Australia news live updates: solicitor general’s advice on Morrison’s secret ministries to be handed down

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Departments – not politicians – should decide government grant recipients, Grattan Institute recommends

The Grattan Institute has a very timely report out today with a plan to end pork barrelling, which calls for departments rather than ministers to make the call on who receives grants.

As the authors of the report write in the Conversation:

Ministers should be able to establish grant programs and define the selection criteria, but they should not be involved in choosing grant recipients.

Shortlisting and selecting grant recipients is an administrative function for the relevant department or agency. Ministers should have bigger fish to fry.

Danielle Grattan, an author of the report and chief executive at Grattan, was asked about whether a federal Icac would produce the same outcome, but she said it would be more effective to tackle the problem “upstream”.

Updated at 18.26 EDT

‘They are talking about it’: Archer on Morrison saga

Bridget Archer also rejected the argument that has been coming from certain members of the Coalition – including Barnaby Joyce on ABC Insiders yesterday – that nobody was talking about the Morrison saga:

Updated at 18.27 EDT

Fallout of Morrison saga on other colleagues is unfair, Bridget Archer says

Bridget Archer has welcomed the idea of an independent review into Scott Morrison’s conduct, saying he should consider his position.

Liberal MP Bridget Archer. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Asked by ABC Radio whether the governor general and the public service should be included in this, Archer said:

I don’t necessarily see any reason why not, if it is a broad examination of this issue.

Asked whether she believes Morrison should resign, she says she is reluctant to call on other MPs to resign:

I would ask him to reflect on that, on his role going forward.

It’s forcing other colleagues to defend themselves and their own records, and I think that’s unfair.

Updated at 19.35 EDT

Governor general disrespected by being put on the spot, industry minister says

Ed Husic has said he feels for the governor general “being put in that position”, and he believes he was “disrespected by putting him in this spot”.

The talk then turns to republicanism and whether an Australian republic could have avoided the Morrison saga, as assistant minister for the republic Matt Thistlethwaite says. Husic is asked if he agrees.

Husic says he supports the idea of a republic but that “in this case it’s about us and the Coalition respecting the way things should work”.

Updated at 18.24 EDT

Government reviewing modern manufacturing initiatives approved by Morrison

Ed Husic is asked when did the review begin of the grants for the modern manufacturing initiative under Morrison’s control as industry minister (17 projects were approved before the federal election):

I took that step to look at those grants … when I’d learnt a number of things as an incoming minister.

Asked if all 17 projects Morrison gave the OK as industry minister would go ahead, Husic responds:

We’re going through the review and we’ll make a decision … it is a very big call to take money off the table for industries and businesses that have factored that in.

I’m going through it and consulting with the department and considering the advice I’m being given.

My intent is to do it before the budget.

Updated at 18.02 EDT

Coalition prioritised political interest, Husic says

Ed Husic says he does not accept “whatsoever” the explanation that the former prime minister needed to give final approval because the projects covered several ministerial portfolios:

Instead of prioritising the national interest the Coaltion prioritised the political interest and they announced the bulk of these right before the election.

Updated at 17.55 EDT

Industry minister responds to Morrison’s decision on modern manufacturing initiative

Ed Husic, the minister for industry and science, is speaking to ABC Radio.

This follows the revelation that former prime minister Scott Morrison, under the industry portfolio, took control of the modern manufacturing initiative and approved 17 projects before the federal election, with more than half in Coalition seats.

Asked whether Morrison’s actions in approving $828m in grants in March, with just three of the projects in a safe Labor seat, constituted pork barrelling, Husic responded:

I was concerned last year when I saw Morrison had made himself the decision maker, wrote to him and his people didn’t think there was any issue.

If you’re still trying to get across which ministries Morrison assumed, this article will help you:

Updated at 17.47 EDT

Queenslanders call for raise in age of criminal responsibility

More than 25,000 Queenslanders have signed a petition calling for the state government to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14. The petition contains 26,853 signatures and has been backed by a coalition of legal and community services.

It comes after Labor voted with One Nation, Katter’s Australian party and the LNP to defeat a Greens’ bill to raise the age of criminal responsibility in parliament last week.

Queensland attorney general Shannon Fentiman opposed the bill and said raising the age would be “irresponsible” ahead of a national approach that would promote “consistency” and “fairness”.

Across Australia, children as young as 10 can be held in watchhouses and hauled before courts to face criminal charges.

The chief executive of Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service, Shane Duffy, said the government needed to examine root causes of behaviour rather than locking children up:

We need more services, not sentences. How would you personally feel about your 10-year-old being locked up?

PeakCare Queensland’s executive director Lindsay Wegener was a former director of Queensland youth detention centres. She said the laws were “dangerous and cruel”, putting children on a lifetime trajectory of crime.

The chief executive of the Youth Advocacy Centre, Katie Acheson, said raising the age would bring Queensland into line with international human rights guidelines.

Fentiman will meet with the coalition today to receive the petition.

Queensland is the fourth state government to be presented with a petition, as part of the national Raise the Age campaign.

Updated at 17.44 EDT

Australians more afraid of Chinese attack than Taiwanese believe China will attack Taiwan

The Australia Institute’s International and Security Affairs program has polling out showing that more Australians are afraid China will attack Australia than Taiwanese believe China will attack Taiwan.

Two surveys were carried out this month, one in Taiwan (of 1,002 people) and one in Australia (of 1,003 people).

The poll shows Australians are more skittish than Taiwanese people about the prospect of an attack by China – nearly one in 10 Australians believe an invasion will come “soon”, compared with one in 20 Taiwanese. Australians are also more pessimistic about an invasion of Taiwan compared with those who live there – one in four respondents believed China would move on Taiwan “soon”. Both groups were on the same page though when it came to the US and China working out any grievances peacefully.

Allan Behm, the director of the Australia Institute’s international and security affairs program and a former senior foreign affairs, attorney general’s and defence official said the more “the anti-China lobby beats the drums of war, the more afraid of China Australians become”.

The rhetoric on China and the “fearmongering” was impacting public opinion. He said:

It is astonishing that Australians are more afraid of an attack from China than the Taiwanese are.

The results show popular opinion is detached from geopolitical and geostrategic reality. The results support the case for a reset in the Australia-China relationship and the manner in which we hold this important national conversation. Such a reset should be based on facts and the national interest rather than the fear peddling we saw in the recent Australian federal election by some for domestic, partisan interests.

Updated at 19.35 EDT

Good morning!

Solicitor general Stephen Donaghue is set to hand down the much-anticipated legal advice regarding former prime minister Scott Morrison’s secret ministerial appointments.

Prime minister Anthony Albanese will receive the advice about whether Morrison breached any rules after he secretly appointed himself to five portfolios.

But before Albanese receives this advice he is also flagging a separate investigation into Morrison’s actions, telling Sky News yesterday that there was “a need for proper scrutiny of what occurred”.

Liberal MP Bridget Archer has also told the ABC she believes there is need for further investigation or an inquiry.

In employment news, the government has released a list of the top 10 in-demand professions over the next five years in the lead-up to the jobs and skills summit next week.

The list is based on the skills priority list, data on job vacancies and projected growth in employment, and the roles include nurses, construction managers and chefs.

Let’s get going.

Updated at 17.36 EDT