What we learned today, Thursday 9 March
And that’s where we’ll leave you this evening. Here’s a wrap of the main events today:
Labor secured Greens support for the national reconstruction fund after the government agreed to an amendment which means the fund can’t be used for coal and gas projects or for native forest logging.
Hundreds of University of Sydney staff and students continued their strike for a seventh day, marking the longest-running campaign of work stoppages at an Australian university.
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, said the government would continue to work with Senator David Pocock and others on the crossbench to work through the safeguard mechanism deadlock.
Home values fell at a record 12-month pace but the decline is slowing, CoreLogic said.
It came as the National Australia Bank became the first of the major banks to lift its home loan rate, passing on the Reserve Bank’s latest official rate rise to customers in full.
The government’s voice referendum working group met again, with the Greens’ Adam Bandt and Dorinda Cox joining the meeting.
The minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, said she was concerned about Indigenous infant health as some Closing the Gap targets go backwards.
Anthony Albanese said the deepening relationship with India was a “win-win” during his visit to Ahmedabad.
The PM also renewed his promise of “absolute sovereignty” as part of the Aukus deal, ahead of a submarine announcement soon.
Bill Shorten said the robodebt inquiry analysis showed that a majority of victims were women.
The federal government introduced a new category of Help loans in a bid to increase the number and quality of startup businesses in Australia.
The Greens introduced a bill to repeal the Regional Forest Agreements Act, which grants logging operations an exemption from national environmental laws.
A study published in the journal Nature found that smoke from the 2019-20 black summer bushfires temporarily depleted the ozone layer by 3% to 5% in 2020.
Crocodiles have been sighted and residents evacuated as flood waters surge across Queensland’s saturated remote north-west communities.
Updated
Liberal Alex Antic accused of ‘disgraceful comments’ about Ukraine president
The Liberal senator Alex Antic has been accused of “disgraceful comments” about Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, after referring to him as “the little fella from Ukraine” and appearing to forget his name.
In a Senate speech, Antic, the conservative senator from South Australia, referred to the president as “whatever his name is, who cares”.
In a speech about superannuation this afternoon, Antic wandered off-course to take a swipe at Anthony Albanese for marching in “colourful parades”.
Albanese recently marched in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and the WorldPride march across the Harbour Bridge.
If Peter Dutton truly stands with Ukraine, these disgraceful comments from Liberal Senator Antic must be condemned. pic.twitter.com/8fdn6fcTTP
— Senator Tim Ayres (@ayrestim) March 9, 2023
“It doesn’t matter how many parades the prime minister goes off and marches in, doesn’t matter how many colourful parades he goes and marches in, doesn’t matter how many all-expenses trips he takes to go and visit the global glitterati, the little fella from Ukraine, whatever his name is in the green T-shirt,” Antic said.
“Whatever his name is anyway, who cares.”
Antic continued his speech and as cries of protest came from other senators, he responded: “I can’t remember what his name is, he’s just on the screen all the time.”
The Labor senator and assistant minister for manufacturing, Tim Ayres, interrupted with a point of order. Antic, taking his seat, commented “here we go, this is good”.
Ayres asked the acting deputy president, Liberal senator David Van, to ask Antic to withdraw his remarks.
“That was an extraordinary reflection on the leader of Ukraine, who for I thought everybody in this place has been a symbol of a very important struggle for democracy and freedom,” Ayres said.
Antic withdrew his remarks, adding “anyway we’ll move on. I’ve got respect for democracy.”
Updated
Uber to refund exorbitant trips during Sydney Trains outage
Uber has promised to refund exorbitant trips in Sydney yesterday afternoon when a train shutdown forced commuters to use the service to get home.
In a statement, Uber says it will refund anyone who was charged excessively yesterday, adding that the initial price hike came before it knew what was going on:
In the past we have been alerted by Transport for NSW when there were Sydney-wide transport issues, however in this instance, we were not informed of the complete outage on the NSW train network until well after it began.
As soon as our team became aware of the train disruption, we immediately lowered and capped surge to still incentivise driver-partners who were helping Sydneysiders get home, while making rides more affordable for those stranded.
Any rider that was charged an additional amount above that surge cap, for the full duration of the outage, will be auto-refunded within the next 48 hours.
Read our story on the fallout from yesterday’s peak-hour meltdown:
Updated
Victoria’s medical records bill passes parliament’s upper house
The Victorian government’s health information sharing bill, which will centralise all medical records across the state’s public health system, has passed parliament’s upper house by 21 votes to 16.
Guardian Australia reported yesterday that the Greens had secured increased oversight and privacy protections in exchange for the support of its four MPs, while the Animal Justice party MP, Georgie Purcell, and the two Legalise Cannabis MPs also voted in favour of the bill.
From February 2024, public hospitals and services will be able to electronically share patient data – such as health conditions, allergies, medication, medical images and laboratory results – through a centralised database.
The government says the new database will allow clinicians to start treatment sooner, reduce medication errors and unnecessary diagnostic tests. It has been welcomed by the Australian Medical Association Victorian branch, which says it is similar to existing schemes in place in New South Wales and Queensland.
Only clinicians involved in a patient’s care can access the medical information and only for the purpose of providing care, with penalties of up to two years’ imprisonment for unauthorised access.
Updated
Coalition calls on Labor to honour commitment to build subs in South Australia
The opposition foreign affairs spokesperson, Simon Birmingham, has told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing that it is critical the PM honours the commitment to have the Aukus submarines built in South Australia.
Birmingham added that the Coalition had maintained its bipartisan support for the deal, but said there were questions the government needed to answer:
The commitment given when the Aukus deal was announced was for the build of at least eight nuclear-powered submarines in Adelaide.
It is critical that the Albanese government live up to the expectations they have set for South Australians and for the defence industry in terms of investment, jobs and support.
This was a Coalition government achievement to make sure we had defence investment and spending at levels that made us a credible partner to pursue deals such as Aukus.
There is talk of the Virginia-class submarines from the United States and then another third potential platform … What will it mean for the Collins-class [submarine]? They are all very fair questions and the government will need to have detailed answers to them.
Updated
Climate minister refuses to provide safeguard mechanism modelling to Senate
On Tuesday we reported the Senate had rejected the government’s public interest immunity claim in refusing to provide modelling of the safeguard mechanism and use of carbon credits.
The 4pm Thursday deadline has come and gone, and the climate change minister, Chris Bowen, has doubled down.
In a letter to the Senate, Bowen said that disclosure of the safeguard mechanism modelling “would not be in the public interest because disclosure would reveal the deliberations of cabinet” and “due to market sensitivities relating to the government’s role as a purchaser” of carbon credits.
The Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:
It is disappointing the minister has failed to comply with the order of the Senate and is opting for secrecy over transparency. The Senate will now need to consider what recourse we take. The penalty powers of the Senate are significant, including power to deny the minister’s legislation coming to the floor for debate.
The Greens are in good-faith negotiations with the government but if they continue to keep this important information secret then we will have to take that into consideration when we decide how we vote. This policy should be about making pollution from coal and gas go down, not letting it increase. If the Government is confident their plan will cut pollution from coal and gas they should release the evidence.
Updated
NSW awaits weekly Covid numbers with signs a new wave is under way
Weekly Covid case numbers are due out tomorrow, with last week’s data in NSW indicating a new wave of transmissions may be under way.
Last week NSW recorded 6,941 new Covid cases, an 8.6% increase on the week before, with the NSW Health report noting the increased numbers likely marked “the beginning of a new wave in transmission”.
The report also noted there had been an increase in the number of people with Covid attending emergency departments, with 128 in the last report, up from 107 admissions the week before.
The new wave, the fourth since the Omicron variant became the dominant variant in the state, could see the first spike in cases since late December 2023.
Updated
India’s decarbonisation presents good opportunities for Australia, trade minister says
The trade minister, Don Farrell, was on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing just now. He talked about how Australia’s trade relationship with India has improved since January, saying that while there was demand for Australia’s fossil fuel, there was also a shift towards decarbonisation.
India is very committed to decarbonisation, as is the Albanese government in Australia. I think we have great prospects of expanding our role in that decarbonisation process that’s going on in India.
They’re very interested in our critical minerals but they’re also interested in the supply of hydrogen, which of course will take the place of gas as we transition to a decarbonised economy.
Farrell was also asked about China, saying he expected to visit the country soon, as relations improve:
Look, discussions have been going very well with the Chinese government and the Chinese minister … I’ve been invited to China and I expect that to take place in the near future.
Updated
Good afternoon, Mostafa Rachwani with you to take you through the rest of the day’s news.
And on that note, I am going to bid you farewell for the week. The next parliament sitting is in another week – so politics live will be back with you then. Tomorrow though, you’ll be back with the Australia news live blog, which will bring you what is happening all over the place, not just what is (mostly) going on in the walls of parliament.
A very big thank you to the team who are still beavering away and, of course, to you, who make it all worth it. We truly do have the best audience in Australia and we are very grateful to have your support.
We have some exciting projects coming up and can’t wait to share some of them with you. That includes our 10th birthday celebrations during Gemini szn (the best season, obviously).
Mostafa Rachani will take you through the evening – so stick around, but I hope you get some time to stare at a wall or do something fun this weekend.
And as always – take care of you Ax
Updated
Keating claims Nine newspapers ‘urging Australia into a war with China’
The former prime minister Paul Keating has issued another statement railing against the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age’s coverage of “the threat from China”.
Keating said in today’s statement – the second in three days:
The Sydney Morning Herald’s prominent series of provocations, urging Australia into a war with China, concluded its third instalment today.
At Item 20 of its presentation, apart from its advocacy of the reintroduction of compulsory national service, it wantonly urges that Australia should further consider ‘basing US long-range missiles armed with nuclear weapons on Australian territory’ and goes on to say ‘if the US were interested in doing so’.
In the following point at 21, it refers to ‘the threat from China’.
The first point is, there is no threat from China, in any strategic sense. There has never been such a threat from China, either implicit or explicit. But for the Herald’s notion of it, it is urging Australia into a war with China armed with nuclear weapons on our territory to be provided by the United States.
Keating – who is on the record many times calling for Australia not to be drawn into a war over the future of Taiwan, a democratically governed island of 24 million people that China has refused to rule out taking by force – repeated that argument today.
He described Taiwan as “an island, off the Chinese coast, an island Australia does not recognise as an independent state, and has never recognised as an independent state”.
Keating’s three-page statement ended with the line:
God help us.
Tory Maguire, the executive editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age, Brisbane Times and WAToday, said in an emailed response to the first statement on Tuesday:
Mr Keating has indulged in personal slurs against the journalists at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age instead of engaging in the substance of their reporting.
It’s not a useful contribution from someone well placed to have a meaningful impact on the conversation about our readiness to protect and defend Australia.
