The Sydney Morning Herald
Premier Gladys Berejiklian says she will not take the state's three independent
MPs for granted as she prepares to govern with a slim majority after claiming
victory on Saturday night.
The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party is preparing to launch a federal
election campaign targeting Nationals' seats, after a historic three-seat win in
the NSW election.
It was not apparent when Opposition Leader Michael Daley started election day at
a Matraville pie shop just after 8am. At a carefully staged media opportunity -
speaking at a spot out of the sun with three children drawing at a table behind
him - the member for Maroubra's traditional "lucky pie" came on a morning full
of promise for Labor.
The Morrison administration has been buoyed by the return of the NSW Berejiklian
government but a backlash from voters in the bush suggests Nationals MPs are in
line for a battering at the federal election in May.
Labor frontbencher Chris Minns was so concerned about the impact of Michael
Daley's comments about Asians taking jobs that he investigated trying to have
his leader's image removed at the last minute from local ALP how to vote cards.
The Daily Telegraph
The at-times vicious NSW parliament "bear pit" is headed for extinction, with a
victorious Gladys Berejiklian vowing to clean up the chamber and apply higher
standards to the state's politicians.
Virgin Australia is in talks with a huge Chinese conglomerate, which is one of
its shareholders, to open a school in Tamworth to train Australian and Chinese
pilots.
Radio station 2GB is embroiled in a new allegation that host Ray Hadley bullied
a former producer who claims he was verbally abused weekly for more than a
decade. Former producer Chris Bowen wrote in a Facebook post he was "was
subjected to vile and inexcusable behaviour" which included "out of control
sheer rage."
The Nationals lost their once unshakeable hold on the regions at Saturday's
state election bushwhacking, with the party's deputy leader announcing his exit
as almost 60 per cent of the state's farming regions fell into the hands of
minor parties.
The Greens have kept their stranglehold on the former Nationals fortress of
Ballina and Country Labor has dealt the Nationals more pain by being in the box
seat to steal Lismore.
The Australian
An infrastructure boon for regional and rural Australia will form a centrepiece
of Scott Morrison's quest to win back the bush as Liberal strategists prepare
for a May 11 federal election to be called on the Sunday immediately following
the April 2 budget.
Gladys Berejiklian has vowed to take NSW "to the next level" as she declared
majority victory and became the first popularly elected female premier in the
state's history.
Theresa May is facing a full-blown cabinet coup, with ministers moving to oust
the British Prime Minister and replace her with her deputy, David Lidington.
Labor is positioning for a Mediscare 2.0 election campaign, vowing to unfreeze
rebates on 100 GP items a year ahead of schedule as it kicks off a new marginal
seats offensive over claimed Coalition "cuts" to health spending.
Sydneysider Zoran Tadic has vowed to fight accusations he was involved in a mass
slaughter of Croatian villagers during the Balkans war.
Scott Morrison can take heart from the NSW state Liberal victory but not much
credit. The real import of the win for the Prime Minister is in the brutal
lesson meted out to the Coalition from voters in regional areas via conservative
independents.
The Age
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews will be a key weapon for Labor in May's federal
election, as the state emerges as a major battleground in the campaign.
A re-elected Morrison government would spend $2.5 billion bolstering Australia's
capacity to intercept enemy aircraft through the purchase of a new short-range
air defence system.
Telstra has not disclosed more than $100,000 in payments to major political
parties in recent years to the federal electoral commission, sparking renewed
calls for an overhaul of Australia's electoral financing laws.
A $30 million cash injection to Melbourne's ground-breaking biomedical research
centre will keep the city at the global cutting edge of medical technology,
according to Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
