Liberal MP Bridget Archer says government’s census question reversal ‘frustrating’
Tasmanian Liberal MP Bridget Archer is speaking to ABC RN about the government’s decision to scrap questions on sexuality and gender identity from the 2026 census – which she described as “frustrating.”
She previously crossed the floor on issues during the Morrison government.
I think it’s quite frustrating, actually, to be honest. It’s a frustrating conversation about something that really shouldn’t be in any way controversial – and I think the government has actually created a controversy, where there was none…
The questions should be included. They said they would be included, it really should be a non-issue. And we shouldn’t really even be having this conversation.
Archer disagreed there was any “woke agenda” behind “asking questions around population data for our country”.
It’s just information. And, you know, if you don’t collect that information, then you can’t use it.
Key events
Archer attributes rise in independents to growing polarisation
Moving to a broader conversation, Bridget Archer said “there’s no doubt” Australia is seeing a rise in populist positioning.
I think that’s been happening for some time, not just in Australia, but I think it’s a kind of a global phenomena … it’s a kind of tribalism, really, at the heart of it … I think everybody tends to then retreat to their side, and we don’t get a constructive debate. I don’t think we get the type of nuance that we sometimes need to see and should see in public discourse and in debate. And, you know, I think it is sort of a threat, in a way, to democracy.
Asked specifically about the upcoming federal election, Archer said the number of independents elected at the last election was a “direct reaction to that sort of polarisation”.
People [are] sort of looking around and coming up empty-handed, so looking for an alternative, I think that’s what we’re seeing sort of play out. And I think the crossroads is – how do actors in the political system respond to that? …
That’ll be interesting to see how that then plays out at the next election.
Asked if she is staying in the Liberal party and recontesting her seat, Archer responded “yes and yes”.
Archer says avoiding LGBTIQ+ census questions dismisses lived experience of many Australians
Q: Opposition leader Peter Dutton uses the word “woke agenda” and there are people who think these questions do fit into that agenda. Isn’t that at the heart the problem here?
Bridget Archer responded that by not going forward with the questions “you absolutely do feed into that”.
And actually, in doing so, you also dismiss the lived experience of a whole lot of Australians as well, who are currently just not being counted…
I think this sort of constructing everything as kind of right or left or woke or not woke, or whatever, I just think it is part of the problem that we have, and it distracts us from all sorts of things, actually, and it’s quite pointless. Just get on with it.
Bridget Archer says government should be able to make decisions and defend their decisions
Bridget Archer said the government should be prepared to make decisions and defend the decisions that they make:
I think that from the government’s point of view, it requires that they actually govern and that they make decisions and this [idea that] ‘we’re not going to do this because there might be some sort of backlash, or there might be some sort of controversy, or we’re not going to do this because … we can’t be assured that there’s not going to be a debate’ is not really leadership and is not in the best interest of the country.
We need leaders and governments that are going to make decisions, and, yes, defend the decisions that they make. If they are, but not refrain from making them because they’re not sure what somebody might say about that.
Tasmanian Liberal MP Bridget Archer is speaking to ABC RN about the government’s decision to scrap questions on sexuality and gender identity from the 2026 census – which she described as “frustrating.”
She previously crossed the floor on issues during the Morrison government.
I think it’s quite frustrating, actually, to be honest. It’s a frustrating conversation about something that really shouldn’t be in any way controversial – and I think the government has actually created a controversy, where there was none…
The questions should be included. They said they would be included, it really should be a non-issue. And we shouldn’t really even be having this conversation.
Archer disagreed there was any “woke agenda” behind “asking questions around population data for our country”.
It’s just information. And, you know, if you don’t collect that information, then you can’t use it.
Bank bosses to face investigation amid cost-of-living worries
Scams, soaring mortgage payments and the rising cost of living will be top of mind as the heads of two of Australia’s biggest banks arrive at parliament for a political grilling.
As AAP reports, National Australia Bank chief executive Andrew Irvine and Shayne Elliot, the head of ANZ, will appear before a House of Representatives review of Australia’s big four banks today.
