What we learned; Monday 8 May
And with that, we are going to put the blog to bed. Before we go, let’s recap the big headlines:
Ahead of the federal budget on Tuesday, Anthony Albanese confirmed the age cutoff for the single parent payment will rise from eight to 14.
The prime minister later addressed the Labor caucus, describing inflation as “a tax on the poor” as some commentators suggest the budget’s cost-of-living relief could add to inflationary pressures.
It comes amid continued criticism for the Labor government’s gas tax change, which David Pocock described as “tinkering around the edges” and the Greens’ Nick McKim said was “less than the bare minimum”.
Dugald Saunders is the new leader of the NSW Nationals party after Paul Toole was axed just a month after he was returned to the job following the state election.
Shane Patton, chief commissioner of Victoria Police, apologised for the actions of officers that contributed to trauma experienced by Indigenous families.
Westpac has posted a 22% rise in six-month net profit to $4bn in a result backed by rising interest rates.
Thank you so much for spending part of your day with us - we will be back to do it all again tomorrow. Until then, go well.
Updated
Woman endures icy nights in Tasmanian bush
From AAP:
A 73-year-old woman has spent two icy nights in Tasmanian bushland after crashing her car into a tree while swerving to avoid wildlife.
At 10.20am on Monday, a passing Tasmania Fire Service worker noticed a silver Nissan off the road at Pelham in the state’s Southern Midlands.
Tasmania Police inspector Philippa Burk said initial investigations indicated the woman had swerved to avoid wildlife, lost control and had been in the bushland since about 4.30pm on Saturday.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the temperature at nearby Bushy Park dropped to 0.2C on Saturday, minus 4.8C on Sunday and minus 3.6C on Monday.
Updated
Transport ministers increase heavy vehicle charges
Earlier today transport ministers from across the country agreed to increase the heavy vehicle charges by 6% each year for the next three years – in a move they say will bring certainty to the industry:
Their statement said:
This level of increase is considered by ministers to strike the right balance between the need to move back towards cost-recovery of the heavy vehicle share of road expenditure and the need to minimise impacts on this vital industry.
Now, shadow minister for transport, Bridget McKenzie, has hit back, saying the nation’s 55,000 truck businesses will be slugged an additional $1.6 billion over three years:
This is the absolute worst time to ramp up road user charges. Not only will this affect the 55,000 Australian truck businesses who are already running on low margins and high input costs, but this will flow on to everyday Australians struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.
The Albanese government have been preaching that tomorrow’s budget will bring cost-of-living relief and now it’s clear to us that is a false narrative.
Updated
Jobseeker increase an ‘insult’, Union of Students says
The National Union of Students has rebuked the Albanese government for an anticipated $2.85 increase to the Jobseeker rate in tomorrow’s federal budget, labelling it an “insult” for students facing a cost-of-living crisis.
Its education officer, Xavier Dupé has been urging the Labor party to raise the rate to at least $88 per day, above the Henderson poverty line. He will be protesting with students and Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi on the steps of Parliament House on Tuesday morning.
What good is $2.85 a day when rents are going up by hundreds of dollars a week? $50 a day is well below the poverty line. We need to raise the rate to at least $88 a day so students aren’t forced to choose between paying for food or paying rent. We also need to increase rent assistance by 50% to keep up with rising rents.
Students are on the front lines of the cost-of-living crisis and Hecs indexation is making it worse. We need to freeze Hecs indexation to reduce cost-of-living pressure on students and graduates.
Updated
These comments are somewhat startling from a party that introduced the Job Ready Graduates Scheme in the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic to incentivise students to study certain degrees, including science and engineering.
It reduced the overall government contribution to degrees from 58% to 52% and increased fees for some courses, including humanities, to fund fee cuts in other courses and 39,000 extra university places.
Under the current scheme, students incur annual Help fees as high as $15,152 for law, business and humanities courses – four times those for teaching, nursing, maths and language students who contribute $4,124 a year.
Henderson has not outlined what reforms she proposes the education minister implement to ease the burden of student debt beyond pinning high inflation on Labor but she has not previously called for indexation to be abolished or amended. Having said that, we are talking about a three-decade high.
In 2022, the indexation rate was 3.9%, while it was significantly lower at 0.6% in 2021.
Updated
Liberals call on Albanese government to ease student debt
The Liberal party has joined the Greens and independent MP Zoe Daniel in calling on the federal government to ease the debt burden on Australians with student loans in the budget.
It comes amid a three-decade high debt indexation rate of 7.1% to come into effect from June. The rate, tied to CPI, will drive up the average Hecs and Help debts by around $1,700.