Peter Hartcher and Matthew Knott are two of the country’s most highly respected journalists and we stand by their reporting and the expertise of the contributors to the challenging and thought-provoking Red Alert series.
We note he had nothing to say when the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Sky News Australia also recently examined the threat of conflict with China and our nation’s preparedness.
Updated
The blue in the teal rises above the green on franking credits
Revisiting the franking credits issue, I have just looked at where the house landed on the Treasury amendment bill.
These bills are fairly regular – usually just changes to instruments or closing loopholes and more about the machinery of government and Treasury than anything else.
This one though included tightening up the rules around dividend imputation (franking credits) when it comes to how companies raise capital and aligning off-market buybacks with on-market buybacks. (I am not wealthy enough to know all the detail on this, and chances are, neither are most people reading this – it is only going to save about $600m so that is not huge numbers in the scheme of things.)
The bill is with the Senate economics committee, which will look at the changes. The Coalition has already called it a broken election promise and argue Labor is coming after franking credits.
(This is nowhere near what Labor proposed in 2019.)
BUT
The teals have split on the amendments. Angus Taylor and the Coalition tried to move an amendment which would have removed the franking credit changes (which doesn’t have a chance of winning in a chamber where the government holds the numbers, but is all about optics).
Allegra Spender, Kylea Tink, Sophie Scamps and Zoe Daniel voted with the opposition. Helen Haines and Kate Chaney voted with the government. Zali Steggall and Monique Ryan abstained from the vote.
This is going to happen – the teal independents represent some of the wealthiest electorates in the country where their constituents care about these things. And at those times, the blue in the teal is going to rise above the green.
Updated
Queensland releases child sentencing data as raise the age debate drags on
The nation’s leaders are dragging their heels when it comes to raising the age of criminal responsibility. Currently, it is 10.
Yup, 10.
While there are movements from some states and territories to go it alone if there is not national cabinet agreement, not all states are on board.
AAP has reported on the Queensland situation:
Children aged under 14 make up a very small proportion of people sentenced in Queensland, and alternative approaches could be considered to reduce the risk of reoffending, a report says.
Fewer than one in 10 children sentenced in Queensland between 2005 and 2022 were under the age of 14, a Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council report says.
Those under the age of 10 make up 1.1% of children sentenced.
The council chair, John Robertson, says coming into contact with the criminal justice system at a young age increases the likelihood of reoffending, so there could be a discussion about alternatives.
“When we consider the life circumstances of many of these younger children, and the type of offending they engage in, it is not surprising that there are questions being asked about the benefits of criminalising children at such a young age,” the former children’s court president said.
Queensland’s age of criminal responsibility is 10, and the report showing low numbers of those under 14 are being sentenced comes amid a national push to increase the age to 12 in all states and territories.
However, a draft report last year recommended raising the age to 14 without exception, with the Northern Territory and ACT committing to that and Tasmania planning to lift its minimum age of detention to 14.
The Queensland attorney general, Shannon Fentiman, has said she supports a national approach rather than going it alone.
The sentencing report comes as state parliament prepares to debate youth justice laws that have bipartisan support but have been condemned by legal groups, social service providers and experts.
There’s concern that making it a criminal offence for children to breach bail conditions and handing them longer sentences will put more kids behind bars for longer, increasing their chances of reoffending.
The council’s report says more than half of children aged 10 to 13 who were sentenced were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, and that the overrepresentation of Indigenous kids increased among the youngest cohorts.
Some 482 children under the age of 14 were sentenced in 2021-22, with 38 of those younger than 12, which was lower than the annual average of 651 over the previous 17 years.
“Sentenced cases did not return to pre-pandemic levels,” the report says.
More than 80% of children under 13 were sentenced for property offences such as unlawful entry, wilful damage and stealing, with courts giving reprimands or probation orders in more than half of cases.
Only 2.1% of child sentences involved detention with almost half of those being for burglary or unlawful entry.
“Of the small number of cases involving serious offences sentenced in the higher courts, children under 14 at the time of the offence were most often sentenced for robbery,” Robertson said.
“However, this only represented 3.4% of all sentenced robbery cases across Queensland.”
Read our story, by Ben Smee, here:
Updated
Albanese government introduces bill for Help student loans for startups
The federal government has created a new category of Help loans in a bid to increase the number and quality of startup businesses in Australia.
The education legislation amendment (startup year and other measures) bill 2023 – a Labor election commitment first proposed in 2015 – will allow 2,000 entrepreneurs to defer the cost of accessing startup accelerator programs each year.
The startup year program was introduced to parliament on Thursday after a six-week consultation on the loam scheme last year. It’s expected to cost the government $15.4m over four years.
Education minister Jason Clare:
A lot of universities have start up incubators and accelerators and offer grants to students to help them build businesses from scratch. This will add to that, offering HELP loans to bring their business ideas to life.”
Universities Australia said the startup year program would bring “much-needed” financial support for university entrepreneurs.
Just two Australian cities rank in the top 1,000 for startups globally - Sydney (38) and Melbourne (42).
Universities Australia acting chief executive Peter Chesworth said financial barriers hindered the progress of innovation in the higher education sector and its “transformative flow-on effects, including the creation of new jobs and economic opportunities”:
Universities support the Albanese government’s commitment to breaking down these barriers and supporting the commercialisation of new ideas and solutions to the challenges and opportunities facing our nation.
Updated
‘Giving in to the Greens’ demands is a smack in the face to Tasmanians’: Tammy Tyrrell on NRF
Jacqui Lambie Network senator Tammy Tyrrell is not happy with the amendment the Greens have secured as part of the negotiations for the party’s support of the national reconstruction fund.
Tyrell says the government owes the Tasmanian forestry industry an apology, after writing to the peak body in May 2022 to say there would be no issues in a Labor government:
The prime minister said in his letter: ‘The Liberals have gone into overdrive saying that Labor will listen to the Greens. This is nothing but a desperate scare campaign designed to cover up for the fact that Scott Morrison has been a major disappointment for your industry.’ “
The prime minister also said ‘Labor will support native forest harvesting.’
Giving in to the Greens’ demands is a smack in the face to Tasmanians. The prime minister needs to come out and explain this about face.
It’s all well and good to tell the industry you support them during an election, but when you’re in government and push comes to shove, apparently you can forget pretty quickly.
I don’t think the Greens are bad people, but my word, sometimes they’ve got some bad ideas. The government’s got to be prepared to call it out, not back it in.”
Updated
As Caitlin Cassidy says – the AFL could learn from this.
Pretty extraordinary - Anthony Albanese and Narendra Modi do a lap of honour in a chariot at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Deep, reverberating roar through the stadium pic.twitter.com/ipc031R4AU
— Stephen Dziedzic (@stephendziedzic) March 9, 2023
But I bet they’ve never had Meatloaf.
Updated
Robodebt inquiry analysis shows majority of victims were women, Shorten says
Tomorrow is the last day of the public hearings for the robodebt royal commission.
Here was Bill Shorten’s summary, delivered in question time, of some of what the commission has heard:
Analysis of data provided to the royal commission into Robodebt reveals that a majority of Robodebt victims were women. In fact, at least 226,780 Australian women were served unlawful debt notices over four and a half years by the former Coalition government. These are their stories.
Angelica. Angelica says that soon after she had a Robodebt raised against her, she had to deal with the grief of her father passing away. She says she didn’t have money in the bank and had her daughter to think of. “My depression became very bad while dealing with the Robodebt. I wanted to kill myself. I started drinking heavily, a couple of bottles of wine each day causing liver problems. I had to go to hospital and my doctor wasn’t happy with me. I started seeing a psychologist. To this day, I still get anxiety when I think about my Robodebt. The government should care about people who are struggling. People who have depression or money troubles. They shouldn’t make their lives worse.”
Then there’s Isabella. She received a Robodebt at a particularly difficult point in her life. “I was living day to day when I was hit with a Robodebt. I was homeless due to fleeing from family violence. What little money I was receiving from Centrelink payments went towards my food and my medication. Then one day there was less money in my account than I was expecting for my Newstart allowance, I thought it had been a mistake. I called Centrelink. I was not met with concern for my wellbeing. They told me I had a debt and needed to prove I didn’t owe money.”
In a submission to the royal commission by a woman who wishes to remain anonymous, she explains how she was a young, single parent working when she received her Robodebt. “I cried myself to sleep for two weeks thinking about where my daughter would go if I went to jail. I contacted her father for help financially after never receiving child support from him while she was fully in my care. He then decided to take me to court and obtain shared custody of my daughter. Robodebt caused myself depression, anxiety and financial stress, which resulted in me having my daughter taken from my full care. To say Robodebt ruined my life is a complete understatement”.
These are stories that were never heard by the Coalition when they were in government. Like a lot of members on this side, I’ve represented people who’ve been injured at work. Compensation is important. It’s expected, but it’s never the full story. Accountability matters to the royal commission cannot reverse the pain of these three brave witnesses. It can’t bring back loved ones, but it can make sure that those who did the wrong thing answer for it. It can. And it must make sure that no government ever unlawfully bullies vulnerable Australians ever.
Updated
Crocodile warning in north-west Queensland as floods hit towns
Meanwhile, in remote Queensland:
Crocodiles have been sighted and residents evacuated as floodwaters surge across Queensland’s saturated remote north-west communities, AAP reports.
Flood warnings are in place for hundreds of kilometres of the Gulf’s inland rivers and creeks as a late-season monsoon trough continues to batter northern Australia.
Rainfall records have tumbled as the deluge lashed Queensland’s Far North, potentially isolating remote communities for weeks.
Supplies in the towns of Doomadgee and Burke are running low, with buying restrictions in place on essential food items.
Roads and highways are cut, with food now being transported by air to ensure adequate food supplies for the region.
Overnight, the system continued to batter the region, with falls of 278mm at Riversleigh and 220mm at Century Mine.
Julia Creek received 171mm, with 158mm at Dugald River and 148mm at Julius Dam.
Severe thunderstorms with heavy rainfall are forecast for Cloncurry and Rollingstone, and south of Croydon and Townsville.
The system will also bring widespread rain, thunderstorms and damaging wind gusts to parts of the Northern Territory, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned.
Updated
Question time ends
But wait –the Speaker has a message for those Very Concerned About The Flag (of which Liberal MP Dan Tehan is president)
I want to update the house regarding the flag above parliament house. As I stated to the house yesterday, I understand and recognise the importance of the Australian national flag. I am pleased to advise the process has an expedited to replace the flag.
Weather permitting protocols will be put in place to replace the flag within the next two days.
Furthermore, alternative options and contingencies for this ever happen again for the future.
Thank goodness. We can once again sleep at night.
