can be proud."
Mr Smith is the fourth Labor minister to announce their resignation since Mr Rudd reclaimed the leadership.
The woman he overthrew, Julia Gillard, and her allies Craig Emerson and Peter Garrett will also leave Parliament at the election.
Political commentator Peter Kennedy says Mr Smith will be able to reflect on his Parliamentary career with pride.
"Stephen Smith has been the consummate politician. Very well prepared, very well thought out," he said.
"Rather risk averse, but I think his achievements over the past 20 years speak for themselves.
"He's been a successful West Australian politician."
-------------------------
*Lower House passes 457 visa crackdown bill*
The Federal Government's bill to crack down on the 457 foreign worker visa scheme has passed the Lower House.
The bill passed 73 votes to 72 after the Government yesterday struck a compromise deal with crucial crossbench MPs.
A crackdown on 457 visas was announced by former prime minister Julia Gillard in March.
The new laws will force employers to do local labour market testing to prove they cannot find an Australian citizen to do the job before sponsoring an overseas worker on a 457 visa.
Employers will also have to spend a percentage of their total payroll on training local staff and 457 visa holders.
Fair Work inspectors will be empowered to investigate potential breaches of the system.
The Government says the laws will safeguard Australian jobs and ensure overseas workers are not exploited.
In March, Ms Gillard said the visa program was "out of control" and has stated that jobs should be given to Australians first.
Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor has claimed there have been more than 10,000 instances of rorting by employers - a claim he later said was an estimate.
The crackdown has been criticised by business as an unwarranted measure and by the Greens and Opposition as having tinges of xenophobia.
It has also been the source of internal friction within the Labor Party, with some MPs calling for more details on the rorting and others saying the scheme should be scrapped altogether.
Unions have been pushing for the tighter regulations to ensure workers under the visa scheme have more workplace protections.
-------------------------
*Fugitive Snowden still holed up in Moscow airport *
Fugitive American intelligence leaker Edward Snowden remains holed up in a Russian airport, with his travel plans still a mystery as Ecuador warns it could take months to consider his asylum request.
The man responsible for one of the biggest intelligence security breaches in US history has not been sighted since arriving in Moscow from Hong Kong on Sunday.
Russia says Snowden, whose flight is proving a growing embarrassment for US president Barack Obama, is still in the transit area of Sheremetyevo airport.
By declaring that he is in the transit area, Russian authorities maintain the position that he has not formally entered Russia - a step that would take the dispute to another level.
Russia has said it will not extradite Snowden to the US, where he has been charged with espionage.
The 30-year-old has not been seen in the transit area - the zone between the departure gate and formal entry into the country - since his arrival.
"He has not violated Russian law, he has not crossed the border, he is in the transit zone of the airport and can fly anywhere that he wants," Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has denied that Snowden is being interviewed by Russian intelligence and called any US accusations that Moscow is aiding him "ravings and rubbish".
According to whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, which is assisting Snowden, he is travelling on a refugee document of passage provided by Ecuador.
WikiLeaks has said he risks being stuck in Russia "permanently".
Ecuador warns asylum decision could take months
Snowden has has requested asylum in Ecuador, which has asked Washington to argue its case for extradition and says a decision could take months.
"It took us two months to make a decision on Assange so do not expect us to make a decision sooner this time," foreign minister Richard Patino said, referring to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
He says that Ecuador would consider giving Snowden protection before that if he went to Ecuador's embassy - but Russian officials say Snowden does not have a visa to enter Russia, and the US has revoked his passport.
Snowden abandoned his high-paying intelligence contractor job in Hawaii and went to Hong Kong on May 20 to begin issuing a series of leaks on the NSA.
He revealed it has access to vast amounts of internet data such as emails, chat rooms and video under a government program known as PRISM.
Snowden's supporters say he is a whistleblower, while critics call him a criminal and perhaps even a traitor.
ABC/Reuters
-------------------------
For more news visit ABC News Online at http://www.abc.net.au/news/
To unsubscribe, please go to http://www.abc.net.au/news/alerts/unsubscribe/
(You subscribed to this newsletter with email address: uwantshare001.myblogg2@blogger.com )
===========================
Enhance Your ABC NewsMail:
===========================
To receive this email with your preferred topics and in HTML (report summary, links to the full report and some images), enter your email address and click "edit your preferences" at:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/alerts/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sent from:
Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 700 Harris Street, Ultimo NSW 2007
No comments:
Post a Comment