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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Caitlin Cassidy and Amy Remeikis (earlier)

Wong calls for Gaza ceasefire saying ‘this war must end’ – as it happened

Bill Shorten Australia
Penny Wong during Senate estimates at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday.
Penny Wong during Senate estimates at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

What we learned: Tuesday, 4 June

With that, we will wrap up the blog for the evening. Here are today’s major developments:

Our fabulous Canberra team will be back first thing will be back first thing tomorrow morning to bring you all the latest in the world of Senate estimates.

Updated

Penny Wong calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, saying ‘this war must end’

In a short statement released tonight, foreign minister said it was now “six months since Australia voted with 152 countries for a ceasefire at the United Nations”.

“The human suffering in Gaza is unacceptable.” she posted on X.

Australia repeats our support for President Biden’s ceasefire proposal and we are pleased to see growing international support, including from G7 leaders.

Australia is working with countries that support peace to press all parties to agree to the terms immediately.

Civilians must be protected, the catastrophic humanitarian situation must be addressed, and the hostages must be released.

Any delay will only see further lives lost.

Updated

Domestic violence worker plan behind schedule

The federal government’s plan to fund the hiring of 500 domestic violence workers is still lagging behind schedule, with just 53 full-time equivalent staff hired so far.

The plan, announced in the government’s first budget in 2022, has come under scrutiny over slow progress from the states in hiring the workers. The federal government has put the money out, and has indicated it’s now up to the states to hurry up with the hiring – giving the states a hurry up last month.

But Senate estimates has heard that the tally has now ticked up to 63 people hired, with just 53.4 people on a full-time equivalent basis (that is, some of the 63 may be hired part-time).

Liberal senator Kerrynne Liddle, asking the questions of the social serrvices department, called it “a go-slow, appalling result, given we’re two years down the track from that commitment”.

Government minister Tim Ayres, the minister representing at the table, pushed back on that characterisation. He said the Labor federal government had “discharged our obligations on funding ... the states are doing their best”.

We all wish they had been in a position to recruit more, more quickly. We’ve provided the funding and are looking to the states to complete their end of the bargain, which is to recruit the employees.

Ayres added the government didn’t want to “point fingers, or wander around the country looking for an argument”, but noted the states had “more work to do”.

Department officials said states were moving at a “rapid pace” to hire the outstanding workers.

Updated

Bird flu strain spreads to a third Victorian poultry farm

The supply of eggs in shops could be affected within days as a deadly bird flu strain spreads to a third Victorian poultry farm.

Avian influenza strain H7N3 has been detected at property near Meredith in the state’s south-west, sparking a safety alert for all bird owners including farmers and households with backyard chickens.

The Victorian Farmers Federation vice-president and egg farmer, Danyel Cucinotta, said the industry was doing everything possible to keep up the supply of fresh and affordable eggs.

We’re anticipating a flow-on impact to egg supplies in the coming week and are working as hard as possible to maintain availability. My advice is to shop around at your local grocer, market or small independent store to buy your eggs.

An alert issued by Agriculture Victoria states consumers should not worry about supermarket eggs and poultry products because they do not pose a risk and are safe to consume.

The latest farm caught in the outbreak is within an existing 5km exclusion zone set up after the virus was detected at a nearby property in May.

About 500,000 birds were culled after avian influenza was detected at two farms operated by Avgo and Surf Coast Eggs Farms, which share management, staff and machinery across sites in Meredith and Terang.

– AAP

Updated

Teenager pleads guilty to causing death of SA police commissioner’s son by careless driving

A teenager has pleaded guilty to causing the death of SA police commissioner Grant Stevens’ son Charlie by careless driving.

In Adelaide magistrates court on Tuesday, Dhirren Singh Randhawa pleaded guilty to one aggravated count of driving without due care.

Randhawa’s guilty plea on that charge, and a separate charge of leaving the scene of a crash after causing death, were accepted by prosecutors, who withdrew charges of dangerous driving causing death and failing to answer a question of identity regarding the driver of a vehicle.

The Encounter Bay teen struck Charlie Stevens, 18, with his car in Goolwa on 17 November last year, during Schoolies Week.

Stevens and his family were present in court for proceedings and outside court, the commissioner became emotional as he commented on the development.

Today we have come to the magistrates court and we heard Dhirren plead guilty to aggravated due care causing death and leaving the scene of the collision. I think on behalf of our family we’d like to acknowledge that Dhirren has taken responsibility for his actions, that saw us lose our son Charlie. We’ve also been handed a letter of apology and we’ll take time to read that.

Randhawa was remanded on continuing bail to appear in the district court in August for arraignment and sentencing. He faces a maximum 12-month prison term and minimum six-month licence disqualification.

– AAP

Updated

Labor MP Fiona Phillips to take extended leave after tumour removed

A Labor backbencher will take extended leave from federal parliament after being admitted to hospital to have an oral tumour removed.

Fiona Phillips, who represents the seat of Gilmore on the NSW south coast, said in a statement she was admitted to a Sydney hospital on Tuesday for surgery.

Following the surgery, I will be taking an extended period of time over the coming weeks to fully recover at home. At this stage, I do not know whether the tumour is benign or something more sinister, although tests over recent months have been as good as they can be.

Phillips has represented the electorate since 2019, retaining the seat at the 2022 election by a narrow margin in one of the tightest contests of the campaign.

The backbencher said she was looking to return to parliament as soon as possible and urged people to check up on health issues.

Don’t delay, do that regular health check. If you’re concerned about your health, see your health practitioner, it could just help save your life.

– AAP

Updated

Littleproud: phase-out of live sheep exports treats farmers ‘with contempt’

David Littleproud has accused the federal government of “treating farmers with contempt” following Labor’s announcement of an inquiry into the phase-out of the live sheep export trade.

Last week, the federal government introduced legislation to parliament formalising the end date for the export of live sheep at 1 May 2028, while flagging an inquiry into the plan.

It followed the release of an independent report commissioned by the government that found exports had been in decline for the past two decades.

Littleproud said Labor had allowed just one week for submissions and requested the committee report back in just over a fortnight, adding it “cannot possibly investigate the consequences into the phasing out of the live sheep export trade in such a short timeframe”.

The committee announced by the agriculture minister, Murray Watt, is a House of Representatives standing committee, previously flagged by the minister to be a Senate inquiry, which may travel to WA.

Littleproud:

Farmers deserve answers, because Minister Watt is now avoiding a Senate inquiry and is still unable to explain the science behind closing the industry and destroying the livelihoods of 3,000 farmers.

The transition package of $107m only includes $64.6m for sheep producers and the supply chain – it isn’t good enough … This committee will inevitably be rushed and once again cause more anxiety among farmers.

Updated

Australia’s first ‘green’ bond launched to help finance climate change projects

The federal government has announced an inaugural $7bn “green bond” in a bid to capitalise on the world’s energy market transformation.

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, the minister for climate change and energy, Chris Bowen, and the minister for environment, Tanya Plibersek, announced the bond in a joint statement this afternoon, describing it as a “major milestone” for the nation’s sustainable finance market.

The money raised from the bond will allow global investors to back government supported Australian projects directed towards “climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation and improved environmental outcomes” including green hydrogen hubs, community batteries and clean transport.

The projects supported by the bond will deliver significant environmental benefits, including lowering greenhouse gas emissions, increasing Australia’s renewable energy production and bolstering our biodiversity conservation, restoration and adaptation.

The bond demonstrates the government’s commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and the objectives of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Updated

Caitlin Cassidy will take you through the remainder of the evening, so I will hand the blog over to her.

Thank you to everyone who tuned in today so far – and it was wonderful to see so many OG readers in the comments BTL. We hope you had a great chat and thank you for your many points of view. We do read them, and it does give us food for thought.

I’ll be back early tomorrow morning for the Wednesday house sitting and continuation of estimates. Until then, take care of yourself.

Updated

Dutton says lowering ADF entry requirements ‘cheapens’ great vocation

Returning to Peter Dutton’s earlier press conference, Dutton acknowledged that successive governments haven’t invested enough in supporting the people in the Australian Defence Force and that this has likely played a role in the military recruitment problems Australia is now facing.

I think there have been many mistakes made over many decades and we need to do better to provide support to the men and women of the Australian Defence Force, those who are serving and those who have served. And to lower the standards of entry, to lower the entry requirements in the way that the government is proposing, regardless of which version you look at, that is cheapening what should be a vocation that every Australian looks up to and respects.”

The royal commission into defence and veterans’ suicide has raised serious concerns about the treatment of ADF personnel and the toll on their physical and mental health.

Dutton condemned the government for its plan to open ADF recruitment to New Zealanders, citizens of others in the Five Eyes group of countries - the United States, Britain and Canada - and possibly others, to address the shortfall in defence recruitment.

Updated

Wong’s office details visit to Honiara

Penny Wong’s office has released the official details of her trip to Honiara to meet members of the newly elected Solomon Islands government, after Simon Birmingham jumped the gun at estimates, announcing the visit a little ahead of schedule.
Birmingham agreed to put the questions aside until the media release was released. ,

Wong says:

I look forward to engaging with Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele, Foreign Minister Peter Shanel Agovaka, and other cabinet ministers to listen to their priorities and discuss our shared vision for the bilateral relationship.

The Australian government is pleased to have supported the delivery of safe and secure elections in Solomon Islands and remains committed to supporting Solomon Islands’ economic, development and security priorities.

I will visit Mbokona Community High School to see how Australian investment is strengthening education outcomes in Solomon Islands, and meet with Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme workers to hear about the economic opportunities PALM is bringing to Solomon Islands.

Updated

Going back to QT, Mike Bowers captured a few … different entrances by the Labor ministry into the chamber this afternoon.

Updated

Politicians who quote the ancients should perhaps beware the ides of March

Matt Keogh also says this is a “crossing of the Rubicon moment”, an analogy Richard Marles butchered a little earlier today, when he spoke about it being a crossing of the Rubicon (a reference to a point of no return, originally in reference to Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon river into Rome, sparking and eventually winning the Roman civil war and setting himself up as emperor) but at the same time describing it as “a dipping of our toe in the water”.

So the change is both earth shattering, but also not very earth shattering.

Perhaps they could include knowing what crossing the Rubicon actually means before anyone is allowed to use it, as part of the policy change.

Updated

Residents joining ADF would have to become citizens, says Minister for Veterans’ Affairs

Q: It’s the extra nationals beyond Five Eyes countries and potentially Pacific islanders we’re talking about, the likes, for arguments sakes, of Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai residents and Indonesians for that matter. Will they or won’t they be eligible to join this scheme at any time?

Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Matt Keogh:

That’s why we’re been very clear about New Zealand from 1 July, Five eyes from 1 January and expanding out to other countries from January but focusing often Pacific Islands.

We need to do this obviously in a measured way when you bring in other groups and as the deputy prime minister even said in question time today, the next stage would be looking at the Pacific island countries but starting with New Zealand and then Five Eyes from 1 January.

Q: I understand focusing on as we move to other categories, Pacific Island nations but exclusively Pacific island nations? When might we get to countries beyond the five eyes and the Pacific?

Keogh:

That’s something that would evolve over time if we go through but the point we’re saying today is - the key is from 1 July, New Zealand, from 1 January we expand out to the rest of the Five Eyes. We then look to our Pacific neighbours, and crucially what we’re saying here though is the way we’re doing that is looking at permanent residents. They’ve already made a commitment to Australia, they would still need to meet all the normal security requirements that would go through normal ADF obligations in terms of return of service, all those things and they’re required to become Australian citizens. That’s also crucial.