Updated
Liberal MP’s question about a Sydney mayor and NSW election ruled out of order
The Liberal MP for Lindsay, Melissa McIntosh, who has come back to parliament with the strategy of yelling her questions in question time (I have been told that some in Labor have begun referring to the honourable member as Melissa ‘Capslock’ McIntosh) has a question for Chris Bowen:
Is it true that the minister has taken time out from the task of tackling rising energy prices to hold discussions with a western Sydney mayor ahead of him announcing he will not run as an independent candidate in the New South Wales election? Did the minister discuss federal government funding or support with the mayor?
Tony Burke is on his feet immediately referring the Speaker to “the list of prohibited questions on page 553 of practice. The first dot point.”
Milton Dick rules the question out of order.
Updated
Burney concerned about Indigenous infant health as some Closing the Gap targets go backwards
In between all of the Stephen Jones questions, Linda Burney gave this answer to a dixer on Closing the Gap targets:
Mick Dodson was the social justice commissioner between 1993 and 1998. And one of the quotes from Mick has stayed with me ever since that time.
He talked about a type of industrial deafness that descended upon us as Australians about the dreadful social justice statistics when it came to Aboriginal people in this country.
And I think there is something true in what he says in terms of those statistics, washing off us. Washing over us. And flowing on.
And the latest Productivity Commission’s data is in fact an example of what I hope everyone will listen to.
Some of the Closing the Gap targets are going backwards. And I know many people are frustrated by this lack of progress.
I know that I am. On the existing data, 11 targets are now not on track. And four are on track.
The one that really concerns me that has, where the statistics have gone backwards slightly, is the healthy birth weight of babies. It has gone backwards and this is a major concern when you think about all the things that need to sit underneath a baby being born at a healthy birth weight. It is not good enough and I know everyone in this House agrees with that.
And we do need to do things differently. That means listening to communities about the solutions that work best for them. Not what we think as politicians.
Not what bureaucrats think.
But what actually communities are saying.
The Closing the Gap implementation plan launched last month is a practical way forward.
It lays out a plan for us to achieve the targets and priority reforms set out in the national agreement. It includes more than $400m for additional spending by this government, safe and reliable water supply, better buildings in remote housing, improving food security, and of course boosting family violence and legal service providers that I know the Leader of the opposition is most concerned about. One bright spark is the Northern Territory police have advised that the violence-related activities has fallen by 30%, and so has domestic violence since the implementation of the alcohol restrictions in the Northern Territory.
Updated
Bandt joins voice working group as it ‘progressed discussions’ on wording
The government’s voice referendum working group has met again today, with the Greens’ Adam Bandt and Dorinda Cox joining the meeting.
The expert group advising the government on the voice to parliament referendum is due to present its final advice on the constitutional alteration and the referendum question next week, so this week’s meeting is a bit of a precursor ahead of the main event.
Indigenous Australians minister Linda Burney issued a communique after the meeting, which also included herself, attorney general Mark Dreyfus, special envoy for reconciliation Pat Dodson, and foreign minister Penny Wong (representing PM Anthony Albanese, who is of course in India).
The communique says the working group “progressed its discussions about the wording of the change to the constitution and the question on the ballot paper.” There has been some minor disagreement about whether the voice should have the power to advise the executive government, as well as the parliament.
Burney’s office confirmed the government would introduce the constitution alteration bill to parliament in the coming sitting fortnight at the end of March, which will be followed by a parliamentary inquiry.
Working group members described the meeting with Bandt and Cox as “positive” and that they had expressed “solid support” for the referendum.
Updated
Back to the Stephen Jones hour, Paul Fletcher wants to know:
Can the Minister explain to the house whether the capital gains tax discount ordinarily applicable for assets held within superannuation is available for either realised or unrealised gains under the Government’s new super tax?
Jones:
I thank the Leader of Opposition business in the house for the question. Of course, as all honourable members and particularly the member for Forde would know, as I non-licensed financial advisor, I can’t give financial advice either...
Here or anywhere else.
Peter Dutton pretends to have a point of order
I have been here 22 years, I thought I had heard it all.
Milton Dick says no point of order.
Jones:
As I was saying, I was invited to give financial advice. But what I can say, in the general, Mr Speaker, is the capital gains discount is available when there is a capital gains tax event.
Sydney commuters – you should be able to get home.
This is from Sydney Trains:
A normal timetabled service operated this morning on the Sydney Trains network with only minor disruptions across the network following yesterday’s delays.
Today’s afternoon and evening services will also operate to a normal timetable.
The investigation into the root cause of yesterday’s Digital Train Radio System (DTRS) failure identified the failure of router equipment not operating correctly. The equipment has been replaced and the system is operating. Sydney Trains is raising this in discussion with our suppliers.
The DTRS is a vital safety feature for the network which is the primary communication tool between the Rail Operations Centre and train crew on the network to alert them of any unexpected issues and emergencies.
Sydney Trains again apologises to our customers for the delays experienced and thanks everybody for their understanding as staff worked to get people home safely.
Updated
Katter mystifies; Marles applauds him
Bob Katter has the last crossbench question and I wish I could tell you what it is about. I think most of the chamber wishes they knew what it was about. As always, it is a journey, delivered in the cadence of a bedtime story from your great-grandpa who returned from the war after decades lost in the jungle.
Something about development of regional Australia I think.
Richard Marles thanks Katter and says:
Can I spotlight his extraordinary achievement? And in doing so acknowledge his advocacy - a little shameless - and acknowledge his advocacy on behalf of his electorate but more significantly on behalf of regional Australia. It’s important that is done because the story of our nation is not just written in Brisbane and Sydney and Melbourne. It is written in places like Mount Isa and Rockhampton, Newcastle and indeed in Geelong.
And as an inhabitant of regional Australia, I understand how important it is that we are doing everything we can to provide opportunities for people to make their lives and to raise their families in regional Australia. That’s at the heart of what you are describing in your question. There is huge opportunities that I know the honourable member is describing in terms of his own electorate, where that development can occur. I want to say to him on behalf of the Albanese government regional Australia is front and centre in how we see the development of our nation. And we will continue to engage with him on this. As to the question of the budget, you’ll have to wait until the second Tuesday in May and the words of the treasurer about what is ultimately committed there but I can absolutely say that the Treasurer, the prime minister, myself will continue to work with you, to make sure that we are delivering the development and the benefits in regional Australia that you are such a keen advocate for.
Updated
Marles says power prices would’ve gone up ‘a lot more’ if Coalition had their way
The shadow energy minister, Ted O’Brien, who has become a favourite of Chris Bowen after he went to Japan and posted a ‘what we can learn about nuclear power’ video, has a question for Richard Marles:
Will electricity prices go up by 20% over winter?
Marles:
Whatever happens with electricity prices in the future, they would have gone up a lot more if those opposite had their way last December. Because last December those opposite were given an opportunity to vote on behalf of the household budgets of the Australian people, by supporting a $1.5bn package which is working. If you look at the forward electricity prices, as they were announced in February, they are half what they were in November. Those opposite are the ones who stand to increase electricity prices.
There are a million interjections. The point is that power prices were always going to still increase, they just weren’t going to increase by as much.
You know what Marles does have the power to do though?
Stop question time.
Updated
Chris Bowen dives into ‘key points’ on safeguard mechanism
The independent MP for North Sydney Kylea Tink has a question:
This week New South Wales is again being besieged by bushfires while the Northern Territory and Queensland have had serious flooding. Daniel went on climate action requires us to rapidly reduce gross emissions.
The safeguard mechanism in its current form does not guarantee this. Minister, what would you say to the people of North Sydney who say this legislation allow Australia’s biggest polluters to buy their way out of responsibility by purchasing unlimited carbon credits?
Chris Bowen:
I thank the member for her question and the engagement she has had with me today on the safeguard mechanism and the reforms.
The first thing I would say to the honourable member is that the most important thing we can do as a parliament in coming weeks, to ensure on-site abatement in the facilities covered is to pass the bill, because the safeguard crediting bill actually provides a huge incentive for facilities covered by the safeguard mechanism to reduce their emissions.
Because if they reduce their emissions by more than the baseline, they get a credit that they can use in future years or sell.
That means that there is an incentive for them to invest in technology to reduce their own emissions.
(This is the ‘it is better than nothing, we need a mechanism’ argument Labor have been using.)
Bowen:
The honourable members opposite used to believe that. This side of the house still believes that.
That is the first thing we can do to encourage on-site abatement.
The second point I make more broadly is that the safeguard reforms put these facilities on a very important pathway to net zero, and provides an ongoing incentive for them to invest in abatement.
It is important for them to have flexibility in how they do so because we are requiring a 4.9% reduction each year, and different facilities were technologies available to them at different times.
The 215 facilities cover a wide range of industries, airlines, aluminium smelters, fossil fuel expansion.and many others.
(This is the ‘we have to start somewhere’ argument Labor have been using)
Bowen:
I understand the intention by the question, but these are the key points. In the final point I would make is the government last year commissioned the Chubb review of Australian carbon credits to ensure their integrity after questions are raised.
Not everybody loves everything in the review, but the review conducted by the former Chief Scientist of Australia supported by the honourable Doctor Annabel Bennett, a KC, and they have done a very exhausting review and recommended changes which even the critics acknowledged would be world ‘s best practice governors going forward to ensure the integrity.
I do not accept that carbon credits are some form of lesser abatement. I do agree we need a focus on on-site abatement, but whether it is Indigenous savanna burning on the other methods, there are real and very important project supported by Australian carbon credit units.
They will be supported even more by the rigorous safeguard mechanism that I will be putting deal for the house and in the regulation and in the Senate, and I welcome the support of all members for these important measures and I remain available to honourable members who wish to discuss improvement in good faith.
(This is ‘the science says we have to do something and this is what we think we can do’ argument)
Updated
Dutton gets in on the Stephen Jones party
It’s back to the Stephen Jones hour and Peter Dutton wants to know:
Can the minister identified any act of parliament that currently has a provision to impose a tax on unrealised gains?
Jones (after so many interjections that Voltron* would have had time to form, break up and reform using the long space sequence)
This is a new reform. We are doing things in a different way. I am asked by the honorable member if there is to …
If there is another part of the taxation law where unrealised capital gains are taxed. Yes, there is. Corporations tax.
Yay for staffers running with answers.
*Voltron was the Power Rangers before the Power Rangers, which I just learned is up to its 30th season.
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Jones asked about superannuation losses and tax refunds
Ross Vasta, the LNP MP for Bonner, has a question for … Stephen Jones!
My question is to the assistant treasurer and concerns the government’s new super tax. If an Australian who owns an asset through his or her superannuation fund receives a tax bill buzz of an unrealised gain in one year, but this asset is subsequently revalued resulting in a loss, will that Australian be eligible for a refund of the tax paid?
Jones:
I thank the honourable member for his question. It’s a good question. And it’s why when we have announced the policy to ensure that we can maintain the integrity of superannuation and superannuation tax concessions, which are costing the budget in excess of $50bn a year, more than we spend on Medicare, more than we spend on the NDIS, significant budget expenditure.