The big four control about 80% of the Australian banking sector and have been accused of exacerbating financial pressures on their customers.
Westpac and Commonwealth Bank CEOs appeared on the first day of the inquiry yesterday.
Karen Middleton Victorian Liberal MP Keith Wolahan has added his voice to those calling for questions on sexuality and gender to be added to the 2026 census, saying he can’t see “the damage or the harm” in including them.
Wolahan has echoed the views of a number of Labor backbench MPs who are urging the government to reverse a decision to leave the questions out of the census. He told ABC RN he believed the more questions there were, the more useful the data obtained.
I don’t see the harm in adding that. I know in other areas, like in asking who veterans are that that was only recently added, and that’s been really useful. So I think more data is always useful. And so I’m not sure what the dispute is or the concern is here from a government’s perspective.
Wolahan’s comments come after his Liberal colleague Aaron Violi told the ABC that questions on gender and sexuality would provide valuable data and should be included.
Labor backbencher Josh Burns has called for the government to “reconsider” and Peter Khalil, Alicia Payne and assistant minister Ged Kearney expressed support for a rethink.
Questions on gender, sexuality and several other topics were due to be added to the 2026 census after the Australian Bureau of Statistics consulted the community. But this week it emerged the government had decided the extra questions should not proceed, with ministers saying they could generate “division” and “nastiness”.
Over on the US Open live blog, we’re following all the action as Alex de Minaur has just won – follow along with Katy Murrells below:
Almost 70 organisations sign statement calling for census decision reversal
Equality Australia says that almost 70 organisations have signed a statement calling on the government to reconsider including questions on sexuality and gender identity in the 2026 census.
The statement reads:
Not only has the government missed an opportunity to finally reflect the real diversity of the Australian community, but it will fail to gather crucial information to inform its own planning, financial assessment, policy development and service delivery.
This is despite repeated calls for this baseline population data from service providers, health entities, government departments, bureaucrats, businesses and academics, who rely on the census to tell them about our country’s economic, social and cultural make-up.
The full statement can be read online here.
A “large number” of trees and powerlines have fallen across roads in Tasmania, police say, as thousands have been left without power.
The trees and powerlines have fallen across roads in the north-west and northern parts of the state.
Police said emergency workers are busy clearing roads and restoring power. Motorists are advised to take “extreme care” across all roads across the state.
According to TasNetworks, there are at least 10,000 customers across the state affected by power outages – largely in northern areas.
Severe weather warning for damaging winds along much of Australia’s south
We brought you the weather forecasts for each state just a moment ago, so let’s look at the severe weather warnings that are currently in place, all for damaging winds.
NSW and ACT – north-westerly winds will strengthen this morning across the south-east, as a cold front moves over the south. Peak gusts up to 100km/h are possible over elevated areas for the eastern districts.
Victoria – a strong cold front is moving through the centre of the state early this morning and will clear to the east by later this morning. A westerly airstream is expected to develop in its wake over the south, with a second front sweeping through overnight and tomorrow morning.
South Australia – the cold front moving towards Victoria passed through SA overnight, with a north-west airstream developing ahead of a second front this evening. Damaging gusts up to 90km/h over coastal parts of the lower south-east are forecast during the early hours this morning.
Tasmania – the entire state is under the severe weather warning for damaging winds, with a series of fronts embedded in a vigorous westerly airstream to affect Tasmania from later today and through the weekend. Peak gusts of around 110km/h are likely to persist for another few hours.
Emily Wind I’m Emily Wind, here to take you through our rolling coverage this Friday. Thanks to Martin Farrer for kicking things off!
As always, you can get in touch via X, @emilywindwrites, or email – emily.wind@theguardian.com – with any tips or questions throughout the day.
Let’s go.
Daniel Hurst The Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga will wrap up today, although Anthony Albanese arrived back in Australia last night.
Yesterday, Albanese participated in a leaders’ retreat in Vava’u, Tonga, a format that allows for more intimate conversations.
We expect to learn of the formal outcomes of the talks when the Pif leaders release their joint statement later today.
