Australian Politics 30 April 2021

It seems that some of the States have decided to build their own COVID quarantine facilities and to seek Commonwealth funding, which seems to be the approach that should have been taken from the beginning rather than engaging in the political turf wars over constitutional responsibility.

A new political party to watch in the next round of elections will be The New Liberals who are currently in a fight with the Austarlian Electoral Commission AEC) as to the legitimacy of their name which is allegedly being opposed by the Liberal Party. The New Liberals seem to be anything but liberal with one of the founders making it quite clear on Twitter that their intention is to get rid of the current Liberal/National government. They apparently are only going to run candidates in Liberal or National held seats and will not compete against the Australian Labor Party (ALP). Their policy statements, available on their website, seem very much on the left side of politics.

Australia has cancelled the Victorian-China Belt and Road Agreement and is reportedly considering thousands of other agreements. China has expressed its disapproval with Australia, not just in relation to the Belt and Road cancellation but also in relation to Australia's support for Taiwan. Although the Defence Minister, Dutton, used reasonably measured language, the secretary ramped up the war rhetoric and was appropriately criticised by Senator Wong for so doing.

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