Posted by Andrew Wilkie says UK delaying Assange appeal decision is good news
The UK high court have delayed their decision on whether or not Julian Assange can appeal his extradition order to the US by three weeks.
A decision had been expected overnight (UK time) and the further delay has had a mixed response.
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie, who has been one of the earliest supporters of Assange’s case said on balance, he believes the delay to be good news. He told ABC News Breakfast:
The fact that the UK High Court of Justice have delayed their decision about giving Julian the right to appeal in full, to delay by three weeks and insist that the US give assurances that he would enjoy the rights of a US citizen, the right to free speech on the First Amendment, and that he wouldn’t face the death penalty, not just on current charges but on future charges that might be brought against him. That’s good.
But the best news is it gives Julian’s legal team and Julian personally time to cut a deal with the US Department of Justice.
Wilkie said he believes the political attitudes around the case have changed.
I think everyone wants a resolution. It’s a case on whether everyone can agree. There’s a range of views about Julian. Some love him, some hate him, but most people think it’s gone on long enough.
Key events
That means there will be more ability for information gathering.
Bill Shorten:
It is important for the CEO to have the ability to request and receive information on whether participants meet the access criteria including the residence requirements, the disability requirements, or the early intervention requirements.
This will not result in people having to ‘re-prove’ their disability, but will allow the CEO to determine a participant is receiving the most appropriate supports.
The process will take into account difficulties in accessing information.
But participants or their nominee will need to communicate with the Agency in the way that works best for you.
Another change that will be able to happen pretty quickly is with plan management arrangements where there is a risk for that participant, including financial risk.
And I want to make it clear the Agency has responsibilities here too and will be required to be consistent in its operations with the legislation and the rules.
What does that mean?
Bill Shorten:
Some operational changes to improve things can happen soon after the legislation is signed by the Governor General.
One is the definition of NDIS Supports.
The legislation will link the definition of ‘NDIS supports’ to your rights under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
This is the first time parts of the UN convention have been incorporated into NDIS laws.
Another relates to the provision of information gathering for eligibility reassessment. We will work with the disability community on operating guidance on this matter.
Bill Shorten addresses the subject of autism and its position in the NDIS, which is what is included in the second section of the bill.
Shorten:
I know people can feel anxious when we talk about scheme sustainability.
And some media commentary can still unfairly targeted people with disability in a way that is stigmatising and deeply unfair.
And to meet some of the rumours head-on:
1. Psychosocial disability is still included in the NDIS
2. Autism is still recognised as a disability.
3. At the same time, we need to have an honest conversation about the Scheme.
It cannot keep growing at the same rate it is now.
It can and will keep growing, just not at the 16% it has in the last few years.
The Disability Reform Ministerial Council is on the record as saying that ‘without timely action to improve outcomes for people with disability, the NDIS is projected to grow to more than 1 million participants and cost up to $100 billion a year by 2032’.
Costs continue to grow without fairness, rigour and control over this critical investment by the Australian people.
We have to take steps to get it back on track.
Bill Shorten’s speech goes on:
We will be clear about what supports can and can’t be funded by the NDIS to help you make informed choices and have confidence you are using your NDIS funds within what is allowed.
How these changes will be implemented will be developed with people with disability and the disability sector – this will take time to get right.
The legislation is the start of delivering our vision – it is not an end in itself.
Until the rules and legislative instruments are made, the current planning rules apply so there is no change.
Flexible budgets and a whole-of-person approach will increase the ability of participants to exercise true choice and control, and to best realise their full social and economic participation in society.
Overall, the changes to budget-setting aim to provide participants greater clarity and transparency, fairer and more consistent decision making, and improved participant satisfaction.
Creating this budget framework aligns with the original intent of the NDIS to support people with permanent and significant disability as part of a larger landscape of supports outside of the NDIS.
We will also make sure we get expert advice on selection and use of any tools, so the process is transparent.
Bill Shorten is introducing the bill in the house and says:
The bill has two parts.
One section lays the foundations for implementing key Review recommendations, particularly those around planning and budget setting.
I want to go through some of that with you.
Once you are in the scheme, you will get a plan based on your support needs.
What we all want is a more dignified, person-centred process that assesses needs to determine a consistent, accurate and fair budget.
And that the budget can be spent flexibly.
He goes on to explain how that will work:
This starts with a needs assessment that will work on with the disability sector to make sure we get it right.
And I want to be clear. Reasonable and necessary remains the core basis on which your support needs are met through the Scheme.
This bill proposes no changes to this ‘Reasonable and necessary’ core operating principle of the Scheme.
