What we learned, Tuesday 2 May
That’s where we’ll leave the blog for today – thanks so much for joining us. Here is a wrap of the day’s biggest stories:
The Reserve Bank surprised most economists by lifting its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 3.85%. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said this is “a really difficult decision”, while shadow treasurer Angus Taylor said this is a “wake-up call” for the government.
The government is poised to ban the importation of nonprescription vaping products as part of the most significant tobacco and vaping control measures in the country in a decade.
Health minister Mark Butler also announced that the tax on tobacco will be increased by 5% a year over the next three years.
Chalmers defended the idea of raising jobseeker for people over 55, but stopped short of confirming it will be in next week’s budget.
Groups such as the Australian Unemployed Workers Union said the idea was “discriminatory” for young people. Labor MP Michelle Ananda-Rajah defended the targeting of this demographic, however, because women over 55 are the largest group experiencing homelessness in Australia.
Qantas announced Vanessa Hudson will replace Alan Joyce as the airline’s chief executive when Joyce retires in November.
In order to help with retention, the government will offer ADF members a $50,000 bonus if they commit to staying for three years beyond their initial period of service.
Former Victorian opposition leader Matthew Guy has blamed “faceless leakers” within the Liberal party and the media for his second state election loss.
Have a lovely evening, everyone. We will be back with you tomorrow morning bright and early.
Updated
PM lands in London ahead of King Charles coronation
Prime minister Anthony Albanese has just arrived in London ahead of the coronation of King Charles III on Saturday.
Albanese said he also intends to meet with UK prime minister Rishi Sunak to further discussions on the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement.
I've just arrived in London - a busy agenda in the United Kingdom.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) May 2, 2023
Ahead of the Coronation of King Charles III on Saturday, Prime Minister @RishiSunak and I will be meeting to further discussions on the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement. pic.twitter.com/FryHPAJ62u
Albanese said:
I’ll be visiting the submarine manufacturing facility in Barrow-in-Furness to see how Aukus will boost manufacturing jobs and build our defence capability.
The training academy there shows what the future of defence manufacturing jobs will look like in Australia.
And I’ll be meeting with other world leaders to strengthen Australia’s relationships around the world.
At the coronation I’m proud to be joined by a group of eminent Australians – led by our flag bearer Sam Kerr.
Updated
Catch up on today’s biggest headlines so far with this wrap from my colleague Antoun Issa:
Chinese travel agents return to trade event on Gold Coast
About 135 Chinese tourism wholesalers and travel agents are attending a flagship trade event on the Gold Coast this week.
It is understood this is the first time Chinese buyers have attended the annual Australian Tourism Exchange since 2019, in a potential boost to hopes of restoring pre-pandemic tourism numbers.
The attendance is also seen as another sign of the improvement in the diplomatic relationship after years of tensions.
The federal government says the Australian Tourism Exchange will bring together about 2,300 delegates from Australia and 30 other countries. The international delegates will link up with Australian sellers to discuss potential travel packages.
The federal minister for tourism, Don Farrell, said he hoped the business generated at the event “gives the visitor economy another welcome boost”. Farrell said yesterday that he would travel to China “very soon” to continue talks with his counterpart on removing trade impediments.
Updated
West Coast Eagles back Indigenous voice to parliament
The West Coast Eagles have become the latest professional sporting club to back the Indigenous voice, ahead of a wide campaign from athletic stars expected in coming months.
The Eagles joined Collingwood as the first AFL football clubs to back the referendum. In a statement today, the club said it “supports the First Nations Voice to Parliament being enshrined in the Constitution.”
We're supporting the Voice to Parliament.
— West Coast Eagles (@WestCoastEagles) May 2, 2023
Full statement: https://t.co/nACSi3zUFf pic.twitter.com/bKVHnREsSI
The club said in a statement:
Like many organisations across Australia, the West Coast Eagles have taken this historic opportunity to have an informed and open discussion. Over the last 12 months we have engaged in a series of specific educational sessions with our Board, Staff and Players.
Our Club has also taken advice from our First Nations Elders-in-Residence and our Reconciliation Action Plan Committee.
The West Coast Eagles story has been heavily influenced by our great Indigenous players who have represented our Club so passionately both on the field and in the community. Our community leadership is defined by its Indigenous heritage through the Waalitj Foundation and many other programs across Western Australia. We encourage members and supporters, indeed, all Australians, to develop a deep understanding of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
NRL, AFL, soccer and cricket associations are expected to unveil support for the referendum in coming months. It is unclear exactly when this long-mooted sporting campaign will launch, but the major footy codes have their own Indigenous rounds of their competitions in May, while both have their grand finals shortly before the referendum is expected in mid-October.
Updated
Ananda-Rajah defends targeted jobseeker raise
Labor MP Michelle Ananda-Rajah said she doesn’t know what is in the budget, but that women over 55 are the largest group experiencing homelessness right now so should be considered highly vulnerable:
There may be some basis for targeting this particular group (with a jobseeker raise).
She also argued addressing poverty will involve much more than increasing welfare payments, and that other measures will be needed:
I think we have to bring a degree of pragmatism to this problem and understand that poverty is a really complex beast and means taking it from multiple areas. It is not as easy as fixing it with a welfare payment alone. You also have to address all the other drivers – education, health, housing and indeed bias in the community because there is deep shame associated with being poor. …
I’m hopeful and that there will be a range of measures in the upcoming budget and I would say to the Australian people, don’t just focus on one thing. Look at the whole suite of things because that is how we’re going to lift all boats.
Updated
Jobseeker raise a ‘positive step forward’, Bridget Archer says
Liberal MP Bridget Archer said it would be “a positive step forward” for jobseeker to be raised for over-55s, but that poverty equally affects people “right across the age demographics”.
It is all very well to say we want to see people’s circumstances change and want to be able to get people into work, but there are people in my own community whose levels of poverty are such that they simply are unable to seek work. They are unable and unfit to be able to attend work, because in some cases they are inadequately housed, they are inadequately fed and they just do not have the ability to do that …
This is a test for this government around how they are going to respond and how they deliver the values they claim to have.
Updated
Labor’s ‘moral obligation’ to raise jobseeker
Labor MP Michelle Ananda-Rajah is speaking on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing and said there is a “moral obligation” to help people who are doing it tough, when asked about calls for jobseeker to be raised.
Right now, in this cost-of-living crisis, it has been unequally felt throughout our community, with those at the lowest end of the socioeconomic spectrum being hardest hit.
What we don’t want to see is poor people being ground further down. There is 1.2 million approximately people on unemployment benefits and they have been doing it tough for a really long time.
Ananda-Rajah argued that there is “not shortage of good intentions” from the Labor party, including the prime minister, when it comes to addressing the cost of living crisis, but there is a shortage of is funding.
And this is largely the result of the mismanagement we have inherited.
Ananda-Rajah also argued that jobseeker was “sacrificed on the alter of jobkeeper”.
During jobkeeper what we saw was $40bn walk out the door to companies that had rising revenue.
What it meant was we [are] now faced with a kitty that is essentially empty. Had that money stayed in Treasury with some guardrails around it, we would have been able to pay for jobseeker twice over.
It is a salient reminder that when you are managing public funds that you make some really wise decisions when you are using that money. Because it has downstream effect.
Updated
Youth vaping rate nearly doubled since 2019, experts say
Experts from across the Australian Technology Network of Universities have commented on the government’s ban on recreational vaping.
RMIT chemistry professor Oliver Jones said that while vaping can have a role in supporting smokers who are trying to quit, “even these products are not just a ‘safe alternative’ to traditional cigarettes”.
He said:
We need to keep this in mind for policy and regulation.
While the so-called ‘non-nicotine’ vaping products aren’t supposed to contain nicotine, there are many cases of products being falsely labelled as ‘nicotine-free’ or simply not listing nicotine in the ingredients even when it is there.
I think there is strong evidence that the current approach isn’t really working. Imposing minimum quality standards and making vapes pharmacy-only won’t solve the problem, but these measures will at least help people be assured of the content of the products they buy – as long as the rules are enforced.
Courtney Barnes, research fellow at the University of Newcastle, said that vaping rates among young Australians had nearly doubled since 2019.
Despite it currently being illegal to sell or supply vapes of any kind to minors within Australia, research shows that youth do not view the current laws and regulations as a barrier to accessing these devices.
Vapes are viewed by youth as easily accessible through convenience stores, online and peers. Given this, further regulatory and public health approaches to prevent youth uptake of vaping within Australia are clearly required.
Updated
The Independent MP Monique Ryan has released a statement saying that young people deserve a jobseeker increase “just as much” as older Australians, after reports the government is poised to increase the payment’s base rate for over-55s.
