As it happened: Scott Morrison’s ally launches broadside ahead of parliamentary rebuke; Nationals to oppose Indigenous Voice to parliament

• Liberal MP Alex Hawke, one of Morrison’s closest political allies, moved to downplay his comments after accusing the former PM of becoming addicted to power. The broadside was reported by Herald and Age columnist Niki Savva in her new book Bulldozed. In a statement today, Hawke said he held Morrison in the “highest regard” and “reports today that ascribe certain views” to him were “not representative of views I hold” about Morrison.

• Debate over the Indigenous Voice to parliament has caused a series of ructions today. Indigenous leader and lawyer Noel Pearson branded the Nationals a “squalid little political party” and described leader David Littleproud as a man of “little pride” over the party’s decision to oppose the plan. Meanwhile, federal Nationals MP Andrew Gee said he remains a supporter of the Voice.
• Country Liberal Party senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price took aim at Pearson after he accused her of being caught up in a “tragic redneck celebrity vortex” fuelled by right-wing think tanks who were using her as a “blackfella to punch down on other blackfellas”.
• Price said she was “no stranger to attacks from angry men who claim to speak on behalf of Aboriginal Australia”. She had “reservations about enshrining an idea that lacks detail into our parliament that has the potential to empower bullies like those I have encountered over the years”.

• Former NSW Liberal MP Daryl Maguire has been charged with criminal conspiracy over allegations he carried out a lucrative cash-for-visas scheme while he was sitting in the NSW parliament.
• More than 33,000 COVID-19 fines will be cancelled by Revenue NSW after the state government conceded in a NSW Supreme Court test case that two fines were not valid because they did not include adequate information.

This is Michaela Whitbourn signing off on the blog for today. Broede Carmody will be back with you tomorrow morning.

The protests that have swept across the country this week have no clearly identifiable leaders. They are driven by what appears to be spontaneous localised responses to COVID-19 measures.

But behind internet firewalls, they are loosely coordinated via the messaging service Telegram. So far, they have gained maximum visibility on social media by using clearly identifiable symbols such as blank pieces of paper without gathering huge crowds and risking a deadly crackdown by the armed forces.

Read the full story here.

Nationals MP Andrew Gee said today that he remains a supporter of the Voice to parliament and was not at the party room meeting when the decision was made.

Earlier, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton told a joint party room meeting the Nationals had undertaken “significant internal processes” before stating its position and the Liberal Party respected that decision.

“The Liberal Party itself, though, is not ready to make a decision. There will be a discussion in the Liberal Party party room and the Coalition party room in due course. But we’re not there yet,” he said.

Price returned fire and said in a statement this afternoon that she was “no stranger to attacks from angry men who claim to speak on behalf of Aboriginal Australia”.

During a press conference on Monday, Price accused Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney of flying into remote communities “dripping with Gucci”.

A spokesperson for Burney said she didn’t own any Gucci.

Those comments caused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to tell this morning’s Labor caucus, “when people go that personal, it shows they do not have an argument of substance.”

Burney told parliament, “the Australian people will decide this referendum, not politicians, and I have faith in the Australian people”.

“We want to take Australia forward for everyone. We will work with anyone who wants to take this journey forward to a better future,” she said.

Chevron commissioned the report in the wake of the WA parliament’s 2021 inquiry into sexual harassment against women at fly-in fly-out work sites.

Chevron Australia managing director Mark Hatfield apologised to anyone who experienced inappropriate behaviour while working for the US multinational in Australia.

“What is clear is that bullying, harassment and discrimination occurs in our workplaces, and not everyone feels confident in reporting these incidents,” Hatfield said.

“We accept the report and are determined to take meaningful action.”

Intersection found there was a high tolerance at Chevron for relatively low-level behaviours, especially sexual harassment, that was dismissed as joking or banter rather than being reported as inappropriate.

One female employee on her first day on site was asked by two people if she was single because “the guys” wanted to know.

“I said, ‘I am not here for that, like, I’m just here to do my job’ but it wouldn’t stop,” she said.

“At work, at camp, in the mess, people would just come and chat to you and ask you all sorts of questions about your private life.

“I felt like I was being hunted.”

Chevron has followed iron ore miner Rio Tinto, which revealed in February what it describes as shameful behaviours across its global operations.

There is no indication that Chevron and Rio Tinto’s workplaces are any worse than other large resource companies, but they have been more open about it.

The Australian Institute of Health and Safety, PerMentis, and the University of Western Australia will receive a $250,000 grant to train up resource company staff in how to conduct sensitive investigations into sexual harassments allegations.

The remaining $525,000 will be spent over three years on an awareness campaign about suicide and mental health issues amongst WA mine workers.

Women’s Interests Minister Simone McGurk said the state wanted to attract more women to the industry but they needed to know they would be safe, and their concerns would be taken seriously.

He said Walker “was a much-loved member of the Five Dock RSL sub-branch, very close to my electorate and the electorate of the member for Reid” Sally Sitou. Robert Ridge, president of the RSL sub-branch, had described it as the “spiritual home of the Rats of Tobruk”.

“We honour Ernie’s memory, we salute his service and we reflect on the bravery of all those Australians who have risked and lost their lives to defend our nation’s freedom. Lest we forget.”

Opposition leader Peter Dutton described Walker as an “incredible Australian” and offered his condolences.

The soldiers who survived the “incredible siege” in 1941 endured eight months of daily bombings and tank attacks from German and Italian forces, Dutton said. He said the men “dug in and fought” in a way that made their country and the allied forces proud.

“To stop the Germans recapturing that port was a very significant point in military history,” Dutton said.