But, your needs assessment will look at your support needs as a whole – and we won’t distinguish between primary and secondary disabilities any longer.
If over time your support needs change, because of a significant change in your function, your information can be updated with a new support needs assessment.
The result will be a budget for disability supports that are fit for you; that reflects the support needs for your disability.
You can spend this budget flexibly in line with your own support needs – because you know them best.
But everyone will need to manage their NDIS budget, just as we do our household budget.
Bill Shorten is introducing the NDIS legislation into the house now.
We will bring you more when we have had a read of the bill.
Coalition unexpectedly moves to refer Labor deportation bill to inquiry
The coalition will NOT be passing the deportation bill in the Senate today.
#breaking the Coalition will move to refer the Albanese government’s deportation bill “to a proper inquiry” James Paterson & Dan Tehan reveal.
Bill will NOT pass the Senate this evening as expected.#auspol @AmyRemeikis
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) March 26, 2024
Michael Sun
Taylor Swift’s dad won’t face charges after Sydney paparazzi incident
Stepping outside of politics for a moment:
No charges will be filed against Taylor Swift’s father, the police have confirmed, after he was accused of assaulting a paparazzi photographer in Sydney last month.
Photographer Ben McDonald alleged that the superstar’s security guards pushed umbrellas into his face and camera and that he was struck in the face by a man he later identified as Scott Swift.
McDonald told the Daily Mail that the superstar’s security guards were “shoving umbrellas in our faces” and accused Scott Swift of “charging” at him.
A representative for Taylor Swift said at the time that photographers were behaving aggressively.
The spokesperson said:
Two individuals were aggressively pushing their way towards Taylor, grabbing at her security personnel, and threatening to throw a female staff member into the water.
On Tuesday, Australian police issued a statement saying that officers had “conducted an investigation following report of an assault” which resulted in “no further police action”.
‘These things happen’: Littleproud on more than 100 cattle dying on live export ship
Nationals leader David Littleproud has been asked about the death of at least 100 cattle on a live export ship:
Littleproud told Sky:
I’m getting a briefing from the department today, but as I understand, they believe preliminary investigations is that it could be botulism, which cattle get when they graze and can pick it up from bacteria in the soil. So there’s nothing that we should be concerned about in terms of a foreign disease or anything that isn’t not already experienced in cattle herds. Obviously they’ll do investigations to actually verify that.
But it does show that the protocols that are put in place for our live export industry are world-leading, that we’re able to make sure that when these incidents happen, and they happen rarely but when you are talking about live animals, these things happen. They happen on people’s properties as well. So it’s important to understand that when these things happen, that there are protocols to make sure that we can continue to get comfort around Australian agriculture and our export industry, being the world’s best, and that we learn from it and make sure that we put all the protocols and all the processes in place to alleviate this happening again.
Paul Karp
Coalition’s position on deportation bill to be announced soon
The shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, and shadow immigration minister, Dan Tehan, are going to announce the Coalition’s position on the government’s deportation bill at 10.15am.
The bill:
-
Gives the immigration minister the power to direct a non-citizen who is due to be deported “to do specified things necessary to facilitate their removal”, or risk a mandatory minimum sentence of one year in prison or up to five years.
-
Creates a power to designate another country as a “removal concern country”, which will impose a bar on new visa applications from non-citizens outside Australia who are nationals of a country that does not accept removals from Australia.
The crossbench believes that Labor and the Coalition have done a deal to pass the bill, because the government have circulated an hours motion saying that this and a bunch of other bills will be dealt with by the Senate today. We’ll find out shortly what the final call is.
The opposition helped Labor pass the bill in the House of Representatives, despite amendments including Zali Steggall’s bid to add a statutory review and prevent removal orders and mandatory sentencing applying to women escaping domestic violence and facing homelessness. David Pocock will move Senate amendments also.
Bob Katter lauds pig stunt for impacting supermarket pricing
This morning, Bob Katter says that his pig stunt (he and Andrew Wilkie donned giant inflatable pig costumes and walked around the press gallery pretending to eat money) has had an impact.
Within hours of that stunt, Woolworths announced it was reducing the price on 400 items.
Since then, we’ve heard the Nationals ‘wanting to do something’ about supermarkets, the Greens want divestiture.
Then on Tuesday the prime minister spoke about merger laws and holding the supermarkets to account.
… What started as a stunt, has now become a juggernaut with all of the crossbenchers, the National Party leader, the PM himself, starting to come to the view that divestiture must take place.
Setting up another authority or inquiry, will be an absolute joke.