It’s why when we announced this policy, we put in place a lengthy period for the implementation on it and a lengthy period to ensure that we can consult on some of these details, including details which go to the question that the honourable member has asked about the capacity to bring losses forward or backwards.
We will consult on the specific design implementation of these issues, as any government would and indeed as the previous government did when they introduced the $6bn worth of taxation changes to the superannuation system.
That is 155 words to say “we don’t know” but also, that is something that you wouldn’t expect to be known just yet either – the policy, which has no legislation as yet also doesn’t come into effect until 1 July 2025, AFTER the next election.
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Liberals have ‘laser-like focus on the interests of multimillionaires’: Jones
Back to the Stephen Jones experience, and LNP MP Michelle Landry wants to know:
My question is to the assistant treasurer and concerns the government’s new super tax. Can the minister advise the House of how many primary producers and small and family businesses have been identified in treasury modelling as being impacted by the government’s new super tax?
Jones:
Just for context in answering this question, the average superannuation balance for a retiree today is $150,000. $150,000. For women, around about $130,000 to $140,000. For men, around about $180,000. I’ve got to say in this debate, I’m enjoying the focus on superannuation, I’ve got to say. But I’ve got to say from the party which aspires to be the representatives of working people, they have a laser-like focus on the interests of multimillionaires. A laser-like focus on the interests of multimillionaires. Not one, not two, but three questions in a row focused on the interests of a half of 1% of Australians.
Landry wants to know about relevance.
Jones:
I’m asked about the impact, Mr Speaker, of the government’s very reasonable … Superannuation proposals which are supported by over 65% of Australians.
Including the majority of Liberal party voters and many on the other side. If you want to know what the impact is, it’s about a half of 1% of Australians and about a half of 1% of Australians and, yes, of course, given that this won’t come into effect for another two years, we will engage in a meaningful consultation, including with the farming sector, to ensure that any unintended consequences, including the type that the member for Capricornia is eluding to and the member, the other members have eluded to, we’ll engage in meaningful consultation with all of these groups to ensure the unintended consequences are not falling upon them.
But let’s be very, very clear – when you’ve got a trillion dollars worth of debt, you can’t twiddle your thumbs.
We won’t be twiddling our thumbs.
There are a whole bunch of interjections, because it is very important that millionaires know how much the Coalition is backing them in, but the parliament moves on.
Updated
Aukus submarine deal ‘a bipartisan moment of huge significance’, Marles says
The Australian government and the opposition have joined together to assure partners in south-east Asia and the Pacific that the soon-to-be-announced Aukus nuclear-powered submarine plan aims to safeguard “the peace and the stability of our region”.
The acting prime minister, Richard Marles, did not confirm the details that have been leaked in the US and the UK – such as the acquisition of up to five US Virginia class submarines as a stopgap to British designed submarines – saying the announcement would be made “very shortly”. (It’s due to be made in San Diego on Monday, US time.)
Marles acknowledged that the 18-month process with the US and the UK started under the former government. He specifically mentioned former PM Scott Morrison and former defence minister Peter Dutton “because this is a moment that we want to be – and we know is – a bipartisan moment of huge significance to our country”.
Marles told parliament:
It is difficult to overstate the step that, as a nation, we are about to take. Australia will become just of the seventh country to have the ability to operate a nuclear powered submarine. We have never operated a military capability at this level before. This will be a massive industrial endeavour, which will see thousands of jobs created over the coming decades, but much more importantly, will contribute to the technological advancement of our wider economy.
Clearly, these submarines will have the capability to operate at war, but the true intent of this capability is to provide for the stability and for the peace of our region – for the Pacific, for South-east Asia, for the Indian Ocean, for the broader Indo-Pacific region – because the defence of Australia doesn’t really mean that much unless we can have collective security. As a trading island nation, any adversary can do a whole lot of harm to Australia without even setting foot on our shores, which means a nation we are deeply invested in the global rules-based order which has underpinned the stability of prosperity, the incredible economic growth of east Asia.
So the totality of our strategic intent is to defend rules-based order. So I want to say at this moment to our neighbours and to our friends around the world that as Australia invests in its defence, as we acquire this nuclear-powered submarine capability, we do so as part of making our contribution to the peace and the stability of our region and of well.
Dutton, now the opposition leader, added that he wanted to pay tribute to Morrison “without whom Aukus would not have been a reality”. Dutton said the decision to approach the UK in the first instance and through the UK to the US “was the vision of prime minister Morrison, and I pay tribute to him”. Dutton added:
And as the acting prime minister and the minister for defence rightly point out, our neighbours should hear the very clear message that this is about providing peace and stability for our future and for theirs. Australia is a friend and partner and a valued friend and partner to people within our region and across our partnerships, including the Quad, including our Five Eyes partners, and that will always be the case. We are not an aggressive nation. We are a nation that strives for peace.
Dutton, who was rebuked by the British high commissioner to Australia earlier this week for warning against a yet-to-be-developed British design, said the Australian people could see “the two major parties in this country working together in the nation’s best interests”. He pledged bipartisan support (while leaving room for raising concern about timeframes):
We will support the decisions of the government under Aukus and fight to make sure the outcome is achieved as quickly as possible.
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Greens take aim at stage-three tax cuts but Marles says ‘position hasn’t changed’
Stephen Bates, the Greens MP for Brisbane who won the election but then had to go work his retail shift so he could pay his rent (which is part of the generational change we are seeing in younger politicians, not just here, but globally), asks Richard Marles about the stage-three tax cuts:
Confronted by rising inequality and the cost of living crisis the government has made a welcome shift on [superannuation] tax breaks for super wealthy. Will you change the tax three tax cuts that also disproportionately benefit the super wealthy?
Marles:
As he knows and … I think everybody in here knows our position on that hasn’t changed.
Updated
Ed Husic continues national reconstruction fund victory lap
The industry minister gets a dixer on the topic, where he again calls the Coalition the “No-alition”, something started by Jim Chalmers or Anthony Albanese but really most likely someone in the tactics team who gets paid a lot of money to come up with silly little names for political opponents.
Milton Dick says no and orders the opposition be called by their correct name.
Husic doesn’t even pretend to be contrite.
Updated
Stephen Jones prodded again on super changes
It is back to the Stephen Jones prodding session.
David Littleproud wants to know:
If a family farm business asset is held in a self-managed super fund as part of their diverse portfolio … could increases in asset value during their financial year see that family pay additional tax … under the government’s superannuation changes?
Jones:
Yes, it is true that there are going to be a very small number of individuals, funds who will be paying more money under this arrangement. Yes, there is. We wouldn’t be doing it otherwise, and the object of the change is to ensure, on the one hand, that we maintain the integrity of our superannuation system, and on the other hand we also make a contribution to the debt that those opposite have left us.
Now, in relation to any self-managed superannuation fund, that has assets in excess of $3m, the earnings on those assets under $3m will continue to attract the concessional tax rate of 15%. The earnings on the assets above $3m will still attract a very concessional tax rate, but not as generous as before the change.
There are a lot of interjections, as you would expect.
Jones gets back to it:
That is the point. And I am asked about cashflow.
These are very simple concepts.
… It is still concessional. The reason that we are doing it is to ensure the integrity of the superannuation system, and to plug the $1tn worth of debt.
There are more interjections and what looks like a point of order coming, but Jones completes his answer.
Updated
Everyone loves submarines, nuclear and otherwise.
Daniel Hurst will bring you the new information on this (which comes after Anthony Albanese confirmed what everyone knew but had to pretend like they couldn’t say – that there will be an Aukus announcement in San Diego next week)
Moving on.
Updated
Assistant treasurer targeted by Coalition to explain super changes
Just a few weeks ago, the Coalition identified Julie Collins as a potential weak link in explaining government policy – you may remember the number of questions she received each session.
This time round, it is assistant treasurer Stephen Jones who is getting the weak link treatment.
After not doing a particularly great job yesterday in explaining the super concessional changes and what is and isn’t part of them, he is being targeted again by the Coalition for another round.
Looks like he has been pointed in the right direction from the beginning this time round – there is much less waffling.
Asked about things like the family farm being held in super and whether or not that would be taxed at a higher rate under Labor’s changes, Jones says:
Indeed, under section 52(b) of the legislation, trustees have existing obligations. They have obligations to have regard to the liquidity of assets within their fund, the diversity of assets within their fund, and the ability of the fund to discharge their obligations, including taxation obligations, Mr Speaker. I stand by the answer that I gave yesterday. Speaker. I stand by the answer that I gave yesterday.
Which is what he was trying to say yesterday, but the message became a little muddled, opening the door for Coalition attacks.
Updated
Question time begins
The chamber is filling – it is time for the last question time of the sitting.
Franking credits, super tax concessions, energy prices – you could almost write these posts now.
But alas, we shall wait for democracy to play out.
Updated
Conservative senators try to have Covid vaccination status protected from discrimination
Interesting times in the Senate (timeless statement).
The Merry Band of Misfits of Matt Canavan, Alex Antic, Gerard Rennick and Ralph Babet have tried to have Covid vaccination status as a protected attribute under the Fair Work anti-discrimination provisions.
This lovely mix of LNP outliers, what’s left of the Palmer United party and more often than not One Nation is always a good time in the Senate, but particularly when they seek to choose who should be protected from discrimination.
It won’t shock you to learn that Malcolm Roberts was on board with this, but the Coalition as a whole, was not.
That broad church just keeps getting broader.
Updated
We are almost at question time.
May Dolly have mercy on our souls.
Albanese ‘very honoured’ by billboards of his face across India
Apparently there are hundreds of billboards in India with Anthony Albanese’s face on them, celebrating his visit.
Asked about it, Albanese says:
It is hard to not have noticed them, yes.
Certainly I’m very honoured – not for myself, for Australia. It says how valued the relationship with Australia is that the government of India and prime minister Modi have put such a major effort into making us feel so welcome.
Updated
Albanese renews promise of ‘absolute sovereignty’ in Aukus ahead of submarine announcement
The prime minister is asked about the Virginia Class submarine report coming out of the US.
Anthony Albanese says:
I’ll be making further comments about specific proposals at the appropriate time, but I can confirm that on Monday there will be a meeting of the Aukus partners, between myself, President Biden, and Prime Minister Sunak, in addition in the United States I will be having bilateral meetings with President Biden and Prime Minister Sunak. I look forward to announcing those details. They will be announced in the appropriate way on Monday, US time, in San Diego.
Q: Will Australia retain sovereignty over the technology, if there is a disagreement over whether to use the tech in any future (hypothetical) conflict?
Albanese:
Australia will retain absolutely our sovereignty, our absolute sovereignty, 100%. It is very important that Australia as a sovereign nation state – and that’s something that’s respected by all of our partners as well.
He finishes with:
I will be making comments at the appropriate time when we’ve made the announcements. This is a joint arrangement between Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. We’re great friends. We have over a century of standing side by side during peacetime and during conflict, and I look forward to the announcements next week.