Next month young Australians will be hit with the single biggest increase to their HELP/HECs debts they have ever seen. They are facing high rents and even higher house prices. Many are justifiably concerned about a climate emergency that will shape their lives.
Young people deserve the support they need to lift themselves out of poverty just as much as older Australians. I don’t blame them for feeling like the government has left them behind.
When we say #raisetherate, we mean #raisetherate for everyone. pic.twitter.com/cwAmqFqL1P
— Dr Monique Ryan MP (@Mon4Kooyong) May 2, 2023
Updated
States to monitor vape regulations, government says
Assistant minister for health Ged Kearney is speaking on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing about the government’s vape reforms.
When asked how a retail ban on vapes would work in practice when it comes to online sales and border checks, she said more details would emerge on budget night, but it will happen in conjunction with the states who would “primarily” monitor and run compliance measures.
To say that it will be too hard, that we will never be able to do it, is not an option … for this government [and] not an option for parents of these young people who they see getting addicted to these vapes.
We have to start somewhere … and those measures will be worked out over time with the states, our own border force, controls and a plan will emerge over time I think. Is just too important to say it’s too hard, we have to try.
Updated
ACTU, others say RBA made ‘wrong call’ on cash rate increase
More than a few people were caught on the hop by the RBA’s 25 basis-point rate rise today, which the ACTU has branded as “a wrong decision”.
Sally McManus, the ACTU secretary, said “working people are under immense pressure and this will make it worse”:
We can see inflation around the world coming down and that’s because it’s being driven by supply chain issues and by companies such as Qantas price gouging and putting up prices more than they need to.
The Reserve Bank should be calling that out and putting pressure on companies to stop price gouging.
Actually, the RBA says it is watching for uncompetitive behaviour, echoing this line from April’s statement in today’s one: “[the board] will continue to pay close attention to both the evolution of labour costs and the price-setting behaviour of firms”.
Pradeep Philip, head of Deloitte Access Economics, described the RBA as “still playing recession roulette, despite briefly and sensibly walking away from the table when it paused rate hikes last month”.
Philip said the rate rise was “unnecessary given 10 previous rate hikes are still working their way through the economy”:
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of mortgage holders are still to see their repayments surge as pandemic-era low fixed rates revert to variable, while businesses continue to be squeezed.
To this, the RBA has an answer of sorts, although not a very comforting one for those caught in a financial vice: “While some households have substantial savings buffers, others are experiencing a painful squeeze on their finances”, Lowe said.
There might be other ways to deal with inflation, though, if you’d like to bookmark this one for later:
Consultancy firms ‘rarely align with the public interest’, inquiry hears
The inquiry into the use of major consultancy firms by the government is continuing in the Senate this afternoon. The inquiry is probing the overreliance on consultancies, problems with transparency and accountability of their work, conflicts of interest, and the use of sensitive government information for private gain.
Dr Alexia Adhikari, postdoctoral research fellow with the Australia Institute, told the inquiry that the interests of consulting firms “rarely align with the public interest”.
She said the public sector often gives “undue deference” to consultancies and relies on advice or findings that are often incomplete or wrong.
Our submission shows real and perceived conflicts of interest in consultancy advice and a lack of transparency in contractual processes, disclosures, conflicts of interest and reports and findings. Sometimes findings that are not favourable to the government are buried or relationships between public servants and politicians and consulting firms become too cosy. Money spent on consultancies instead could hire thousands of public servants.
The Australia Institute is recommending a raft of measures, including creating guidelines on when consultancies should be used and removing the staffing cap on the public sector. It also wants rules to reduce movement between the public sector and consultancy firms, as well as upgrades to the AusTender database to increase transparency around contracts and procurement processes. It also wants PricewaterhouseCoopers banned from government work over its much-criticised work on the robodebt scheme and its leaking of sensitive information allowing clients to minimise tax.
Updated
Budget surplus achievable, Taylor says
Angus Taylor said that the government’s budget next week needs to deliver a surplus, which he argues “is achievable”:
We’ve heard many economists in recent days saying it’s achievable and that budget surplus and ongoing budget balance, with an ongoing commitment to budget balance, is absolutely crucial [to] take pressure off interest rates [and] inflation because the harsh reality is if the government doesn’t balance its budget, households and businesses have to do the work for it.
Taylor argued that now is not the time for higher taxes, and also said the government needs to deliver sector-specific plans to ease cost-of-living pressures in areas like housing and energy.
He didn’t take any questions.
Updated
RBA rate rise a 'wake-up call' for Labor: Angus Taylor
Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor is speaking from Sydney on the RBA’s rate rise.
He labelled the move as a “wake-up call” for the government:
The Reserve Bank paused increases last month and that gave an opportunity to the government to demonstrate its inflation fighting credentials, and it has failed.
It is clear that we haven’t seen a clear plan from the government to deal with the inflationary pressures Australians in our country is facing …
We are leading the world and in exactly the wrong way with a core inflation rate of 6.6%. Given that, it is not surprising that the Reserve Bank has made the decision that it has made today, which will inflict so much pain on so many Australians.
Updated
Chalmers on jobseeker increase for over-55s
As questions wrap up, Jim Chalmers is asked about reports the government is poised to increase jobseeker for people over 55. Asked about the financial pressures on young people in particular, he said the government is “very conscious” of pressures on them:
We know that Australians, particularly vulnerable Australians, are doing it tough across the board … We understand that particularly people on payments [are] doing it tough and that’s why the energy bill relief is directed towards people on pensions …
We understand that there are pressures coming from a range of sources on Australians, young and old, we’re cognisant of that and we’ll respond to that in the budget.
However, Chalmers again said he wasn’t going to preempt specific measures and that all would be revealed in Tuesday’s budget announcement.
I thought I’d been making myself relatively clear on that front, perhaps not. Wait for the budget and see what’s in there …
Am I particularly concerned about women over 55 finding it harder to get into the workforce? I am … [and] will there be cost of living relief which is broader than that that’s been speculated on? And the answer that is yes.
Updated
Chalmers on Dutton’s work for the dole gaffe
Chalmers also responds to opposition leader Peter Dutton’s comments earlier today that he would reintroduce work for the dole if he was prime minister – despite the scheme still existing.
Chalmer said:
I think it’s troubling that Peter Dutton doesn’t know that work for the dole is still in operation. We did not abolish work for the dole, there are people on the work for the dole programme right now. It beggars belief, frankly, that his one big contribution to this whole conversation is to bring back a programme that hasn’t been abolished.
Updated
Chalmers on jobseeker: ‘there’s a broad swath of things that we need to do’
Chalmers is also asked about calls for the rate of jobseeker to be raised. He said it’s important to get the payment “right”, and must be tackled in an inflationary environment:
We shouldn’t see the task ahead when it comes to Australians who are out of work as one that is exclusively about the adequacy of the payments, and the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee report [had] 37 recommendations, 36 of them aren’t about the base rate of jobseeker and they are important too.
Chalmers mentioned creating specific initiatives for communities with long-term entrenched unemployment, and making sure job agency providers are “doing what we need them to do”.
So there’s a broad swath of things that we need to do.
Updated
Chalmers on cost of living
Taking questions around cost-of-living pressures, Jim Chalmers said people will have to wait until the budget is announced on Tuesday night for specific details and shouldn’t make assumptions in the meantime:
I [will make] the same point that I’ve been making for some time, you know, no government of either political persuasion can satisfy all of the demands for new spending in the budget.
Typically in the lead up to the budget, and particularly the week before a budget, there’s always a lot of speculation. Often large swathes of that is accurate, and some of it turns out to be inaccurate, and so I would caution you against making assumptions about what is in a not in the budget, I’d encourage you to see what we announce on Tuesday night.
Updated
RBA tweaked forecasts as the board mulled today’s rate hike
A bit more detail on what’s driving inflation concerns. Yes, goods inflation was “clearly slowing”, RBA governor Philip Lowe said, as the pandemic disruptions ease.
Lowe said:
But services price inflation is still very high and broadly based and the experience overseas points to upside risks.
Unit labour costs are also rising briskly, with productivity growth remaining subdued.
The unemployment rate remains near half-century lows at 3.5% and the RBA today said that rate should “gradually” increase to 4.5% by mid-2025. (That’s a level most treasurers for the past few decades would have been happy to see.)
We do know the RBA is releasing its quarter statement on monetary policy on Friday, and we got a couple of updated numbers today. Inflation is expected to be 4.5% in 2023 today, which - depending on your flavour of inflation - is slightly lower than the 4.75% headline rate the RBA was predicting in February for the year’s end.
GDP growth will come in this year at 1.25%, or slightly weaker than the 1.5% forecast by the bank in February. (With the population likely to grow about 2% or more, per capita output will be going backwards). The RBA expects a modest rise to the GDP growth rate of “around 2%” by the 12 months to 2025. That number is unchanged from February.
