Australian news and politics recap March 19: Dutton says citizenship referendum a ‘last resort’

This concludes our live news and politics coverage for the day.

Scroll back through for the latest on Russia and Ukraine’s ceasfire talks, Peter Dutton’s proposal for a citizenship referendum, Australia selling Canada a $6.6b radar system and more.

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When it comes to this year’s Federal election, Jen O’Dowd says the real question isn’t what the polls say — it’s whether voters are buying what Albanese is selling.

“I don’t think they are,” O’Dowd writes, in her The Nightly opinion piece.

“Electricity prices are about to rise — again. Private health insurance premiums are already unaffordable for many and set to increase. People are either drowning in mortgage repayments or can’t find a place to rent. Young couples are putting off having kids because they simply can’t afford it.

“And it’s not just the big expenses. Even the basics are a stretch. A punnet of fresh strawberries costs nearly $4 at the supermarket. An ordinary steak will set you back $8.50 and even bread — a staple for all families — is more than $4 a loaf.”

She adds that Aussies want relief from the cost of living crisis.

“Right now, Albanese’s government is doing everything it can to pretend things are under control,” O’Dowd writes.

“But voters are not stupid.”

Read Jeni’s full opinion piece here.

Economists have made a huge call on the size of the national deficit in their predictions ahead of Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ Budget next week.

“Commonwealth Bank predicts an underlying cash deficit of $49.5b — slightly higher than projections in December and roughly double the figure for this financial year,” writes business reporter Matt Mckenzie.

He notes that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Chalmers have already revealed a swag of big new spending pledges in the lead up to the Federal election, including $8b for Medicare and $7.2b to upgrade Queensland’s Bruce Highway.

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CBA economists reckon a big part of the latest splurge has been covered by higher tax receipts, but not all of it says Mckenzie.

Which means the looming deficit will be about $2.6b higher than previously expected.

“While the Government will be tempted to spend more ahead of an election, they won’t want to be accused of adding to inflationary pressures or giving the RBA a reason to delay further interest rate cuts,” chief economist Luke Yearman said.

“Overall, we expect the Government to resist temptation and show spending restraint.”

Chalmers has spruiked Australians can expect “a responsible Budget which helps the cost of living, builds our future and makes our economy more resilient in this new world of global uncertainty”.

Read more Budget predictions ​here​.

While US President Donald Trump is claiming he had positive talks with the Russian President regarding a ceasfire with Ukraine, the only thing Vladimir Putin has agreed to is to stop attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for 30 days.

In an analysis, The Nightly reporter Latika M Bourke notes Mr Putin has rejected the conditions Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to for an immediate and unconditional 30-day ceasefire.

Yet Mr Trump praised his call as a “good and productive one”.

“We agreed to an immediate Ceasefire on all Energy and Infrastructure, with an understanding that we will be working quickly to have a Complete Ceasefire and, ultimately, an END to this very horrible War between Russia and Ukraine,” Mr Trump wrote on social media.

The Kremlin, however, was more restrained.

“During the conversation, Donald Trump put forward a proposal for the parties to mutually refrain from strikes on energy infrastructure for 30 days,” it said in a statement after the talks.

“Vladimir Putin responded favourably to the proposal and immediately gave the relevant order to the Russian troops.”

Russia has long attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure — one of its early targets in the war was taking control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station.

Read Latika’s full analysis here.

Vandals have attacked the office of Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, spraying graffiti across numerous windows and smashing the glass entrance.

“War crimes start here,” was written in red paint around the front signage of the Labor member’s Geelong office in his seat of Corio.

On another window, “weapons out of Geelong” was written in white paint.

Fire and Rescue Victoria were called to the scene, amid fears a substance could have been sprayed into the building, however, it was later deemed safe.

Mr Marles — who is also the Defence Minister — had posted on his Facebook page that “Australia will manufacture missiles at home from 2025 thanks to the Albanese government” just two days earlier.

Read the full story

Peter Dutton has walked back a proposal to hold a referendum on giving ministers the power to strip people’s citizenship as the Prime Minister accused him of having policies that were more “soap bubble” than thought bubble.

The Opposition Leader has indicated he is serious about beefing up people’s obligations as Australian citizens and wants to add questions on anti-Semitism to the citizenship test.

But he now says holding a referendum to overturn High Court rulings would be “a last resort”.

“I want a mandate from the Australian people to be able to implement the laws which are necessary to keep us safe,” he told reporters in Perth.’

“The Prime Minister dismisses it as a thought bubble. So we’re suggesting here that if we can tighten the laws, we do that. As a last resort, if there’s a change to the Constitution required, we can have that discussion.”

Read the full story here.

A former supreme court justice who led an inquiry into the criminal rape trial of Bruce Lehrmann has been found to have engaged in “serious corrupt conduct”.

The ACT Integrity Commission findings released today said Walter Sofronoff KC did not act in good faith by leaking his report to the media before it was released by the ACT government, and that his actions “threatened public confidence” in the inquiries processes.

Sofronoff, a former Queensland judge, was appointed to head an inquiry into the criminal trial of Lehrmann.

Read the story

Much loved water polo coach Lilie James was captured on CCTV smiling moments before being beaten to death with a hammer inside an elite private school bathroom.

In footage played at a coronial inquest Ms James was seen chatting with hockey coach Paul Thijssen unaware of the attack he had been plotting to carry out inside the Sydney school where they both worked.

The pair had previously been involved in a casual two-month relationship, but Ms James had ended it five days before her murder on the evening of October 25, 2023.

Read the full story

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has labelled Curtin independent MP Kate Chaney a “hard-core green” as he seeks to make the North West Shelf development project an election issue.

Earlier, Mr Dutton accused Labor of “abandoning WA” to chase Green votes in inner-city Melbourne and Sydney by not approving the development off WA’s northern coast.

He has promised to make a decision on the project within 30 days of being elected.

“I think people in Curtin were duped at the last election when they heard Kate Chaney say that she was a disaffected Liberal,” Mr Dutton said.

“Kate Chaney is a hardcore Green and I don’t believe that the people of Curtin want Kate Chaney to continue with this process of deception.”

Ms Chaney won the inner-Perth seat of Curtin at the 2022 election as a Climate 200 backed teal.

Mr Dutton claims she will “continue process of deception” if re-elected and says his Liberal candidate, Tom White, is a more credible option.

“I think most Australians realise that we need to have stable electricity and our plan is to underpin the renewables in our system. But we need to underpin it with a permanent 24/7, power source.”

Ms Chaney says she’s “not opposed” to an extension of the North West Shelf development project but only subject to several conditions, including “the full social and environmental cost of carbon” being factored in.

Liberal leader Peter Dutton has defended his proposal to quiz migrants applying for Australian passports about their attitudes towards Jewish people as a chance for the country to “assert our values” and protect against discrimination.

“The Prime Minister seems to think that that’s not an issue,” he told Perth media on Wednesday.

“We want people to adhere to the rule of law and we want people to be treated equally who are already here in our country.”

Shadow Immigration Minister Dan Tehan had told Nine the Coaliton would look at adding a section on anti-Semitism to the citizenship test and a new training module.

Both the module and possible new question are yet to be drafted.