Australia news live: business groups call for safeguard mechanism support; Labor celebrates NSW election victory | NSW election 2023

State of the state following stunning NSW Labor victory

New South Wales Labor has secured enough seats to form government in its own right after targeting a series of key seats during the campaign.

The Coalition suffered major losses across western Sydney and key regional areas, losing at least nine seats to Labor and is projected to lose at least one other to independents.

Votes were still being counted on Saturday night – and for a breakdown of the state of play this morning read NSW state reporter Tamsin Rose’s analysis of last night’s events.

In a final question about the extradition case of Daniel Duggan, Dreyfus says he cannot comment.

I’m not going to comment at all, other than to say that I have commenced extradition proceedings, as is my right as attorney general, at the request of the United States. Those proceedings will now take place in a court and so I’m not going to comment further.

Speers asks what will happen if the voice feels like its advice has not been sought out – will it be able to go to the high court?

Dreyfus says it is a possibility.

Again, I point to the third paragraph of these words, David, which puts beyond doubt the power of the parliament to regulate how that is to happen. And the reason why those words are there are to make sure that we’re going to have certainty, we’re going to know how this is going to operate.

Dreyfus also says he hopes the voice will “profoundly” change the way decisions are made by the government where they affect Indigenous people.

I‘m hoping that it does. I’m hoping. Because we’ve seen from experience that when members of parliament, government departments, do listen to Aboriginal communities, we get better outcomes.

… You can point to examples right across the board where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are listened to, we get better policies, we get better laws. When they’re not listened to, we end up wasting a great deal of money and we end up with failed policies, and it is all too many failed policies that we can point to over recent decades.

Speers asks for more detail about how the voice will works and, specifically, whether government departments will have to take advice from the body.

Dreyfus says:

That’s a misunderstanding of what this constitutional provision does. What this constitutional provision does is to set up permanently an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to parliament at executive, and the power that’s given to the voice is to make representations.

Of course we’re going to need to make sure that there’s, at a mechanical level, the ability for the voice to make representations, but it’s not that – as has been suggested and as your question suggested – there will be some requirement for government departments to be going off and seeking that advice.

Dreyfus says he has “never suggested taking out ‘executive government’”, despite reports to the contrary.

There’s been a lot of reporting on this and I don’t think it assists us. I invite all Australians to look at the wording we got to. Pouring over the entrails of who might have said what, when, won’t help us at all. We’ve got to the final wording. That’s what Australians are being asked to vote on later this year.

Dreyfus is not being drawn on the drafting process, saying it is largely irrelevant now that the final order of words has been decided.

Specifically, Dreyfus says the form of words released “confirm the primacy of the parliament to describe in legislation” the powers of the body, which “will be the next step”.

Parliament will be able to set out in detail the way in which the voice going to operate in its relations with the parliament and with the executive.

Dreyfus says the release of solicitor general’s advice in the past was an exception rather than the rule.

This constitutional amendment process is public. It starts with the constitutional alteration bill that we’re going to introduce to the Parliament next week. That will be followed at the end of what has been 10 years of discussion, that will be followed by another parliamentary committee process and then debate in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Dreyfus said the government was “very confident in the form of words that we’ve released”.

I am looking forward to the referendum succeeding when we get to this at the end of the year.

Attorney general Mark Dreyfus says the opposition leader says it is not the practice for governments to release solicitor general’s advice as it is “private to the government”.

The comments were made in response to calls from opposition leader Peter Dutton for it to be released.

Speaking to ABC David Speers, Dreyfus said the solicitor general had been “fully involved in the process” that led to the final wording of the constitutional question.

Mr Dutton wants to keep asking questions. He wants to keep doing what he’s been doing all along which is to not offer anything constructive, not offer any suggestions. If he’s got some concerns about the words, he should put them forward.

Attorney general Mark Dreyfus will be appearing on ABC Insiders this morning to talk about the upcoming referendum on the Indigenous voice to parliament.

We’ll bring you all the latest as it happens.

And here are a few snaps from inside the NSW Liberal party election night event, at the Hilton Hotel.

Here’s a look at some of the images out of NSW Labor’s election night party.

Business groups want safeguard mechanism passed to give certainty

Good morning