In the meantime, you can also follow along here:
Updated
‘A really difficult decision’: Chalmers on RBA rate rise
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is speaking now from Canberra about the RBA’s rate rise. He said:
This is a really difficult decision for a lot of Australians who are already under the pump.
This is a reminder that inflation remains the primary challenge in our economy.
This is a reminder of the difficult economic conditions in which we frame this second budget.
Chalmers said the upcoming budget will prioritise “responsible cost-of-living relief” that doesn’t add to inflation.
We know, and this interest rate decision today is a reminder of, the complex combination of economic pressures that are being felt right around the country. The budget will seek to alleviate some of that pressure at the same time as it positions this country to take advantage of the remarkable opportunities that lie ahead.
Updated
GPs back vaping reforms
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has thrown its support behind the federal government’s vaping reforms.
The RACGP president, Dr Nicole Higgins, said more must be done to limit the number of young people, particularly children and teenagers, taking up nicotine vaping.
The last thing we want is a new generation of nicotine users, and since the brains of younger people are still developing I’m worried that it will be even harder for them to quit nicotine compared to adults.
The advertising campaign and steps to limit the aesthetic appeal of vaping products including pharmaceutical-packaging with warning labels are especially welcome …
I hope the campaign is something that cuts through with different audiences, particularly young people.
Updated
RBA’s rate rise might be followed by more, governor Lowe warns
Markets were caught on the hop by today’s rate rise, with the dollar jumping half a US cent immediately to more than 66.8 US cents. Stocks – not fans of higher borrowing costs – have lost about 0.7% after being basically flat for the day.
Investors, as you might recall, had rated as 100% the likelihood that the RBA would stay put today.
Philip Lowe, RBA governor, said in a statement:
Inflation in Australia has passed its peak, but at 7% is still too high and it will be some time yet before it is back in the target range.
Given the importance of returning inflation to target within a reasonable timeframe, the board judged that a further increase in interest rates was warranted today.
And the RBA might not be done yet. Lowe’s statement concludes (our bold bits):
Some further tightening of monetary policy may be required to ensure that inflation returns to target in a reasonable timeframe, but that will depend upon how the economy and inflation evolve.
The Board will continue to pay close attention to developments in the global economy, trends in household spending and the outlook for inflation and the labour market. The Board remains resolute in its determination to return inflation to target and will do what is necessary to achieve that.
Updated
RBA surprise as central bank lifts interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.85%
Australians’ respite from rising borrowing costs will be a short one, with the Reserve Bank surprising most economists by lifting its key interest rate again and warning of more hikes to come.
The RBA board raised its cash rate 25 basis points to 3.85% at its monthly meeting on Tuesday, defying investors who had bet the central bank would extend its pause for a second month.
More soon.
Senate inquiry on consultancy gets underway
The Senate is currently examining the role of major consultancy firms, particularly the big four multinational consulting corporations, in the public service.
An inquiry is probing the management of conflicts of interest held by consulting firms, the way integrity breaches are enforced, unethical behaviour by consultants, and the lack of transparency and accountability of their work.
The inquiry heard on Tuesday that government had spent $3bn on consultancy work in 2021-22, a vast growth from the the $400m spent in 2013-14.
Three accounting academics – Emeritus Prof James Guthrie, Prof Jane Andrew and Dr Erin Twyford – told the inquiry that there was little accountability or transparency over the work done by consultants and that the system poses a significant risk to public sector integrity.
Twyford told the inquiry that conflicts of interest were “rife” in the government’s engagement of consultants, who were often also servicing private clients who stood to gain from government programs.
There is an entrenched relationship between the consulting industry, shareholder value-maximising firms, and what I perceive as a hollowed-out and risk-averse public sector. This relationship is made possible by the unique power that consultancies wield through extensive contracts and networks, and the illusion that they are objective sources of expertise and capacity.
Big consulting firms are secretive partnerships, not companies, and they don’t have to disclose where their money is coming from, even though they are the most powerful private institutions in the world. Most of their income comes from governments and large multinationals in work that does not even attempt to avoid conflicts of interest.
Updated
Matthew Guy blames ‘faceless leakers’ for Victorian election defeat
In his first interview since the November election, former Victorian opposition leader Matthew Guy has blamed “faceless leakers” within the Liberal party and the media for his second state election loss.
He said:
These faceless leakers profit from gossip. There’s two in particular, but there’s a number of others … [they] offer themselves predominately to newspapers, but also to the ABC who are regular haters of the Liberal party, who will just gossip.
They talk us down at every opportunity … sometimes they’re on the record, most of the time they’re off, but we need to expunge these faceless leakers from the Liberal party because they do damage.
My colleague Benita Kolovos has the full story here:
Updated
Thanks Natasha for taking us through the morning! I’ll be with you for the remainder of the day.
Thanks for your attention this first Tuesday of May. Emily Wind will take you through the rest of today’s news. See you tomorrow!
Wildlife officers euthanise two crocodiles after disappearance of Queensland man
Wildlife officers have killed two crocodiles believed to have been involved in the disappearance of a Queensland man.
The Cairns Post yesterday reported that Quinkan Hotel publican and avid barramundi fisherman Kevin Darmody, known as Stumpy, had gone missing while fishing at North Kennedy River in Lakefield National Park on Saturday afternoon.
Police and officers from the department of environment and science (DES) searched for the 65-year-old Laura man overnight. The agencies today made a joint media release:
DES wildlife officers located and euthanised two crocodiles (4.1m and 2.8m) believed to be involved in the incident upstream from where the man was last seen.
QPS and DES will aim to conduct a necropsy on those animals this afternoon, after which police will prepare a report for the coroner.
Under the Queensland Crocodile management plan, problem crocodiles are removed from the wild.
Updated
Regulator hits Future Super with greenwashing fine
The millennial-focussed Future Super Fund has been issued with a greenwashing fine by the corporate regulator after it allegedly overstated the positive environmental impact of its investments.
In 2019, the fund published a Facebook post that implied that its $400m in member money used to be invested in fossil fuels before being moved to Future Super.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said Future Super had no basis to make that claim. ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court said today:
The post on the Future Super Fund Facebook page overstated the positive environmental impact of the fund and we were concerned it may be misleading to investors and potential investors.
Future Super paid the $13,320 infringement notice. The payment is not an admission of guilt or liability, ASIC said.
ASIC issued a warning earlier this year that it would target greenwashing, a term that describes misleading claims made about a product’s environmental and sustainable credentials.
Future Super, which is not related to Australia’s sovereign Future Fund, was set up to cater for young workers, with a focus on ethical and environmentally-friendly investments.
Updated
Australia has no plans to emulate New Zealand’s smoking ban approach
The government does not have any plans to ban smoking in a phased approach based on birth year, as New Zealand has done, Butler says. The health minister says the focus is to “knock out the market,” not blame customers.
His comments come after our chief political correspondent Paul Karp asked him about our neighbour’s laws:
Under this framework where it would be illegal for an adult to buy a vape without a prescription but not a cigarette, I want to ask the long term policy direction, is that an inconsistency that you plan on addressing by banning smoking or phasing out smoking by birth year as they are doing in New Zealand?
Butler:
We have no plans to do that.
I also particularly this might be a minor nuance but it is important for me, our focus is not on the people buying, our focus is on the people selling. This has been a vendor-driven, corporate-driven phenomenon that we have seen.
..We want to knock out the market. We are not blaming the customers. They have been sold a pup. We have all been sold a pup. We have been duped.
The difference between vaping and cigarettes is that cigarettes have been with us for so long. If we knew now back then when cigarettes were being introduced, I would hope that governments would have stopped it, would have snuffed it out immediately which is what I want to do to vapes.
We have a closing window here before vapes become so widespread, so accepted, so normalised as frankly some want them to be, the National party for example, that it would be very difficult to take any action. I am still confident that the thing is still relatively new and we are going to be able to take the action that I have outlined today.
Updated
Butler: we are done with pilot programs
Butler spoke about in his speech about better wrap around care for complex needs patients, as part of the new My Medicare program.
A reporter asks Butler about how his announcement will differ from previous plans for wrap around care which have failed:
When Kevin Rudd was Prime Minister he introduced a program for diabetes patients that paid doctors $1,200 a year to provide wrap around care. Doctors wouldn’t have a bar of it, it failed.
The previous health minister Greg Hunt introduced health care homes, same idea, doctors were given a budget to provide wrap around care for patients and it failed. A review found it didn’t improve patient outcomes.
What is more magical about your solution and how much is a doctor going to get paid to provide that wrap around care? What is the budget per patient under your program?
