The Federal Opposition has accused the Government of deliberately delaying the election so it can continue to access taxpayer funds for advertising policies and programs. 

• Unless the election is called on Monday, a May 11 poll is out of the equation
• Once the writs are issued for the poll, the Government needs Opposition approval to continue advertisements
• Bill Shorten has accused the Government of dragging its feet, but Scott Morrison says he will not bow to Labor demands

The ABC understands Prime Minister Scott Morrison will not visit the Governor-General this weekend, meaning unless the election is called on Monday, a May 11 poll is out of the equation. 

That leaves May 18 and May 25, although the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has indicated the later date would make it harder to count the votes before the constitutional deadline to return the results. 

Mr Morrison has again refused to be drawn on what the date will be, saying: "The election will be called in April and held in May."

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has accused the Government of dragging its feet so it can continue to use public funds for its advertising campaigns. 

Once the writs are issued for the poll, the Government needs Opposition approval to continue any advertisements.

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-07/labor-says-government-delaying-election-call-advertising/

As the battle looms nationally, in Wentworth, the latest polls show that the good doctor, Kerryn Phelps —  who with experience, integrity and caring has shown in a very few months her great decency and efficiency in her position to make medicare fully secure (it's not under the Scummo rigmarole), to have humane treatment of refugees (Scummo is inhumane on this issue), to fast track renewable energy (Scummo wants coal to lead energy production), to have real action on climate change (Scummo is the Noah's Ark Society supremo), to fund the ABC and the arts properly (Scummo hates the ABC and the arts is a baseball cap backwards while drinking beer) — is trailing slightly to the Liberal (CONservative/Scummo representative of bad ideas) candidate (this electorate is full of rich CONservatives who don't care much beyond making money for themselves).

But all is not lost yet for Kerryn Phelps. Gus has heard that many "heavy" good-hearted Liberals are supporting her because she is decent about asylum seekers, but mostly because she is correct about global warming.

Go Kerryn.

Chinese Communist Party-aligned billionaire Huang Xiangmo paid tens of thousands of dollars to former Liberal minister Santo Santoro while mounting a back-room campaign to secure Australian citizenship.

• A recording shows Mr Santoro saying then-immigration minister Peter Dutton was one of his best friends
• Mr Huang had Mr Santoro on retainer and the ex-minister said his job was to "assist him to understand Australian politics"
• Mr Huang failed in his citizenship bid after ASIO objected to his links to the Communist Party

In 2016 Mr Santoro arranged a one-on-one meeting for Mr Huang with then-immigration minister Peter Dutton.

Despite meeting inside the private suite of a Chinese restaurant in Sydney in 2016 — access to one of the most powerful ministers in the Turnbull government that few others could have obtained — Mr Huang ultimately failed in his citizenship bid after ASIO objected to his links to the Chinese Communist Party.

An investigation by Four Corners, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald can also reveal that in 2015, Mr Dutton gave approval for then-Labor MP Sam Dastyari to conduct a private citizenship ceremony for Mr Huang's wife and two children.

Citizenship ceremonies are almost always held in public, and private "special purpose" conferrals are usually only granted for applicants who are ill or have urgent needs and are unable to attend a typical town hall ceremony.

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-08/chinese-billionaire-chasing-passp...

It's hard to place communism and billionaire in the same thought but we shall try...