Health News at Your Fingertips

The Liberal candidate for Warringah, Katherine Deves, has appeared on Sydney radio 2GB, where she has been defended by host Ben Fordham, who has declared her “brave”.

She came to the studio with security and was asked if that was a result of the threats she said she had received, and what the most challenging moment she had experienced was:

The most challenging moment is, you know, I have a family. I have stood up for public life and just realising the impact that – the way my life was going to change. However, I think that being the representative for a community is a really important job.

And I’m willing to do that.

Liberal Warringah candidate Katherine Deves has committed to visiting Sydney’s Jewish museum, after more tweets from her deleted account emerged (first published on News.com) where she compared standing against transgender issues to the Nazi resistance.

Frydenberg was asked about the party standing by her, given her previous comments and his stance as a moderate.

He said when it came to her stance on “fairness in sport” he was “happy to have that debate based on the issue”, but added:

But when you start bringing in these analogies or that level of terminology, I do think that that diminishes the person who’s making the argument, but it also distracts from the real issues of play.

Josh Frydenberg is speaking to Patricia Karvelas on ABC Radio National and is still very, very angry, it seems, about the challenge he is receiving from Monique Ryan, who he calls the “so-called independent”.

He has defended putting One Nation ahead of Ryan on his how-to-vote cards despite being a moderate, because he says Ryan’s votes will decide the electorate, as the Greens and Labor are running dead.

He sounds furious about it, to be honest.

Paul Karp

The independent candidate in Boothby, Jo Dyer, may not be eligible to sit in parliament due to UK citizenship by descent.

Dyer disclosedto the Australian Electoral Commission that she had been a UK citizen but renounced on 8 December, attaching evidence of her application to renounce.

However, the high court has taken a strict approach that to be eligible to sit in parliament the renunciation must have been processed and effective by the time of nomination.

In comments to the Adelaide Advertiser, Dyer first suggested she had done enough by taking “reasonable steps” to renounce. The high court clarified in its Canavan and Gallagher decisions that this is insufficient, unless the candidate faced “irremediable” obstacles to renouncing.

A spokesman for Dyer reportedly said:

Jo thought she had met eligibility requirements but based on the Gallagher case is now seeking advice from lawyers, as well as the British Home Office as to the status of her application.

Welcome to day 19 and the end of the third week of the campaign.

Anthony Albanese is back on the physical campaign, but, under his doctor’s advice, won’t be going quite as hard as the first two weeks.

Here’s hoping Scott Morrison won’t feel the need to point out how his recovery was quicker, after he took a pot shot at Albanese yesterday for not being as busy as he had been in isolation.Quite the statesman comment.

On Sky News last night, Morrison was asked if Albanese had “used his Covid isolation to duck out of the campaign”.

Q: Do you think we should have seen more of Albanese while he was in isolation?

Morrison:

Well, I do know there must be a lot of questions waiting for him when he comes out of isolation. I do hope that he’s well and that his symptoms weren’t too difficult.

I remember when I came out, that’s when I went straight up from isolation directly to the floods in northern New South Wales. That was where I went immediately. I didn’t go to other states. That’s where I went. And it’s important, that I hope that he comes out and he’s well, because this is an important campaign.

And for the last week he’s done a couple of interviews, I suppose. But there’s a choice and people need to see there’s a choice. I’ve said there’s two debates. We had the Sky Debate. It was a good debate.

We should have two debates next week. He said he’d debate me any time, anywhere. Well, Thursday night, Channel Seven, I’ll be there … Sunday night, Channel Nine, I’ll be there.

Perhaps that word salad will win him some more votes.

Meanwhile, the Adelaide Advertiser is reporting Boothby independent candidate Jo Dyer may be in some section 44 strife:

We’ll bring you all the news as it happens. Katharine Murphy is with you, along with Paul Karp, Josh Butler, Daniel Hurst and Sarah Martin. The entire Guardian brains trust is following along with what’s happening in the rest of the nation. And you’ve got me, Amy Remeikis, with you on the blog for most of the day. I have gone straight for the chocolate this morning. It’s been that sort of week.

Ready to say goodbye to the first three weeks? Let’s goooooo!