Updated
India visit about clean energy, trade and defence, Albanese says
Trade missions are always a little alien – lots of speeches, lots of looking at business and awkward question and answers and lots of standing around.
Anthony Albanese has just completed one of those awkward moments at a smart energy company and is now speaking to the travelling media outside:
Towards the end of this year I’m looking forward to an upgrade in the economic relationship between Australia and India, and I’ll be having discussions with prime minister Modi about that today.
Already this morning, I’ve met with 34 smart energy companies who are here from Australia, providing significant investment, seizing the opportunity that is there. One of the things that we discussed was the fact that there’s a lot of investment ready as well in Australia to build solar panels in Australia.
And I’m very pleased that the National Reconstruction Fund legislation passed the House of Representatives a short time ago. They’re the sort of measures that we need in place, measures that drive our economy towards clean energy, measures that then take advantage of cleaner, cheaper energy to make more things in Australia.
And that is why we also want to then train Australians for those jobs through fee-free TAFE, through 20,000 additional university places, through 10,000 – $10,000 new energy apprenticeships that we’ve announced as well.
This is a coherent economic plan for Australia’s economic future. That is very important. And the third element of the visit is, of course, defence and security.
And I will be boarding the first-ever significant naval ship built here in India in Mumbai later today. We will be hosting the Malabar operations in Australia for the first time later this year and talking about our security in the Indo-Pacific is an important focus of our relationship. These are all important.
Updated
Albanese says deepening relationship with India is a ‘win-win’
Anthony Albanese spoke a little bit ago at Ahmedabad in India.
He says strengthening the relationship with India is “win-win”, particularly when it comes to renewable energy.
Australia has a role in engaging with India as well as with other countries in our region. But it also makes good economic sense. It’s about Australian jobs and about Australian businesses growing. It is, indeed, smart economics not just smart energy.
Updated
‘A more formal announcement’ coming on Aukus: Husic
Ed Husic was also asked whether he was unimpressed with leaks out of the US and the UK surrounding the Aukus announcement due early next week – and about whether there will be enough work for Australian industry. The minister for industry and science said:
I would just say that again at the appropriate point the deputy prime minister and defence minister will make a more formal announcement about what we do and I’ll leave it at that.
Updated
Minister refuses to be drawn on Aukus
The minister for industry and science, Ed Husic, has refused to be drawn on the looming Aukus announcement – including how important it would be to plug the capability gap and whether he could confirm Australia would purchase up to 5 Virginia class submarines from the US.
Husic told reporters in the blue room that he admired the “deft way” in which the question was asked, but added:
No career limiting moves by me, if you don’t mind.
He pivoted to the topic of the day - the National Reconstruction Fund - saying it would be able to support the evolution of important capabilities expected by strategic partners, including quantum technologies.
Updated
Labor criticised over ‘enhanced income management’
Labor “abolished” the cashless welfare card (the Basics card was never changed).
Or did it.
The “enhanced income management smart card” which is in its place, seems pretty much the same, at least according to the shadow minister, Anne Rushton.
Indue still runs the scheme.
Antipoverty Centre spokesperson and welfare recipient Kristin O’Connell has also criticised amendments Labor has introduced into the parliament, particularly with these sections:
Item 36 amends paragraph 123SF(3)(b) to extend the eligibility criteria for individuals who seek to volunteer for the enhanced IM regime to usually reside within a ‘voluntary enhanced income management area (see item 38 for this term).
Item 38 inserts new subsection 123SF(5) to allow the Minister to determine, by legislative instrument, that a specified State, Territory or area is a voluntary enhanced IM area for the purpose of Part 3AA.
Item 40 amends subparagraph 123SG(1)(a)(ii) to extend the eligibility criteria for individuals who seek to volunteer for the enhanced IM regime to usually reside within a ‘voluntary enhanced income management area.’ The Minister may specify these areas by legislative instrument made under subsection 123SF(5) (see item 38 above). The Minister intends to specify only existing voluntary IM areas at this time.
O’Connell:
Without warning, Labor has today introduced a bill to dramatically expand the minister’s discretion.
And now they want the minister to be able to roll it out wherever she likes, and whenever she likes. They are inviting the next Coalition government to force income control on every welfare recipient in the country when they inevitably return to power.
The deception is sickening.
We condemn this decision and urge the government to change course. Please, recommit to ensuring no one can be forced to be on cashless welfare.
Updated
Adam Bandt on Lidia Thorpe’s claims
Adam Bandt has also shrugged off claims from former Greens senator Lidia Thorpe that the party’s lawyers advised her to say she dated former motorcycle gang member Dean Martin, which she now says was not true.
A Senate privileges committee report into “possible obstruction” of the law enforcement committee – of which Thorpe was once a member – found this week she should have declared her links to Martin. But it found that the former Greens senator did not disclose any of the committee’s sensitive activities and that she should not be found in contempt. Thorpe claimed to Guardian Australia, and then later in the Senate, that she did not date Martin, despite telling the Senate committee last year in writing that they did date.
I got ridiculed for something that I didn’t do. I was advised by lawyers to say that I was dating that person … I got advice from the Greens lawyers saying, ‘You have to say that you dated’.
Greens sources strongly denied this was the case.
Bandt declined to comment specifically, calling the privileges committee “very important”, but said he didn’t agree with Thorpe’s claims.
[The privileges committee] has received submissions and statements ... I’m not going to comment on any statements about those findings or statements about statements made to the committee.
I disagree with much of what was in Senator Thorpe’s statement but I’m not going to run a commentary about matters to do with the very important privileges committee.
Updated
End to pre-departure Covid testing procedure for passengers from China, Hong Kong and Macau
Australia has had the measures in place since 5 January, after China halted a lot of its own Covid protocols.
Australia’s testing order will stop from 12.01am 11 March.
From the Mark Butler release:
The Australian government has been monitoring the situation in China and reviewing epidemiological data as it becomes available.
Reports show the number of Covid-19 cases, hospitalisations and deaths peaked in late December 2022/early January 2023.
China has been regularly providing data to the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data and to date there has been no reports of new variants of concern.
Several other countries that implemented similar measures have recently either repealed their arrangements or announced an intention to repeal them, including the United States, Korea, Japan, France and Italy.
Since the measure was introduced, the government has strengthened Australia’s capacity to detect and respond to emerging variants of concern of international origin – including extending community wastewater testing.
Updated
NAB passes on full rate hike to mortgage customers
National Australia Bank is the first of the major banks to lift its home loan rate, passing on the Reserve Bank’s latest official rate rise to customers in full.
NAB has increased its standard variable home loan by 0.25 percentage points, with the mortgage rate increase to come into effect at the end of next week.
It also increased the rate on some of its savings and deposits accounts.
Australia’s central bank increased the official cash rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3.6% on Tuesday, marking a record 10 consecutive run of hikes.
The policy is designed to stifle spending and get inflation under control, but is also heaping pressure on households enduring high prices for everything from food to electricity.
NAB is the first major bank to announce rate changes after the competition regulator announced last month it would investigate how banks set interest rates for savers, including the differential between bank deposit and home loan rates.
Concerns over pricing have re-emerged after the country’s biggest lenders recently posted bumper profits by increasing rates on their loans at a faster pace than on their deposits over the past several months.
Updated
Industry minister Ed Husic was going to be holding his national reconstruction fund success press conference in the Mural Hall, but he has since upgraded to the Blue Room.
Fancy.
Adam Bandt on voice: ‘There needs to be a clear message put to people’
Greens leader Adam Bandt says he hopes the voice to parliament referendum is successful, but has also backed concerns from senator Dorinda Cox about the level of detail needed to be released publicly to ensure the vote gets up.
The Greens will meet the government’s referendum working group today. Cox, the party’s new spokesperson on Indigenous affairs, told the Nine newspapers that the government “needs to communicate what the referendum is all about more effectively”.
Asked at a press conference, Bandt backed her comments:
Senator Cox was making the point that there needs to be a clear message put to people about why this is important. We have a very clear position on that, this is a step toward First Nations justice.
Bandt said there were “other things” the Greens would also push for in the Indigenous affairs space, referencing the party’s focus on the truth and treaty elements of the Uluru statement from the heart, but that he wanted the vote to win.
We need a clear understanding about why this is important, because we want this referendum to succeed.
Bandt said the Greens would seek info from the group on the exact referendum question to be put.
He also wanted the Referendum Machinery amendments to pass - the Greens have “concerns” about some parts, including fact-checking on the official pamphlet, but those are still TBA.
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Happy Birthday to us!!
In non political news, the Guardian is turning 10 this year.
And we are celebrating the double digits with a few little surprises we will be able to tell you more about soon.
Like me, the Guardian is a Gemini, so you’ll have to wait until late May – but we were hoping to bring you into the celebrations a little earlier, so if you would like to be part of the video special marking the occasion, send an email to guardian.australia.video@theguardian.com with the subject line HAPPY BIRTHDAY and we will send you instructions.
I will leave it up to you to decide how many exclamation marks to put with that.
Updated
Tanya Plibersek on cost-of-living relief
Your regular reminder that indexation of welfare payments is not the same as actually raising the rate. It is an automatic process that occurs under regulation and who is in government has no bearing on that process, other than they don’t stop it. Which rarely, if at all happens.
On another note, Tanya Plibersek was asked about cost of living relief while speaking to Laura Jayes on Sky News this morning:
We’ve supported pay increases, we’ve obviously supported the largest increase in welfare benefits, indexation of pensions and other payments – the largest in twelve years.
We’ve reduced the cost of medicines. Childcare costs will go down dramatically for about 1.2 million families.
We know that the cost of living is a real problem for Australian families and that’s why we’re focussing on this sort of relief that really does help family budgets. Of course, our energy package was designed to bring down energy prices, which are also a big impost on family budgets. We’ve also got to repair the structural problems in the economy.
We know, for example, that we’ve got skill shortages right across the country and that’s contributing to inflation. That’s the problem that the Reserve Bank’s trying to fix. So we’ve got to get into that economic reform area as well.
And of course, when we have had bigger than expected receipts in the budget, we’ve put that towards actually repairing the budget as well. We were left with close to a trillion dollars of debt.
Australian taxpayers are paying interest on close to a trillion dollars of debt from the previous government.
Unless we begin to tackle that, the structural problems in the economy will continue to see the inflation problems that we’ve got.
Updated
Home values fall at record 12-month pace but decline is slowing, CoreLogic says
As we noted yesterday, Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe reckoned falling housing values were contributing to weaker demand, and hence taking some of the heat out of the economy.
In the December quarter, household consumption increased by just 0.3%, which, in per capita terms, represents a small decline … the combination of cost-of-living pressures, higher interest rates and the decline in housing values is weighing on consumption.
