Rachel Baxendale
The Australian
Melbourne, FL, United States
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Past articles by Rachel:
Bushfire disaster WA, SA, NSW, Victoria: Evacuations, emergency warnings as fires escalate
Multiple emergency alerts have been issued for Victorian fires as temperatures soar, two fires merge and East Gippsland residents and tourists evacuate, or wait with dread in the fires path. In SA, there are fresh emergency warnings and catastrophic conditions. In NSW new fire emergency fears are rising along with the temperature. → Read More
Immigration rate, population policy ‘a work in progress’, says Dutton
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has refused to rule out lowering the cap on permanent migration from 190,000, saying the governments population policy is a work in progress. → Read More
Bill Shorten says Tim Wilson opting out of My Health scheme should ring alarm bells
Bill Shorten says the revelation that a Liberal MP has opted out of the My Health Record scheme should ring alarm bells for Australians. → Read More
Bill Shorten accuses Peter Dutton of ‘trying to goad’ people smugglers
Bill Shorten has accused the Turnbull government of trying to goad people smugglers by suggesting that boat arrivals would restart under Labor. → Read More
A-G to work on confessional law
Attorney-General Christian Porter says he supports a royal commission recommendation requiring priests to reveal information they hear in the confessional concerning child sex abuse and will work with his state and territory counterparts to ensure relevant legislation is consistent across jurisdictions. → Read More
Senator sails into Cook trouble
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young claims she did not read a statement her office sent out on her behalf, inaccurately asserting that Australia Day marked the date Captain James Cook sailed into Botany Bay. → Read More
Simon Birmingham rejects calls to scrap NAPLAN
Education Minister Simon Birmingham has rejected calls from his NSW Liberal counterpart to scrap NAPLAN tests for school students, arguing that they remain an important source of information for parents and policymakers. → Read More
Tim Storer won’t call for banks to be quarantined from company tax cuts
Crossbench senator Tim Storer says he sees company tax cuts and the banking royal commission as separate issues, and will not call for the banks to be quarantined from the Turnbull governments enterprise tax plan. → Read More
Chris Bowen accuses Malcolm Turnbull of dishonesty over imputations
Labor treasury spokesman Chris Bowen has accused the Turnbull government of a dishonest scare campaign against Labors plan to remove cash refunds on franking credits. → Read More
Victorian gang violence: PM blames Daniel Andrews government
Malcolm Turnbull has blamed the Andrews Labor government for Victorias youth crime crisis, after the states federal cabinet ministers called for federal intervention following a spree of violent incidents involving African gangs. → Read More
Maverick Lib George Christensen may back banks royal commission
Crossbench MPs claim Coalition maverick George Christensen could join with them to legislate for a banking royal commission, while the ACTU is seeking legal advice on challenging federal parliaments penalty rates vote. → Read More
Gardasil: a little jab helps protect against some cancers
One afternoon last week I found myself lying on a gynaecologists operating table, black fumes and the smell of burning flesh rising from my nether regions. → Read More
PM puts GST onus on Labor
Malcolm Turnbull has put the onus on Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan to demand co-operation from his state and federal Labor colleagues ahead of the pair meeting to discuss the issue this afternoon. → Read More
Cabinet Papers 1992-93: soldiers’ sexuality ‘not for policy makers’
A 1992 caucus joint working group on homosexual policy in the Australian Defence Force considered the “great soldiers argument” of the “alleged homosexuality of Alexander the Great, Lawrence of Arabia, Richard the Lionheart and Lord Kitchener, and the bisexuality of Julius Caesar”. → Read More
Cabinet papers 1992-93: endemic problems with subs offer timely lessons
Endemic problems with Collins class submarines, the comparatively successful construction of Anzac frigates, a dud deal on “cheap” ex-US Navy ships and a doomed joint patrol boat acquisition with Malaysia offer salutary lessons at a time when Australia is embarking on its biggest defence acquisition ever with the construction of 12 new submarines. → Read More
‘I’m no rampant greenie’
Bill Shorten says he is not “a rampant greenie”, assuring workers in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley that believes fossil fuels have an ongoing place in Australia’s energy mix. → Read More
Oz ‘tried to coax me to court’
The Aboriginal woman who lodged — and subsequently dropped — a racial discrimination complaint against The Australian’s cartoonist Bill Leak has accused the newspaper of trying to coax her into taking the complaint to court. → Read More
18C of Racial Discrimination Act restricts freedom: Josh Frydenberg
Cabinet minister Josh Frydenberg says the QUT and Bill Leak cases highlight the need to remove the words “offend and insult” from Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination act. → Read More
Turnbull quiet on $1m Liberal election donation
Malcolm Turnbull has refused to confirm that he donated $1 million to the Liberal Party during the second half of the election campaign, saying all will be declared in accordance with the electoral act, under which the information will not be made public until February. → Read More
Tony Abbott not attending PM Turnbull’s drinks; and won’t return to cabinet, says Bishop
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says she expects any changes Malcolm Turnbull makes to his cabinet to be minimal, downplaying the suggestion that Tony Abbott could be elevated to the front bench. → Read More