Butler says the costings will be released with the budget next week and he is confident that taking the time to get the settings right will see it succeed:
… I am confident we will get the costings right and given the soundings we have had with AMA and the college of GPs and many others, that there is an appetite out there to step into this new future for Medicare. It is a very different one which is why it will take time to build. We are not in a rush to do it.
We want to get it right because the Grattan Institute said we have had more pilots than Qantas over the past 10-20 years. They were right on that. Everyone is done with more pilots. We want to see some systemic change that is built at a steady sure rate and learning as we go. I am confident we are doing that.
Updated
Mark Butler flags inquiry into pandemic handling
Taking questions, Butler has flagged that an inquiry into the handling of the pandemic is still on the cards:
We said before the election and have said since, just given the enormous dislocation, stress, death and expenditure involved in this pandemic, it would be extraordinary not to have a thorough inquiry into it and that remains our position.
Particularly through the course of last year and summer, where there were significant waves that posed a lot of stress on health systems and communities, we didn’t think that was the right time to announce that.
We are giving consideration to this question. We will have more to say about that in the future.
Updated
AFL club presidents endorse Tasmanian team
The presidents of the AFL’s 18 clubs have formalised their position on a Tasmanian team joining the competition. They reportedly took less than 20 minutes to unanimously support the decision to grant Tasmania the 19th AFL licence.
It’s now up to the AFL commission to confirm.
The newly announced AFL CEO, Andrew Dillon, said the Tasmanian team would be a priority for him and the outgoing Gillon McLachlan, who will stay for a transition period until October.
Dillon said on Monday:
It’s a really exciting time and there’s some key decisions probably to be had in the next potentially day or coming days and coming weeks about Tasmania.
But all the building blocks are in place and we’re really looking forward.
Dillon said the league was buoyed by Saturday’s announcement of federal government funding for a new waterfront stadium in Hobart, which would be home to the league’s 19th club.
McLachlan is tipped to be in Tasmania on Wednesday to confirm the state has finally been granted a licence.
– with AAP
Updated
Cancel Council announces support for vaping reforms
Professor Tanya Buchanan, the CEO of the Cancer Council Australia, has applauded the health minister, Mark Butler, for showing “resolute leadership and collaboration” in announcing vaping reforms.
The reforms will stop the import of non-prescription e-cigarettes at borders; banning all single use, disposable vapes; strengthen and reinforce prescription access; and reduce the appeal to children through introducing minimum quality standards on flavours, colours and ingredients and clinical packaging.
Buchanan said:
Today marks an historic shift toward ending the vaping epidemic.
The federal government have heard the concerns of our communities, schools and health experts, taking a significant step to stop illegal supply and access to these harmful products.
In his address to the Press Club in Canberra on Tuesday, Butler said:
These are supposed to be pharmaceutical products so they will have to present that way. No more bubble gum flavours, pink unicorns or vapes disguised as highlighter pens for kids to hide them in their pencil cases. Instead, we will have plain packaging with plain flavours.
Updated
Tobacco tax to be increased by 5% per year over next three years
Butler has announced that the tax on tobacco will be increased by 5% per year over the next three years. He says the increased tax will raise over $3bn, of which $260m will be invested in a new national lung cancer screening program.
As we stamp out the growing black market in illegal vaping, we also need to prevent young people from trading their vapes for cigarettes.
… Today I announce that tax on tobacco will be increased by 5% per year over the next three years starting on September 1st. We know that a higher price cigarette is a more unattractive cigarette.
We will also align the tax treatment of tobacco products so that products like roll your own tobacco and manufactured sticks are taxed equally.
Together, these changes will raise an additional $3.3bn over the coming four years, including $290m in GST payments to the states and territories, helping to support our health system and the health of current and former smokers and vapers.
More than $260m will be invested in a new national lung cancer screening program that will prevent more than 4,000 deaths from lung cancer.
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Health minister outlines foundational changes to Medicare
Butler is talking about the three foundational changes for a stronger Medicare:
Making the digitisation of each Australian’s myHealth record a rule, not the exception as it currently is.
A more multidisciplinary approach to primary health care, getting rid of the “red tape and outdated silos that prevent team-based care”.
Growing, supporting and investing in the existing health workforce.
He says:
These three foundational reforms will make Medicare stronger but remaking Medicare for the 21st century will take persistent evolution, not [an] overnight revolution.
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Mark Butler outlines ‘1980s Medicare’
Butler says “we can’t keep trying to treat 21st century Australia with a 1980s Medicare”:
It might seem strange to start a speech on the future of Medicare by talking about the past but to understand the future of Medicare, you just have to go back to its beginning.
… Medicare was created to solve the problems of 1984. In those days we were younger on average and we tended not to live as long … we now live almost nine years longer than we did back then. Our health problems are increasingly chronic and complex.
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Health minister addresses National Press Club
The health minister, Mark Butler, has stepped up to the podium at the National Press Club. He’s speaking about the future of Medicare, and is set to announce the biggest smoking reforms in a decade, which you can read about from our health editor Melissa Davey if you haven’t already:
Updated
Victoria to engage ‘in good faith’ with government on vaping reforms: premier
Daniel Andrews says he expects states will be forced to help pay for the commonwealth’s vaping reforms.
The Albanese government is set to ban the importation of nonprescription vaping products – the most significant tobacco and vaping control measures in the country in a decade. The commonwealth is expected to work with work with states and territories to end vape sales in convenience stores and other retailers.
Speaking to reporters, the premier said the vaping measures was an “important reform”:
We’ll engage in good faith. I’m sure that the commonwealth government will be planning to push some of those costs onto us.
Victoria’s opposition health spokesperson, Georgie Crozier, backed the reforms and said she hoped the state government would cooperate with the commonwealth on it.
Updated
Qantas’ incoming chief executive, Vanessa Hudson, has spoken of “developing a constructive relationship” with unions, a dynamic which had become combative under the 15-year term of outgoing head Alan Joyce.
Joyce’s term as one of the country’s most well-paid CEOs has been punctuated by controversies, including when he grounded Qantas’ entire fleet in 2011 amid an industrial dispute, as well as the outsourcing of 1,700 ground handling jobs in 2020 that was later ruled illegal and which is being challenged in the high court.
At a press conference unveiling her promotion from chief financial officer on Tuesday, Hudson spoke of a different approach to the union relationship that Joyce had cultivated.
Hudson said:
I’m also looking forward to meeting unions and union leaders and I look forward to developing a constructive relationship with them for the benefit of our people, but also for the benefit of our organisation.
Focusing on that constructive relationship to the benefit of our people, but also the benefit of our organisation is what’s going to be my focus.
In a sign of the tense relationship with unions, Joyce, when answering a question on a different topic minutes later, took a parting shot at the union movement.
Joyce said:
Every other airline in the globe has got similar problems over the last year, but operational performance, customer delivery, the thing that makes Qantas special is its people, and there’s a difference between our people and the unions, sometimes people forget that our people are highly engaged.
Read more:
Updated
Six in hospital after recycling plant gas explosion
Six people have been rushed to hospital after a gas explosion at a recycling plant in northern Victoria, AAP reports.
Emergency services were called to the Shepparton North facility about 8.20am this morning.
Two people were flown to hospital and the other four were transported by road.
WorkSafe are investigating the incident.
Peter Dutton says he would bring back work for the dole program despite plan still existing
Speaking on 2GB radio this morning, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, said he would bring back the Work for the Dole program if he were prime minister. He said:
These programs say to people, you’re unemployed, you’re able to work, there’s work out there, so why aren’t you in a job?
However, the scheme still exists, as per the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations website.
The website describes the scheme as being available for participants aged 18 years and older, who would continue to receive income support and assistance while undertaking work for the dole activities.
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‘Our ADF personnel are our greatest asset’: Marles on recruitment bonuses for defence
Defence minister Richard Marles has shared some images on social media after meeting with Australian defence force personnel today.
Our ADF personnel are our greatest asset.
— Richard Marles (@RichardMarlesMP) May 2, 2023
We know Defence is facing greater challenges to recruit, retain and grow its workforce than it has for decades.
This morning I joined @mattkeogh and @MThistlethwaite to announce our commitment to improving support to our ADF personnel. pic.twitter.com/IwQqMCWjxQ
As announced earlier, the federal government will offer ADF members a $50,000 bonus if they commit to stay for three years beyond their initial period of service. Marles said:
We know Defence is facing greater challenges to recruit, retain and grow its workforce than it has for decades.
Updated
Public Health Association welcomes vaping reform
The Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) has welcomed the government’s plan for tougher regulation of e-cigarettes, including new controls on their importation and packaging.
PHAA CEO Terry Slevin said the aggressive marketing of vaping products, particularly to children, is a “worldwide scourge”.
