Ed Husic and Mark Dreyfus to be dumped from Labor cabinet after factional deal
Tom McIlroy
The industry and science minister, Ed Husic, will be dumped from federal cabinet after a factional deal by the Labor party’s right faction went against him.
Husic’s supporters have confirmed to Guardian Australia that the decision was made on Thursday afternoon and that appeals to Anthony Albanese for an intervention to save Husic failed.
His dumping comes as a result of the New South Wales right faction being overrepresented at the top of the government and a push by Victorian MPs for an extra place in the ministry.
The national right faction is due to meet this evening in Canberra, ahead of a full caucus meeting on Friday.
Industry minister Ed Husic. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, is also being pushed out of cabinet, with his Victorian right faction moving to install backbencher Sam Rae and economics committee chairman Daniel Mulino in the ministry.
The NSW senator and assistant minister Tim Ayres is set to be elevated in the looming reshuffle. He is personally close to Albanese, well regarded among colleagues and is a member of the ALP’s powerful national executive.
Husic conceded last year that many Muslim and Arab Australians did not feel listened to by the Labor government over Israel’s war in Gaza, describing his public interventions as necessary so that people believed “that their concerns have somewhere to go to be vented and aired”.
Share
Updated at 03.33 EDT
Key events
Show key events only
Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
What we learned today – Thursday 8 April
And with that, we’ll close the blog for today. Thanks for reading our coverage and I hope you have a great evening wherever you are. Here were today’s major developments:
-
Firebrand Northern Territory senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price defected to the Liberals in a move that could have major implications in the race to replace Peter Dutton as Coalition leader. Price – who can choose to sit with either Coalition partner as a Country Liberal – had previously sat in the Nationals party room.
-
Two men were convicted of murdering Cassius Turvey, a 15-year-old Noongar Yamatji boy who died in hospital 10 days after he was “deliberately struck to the head” in Perth on 13 October 2022.
-
Erin Patterson’s triple murder trial continued. Today, the court heard Patterson’s daughter told police she ate leftovers of the deadly mushroom lunch with her mother and brother for dinner the next day.
-
The inquest into the fatal mass stabbing at the Bondi Junction Westfield shopping centre also went on. Today it heard evidence that security guards have been so heavily traumatised by Joel Cauchi’s attack many have been unable to return to work.
-
In political news, the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, conceded defeat in his electorate of Melbourne, saying he “fell just short” of holding the seat. He claimed his constituents’ “hate” for Dutton was a factor in the swing away from the Greens and towards Labor. Bandt’s colleague Samantha Ratnam also conceded the neighbouring seat of Wills to Labor.
-
Guardian Australia confirmed that the industry and science minister, Ed Husic, and the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, will be dumped from federal cabinet.
-
Elsewhere, at a fiery annual general meeting, Woodside Energy withstood a rebuke by shareholders of its climate plans by garnering sufficient support to retain its chosen board members and approve executive pay plans.
Share
Updated at 04.30 EDT
Continued from earlier post:
Detetive Snr Sgt Steve Cleal said Michelle and the rest of the family, as well as Cassius’s friends, “should never have gone through this tragedy” and said he was proud of how they had handled themselves during the 13-week supreme court trial.
He went on:
I’m also very proud of the kids that gave evidence in this trial.
They had five of the most experienced defense barristers in the state going at them and and they, I just want to say, I’m proud of you, and you did very well.
I hope the verdicts handed down today can in some way provide some kind of healing towards the family as they go through this terrible and tragic process.
I just want to say while I have this opportunity that Cassius was completely innocent of all the events that led up to this terrible tragedy … the incidents that unfolded that terrible day, this was not his fault.
Cleal said the perpetrators had been charged after a “complex” investigation that involved a “mammoth” effort by multiple teams.
Share
Updated at 04.28 EDT
WA police detective says it was ‘powerful’ to hear Cassius Turvey’s murderers found guilty
Detetive Snr Sgt Steve Cleal, from the West Australian police’s homicide squad, held a press conference earlier today after two men were convicted of murdering Indigenous teenager Cassius Turvey.
Noongar-Yamatji schoolboy Cassius Turvey was 15 when he died in hospital 10 days after he was “deliberately struck to the head” in Perth’s eastern suburbs on 13 October 2022, causing nationwide outrage.