Updated

From 1 July, some New Zealanders resident in Australia can join ADF, Keogh says

Veterans’ Affairs minister Matt Keogh is now speaking to the ABC, where he seems to be cleaning up the mess his earlier comments created about the foreign nationals being eligible to apply for the ADF.

It’s been all been made very clear actually. From 1 July this year, New Zealanders who have been here as permanent residents for the last year will become eligible to join the Australian Defence Force.

From 1 January we expand that out to other Five Eyes countries.

From January we will also look to expand to other countries looking with a particular focus op Pacific Islands but that will spread out from January onwards. It’s a process.

The key thing that we were communicating today is New Zealand from July and other Five Eyes nations from 1 January.

Maybe 2 January because 1 is usually a public holiday but the key thing also is what are the criteria we’re putting around this.

This is a very sensible and considered move where you have to be already in Australia, have already been here for a year, as a permanent resident and you still have to meet all the usual vetting and security requirements including being otherwise eligible to become a citizen.

So it’s a pretty strict cohort and we’ve been very clear about that.

Yes, the media release that kicked this all off was pretty clear – the issue was Keogh then broadened it out with his comment in a press conference earlier today:

Keogh: So, from 1 July this will apply to New Zealand and from 1 January 2025 it will apply to other Five Eyes countries, and permanent residents from any other countries.

Q: So that wasn’t really answering the question, are we considering opening it up to Pacific Island countries at some point?

Keogh: Last time I checked Pacific Island countries were any other country..

Updated

Questioned on nuclear energy, Dutton asks where Labor will source its base load power

Asked where his nuclear plan is, Peter Dutton says the Coalition doesn’t dance to Chris Bowen’s tune.

Dutton:

If you have a look at where the government is at the moment, they’re not meeting their renewables targets. Prices are going up. Reliability is now questionable.

The prospect of them reaching their net zero by 2050 target diminishes as each day goes by. And you’ve got a train wreck of an energy policy from this government that is seeing manufacturing close at a threefold rate over the course of the last two years, because those companies can’t get cheap and secure energy in our country.

Now, if Chris Bowen has a proper explanation about where the base load [power] will come from, that is, if you don’t like coal and you don’t like gas (they now do like gas a little bit more than they did 12 months ago) ...

Labor governments are negotiating to extend coal-fired power stations as we speak. Where does the base load come from?

The coal-fired power stations are privately owned and had been slated for closure when the Coalition was in power. The government has released a gas strategy that says gas will form a foundational element of the transition to renewable energy up to 2050 “and beyond”.

Updated

Dutton says Albanese needs to clean up confusion about who can join ADF

In a ‘clarification’, from the defence minister’s office, from 1 January, only foreign nationals from the remaining Five Eye countries (Canada, United Kingdom, United States, with New Zealand to be opened to eligibility from 1 July) will be able to apply for the ADF.

Peter Dutton says this is not good enough.

We’re up to version 4 or 5, and we’re not even up to the nightly news. So I think we should see a paper released from the government which has some authority. If Minister Keogh doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and Richard Marles is all over the place as the deputy prime Minister and Defence Minister, well, where on earth is Anthony Albanese? Can the Prime Minister take responsibility for anything? Can he explain any public policy that they’ve put forward comprehensively? There’s no evidence of it so far.

Updated

Dutton says ICC position on Hamas and Israel ‘not objective’

Question to Peter Dutton from our Daniel Hurst:

Could you please clarify what the Coalition policy is on walking away or cutting ties with the International Criminal Court?

And secondly, your call to “put pressure on the ICC to make sure they reverse this terrible decision” regarding arrest warrants or proposed arrest warrants, how is that consistent with article 70 of the Rome Statute, which prohibits impeding or intimidating officials of the court?

Peter Dutton:

I think it’s important for Australians to have faith in a body that could ultimately decide guilt or innocence of our men and women from the Australian Defence Force.

So if they were charged with particular offences that might come before the court, we would want to have faith in the process, that there wasn’t a political influence or there wasn’t an ideological position that was being taken. We would want to have faith in the rule of law, of international rule of law being applied fairly and without discrimination. And if we didn’t have faith in that process, I’d be surprised if the prime minister signed up to that arrangement.

So I think that’s what is most important here. We want to make sure that we protect men and women of the Australian Defence Force. The Coalition has always done that, and that’s the basis … I think their position in relation to Israel is an appalling one.

And I think the decision that’s been taken is not one that’s objective – to try and provide some sort of moral equivalence between Hamas, a listed terrorist organisation, and Israel, a democratic country that lost 1,200 people who were slaughtered by that terrorist organisation and a terrorist organisation that still holds women and children in a tunnel network as hostages. I think reasonable questions are to be asked.

Donald Rothwell, a professor of international law at the Australian National University, has previously addressed the ‘moral equivalence’ line:

Rothwell said the Rome Statute “does not make a distinction between a ‘defender’ and an ‘aggressor’ when it comes to war crimes and crimes against humanity”. He said: “International humanitarian law and the enforcement mechanisms under international criminal law apply to all sides to a conflict irrespective of the rights or wrongs as to how they initially resorted to the use of armed force, including those that assert a right of self-defence.”

Updated

Hastie says Labor has ‘given up’ on attracting young Australians to ADF

Andrew Hastie explains why he doesn’t like the plan he liked a year ago, as well as saying how a Coalition government (which was in power for almost 10 years and faced pretty huge recruitment and retention issues over that decade0, would now go about attracting young people into the ADF:

Labor’s plan to recruit migrants into the defence force is a half-baked idea.

There was no debate, there was no discussion. They’ve just dropped it this morning without any notice. And I think the Australian people have a right to know exactly what their plan is from January 1st.

We’re told permanent residents who lived in Australia for a year are able to join the ADF and then within 90 days will take full citizenship. What are the security vetting processes that will be applied? Is there a return of service obligation on these people who get citizenship through the ADF?

I can tell you over the road at ADFA, cadets who study there, for every year of study they do, they pay back the Commonwealth with a year of service plus one. And we want to have clarity around this process. But what it really tells you is that Labor has given up on the task of fixing the recruitment and retention process.

They’ve given up. They’re not appealing to young Australians.

Service in the ADF is one of the most exciting, rewarding and challenging things a young Australian can do, and they have not made that argument at all.

Over the next decade and beyond we are growing our capabilities across air, sea and land. AUKUS is going to be a massive nation building endeavour.

And again, the prime minister, [and] Richard Marles, they haven’t made the argument, they haven’t appealed to young Australians. And I can tell you under a Peter Dutton led coalition government, we’ll be [telling] young Australians who want a challenge, who are tough, who are resilient, who want to serve their country, who want to undertake the most complex, demanding missions, there’s a place for you in the ADF and we’ll look after you with the right incentives. We’ll make sure your family life is balanced. We’ll make sure that you are doing rewarding work that you can believe in, and that your family can believe in, and the country will support you. That’s the point of difference between us and Labor.

Updated

Dutton on the attack, says Labor’s performance ‘a dog’s breakfast’

Peter Dutton is bringing a whole bunch of issues together to say the government is ‘losing its way’:

I think the Australian public can attest to that. There’s no Australian today who is better off than they were two years ago. The government’s presided over three budgets. They’ve forced up inflation and as the Reserve Bank governor points out, they are the masters of that inflationary environment, which is leading to higher interest rates, made it more difficult for families, more difficult for small businesses and now we’ve got Minister Marles at odds with Minister Keogh.

Dutton continues:

It’s a dog’s breakfast and it comes off the back of the most disastrous performance I’ve seen in a long time from Minister Giles, who, if that’s the ministerial standard that Anthony Albanese is prepared to set, then I don’t think a minister in the Albanese government could be sacked for anything.

What we see at the moment is a government in chaos and they’re lurching from one disaster to the next. And I think it’s no wonder that Australians are starting to lose faith in a prime minister that they see as completely weak and incompetent.

Updated

Andrew Hastie appears to be backtracking from previous support for allowing residents to join ADF

Andrew Hastie and Phil Thompson are standing behind Peter Dutton for this joint press conference in the opposition leader’s courtyard.

A reminder: Andrew Hastie was very much for the idea of recruiting people from outside Australia for the ADF when the idea was first floated a year ago.

Here is what Hastie had to say in May 2023.

Recruiting and retaining ADF personnel is going to be one of the biggest challenges going forward. It’s an intergenerational challenge for the decades to come, with no time to waste. All options need to be on the table.

Hastie said at the time that the first priority was to “emphasise the unique calling of service in the ADF”. He also called for reforms to the “antiquated career management model” within the ADF and to improve conditions. Then he said:

Finally, with immigration about to increase, we should consider opening service in ADF as an accelerated pathway to citizenship. If someone is willing to fight and die for our country, we should take them over a $5 million golden visa any day of the week. We already see plenty of Five Eyes personnel transition into the ADF. Why not consider other nationalities as well? It would have to be considered carefully, and appropriately risk managed, given the threat of espionage and foreign interference. But it should be looked at. New Australians, prepared to serve and sacrifice in uniform, are the right sort of people to whom we can offer a home.

Updated

The smart money is on the Peter Dutton joint presser being on….the proposed defence recruitment changes.

The same proposed changes that just one year ago, Andrew Hastie was in favour of, but now considers to be “watering down” ADF recruitment.

Wong says Australia is open to helping the Palestinian Authority reform itself

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has asked her department to draw up options for the Australian government to support reforms to the Palestinian Authority, as part of moves “to make a Palestinian state viable”.

At Senate estimates today, Labor senator Nita Green asked about a Guardian Australia report last week that the Palestinian Authority had asked for Australia’s help in “building vibrant democratic institutions” and fighting corruption.

Wong has pressed for reforms to the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and is dominated by Fatah, a rival to Hamas.

Green asked Wong today whether Australia was open to providing support to help the Palestinian Authority carry out reforms. Wong said, “Yes, we are,” and she added that Australia had “experience in terms of governance support or governance capacity-building in other areas”. Wong told the hearing:

As a matter of principle, if you’re serious about two states, which means a Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel, if you believe as the government does that the only path to long-term peace and security for Israelis and for Palestinians is [a] two-state [solution], then we have to do what we can to take the necessary steps, including to make a Palestinian state viable.

That’s a state that’s capable of delivering on the needs of the Palestinian people. It means capable and accountable systems of governance. You would have heard me say previously, as have others, including our American allies and friends that we want to see a reformed Palestinian Authority.

We want a Palestinian Authority that is committed to peace, a Palestinian Authority that is ready to engage in a meaningful political process. So, yes, I have asked the department to look at what role we could play in supporting this reform, to deliver to the needs of the Palestinian people

Updated

AI could help bureaucrats simplify routine tasks, government says

Patrick Gorman, the assistant minister for the public service, will deliver a speech this afternoon urging bureaucrats to embrace artificial intelligence but “use it wisely”.

In a keynote address to an AI summit hosted by the Institute of Public Administration Australia on Tuesday, Gorman will say the technology “could simplify routine tasks, allowing public servants to deliver more services and policy to better support Australians”.

The Western Australian Labor MP will point to a number of ways AI is already being used within the federal government, including playing a “key role” in the Morrison-era cyber resilience initiative, REDSPICE.