He said:
For smokers who are legitimately trying to quit using vapes, the prescription model pathway is and should be in place.
But that should not be at the cost of creating a new generation of nicotine addicts among children and young people.
‘Bafflingly cruel’: union slams plan to only raise jobseeker for people over 55
The Australian Unemployed Workers Union (AUWU) has slammed the idea of raising the rate of jobseeker only for those over 55 as “bafflingly cruel, discriminatory and stupid”.
The government has yet to officially confirm the budget will only give a rise for older unemployed Australians, but this morning treasurer Jim Chalmers did defend the idea.
The AUWU says the government's proposal to give a small increase to social security payments for over-55's smells a lot like union busting; it effectively works to peel off that cohort from the broader campaign to raise the rate. pic.twitter.com/xCpWADxyeU
— Royce Kurmelovs (@RoyceRk2) May 1, 2023
Updated
Victor Dominello moves into new role at digital research hub
Former NSW minister Victor Dominello has joined UNSW and the University of Technology Sydney in a new role to direct a research hub into citizen-led digital platforms after his retirement from politics.
The Trustworthy Digital Society Hub, developed in close consultation with Dominello, aims to improve trust in digital services by working with individuals, business and governments.
Dominello, a former Liberal MP, says while consumers have by and large accepted the benefits of the digital economy, they remain skeptical over data privacy.
Trust is best built if information that’s accessed on digital platforms remains owned by the consumer, regulated for the benefit of the consumer and is only held by third parties to serve the needs of the consumer.
The hub … will serve as a trusted resource providing education, training and tools to help people understand the risks and benefits of digital technologies, and to make informed decisions about how to use them safely and responsibly.
Dominello served as minister for digital and minister for customer service during his 14 years in NSW parliament, which included overseeing the evolution of the Service NSW app during the pandemic.
His appointment at the universities began in late April for an initial three-year tenure.
Updated
Alan Joyce lauds incoming CEO: ‘There’s not many female CEOs in worldwide aviation’
Alan Joyce follows Vanessa Hudson at the Qantas press conference, lauding her as the first female CEO of the airline:
I can absolutely say that she is an outstanding executive with outstanding leadership skills.
As a CEO probably the final job that they have to do is make sure that they have good internal succession, and I am so pleased that we have two amazingly good internal candidates that beat the field of an amazing field worldwide.
I am pleased that in the 103 years of Qantas’s history …. This is the first female CEO.
That is a credit to the merit and the capability of the strong women that we have in the management team.
There’s not many female CEOs in the worldwide aviation industry and it’s a credit to this country that a gay Irish man was appointed 15 years ago to be CEO of the company and now we have the first female and it’s a credit to the board.
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Incoming Qantas CEO says focus will be 'delivering for our customers'
Vanessa Hudson, Qantas chief financial officer and incoming CEO, says it’s an honour to be stepping into the role in November and that her focus will be delivering for the airline’s customers:
I am so passionate about Qantas. I have worked for Qantas for 28 years and the excitement of the first day that I felt walking into Qantas I feel still today.
I know that passion is shared across all of the people every day that go out and deliver such amazing experiences for our customers and safely connect them to destinations across Australia but also across the world. As we have been doing so continuously as the longest commercially serving airline in the world.
We are an incredibly strong position. We have many things in the pipeline. That is not to say that the past three years have not been challenging, they have. There will be many challenges I am sure ahead.
But my focus, when I step into the role in November, is going to be focused on delivering for our customers. Delivering for our people and also delivering for our shareholders and the communities we serve.
Updated
Qantas holds press conference after CEO announcement
Qantas is holding a press conference after the announcement that Vanessa Hudson will be taking over from Alan Joyce as CEO when he steps down in November.
Richard Goyder, the chairman of the Qantas Group, says the strongest candidates for the role came from within the group.
I want to say how much the board and I admire two outstanding executives in Vanessa Hudson and Olivia Wirth and both were appoint-able to this role.
But the board has made the decision that Vanessa is the right person to take Qantas forward. She has been with the Qantas group for nearly 30 years in a number of executive roles during that time.
She is currently CFO – held that role through what was the most challenging in the airline’s history. Prior to that she was chief customer officer and before that she held senior roles in inflight services, commercial planning, sales and distribution and regional head of Qantas in the United States.
She knows the business incredibly well and has demonstrated the skills and capability and attitude needed in what is a uniquely challenging role to being a CEO in this amazing company.
Updated
Joyce stepping down is ‘not enough’ and Qantas ‘desperately needs renewal’: NSW senator
The New South Wales senator Tony Sheldon has called for broader “renewal” at Qantas, as the airline unveils its Alan Joyce succession plans.
This morning, Qantas announced Vanessa Hudson would take over as chief executive from Joyce in November, marking the end of his 15-year stint at the company.
Joyce’s term as one of the country’s most well-paid CEOs has been punctuated by controversies, including when he grounded Qantas’s entire fleet in 2011 amid an industrial dispute; the outsourcing of 1,700 ground handling jobs in 2020 that was later ruled illegal; and more recently a post-pandemic deterioration in service quality and soaring airfares amid record profits.
Labor’s Sheldon – a former leader of the Transport Workers Union, which has a combative relationship with Qantas – said “rather than waiting until the end of the year, Alan Joyce could give Qantas workers and customers an early Christmas present by resigning today”.
Sheldon said:
Clearly the CEO resigning is not enough. The Qantas board, which greenlit every greedy, illegal action taken throughout the Joyce era, desperately needs renewal.
Alan Joyce has left a massive task for the next CEO, who must restore the spirit of Australia to Qantas and end Alan Joyce’s ideological war on its loyal workforce and frustrated customers.
He added:
Joyce also leaves Qantas as the most complained-about company in Australia, according to the ACCC.
Joyce also has questions to answer about the $800 million of COVID-19 flight credits that are due to expire this year, which have proved notoriously difficult to redeem.
Read more:
Updated
Dutton says Morrison has not told him he’s leaving parliament
Dutton was also asked about the reports that appeared in the Nine papers yesterday that former prime minister and current Cook MP, Scott Morrison, could be off to the UK to take a defence industry-related job.
Dutton said Morrison has not told him that he’s resigning from parliament, noting he “had dinner with him the other night.”
Deflecting the question of whether he was looking forward to another by-election after the Coalition’s historic Aston defeat, Dutton said:
He’s a distinguished former member of the government. In relation to his future, that’s for him.
Updated
Dutton says Coalition supports ‘sensible’ measures to reduce vaping but calls for more details
After the government announced it will ban non-prescription vapes, opposition leader Peter Dutton says the Coalition would support “sensible measures” to address vaping. But he’s pulled out a familiar line calling for more details:
I do think there is a significant problem in our country. It needs to be addressed. We would support the government in sensible measures that saw a reduction in the vaping rates.
In government, again, one of my proudest achievements as health minister, following the work of Tony Abbott and others, was to see the smoking rates reduce to some of the lowest in the world. I don’t want to see those smoking rates go back up.
I don’t want to see vaping as a gateway into smoking and I want to see us prioritise the health, particularly of young people, so we will support sensible measures but we haven’t seen anything yet from the government by way of details. So, we will see.
Updated
Animal Justice MP brings dead ducks to Victorian parliament
The Animal Justice party MP Georgie Purcell has brought to Victorian parliament two ducks she alleges were illegally shot during the opening week of the hunting season:
I have a freckled duck here today and this is the rarest water bird in the whole country. This freckled duck was illegally shot by shooters and left behind and was seen to by Wildlife Victoria. Duck shooters always tell us that they follow the rules, and it was tightly regulated. These birds are just a small sample of the ones that would have been wounded or killed and left behind, which is an offence.
Laurie Levy says about 80 more recovered birds that were shot and killed following the opening of the shooting season will be displayed out the front of the premier’s office later this morning. pic.twitter.com/2ox9k1Q8Lo
— Benita Kolovos (@benitakolovos) May 2, 2023
Wildlife Victoria’s chief executive, Lisa Palma, says eight of the 73 ducks shot and left in a field near Donald, Victoria were threatened species:
Sadly, we were unable to save any lives.
In February, the Andrews government announced a shortened season and a parliamentary inquiry to examine the future of duck hunting.
It followed increasing pressure on the government from environmentalists and activists, who are pushing for a ban due to animal welfare and sustainability concerns, particularly after the 2019 bushfires decimated wildlife numbers.
Updated
Australia’s ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, is pleased about how the official pictures presenting his credentials to US President Joe Biden have turned out.