Concern about the situation in New Caledonia was expected to be high on the agenda of yesterday’s talks, and the statement is likely to mention progress in securing French approval for a fact-finding mission to the territory.
It will also be worth keeping an eye out for the exact language used to describe the Pacific policing initiative that Albanese championed and which got a tick in Wednesday’s meeting in the Tongan capital, Nuku’alofa.
There will also be language in the joint statement regarding the climate crisis.
The weeklong Pif summit ends with a closing ceremony tonight.
Here’s the forecast by state and territory:
NSW and ACT – warmer than usual, above average rainfall in most areas, unusually high rainfall in NSW’s north and some central areas. High fire danger in Greater Sydney, the Illawarra and the south-west, moderate fire danger in many other areas.
Victoria – warmer than usual, typical rainfall in most areas, slightly increased chance of above average rainfall in parts of the south-west.
Queensland – unusually warm days and nights in most parts, above average rainfall in most areas, first significant rains of the wet season likely to be earlier than usual.
Western Australia – warmer than usual in most areas except for the south where temperatures will be average, unusually warm days and nights in the north, typical rainfall in most areas, first significant rains of the wet season likely later than usual.
South Australia – warmer than usual with slightly above average rainfall in southern agricultural areas and parts of the north.
Tasmania – unusually warm days and nights, above average rainfall in the east.
Northern Territory – unusually warm days and nights, typical rainfall, first significant rains of the wet season likely earlier than usual.
We’ve got even more weather as Paul Daley has been ruminating on the on the “discombobulating, disquieting” winter warmth that has seen the usual signs of spring come many weeks early.
Read his piece here:
Australians all over can expect a warmer-than-average spring but parts of the nation are likely to cop more of a drenching than usual, AAP reports.
Conditions are increasingly likely to be warmer than average across all states and territories in the next three months, according to the Bureau of Meteorology’s spring long-range forecast.
Most of Queensland, NSW and the ACT are expected to experience above-average rainfall, while parts of South Australia and Tasmania can expect slightly more rain than usual.
Western Australia is tipped to have average or below average falls, with “typical” rain expected in the Northern Territory.
The northern wet season starts in October but the first significant rains are forecast to fall earlier than usual in Queensland and part of the Top End but later in most of Western Australia.
It’s been a warmer-than-usual winter and 1.5 C above the 1961-90 winter average, preliminary data from the government agency shows. The Bureau said:
Despite some typically cool winter temperatures at times on the east coast, winter has been warmer than usual across the country with August on track to be Australia’s warmest August on record.
Good morning and welcome to the end-of-week news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the best of the overnight stories to get you up to speed before hosting duties switch to Emily Wind.
Mano Yogalingam was 23 years old and had “his whole life in front of him”. But the stresses and strains of living with the prospect of being deported back to Sri Lanka pushed him over the edge and he took his own life this week. Our top story this morning hears from refugee advocates who say the death of the Tamil asylum seeker has exposed the failings of the fast-track immigration system. “All of these people have been failed by the system. It’s a total cobweb of cruelty,” one said.
A billionaire mining boss who has already banned home working has said he does not want staff to step out of the office for coffee either. Chris Ellison, the managing director of Mineral Resources, said the industry could not afford to continue down the path of flexible working, and that his company was investing in amenities at the firm’s head office in Perth to keep people from leaving the building. “I want to hold them captive all day long,” Ellison said during a financial presentation.
Australia’s southern states have been buffeted by dangerous winds this week and there’s more to come. Strong winds will blow up from the south today into New South Wales, while a second front of gusty winds is expected to hit southern Victoria and Tasmania tonight through to Saturday. More fronts could push through the country’s south over the weekend. And Greater Sydney and the Illawarra are under high fire danger warnings. All this and the BoM is predicting a warmer-than-usual spring. More coming up.
Liberal MP Bridget Archer says government’s census question reversal ‘frustrating’
Liberal MP calls for gender and sexuality questions to be added to the census
Fallen trees and powerlines in Tasmania as at least 10,000 without power
Good morning
Pacific Islands Forum to wrap up today
Warmer-than-average spring to follow milder winter, says BoM
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