Former president Donald Trump attended CPAC – the annual conference of conservatives in the US – to deliver his first speech since leaving the White House, and took the opportunity to declare war on the few Republicans who dared to defy him. @FergusonNews#abc730
"It seems strangely appropriate that his political comeback would begin in at the City of Orlando, with its many fantasy worlds. There's Disney World, there's Sea World, and for three days last week, there was Trump World at CPAC." - @FergusonNews#abc730
"Here at CPAC, the Republican Party of old-style fiscal conservatives is effectively dead, killed off by the populist Donald Trump." - @FergusonNews#abc730
Senator @SenatorLankford supported Donald Trump in 2016 and was a loyal ally to the end – but now, he’s not so sure.
"The party should be about ideas, not about a person. If we ever make it about a person, we'll drift away from the ideas." #abc730
“Trump’s message is clear: the base of the Republican Party belongs to him. Whatever he chooses to do, they will follow." – @FergusonNews#abc730
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Today, the Morrison Government released the final report of the Aged Care Royal Commission. The ABC’s @anneconnollyabc has been reporting this story for years, and she was at the PM’s press conference today to ask questions that need to be asked. #abc730
"I think the main finding of the report that's so shocking is the way it castigates the lack of governmental leadership on the issue of aged care, which has been really endemic over the last 20 years." - @the_shb, aged care advocate #abc730
Today, PM @ScottMorrisonMP chose to hold his press conference today before the #AgedCareRC report was made publicly available.
@anneconnollyabc asks: "How can we ask questions that are relevant to what's in the report without knowing what's in it?" #abc730
A decision is looming for the Federal Government about whether to cut the dole back to just $40 a day - that's below the poverty line - after doubling it last year at the beginning of the COVID crisis. @latingle#abc730#auspol
“There’s also been debate about how long the Government should - or could - keep its wage subsidy scheme JobKeeper in place.” - @latingle#abc730#auspol
“No-one is exactly sure what will happen to the economy - or to jobs - when the wage subsidy ends. But already, between May and November last year, the number of businesses relying on the payment halved, to around half a million.” - @latingle#abc730#auspol
For months the Tokyo Olympics have been plagued with uncertainty and they are now scheduled to go ahead in July. #abc730
“I still have to commit 100 per cent towards the Tokyo Olympics as if it’s going to happen, and if I get the news that it’s not going ahead then I’ll deal with that at the time.” - @JakeBirtwhistle, Australian triathlete #abc730
“They should go ahead, the Games, and they will go ahead. They’ve always been subject to the safety of the athletes and the Japanese people.” - John Coates, IOC Vice-President #abc730
Melbourne is the latest city to announce tougher social distancing rules after a single COVID-19 case linked to hotel quarantine was detected yesterday, prompting further calls for a rethink of the quarantine system. #abc730@martymccarthy1
The 26-year-old who tested positive worked at the Grand Hyatt Hotel as part of the hotel quarantine program for the Australian Open. #abc730#AusOpen
“We'd all like to go to the Open, I understand that, people want to do it … But really, in the scheme of things, I don't think it's important as making sure that we don't get any of these new variant strains out in the community.” - @billbowtell, @UNSW. #abc730
Racism at the Collingwood Football Club caused profound harm for its Indigenous and African players, according to a report commissioned by the club. The report was sparked by the experience of Heritier Lumumba, who spoke out about the racism he suffered while playing. #abc730
“The Collingwood Football Club does not accept the reality of the way in which the club has created an environment that has caused serious harm to individuals, to families and to communities.” – @iamlumumba#abc730
“When I raised these concerns with the faith that the concerns would be listened to, I was terribly wrong. In fact, I became the problem. I was the one who was painted as being the individual with the issues rather than the club taking ownership.” – @iamlumumba#abc730
“My message to coal workers and to coal mining communities around Australia is that coal mining is good and noble work, and our economy, in many senses, has been built on it … but the world is changing and we do have to be honest about that.” – @Bowenchris#auspol#abc730
“I see many thousands of jobs being created by good climate change policy, both directly in terms of renewable energy and also in reinvigorating traditional manufacturing industries with energy certainty and energy policy certainty.” – @Bowenchris#auspol#abc730
"Good energy policy will create thousands of jobs across the country by getting emissions down, and having a pro-investment, pro-jobs climate change policy." – @Bowenchris#auspol#abc730