Great to have presented credentials to President Biden. Just got the happy snaps back. President firing on all cylinders (as he was at the White House Correspondents’ dinner). And Therese looks stunning. pic.twitter.com/lk6yRxtwGb
— Kevin Rudd AC (@AmboRudd) May 1, 2023
Updated
Woolworths sales prove resilient despite rising prices
Supermarket chain Woolworths has recorded a 7.6% lift in food sales in the March quarter as value-hunting shoppers look for cheaper brands amid the cost-of-living crisis.
Woolworths and rival Coles have both reported strong sales during the past 12 months despite rapidly rising food prices, with many customers swapping restaurant meals for supermarket goods as household budgets get squeezed.
The value of food sales increased to $12.3bn compared with $11.4bn in the previous corresponding three-month period.
Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci said customer spending across the business, which includes the BIG W discount department stores, was stable although he said “value-conscious customers are becoming more thoughtful about their discretionary spend”:
Customers are concerned about the impact of ongoing inflation on household budgets.
Overall, Woolworths-owned businesses recorded an 8% increase in sales during the quarter to $16.3bn.
Updated
Pharmacy Guild claims diabetes, blood pressure and Parkinson’s drugs among those in shortage
The Pharmacy Guild has written to MPs warning that, according to its analysis of the 933 Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme codes for medicines, 133 affected by the government’s two-for-one prescription plan are now in shortage.
There appears to be an element of double counting involved in this, as there are 325 medicines available in different strengths and combinations totalling 933 codes. But this is still significantly more than the seven in shortage that health minister Mark Butler has identified. We’ve asked what the source of that discrepancy is.
According to the guild, those in shortage include Trulicity and Ozempic for diabetes, Cadivast, Acetec and Teveten for blood pressure, Simpral for Parkinson’s and Zoloft for depression.
The letter to MPs, seen by Guardian Australia, said:
The government is yet to guarantee that no patient and no community pharmacy will be worse off under these changes. We hope such a guarantee is shortly forthcoming.
Importantly, in 2022 when Wales introduced a limited ability for pharmacies to dispense medication for 56 days, the viability of community pharmacies was guaranteed. As outlined above, no such patient or community pharmacy guarantee has been given by the government.
The guild also said:
The international comparison that matters is this: In New Zealand and the United Kingdom respectively, 70 and 1,100 community pharmacies have recently closed.
Updated
Plan to coordinate communication of first responders across states
Part of that funding will also help deliver a public safety mobile broadband system. Murray Watt says a taskforce will be created to start the process of coordinating communication of first responders across states:
One of the things that we saw in the black summer bushfires and was highlighted in the royal commission was that every state has different communication systems that their first responders use.
These days we know that disasters don’t respect state borders, they cross borders and we have lots of emergency personnel that get deployed into different states when the need arises. It is crazy in this day and age that they don’t have communication systems that can talk to each other.
This project will take a little while yet and what we’re announcing today is the creation of a taskforce with funding to take it forward and work with the states and territories. It is about making sure that our first responders have the most up-to-date modern technology to be able to transfer information, satellite imagery, video photography, that kind of thing, so they can keep themselves safe and also respond more quickly to disasters.
Updated
National messaging system to send emergency warnings to mobile phones
The federal government is set to roll out a national messaging system that can send emergency warnings straight to Australians’ mobile phones.
More than $10m will be dedicated in next week’s budget to improve the communications network used by first responders.
The emergency services minister, Murray Watt, explained the importance of the measure to ABC News Breakfast this morning:
I know from personal experience from the disaster communities I’ve been to, one of the biggest complaints of people is they don’t get those emergency warnings quickly enough.
In some cases they’re sent to the wrong area. They might have the wrong phone provider and then not receive a message.
So that’s what this national messaging system is about, having one system across the nation that can override a mobile phone system and deliver people very targeted, very quick messages, because of course, what we know about disasters is that every minute counts.
Updated
Wildcard in the pack for today’s Reserve Bank rates decision
If the markets are right, there’s a 100% chance the RBA will leave its cash rate unchanged at 3.6% for a second consecutive month at today’s board meeting. And 21 out of 30 economists surveyed by Bloomberg were of the same view.
But, as we note in our preview this morning, the population growth spurt will be adding extra demand to the economy that the board members are going to have to consider:
Warren Hogan, chief economist at Judo bank, said taking the past six months alone the annualised population rate was about 2.6%, or the highest since the Australian Bureau of Statistics survey began in 1978.
Something else that might tilt the needle one way or the other will be the RBA’s updated economic projections. These won’t be released publicly until Friday’s release of the bank’s statement on monetary policy (and presumably will dovetail with the Treasury’s updated numbers in next Tuesday’s federal budget).
And should the board members be cannily scanning this blog during their tea break, can we humbly offer a 15 basis-point increase to 3.75% as an option that delicately balances hawk and dove (is that a cockatoo?).
Also worth noting over morning tea is the latest ANZ-Roy Morgan weekly survey of consumer sentiment. Confidence increased by 1.8pts (but fell in (NSW, Victoria and SA) and rose in Queensland and WA.
More notable was another drop in inflation expectations, which may reassure the RBA board that 10 increases in official interest rates is enough.
Inflation expectations are in retreat, according to the latest weekly survey by @ANZ_Research and @RoyMorganAus. The latest drop, 0.3pp to 5% (and 0.2pp on a rolling average), would be reassuring to the RBA board meeting today to consider hiking rates or not. pic.twitter.com/91pQ1Doc5g
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) May 1, 2023
We’ll know soon enough, at 2.30pm AEST.
Updated
Vet company offers student debt reprieve scheme to retain rural staff
Australia’s largest rural vet network is sidestepping the federal government to offer a student debt reprieve program in an attempt to retain the workforce in under-serviced areas.
The industry has been lobbying the federal government to offer a Hecs reprieve for graduate vets to address ballooning student loans. The federal government has delayed looking into the matter until 2025.
Off the back of a steep loan indexation to come into effect from June, Apiam Animal Health has announced its own Hecs forgiveness program – initially offered to 10 vets in its first year.
Each participant will be offered grants of $65,000 paid over a four-year bonding period.
Apiam managing director Dr Chris Richards said the program aimed to retain some of Australia’s best talent in rural and regional areas, to meet the demand of a rapidly growing market:
While the government seems satisfied to delay a decision on HECS forgiveness for vets that potentially puts at risk the health, welfare and biosecurity of regional livestock and pets, we are not willing to let the issue get worse.
We have some vets several years into their careers still burdened by huge student debts in excess of $100,000. We are therefore offering the same support to ... ensure that they ... continue to apply their skills in under serviced regions.
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Dead native birds will today be dumped outside Victorian premier Daniel Andrews’ office as debate heats up on the future of duck shooting.
In keeping with a long-running annual tradition, the Coalition Against Duck Shooting will today display recovered birds that were shot and killed after the opening of the shooting season.
Campaign director Laurie Levy said about 100 birds would be laid out, including illegally shot protected and threatened species.
What’s in the *bag? @georgievpurcell pic.twitter.com/gfCBnTeHuw
— Benita Kolovos (@benitakolovos) May 1, 2023
- with AAP
Updated
Teachers have been promised $3.5m in funding to help manage increasing rates of disruptive behaviour in classrooms, cited to be driving educators away from the profession.
The federal government launched the initiative today, which will employ the Australian Education Research Organisation to work with teachers to design a suite of resources.
Led by former teacher and academic Dr Tim McDonald, the resources will be released over the next two years, including evidence guides, best practice templates, video demonstrations and written case studies and training materials.
Education minister Jason Clare said he had heard from teachers who said when they left university they “don’t feel as prepared as they should” when entering the workforce. One in three teachers report losing teaching time due to disruptive behaviour, impacting students’ ability to learn:
By providing more resources to teachers we can help them manage the classroom better which is good for them and their students.
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‘We need to be growing our defence force’
As our defence correspondent Daniel Hurst reported earlier, the government will offer Australian defence force members a $50,000 bonus if they commit to stay for three years beyond their initial period of service.
The defence minister, Richard Marles, has stepped up this morning to explain the rationale behind the $400m cost to the budget over four years:
Defence does a lot of training and skills people up. Those in the defence force are highly sought after in the wider economy and there are lots of opportunities for people who have had a career in defence to pursue their career in the wider economy.
That’s great, but it also creates a challenge for defence in terms of retaining people in the defence force. With all of those challenges, though, we need to be growing our defence force. We certainly need to be retaining it at the funded strength levels that are in place now, which is why this measure is so important.
Updated
Greens call for inquiry into Victoria’s rental crisis
The Victorian Greens will today introduce a motion to the upper house to establish a parliamentary inquiry into the state’s worsening rental crisis.
If passed, the inquiry would investigate:
The drivers and impacts of low rental supply.
Options to increase the supply of long-term rentals.
Options to make renting more affordable.
How to improve Victoria’s rental standards.