Shadow education minister Sarah Henderson said tomorrow’s budget presented a “real test” for education minister Jason Clare over whether Labor would “do anything other than conduct a myriad of education reviews” and lock in the high indexation rate.
There has been nothing but silence from Mr Clare following the ATO’s announcement that student loans will be hit with a crippling 7% indexation rate.
With some three million Australians carrying a student loan, what is the Albanese government doing to combat the cost of living crisis faced by so many students and graduates? Mr Clare needs to do more than put his head in the sand. In the May budget, the Albanese government must start delivering solutions for parents, teachers and students.
Greens spokesperson for education Mehreen Faruqi has been calling for indexation on student loans to be abolished, while Daniel has proposed more modest short-term changes and for a broad review into the system.
Updated
Albanese calls inflation 'a tax on the poor'
PM Anthony Albanese told the Labor caucus room he is “very proud” of the budget, but admitted the government won’t be able to do everything that people might want them to.
In addition to the comments he made in the caucus room earlier, which were broadcast to media, the PM also addressed the Labor party MPs in a closed setting this afternoon. The weekly caucus meeting, usually held on a Tuesday, was held this afternoon because of tomorrow’s budget day.
After the media left the room, following the first section that was open to cameras, Albanese said the government was focused on cost of living pressures. He called inflation “a tax on the poor”, in remarks coming as some economists and commentators questioned whether extra relief payments would add to inflationary pressures (the government says no, but some experts aren’t so sure).
Albanese added that he wanted his government to be one “for all Australians”.
The Labor caucus agreed to new bills on treasury laws and naval nuclear propulsion, which we’ll likely see this week. On the latter, one MP addressed the meeting to say they wanted to be clear that the nuclear submarines not pave the way for a civil nuclear industry - defence minister Richard Marles responded that this wouldn’t happen.
Several MPs asked about the Pharmacy Guild’s campaign against changes to prescription rules, which mean people with chronic illnesses and regular repeating scripts only need to fill up every 60 days rather than every 30.
Health minister Mark Butler thanked MPs for their feedback on meetings they’d had with pharmacists in their electorate, and said the budget would have information on the reinvestment into community pharmacies that the government promised when unveiling the prescription changes.
Updated
Housing body urges government to continue negotiating future fund
National housing campaign Everybody’s Home is urging the federal government to continue negotiating its key housing legislation until it has the numbers to go to a vote.
Everybody’s Home is concerned the housing Australia future fund will be rushed to a vote and won’t pass the Senate.
Spokesperson Maiy Azize said:
We are distressed by reports that the fund will go up for a vote in the Senate before it has enough support to get over the line.
We want the fund to pass - we are the biggest cheerleaders for building more social housing immediately. But that means negotiating until it gets enough support, and negotiating to ensure it’s as strong as it can be.
We can’t risk this fund failing to pass. The housing crisis is urgent and the stakes are too high.
We’re calling on the government to go back to the negotiating table and strengthen the fund before putting it up for a vote.
Updated
Saunders new leader of NSW Nationals
Dugald Saunders is the new leader of the Nationals in New South Wales after the party voted to axe Paul Toole just a month after he was returned to the job following the state election.
The vote was taken just hours after fellow Nationals member Ben Franklin confirmed he would stand for upper house president when parliament returns tomorrow, a move labeled as “treacherous” by New South Wales opposition leader, Mark Speakman.
Updated
Speakman accuses Franklin of ‘treachery’
New South Wales opposition leader, Mark Speakman, has accused Nationals member Ben Franklin of “treachery” after the former arts minister confirmed he would stand to become the next upper house president.
Speakman said:
This would be a very clear case of someone taking the money and running, someone acting in his own self-interest and not in the interest of the people of NSW. The biggest sanction for someone like that is not the threat of expulsion, not the threat of someone referring them to Icac but the trashing of their own reputation and their conscience for the rest of their lives.
Speakman said he had been hammering out a new coalition deal with Nationals leader Paul Toole over the past two weeks, with the understanding neither party would put forward a member for the president role in a bid to make it harder for the new Labor government to pass laws.
But this afternoon Toole’s leadership is in doubt after Franklin claimed he had only proceeded with the nomination on the understanding that Toole was supportive, prompting some within the party to question his position.
The Nationals are in a party room meeting now.
Updated
Boral fined over safety failures
From AAP:
Construction giant Boral has been fined $180,000 for failing to ensure its workers used respiratory masks correctly while exposed to deadly silica.
The company was sentenced in Melbourne magistrates court on Monday after pleading guilty to the single charge of failing to provide and maintain a safe working environment that was without risk to health and safety.
WorkSafe Victoria charged Boral after investigating work practices at its Montrose quarry in Melbourne’s east in 2018 and 2019.