In a packed courtroom, Jack Steven James Brearley, 24, and Brodie Lee Palmer, 29, were convicted of murdering the 15-year-old by a jury after three days of deliberations.
Cleal said hearing the guilty verdicts being delivered was a “very powerful” moment as he sat with Cassius’ mother, Michelle, in court. He added:
I’m glad I could, in some way, help them have their moment, because they deserve that sense of relief.
As part of the healing, they’ve got a long way to go, but this certainly helps.
Michelle, said earlier today that her son, who was chased into bushland and bashed with a metal pole, was ‘hunted down for days’ and had identified his killers before he died.
Share
Updated at 04.27 EDT
Nationals leader ‘disappointed” by Jacinta Price’s decision to defect to Liberals
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, says he is “disappointed” that Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has defected to the Liberal party room.
The Northern Territory Country Liberal senator and shadow Indigenous affairs minister had chosen to sit in the Nationals party room since being elected to the federal parliament in 2022.
But amid the fallout to the Coalition’s election defeat, Price said earlier today she believed she could be more effective as a member of the Liberal team.
In a statement, Littleproud said he was disappointed in Price’s decision and that:
The Nationals negotiated an extra position in shadow cabinet before the election, to give Senator Nampijinpa Price a promotion and shadow ministerial opportunity.
The Nationals were the first to lead the ‘No’ case in relation to the Voice, backing Senator Nampijinpa Price early and before anyone else did.
Our strong stance led to an overwhelming majority of Australians voting ‘No’.
Littleproud continued:
I appreciate Senator Nampijinpa Price has ambition that extends beyond the possibilities of The Nationals and I wish her well.
The Liberals will need to rebuild after Saturday’s election and Senator Nampijinpa Price will play a key role in that recovery, while The Nationals are proud to have kept all of our lower house seats.
The Nationals will continue to fight for regional Australia, which ultimately helps all of Australia.
Nationals leader David Littleproud. Photograph: Dominic Giannini/AAPShare
Updated at 03.55 EDT
Ed Husic and Mark Dreyfus to be dumped from Labor cabinet after factional deal
Tom McIlroy
The industry and science minister, Ed Husic, will be dumped from federal cabinet after a factional deal by the Labor party’s right faction went against him.
Husic’s supporters have confirmed to Guardian Australia that the decision was made on Thursday afternoon and that appeals to Anthony Albanese for an intervention to save Husic failed.
His dumping comes as a result of the New South Wales right faction being overrepresented at the top of the government and a push by Victorian MPs for an extra place in the ministry.
The national right faction is due to meet this evening in Canberra, ahead of a full caucus meeting on Friday.
Industry minister Ed Husic. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, is also being pushed out of cabinet, with his Victorian right faction moving to install backbencher Sam Rae and economics committee chairman Daniel Mulino in the ministry.
The NSW senator and assistant minister Tim Ayres is set to be elevated in the looming reshuffle. He is personally close to Albanese, well regarded among colleagues and is a member of the ALP’s powerful national executive.
Husic conceded last year that many Muslim and Arab Australians did not feel listened to by the Labor government over Israel’s war in Gaza, describing his public interventions as necessary so that people believed “that their concerns have somewhere to go to be vented and aired”.
Share
Updated at 03.33 EDT
Dutton says Greens ‘appalling treatment’ of Jewish community to blame for poor election results
Ousted opposition leader Peter Dutton has blamed the Greens’ poor election results in the House of Representatives on the progressive party’s “appalling treatment” of the Australian Jewish community.
In a post on X, Dutton said:
No spin by Adam Bandt can change the reality that he, and other Green members, lost their seats because of their appalling treatment of the Jewish community.
Australians were rightly disgusted at their behaviour. We were proud to preference the Greens last, helping to ensure Adam Bandt’s loss.
The Greens have a formal policy of calling for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
Dutton posted the statement shortly after Bandt said people’s “hate” for Dutton in the electorate of Melbourne was a factor in the swing away from the Greens.
Bandt, the Greens leader, conceded the seat of Melbourne to Labor this afternoon.
The Greens also lost two seats in Brisbane to Labor, leaving them with just one lower house MP.