Options for legislating longer and perpetual leases.
Further protections for tenants against notices to vacate during and after the termination of a lease.
The Greens will also ask the government to introduce an immediate two-year rent freeze to protect renters while long-term solutions are being investigated.
The party’s spokesperson for renters rights, Gabrielle de Vietri, has urged MPs to back the motion, which will go to a vote next sitting week:
Given the severity of the rental crisis at the moment, we hope to have support from across the political spectrum for this inquiry. It’s not too much to ask that we look into the problems and solutions that many Victorians are facing with the rising costs of rent. I think that any MP who doesn’t support this rental inquiry will have a lot to answer for.
Updated
Qantas chairman Richard Goyder said the appointment allows for a “smooth transition” from Alan Joyce. A lot of thought has gone into this succession, he said, and the board had a number of high-quality candidates to consider, both internally and externally:
Vanessa has a deep understanding of this business after almost three decades in a range of roles both onshore and offshore, across commercial, customer and finance. She has a huge amount of airline experience and she’s an outstanding leader.
Hudson said:
It’s an absolute honour to be asked to lead the national carrier. This is an exceptional company full of incredibly talented people and it’s very well-positioned for the future.
My focus will be delivering for those we rely on and who rely on us – our customers, our employees, our shareholders and the communities we serve.
Updated
Vanessa Hudson to replace Alan Joyce at Qantas
Qantas has announced Vanessa Hudson will replace Alan Joyce as the airline’s chief executive when Joyce retires in November.
Hudson is now the chief financial officer of the Qantas group – which includes the budget carrier Jetstar.
She was viewed as one of the favourites to take over from Joyce, who has led Qantas since 2008.
Updated
Unions welcome payday super
The union movement has also welcomed the crackdown on unpaid super.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions’ assistant secretary Scott Connolly said:
Paying superannuation at the same time as wages is a long overdue measure that will make it easier for workers to track their super and ensure they’re getting paid what they’re owed.
Millions of workers have billions of dollars of retirement savings unpaid every year – timing superannuation payment with wages will make this harder.
Working people will also soon have superannuation recognised as a workplace right in the national employment standards, meaning workers and their unions can commence recovery action sooner to stem the haemorrhaging of retirement savings.
Every worker should have the right to have 100% of their super paid on time, all the time. The union movement welcomes the key steps the Albanese government is taking to protect workers’ super.
Updated
Industry Super says payday super a ‘big win’ for lower-paid workers
Industry Super Australia has welcomed the government’s proposal to require employers to pay super on payday, instead of quarterly, saying it could help drastically curb Australia’s unpaid super scourge which cost workers $33bn over seven years.
According to Industry Super the measure could amount to an extra $50,000 for workers at retirement when combined with higher compound interest from more frequent payments.
Industry Super Australia’s chief executive Bernie Dean said:
This is a big win for the three million mostly young and lower paid Australians unfairly deprived the super they’ve earned and will give them a better shot at building a good nest egg for retirement.
The government should be commended for listening and then taking the necessary steps to end the huge super rip off which was undermining the future economic security of too many young women and others on lower incomes.
Aligning payment of super and wages is the right thing to do by workers, boosts government revenue, lifts investment returns and puts all employers on a level playing field.
Updated
The key questions over Australia’s vaping reforms
In the lead-up to the health minister Mark Butler speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra later today, where he will expand on his groundbreaking vaping reforms, health experts have a few key questions they hope he will answer.
There are still questions over the timeline for the measure to stop the import of non-prescription vaping products, including vapes that do not contain nicotine.
Also, some states and territories have been criticised for doing little to enforce the existing laws that ban retail sale of nicotine vapes, so health experts want more detail about how states and territories will do what is required of them and stop blatant illegal retail sales.
Finally, given that the reforms announced by Butler are in line with public health evidence and advice, it will be interesting what Butler says about any expectations of support from the Coalition and the Greens, who have had differing views on the reforms needed.
Updated
The outgoing Qantas CEO Alan Joyce will be replaced by the airline’s chief financial officer Vanessa Hudson from November, the Australian Financial Review is reporting.
Qantas chair Richard Goyder said Hudson had “a deep understanding of the business”, the AFR reports, and said:
A lot of thought has gone into this succession and the board had a number of high quality candidates to consider both internally and externally.
Updated
NSW hospital workers stop work in push for wage rise
The NSW government is under pressure to deliver a pay rise for hospital staff as workers on the state’s north coast walk off the job for the first of three days of industrial action, AAP reports.
Staff at Tweed hospital will walk off the job for an hour at 10am today and the stoppages will continue at Lismore on Wednesday at midday and Coffs Harbour on Thursday at 2pm.
The Health Services Union, which represents hospital workers such as cleaners, administrative and other support staff, says employees are frustrated that wage negotiations have yet to begin since Labor came to power in NSW on 25 March.
A key plank of Labor’s election campaign was the promise to abolish the public-sector wages cap and negotiate wage rises for frontline workers.
HSU NSW secretary Gerard Hayes said the suppression of wages had led to a crisis in attracting and retaining health staff:
NSW Labor was elected with significant expectations. They need to get moving on fulfilling them.
There are more than 12,000 vacancies in NSW Health, and there is no time to waste in lifting wages and conditions so that we attract and retain the health workers our state needs.
Healthcare workers want the wages cap lifted as well as a real commitment to reviewing their industrial awards, the union said. Hayes said:
Hard-working therapists, wardspeople, security and catering staff are living through a wages recession. Their real incomes are being smashed as the cost of living melts their pay.
Updated
April rainfall 35.7% above average
The Bureau of Meteorology’s national climate summary for last month shows rainfall was 35.7% above average across the country.
The April national climate summary shows rainfall was 35.7% above average for Australia.
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) May 1, 2023
The national area-average mean temperature was just 0.01 °C above the 1961–1990 average for April, the lowest since 2015.
Learn more: https://t.co/4yW8usQf4L pic.twitter.com/kceY20fGdt
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Advocates welcome vaping reforms
The biggest concern among public health experts in the lead-up to the health minister, Mark Butler, announcing vaping reforms was that the reforms would not go far enough to stamp out youth vaping.
They were worried that non-nicotine vapes would still be allowed for importation (which manufacturers have been getting around by removing “nicotine” from labelling while leaving nicotine in the products), and they also feared convenience stories and other retailers would be allowed a permit/licence to import vapes, even though many convenience stores have long been irresponsibly selling vapes to children.
Butler has listened. His vaping reforms ban both nicotine and non-nicotine vapes in a move that goes further than the “preferred” reforms put before the drug regulator before a consultation process that wrapped up in January. The reforms will also close down the sale of vapes in retail settings, ending vape sales in convenience stores, while also making it easier to get a prescription for legitimate therapeutic use.
By only making vaping products available from pharmacists for those wanting to quit smoking, products can be better quality-controlled and they can be kept out of the hands of children. The wide variety of flavours and colourful packaging will also be banned, replaced with clinical, therapeutic packaging.
VicHealth’s policy executive manager, Kristine Cooney, called the reforms “groundbreaking”:
The Australian government is demonstrating its commitment to prioritising the health and wellbeing of its citizens above the profits of the tobacco and e-cigarette industry.
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‘You will have to wait for Tuesday’
Mark Butler also acknowledged a higher jobseeker rate would help improve the health outcomes for the disadvantaged but remained coy on whether those over 55 will see a rise.
David Speers:
The Seven Network’s Mark Reilly reported there will be an increase in the budget for jobseeker but only for those over the age of 55, they’re predominantly women, they’re often finding it harder to get back into work at that age, is that what we can expect?
Butler:
I don’t think you are right to say they are predominantly women, male long-term unemployment at that age as well has been a thing for a few decades, but there will be a declaration on Tuesday night about what’s in the budget. There will be speculation, and some of it is wide to the mark and some of it is close to the mark but you will have to wait for Tuesday.
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Butler says government is listening to welfare concerns
We brought you what the health minister, Mark Butler, had to say on vaping on Q+A last night. Here’s what he had to say on jobseeker:
The economic inclusion committee that has made a series of recommendations, probably the most significant of which is around the rate of jobseeker.
They also talked about rent assistance and single parent payments and such like and I can assure you that has been very much at the forefront of our deliberations as we [have] … been crafting the budget for next week and you can be sure that a focus on the most vulnerable Australians – and you’re talking about one of the most vulnerable groups of Australians we have – has been a very big part of our budget preparation.
Unfortunately, though, you’re going to have to wait and tune in on Tuesday night next week and watch a very dapper Jim Chalmers deliver his first proper budget, not the election budget.