WorkSafe found on 4 October, 2018, and 1 October and 10 October, 2019, workers were exposed to deadly silica dust that was generated from processing the quarry rock.
Boral failed to ensure five workers were wearing respiratory masks appropriately while working at the site on those days, Magistrate Carolyn Burnside said in her sentencing remarks.
Burnside convicted and fined the company $180,000.
Updated
Hello everyone! This is Cait Kelly – I am writing this post from Melbourne where the cold snap is well and truly being felt.
I have an update on the weather here from AAP to get us started:
After a relatively mild start to autumn, frosty weather arrived on the weekend courtesy of a low-pressure system off the NSW south coast that’s expected to continue this week.
The Bureau of Meteorology warned of damaging winds affecting wide swathes of South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, NSW and Queensland.
Widespread snow – up to 20cm in some areas – blanketed the alpine regions of NSW and Victoria including Kosciuszko national park and Victoria’s Falls Creek, senior meteorologist Dean Narramore told AAP.
Melbourne also had a brisk start to the day with temperatures registering just 8.5 degrees.
“Much colder southwesterly winds brought temperatures well below average for much of southeastern Australia,” Narramore said.
Heavy surf lashed beaches as storm-force winds swept along the coast, with many closed to swimmers as waves up to six metres smashed onto shore.
Bondi Icebergs looking a bit rough today pic.twitter.com/7crDb0SpYV
— Patrick Keneally (@patrickkeneally) May 8, 2023
Updated
And on that note, I will hand the blog over to Cait Kelly who will guide you through the afternoon while I prepare for tomorrow’s budget coverage.
I will be your blog host during the parliament sitting day as usual while the rest of the team enters the lock up – so make sure you return here tomorrow for all your political news (and maybe some cat updates; I can’t say for sure).
Thank you so much for joining me today and as always – take care of you
Updated
Mary Doyle signs the Labor party room book as the 78th member of the caucus.
The room cheers again.
She’ll be sworn in on Tuesday and will deliver her first speech on Thursday.
Mary Doyle:
“I’m just rapt to be the answer to a trivia question,” Doyle says.
I absolutely love trivia. It’s one of my favourite things.
… Seriously, I’m so honoured to be in this house standing before everyone as the new member for us and I’m so looking forward to being sworn in tomorrow and to see all your smiling faces.
Updated
As Anthony Albanese is welcoming Mary Doyle to the party room, Guardian photographer Mike Bowers’ phone goes off.
I can’t hear the ringtone, but it’s a song the prime minister approves of. (Bowers has since told me it was Paint it Black by the Rolling Stones)
Bowers! Bowers. Always one. Lucky it was a decent song.
Paint it black? Is it too early to say? (the room laughs, because there is a surplus, that the government won’t confirm, but everyone knows it is there)
Then it is back to Mary Doyle:
Mary Doyle decided to defy history and win a by-election in which you receive a swing of that magnitude towards the government from an opposition … is literally unprecedented.
The only precedent we can find going back was 1920 in Calgary, took a different circumstances to reclaim a bloke was expelled from the parliament for treason against the Crown and really consistent and not surprisingly, under the circumstances of whatever people might think about that, he was not successful.
But Mary Doyle was successful. She ran an amazing campaign. She worked each and every day to do us proud and I’d like to ask colleagues to welcome the member for Aston, Mary Doyle.
Doyle gets a standing ovation and is then told she will be the future answer to a trivia question.
Updated
Back to Anthony Albanese’s rah-rah of the caucus room:
So this budget will be, in the best tradition of the Australian Labor party, dealing with those immediate challenges, but always with the eye on the future, and the medium and long term to make sure that we’re delivering, laying now those foundations for a better future that we promised when we moved from the office down there to this office here.
And I do note that while we’ve been doing that, we’ve seen other resignations foreshadowed or more chaos on the other side.
Well, they can be distracted by being concerned about each other and concerned about themselves, what our concern is about, is always about the Australian people always about the Australian economy and jobs, always about a fairer society, always about how we create that better future.
Updated
The government’s position on the stage three tax cuts has not changed:
11/ Over 100 economists and tax experts agree the Stage 3 tax cuts are unfair & unaffordable.
— Australia Institute (@TheAusInstitute) May 8, 2023
Over 100 economists and tax experts have published an open letter in the SMH and the Age newspapers, calling on the PM to reconsider the Stage 3 tax cuts for high income earners.#auspol pic.twitter.com/s6WYGJpmtm
Jim Chalmers and Katy Gallagher get a round of applause and a few whoops. Anthony Albanese then moves on to the budget:
We’ve done that whilst making sure that as promised during the election campaign, we don’t leave people behind. But we also don’t hold people back. And tomorrow night is about aspiration of people for a better life.
