The education minister has deferred action to abolish the Morrison-era Job-ready Graduates scheme, which has helped to hollow out tertiary funding and saddled students with lifelong debts.

Even after Peter Dutton’s culture-warring Liberal Party was soundly rejected by the electorate, some are pushing to double down on MAGA-style politicking

Safeguard mechanism revamp leads to overall emissions fall but 70% of coal and gas facilities covered by scheme increased direct pollution * Get Guardian Australia environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as an email Australia’s biggest industrial climate polluter – Chevron’s Gorgon gas export plant in Western Australia – received the equivalent of millions of dollars in carbon credits from the federal government last year, despite increasing its emissions. The revelation in government data last week has sparked calls for changes to the safeguard mechanism, the government policy applied to the country’s 219 largest industrial climate polluting facilities. Get Guardian Australia environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as an email Continue reading...

Opposition expected to use final two weeks of the campaign to focus on the traditionally safe grounds of national security, crime and defence The Coalition would crack down on “drugs and thugs” with a new policy pledge including tougher narcotics laws and a new disclosure scheme to help parents “unmask” sex offenders who may be in contact with their children. Liberal leader Peter Dutton says an elected Coalition government would spend $750m on its so-called Operation Safer Communities plan, to include tightened border security and safety laws, extra funding for police and investigators, and detection of illicit drugs. Continue reading...