The Australian Taxation Office, Gorman will point out, is using AI to identify the “highest tax risks”, to sift through “huge numbers of highly diversified documents”, and to enable “entitlement calculation”.

Gorman will say robodebt is an important lesson for governments to learn when implementing new schemes with automated decision-making.

At every level and step, the human factor is the most important factor. Our government is committed to putting people at the centre of the decisions we make in design, policy and technology. It is against this backdrop of caution, that I am genuinely optimistic.”

To guide its use, the assistant minister will refer to five guiding principles: accountability, transparency and explainability, privacy protection and security, fairness and human-centred values and human, societal, and environmental wellbeing.

Gorman will say:

It is redefining how technology can complement humans, not replace them. What was once a concept in science fiction has today become a familiar part of everyday life. If we find the right balance, AI can similarly benefit our society and its people.”

Updated

Peter Dutton has announced a joint press conference in the opposition leaders’ courtyard for about 20 minutes time – he does not say who it is jointly being held with.

There were rumours that the nuclear policy would be announced today, but that doesn’t seem likely.

Question time ends

Thank goodness.

Two more to go.

Updated

Hastie previously said ‘all options’ should be considered to boost ADF recruitment

In the most recent question, the Coalition’s defence spokesperson, Andrew Hastie, made mention of “the government’s policy of watering down the entry requirements for service in the Australian Defence Force”. But here’s what Hastie said in early May 2023:

Recruiting and retaining ADF personnel is going to be one of the biggest challenges going forward. It’s an intergenerational challenge for the decades to come, with no time to waste. All options need to be on the table.

Hastie said at the time that the first priority was to “emphasise the unique calling of service in the ADF”. He also called for reforms to the “antiquated career management model” within the ADF and to improve conditions. Then he said:

Finally, with immigration about to increase, we should consider opening service in ADF as an accelerated pathway to citizenship. If someone is willing to fight and die for our country, we should take them over a $5 million golden visa any day of the week. We already see plenty of Five Eyes personnel transition into the ADF. Why not consider other nationalities as well? It would have to be considered carefully, and appropriately risk managed, given the threat of espionage and foreign interference. But it should be looked at. New Australians, prepared to serve and sacrifice in uniform, are the right sort of people to whom we can offer a home.

Updated

What really happened to the ABF drone fleet?

Paul Karp has gone back to the ABF estimates transcript to find out what Paul Fletcher and Clare O’Neil are going on about in their now two day back and forth:

ABF told Estimates on 23 May, 2023 and Fletcher is saying her answer implied/sounded like it was at the most recent estimates.

O’Neil says no, her statement is accurate because the most recent statement was in estimates.

Updated

Greens ask to see Labor’s anti-discrimination bill

The Greens MP for Brisbane, Stephen Bates asks Mark Dreyfus:

Attorney General, right now, LGBTQI+ people can be fired from their place of work if they come out.

The prime minister reportedly told caucus there are two ways for your government’s anti-discrimination bills to pass parliament, one with the Coalition and one with the Greens.

You’ve given the Coalition draft legislation, but not the Greens or the crossbench, despite repeated requests [to do so]. Will you commit today to providing us with a copy of the legislation so that we can work with you to pass it?

The government has said it wants bipartisan support to pass this bill, which means working with the Coalition. So far, that is going no where with the last meeting between Dreyfus and Michaelia Cash reportedly descending into a shouting match (both point the finger at the other for the shouting). So far, the Coalition is not budging, which has left the legislation stalled.

Dreyfus shows no sign of wanting to change that in this answer:

The Albanese government believes that no Australian should be discriminated against because of who they are or what they believe. The government is seeking to enhance protections in anti-discrimination law in a way that brings Australians together.

In essence, what the government wants to do is to prevent discrimination against people of faith, including vilification protections to protect all students from discrimination on any grounds and to protect teachers from discrimination at work, while maintaining the right of religious schools to preference people of their faith in the selection of staff.

It is in the interests of all Australians that there be an enduring solution that strengthens protections for all Australians, including students, teachers and people of faith. And that’s why bipartisan support is so essential. We want to get this done.

We want unity, not division. The Prime Minister has reached out to the leader of the opposition to get this done, and I continue to look forward to working with the opposition to progress legislation, if that is possible.

Updated

Senate estimates debates adequacy of commonwealth rent assistance

Back in estimates for a moment. Government minister Tim Ayres concedes there is “a lot of unmet need” among people in housing stress on government payments, as social services officials revealed about 40% of people on commonwealth rent assistance (CRA) are still in rental stress.

Senate estimates has heard that the government’s recent increases to CRA have lifted some recipients out of housing stress, defined as where housing costs exceed 30% of a household’s gross income. Officials said that, as of April 2024, 71% of CRA recipients would have been considered in rental stress before receiving that payment - with that number dropping to 40% once CRA and other payments are factored in.

The latest increase to CRA, announced in last month’s budget, is expected to reduce rental stress numbers by another 2%, government officials told estimates.

They said the goal for CRA was to reduce rental stress numbers by 25%

Independent senator David Pocock, asking questions about the program, said more should be done.

It seems like we’re leaving a lot of people behind. We were promised people wouldn’t be left behind under Labor,” he said, pointing to the number of people still left in rental stress.

Ayres, the assistant trade minister and minister representing at the table, conceded there was a lot of “unmet need” but noted recent increases by the government to the CRA, including the back-to-back increases to the payment in successive budgets.

Updated

Questions asked about Border Force drone fleet being grounded

Paul Fletcher has his Sydney University debating face on (which is different to the University of Melbourne debating face, I have learned) as he asks Clare O’Neil:

Yesterday in question time, the minister was asked if the ABF drone fleet remained grounded. The minister chuckled at the despatch box and responded, quote ‘This was dealt with by estimates, in estimates by the ABF, and I invite you to look at the transcript’. Close quotes.

The Minister knows this was not an accurate statement. Why hasn’t the Minister advised the House of her latest mistake?

O’Neil:

The shadow minister is incorrect. The last public statement on this matter was made by ABF at estimates and I’d encourage him to review the transcript.

(Yes, we are reviewing the transcript)

Updated

Brendan O’Connor says he won’t be taking anger management lessons from Dutton

Brendan O’Connor takes a dixer on the skills list – this is getting ahead of what the government predicts will be an opposition attack given the draft list includes yoga teachers ahead of construction workers.

It is a draft, not the actual list.

O’Connor gets worked up, as O’Connor is wont to do, so Peter Dutton seizes the opportunity to make a yoga joke:

Well, thank you very much, Mr Speaker. It’s on relevance. And the member started out very zen and calm, but he’s now elevated to a point where he’s quite unhinged and unhelpful for the order of the House. He wasn’t asking about alternative policies. If he could just calm down, take deep breaths, find his inner self, he could answer the question appropriately.

O’Connor:

I won’t be taking anger management lessons from the leader of the opposition, I assure you.

Updated

Giles takes advantage of being – briefly – out of the spotlight

That feeling you get when not every opposition question is aimed directly at you ...

Mike Bowers captures Andrew Giles in a moment of reflection during question time.

Updated

Mark Butler: many people with mental illness fall outside of the system

Mark Butler gives a big answer to MP Allegra Spender that takes in anti-semitism and finishes on mental health.

I want to pay tribute to her representation of a community that’s been doing it so tough, particularly over the last several months.

She and I and the leader of the opposition were at a gathering of, I think, about 10,000 members of Sydney’s Jewish community, so many of whom live in her electorate, in the days after the heinous terrorist attacks on October 7th.

And we saw first hand in those early days the grief and the horror and the trauma experienced by that community, which has been compounded by the horrific rise in antisemitism and your representation and your compassion to your community, has been extraordinary.

And on top of that, your community has had to deal with the horrific attacks at Bondi Junction and the trauma that has reverberated through your community in particular. But right through Sydney and to a degree, Australia as well. And I really appreciate the engagement that you’ve shown to our government in trying to design what supports we can to help your community through this period of trauma and grief and dislocation.

Obviously, a series of programmes that have been the subject of negotiation with the New South Wales government as well.

But you’re right to say, and family members of victims of the Bondi Junction attack have pointed to the gaps and frankly, the very large gaps in supports for people with severe and persistent mental illnesses. And this has been an enduring discussion in Australia since the deinstitutionalisation processes of 30 years ago.

Frankly, many people with severe and persistent mental illness, including psychotic disorders, received terrific supports from the NDIS. But too many we know fall outside of that system. Many of the psychosocial programmes that were in place before the NDIS were rolled into that scheme, and frankly, we’re just really trying to hold up that population through schemes that are intended to operate for a period of time while we design an alternative set of arrangements.

They in many cases are not cracks. They are very big chasms for support. States are undertaking unmet needs analysis as part of an agreement with the former government that I applaud … and we know this is going to number tens of thousands of Australians not getting the support that they need.

This will be a very big focus of the foundational supports process that the Minister for Social Services is leading with states and territories. We’re trying to do what we can through the strengthening Medicare. I see the New South Wales government made some announcements today for additional supports following Premier Minns’ commitment as part of the coronial inquest to do better, as the Prime Minister said, for us to do better for a group that frankly has not been sufficiently supported in the past 30 years, in spite of the broad promises to do so. I thank the member for her engagement on this important issue.

Updated

Wentworth MP asks what the government is doing to fix the mental health system

Allegra Spender asks Mark Butler:

The senseless attack at Bondi Junction on April 13th left six people dead and my community traumatised.

The perpetrator experienced severe mental health problems and had fallen through the cracks of our mental health system. Since the attack, I have been contacted by the family and friends of many others experiencing complex mental health conditions. They are desperately worried about their loved ones and they are crying out for more support. What is the government doing to support those with the most complex conditions and to fix our broken mental health system?

The NSW government has announced a $111m budget boost for mental health spending, which will see community mental health teams receive funding for an additional 35 staff, including in regional areas.

Updated

Question time turns its attention to cost-of-living crisis

Not sure I will call it as official yet –but from these questions, it appears the opposition has moved on from Andrew Giles and onto the cost of living.

It is the number one issue on voters’ minds, according to the polls and their own focus groups, and it seems the coalition may have got that memo.

Melissa Price asks Jim Chalmers:

Data from WA’s consumer price index shows those costs have risen sharply in regional WA.

Halls Creek residents told to ABC News and I quote, ‘We could not even buy the food to keep them going because it is too expensive’. Will the Treasurer finally admits Labor’s inflation is homegrown?

Jim Chalmers:

A couple of important points about the question. As I acknowledged in the answer a moment ago, we know that people are under pressure whether in WA [or] around Australia.

Inflation was much higher when those opposite were in office but it is still too high now. That is why our budget is so focused on making sure we are providing cost of living help to people.

If the honorary member were serious about these cost-of-living pressures, she would enthusiastically support our efforts to give a tax cut to every taxpayer in her community and right around Australia.

If [she] are serious about these cost-of-living pressures, she would enthusiastically support our energy bill relief for every household and in her community.

She would enthusiastically support an increase to the minimum wage, enthusiastically support our efforts to make medicine cheaper, enthusiastically support our efforts to cut student debt for students right around Australia.

We know people are doing it tough, we know that people are under the pump, and that is why our budget was so focused on fighting inflation without smashing the economy and a key part of that, arguably the most important part, is cost-of-living relief right around the country, including in WA.

Probably no budget, certainly not what I have been here in the last couple of decades, has been more focused on the vast economic and industrial opportunities of the Western Australian people and workers and businesses and investors.