PM addresses Labor caucus
Anthony Albanese has addressed the Labor caucus where he received a giant round of applause – joking that he didn’t realise [Don Farrell] was “quite so popular” which is the sort of joke bosses make and underlings have to laugh at. Which the caucus does. [The pair had walked in together]
The prime minister has invited the cameras in, so there is a speech which is supposed to be aimed at the room, but is as always, aimed at those outside the room.
Friends, it is good to be back. And it’s good to be here the day before what will be a Labor budget in every sense.
A Labor budget which tackles the immediate challenges that are before us. When talking with other international leaders in the UK at the sidelines of the coronation, there are none who didn’t we say we’re [envious of] Australia. You have global inflation having a major impact on slowing economies right around the world. You have – in spite of what I didn’t have time to watch on the way back – one of our opponents yesterday morning saying that we’ve had the highest inflation of any country in the G7. Now we’re not in the G7 but that is a separate point.
But, in fact, of course the UK has a higher inflation rate, the United States has higher interest rates. And the world is struggling through two events – one the ongoing impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and secondly, the pandemic and what it did to supply chains and causing disruption around the world.
What we’re doing is tackling those immediate challenges dealing with the pressures that are on working families and tomorrow night.
We will have $14.6 billion of cost of living relief targeted for those who need it most.
Updated
If you haven’t read this from Tory Shepherd yet, it is well worth your time:
International students are being denied pregnancy care, leading to them dropping out of university, having “reluctant abortions”, and or undertaking sex work to pay for antenatal care, advocates say.
Those on student visas are not eligible for Medicare and instead must take out overseas student health cover (OSHC). The terms of that cover – agreed via a deed between the federal government and insurers – exclude any pregnancy care for the first year.
Alison Coelho, a public health and inclusion expert consultant and the co-chair of the International Students Sexual Health Network (ISSHN), said international students can have low sexual health literacy, difficulty accessing contraception, more stigma around unintended pregnancy and a distrust of university health services.
Natalie Ward becomes NSW deputy Liberal leader
Natalie Ward has become the New South Wales deputy Liberal leader after a vote of the party room this afternoon.
Ward was elected after members voted to change Liberal laws that forbade upper house members from taking leadership positions.
Ward ran against lower house MP Wendy Tuckerman and won with a comfortable margin.
The junior coalition party is meeting later this afternoon and Paul Toole‘s leadership is expected to be spilled after Nationals member Ben Franklin announced he would be running for the upper house president slot with the support of the Labor premier, Chris Minns.
Updated
Anthony Albanese has landed back in Canberra, where he will be addressing the Labor caucus later this afternoon.
He has invited the media in for the first part, which is usually a speech that could have been a press release – with added zingers.
Updated
Franklin nominates for president of the NSW upper house
Former NSW arts minister and Nationals MP Ben Franklin will nominate to become the next president of the New South Wales upper house.
He has confirmed his candidacy ahead of the vote tomorrow when parliament resumes.
He will skip the Nationals party room meeting this afternoon at which the leader, Paul Toole, is expected to be challenged amid upset within the party over the handling of the Franklin saga.
Toole held onto the leadership after the state election by one vote.
Franklin has the backing of his close friend, the premier, Chris Minns.
Updated
There is a bit of theatre which goes with the budget – and one of the key pieces of that theatre is the printing of the budget papers in front of the media.
Mike Bowers was there on Sunday as they came off the presses:
Updated
CEO of The Parenthood, Georgie Dent, also had thoughts on some of the government’s recent announcements:
These announcements are welcome and critically important. Restoring the single-parenting payment until the youngest child is 14 will change the lives of almost 60,000 single-parent families.”
The ParentsNext program is a punitive measure that places unfair restrictions on the level of support financially vulnerable parents can receive. Scrapping it will greatly benefit parents, mostly mothers, in need, allow them greater financial security, and provide them with vital support.
The removal of the restrictive requirements to receive income support will also enable parents to engage in caregiving responsibilities, without any barriers.
Further, expanding the eligibility criteria for the Single Parent Payment, to include parents with children up to the age of 14, will ensure that the thousands of parents who were locked out of the program will be able to access the vital support they require.
These measures will significantly help parents in need and will ensure that vulnerable families are not left behind,” she said.
Updated
Lloyd named as chair of Universities Australia
Professor David Lloyd, current vice-chancellor of the University of South Australia has been nominated to serve as the next chair of Universities Australia, the peak body for tertiary education in Australia.
Lloyd was selected by members to succeed La Trobe vice chancellor, professor John Dewar. He was previously serving as deputy chair of the board.
