![\"Benita](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786517298_961_Benita_Kolovos.png\")
Benita Kolovos<\/p>\nKey events<\/p>\n
Benita Kolovos<\/p>\n
Lidia Thorpe on Victorian government bill that scraps open air rights<\/p>\n
Senator Lidia Thorpe has accused the Victorian Labor government of using its historic treaty with First Nations people as a \u201cphoto opportunity\u201d, as it pushes ahead with a controversial bill that would scrap the requirement to give prisoners at least one hour of open air daily.<\/p>\n
Gellung Warl, Victoria\u2019s First Peoples\u2019 representative body, has for the first time exercised its powers under the Statewide Treaty Act to call on the government to withdraw the corrections amendment bill 2026, which is expected to pass this week.<\/p>\n
The bill would give authorities the ability to deny prisoners their daily hour of outdoor time \u201csubject to operational considerations\u201d \u2013 a move the Victorian government itself has acknowledged is incompatible with the state\u2019s Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities and partly incompatible with its treaty with First Nations People.<\/p>\n
In a statement to Guardian Australia, Thorpe said the new premier, Ben Carroll, should show he\u2019s committed to a real partnership with First Peoples by withdrawing the bill. She said:<\/p>\n
double quotation markLabor celebrated Treaty, took their selfies and filled their socials with how historic it was. But Treaty means nothing if the Government ignores First Peoples when they exercise the powers that Treaty gives them.<\/p>\n
We saw the same bad faith when they signed Treaty and announced their cruel \u201cadult crime, adult time\u201d laws in the same week, despite knowing the disproportionate harm this would cause to our children. They also admitted those laws are incompatible with the Victorian Human Rights Charter.<\/p>\n
For this Labor government, Treaty is a photo opportunity. For our people, it is about peace, justice and a genuine change in the relationship.<\/p>\n
Premier Allan took a bad faith approach to Treaty. The new Premier has an opportunity to reset that and show that he is committed to real partnership with First Peoples. That should mean withdrawing this bill and stopping the harm it will cause to our people, at least until he has worked through it with Gellung Warl in good faith.<\/p>\n
More here:<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.37 EDT<\/p>\n Icac hears evidence Liberal upper house MP helped Reformers wanting to avoid inquiry<\/p>\n The NSW Icac has heard evidence that NSW upper house Liberal frontbencher Chris Rath helped members of the Reformers who wanted to avoid summons to appear before a parliamentary inquiry in 2023 that preceded Icac\u2019s probe.<\/p>\n Jeremy Greenwood has been read a message he sent to Jean-Claude Perrottet, in which he wrote: \u201cWe need to know when the summons is being issued. Can Chris find out?\u201d He says he assumes this refers to Rath and admits he was asking Jean-Claude Perrottet to find out details from a sitting member of parliament to avoid service of summons.<\/p>\n He says Rath later sent him a photo a committee paper with his old address that said process servers had attempted to service him a summons there. He is read a message from Jean-Claude Perrottet advising of a committee meeting on serving summons. \u201cRath will tell us result after,\u201d Jean-Claude Perrottet wrote.<\/p>\n The opposition leader, Kellie Sloane, has declined to make a decision about Rath\u2019s future on her frontbench until after Icac\u2019s hearings conclude. Rath has been referred to the parliamentary privileges committee over the incident.<\/p>\n In a statement after a Sydney Morning Herald report about the assistance he had provided to members of the Reformers, Rath, who later recused himself from the inquiry committee, said he was \u201capologetic\u201d for the incident: He said:<\/p>\n double quotation markThis inquiry commenced in the highly politically charged context of an election campaign, and at the time I didn\u2019t comprehend the gravity of the allegations \u2026 I am not under investigation by Icac, nor have I been called as a witness to the inquiry or asked to provide any evidence.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.38 EDT<\/p>\n Melbourne Royal Show poultry competition cancelled due to H5 bird flu<\/p>\n Organisers for the Melbourne Royal Show have cancelled the poultry competition this year, as a precautionary step given uncertainty about the spread of H5 bird flu.<\/p>\n The show\u2019s executive general manager, Hannah von Bibra, said:<\/p>\n double quotation markFollowing consultation with Agriculture Victoria and the Chief Veterinary Officer team, Melbourne Royal is taking this precautionary step to protect the health and wellbeing of the Victorian poultry community.<\/p>\n Whilst there are currently no detections of H5N1 in Australian poultry, the situation is not predictable and, as such, we want to give our community as much certainty as possible.<\/p>\n The Melbourne Royal Show is planned for 24 September to 4 October.<\/p>\n The decision followed an announcement last week that the Royal Adelaide Show, scheduled for September, would cancel all of its bird shows and exhibits.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Icac hears witness used security guard to evade ‘invalid’ parliamentary summons and paid for Reformer\u2019s Fiji trip Returning to the Icac\u2019s Operation Rosny, questions have returned to a NSW parliamentary inquiry into allegations of branch stacking that preceded Icac\u2019s probe.<\/p>\n Witness Jeremy Greenwood has admitted he evaded a summons to appear before the inquiry in 2023, saying he believed the summons was \u201cinvalid\u201d. He says he used a private security guard who was stationed outside his home for two or three days, after speaking to Sharangan Maheswaran, also named in Icac\u2019s allegations, then a lawyer to fugitive property developer Jean Nassif.<\/p>\n Icac is investigating the allegation whether between 2020 and 2023 Nassif made prohibited donations to Liberal figures including Greenwood in exchange for outcomes he had sought for developer Toplace. Greenwood, who initially said he had requested Toplace pay for the security guard, said that Maheswaran had offered the security guard\u2019s services.