It beggars belief from a party that pretends to support Western Australia that since we released the budget, with all of its focus on WA industries, that those opposite [can’t] find it within themselves to support them.

Updated

Taylor says Australian inflation ‘homegrown’; Chalmers defends government record

The shadow treasurer Angus Taylor gets a cheer from the Labor benches when he says he has a question for the treasurer (this is an old joke about Taylor rarely addressing questions directly to Jim Chalmers. It does not take much to excite the chamber)

Taylor:

The latest ABS monthly data shows domestic inflation is growing at five times imported inflation. It also shows core inflation increase to 4.1% in April, which is higher than the UK, the US, Japan, Canada and the euro area. After three failed Labor budgets driving up the price of groceries, electricity and mortgages, [will] the Treasurer finally admit, as the RBA Governor pointed out, that inflation is homegrown?

(There are multiple reasons for the increase in groceries, electricity and mortgages, but the ABS has not suggested the budgets are to blame, and in the case of electricity, has reported the energy intervention meant energy inflation was lower than otherwise would have been the case).

Chalmers:

If he is angry at inflation with a three in front of it, he must be absolutely filthy about the six [The Coalition] left us with.

When we came to office, inflation had a six in front of it; it now has a three in front of it, but it is still too high.

We acknowledge it is still too high with a three but it is almost half what we inherited from those [opposite].

It explains why the shadow treasurer hardly ever gets any questions, because the truth is when we came to office there were bigger deficits, more than $1tn in Liberal debt. We are paying too much interest on the debts, we had almost nothing to show for all the waste and rorts for which the shadow treasurer was the poster child. We have spent two years cleaning up the mess that we inherited.

Taylor wants Chalmers to return to the question (he uses a lot more words to say this)

Chalmers:

Without a hint of self-awareness, the shadow treasurer talks about something that sunk without a trace. The least relevant person in the parliament wants to get up and talk about relevance.

Updated

Asic questioned about PwC tax scandal

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is among the regulators grilled at today’s Senate estimates, with Greens senator Barbara Pocock keen to get the commission’s view about new aspects of the PwC tax scandal.

Asic, as you might recall, barred PwC’s Peter Collins from advising for eight years after he was accused of sharing confidential government information about multinational tax avoidance with his colleagues.

The issue remains topical, not least because a Senate inquiry into consultants - led in part by Pocock - is due to release its final report on 12 June.

In separate answers to questions on notice from the Australian Taxation Office (and seen by Guardian Australia), Jeremy Hirschhorn, ATO’s second commissioner, was stated as reading out “several representative PwC emails to Mr [Luke] Sayers” about its concerns. (The AFR reported this part on Monday.)

“Mr Luke Sayers’ constant response throughout this series of events is ‘I have no memory’. How plausible do you think that position is?” Pocock queried the Asic chair, Joe Longo, noting Sayers was paid $30m over eight years.

“I’m not in a position to comment one way or the other as to who’s telling the truth,” Longo said. “But certainly, from my perspective, on the face of it, it’s a very serious situation.”

Those answers to questions on notice from Hirschhorn’s August 2019 meeting with Sayers include assessments that Pocock’s office reckons warrant further investigation.

These include “assisting clients in the preparation of responses to Request for Information (RFI) notices for clients, where material in those responses was false or misleading to the knowledge of the PwC staff involved”, as stated in the ATO answers.

Also, “involvement in Foreign Investment Review Board approval processes on behalf of clients which, through omission and commission, had the potential to mislead or subvert those processes”.

While it is too late for that information to be probed by the Senate inquiry, a separate inquiry into corporations, led by Pocock’s co-investigator into consultancies, Labor’s Deb O’Neill, might get a chance to cast its net a little wider.

Updated

Dan Tehan asks about another non-citizen with criminal background

The West Australian newspaper has just published a report that yesterday another non-citizen described as having a long criminal history including kidnapping, reckless conduct endangering life and being a reported associate of Tony Mokbel, has escaped deportation because of ministerial direction 99. Minister, have you cancelled his visa?

Andrew Giles:

I have, as of last week, cancelled 35 visas and there are more under review. I am aware of the case that the shadow minister refers to, which was decided by the ATT yesterday, and it is under consideration in accordance with the national interest.

I note again, though, that these are cases where my department had maintained the cancellation of the visa under the ministerial direction unlike under the Leader of the Opposition, where there were 1,298. And yesterday the Prime Minister went to one of those criminal offences [concerning] a girl under 14. The opposition don’t want to talk about it and they don’t want to hear about this Speaker. I wonder why not! (He is very cranky as he says this)

Tehan raises a point of order on relevance. Tony Burke says compare and contrast is normal. Paul Fletcher says it’s not. Tehan is back and says his question was about ministerial direction 99. Milton Dick politely tells him to sit down.

Giles returns:

I say again I’m aware of the case that the shadow minister referred to. It was a decision handed down by the AAT yesterday. It is under consideration in accordance with the national interest.

I also say that there are other cases which have been rejected … overturned by the AAT, in particular, the one the Prime Minister referred to in question time yesterday. This is the case where the opposition leader failed to do anything after the AAT overturned a decision and it’s now alleged the individual in question went on to reoffend very, very seriously.

On Saturday I did what the Opposition Leader should have done and cancelled this individual’s visa.

Updated

Migration priority skills list still a work in progress

It always pays to remember that when it comes to the skills list there are several drafts before there is the final list. Industries can submit what they see as the skills shortages, which are then compiled into the draft skills occupation lists, and those drafts are open for consultation. At the end of the consultation, the skills list is finalised and released.

Updated

Does the skilled migration list bend over backwards for yoga teachers?

Coalition MPs are exercised about news reports today that a draft government list of priority occupations for working visas puts yoga teachers ahead of painters, roof tilers and stonemasons.

Peter Dutton’s address to the weekly coalition party room meeting earlier today made mention of the government failing to manage the skilled migration list, prompting calls from the floor highlighting the apparent importance of yoga teachers.

This may not be the last we hear this week about those in the strength and flexibility business. Nor of yoga teachers either.

Updated

Goldstein MP Zoe Daniel: domestic violence victims don’t get adequate legal support

My question is to the Attorney-General. Women across Australia are not getting the legal support they need to recover from family, sexual or domestic violence. The independent review of the National Legal Assistance Partnership released last week has recommended funding for a women’s legal service separate from the general community legal centres stream. A dedicated funding stream would ensure legal assistance reaches victim survivors of gendered violence. Will the government support this recommendation?

Mark Dreyfus:

The Albanese government recognises the pressures that all legal assistance services, including women’s legal services, are under and the importance of strengthening the sector.

Legal assistance is essential to ensuring access to justice and equality before the law. Since becoming Attorney-General, and while in opposition, I visited many women’s legal services across the country. I know how hard they work. I know the importance of the work that they do for women fleeing violence; women’s legal services provide advice and support to keep them from harm.

The national legal assistance partnership between the government and states and territories is a five-year agreement to fund vital legal assistance services for the most vulnerable Australians, including women’s legal services.

It expires on 30 June 2025. Dr Warren Mundy was commissioned jointly by the commonwealth with the states and territories to review the current agreement and to make recommendations to inform the new agreement.

The review has now been publicly released. It will help inform the negotiations for the new partnership agreement, which is due to commence on 1 July 2025.

Negotiations with the states and territories will continue over coming months to shape the new agreement. I would note that $44.1m of urgent funding was announced in the budget for the legal assistance sector. The government understands absolutely that this will not fix all of the issues currently facing the sector, but it is an acknowledgement of the resources and workforce issues. It’s intended to directly assist with wage parity issues that have beset the sector for some time. This urgent funding will go to relieve some of the pressures until the commencement of the next partnership agreement.

Updated

Shorten agrees there is fraud within the NDIS, says government is addressing it

Michael Sukkar has the next non-dixer and asks Bill Shorten:

My question’s to the minister for the NDIS and government services. With shocking revelations out of budget estimates last night that illicit drugs such as heroin, cocaine, speed and ice are being trafficked through the NDIS, with the NDIA officials admitting “You name it, it’s on the list”, why has the minister allowed illegal drugs to be trafficked to Australia’s most vulnerable and paid for by taxpayers under the scheme that you designed?

Shorten:

I want to acknowledge the member for Deakin’s inaugural question to me on the NDIS in this term of government. The NDIS is changing lives and I actually think that most members of the House are very committed to seeing the NDIS deliver the outcomes that it was designed to deliver for people with disability. But the NDIS needs to be got back on track. And the member goes to one of the questions about the future of the scheme, which is making sure that every dollar gets through to the patients for whom it’s designed.

I agree that there are issues in terms of fraud in the scheme, but these issues of fraud did not start yesterday. The reality is that this scheme was initiated by Labor and then the Liberals came into power and there’s no doubt that they increased the size of the scheme. But the problem with what they did is, I would have to mark their stewardship of the scheme as incompetent and naive because they failed to create systems.

There is a point of order on relevance, which is not a point of order. Milton Dick has had enough of points of order being used for grandstanding and says he will once again kick people out for abusing the standing orders (Ted O’Brien got that treatment yesterday)

Shorten eventually gets to the heart of the question:

We are getting on with fixing up the fraud. We have got about 500 plus investigations of compliance matters under investigation. We have 222 investigations under way. We have 20 prosecutions in the court. We have another 12 matters currently with the DPP to consider.

And, clearly, anyone claiming items which are not allowed under the scheme, it is illegal. The one difference between us and those people opposite is we are doing something about fixing up the scheme. You did nothing!

Updated

Question time begins

Question time opens with a story just been published in the Australian newspaper headlined Giles boasted of ‘obligations’ to foreign criminals.

The story is about Andrew Giles speaking to the Refugee Council on 22 November, about the obligations Australia has to people who may have spent most of their life in Australia, yet don’t have Australian citizenship, and so are deported if they commit a crime. The rule applied mostly to New Zealand citizens (and of that cohort, it was mostly for drug offences) and came two months before Giles issued direction 99, which asked review tribunals to consider ties to the Australian community, as well as community safety, before making judgements.

None of this is new. We knew that it was New Zealand citizens raised in Australia who were the reason for the ‘common sense’ directive to have their ties to Australia considered when their visa was under review.

Giles responds to Dan Tehan’s question about Australia’s obligation to foreign criminals.

A short time ago I spoke with New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters. I spoke to him about the changes our government will soon be making to strengthen community safety in Australia.

I said to him that direction 99 has not been working as intended and that we will be revoking ministerial direction 99 and issuing a new revised direction to make sure that the protection of the Australian community outweighs all other considerations.

Updated

We are a couple minutes out from question time, which means we are being inflicted with the 90-second statements. A 90-second statement feels like at least 900 seconds, so it’s going really well so far.

Updated

Bird flu detected at third property in Victoria

A strain of avian influenza known as H7N3 has been detected at a third property in Victoria, two weeks after it was discovered at an egg farm near Meredith.

The new property is within the 5km restricted area around the Meredith property, in the Golden Plains shire in western Victoria. All birds within the restricted area must be kept in enclosed cages or sheds, as much as is practical, to stop the spread.

In a statement this morning, Agriculture Victoria said the virus at the third property had been identified as the same strain of high pathogenicity H7N3 as at the Meredith property.

Another property at Terang, 130km away, which shares ownership with the Meredith property, was identified as having the H7N9 strain.

