Payman asks if PM is ‘waiting for what happened to Helen Haines’ to occur again

At a late night Senate estimates hearing, Western Australian independent senator, Fatima Payman, accused the prime minister of being “petty” by not granting her additional staff members after she defected from the Labor party in 2024.

Payman has long argued her office is understaffed as part of a personal gripe Anthony Albanese has with her, but she drove the point home amid escalating threats of political violence. The senator told Guardian Australia last week her staff had also had to deal with human faeces being sent to her office, prompting the intervention of a biohazard team.

Payman said she had requested an additional adviser, in line with other independent political offices, two years ago but the prime minister had yet to process the request. Payman said the extra adviser would assist her office dealing with the “psychosocial hazards” imposed on her staff since leaving Labor. A document tabled showed she had no advisers, which can be paid more, while most other independents have two advisers or one.

Payman continued, butting heads with trade minister, Don Farrell:

Please raise this with the prime minister. Because if he cares so much about the welfare and well-being of people who work in this building, then I implore you and the prime minister to please look into the fact that my staff are burning out. They can’t take this any longer.

Is the prime minister waiting for something like what happened to Dr Helen Haines to occur to my office? To me? for him to take our request seriously?

Farrell responded: “Look, I personally think that’s an outrageous suggestion, Senator Payman.”

Payman said: “I can’t believe that I’m saying that or making that suggestion because it’s been two years.”

Farrell asked Payman to withdraw the comments but Payman said she wouldn’t until Albanese processed or responded to her staffing request.

Benita Kolovos

Victorian Labor pledges to expand workplace protection orders to hospital workers

People who are violent or abusive to health workers could effectively be banned from hospitals in Victoria if Labor is re-elected.

The Victorian premier, Ben Carroll, is holding a press conference to announce if Labor is re-elected next month, it will expand the workplace protection order scheme – that allows retail stores to ban aggressive customers – to hospital settings.

Under the plan, people who are violent or abusive to health workers can be hit with a workplace protection order (WPO), which effectively bans them from hospitals for up to 12 months. Anyone who breaches a WPO faces up to two years in prison or a $50,000 fine.

Labor will also create a $30m fund hospitals can apply for to improve lighting, CCTV and other safety measures.

Carroll says:

Our nurses and midwives and health professionals go to work every day to make sure we have a healthy community … They are the heroes of our community, and I’m very pleased to say, under my leadership, we’ll do everything we can to protect them through workplace protection orders.

He says people subject to a WPO will “still be able to access healthcare” in an emergency but there will be “guardrails” in place when they receive that care.

Sarah Basford Canales

Teal and regional independent backers were Farrer independent’s top donors

Continued from the previous post:

The top donor, Regional Voices Fund, backs independent candidates in regional seats while the second-highest donor, Keldoulis Investments, owned by Robert Keldoulis, is a major backer of Climate 200 – the funding vehicle that supports teal independents in getting elected.

Overall, Milthorpe spent $1,708,845 on her campaign, receiving $1,680,439 in donations and gifts.

Candidates endorsed by political parties, like Farley, are able to defer the campaign spending reports until February the following year when political party annual returns are published.

As a result, Farley’s electoral returns show he spent only $5,119 on his campaign and received no donations. This figure will likely be updated in February.

Farrer independent spent $1.7m on byelection campaign, electoral returns show

Sarah Basford Canales

The independent candidate, Michelle Milthorpe, received almost $1.7m in donations from more than 5,000 donors in her campaign against One Nation in the seat of Farrer earlier this year, electoral returns show.

Milthorpe, backed by regional independents, including Helen Haines, ultimately lost the battle to One Nation’s David Farley in Sussan Ley’s former seat, 42.45% to Farley’s 57.55% on a two-party preferred basis.

The returns data, released by the Australian Electoral Commission yesterday, shows $670,653 of the total amount – or about 40% – donated was over the declaration threshold of $17,300.

The top donors for Milthorpe include:

• Regional Voices Fund Pty Ltd: $215,000

• Keldoulis Investments Pty Limited: $117,000

• Keep Them Honest Pty Ltd: $75,000

• Climate 200 Pty Limited: $61,653

Benita Kolovos

Greens to announce plan for Victorian lobbyist register

The Victorian Greens will today announce an election commitment to establish a lobbyist register and ban political donations from “big corporate money”.