<\/p>\n Greenwood has also admitted to paying for Reformer Jean-Claude Perrottet to travel to Fiji during the inquiry to avoid appearing, giving him his credit card details to pay for his flight. He also provided him with three separate loans totalling $25,000 invoiced through his lobbying firm JPG Advisory. He says he suggested to Maheswaran \u201cYou know your boss is the cause of this, so you can cover it\u201d.<\/p>\n Counsel assisting, Peggy Dwyer SC, asks:<\/p>\n double quotation markBy your boss, you meant Jean Nassif could pick up the tab for what you were paying for the premier\u2019s brother, John Claude Perrottet, to stay in Fiji to avoid summons to appear at a parliamentary inquiry?<\/p>\n Greenwood accepts this, saying Jean-Claude Perrottet had not yet paid for the cost of the trip. He says he cannot recall if the cost of the trip was passed on to Toplace \u201cbut I suggested [it] to Sharangan at the time\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.20 EDT<\/p>\n Thanks for following along on the blog today! I\u2019ll leave you with Achol Arok and see you here bright and early tomorrow.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.53 EDT<\/p>\n Tl;dr here\u2019s what happened in question time<\/p>\n The Coalition gave us a mixed bag of questions today, including three on melon-gate<\/a>, and others on health insurance premiums and tax reforms, but it was again a somewhat lowkey affair \u2013 no big drama and no cutting zingers.<\/p>\n The prime minister repeatedly refused to apologise over melon-gate and batted off questions<\/a> over whether his office or department leaked a memo on the issue from the Japanese government.<\/p>\n The health minister, Mark Butler, accused the opposition of parroting modelling by the insurance lobby<\/a> over a question on how many Australians would be affected by Labor cutting premium rebates for over 65s.<\/p>\n Milton Dick made a few of us laugh by saying he owns up to his mistakes<\/a>, after giving the crossbench a question prematurely.<\/p>\n And Anthony Albanese said there\u2019s been no influence over the Labor\u2019s gambling policy by the industry<\/a>, after independent Andrew Wilkie wrote to the anti-corruption watchdog claiming the government \u201cimproperly influenced\u201d by wagering lobby.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.54 EDT<\/p>\n Japanese embassy downplays Albanese melon comments Japan\u2019s ambassador to Australia has downplayed Anthony Albanese\u2019s comments about melons and Sanae Takaichi, saying the Australian government had reassured them that the prime minister \u201cdid not make the comments in the way that has been reported\u201d.<\/p>\n While the Coalition<\/a> is continuing to raise outrage over Albanese\u2019s comments to the Bush Deep podcast, the Japanese government appears to be uninterested in making a diplomatic incident out of the ill-timed comments.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are aware of the reporting in the media. We have been informed by the Australian side that Prime Minister Albanese did not make the comments in the way that has been reported,\u201d said a statement from the Japanese ambassador, Kazuhiro Suzuki.<\/p>\n The statement went on to say that Albanese\u2019s hosting of Takaichi in Australia in May was \u201cheld in a very relaxed atmosphere, and we believe it helped build a personal trust relationship between the two leaders\u201d.<\/p>\n The melon comments have been canvassed regularly by some media outlets since the podcast first aired in July. But it resurfaced as a political issue after The Australian ran a comment piece on Monday from the former Japanese ambassador Shingo Yamagami, who left his post in 2023, who claimed Albanese had insulted Takaichi.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.53 EDT<\/p>\n And with a final dixer to skills minister Andrew Giles, the PM calls time on QT for another day \u2013 just one to go.<\/p>\n Anthony Albanese during question time. Photograph: Lukas Coch\/AAPShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.26 EDT<\/p>\n Third time unlucky, Coalition<\/a> try again on melon-gate<\/p>\n Ted O\u2019Brien has tried once again, and failed, to corner the prime minister and call on him to apologise over melon-gate.<\/p>\n He asks if Albanese will \u201cfollow the example of someone else in this House, who has made it very clear, when he made a mistake, he owns up to it\u201d (see below!)<\/p>\n Anthony Albanese once again doesn\u2019t want a bar of it and instead spruiks the relationship between Australia and Japan, saying the two countries have \u201cnever been more strategically aligned than we are today\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.15 EDT<\/p>\n \u2018When I make mistakes I own up to them\u2019: Milton Dick<\/p>\n Milton Dick has brought (half) the House down after prematurely giving Sophie Scamps the call, and then offering a cheeky joke in admitting his mistake.<\/p>\n Angus Taylor gives him a big nod and a chuckle as Dick says, \u201cI will admit I made the mistake there. And, when I make mistakes I own up to them.\u201d<\/p>\n It gets a big laugh from the Coalition<\/a> benches.<\/p>\n But because Scamps has already asked her question \u2013 about whether the government will implement a sugar tax \u2013 Mark Butler answers it.<\/p>\n Butler says the short answer is that there are \u201cno plans\u201d to tax sugary products like they have in the UK.<\/p>\n double quotation markThere\u2019s different views about a tax in the community, there\u2019s overwhelming support for better front of packet labelling. We introduced that scheme back when I was the assistant minister for health, well over a decade and a half ago, on a voluntary basis. With an expectation that uptake by industry would have reached about 70% by this year. It\u2019s about half of that. So the assistant minister for health, working with her colleagues, has indicated that front of pack labelling that tells parents exactly what is in the food they\u2019re putting in the trolley will be made mandatory.<\/p>\n![\"Penry](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786517299_270_Penry_Buckley.png\")
Penry Buckley<\/p>\n![\"Petra](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786517300_725_Petra_Stock.png\")
Petra Stock<\/p>\nPenry Buckley<\/p>\n![\"Krishani](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786517300_773_Krishani_Dhanji.png\")
Krishani Dhanji<\/p>\n![\"Josh](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786517301_242_Josh_Butler.png\")
Josh Butler<\/p>\n