The H5N1 strain of avian influenza, which has caused havoc around the globe, has yet to be identified in a bird or other wildlife in Australia.

Poultry farmers and anyone who owns birds, backyard chickens or otherwise, have been urged to report any sudden and unexplained deaths to a 24-hour emergency hotline on 1800 226 226.

Updated

Dutton assures MPs in redrawn seats they have Coalition’s ‘united’ support

Peter Dutton has reminded his coalition colleagues about the need for unity in the wake of redrawn electoral boundaries in key seats in Victoria and Western Australia and ahead of the same in New South Wales, expected on Friday.

Dutton assured colleagues whose seat margins have been reduced by the boundary changes, driven by population shifts, that they have the Coalition’s full backing, singling out the Liberal members for the outer-Melbourne seats of Deakin and Menzies, in particular.

He told the weekly meeting of coalition MPs on Tuesday that those most directly affected could expect solid support, referring specifically to MPs Michael Sukkar and Keith Wolahan.

We’ll work through it, be united about it and look after and support our colleagues impacted by it,” Dutton said.

It’s understood he did not specifically mention the seat of Kooyong, which was the subject of 48 hours of speculation about the possible return of ousted former treasurer Josh Frydenberg.

The boundaries in Kooyong, which teal independent Monique Ryan won from Frydenberg in 2022, were also affected in the redistribution, prompting commentary that it might now be easier for the Liberals to win back.

Frydenberg chose not to contest the preselection in March and 31-year-old Amelia Hamer was chosen as the candidate for the next federal election.

The redrawn boundaries prompted some prominent Liberals to call over the weekend for the preselection to be reopened, heralding a Frydenberg return.

On Monday, Frydenberg ruled it out and backed Hamer.

But the prospect of ousting a young woman for a man drew a backlash from other Liberals, ahead of Dutton’s pledge on Tuesday about offering incumbents “united” support.

The opposition leader old his colleagues the government had “lost its way” on so many economic issues – naming energy, productivity and industrial relations – that it was an “embarrassment of riches” for the opposition.

Updated

ADF recruitment an on-going issue, fatigue from natural disaster responses

The issues surrounding ADF recruitment are not new.

In March 2022, the former prime minister Scott Morrison announced an increase to the ADF of 18,500 personnel by 2040.

Questions were immediately raised about where those ADF personnel would come from.

In October 2022, the ADF announced new perks in a bid to try and attract additional recruits.

In November 2023, an inquiry found fatigue from repeated deployment as part of Australia’s natural disaster response was contributing to retention issues, and that recruitment had been an on-going issue.

Opening up recruitment to permanent residents has been discussed for some time, and as you can see from our earlier blog posts, shadow defence minister Andrew Hastie was all for the idea just last year.

Updated

Coalition responds to news of ADF opening up recruitment to foreign nationals permanently residing in Australia

The Coalition has announced its position on the news the government will be opening up ADF recruitment to permanent residents (New Zealand first, then the remaining Five Eyes nations – Canada, the UK and the US – and other foreign nationals who meet the security and permanent residency requirements).

Andrew Hastie (and Phil Thompson) say:

We want to see more Australians serving in the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

That should be the priority.

However, less than one month after Labor’s Budget revealed an ADF personnel shortfall of 5,000 people, the Albanese Government has given up on addressing the domestic recruitment problem.

It’s clear that Labor isn’t revealing the full extent of their plan, with the Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans’ Affairs stating in a media interview that from next year, “any permanent resident in Australia…” would be able to apply.

This contradicts Labor’s media release which appears to limit eligibility to permanent residents from New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.

Which further conflicts with media reporting on the policy including citizens from Pacific Islands.

The original release from Richard Marles and Matt Keogh said:

Defence is expanding the eligibility criteria to enable more people to join the ADF, including permanent residents who have been living in Australia for 12 months.

Under this expanded criteria, from July 2024, eligible New Zealanders who are living in Australia can apply to join the ADF.

Additionally, from January 2025, eligible permanent residents from the United Kingdom, United States and Canada will also be able to apply to join the ADF.

As well as meeting ADF entry standards and security requirements, permanent residents wishing to join the ADF must have lived in Australia for at least one year immediately prior to applying, not have served in a foreign military in the preceding two years, and be able to attain Australian citizenship.

Keogh later clarified it was anyone who met the permanent resident and ADF requirements.

In May 2023, Hastie was all for the plan to recruit people from overseas into the ADF. He told the SMH:

… With immigration about to increase, we should consider opening service in the ADF as an accelerated pathway to citizenship.

If someone is willing to fight and die for our country we should take them over a $5 million golden visa any day of the week.

Updated

‘For defence ministers, Shangri-La is a bit like Disneyland’, Marles says of strategic policy forum

Richard Marles was speaking at a panel discussion with Justin Bassi, who is the head of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and a former chief of staff to Marise Payne.

It appears Marles is loving his job as defence minister. Asked about his recent trip to Singapore for the Shangri-La Dialogue (a high-level strategic policy forum that draws defence ministers from all around the region, including China and the US), Marles said:

Shangri-La was awesome, as always. I think for defence ministers, Shangri-La is a bit like Disneyland … the happiest place on earth.

During his time there, Marles delivered a speech in which he stressed the need to uphold the global “rules-based order” and for China to reassure the region about its intent:

What I was really trying to say is we talk about the rules-based order a lot. I worry now that it’s becoming a phrase … which people are tired with, and want to move beyond … but we can’t. It is the fundamental platform, I reckon, of our both our national interest, prosperity and our national security. And it is because of who we are, as a trading nation and an island, where we are highly reliant on sea lines of communication, principally, but also our air lines of communication, in order to get on with our business …

We are particularly as a nation … deeply invested in the rules-based order. And so it’s not a concept that people can get tired with.

Updated

‘Crossing of a Rubicon … in a pretty limited way’: Marles mixes metaphors on defence announcement

The defence minister, Richard Marles, has spoken at a defence conference hosted by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. We’ll get to the substance shortly, but first we should point out that he deployed and mixed and matched a few metaphors.

Speaking about the plan to open up the Australian defence force to permanent residents of other countries, starting with New Zealand, Marles told the audience:

Today we believe we have announced what does represent a crossing of the Rubicon for Australia – and that is opening the door to non-Australian citizens serving in the defence force.

A quick refresher from National Geographic:

On January 10, 49 B.C.E., General Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon, a stream separating Rome from the province of Gaul. Crossing the Rubicon began a civil war that would end the Roman Republic.

Later Marles returned to the same metaphor, but this time rather than actually crossing the Rubicon it was just dipping a toe in the water:

I think we do need to be crossing this Rubicon of opening ourselves up to this a bit, if we not only want to retain our defence force or get to the funded level of it, but more significantly, grow the defence force as it is planned to grow through to 2040. So today is actually quite a big step that we’ve taken. I’d described it as a dipping of our toe in the water, but this is a pretty significant body of water we’re dipping our toe into today.

Dare we say it’s beginning to sound more like a Hokey Pokey?

Later at a doorstop press conference, Marles said “we are crossing the Rubicon” and returned to the theme again later:

It’s a significant crossing of a Rubicon today. But we’re doing it in a pretty limited way at the moment.

Updated

Bill Shorten to attend Ukrainian peace summit in Switzerland later this month

In case you missed it, Bill Shorten is being sent to the Ukrainian peace summit, where he will represent Australia.

Ukraine has invited leaders from across the globe to attend the summit, which will be held in Switzerland later this month, to discuss the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Penny Wong confirmed yesterday that Shorten, as a former leader of the Labor party, a senior minister and a supporter of Ukraine, was the right person to attend, despite not sitting on the national security committee.

Simon Birmingham, speaking to Sky News, was not too sure:

I don’t doubt for a second Bill Shorten’s commitment and support for Ukraine, but he’s the minister for the national disability insurance scheme. Where on earth are any of the members of the national security committee of cabinet? It should be an NSC member going to represent Australia at the Ukraine peace summit, not the NDIS minister. Bill Shorten no doubt will have a great speech when he gets there from his $600,000 speechwriter. But why isn’t it a security or defence minister or a foreign minister, rather than the NDIS minister? Who just speaks to the chaos and dysfunction that seems to be pervading the Albanese government. An immigration minister who’s dreaming of drones or UFOs in the sky, and the NDIS minister off to a war and peace summit. It doesn’t make any sense.

Updated

Labor ministers present united message on issue of $300,000-a-year speechwriter

The messaging among Labor ministers over who’s behind the decision to contract a speechwriter for the NDIS minister, Bill Shorten, for more than $600,000 over a two-year period is strong today.

As we heard in Senate estimates on Monday, Julianne Stewart, a former speechwriter for four prime ministers, including Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull, was contracted to write speeches for the minister and his agency, Services Australia. Stewart has been paid $447,516, excluding GST, so far.

This morning, we’ve already heard from the workplace relations minister, Tony Burke, and the energy minister, Chris Bowen, who have been quick to point out Shorten played no role in contracting Stewart for the gig.

The veterans’ affairs minister, Matt Keogh, was similarly on the defence this morning on 6PR Perth radio, adding he’s “pretty convinced” Shorten writes all his own zingers.

I’m pretty convinced that Bill writes all his own zingers but this was contracted through Services Australia, not NDIS and it’s not contracted to Bill and this is a person that’s providing a range of communication services to Services Australia and they may well also be doing some speech writing but the engagement of a contract, whether it’s a contractor or a public servant or whatever performing that role, is a matter for Services Australia. That’s not something ministers decide on.”

Updated

Here is a small moment of levity from Senate estimates.

It seems Liberal senator Jane Hume was feeling a little … reflective a little earlier in the hearing. (Don’t worry, it’s just about the gym).

Updated

Greens continue campaign against ‘indiscriminate’ shark nets

The Greens oceans spokesperson, Peter Whish-Wilson, is continuing to campaign against the use of shark nets on Australian beaches.

Whish-Wilson says the federal government should lift the exemptions that allow states to use the nets despite the risk to federally protected species and modernise their beach protection methods.

Updated

Falun Gong protest on Parliament House lawns

There’s also been a Falun Gong protest at Parliament House. About 200 protesters attended and they were addressed by a man named ‘Eric’ who defected from China’s secret police.

Updated

Horse activists say nay to brumbie culls on Parliament House lawn

There have been a variety of protests outside the parliament today, including a group protesting against the shooting of brumbies in the Snowy Mountains.

The group say the cull is inhumane and used horses to show where they have found bullet wounds on horses – Merlin here is being used as the proxy – red crosses show where they have found bullet holes, where the blue cross is where they are supposed to be shot.

It is not the first time protesters have brought horses to parliament and it won’t be the last.

Updated

Outlook dire after March quarter GDP figures land

The final instalments of the March quarter GDP are mostly in (consumption is always a bit tricky to calculate) and the outlook looks a bit dire.

It won’t be a surprise to see a negative result tomorrow, at least on a quarter by quarter basis, when the numbers land at 11.30am Aedt. Should the December quarter’s meagre 0.2% GDP growth rate be revised lower, might be looking at - gasp - two negative quarters in a row: cue “recession” headlines.

What we learned today was that the current account balance tracking our trade [index] fell from a revised $2.7bn surplus to a deficit of $4.9bn. According to the ABS, that swing will lop 0.9 percentage points from the quarterly growth figure alone.