The party said there would be a legislated register for lobbyists and a ban on political donations from the gambling industry, fossil fuel companies and property developers.

Victoria has a $7,500 cap on donations but only foreign donations are banned. The state has a lobbyist register – but the only sanction available is the removal of a lobbyist from that register. Guardian Australia last year reported no lobbyist has been sanctioned in Victoria since the latest code of conduct was introduced by the Napthine government in 2013.

Victorian Greens leader, Ellen Sandell, says the state’s laws have allowed corporations to influence politics in the state:

These corporations don’t hand over thousands of dollars out of the goodness of their hearts. They expect something in return, and it’s everyday Victorians who end up paying the price.

Former Rio Tinto boss to lead defence procurement watchdog

Tess Ikonomou

Former mining boss Kellie Parker will lead the new defence agency overseeing the delivery of projects worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

The Albanese government will announce Parker, who used to run Rio Tinto’s Australian business, has been appointed to the role of national armaments director for five years.

She begins next month at the new independent defence delivery agency which was set up in response to cost blowouts and lacklustre project management.

Defence industry minister, Pat Conroy, pointed to Parker’s experience in bringing cultural change to the mining company after the destruction of the ancient Juukan Gorge rock shelters in 2020.

He said other senior female appointments including the first woman to lead the army, Lt Gen Susan Coyle, were merit-based.

They’ve both dealt with male-dominated industries with cultures that are pretty rough and challenging for women, and so they’re perfect people to lead that cultural journey.

Tess Ikonomou

Female and First Nations public servants facing ‘more egregious’ abuse online, parliament hears

A departmental boss has warned female public servants receive more “more egregious forms of abuse” on social media after complaints from bureaucrats about what they claim is selective clipping of evidence being posted online.

Last month, the Secretaries Board, which includes heads of departments, asked the government to introduce rules restricting testimony from being uploaded to X and Instagram.

They argued the clips were exposing public servants to ridicule and abuse, but their bid has been dismissed as an attempt to limit public accountability.

Steven Kennedy, secretary of the department of the prime minister and cabinet, told a parliamentary hearing yesterday:.

I would note that secretaries have observed that it is often female public servants and those from First Nations … backgrounds who experience the more egregious forms of abuse on social media.

Kat Wong

Thanks, Martin Farrer! I’ll steer us through politics for the rest of the morning.

Benita Kolovos

Liberal candidate’s husband allegedly assaulted in Melbourne confrontation

The husband of a Victorian Liberal party candidate has allegedly been assaulted during a confrontation over election signs.

A Liberal party spokesperson on Monday evening confirmed the husband of their candidate for Yan Yean, Amanda Dow, was involved in an alleged incident in Mernda yesterday afternoon.

They said:

We understand Ms Dow’s husband approached a member of the public who was removing Liberal party campaign signage and was allegedly assaulted.

He suffered facial injuries and was taken to hospital and was discharged today.

Police confirmed a 59-year-old Mernda man had been charged with recklessly causing injury, criminal damage and unlawful assault over the incident, which they alleged occurred near Abundant Avenue and Bridge Inn Road at about 2pm yesterday.

Police have been told the victim attended an address to retrieve political campaign signage when he was [allegedly] assaulted.

They said the man has been bailed to appear before Heidelberg magistrates’ court on 1 February 2027.

Lambie says Hanson hasn’t personally apologised over cartoon

Josh Taylor

Independent senator Jacqui Lambie says the One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, has yet to personally apologise to her over her party’s “Please Explain” cartoon that poked fun at her medical condition, as the candidate behind the cartoon refuses to apologise.

Hanson publicly apologised for the cartoon that depicted Lambie saying “I can’t laugh because of my prolapsed vagina” and the video was subsequently removed from online platforms.

However, Lambie told ABC’s 7.30 last night that Hanson “hasn’t emailed, messaged, even sent me a nice little card and said, ‘I’m really sorry for doing that’”.

Mark Nicholson – who is running in the Victorian state election for One Nation and is cofounder of Stepmates Studio which makes the cartoons – told 7.30 it was his job to “pick on people in the public realm” and he would not apologise:

Not right now. If I do anything that is apology-worthy, I’ll apologise.

Nicholson claimed he had “drawn quite a lot of attention” to the medical issue, rather than trivialising it.

Lambie said Nicholson should drop out of the election.