Lloyd said universities would be a vital player in how Australia responded to shifts in domestic, economic and global landscapes.
Skill shortages, economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and a new industrial revolution are changing the way we live and operate. We have no time to waste in preparing for these challenges, and universities have a crucial role to play.
More jobs in the future will require a degree and demand for research and development, to guide national priorities like the energy transition and Aukus is only growing.”
The National Union of Students has been critical of the sector’s role in the Aukus program, calling against universities providing training or technology to an “arms race that threatens our future”.
Lloyd arrived in Australia in 2013 with higher education and research experience in the United Kingdom and England, having held leadership positions at Trinity College Dublin, the Irish Research Council and the Australian Research Council’s Advisory Council.
His appointment will be confirmed at the next annual general meeting on 31 May, where members of the board will be confirmed.
Updated
Independent MP Zoe Daniel also has thoughts on the single parent payment:
The Albanese government’s decision to increase the [age] threshold to 14 is a huge relief to single mothers, many of whom have been forced to choose between poverty and violence.
Research shows that 60% of single mothers in Australia have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by a previous partner.
Some stay in violent relationships because they can’t afford to move out.
This is shameful.
I’ve been advocating for it to return to the previous threshold of 16, but this is a good compromise.
Restoring the cut-off to 16 was also the first of six priorities for urgent action in the budget by the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce.
Lifting the cut-off age for the PPS is vital for many reasons. It increases women’s safety by making them less likely to return to abusive partners. It increases their ability to protect and raise children.
It increases economic security and financial safety.
It provides solid ground for women to enter paid work and study.
Put simply, it enables a pathway to a better life.
Every woman deserves the right to live safely and to afford the basics including rent, food, medication, and education.
An extra $176 more a fortnight will mean families don’t have to skip meals, limit heating and cooling and miss medical appointments. They can put petrol in the car and kids can play sport.
Updated
Sam Mostyn on single parent payment
Mostyn, who was part of the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce, has welcomed the changes to the single parents payment – but says there is a lot more to do (scrapping the childcare activity test among them).
When Womens Economic Equality Taskforce first met we agreed to provide bold, independent advice to @SenKatyG starting with women experiencing disadvantage. We welcome @AlboMP announcement & acknowledge the patient calls for change by so many, over many years #auspol #Budget2023
— sam mostyn (@sammostyn) May 8, 2023
Our Taskforce made #Budget2023 recs to @SenKatyG & you can read our letter.Our full report to the Minister on future,long term reforms for a truly equal & vibrant economy for all will complete shortly. I thank her for her strong support throughout #auspolhttps://t.co/kGPzseJGBk
— sam mostyn (@sammostyn) May 8, 2023
Updated
Nick McKim on PRRT changes: ‘a rerun of Wayne Swan’s mining tax’
Greens senator Nick McKim has a lot of thoughts about the changes to the PRRT – none of them good. Josh Butler reported on some of these thoughts earlier today – here are some more:
Labor’s changes to the PRRT have been designed by the gas industry.
The government considered two models that would likely have brought in more revenue and discouraged more gas development.
But the gas industry didn’t like these models so the government came up with a third model which the gas cabal loves.
Under Labor’s proposed changes the more profits gas corporations make, the less extra tax they pay.
And Labor’s proposed changes are also designed to encourage more investment in gas.
These changes are less than the bare minimum and will continue to fuel the breakdown of the planet’s climate.
This is a rerun of Wayne Swan’s mining tax.
Labor has again designed tax changes in consultation with the resources sector so that the extra tax goes down if profits go up.
Updated
David Pocock on PRRT changes: we could be 'so much bolder’ than this 'tinkering around the edges'
You can add ACT independent senator David Pocock to the list of non-government MPs who aren’t too happy with the PRRT decisions – Pocock, like the teal crossbench and the Greens think it could go much, much further.
Australians deserve a fair return for the sale of our resources.
— David Pocock (@DavidPocock) May 8, 2023
This is tinkering around the edges when we need more ambitious reform to capture record oil and gas profits.
It's time to show some courage - we can be so much bolder without threatening investment. pic.twitter.com/3gYPAhlvMc
Updated
New MP for Aston to be sworn in tomorrow
The new Labor MP for Aston, Mary Doyle, will be sworn into parliament tomorrow and then will deliver her first speech on Thursday.
Doyle has been described as a “breath of fresh air” by Labor peeps. Doyle hadn’t even been sworn into the parliament when she joined the list of MPs pushing for a raise to the jobseeker rate.
Updated
Resignations and retirements …
Anyways, everyone is just waiting for Scott Morrison to officially announce one of the worst kept secrets in politics this year – that he is retiring.