More government spending will trim some of that decline, with total public demand adding about 0.2pp to quarterly growth. Inventories, too, should help a bit as firms built up stocks by about 1.3% in the quarter.

Economists will be crunching the numbers but it’s likely NAB, which had predicted no growth in the quarter prior to today’s data dump, will be predicting a contraction. ANZ and Westpac, which had forecast 0.3% growth, will also be trimming their estimates, as will CBA with its 0.1% preliminary estimate.

In terms of year on year, the bank had forecast GDP would be in the order of 1.1%-1.3%, already quite weak. That range, too, might get a revision lower.

Of course, recessions, technical or otherwise, don’t mean a lot to households. Excluding population growth, per capita GDP has been flat or shrinking since the start of 2023 and that trend looks certain to have extended into the March quarter.

Not such a soft landing for the economy, then, nor the right setting for a 14th Reserve Bank interest rate rise either.

Updated

Shadow foreign affairs minister says Australian passport price hikes will make it ‘most expensive in the world’

Simon Birmingham says the Australian passport is now “the world’s most expensive” following the 15% increase to passport renewal costs, which Birmingham calls “a $349m backdoor tax”.

From 1 July, Labor will have twice hiked up the price of passports for Australians this year, with a standard adult passport going up from $325 at the start of 2024, to $346 when standard indexation was applied in January, and to $398 on 1 July after Labor’s extra 15% tax. That’s a total increase of 22.5%.

Independent analysis found that after the January price hike, Australian passports were the second most expensive in the world, just behind Mexico.

Anthony Albanese’s new 15% passport tax will make the Australian passport the most expensive in the world at $398, ahead of Mexico at $346 and the United States at a comparatively modest A$252.

Birmingham says the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO), on the Australian passport office, “revealed that passport processing per FTE is 56% lower than pre-pandemic levels”.

Updated

Officials tell Senate estimates consular assistance to HK detainee was blocked

Australian officials say they have repeatedly been blocked from having consular access to Gordon Ng, a Hong Kong-Australian dual national detained in Hong Kong.

Here is how that exchange played out in estimates:

Updated

Government accepts all 32 recommendations from aged care review

The aged care minister, Anika Wells, says the government will accept all 32 recommendations of the independent capability review of the aged care quality and safety commission.

From Wells’ statement:

Since the Government received and published the final report last year, a senior-level Implementation Steering Committee has been established in line with recommendation 2.1.

The statement goes on to say the government has funded delivery of priority areas including:

  • $25.3m, to assist the commission to undertake its core regulatory functions and respond to two early recommendations from the review’s preliminary report (Recs 4.11 and 4.13);

  • $69.4m for critical ICT and cybersecurity uplift (Recs 4.9 and 4.10);

  • $4.1 to implement a new organisational structure (Recs 4.3 and 4.8);

  • $7.1 to continue funding for the aged care complaints commissioner and associated complaints resolution staff (Rec 5.7), and;

  • $10.2 for additional corporate capability to implement the government response.

Updated

House of Representatives sitting underway

The House bells are ringing signalling the start of the sitting.

Seems like the MPs are a bit busy today – there are not too many members in the chamber for the opening prayers (but enough for a quorum).

Updated

The House sitting is about to get underway (midday).

You can find the daily business list here.

Updated

A quick explainer on how Senate estimates works

I’ve just had a read through some of your comments below the line (*waves*) and thought it might be handy to have a bit of a primer on how Senate estimates works.

The Senate is the chamber of accountability. Given that the House of Representatives is controlled by the political party with the most seats, the Senate’s job is to have a look at what the government is doing.

(It is rare for the government to also control the Senate. The Howard government had a brief window of Senate control in 2005-07, but that is an exception.)

Back in the 1960s, the Senate decided to start looking at proposed government spending as a whole – and after a few bumps, Senate estimates was born.

Established Senate committees review each department, but because house MPs cannot cross into the Senate (on rare occasions, members from each chamber are invited to come sit on the sidelines), ministers from the lower house are represented by a minister from the Senate. This is the same for Senate (and house) question time.

Any senator can come and sit on any committee – you have the usual membership, but you will have noticed a few senators roving from committee to committee. Each senator usually has their own favourite topics (you’ll see Malcolm Roberts and Gerard Rennick at every BoM hearing for instance) and senators can ask departmental heads pretty much anything they like, as long as it relates to their department and their responsibilities.

So you won’t see house MPs in Senate estimates – but the tactics of how to handle the hearings are an all in – House and Senate – which is why you might hear some of the House MPs’ areas of interest prosecuted by their Senate colleagues in a hearing.

Updated

PM denounces protests targeting MPs’ offices in caucus meeting

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has addressed Labor caucus denouncing protests targeting MPs’ electorate offices.

He said that actions “to intimidate” staff had “no place in a democracy”. Albanese criticised the fact that constituents were “blocked from getting help” on social security and migration matters and called out the Greens for encouraging the blockade.

There were three comments from MPs present:

  • One thanking the prime minister for his comments on the security issues at electorate offices, referring to staff having been assaulted.

  • The second congratulating Penny Wong on calling out Greens behaviour, and adding that Muslims leaders are distancing themselves from violent protests.

  • The third saying they had to close their office over another protest that the Greens were involved with, and referring to “extreme misinformation” fuelling the level of anger.

Earlier, Albanese lauded the Fair Work Commission’s 3.75% increase in the minimum wage. In total, three increases since Labor was elected in May 2022 have lifted the minimum wage by $143 a week, which Albanese said means people are “earning more and keeping more of what they earn” due to income tax cuts.

Albanese also criticised the Coalition’s nuclear policy, saying there is “no detail” and it is “friendless”. Peter Dutton couldn’t announce the policy without dividing his party, Albanese said, and added that if it were such a good idea, the Coalition would have done it in its decade in office.

Updated

Bowen defends $300,000-a-year speechwriter contracted by Services Australia

Tony Burke wasn’t the only Labor frontbencher out this morning to defend details emerging out of Senate estimates yesterday that Bill Shorten’s speechwriter was offered a $300,000-a-year contract.

The energy minister, Chris Bowen, told ABC radio this morning the millions of people who talk to Services Australia “need things explained to them” and that it’s “pretty damn important” to communicate how the social security system works and how it affects them.

Bowen said this when asked if the contract was “excessive”:

Well, this was the process that the market delivered to deliver a communications specialist for a very important government agency which communicates with millions of people on a daily basis.
I mean the number of people who talk to Services Australia about their issues and need things explained to them ‑ it literally runs for millions of people, and speeches and communications from that agency, Services Australia, are pretty damn important in communicating with those people who have questions about how Australia’s Social Security system works, and the impact on them.

Updated

Over in Dfat estimates, Liberal senator Dave Sharma has raised the letter signed by public servants calling on the government “to cease supplying all military parts and weapons to Israel”.

Apparently there are some Dfat employees on the list.

Belinda Casson says Dfat has reminded staff of APS values on impartiality.

Updated

Tony Burke chalks $300,000-a-year contract for speechwriter up to ‘labour shortages’

The workplace relations minister, Tony Burke, says “labour shortages” are behind why a speechwriter for the government services minister, Bill Shorten, was contracted for more than $300,000 a year, despite Services Australia employing almost 200 media and communication staff.

At Senate estimates on Monday, Services Australia confirmed Julianne Stewart, a former speechwriter for four prime ministers, including Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull, was contracted to write speeches for the minister and the agency for a two-year period. Stewart has been paid $447,516, excluding GST, so far.

Last night on Nine’s A Current Affairs, Shorten denied being involved in the contract negotiation, calling the media attention “cheap Liberal tactic”.

The person involved, who is a speechwriter, does a very good job. I’m not responsible for negotiating a contract.

Burke on Tuesday morning told ABC Radio the high amount was due to labour shortages, conceding the role wouldn’t ordinarily be paid that much.

At a time of labour shortage you keep ending up with situations where various professions are getting more money than would otherwise be paid when there’s labour shortage. The department’s made that decision … Would that job ordinarily be paid that amount? Absolutely not. For the exact reasons that I’ve explained, that’s why it landed in the place that it did.

Updated

There is a large Falun Gong protest out the front of the parliament this morning, with at least 100 people sitting in silence, dressed in yellow.

The first of the party room meetings has broken – Labor caucus is all done and dusted.

We’ll have an update on what went on there very soon.

Austrac launches financial crime guide to help stop exploitation of ‘money mules’

The Australian transaction reports and analysis centre (better known as Austrac) which is the financial arm of the security agency (monitoring financial transactions to catch money laundering etc) has set up a new financial crime guide which it hopes will help businesses work out when they are being used by criminal networks.

The focus is on “vulnerable international students” and temporary residents who could be targeted by international criminal gangs to act as “money mules”.

​A money mule is the go-between for criminals who have obtained funds illegally. Criminal networks often seek to exploit vulnerable members of the community to move the proceeds of crime and to launder illicit funds on their behalf. They do this to create distance between themselves and the crime, and to help avoid detection by law enforcement.

Criminal networks are known to target international students and other temporary residents as money mules, offering them a way to make money while living in Australia. Some money mules are unaware this activity is illegal, often believing their facilitation of fund transfers constitutes legitimate employment.

​Austrac hopes the guide will help businesses report suspect activity. You’ll find it here.

Updated

Australian officials denied access to dual national detained in Hong Kong despite ‘at least 14 requests’, Senate told

Australian officials say they have repeatedly been blocked from having consular access to Gordon Ng, a Hong Kong-Australian dual national detained in Hong Kong.

Ng was one of 14 defendants found guilty of national security-related offences by a Hong Kong court last week. It was the biggest case against pro-democracy campaigners – against a group known as the “Hong Kong 47” – since China imposed a sweeping national security law.

Ng pleaded not guilty.

Madeleine Casey, the assistant secretary of consular operations at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, told a Senate estimates committee hearing:

We have made several representations in relation to Gordon Ng. We have requested at least 14 times consular access but at this stage we have still not been granted access to him.

Officials confirmed that the local authorities were denying Australia consular access to Ng because he is a dual citizen.

But Casey said Australia would “continue to advocate for access to him”.

She said despite the lack of direct consular access, consular officials did attend court on 30 May for the verdict.

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said last week the Australian government was “deeply concerned” by the verdicts and continued to have “strong objections” about “the continuing broad application of national security legislation to arrest and pressure pro-democracy figures, opposition groups, media, trade unions and civil society”.

My colleague Helen Davidson wrote this piece on these latest cases:

Updated

Sky News asks Matt Keogh whether he is interested in immigration minister role

Sky News has already begun scouting for a replacement for Andrew Giles as immigration minister, asking veterans affairs minister Matt Keogh if he would want the job.

Once referred to as a “hipster lawyer” by Julie Bishop, Keogh has been working his way up through Labor ranks and is from the Labor right faction (Giles is in the left).

Asked if he was interested in the job (which would be a promotion in ministerial ranks) Keogh went to the party lines:

We have a good immigration minister already and Andrew is getting about doing what is clearly a very difficult job picking up the pieces after the decade of really messed up home affairs under Peter Dutton.

When Peter Dutton was immigration minister and home affairs minister, it left some real significant problems and that’s what Andrew Giles and the minister for home affairs, Clare O’Neil, have been getting about fixing up.

They’ve had to hold reviews into this department, and when we look at the most recent issue that’s been raised, we can see quite clearly that you’ve got the department cancelling visas as it should do under the direction that’s been issued by the minister. You’ve got the minister cancelling more visas and deporting more people than Peter Dutton ever did because he takes community safety seriously.

