malcolm turnbull

Labor has put the boot into the coalition again, saying their internal bickering's jeopardising a deal on the emissions trading scheme. The latest attack comes from Greg Combet, the Minister Assisting the Minister for Climate Change. He says there's been a lot of progress in the talks between the government and the opposition, but disunity in the coalition remains a complicating factor.  

The Prime Minister and Malcolm Turnbull have more in common than they may care to admit – both are facing disquiet from their own ranks. AS THE parliamentary year grinds to a close this week with an inevitably toxic cocktail of late-night sittings and boozy revelry, the country's two main political rivals will wander into the Christmas break as enigmatic figures in their respective parties. Sure, Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull occupy different ends of the political spectrum in terms of their success  

The Government needs to reclaim the terms of the debate from the sceptics. BRITAIN'S new high commissioner, Baroness Valerie Amos, is somewhat perplexed about where she has found herself on her new posting. Earlier this month the Baroness gave her first interview in which she politely expressed her concern about the lack of sophistication in the debate about the emissions trading scheme.

These are things where there have been debates over a long period of time in other countries and where we have reached conclusions and moved on.   -Baroness Amos

 

MALCOLM Turnbull has been warned by colleagues to reject the Government's emissions trading legislation to avoid a "damaging rupture in the Coalition", amid speculation his leadership may not survive the year. The divisions within the Coalition are now so entrenched that Liberals from both sides of the argument have questioned whether the embattled Opposition Leader should "cut his losses" and reject the deal for the pragmatic purpose of saving the party and his leadership. It follows warnings about i

So we are very keen, very committed, to try and get this deal done   -Greg Combet

 

The Indonesian government has apparently ignored Australian suggestions over housing asylum seekers from the Oceanic Viking, as images emerged of women and children locked behind bars. Refugee advocates say Indonesia is holding women and children from the Oceanic Viking behind bars so Australia can't renege on its promise to resettle the group promptly. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said this week the women and children among the 78 Sri Lankans would not be held in prison-like facilities at the Tanjung Pi

Our policy is that the women and children ... shouldn't be behind razor wire and bars   -Simon Crean

 

The Federal Opposition has dismissed a report that its Leader Malcolm Turnbull will dump dissenters from the front bench. The Liberal Party is divided over whether to support an emissions trading scheme. Opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey is among party heavyweights gathered in Sydney to launch the Liberals' campaign for the Bradfield by-election.  

AUSTRALIA'S great greenhouse contradiction has turned a simple market-based system for reducing carbon emissions into a confusion of backroom political deals pockmarked by exemptions and surrounded by a maze of high-cost regulation. The mutation of the economy's biggest structural policy upheaval in a generation is the result of both our peculiar national circumstances and political choice. Despite being among the rich economies most threatened by the global climate change push, we're moving early to

the exposure of small business to higher energy costs   -Peter Anderson

 

The event was entitled "Ten years on, it's time to mend the nation's heart", taking its cue from Malcolm Turnbull's pointed referendum night sledge against his eventual boss, John Howard, over the then prime minister's allegedly sinister role in skewering the yes vote. A small ceremony was held on the lawns of Parliament House in Canberra -- Canberra being a terrifically appropriate choice as, among all the states and territories, the ACT was on its own in voting yes -- where a statement was read out urg

We are asking our political leaders to mend the aching rift in our nation's heart   -Australian Republican Movement

 

But lately this dark art has taken on a more sinister dimension. More than ever, today's generation of Australian politicians is finding fresh ways to duck, weave, swat away and avoid giving direct answers to direct questions. This is no coincidence.

Well, Jon, if I were prime minister, I would be in a position to make a fully informed decision. I am not the prime minister. I don't have any more than you do   -Malcolm Turnbull