For those asking – we don’t have a date for the Faddon byelection as yet because Stuart Robert hasn’t officially resigned – only said he will be resigning in the coming weeks.
Updated
EVs will end the weekend?
Scott Morrison continues to pop up in all manner of ways, as AAP reports:
The push for one million electric vehicles on Australian roads by 2027 has received a boost from a tongue-in-cheek advertising campaign poking fun at comments by the former prime minister.
The Electric Vehicle Council launched its campaign on television and online on Monday, showcasing a range of zero-emission vehicles, including the country’s first electric ute.
The advertisement also mocks comments by former prime minister Scott Morrison in 2019 that electric vehicles would “end the weekend”.
… The video also shows two couples camping, with a morose woman commenting to her partner, “Hey Scotty, I thought you said these EVs were going to ruin the weekend”.
Her comment alludes to a statement from former prime minister Scott Morrison in April 2019, which said electric vehicles would not tow trailers, boats or “get you out to your favourite camping spot”.
Updated
Shane Drumgold tells Bruce Lehrmann trial inquiry he made ‘error’ but no ‘knowingly false’ statements
The chief prosecutor in the trial of Bruce Lehrmann has told an inquiry he made an error during a stay application in the case, but has denied that he told a court something that he knew was false.
The ACT director of public prosecutions (DPP), Shane Drumgold SC, is the first witness appearing before an independent inquiry investigating the prosecution of Lehrmann.
The inquiry was established by the ACT government after it said there had been a “number of complaints and allegations” about the trial.
Drumgold was being questioned in detail on Monday by counsel assisting the inquiry, Erin Longbottom KC, about a stay application made by Lehrmann in the case after television personality Lisa Wilkinson gave a Gold Logie speech referencing the matter.
The stay application was heard in June 2022, only days after the speech was made.
Longbottom told Drumgold on Monday that he had made “knowingly false” statements during the stay hearing before ACT supreme court chief justice, Lucy McCallum.
She said he had done so while questioned about whether a file note referring to a previous meeting with Wilkinson was contemporaneous, and when asked who had made the note.
Drumgold denied the statements, including that the note was contemporaneous despite a section being added after the meeting, and saying that a prosecutor’s associate had made the change when he had done so, were knowingly false.
But he said, when asked to clarify by Walter Sofronoff KC, who is heading up the inquiry, that they were made in “error”.
He later said that “in a perfect world” he should have gone back to check who had contributed what to the file note, but that in the nature of a “fast moving” application he had not considered it in court.
Drumgold had been told by Wilkinson several days before the Logies that she was nominated for the Gold Logie, but did not expect to win because the awards were “managed by a rival network”, according to an email referred to in the inquiry.
On 15 June 2022, Wilkinson met with the prosecution in Lehrmann’s case to prepare her for the possibility of her being a witness in Lehrmann’s trial.
Wilkinson had detailed her speech during the meeting, according an email relating to notes of the meetings, but Drumgold, according to another email also detailing the meeting, told her “we are not speech editors” and “we have no power to approve or prohibit any public comment”, as that was the role of the court.
But the note also stated that Drumgold told Wilkinson that the defence could apply for a stay because of the speech.
The hearing continues.
Updated
Tim Tams v Milk Arrowroots
Over on the Nine network, the interview with Katy Gallagher went to *all* the important issues:
Host: What about cutting from your own department. Everyone is tightening their belt at the moment. I hear that you’re replacing Tim Tams with Milk Arrowroot. Is that true?
Gallagher:
We expect government departments to ensure that every dollar they spend is wisely spent. So I wouldn’t object to a Tim Tam being changed to an Arrowroot. But we have been very clear, and you’ll see this in the budget. Where we can make savings we’re making those savings. We’re asking departments to tighten their belt but we’re also investing in them to make sure they provide services the Australian people want and need.
Updated
Gallagher: no ‘slash and burn approach’ to this budget
On the Seven network Katy Gallagher spoke a little more about those savings:
What you’ll see is, I don’t want people to think that there is some sort of slash and burn approach to this budget. It’s not that at all. What we’ve been trying to do within the confines of a huge commonwealth budget is find areas where we can use the money a different way. It might be to the same group, it might be just slightly differently. So we have tried to be really considerate of the impact on people, but the reality is the budget is in structural deficit. We’ve got a lot of debt to pay off and we can’t just add and add and add spending to the budget. So, people know that. When they do their household budgets, it’s the same thing. We’ve got to look at where we use money and think if there’s other ways of doing it to get better outcomes, and people will see the results of that on Tuesday night – just about a day away.
Updated
Katy Gallagher on $17.8bn budget savings: ‘This has been harder’ than last time
The government said it found $20bn in savings in the October budget – in this one, it has a bit less, $17.8bn, in savings.