Data out today from CoreLogic, a data firm, shows that its rolling 28-day tally of home values suggests that “decline” has plateaued lately:
On a four-week rolling average, property prices in capital cities have stopped falling. (Source: @corelogicau ) pic.twitter.com/9fOYk8PYcf
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) March 8, 2023
To be sure, homeowners in most parts of the country have seen property prices fall over the past year.
According to CoreLogic, the 7.9% slide over the past 12 months is the largest on record.
At a national level, the past 12 months (to February's end) have seen home values retreat by 7.9%, led by falls in Sydney and Hobart. That's the most @corelogicau as seen. pic.twitter.com/NBdj6Z4w4g
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) March 8, 2023
Sydney leads the falls, with values down 13.4% from a year earlier (and are 13.5% below their record high).
Melbourne’s 9.6% drop from a year ago is also how much they’ve fallen from the record.
Hobart’s values are off 11.8% in the past year, and a similar 12.1% retreat from the city’s record.
Perth’s prices, meanwhile, are up 2.4% over the past year and are just 0.9% below their record. Darwin’s are on the rise too, with prices up 2.9% over the past year but remaining 11.5% below the city’s record set almost nine years ago.
So that readers in other cities don’t feel left out: Brisbane’s values are down 6.8% in the past year (and are 11% off their highs); Adelaide’s prices are up 5.1% (to be 2.3% below their record); Canberra’s values are off 6.7% (and are down 9% from their peak).
We’ll have to see whether hints at a pause in rate rises from Lowe (perhaps after one more hike in April) encourage buyers back into the property markets.
Global debt ratings agency Moody’s, meanwhile, has forecast housing affordability will remain poor over this year, with Sydney the worst.
In February, new home loan borrowers needed an average 30.9% of monthly income to meet monthly mortgage repayments, up from 26.4% in May 2022, when interest rates began to increase, the agency says.
“We expect that ongoing housing price declines will broadly balance out further interest rate rises in terms of their effect on housing affordability this year,” it says. “If the RBA raises the cash rate to 4.1%, the share of income that borrowers need to meet repayments on new mortgages will hold around the February level if housing prices decline 4.5%.”
Sydney was the least affordable city, with new borrowers needing 40.7% of household income to meet mortgage repayments in February, compared with Hobart (33.9%), Melbourne (34.5%), Adelaide (31.1%), Brisbane (27.9%), and Perth (19.3%), Moody’s said. (Sorry, Canberrans, no number for you)
Updated
Fare-free day for Sydney commuters
Sydney commuters will receive a free travel day some time after the election in a fortnight following the major network disruption yesterday.
The premier, Dominic Perrottet, on Thursday apologised to voters for the shutdown that he says was believed to be the result of an IT system issue.
He said:
These challenges occur from time to time. What’s most important is when they happen they get fixed immediately. I’ve been assured by the secretary of the Department of Transport that this won’t happen again.
I’ve made it very clear to the secretary, the department, that my expectation is that there is a fare-free day to make up some way for what occurred yesterday.
He said there was no indication there was a cyber-attack on the network.
Sydney commuters will receive a free travel day following the major train disruption yesterday. The premier Dominic Perrottet apologised to commuters for the shutdown that he says was the result of an IT system issue. #nswpol pic.twitter.com/pM0gznaUtP
— Tamsin Rose (@tamsinroses) March 9, 2023
Updated
Sussan Ley on reconstruction fund deal: ‘We will fight Labor’s recklessness all the way to the Senate, then to the election and beyond’
Liberal deputy leader Sussan Ley has responded to the news the national reconstruction fund will pass (the Coalition is voting no):
Australian households and small businesses face soaring energy bills and Labor seem determined to make it worse with Anthony Albanese caving to the Greens and selling Australian manufacturing up the creek.Every expert in the country is calling on the prime minister to unlock more supply of gas, but today’s awful deal with the Greens is another demonstration that this government is utterly unable to deliver policies that would bring affordable and reliable energy.
The industry minister always claims to acknowledge the importance of gas as a transition fuel but today he is preventing investment in this critical area of our sovereign manufacturing policy.
This is a bad bill that has become even worse. We will fight Labor’s recklessness all the way to the Senate, then to the election and beyond.
The resources industry is the only industry singled out for prohibition in this fund, a damning indictment on the priorities of this bad Labor government.
Updated
And for more information on the wheeling and dealing that led to the national reconstruction fund getting the numbers it needed in the Senate, here is Paul Karp:
Updated
Ed Husic on the reconstruction fund: ‘one of the largest peacetime investments in manufacturing this country has ever seen’
The industry minister is very happy to have struck a deal on the national reconstruction fund legislation with the Greens:
After a decade of neglect from the former Liberal-National government, the Albanese government is revitalising Australian manufacturing.
By voting against the National Reconstruction Fund, the Liberal and National parties have once again shown they are not on the side of Australian manufacturers and only care about manufacturing when it comes to a photo opportunity.
We are now one step closer to delivering one of the largest peacetime investments in manufacturing this country has ever seen.
The Greens will hold a press conference about the amendment they secured very soon.
Updated
The About the House twitter account – which updates you on the business of the chamber – has embraced emojis.
🚨*Bill Alert*🚨
— Australian House of Representatives (@AboutTheHouse) March 9, 2023
The House has passed the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation Bill 2022.
The bill will be transmitted to the Senate.
For further details, see: https://t.co/n4Wxv7W0lS. pic.twitter.com/SN1vrjnEzQ
The cupcakes do not make up for the cringe memes.
I’d take raising the jobseeker rate over 1m cupcakes though.
The MyGov app has had 1m downloads. Sorry @billshortenmp I'm taking a cupcake despite not having downloaded it. @AmyRemeikis pic.twitter.com/xLCB5sVEWj
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) March 9, 2023
And it always pays to read the terms and conditions
Let’s have a look at mygov’s new ~friendly terms of use pic.twitter.com/gck94qSmxl
— jeremy poxon (@JeremyPoxon) March 5, 2023
Updated
Greens to introduce bill to ‘end destructive logging of Australia’s precious native forests’
The Greens will introduce a bill to repeal the Regional Forest Agreements Act which grants logging operations an exemption from national environmental laws.
The party’s forests spokesperson, senator Janet Rice, will introduce the bill in the Senate today.
In addition to repealing the Regional Forest Agreements Act, the bill proposes the tabling of an annual statement from the threatened species commissioner on how logging is affecting Australia’s progress towards the government’s zero extinctions target.
It proposes a second statement be tabled by the environment minster outlining how logging is affecting Australia’s progress towards its commitment to protect 30% of the country’s land areas by 2030.
Rice said federal and state governments had failed to meet their responsibility to protect the environment and fix failing environmental laws. She said logging operations covered by regional forest agreements had been granted an exemption from national environmental laws for too long.
The Regional Forest Agreements have allowed for decades of reckless destruction of native forests across Australia, pushed native wildlife to the brink of extinction, endangered our water supplies, heightened bushfire risk, and made the climate crisis worse.
If passed, this bill will end the destructive logging of Australia’s precious native forests, by repealing the Regional Forest Agreements and closing the loopholes used by the logging industry to skirt our national environment laws.
The Albanese government has proposed introducing legislation to reform Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act later this year.
Updated
‘No indication so far’ cyber-attack caused Sydney rail shutdown
Sydney transport bosses say there is no evidence at this stage to suggest the hour-long shutdown of the city’s rail network was related to a possible cyber-attack.
During the shutdown, which saw tens of thousands of commuters stranded during peak hour on Wednesday, the transport minister, David Elliott, said that while it was likely a “glitch” in the network, he was waiting for briefings on the possibility it was due to “foreign interference or industrial sabotage”.
But on Thursday the head of Sydney Trains, Matt Longland, said during a press conference that “based on the detailed review overnight” the delays were caused by a failure in a piece of technology and “wasn’t related to any suspected issue in terms of any cyber activity or any anything of that nature”.
The NSW government is currently in caretaker mode in the lead-up to the state election on 25 March, and during a press briefing the chief operating officer for Transport for NSW, Howard Collins, said he had contact with Elliott and his office within minutes of the fault being discovered.
Asked whether the possibility of foul play was raised during those discussions, Collins said:
There is always a concern with any IT systems or even these OT systems, which are an enclosed system, is there any foreign interference or any other issue coming in to the network?”
I think so far, and it’s important to say so far, we haven’t concluded the final investigation, but so far this is leading to a component failure, or a failure of overloading the system with software. We will get to the bottom of it. But no indication so far indicates this is something coming into the network like a cyber attack or data which is coming in from outside our system.”
Updated
Katy Gallagher on safeguard mechanism deadlock: ‘We’re just going to continue to talk with Senator Pocock and others’
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, is also a senator for the ACT. So if the ACT doesn’t want new coal and gas projects (as the Australia Institute polling Paul reported on has found) doesn’t that affect her too?
Gallagher told the ABC:
It [the findings] doesn’t surprise me. I mean, the ACT has been leading the way in terms of adoption of renewable energy targets, including when I was chief minister … we rely on 100% renewable energy now in our jurisdiction because of policies that were put in place 10 or 15 years ago, so that that doesn’t surprise me and I understand the issue more broadly, people do want to see the shift to renewable energy generation.
I guess the argument we’re having is, you know, the pathway to get there and the transition to get there.
That doesn’t just affect people in the ACT, it affects the entire country, and the country … is very different, as we know. But the safeguard mechanism is … a real opportunity to make huge progress forward in reducing our emissions in a way where we can all work together and so I am really hopeful that we don’t get to a situation where we have a stalemate in the Senate on this – like that we can’t make something that doesn’t please everyone to 100% – [a] stall in the face of the progress that we know we need to make.
So we’re just going to continue to talk with Senator Pocock and others to get this through the Senate because it’s essential if we’re going to make the first and important steps to reducing emissions from our biggest polluters.
Updated
GetUp calls for referendum machinery changes to fight voter suppression of First Nations youth
GetUp’s CEO, Larissa Baldwin-Roberts, says the government needs to ensure an amendment to the referendum machinery legislation (which sets up how the referendum will be held) that will ensure all voting age First Nations people can cast their vote needs to pass.
Baldwin-Roberts, a Widjabul Wia-bal woman, said further disenfranchisement from the voting process will only hurt the referendum’s success:
For over a decade we’ve been fighting voter suppression in First Nations communities. Voters have been purged from the electoral roll and years of Coalition-led funding cuts has meant enrolment rates and access to voting has dropped.
The provisional voting amendment to the referendum bill will undo years of suppression and ensure that thousands of First Nations people will have access to voting in this referendum. It will mean that people in remote communities have access to enrol on election day.
We saw how similar reforms in the Northern Territory elections increased voter turnout. The referendum has to uphold the best of our democratic process, without this costless measure we will continue to experience yet another form of voter suppression. This is something that communities and the AEC supports.
This amendment would give thousands of First Nations people across the country the right to vote in a referendum that is all about our vision for our communities.
