Live: Expert doubts constitutionality of Commonwealth grant scheme

live Federal politics live: Expert doubts constitutionality of Commonwealth grant scheme Constitutional law expert Anne Twomey says the Commonwealth should not be paying for sporting club upgrades because it is not a federal responsibility. Follow all the updates in our live blog. Submit a comment or question Live updates Labor faces rank-and-file push for Israel sanctions Supporters of Palestine among Labor's rank-and-file membership are urging the Albanese government to reconsider its position on placing new sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Earlier this week the government indicated it wouldn't be following the lead of the UK, Canada and France in placing a ban on imports from the West Bank settlements, which are illegal under international law. Foreign Minister Penny Wong told the Senate the government has "concerns about the implementation of a blanket ban and unintended consequences for Australian businesses, for Palestinians and for Israelis". Labor Friends of Palestine, made up of party members advocating pro-Palestinian causes, has written to Wong calling on the government to change position. Victorian convenor Oliver van Ingen said Australia has worked in coordination with countries like the UK, France and Canada before, and should do so again. "Australia should not be importing goods produced in settlements we recognise as illegal under international law," he said. "This is about targeted measures against goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements and those who facilitate or profit from illegal settlement activity. The British Foreign Secretary is correct to condemn Israel's actions as ethnic cleansing. "Strong action is required to stand up for international law." Exclusive: Labor moves to make illicit tobacco prosecutions easier with new laws Organised criminals importing black market tobacco and retailers selling illegal cigarettes will be easier to prosecute under a federal government crackdown on the illicit trade. New offences would allow authorities to rely on factors including suspiciously cheap prices, non-compliant branded packaging or concealed products to show tobacco had entered Australia unlawfully. Under existing laws, prosecutions are routinely frustrated because it must be proven an accused person knew the tobacco was illegally imported and subject to customs duty. Assistant Minister for Customs Julian Hill will introduce legislation to modernise the Customs Act on Thursday as the government moves to strengthen its response to the illicit tobacco market largely controlled by organised crime. Read the full exclusive story from chief digital political correspondent Clare Armstrong in the link below. Expert doubts constitutionality of grants schemes Not only is the federal government facing questions about how it chose to fund certain community projects last election, but now the legality of these types of schemes are under question. Constitutional law expert Anne Twomey says the Commonwealth shouldn't be using money to pay for sporting club upgrades. "The framers of the Constitution did not write the Constitution so that the Commonwealth Parliament could go around spending money on facilities at golf clubs or resurfacing football ovals," she said. "That is not a federal responsibility". Other government grant programs have come under fire too and Professor Twomey reckons if they landed in court, they'd be unconstitutional. But she can't see a challenge happening anytime soon. "This has been going on for an awfully long time. All sides of government do it and abuse the system and none of them have an interest in actually stopping this conduct," she said. Good morning 👋 Hello and welcome to our federal politics live blog. It's great to have you join us here for the final sitting day of the week this Thursday morning. I'm Josh Boscaini joining you live from Parliament House in Canberra, here and ready to bring you all of today's federal politics news. A constitutional law expert says it's not the responsibility of the federal government to hand out money to sporting clubs, after the ABC revealed the PM held an undeclared honorary membership to a club which received a Commonwealth grant. Meanwhile, Labor is set to introduce laws to parliament today to crack down on the illegal tobacco trade and target organised crime, distributors and retailers selling illegal cigarettes. And we expect the federal government will unveil its gas reservation policy today. Earlier this year, Labor proposed forcing gas giants to save 20 per cent of their volumes for the Australian market. Without further ado, let's get right into the day! Loading