| No images? Click here Quote to note“You will create a civil war in the suburbs, Madame Le Pen." Ahead of the second round of voting in the French presidential election on Sunday, incumbent Emmanuel Macron went toe-to-toe in a televised debate with his far-right rival, Marine Le Pen. She wants to ban Muslim headscarves in public spaces, but Macron thinks it’s a recipe for disaster. The result is expected to be tighter than in 2017 when he achieved 66% of the vote – the polls say he’s on track to achieve 53-57% this time around. Making news this morning1. Labor leader Anthony Albanese has COVID. As the West Australian puts it on its front page this morning, he’s “Albansneezy”… 2. Australia’s intelligence agencies played a role in orchestrating the leak of the draft security deal between the Solomon Islands and China. The claim in the SMH/Age comes as PM Scott Morrison was put under pressure again yesterday to account for Australia’s actions to head it off. 3. Queensland’s public servants are being bossed about by inexperienced ministerial staffers who appropriate their ministers’ powers. Details from the interim report on the culture and accountability of Queensland’s public service by Professor Peter Coaldrake are splashed on the Courier Mail’s front page (PW) this morning. 4. NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet’s minority position in government is even shakier, with key independents threatening to pull their supply guarantees. Alex Greenwich and Greg Piper do not like that Perrottet has lined up with Morrison on transgender women and sport. 5. The khaki election continues with Morrison and Defence Minister Peter Dutton heading to Amberley to announce a $428m upgrade of 4 key airbases (PW) this morning. Going deeper: COVID blasts its way into the election campaignNo joke, we’d just written a bit about how COVID has hardly rated a mention in this campaign… But now we get to see what campaigning with the virus from iso looks like after Anthony Albanese confirmed early last night that he’d tested positive.. ● He found out he was positive from a PCR test yesterday afternoon before his planned trip to Western Australia, not because he had COVID symptoms. Unlike the PM, he’s not had COVID before. ● There are many ways unnamed Labor sources are spinning it this morning: a"blessing in disguise" after Albanese’s shaky start to the campaign / an interruption to the momentum and confidence he was building. The line that keeps popping up is there’s some relief that it happened “in the second week and not last week of the campaign”. What it means: Labor has a contingency plan, and he will continue to do interviews and press conferences from his Sydney home, COVID symptoms willing. The Coalition isn’t of a mind to suspend the campaign even if Labor wanted to… When Morrison came down with COVID last month, he did 19 interviews and press conferences from iso as Albanese toured marginal seats in Victoria, Queensland, Western and South Australia. What’s next: The press pack travelling with Albanese headed to WA without him, so let’s see how they cover things today with Treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers or deputy leader Richard Marles expected to step up. Albanese won’t rejoin the campaign trail until next Friday. Disability in the spotlight with a Prime Ministerial apologyOne moment from Wednesday night’s leaders’ debate dominated a big chunk of yesterday’s discussion on the campaign trail. PM Scott Morrison was answering a question about NDIS funding from a mum of an autistic child and said he was “blessed” not to have a child who was “disabled”. ● Australian of the Year Dylan Alcott was one of many who took issue with the PM’s words. And so Morrison apologised, saying he had no intention of suggesting "anything other than every child is a blessing". ● The question of NDIS funding has been raised a few times in the campaign, with Labor promising a review while also guaranteeing “plans will not be arbitrarily cut”. ● The Coalition has committed to funding the scheme in full but has warned it needs to be “more sustainable” because the average person’s plan costs 50% more than it did a few years ago. What it means: Both sides of politics and disability advocates agree the scheme needs fixing – but there are pretty different ideas on what that looks like. What’s next: The Coalition had to kill off a planned change to the NDIS last year because it couldn’t get support. It hasn’t said if it will try a new approach if it wins the election. The Nobel Peace Prize winner back on top in East Timor One of East Timor’s most important political figures has won his 2nd term as the country’s President. Jose Ramos-Horta was a key figure in securing Timor Leste’s independence from Indonesia in 2002, and he’s also been foreign minister and prime minister in the past 20 years. ● Ramos-Horta has suggested he may use presidential powers to call early parliamentary elections (currently set for next year). ● International Relations scholar Michael Leach says “This [presidential election] is step one in a two-step plan to get (Xanana) Gusmao back into power.” Gusmao is keen to push the stalled Greater Sunrise gas and oil project (PW) to boost the country’s national income. What it means: Timor can expect a lot more Australian attention after the Solomons’ security deal with China. Long-time observer Professor Damien Kingsbury says Timor-Leste may need an external supporter, "and the question is, will that be Australia or China?" What’s next: Ramos-Horta’s inauguration is set for 20 May, and it’s the 20th anniversary of Timor-Leste’s independence from Indonesia. Quick shotsCatherine Yeoman doesn’t want Morrison’s remark that he was "blessed" not to have children with disabilities to overshadow the main game. The mum who asked the PM about NDIS funding at Wednesday night’s People’s Forum says she’s more interested in her experience of the cuts being made. Labor’s star candidate for Parramatta previously backed the Coalition’s commitment to the NDIS and blamed the Gillard Government for failures in the program. Andrew Charlton’s opinion piece for the SMH/Age published last year undermines Labor’s attack, the Financial Review says (PW) this morning. A car crashed into the Brisbane office of federal Labor MP Terri Butler yesterday. Police say they don’t believe the incident was politically motivated, and no staff or members of the public were hurt. Celebrity Senate candidate Barry Dubois has withdrawn from the race (PW). The cancer survivor/Ten presenter says he needs to put his family and health first. The UK Commons’ Privileges Committee will investigate claims PM Boris Johnson misled the Parliament about parties in Downing Street during COVID lockdowns. As he shipped out to India, Johnson said he had "absolutely nothing, frankly, to hide". French President Emmanuel Macron and right-wing challenger Marine Le Pen are making their final appeals to voters ahead of the presidential election run-off on Sunday/Monday Aussie time. Cost of living and France’s role in European politics are the 2 hot topics. Former Trump adviser/NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani has literally popped up as a Masked Singer contestant in the US. Performing as the ‘Jack in the Box’ he was kicked off the show for his (fairly ordinary) rendition of rock classic Bad to the Bone. Chart of the day When Russia invaded its neighbour, it wasn’t just patriotic Ukrainians wanting to take up arms… Google search data shows a spike in the number of Aussies looking up ‘how to join the army’ since late February. There’s also been a big increase in recent searches for ‘NATO’ and the ‘Solomon Islands’. What’s on todayScott Morrison heads back to Queensland for the announcement at Amberley airbase, near Ispwich And Anthony Albanese is… in iso (will someone drop off a coffee and some Panadol, please?) 9.15am – Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce will hold a press conference – Tamworth We’re taking the ANZAC Day public holiday – we’ll be back in your inbox on Tuesday. Lest we forget. *All times in AEST unless noted |