We cannot have a referendum that directly impacts First Nations communities, without first ensuring every eligible First Nations person can vote on it.
Updated
Immigration minister grants residency to migrant family who faced removal because of son’s medical condition
Some welcome news in the case of the Aneesh family in Perth, who faced being removed from Australia because of their son’s medical condition.
The ABC reported that the family of 10-year-old Aaryan, who lives with Down Syndrome, had failed Australia’s visa test, which considers the potential cost a migrant’s staying in Australia might have on the public health system. The system has been consistently criticised as discriminatory against people with disabilities.
The family exhausted its appeals options, but, this week, the immigration minister. Andrew Giles, has personally intervened and said the family would be granted permanent residency.
They told the ABC they were “overjoyed” at the minister’s decision.
“We can stay here, we can live in this community, we can provide a very good environment for our kids,” Aaryan’s mother said.
Updated
David Pocock, as one of the deciding votes in the senate when the Coalition says yeah, nah to voting to legislation is under a lot of pressure – not just from the negotiations himself, but his constituency in the ACT as Paul Karp reports:
Want to know more about the safeguard mechanism deadlock? The audio team have you covered:
Negotiations over Labor’s major climate policy are in deadlock. On Full Story today @adamlmorton speaks to @JaneSYLee about the standoff between Labor and the Greens, how this policy will work and whats at stake if the parties fail to reach a compromisehttps://t.co/FzT7RlTyHQ
— Laura Murphy-Oates (@lauramoates) March 8, 2023
Daniel Andrews rejects accusations of ‘retribution’ against state ICAC
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has rejected accusations that his government engaged in retribution in response to probes by the state’s anti-corruption watchdog.
The Herald Sun reported on Thursday that the former head of the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission accused the Andrews government of retaliation in response to the agency’s probes into its conduct. The allegations are contained in a letter Robert Redlich sent to the parliament lower house speaker and upper house president in December.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Andrews said he had not seen the letter:
I absolutely reject any suggestion by him or anybody else that the government does not behave appropriately.
I’m not having a debate with a bloke who used to run an agency and he’s apparently written a letter that I haven’t seen.
Redlich claims that government MPs directed independent auditors to “find dirt” on the watchdog that was not publicly available.
Updated
University of Sydney strikes continue
Hundreds of University of Sydney staff and students are striking for a seventh day today, marking the longest-running campaign of work stoppages at an Australian university.
Picket lines have been formed blocking access to campus in protest of university management’s rejection of the National Tertiary Education Union’s claims on a new enterprise bargaining agreement.
Campus is deserted except for picketers. #Usydstrike pic.twitter.com/VjUzC5LVsZ
— Nick Riemer (@NickRiemer1) March 8, 2023
The agreement has been in negotiations since August 2021. In its latest offer, the university put forward a 4.6% pay increase in 2023 plus an additional $2,000 sign-on payment and a reduction in its casual workforce of 20%.
The president of the University of Sydney’s NTEU branch, Dr Nick Rimer, said the institution was “seriously threatening” staff rights at work.
University managers have been responsible for spiralling overwork and relentless inefficiencies. They’re badly distracting us from our key responsibilities of education and research. Union members are trying to fix that.
They want us to believe they’re the incarnation of generosity, but they’re making a miserly salary offer that is lower than far less wealthy institutions like the Australian Catholic University or Western Sydney University. That’s simply unacceptable.
The university posted a $1.04bn surplus in 2021, the highest of any institution.
#USydStrike @NTEUNSW https://t.co/1RPPrl8AmO pic.twitter.com/ySJtVSWOHD
— Clément Canonne (@ccanonne_) March 8, 2023
Classes and laboratory sessions have been widely cancelled ahead of the strikes, the student union’s food outlets will be closed, and administration work – including on grant applications and results processing – will not be going ahead.
Picket scenes from this morning so far. Join us to support staff rights, fair pay and quality education. #usydstrike pic.twitter.com/0RONcwlTFQ
— USYD EBA 2021 (@USYDEBA2021) March 8, 2023
The union has flagged further industrial action in March and May if its claims are unmet.
In an email sent to staff on 21 February, the deputy vice-chancellor, Annamarie Jagose, said it had been in an “unnecessarily protracted bargaining round” and it recognised “maintaining our sector-leading salaries is critical if we are to continue to attract and retain the best people”.
Since August 2021, the university has made a number of significant concessions in relation to its offer. Now that we have almost reached the end of the more than 100 claims put by the unions, I am confident that we have made a sector-leading offer that many colleagues will be impatient to accept.
Updated
Liberal senator James Paterson had found his niche in opposition, railing about TikTok.
To be fair, this was also his interest while in government – but it’s a lot easier to point out what should be done when your side isn’t the one with the power for the doing. So none of these things are new – it’s just that the shackles have been released.
Spot on. https://t.co/rHumblEYVh
— James Paterson (@SenPaterson) March 8, 2023
Updated
Safeguard mechanism negotiations still deadlocked
The negotiations for the safeguard mechanism are still deadlocked, though.
The Greens and David Pocock (the key votes needed for it – Lidia Thorpe has said she will vote with the Greens on climate issues) are not convinced it will really make a material change.
Labor says it’s the first step and having a mechanism is important. Every commentator and their cat is talking about 2009.
It could pop up in the next sitting, but there is a lot of work to be done before then.
Updated
Amy’s analysis: who gets what out of the national reconstruction fund negotiations?
Labor has always said the point of the NRF was to boost manufacturing and wouldn’t be used for coal or gas – but now it is explicit. The Greens wanted the amendment to stop any future governments from using the fund for fossil fuels.
That doesn’t mean a future government couldn’t try to amend the legislation in the future if it really wanted to, but it would need the parliament to agree and also would have to publicise “we want to use this for fossil fuels”.
So Ed Husic gets his fund; the Greens, who had a manufacturing policy for the election, get the spirit of that policy and a fossil fuel ban; and the Coalition, who were against it – putting the Greens in the bargaining seat – get to say the government is making deals with the Greens (which is the point of a lot of this “just say no” policy).
Updated
Labor secures Greens support for the national reconstruction fund
The government has got the votes it needs for the national reconstruction fund: the Greens are on board after the government agreed to an amendment which means the fund can’t be used for coal and gas projects or for native forest logging. Adam Bandt:
Coal and gas are the biggest cause of the climate crisis, so this is a big win for the climate and a big win for jobs and the economy.
Coal and gas are out of the reconstruction fund, and native forest logging is too.
We thank the government for the constructive approach they have taken in the negotiations and hope this can continue in the safeguard and housing bill discussions in the coming period.
Updated
Clean energy investment positive but ‘Australia needs to do more’
The Clean Energy Council says data shows positive signs for the energy transition – but we also need to act faster.
Year-to-year investment saw a 17% bump on 2021, with $6.2bn in 2022.
The final quarter of 2022 saw investment in financially committed large-scale generation and storage projects reach $4.3bn, the highest quarterly investment since Q3 2018. Six generation and storage projects reached financial close, representing 1923 MW of new installed capacity and 800 MWh of storage.
The council’s chief executive, Kane Thornton, said investors were responding to the new policy environment but it wasn’t yet the trend.
The fact remains that the rolling quarterly average investment over 12 months has not risen above $2bn since the second quarter of 2019.
The current policy settings are only going to get us so far, and it’s clear that with significant shifts in capital overseas through the United States Inflation Reduction Act and other responses from the likes of the European Union and the Gulf States, Australia needs to do more.
The organisation wants to see the renewable energy target increased to boost that investment
Updated
Coalition argues desired funding changes for referendums are about integrity
The Coalition hasn’t agreed to vote for the Referendum Machineries Act – the legislation which updates how we hold referendums in this country, given we haven’t held one this century.
So far, the Coalition is drawing a hard line over the funding. The argument is that it is not just for this referendum, but future ones.
Here is what Simon Birmingham had to say this morning:
I think that we should have formal yes and no committees and that those committees, as I said last time, should have some administrative or operational funding attached to them. That’s what we’re asking for.
I don’t want to see large licks of taxpayer funds spent on big advertising campaigns – that’s for different parties to go out and raise themselves. But it is reasonable to expect to see that there are formal campaigns there, to ensure that the debate on the voice is an informed, structured debate that is subjected to all the same types of rules and regulations that we would also see during a normal election campaign.
That’s actually about the integrity and the proper process of it and I hope that the government will consider that and those reasonable requests as it passes through the Senate.
The thing is though, the parliament can amend legislation whenever it has the will. So this one piece of legislation doesn’t have to cover every referendum in the future – if there is a need to change it for another referendum, that is easy enough.
Updated
The parliament sitting is about to begin and the house will open with the second reading debate for the national reconstruction fund.
That’s Ed Husic’s baby, so expect a lot of words from him about that today.
Updated
Bill Shorten was going to hold a doorstop (mini press conference) to acknowledge one million downloads of the myGov app (the one with the cringe Valentine social media posts), complete with cupcakes, but that has been cancelled.
So I guess you can’t let them eat cake, after all.
Updated
Some Melbourne hospitals experiencing IT outage
Melbourne hospitals across the Eastern Health network are experiencing a “significant” IT system outage this morning.
A “code yellow internal emergency” has been declared across the healthcare service which offers emergency, surgical, medical and general healthcare services, including maternity, and palliative care.
Eastern Health said the caused was “a critical core switch outage” with no evidence of a cyber attack.
In a statement issued shortly before 8am, Eastern Health said they were working to resolve the issue:
Hospital systems have reverted to downtime procedures and business continuity plans have been enacted.
We will continue to keep our staff, patients and healthcare partners informed as the situation unfolds. And we again thank our staff for the work they are doing to support the ongoing care of our community.
Updated
Labor not surprised by RBA’s current approach on interest rates
A little earlier, Katy Gallagher danced the line between “the RBA is independent” and also “we are happy to hear there is a pause in interest rate rises coming”.
She told ABC Radio RN Breakfast:
We’re all … watching and listening when the governor speaks.
I think, from what I saw of his address and question-and-answer session … he was indicating that they’re going to continue to look as the data comes in and they make their decisions accordingly.
So I don’t think that’s necessarily a surprise but … it’s something … we’d want the bank to be doing, I would suggest, because you know, when they making decisions, obviously those decisions impact on on all of us.
So I didn’t see anything hugely surprising – [the bank will] read the data, [look at the] evidence and then make decisions about interest rates based on those.
Updated
Birmingham: PM should push to raise issues on Ukraine invasion not just for humanitarian reasons but also economic ones
Does Simon Birmingham think that Anthony Albanese should be raising issues about freedom of speech and Russia while he is with the Indian leader?
Birmingham:
Well, a couple of things there. Australia should always be consistent and predictable when it comes to our values. We have clear values in our country that we uphold in terms of the nature of our democracy, the freedom of the media, and the types of values that people should expect us to uphold to express and to do so quite consistently with any nation in the world.