Here is what Katy Gallagher had to say on that:
This has been a harder effort, or it’s been harder to find the savings. In October, we were able to return to budget some of those big lumps of funds that the former government had put into the budget, so that was an easier task. This has been harder. Of that $17.8 billion – about 7.8 is through, you know, reprioritisation through the defence program, so through the strategic review – but the other $10 billion is across the board. We’ve looked across every department. We’re looking for unallocated money, we’re looking for programs that can be redirected, and ministers have done a huge job and I thank them for it.
Updated
Things seem interesting in SAPol:
Tourism Minister hands down evaluation on invite-only Sam Smith concert earlier this year.
— Ollie Haig (@ollie_haig) May 8, 2023
- Generated $32m in advertising. KPI was $7m
- Govt won’t say how much govt spent due to “commercial in confidence”
- Key recommendation: update influencer selection model. @9NewsAdel pic.twitter.com/SKxoY2RXzd
Translation:
— NickdMiller ❔ (@NickdMiller) May 8, 2023
- we may have picked the wrong influencers to come watch Sam Smith's weird private concert, who knows;
- we didn't really have any way to work out whether it would be worthwhile;
- if we do it again we'll force them to say something nice pic.twitter.com/NwUMc4oT9A
Updated
Tasmanian stadium project
The issue is awkward for Tasmanian Labor, which has been opposed to the project under leader Rebecca White, because the federal Labor government just made a big hooha about its $240m funding contribution to the estimated $715m project.
It’s never been overly popular in parts of Tasmania – and is even less so now that the state is gripped by a housing crisis. And there are plenty of people who think the money could be spent on making sure people have homes rather than a stadium precinct.
Updated
Lambie to headline ‘Stop the stadium’ rally in Tasmania
Meanwhile, in Tasmania, senator Jacqui Lambie is headlining a “stop the stadium” rally:
Feeling really pissed off about the stadium … the stitch up, the squandering and twisted priorities? Show up on Saturday.
— Cassy O'Connor 🪲 (@CassyOConnorMP) May 5, 2023
Tell your friends & families, spread the word.
Let’s pack the lawns of our Parliament.#politas https://t.co/WAcY86Um5K
Updated
Social services minister: parenting evolves and so this payment is ‘trying to move along with that evolution’
Social services minister Amanda Rishworth also tried explaining why the age threshold for single parenting payments was raised to 14 and not 16:
Well, parenting doesn’t stop. It never stops. 30, 40-year-olds are still being parented probably by their parents. … I’m expecting to give that parenting as well to my children. But look, the role does evolve and so as a child goes off to high school and potentially can take on more time away from parents, those parents are able to take on more job seeking and more working opportunities and the payment is certainly designed to do that. There is still mutual obligations attached with the parenting payment, but also importantly, there’s generous taper rates so that single parents can do more work. Parenting does evolve and so this payment is trying to move along with that evolution.
Updated
Prosecutor Shane Drumgold denies losing his objectivity during Bruce Lehrmann trial
The chief prosecutor in the trial of Bruce Lehrmann has told an inquiry that he never lost his objectivity during the case, and does not believe the matter was “extraordinary”.
The ACT director of public prosecutions (DPP), Shane Drumgold SC, is the first witness appearing before an independent inquiry investigating the prosecution of Lehrmann.
The inquiry was established by the ACT government after it said there had been a “number of complaints and allegations” about the trial, and an inquiry was needed to consider engagement between the DPP and ACT policing, “aspects” of their conduct, the role of the victims of crime commissioner, and the framework for juror misconduct.
Drumgold told counsel assisting the inquiry, Erin Longbottom KC, that he agreed with her that a director of public prosecutions had a duty to be objective, impartial and fair.
When asked by Longbottom if Drumgold believed he had lost his objectivity during the Lehrmann case, he responded: “No, I don’t believe so.”
When Longbottom put to him that it “was an extraordinary trial”, Drumgold responded:
To be frank I think that’s a value judgment … it was not extraordinary in my sense.
It was a high profile case, the concern to me was that a jury were not influenced by other things that were happening that weren’t part of this case.
[This was about] two people in a room in a very narrow movement of time … It’s not about politicians, it’s not about Me Too movements.
The hearing before Walter Sofronoff KC continues.
Updated
Acoss on single parent threshold move to 14: ‘excellent’ news but more needed
The Australian Council of Social Service has welcomed the change raising the threshold age a parent moves from the single parent payment to jobseeker (from when their youngest child turns 8 to when they turn 14) but Dr Cassandra Goldie says there is still so much more to be done:
While today’s announcement is excellent and very welcome news for the 57,000 single parents who will benefit, 860,000 people will remain on jobseeker, including 28,000 single parents.