Greens leader Adam Bandt leaves a press conference in Melbourne on Thursday. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP
Bandt told reporters that “people in Melbourne hate Peter Dutton with a very good reason”.
Bandt continued:
They have seen his brand of toxic racism on display for many years, seen his time as immigration minister, seen him make comments about Melbourne and like many, many of them wanted him as far away from power as possible.
Despite us making it very clear that we shared their position, my initial take is some votes [went] away from us as people saw Labor [as] the best option to stop Dutton.
Dutton, who also lost his seat to Labor, told reporters at Canberra airport yesterday that he intended to maintain a “graceful silence” after exiting politics.
Share
Updated at 02.53 EDT
Man extradited from Queensland and charged over alleged armed robbery in Sydney 14 years ago
A man has been charged with armed robbery 14 years after he allegedly threatened a service station employee on Sydney’s Northern Beaches with a sawn-off rifle, New South Wales police say.
In a statement, police said the 36-year-old man was arrested at a hotel in Brisbane on Tuesday morning after a review of the case – and with assistance from Queensland police.
Police said they used a NSW warrant to arrest the man at the property on Beaudesert Road, Acacia Ridge.
The man was taken to the Brisbane watch house and appeared the same day before the Brisbane magistrates court where an extradition order to NSW was granted, police said.
Police said their detectives accompanied the man to Sydney airport yesterday, where he was taken to Mascot police station and charged with robbery while armed with dangerous weapon.
He was refused bail to appear at Sydney’s Downing Centre local court earlier today, where he was remanded in custody to reappear at the same court on 10 July, police said.
Police said the officers who responded to the alleged incident on 22 April 2011 were told a man had entered a service station on Pittwater Road in Narrabeen and allegedly threatening a 20-year-old staff member with the firearm.
The man allegedly left the store with cash and was last seen running west along Robertson Street, police said.
Police said they had been unable to identify the man at the time.
Share
Updated at 02.31 EDT
Greens concede Wills as Samantha Ratnam calls Labor’s Peter Khalil
The Greens have conceded the Melbourne seat of Wills after mounting a strong but ultimately unsuccessful challenge against Labor’s Peter Khalil.
The Greens candidate, Samantha Ratnam, posted a video on Instagram about half an hour ago in which she said she had called Khalil to congratulate him.
In the video, Ratnam said:
Unfortunately, we couldn’t get over the line this time. But we got very, very close.
I want to thank all of you for the incredible community support that we received and built over the last year.
Ratnam, who filmed herself leaning over a stack of three books – Nelson Mandala’s Long Walk to Freedom as well as the autobiographies of former Greens leaders Christine Milne and Bob Brown – also thanked her campaign team and volunteers for their help in her “history making result”.
She went on:
I’m holding onto hope and I would encourage you to hold onto hope, too. Because we don’t have the luxury of giving up.
Ratnam said she was looking forward to spending more time with her young daughter, Malala, and getting “back into the community sector” as a social worker. She promised that “I’ll be back”.
With nearly every vote counted, including preferences, the Australian Electoral Commission has Khalil leading Ratnam 52.16% to 47.84%.
Greens candidate Samantha Ratnam at Brunswick East primary school on election day. Photograph: Joel Carrett/EPAShare
Updated at 02.21 EDT
Nick Evershed
The curious case of the Norfolk Island booth
Earlier in the week, election enthusiasts had raised a curious detail about the count for Bean on the AEC’s TallyRoom website – there was a booth with primary votes yet to be reported.
The pre-poll voting centre for Norfolk Island, which is part of the Bean electorate, was lagging behind the other polling stations in Bean, and still hadn’t reported as of Thursday morning.
During the AEC briefing I reported on earlier, election analyst Kevin Bonham asked the AEC about the missing booth.
According to the AEC there was an issue with phoning in the pre-poll results from Norfolk Island on election night, which meant the results were delayed in being added to the official count until this afternoon. The AEC has also just added the two-candidate preferred count for the regular booth on Norfolk Island.
This matters because the count is so incredibly close in Bean between Labor’s David Smith and the independent Jessie Price. With the addition of the new Norfolk Island figures Price has gone into the lead with a margin of 197 votes.