But would he take the job if offered?

Keogh:

We’ll I’ll always serve in whatever capacity the prime minister may ask, but I’m very happy doing the job that I’m doing, just as the entire government, which has been a very stable government over the last two years, is committed to delivering on all fronts for the benefit all of Australia.

Updated

Penny Wong spoke about how to secure the release of Australians detained overseas (including whether to use terms like “hostage diplomacy”).

We judge our public interventions, our diplomatic engagements, our strategy and tactics in relation to complex cases through the lens of what we believe is going to be the most effective for the person concerned. So I understand sometimes people want us to use certain terms but the focus always to be not on whether or not you tick a box about a term being used publicly, but what the benefits or most effective thing is for the person concerned.

That led to the following exchange with Simon Birmingham:

Wong: Shouting domestically is not going to get an Australian out of prison.

Birmingham: No, although sometimes public pressure is a positive factor.

Wong: Yes, correct, but that’s a step carefully done – carefully done.

Birmingham: Ensuring that others understand that Australians care as well as our government.

Wong: Yes, and you would have seen in recent times precisely that kind of frame used in some of the discussions of some complex cases about the importance to Australians.*

*Wong is not specific, but Wong said February that “all Australians want to see Dr Yang [Hengjun] reunited with his family”.

Last September, Anthony Albanese said he had told the Chinese premier “that Australians are very much conscious of this case and they want to see Cheng Lei reunited with her children”. (She was released from Chinese detention the following month.)

Updated

Wong and Birmingham go head to head over Dfat in Senate estimates

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has said “shouting domestically” will not secure the release of Australians detained overseas, during a Senate estimates discussion about wrongful and arbitrary detention.

The Coalition senator Simon Birmingham used the first portion of today’s estimates hearing to ask the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade how many Australians it would “currently categorise as being victims of wrongful or arbitrary detention or hostage diplomacy”.

Craig Maclachlan, a Dfat deputy secretary, replied:

We don’t believe we have any such cases at this point time – we have difficult cases, very difficult cases, cases that we find seemingly intractable sometimes, frustratingly so, but we have not taken a view that any of the cases we have at the moment would fall into the category of arbitrary detention.

The Dfat secretary, Jan Adams, added the such labels were “not necessarily very helpful from the perspective of looking after the best interests of the individuals involved”.

Dfat has sometimes faced public criticism for being reluctant to speak out publicly about the alleged wrongful detention of Australians overseas. But Adams said each complex case needed its own strategy:

What we’re talking about it looking at the specifics and trying to map out the best available strategy with the interests of the individual at the heart rather than a grandstanding or public advocacy strategy that isn’t necessarily going to be in the interests of the individual.

Updated

Matt Keogh also clarified what ‘other countries’ meant (there had been a focus on the members of the Five Eye nations, which would make the necessary security checks easier)

Keogh said:

From 1 January next year any permanent resident in Australia who has been here for at least one year as a permanent resident, has not been in a foreign Defence Force of any type in the preceding two years and meets all of the usual security and vetting and character requirements of joining the Defence Force would be able to apply.

Updated

Veterans affairs minister defends policy that will allow foreign nationals to join ADF

The minister for veteran affairs, Matt Keogh, has defended the change in policy which will see the ADF open the recruitment door to permanent residents (New Zealand first, followed by the UK, the US and Canada – and other countries – in another six months) in a bid to boost recruitment.

Keogh says it is a necessary change:

We inherited a circumstance as a government where the numbers in the Australian defence force were going backwards, and that was a real problem where we need to be growing the defence force, and so we’ve been looking at a number of ways in which we can grow the defence force and we’re very happy that the retention rate has been improving and we’re now back to the sort of long-term historical average when it comes to retention.

But we do need to grow the defence force and so looking at permanent residents that have already clearly made Australia home, have loyalty to Australia as part of that recruitment pool is a very important way in which we can continue to grow our defence force as we need to.

Updated

There has been a flurry of rumours that the Coalition is going to announce more of its nuclear policy as early as today (stakeholders, MPs in both Labor and the Coalition are all abuzz) but at this point they are just that – rumours.

There may be some little titbits following the party room meeting, but we will keep you updated.

Updated

Angus Taylor says speechwriter being paid $620,000 over two years is ‘government waste’ spending

The shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, has spoken with Canberra radio 2CC, where he got to have some fun with the revelation Bill Shorten’s department has contracted a speechwriter for $620,000 over two years. This is despite Services Australia having about 200 staff working in communications.

Taylor:

Bill Shorten clearly doesn’t know who’s working in his office. $620,000 in two years, can I give you a little bit more on this. He’s done 28 speeches in that time.

So assuming she wrote all of them, and maybe that’s right, that’s over 20,000 bucks each speech that we’re all paying for. And it gets worse. Because there were already two speech writers within a team of 201 media and communication staff members.

So this is just extraordinary. And it’s another example of the government waste alongside the $450 million failed referendum and you see tens of millions being spent on a spin unit in the treasurer’s department. You’re seeing grants being given to the CFMEU. We’re seeing waste wherever we’re looking now. And this is a government that’s not taken responsibility for it. We all pay for it and worse than that, this is what causes inflation. Government waste, government spending drives inflation, fuels inflation. $315 billion of extra spending since Labor came to power, $30,000 for every Australian household. This is killing us right now as we see inflation going up, not down unlike all our peer countries around the world.

Updated

Simon Birmingham releases statement on 35th anniversary of Tiananmen Square

Shadow foreign affairs minister Simon Birmingham has also released a statement on the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre:

35 years ago in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, peaceful protests were ended by a shameful use of Chinese military force. Australia remembers the tragic loss of life on 4 June 1989 and we continue to call upon Chinese authorities to accept responsibility.

The Coalition remains deeply concerned about continuing and increasing constraints on freedom of association, expression and political participation in China. The targeted oppression of those who would commemorate the deaths in Tiananmen Square is especially repugnant.

We call on the Albanese Government to uphold Australia’s position of making strong representations to the Chinese Government to cease suppression of freedoms and to release those detained for peacefully expressing their political views.

Updated

Party room meetings today in Canberra

It’s Tuesday (I know) which means it is party room meeting day.

That means the house sitting won’t start until midday. Each party (in the Coalition’s case, it is a joint meeting, after individual party meetings) will gather in their designated room to discuss how they are going to treat policy (in the opposition and Greens case), or in the government’s case, what legislation will be coming up.

Backbenchers then get a chance to ask questions, or make statements about issues. The leaders do a bit of a “rah rah aren’t we great” and then everyone gets on with their day.

Off the record background briefings are then held with the media, where the minutes are read out. Journalists can ask if such and such issue was raised and get a yes or no answer. The briefing is all de-identified – “a MP asked about …” or “one backbencher raised …” so then you go off and find out who spoke about what and what else happened in the meeting which may not have been raised at the briefing (if you don’t ask, they won’t tell, and you don’t always know something has been raised or happened in order to ask).

So if you read “party room sources” in a news story, that is usually where it comes from.

The irony is despite the background briefings being an official part of the Canberra weirdness, MPs will still often say they “don’t discuss the party room” because it is all meant to be confidential.

Updated

Penny Wong issues statement on 35th anniversary of Tiananmen Square

It is the 35th anniversary of the end of the Tiananmen uprising, also known as the June Fourth Incident, when following weeks of protests, the Chinese government declared martial law on the night of 3 June 1989 and on 4 June, the PLA was sent into the square, leading to a massacre of protesters.

The number of deaths was suppressed and remains disputed, but was estimated to be in the thousands.

Penny Wong released a statement this morning:

In Tiananmen Square, 35 years ago, the world witnessed the use of brutal force against student protesters in Beijing. We remember the tragic events and loss of life on 4 June 1989, along with the international community.

As we have consistently said, Australia remains concerned about ongoing restrictions on freedom of association, expression and political participation in China.

We call on China to cease suppression of freedoms of expression, assembly, media and civil society and to release those detained for peacefully expressing their political views.

Updated

Government ‘dysfunction’ to blame for shortfall in ADF signups, Birmingham says

Simon Birmingham, who was part of the Coalition government which was in power for close to a decade up to 2022, says it is the Albanese government’s fault that more Australians don’t want to serve in the ADF:

Well, this isn’t about whether or not we have foreign nationals. It’s about the failure of the government to get Australians to sign up and stay in the military. They have missed the targets by some 5,000 people and we should be seeing more Australians have the confidence to sign up.

Why don’t people have the confidence to sign up and wear the uniform with pride? Because of dysfunction in defence policy that’s been mired in review after review after review, rather than the type of confidence building measures to get people to sign up.

Updated

Foreign nationals to be eligible for ADF, beginning July 2024

New Zealanders will soon be able to join the Australian Defence Force, Richard Marles says.

The defence minister says as part of the plan to grow the ADF (which is having issues with recruitment and retainment) New Zealanders who live in Australia will be able to apply for the ADF.

ADF eligibility will be opened to permanent residents who have been in Australia for 12 months, starting from July 2024. New Zealanders are first up – from January 2025, United Kingdom, United States and Canadian born permanent residents will become eligible to apply.

There are a few caveats – you have to meet the ADF entry and security requirements, as well as have lived in Australia for a year before application, not served in a foreign military in the preceding two years and be eligible for Australian citizenship.

Marles:

Australia and New Zealand have a longstanding relationship – opening the Australian defence force to New Zealanders living in Australia will increase opportunities whilst strengthening our Anzac bond.

The Australian government has chosen to grow the Australian defence force because it is essential to meet the nation’s security challenges through the next decade and beyond.

Updated

Senate estimates hearings will kick off at 9am (the house won’t sit until midday).

Today we have:

Community affairs – which is still on social services.

Economics – the Productivity Commission is on today’s agenda (and no doubt future made in Australia will be among the topics examined)

Education and employment – the Fair Work Ombudsman is up, which means Michaelia Cash will get to speak about her favourite topic – unions.

Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade continues –after a sometime tense day yesterday, the committee will be moving on to some of the more mundane issues of diplomacy, including passport costs.

Agriculture bureau says production on track to be third-highest on record in 2024-25

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (called Abares for short) has some good news this winter:

Production in Australia’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors remains on track to be the third highest on record in 2024-25, supported by an improved seasonal outlook.

​The gross value of agriculture, fisheries and forestry is expected to increase by 2%, from $87.6 billion in 2023–24 to $89.5 billion in 2024–25.

Chickpeas and lentils look like having a particularly good season, but grains and oilseeds don’t have such a rosy outlook. All up though, the seasons should be better for most farmers, from livestock to agriculture, to horticulture, with good prospects for winter fruits and nuts.

Updated

Malcolm Turnbull’s conclusion?

Stand up to Trump, because no one else will:

Foreign leaders who need to get business done with Trump should be able to do so, but they will need to deal with him directly and persuade him why their proposal is a good deal for him. Leave the sentimental stuff about alliances and friendship for the press conferences. Trump’s question is always, “What’s in it for me?” His calculus is both political and commercial, but it is very focused. That should be no surprise—“America first” is his explicit slogan.

A Trump returned to the White House, convinced of his own genius, and with the evidence of an election win to prove it, will be surrounded by more yes men and sycophants than ever. In that environment, who will be prepared to tell him what he doesn’t want to hear?