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Chalmers promises ‘substantial cost-of-living relief’ for most vulnerable
Asked if the age of 55 is the distinction Jim Chalmers thinks should be made on jobseeker, the treasurer says:
The reason I’m using 55 is because the reports that we received women’s economic equality taskforce and the economic inclusion advisory committee, which has been, in welcome ways, discussed quite a lot on your program, say that women over 55 are the most vulnerable group amongst unemployed Australians.
We’ve indicated before that we want to do something to help them in particular, but again, without pre-empting what’s in the budget in a week’s time, there will be a number of elements to our cost-of-living relief. Not all of them will be determined by age. For example, our energy bill relief plan, which will be in the budget in a week’s time, is for people on pensions and payments right across the board, not limited by age.
So I encourage people to wait and see what’s in the budget to see how it applies to different people. But the overwhelming priority for the government is to provide this substantial cost-of-living relief in a way that prioritises the most vulnerable.
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Treasurer defends raising jobseeker for Australians over 55
Chalmers has defended idea of raising jobseeker for people over 55 but has stopped just short of confirming it will be in the budget.
Patricia Karvelas:
Will you increase jobseeker for people aged over 55?
Chalmers:
There will be responsible cost-of-living relief in the budget, and it will focus on the most vulnerable people. There will be a number of elements to it. It won’t all be limited to one cohort or another. But it will all be made clear in the budget.
Asked about frustrations among younger Australians, the treasurer is flagging that older Australians will be the “most vulnerable”:
First of all, the jobseeker payment already makes a distinction between workers closer to the age pension, older workers, it already pays a different rate at the moment for people over 60. And that’s in recognition that it is harder to find a new job at that end of your working life. That’s the first point.
The second point is related. All of the expert advice a lot of the analysis I’ve heard it on your show, and it’s been right, says that the group that’s most likely to be long-term unemployed – people over 55 – that that group is dominated by women that the most vulnerable part of the unemployed population in Australia is at the moment women over 55. And so that’s another issue that people need to factor in.
The third one is that no government can satisfy all of the calls for more spending in the budget even from people and from groups whose views we welcome and respect.
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Chalmers speaks about budget
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is speaking to ABC Radio exactly a week out from delivering the budget.
Chalmers says it’s “premature” to confirm there could be a surplus.
He says there will likely be an improvement in the near term but a deterioration afterwards.
Chalmers says the “substantial improvement” expected this year is not only due to commodity prices but also low unemployment. But he says numbers are still bouncing around before the budget is finalised.
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Factory blaze leaves two firefighters in hospital
Two firefighters are in hospital after responding to a large factory fire south of Brisbane in the early hours of this morning. One is in a critical condition, the other in a serious condition.
Multiple crews were called to the blaze at a factory near the Pacific Highway at Slacks Creek, with emergency services receiving the first call at 2.21am. By 5am, 17 crews were on the scene including hazmat and specialty rescue teams.
Police were also in attendance and have declared a crime scene.
The fire was contained just over an hour ago at 6.17am AEST.
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NSW rolls out permanent teaching and school staff roles
About 1,400 teachers and support staff could receive job certainty by mid-July as part of a broad recruitment and retention drive in NSW, AAP reports.
The state education department will this week write to some 250 public schools about moving temporary teachers and staff to permanent contracts.
Once principals confirm the eligibility of their staff, they will receive formal offers from the department with an expectation the first day of permanent duty will be the start of term three on 17 July.
It’s the first stage of a scheme to move at least 10,000 temporary teachers and about 6,000 support staff to permanent contracts – a NSW Labor election promise.
Premier Chris Minns said today:
For young teachers without a permanent position, it makes it more difficult to get a home loan and lay down roots.
This will give teachers the job security they need to stay in the profession and help turn around teacher shortages.
The choice of the first 250-odd schools focuses on some of the highest-need students and communities, the government said. It also includes Aboriginal education officers, and schools that have struggled to find staff.
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Good morning! Thanks to Martin for kicking things off. I’ll be with you until the afternoon.
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Farrell hopeful of ‘positive’ barley export solution
The trade minister, Don Farrell, says he will travel to China “very soon” and is hopeful of “a positive outcome for our barley growers”.
Farrell told Sky News last night that officials were “progressing” talks on the date for his travel:
I met with the Chinese trade minister virtually [in February], and since that time, there’s been discussions with our officials. I don’t want to go to China just for the sake of going to China, I want to go to make sure that we are making progress on all of these outstanding issues that we’ve got in terms of our trading relationship. But I can tell you this: it’ll be very soon.
Farrell said the government wanted to stabilise the relationship with China. He lowered expectations of an across-the-board breakthrough in the range of trade disputes with China, noting the problems “didn’t occur overnight and unfortunately, they’re not going to be resolved overnight”.
But he said that by taking a persistent approach he was “hopeful, in fact, I’m confident that we will resolve all of our outstanding issues with the Chinese government”:
I’ve got no reason to think that the goodwill that we showed in suspending our World Trade Organization dispute on barley won’t result in a positive outcome for our barley growers.
For more on this issue, see our story:
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ADF members to be offered $50,000 retention bonus
The Albanese government will offer Australian defence force members a $50,000 bonus if they commit to stay for three years beyond their initial period of service.
The continuation bonus, to be announced today at a $400m cost to the budget over four years, aims to deal with what the deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, has labelled “a defence personnel crisis”. Marles said:
When it comes to defence, our people are our greatest asset. We know defence is facing greater challenges to recruit, retain and grow its workforce than it has for decades.
The measure is forecast to benefit about 3,400 ADF personnel in its first three years. Last week’s defence strategic review warned: “Defence is facing significant workforce challenges … Without creative and flexible responses, the workforce situation in Defence will continue to deteriorate.”
Under the government’s proposal, permanent ADF members will be able to receive a $50,000 bonus near the completion of their initial period of service if they commit to serve for another three years.
The government says this aims to address a problem with junior ranking members leaving the ADF, resulting in hollow structures within middle ranks – seven to nine years of service – “where the workforce is now at greatest risk”.
The measure will begin in 2024 but will be reviewed after two years to check it is working.
According to government figures, the ADF’s permanent workforce strength increased from 56,000 in 2012-13 to 59,000 in 2021-22 – meaning growth on average of 300 a year during the life of the Coalition government. But both major parties have committed to ambitious plans for an additional 18,500 defence personnel by 2040.
The government will also announce today a $2m review into defence housing policies and benefits, conceding that “Defence home ownership benefits are struggling to keep pace with the Australian property market and meet the changing needs of our service personnel and their families”.
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Mark Butler calls vaping a 'public menace'
The federal health minister, Mark Butler, will today announce a $234m boost in next week’s budget for tougher regulation of e-cigarettes, including new controls on their importation and packaging.
Speaking on ABC’s Q+A last night, Butler said the tobacco industry was trying to create a “new generation of nicotine addicts” through vaping and that he was “determined to stamp out this public health menace”:
Vapes were sold to governments and communities around the world as a therapeutic product to get long-term smokers to quit, to help them quit. It was not sold as a recreational product targeted at our kids but that’s what it has become.
This is a deliberate strategy by the tobacco industry to create a new generation of nicotine addicts and, far from being a pathway out of cigarettes, which is what it was promoted to us as, it is becoming a pathway into cigarettes for younger people. You’re three times more likely to take up smoking if you’ve vaped than if you haven’t. So I’m determined to stamp out this public health menace because that’s what I think it genuinely is.
We’ve already got a full story up on this which you can read here:
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Welcome
Morning, everyone and welcome to our news blog. I’m Martin Farrer and here are some of the top breaking stories to get your head around before your regular blogger comes along to guide you through the day.
The big political story is that the government appears about to increase jobseeker for people aged over 55 as part of a suit of measures to reduce poverty. There was an expectation that ministers were trying to resist a rise after they poured cold water on a recommendation from poverty experts calling for a “substantial” increase in the “seriously inadequate” payment. But the government has decided to bump up payments to those over 55 and our Guardian Essential poll this morning shows support for more generous payments. There’s a lot more movement surrounding the budget and we’ll have some more updates for you very soon.
In another big move by the Albanese government, the importation of nonprescription vaping products – including those that do not contain nicotine – will be banned in the most significant tobacco and vaping control measures for a decade. Speaking on ABC’s Q+A last night, the health minister, Mark Butler, said the tobacco industry was trying to create a “new generation of nicotine addicts” through vaping and that he was “determined to stamp out this public health menace”.
The budget is bringing a lot of focus on the economy and today the Reserve Bank board meets to make its monthly decision about monetary policy – AKA whether to increase the cash rate or leave on hold for another month. Analysts we have spoken to reckon it will be the second, which will be welcome news for mortgage holders on variable rates who have seen a steady increase in the cost of servicing their home loans. More on this to come in the run-up to the decision at 2.30pm.
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