Australia news live: Mark Dreyfus calls for republic referendum; Albanese heads to G20 in South Africa | Australia news
important events
Good morning and happy Friday, we did it. Nick Visser I’m here to guide the blog through the morning. Let’s get started.
Albanese flies to South Africa for G20 summit
Anthony Albanese will advance Australia’s interests at a global summit without hovering over the specter of Donald Trump, the Australian Associated Press reports.
Albanese will be the first Australian prime minister to visit South Africa since 2013 as he heads to the G20 leaders’ summit, where climate change, trade and security are expected to be on the agenda.
“Now more than ever, Australia needs to work with our international partners to meet the shared challenges and opportunities ahead,” the Prime Minister said.
“Being part of the G20 helps build a stronger, more resilient global economy, which benefits all Australians at home.”
Albanese flew from Perth to South Africa’s capital yesterday for the summit, which was overshadowed by the Trump administration’s boycott.
A total of 42 countries will attend Africa’s first G20, but the United States could not attend after Trump said he would not participate, citing discrimination against white farmers in the country.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa denied Trump’s claims.
This comes after Albanese secured a $3 billion Australia-US critical minerals deal after meeting Trump at the White House in October.
Zareh Ghazarian, head of politics and international relations at Monash University, said the summit would provide Australia with the opportunity to advance its interests without Trump’s presence.
“Security and conflict are definitely a huge issue, climate change is something governments are grappling with domestically, and trade will feature as an important part of the discussions,” Ghazarian said. “This will provide Australia with an important global forum to engage with other leaders.”
Albanese is expected to meet his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the event, and has signaled talks with leaders from South Korea, Japan, Europe and Canada during his two days at the summit.
Krishani Dhanji
Dreyfus says four-year referendum must happen ‘sooner rather than later’
While Albania took the constitutional amendment off the table, the prime minister said he would support a four-year term, which was recently confirmed by the former Prime Minister. John Howard.
Dreyfus said Australia was an “outlier” in holding elections every three years, with other countries and Australia’s states and territories having longer periods.
“I believe Australians should sooner or later be asked to accept four-year terms for their national government… We are also an outlier to the world, with only six of the 186 countries with active legislatures having three-year terms.”
Just last week, John Howard backed the call with the astute observation: “It’s ridiculous that you have four-year terms in all the states but no national parliament. It’s just crazy.”
Dreyfus also called for the adoption of a constitutional commission, which he believed would “help establish in the public mind that our constitution is a living document, not a frozen document.”
Former AG Mark Dreyfus calls for republic referendum
Krishani Dhanji
former attorney general Mark Dreyfus In his first significant comments since being demoted to the backbench, he called on the government to renew its republican campaign and push for four-year federal mandates.
Dreyfus spoke Geoffrey Sawer’s Speech Last night at the ANU he called on the government to move forward on constitutional change after suffering defeat in the indigenous voice to parliament campaign.
This pressure is directly against the law Anthony Albanese‘s location. The Prime Minister remained firmly opposed to holding another referendum while he was still leading in September.
The former AG said:
It is time to renew the campaign to establish an Australian republic. Australia and Australians have changed in many ways over the past quarter century.
In my view, it is time – past tense – for Australia to sever its remaining constitutional ties with the United Kingdom and its monarchy.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I Martin Farrer with the best night stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action.
It could be a busy day in New South Wales, with a new opposition leader likely to emerge and a cyclone off the Northern Territory coastline likely. But first, let’s follow the developments of the night.
Former attorney general gives first major speech since being relegated to the bench Mark Dreyfus He said last night that it was “long past time” for Australia to hold another referendum on becoming a republic and sever remaining ties with the UK. More on that in a moment.
Anthony Albanese He will have the chance to advance Australia’s interests in no uncertain terms at the G20 summit in South Africa Donald TrumpOne expert says: ABC reports that the prime minister could use the opportunity to sign a trade deal with the EU. More is coming.