The leaders of the countries that are the United States’ friends and allies will be among the very few who can speak truthfully to Trump. He can shout at them, embarrass them, even threaten them. But he cannot fire them. Their character, courage, and candor may be the most important aid they can render to the United States in a second age of Trump

‘There has never been such an effective and relentless gaslighter’: Turnbull on Trump

We have had a couple of requests for some more of Malcolm Turnbull’s Foreign Affairs essay on how the world can deal with Donald Trump.

Here is Turnbull’s characterisation of Trump:

Like most people, Trump is often wrong. Unlike most people, however, he is never in doubt. A powerful narcissistic self-belief has given him the strength to defy not just his many enemies but even reality itself. For four years, he has denied the outcome of the 2020 election and persuaded most of his party, and millions of Americans, to agree with him. There has never been such an effective and relentless gaslighter.

As president, he sought to surround himself with people who told him what he wanted to hear. When they stopped doing so, they were quickly sent packing. If Trump returns to the Oval Office, his instinct to crush critics and stack the executive branch with yes men will likely get even stronger. He will characterise his domestic critics as political opponents if they are Democrats and as traitors if they are Republicans. Trump will feel as invincible in his triumph as a Roman emperor, but he won’t have a slave by his side whispering, “Remember, you are mortal.”

Updated

Bowen says it’s a ‘myth’ Australia needs 28,000km of transmission built

The interview moves to some of the delays with the transmission lines, which are needed for the Albanese government energy transition plan.

Chris Bowen says the delays will be overcome:

There’s a lot of myths out there about transmission. Again, the opposition says we need to build 28,000km by 2030. That’s a lie.

We have around 40,000km of transmission in Australia at the moment and we need to add about 4,000km by 2030.

900km, or a bit more than 900km are either built or substantially under construction of those 4,000, and that has to be done by 2030.

So this, this myth that we’ve got to build 28,000km by 2030 is just a myth. Absolutely.

But the transmission that we are building and getting on with is important to ensuring the reliability of our system.

Bowen says the way the government consults with communities which will be hosting energy infrastructure has changed, which will make it easier for both the communities and government, and that the regulatory regime is now “fit for purpose”.

Updated

Proposals for small modular nuclear reactors ‘don’t survive contact with economic reality’: Bowen

The energy minister, Chris Bowen, is speaking to ABC radio RN about his favourite topic: the Coalition’s nuclear “policy”. We put policy in inverted commas, because that is how Bowen speaks about it.

Every time one of their claims is tested and exposed to reality, it falls apart.

… Small modular reactors are the next big thing. And they always have been, and they always will be. They don’t survive contact with economic reality.

Updated

Turnbull lays out suggestions for a second Trump presidency in essay

For a bit of a change of pace, you may enjoy this essay from Malcolm Turnbull in Foreign Affairs, where he outlines how he believes world leaders can deal with a second Trump presidency.

Turnbull bases a lot of his arguments on his own dealings with Donald Trump while prime minister. He runs through the infamous refugee deal phone call (the transcript of which was leaked) and the trade back-and-forths over tariffs.

His main hypothesis is that the best way to deal with Donald Trump is to stand up to him:

The caricature of Trump as a one-dimensional, irrational monster is so entrenched that many forget that he can be, when it suits him, intelligently transactional. Like most bullies, he will bend others to his will when he can, and when he cannot, he will try to make a deal. But to get to the deal-making stage, Trump’s counterparts have to stand up to the bullying first.

Updated

Job providers failing to meet performance measures as they ‘adjust to a new system’: department secretary

We reported yesterday that more than one-third of employment providers, who are tasked with helping unemployed Australians find work, are failing to meet the government’s own performance measures.

Last night, the Department of Employment Workplace Relations was asked how many low ratings a provider has to receive before they lose contracts. The department said it had developed a “licence review process”, but had not implemented it yet.

Secretary of the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, Natalie James, said they were in the “first phase” of Workforce Australia, which had been running for two years, which was why providers are performing so terribly.

I would certainly like to see the performance lifted. I would like to see better outcomes, particularly for the more vulnerable cohorts.

We also have work going on, in response to a parliamentary inquiry into the employment services system, going on in parallel to overseeing this new system.

The department does take very seriously the performance of providers and so we need to get the balance right between giving new providers the opportunity to adjust to a new system, and to perform.

I appreciate it might feel slow, in terms of the duration of these sorts of contracts.

The Workforce Australia scheme, which is under review by the Albanese government, is expected to cost taxpayers more than $9.5bn over the next four years.

Updated

Accommodation where 18 migrant workers shared a room was not approved accommodation, Senate estimates hears

In Senate estimates last night, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations was asked about the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) workers who were put in accommodation in Tasmania last year where 18 people shared a room.

There were 40 people from Vanuatu living in just one house. Workers were using “a matrix” of power boards to cook food in their rooms. An emergency order was issued in 2020 to the same property when 70 people were living there.

Under questioning from Labor senator Richard Colbeck, Jason Stott, the first assistant secretary of Pacific labour operations, said:

The accommodation is not approved accommodation.

Tracking where people spend their money is an intrusion on people’s privacy and rights.

Stott said they intervened to talk workers through their rights and responsibilities.

In the month to March, there were 32,000 PALM workers in the country.

Updated

‘We’re not aware’ of jobseekers being currently harassed for payslips by job providers, department says

The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations has said it is not aware of any job provider in the country harassing or putting pressure on jobseekers to hand over their payslips, despite Guardian Australia reporting showing the practice was widespread.

Job providers will ask for payslips so they can claim “outcome payments” when a client on their books has completed four, 12 and 26 weeks of employment.

In April, we published an investigation into providers harassing jobseekers for their payslips, including hiring staff whose sole job it was to track jobseekers to try to find out if they had found employment.

The Greens senator Penelope Allman-Payne asked the department what it had done to stop providers harassing people for their payslips.

Quyen Tran, assistant secretary of the funds and payments branch, said three “portal notices” had been sent in the past year and a half, including one right after Guardian Australia’s exposé.

But despite this, no provider had been subject to compliance action and the department said it was not aware of any provider putting pressure on jobseekers for payslips:

Since October 2022, we have also been looking at ensuring through program assurance activities that providers are not inappropriately applying the targeted compliance framework to participants who are not providing payslips.

We haven’t actually taken any compliance action for this.

Tania Rishniw, Deputy Secretary, Employment and Workforce:

We’re not aware of any at the moment.

Updated

Good morning

Hello and welcome back to Politics Live.

A very big thank you to Martin Farrer for starting the blog off this morning – you have Amy Remeikis with you now and I’ll take you through most of the parliament day.

Ready? Let’s get into it.

Updated

$5m boost to food and emergency relief services amid cost-of-living crisis

The federal government has allocated another $4.9m to food and emergency relief services nationwide in a bid to ease the cost-of-living crisis.

The social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, made the announcement overnight, saying the money would assist providers to distribute food, transport, clothing and medicines to needy people. Her office said there had been increased demand for such support services.

“We are providing this funding as part of our ongoing commitment to supporting Australian families and strengthening their financial wellbeing and capability,” Rishworth said.

“We want all Australians to be able to access emergency and food relief support when they need it, no matter where they live or the crisis they face.”

The money will be spread among 192 emergency relief providers and three food relief groups.

The minister’s office said people experiencing financial hardship can access free financial counselling services through the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 or at ndh.org.au.

Updated

Bill Shorten defends the cost of his speechwriter

The NDIS minister, Bill Shorten, has defended a speechwriter in his office whose wage came under scrutiny in Senate estimates yesterday, saying she does “a very good job” – but adding that he wasn’t responsible for negotiating the contract.

It was revealed on Monday that a speechwriter contracted to work with Shorten is expected to cost taxpayers $600,000 over two years, despite Services Australia employing 200 media and communication staff.

In an interview with A Current Affair on Monday night, Shorten called the focus on the payments a “cheap Liberal tactic”.

“The hiring of a speechwriter was done by Services Australia. I have no idea what the payment was. So if you’re trying to link me to that, you know, good luck,” he said.

“The person involved, who is a speechwriter, does a very good job. I’m not responsible for negotiating a contract.”

Updated

Officers at Victoria’s biggest maximum security prison to walk off job

Prison officers at Victoria’s largest maximum security jail are to walk off the job over a months-long pay negotiation impasse, AAP reports.

Up to 100 guards plan to stop work and gather outside the Port Phillip Prison in Truganina, about 20km west of Melbourne, from 7.30am to 1pm today.

The protected industrial action has been timed to coincide with the day shift changeover with the disruption expected to last into the afternoon, the Community and Public Sector union said.

Union members hope the action will reinforce workers’ rejection of the most recent pay offer of 3.8% by prison operator G4S.

“G4S is a large multinational company and largely offshores its dollars to its overseas-based parents and needs to put its locals first,” the union’s Victorian assistant secretary Wayne Townsend said.

The prison operator withdrew a 3.8% pay offer after it was voted down and reverted back to an original offer from November of a 3% pay rise.

The prison will have contingency plans and a G4S spokesperson said the safety and the wellbeing of employees and prisoners was the number one priority.

Updated

Energy storage and large-scale renewables the fastest and lowest-cost solution to power problems, report finds

Bulking up on renewable energy and big batteries rather than nuclear and gas will solve Australia’s power problems, an industry body says (and AAP reports).

Releasing a landmark report on long-duration energy storage on Tuesday, Clean Energy Council chief executive Kane Thornton dismissed nuclear power as an “uneconomic technology” that was “a poor fit for Australia”.

Energy storage, coupled with large-scale renewable energy, was the fastest and lowest-cost way to meet consumer demand as the exit of coal generation accelerated, according to the report.

Further, achieving net zero by 2050 was inconsistent with developing new gas fields, so it was unclear where additional gas for gas-fired electricity generation would come from.

Underlying pipeline and gas supply constraints, forecast by the Australian Energy Market Operator, were also expected to limit the fossil fuel’s viability in the long term.

The council’s report suggests using various energy storage technologies alongside the lithium-based big battery “success story” and pumped hydro could keep costs down and support supply as renewables take over the electricity grid.

Using a variety of long-term storage assets could also deal with shortfalls known as “dunkelflaute”, an energy insider term from Germany used to describe days of winter doldrums when wind and solar generation are below par.

Updated

Welcome

Good morning and welcome to our live news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be running through some of the best overnight stories before my colleague Amy Remeikis picks up the baton.

More voters are swinging behind tougher rules on the use of social media, our latest Guardian Essential poll shows today. More than two-thirds of voters support raising the age limit for social media from 13 to 16. The poll also shows Peter Dutton slipping back into negative approval territory, and Anthony Albanese has 47% disapproving of his performance and 43% approving.

The $600,000 fee commanded by Bill Shorten’s speechwriter for her work over two years is shaping up to be one of the most startling revelations of the Senate budget estimates sessions. Services Australia confirmed at yesterday’s hearings that Julianne Stewart, who has penned the words for four previous prime ministers, has secured a government contract worth about $300,000 a year, which is in its second year. Shorten tackled the issue in a TV interview yesterday – more on that soon.

A pay rise for the lowest-paid workers is unlikely to throw the Reserve Bank of Australia’s inflation fight off course after landing broadly in line with economists’ expectations. Millions of workers on minimum and award wages will get a 3.75% pay rise from July after the Fair Work Commission’s annual decision. The government will today announce another nearly $5m to help with cost-of-living relief. More coming up.

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