APPRENTICE ALLOWANCES
It’s been quite the whirlwind week as we’re all once again reminded of what it means to have Donald Trump endlessly leading the news agenda while the breaking news alerts endlessly ping on our phones.
We’ll get onto the latest on President Trump 2.0’s first week later (it’s worth reading my colleague Bernard Keane’s piece on how the wall-to-wall coverage serves only Trump), but first in domestic news we find Prime Minister Anthony Albanese preparing to close out the week with an address to the National Press Club in Canberra.
One of the announcements Albanese is set to make — a pledge to increase apprentice allowances — has been leading most places overnight.
The AAP reports, “From July, eligible apprentices in housing construction or clean energy will receive $10,000, paid in $2,000 instalments at the six, 12, 24 and 36-month milestones and upon completion.”
The newswire says the $626 million commitment is the first time the allowance has been increased since 2003.
An extract from his speech trailed ahead of the event has Albanese set to declare: “We recognise the next generation of tradies — the people we’re counting on to build the new homes we need — are under significant financial pressure. Too many leave training, because they can’t afford to stay. More new homes, more new energy and more support for the tradies who will build both.”
The ABC says the prime minister will also announce an increase in the allowance paid to apprentices who live away from home (which is currently $77.17 a week for the first year of training and lower for subsequent years).
Guardian Australia says the pledge, if Labor is reelected, is an attempt by Albanese to “encourage more young people into construction to help build the 1.2 million homes he promised by 2030”. The site says the apprenticeship incentive comes in response to a strategic review which is also being released.
As flagged in a previous Worm, today’s speech coincides with the anniversary of Albanese using an appearance at the National Press Club to announce his plan to reallocate the stage three tax cuts. As Laura Tingle wrote for the ABC last week: “You can be sure, in the already fetid campaign environment, that the government will be not only wanting to remind people of that decision [the stage three tax cuts], but that Peter Dutton didn’t back it.”
Guardian Australia adds today’s speech will provide more information on Labor’s election pitch, “Building Australia’s Future”, following a flurry of infrastructure promises made by Albanese since the start of the new year.
The Australian this morning reckons Albanese will use his speech to “set out Labor’s post-election vision, reset his political fortunes and reassure voters that the government will provide more cost of living relief for struggling households” (remember when I said at the start of last week that we appeared to be stuck in a Groundhog Day of agenda/political resets…?)
The paper reckons the Labor government has pledged $14 billion on its Building Australia’s Future reelection plan and says the PM will use his address to attack Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s “Getting Australia Back on Track” plan.
Dutton is quoted in The Australian as saying “history is against us [the Coalition]” when it comes to the prospect of removing the Albanese government after one term. He added: “But I do believe that we’ve been a disciplined opposition. We’ve put a lot of work into policies, and a lot of those we’ll announce as we get closer to the election. But I think we have demonstrated that we have the capacity to be the alternative government and we’ve kept pressure on a bad government.”
On the theme of announcing policies and how they’re going to work, Guardian Australia flags Dutton yesterday declined to say how much his promise of tax deductions of up to $20,000 for meal and entertainment expenses for small businesses would cost, or what would be covered.
While senior Labor ministers called the policy a “farce”, Dutton said he wouldn’t “dance according to the demands of Jim Chalmers” after the treasurer called for details on how much it would cost.
TRUMP AT DAVOS
And so we return to a certain Donald J. Trump. The 78-year-old US president addressed global business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier and continued his threat to the world of placing tariffs worth “trillions of dollars” if they don’t make their products in America.
“US will be the world capital of AI and crypto … come make your product in America, but if you don’t it’s your prerogative, but very simply, you will pay a tariff, differing amounts, which will direct hundreds of billions of dollars, even trillions of dollars, into our Treasury,” the BBC reports Trump said on Thursday.
The broadcaster also said there were “gasps in the hall” when Trump, who was delivering his address and taking questions via video link, said Canada could “become a state” of the US and that America did not need Canada’s cars or lumber.
Other moments of note during the Davos session were when Trump yet again said the European Union’s taxes and tariffs were too high, claimed Ukraine was “ready to make a deal” to end the war with Russia, that he was “going to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down the cost of oil” and called on Saudi Arabia to increase its US investments to $1 trillion.
Reuters earlier highlighted the Saudi state news agency had reported Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has told Trump the kingdom wants to put $600 billion into expanded investment and trade with America over the next four years.
CNN is taking on the rather exhausting task of trying to fact-check Trump’s Davos remarks, such as his false claim the recent bout of high inflation was the worst in US history. The broadcaster also flagged the president’s claim he would “demand” interest rates were dropped if oil prices go down, as well as the false claim there was an “electric vehicle mandate”.
In news breaking at the time of writing, a federal judge has temporarily blocked Trump’s executive order to end automatic citizenship for children born on American soil. The New York Times reports “Federal District Court Judge, John C. Coughenour, sided at least for the moment with four states that sued. ‘This is a blatantly unconstitutional order,’ he said.”