Critically, of course, we do wish to see the G20 used as a platform to try to continue to put pressure on Russia to cease the war in Ukraine. And so I would expect those matters to form part of discussions to make sure that we are attempting to send as strong a message as possible about not just the human toll that that war is inflicting, but also the economic toll on Europe and around the world as a consequence of that. And that’s part of the reason why the G 20, founded for particular economic purposes, has a role to play in sending a strong message as it can send to Russia.
Updated
Coalition takes credit for India-Australia relationship’s ‘high point’
Liberal senator [and probably the Coalition’s best communicator] Simon Birmingham is on ABC Radio RN Breakfast this morning.
He is happy Anthony Albanese is meeting with Narendra Modi and says the former government helped set the relationship up for expansion:
Well, they have been drawing closer and closer in recent years. Under the previous government, we signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement with India.
We signed a new trade agreement with India just prior to Covid [I led, as] as then trade minister, the largest business delegation ever to India in terms of reaching across a whole range of sectors including, critically, the education sector that you just spoke of.
And so I really welcome this mission by Prime Minister Albanese, he finds the India-Australia relationship at a high point and it’s an opportunity for him to drive that further in terms of our bilateral cooperation and critically, also building upon the areas of regional and global cooperation that we have also … strengthened so greatly in recent years through our partnership in the Quad and that are … at a key point this year within his chairmanship of the G20.
Updated
And for a little more detail on what is about to be announced, our UK colleagues Kiran Stacey and Dan Sabbagh have this story:
Vice Admiral Jonathan Mead, the head of the nuclear-powered submarine taskforce, had a chat with Daniel Hurst:
Australia will put nuclear safety ‘above all else’ as it begins the ‘generational challenge’ of building and operating nuclear-powered submarines under the Aukus pact, the government’s top adviser has said.
Vice Admiral Jonathan Mead has moved to allay concerns – both at home and across the region – about nuclear safety as Australia, the US and the UK prepare to announce their detailed plans within days.
The head of the Australian government’s nuclear-powered submarine taskforce has also insisted that the likely presence of American and British personnel on Australian boats would not inhibit Australian command and control.
Updated
Gallagher aware of funding issue on national partnership agreements
A lot of funding in Australia is tied up in national partnership agreements. They are usually for short periods – the commonwealth works with the states to come to an agreement on funding, but it often means that agreements almost come to an end (or indeed, do end) and need emergency funding to continue while the next national partnership is worked out.
That’s what happening for a lot of homelessness charities at the moment. They say they are going to be have to sack people, because the funding is about to run out.
Katy Gallagher says that she is not hand balling it to the states and she is aware of the issue, but the agreement process is being worked out:
That agreement, which this money flows through is part of the national housing and homelessness agreement. And we are in active negotiations with the states. I’m aware of the funding issue. This is, you know, to give appropriate remuneration funding for or funding for payment for staff and Julie Collins is working hard on it. I can’t give you an answer today because it is right literally on our table.
Updated
Labor ‘determined to be responsible in terms of budget’
Are Katy Gallagher and Jim Chalmers looking for savings with more urgency than they were in October, given the economic circumstances?
Gallagher:
We certainly were aware of the inflation problem in October. So you saw that we were we had upside, revenue coming in to the budget that we banked that – I think it was 99% in the first two years and 94% of the upside revenue over the forward estimates.
Now that was an important message, not just from the fact that we’re going to be fiscally responsible, but that where we can, you know, show restraint in spending.
We will and so we will continue that in the May budget where we [are in the processes right now] so I can’t go to decisions that might be taken in in the future around it but I can honestly I can absolutely say to you that Jim and I are determined to be responsible in terms of budget, we’ve got a massive job to do and that will require showing restraint because of this inflation pressure within the economy.
We don’t want to make it worse.
We’re conscious of the fact that our spending, you know if we’re not mindful of it, that it could have an impact.
And so we’re not we’re not putting ourselves in that position.
Updated
Finance minister: ‘whole range of booby traps’ left by former government in budget
The finance minister Katy Gallagher is on ABC Radio RN Breakfast this morning, where she will no doubt be asked about the franking credit changes.
The Liberal senator Simon Birmingham will be up after Gallagher, so no doubt he will have plenty of things to say in response.
Gallagher is asked about whether the government is looking at “escalating” savings in the budget, given inflation.
We are certainly looking at how we can institute some budget repair. I mean, we’ve inherited a budget with massive deficits. There’s a $50bn structural deficit that exists in the budget every year. And we’ve got this massive debt that we’ve inherited as well. So we have this responsibility to manage the debt.
Look at how we repair the budget over time and I guess the other pressure we’ve got is that the you know, and we’ve talked about this a lot, is the pressures coming towards the budget are increasing, not decreasing.
So that requires us to have a look at current expenditure, where it is what the priorities are, where the some of that can be reprioritised into these new and emerging pressures.
But also, there are areas where we can make sensible savings and I’m not going to pretend it is easy, it is not easy.
You know we’ve got a whole range of booby traps that were left by the former government for us that we’re working through now … these list of terminating pressures on programs that aren’t terminating for a start, which certainly dressed up how the budget balance looked over time, but [masked] the reality of the funding pressures that were being faced on that budget so we’re dealing with a whole range of things, terminating measures, increasing pressures and are [looking for savings].
Updated
Franking credit fight
The Coalition is sinking its teeth into Labor’s 2023 Treasury amendment bill, as it has suggested changes to franking credit buyback schemes.
It has been referred to the Senate economics committee and Andrew Bragg is leading the charge in that chamber, calling the amendment “a dangerous and underhanded measure to stop the payment of franked dividends in Australia”.
The Labor Party wants to destroy franking, by barring Australian companies which have raised capital from paying franked dividends. That will be most companies.
If this was Labor’s intention, they should have been honest with Australians during the election.
Instead, we were given emphatic reassurances from the Prime Minister and Treasurer they would not touch franking credits.
Now we know these reassurances were not made in good faith.
If legislated, these measures will result in grave consequences for the competitiveness of Australian companies.
It will deter investment in Australian companies, making it harder for them to raise capital, and more reliant on debt.
You can read the bill’s intention here.
Just mentioning franking credits is enough to release the 2019 kraken, but it is a little ridiculous that there is no part of the tax system that can be put up for even modest reforms without immediate responses of HOW DARE YOU.
Updated
Anthony Albanese is in India, so he will miss the last parliament sitting of the week. Richard Marles is acting PM. Question time remains a mess.
You are up to date.
Updated
Good morning
As always, thank you to Martin for getting us started – we’ll switch over to politics and start the day. It’s going to be at least a four-coffee morning.
Ready?
Updated
ACT poll finds 63% oppose new coal and gas
A majority of Canberrans support a ban on new coal and gas projects in federal law, Paul Karp reports.
It’s adding pressure on the independent senator for the ACT, David Pocock, to withhold support from Labor’s safeguard mechanism bill which aims to reduce industry greenhouse emissions but has been criticised for not doing enough to achieve that aim, by relying on carbon offsets instead of “real” emission reductions.
The uComms poll of 1,112 residents of the Australian Capital Territory, commissioned by the Australia Institute, found 63% oppose new coal and gas, and 82% oppose the unlimited use of carbon credits to offset pollution.
The release of the poll comes as the Albanese government prepares to stare down a 4pm Thursday deadline to respond to a Senate order for forecasts of how big industrial emitters would use carbon credits to meet obligations created by the safeguard mechanism.
Read more here:
Updated
Test attendance record likely to be smashed in Ahmedabad
The MCG’s world record for largest crowd to attend a day of Test cricket is likely to be shattered today when an estimated 110,000 people pack in to watch India and Australia in Ahmedabad, reports Australian Associated Press.
Anthony Albanese will join the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi at the stadium bearing his name, to celebrate “75 years of friendship through cricket” for a range of events before the match.
Albanese and Modi will be taken through the India-Australia Platinum Hall of Fame within the stadium before the prime ministers meet the players.
Australia’s captain Steve Smith and India’s skipper Rohit Sharma are expected to introduce all their players to both leaders before the national anthems are played.
Albanese is expected to stay at the Ahmedabad colosseum for about an hour before moving on to other commitments in Mumbai and Delhi. According to reports, Modi will stay on to do some TV commentary about the match.
Australian business leaders, including Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce, Fortescue Metals boss Andrew Forrest and Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn, have joined Albanese on his first trip to India as prime minister.
The final crowd figure will be a source of fascination, with up to 85,000 of the day one tickets in the 132,000-capacity stadium set aside for local families and students.
The record attendance for a single day of Test cricket stands at 91,112 from the start of the 2013-14 Ashes battle at the MCG.
After a near five-year rebuild, the stadium in the capital of the Indian state of Gujarat reopened in February 2020.
The first event there was a political event when Donald Trump arrived in India, with the former US president infamously mispronouncing the names of cricket icons Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli during a speech.
Updated
Black Summer fires linked to ozone depletion
A study published in the journal Nature has found that smoke from the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires temporarily depleted the ozone layer by 3% to 5% in 2020. Particles in bushfire smoke can activate molecules that destroy the ozone layer, according to research that suggests future ozone recovery may be delayed by increasingly intense and frequent fires.
Smoke from the 2019-20 bushfires, which circulated around the globe, was ejected into the stratosphere, the second layer in Earth’s atmosphere, by a pyrocumulonimbus cloud.
Read Donna Lu’s full story here:
Welcome
Morning, and welcome to our live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be bringing you a few of the top stories breaking overnight and likely to make news today before Amy Remeikis takes charge.
Anthony Albanese will join his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to celebrate “75 years of friendship through cricket” as the two countries’ men’s teams take each other on in the fourth Test in Ahmedabad today. Albanese is expected to stay at the stadium for about an hour before moving on to other commitments in Mumbai and Delhi, although Modi will reportedly do some TV commentary about the match – which could set a world attendance record of 110,000, surpassing the current record holder, the MCG.
Lidia Thorpe, the independent senator, has said she is shocked that Warren Mundine’s Conservative Political Action Conference Australia has used her image in their advertising against the voice to parliament. Although she stood down from the Greens to campaign for a sovereignty treaty, she has not ruled out backing the yes campaign. So she was angered when she saw her picture. “There’s no consent, no permission,” she said, adding that using the picture, in which she is wearing face paint applied by an elder, shows that CPAC is disrespecting the “protocols of the elder”.
The former head of the independent watchdog tasked with investigating the department responsible for the robodebt program will be questioned by the royal commission today. Richard Glenn served as acting commonwealth ombudsman in 2017 when an investigation into the human services department took place. His appearance follows that of former senior assistant ombudsman Louise Macleod, who broke down when she told the commission of her failure to convince her superiors to publish her legal criticisms of the robodebt scheme.
With all that, let’s get going for the day …