The paper also highlights cabinet confirmation hearings are continuing with a vote later today potentially indicating whether Pete Hegseth has enough support to be the new US defence secretary.
Lastly, the BBC in its coverage states 1,500 US troops are being deployed to the southern border and an internal government memo seen by CBS News suggests up to 10,000 could be sent.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE…
Record quantities of illegally imported “erectile honey” were seized by French customs last year, Politico informed us this week.
According to the customs office, the honey, which is laced with Viagra and other medications, mainly comes into France via Turkey, South-East Asia and North Africa.
The AFP news agency said the packets of honey and gels “are often sold surreptitiously in clubs and other nightlife spots”.
AFP states the use of the “aphrodisiac honey” has increased in recent years, “with officials warning of potentially serious health risks from ingredients not listed on the labels”.
Last November in Marseille 13 tonnes of the illegal stock was found in a shipment from Malaysia, the news agency added.
Say What?
Truly there are no words to fully express my joy and overwhelming gratitude for this recognition. Not only for me but for what this film represents. I am deeply humbled.
Demi Moore
The 62-year-old responded to being nominated for best actress at the 2025 Oscars for her performance in The Substance.
CRIKEY RECAP
It’s clear the YIMBY/NIMBY thing grates on her; arguing it is reductive. And it’s not the only dichotomy Watson-Brown is sick of.
“Ordinary everyday people are not represented, in my view, by either Labor or the LNP,” she says, expressing frustration at the influence of lobbyists and corporations.
“The thing that blew my mind, actually going to Parliament House for the first time, is to see how obvious that is. You know, the day we went to vote for the important climate legislation at the end of 2022, Albo was having breakfast with Santos and Woodside. They don’t even bother to kind of try and hide that… And therefore, it’s really critical, our role, being the voice of everyday people.”
In Australia, the News Corp mastheads then pivoted focus to social deviancy with claims of arson, their reporting widely amplified through the favoured tool of climate denial — bots and trolls on social media — alongside the hashtag #Arsonemergency, designed to crowd out the previously trending #climateemergency.
In those more innocent days, the shame of falsehood still mattered. The strength of Australia’s network of independent media, fact-checkers and the public broadcaster, coupled with robust denials from police and firefighters, meant the story dropped out of public gaze. It drove the big break in the Murdoch family, with James Murdoch publicly criticising the Australian mastheads and subsequently resigning from the News Corp board
But the hunt for appropriate villains continues. When megafires broke out in Greece in 2023, right-wing activists and the conservative government focused on their favourite target — immigrants — with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis saying: “It is also almost certain that this fire was started on routes that are often used by illegal migrants who have entered our country.”
The AO is not done serving up gossip this year: among the canapes and brand activations, Crikey spies heard some members of the press reminiscing on our infamous couples list.
“Crikey used to have a list of all the couples in Australian media,” our spy overheard.
“Really? They should bring that back.”
“I’d love to be on that list.”
Let us know if you want us to bring back a 2025 version of the list. There is no shortage of candidates — or break-ups.
READ ALL ABOUT IT
More than 60 NSW mental health beds close as leaked memos reveal hospitals’ plan for mass psychiatrist resignations (Guardian Australia)
Reddit groups ban X links in protest at Musk arm gesture (BBC)
CNN announces about 200 layoffs as it attempts to modernise business (CNBC)
The second Trump presidency, brought to you by YouTubers (Bloomberg)
Corpse flower recap: ‘Putricia’ in full bloom at Sydney’s Botanic Gardens (The Sydney Morning Herald) ($)
THE COMMENTARIAT
Albanese talks of a vision that is not yet apparent to anyone — Simon Benson (The Australian): What voters see is a nation more divided and less prosperous than the one he inherited as Prime Minister in 2022. This is indisputable.
And this is the problem he must tackle in his address to the National Press Club.
Albanese has so far failed to articulate how he proposes to address these twin challenges. The prime minister must be explicit. Just what is Labor’s future vision? It is a vision that is so far not apparent to the electorate.
In other words, he will have to offer more than just another three years of political and economic drift.
In an interview with The Australian at the end of last year, Albanese described the election battle as one between the future and the past. This may have broad appeal but it is limited by Albanese’s inability so far to put definition to what a second-term Labor agenda looks like.
Three-year terms keep us stuck in short-term thinking — Phillip Coorey (AFR): With the election due within four months, and both sides already campaigning, Albanese knows there is no point seeking support for anything so tangential in such a hyperpolitical environment. Especially after he was so badly burned on the Voice referendum.
At the same time, he should stop lamenting the fact there are no four-year terms, as if someone else should make it happen. As prime minister, he is uniquely placed to lead the advocacy and argument to drive support for the change.
No one’s going to do it for him.
Otherwise, the nation will stay stuck in a cycle in which campaigning starts earlier each time. And when it does, politics becomes overtly tactical, the public service goes into zombie mode and the business community watches on frustrated as nothing gets done.