We need to ensure that everyone - single parents, people with disability, people with chronic illness, people looking for paid work, students, people who are caring - have enough to cover the basics.
On the $50 a day jobseeker payment or the $40 a day youth allowance, you cannot cover essential costs.
This will not change unless the government acts and substantially lifts these essential income supports.
Updated
Adam Bandt on housing bill: it would be a ‘terrible idea’ to force it to a vote
In non-budget news, the government plans to bring on the Housing Australia Future Fund bill for a vote this week. That’s the one where the government would use the interest gleaned from a $10 billion future fund to build new social and affordable housing - but the Greens aren’t onboard because they want the housing help to go even further.
The Greens are the lynchpin vote on this in the Senate (the Coalition is against it too) and they’re not budging yet. Guardian Australia’s Paul Karp asked Bandt what the Greens would do this week, whether vote it down or try to defer the vote – Bandt responded that “the ball is in the government’s court”, but that it would be “a terrible idea for the government” to force the bill to a vote.
Bandt said the Greens were still “up for negotiation” on the bill, including a guarantee of new money into building housing – he claimed that since the program is based on using money raised from the fund, and that there is no guarantee of returns, there’s no guarantee of housing being built.
“The government has to show the same kind of willingness to negotiate on its housing bill as it has on its other bills,” Bandt said.
Updated
Greens's Nick McKim: PRRT change ‘less than bare minimum’
The Greens have been holding a press conference on issues of the day, from the PRRT changes (“less than the bare minimum”) to the single parent payment (“not even fully reversing its own terrible decision”) and the housing bill (saying it’s up to Labor).
Greens social services spokesperson, Janet Rice, called the change to the single parents payment, raising the cut-off age from 8 to 14, a “welcome move” but noted even the increased payment was still far below the poverty line. Party leader Adam Bandt was critical that the reform did not fully reverse the Howard-era change, saying the cut-off age should be reverted back to at least the original 16 because teenagers still need support from their parents.
On the PRRT changes, which have been welcomed by the gas industry, Greens spokesperson Nick McKim responded: “Seriously?”
To describe them as the barest minimum would be significantly overstating what they achieved.
These are terrible changes that will make next to no difference to an utterly cooked PRRT system.
Rice went on to criticise the reported $40 a fortnight boost to the jobseeker payment. She said that quantum of rise, which would be $2.85 a day, would be a “kick in the guts” for those on payments.
Updated
Albanese on single parent threshold: ‘Eight was far too low, we think 14 is the right age.’
Why has the government chosen 14 as the single parent threshold and not 16 as was recommended (and originally in place)?
Anthony Albanese:
We think 14 is the right balance. Fourteen is the period in which a student starts to gain more independence, doesn’t need the same level of support at home that a younger child does. Eight was far too low, an eight-year-old needs mum or dad or their carer to cook them dinner, to look after them. A 14-year-old starts to, in today’s world, starts to move into that change into adulthood. And we think this is absolutely the right balance as well, where we want people who’ve been single parents, where it’s possible, to move into full-time employment over a period of time. By this change, you might see people then moving into at least some form of part-time employment. We think we’ve got the balance right here. Eight was far too low, we think 14 is the right age.
Updated
Last-ditch calls for help from the budget
The budget has been been printed, which means it is a done deal. But advocates are still making last-ditch calls for help.
Homelessness Australia CEO Kate Colvin said the government needed to urgently act on homelessness, especially for low income earners:
In the past year even more people have been plunged into housing stress and homelessness as they navigate the perfect storm of housing market conditions. Record low vacancy rates and record high rental increases are hitting people on low incomes hard. This is particularly acute along the eastern seaboard with rents for a typical unit in Sydney up almost 30% over the past year. In Melbourne and Brisbane, it’s up by about 24%.
Meanwhile, income support payments are too inadequate to keep up with rising rents. After paying rent, young people on youth allowance only have $13 a day to cover food, transport, medicine, power and other bills. Almost half of all people who receive commonwealth rent assistance are still in rent stress after receiving the payment.
Colvin wants an increase to rental assistance by 50% and an increase to jobseeker and youth allowance to at least $76 a day:
This budget is an opportunity to lift the people who are without a home, the many who are struggling to keep one, and those who are not too far off out of crisis. It’s an opportunity to create more stable and secure futures for individuals and families who’re battling the worst housing crisis.
Updated
Victoria police chief says systemic racism ‘should not have happened’
Victoria’s chief police commissioner Shane Patton says the actions of police officers have harmed First Nations Victorians in the past and continue to do so today.
Patton is being grilled by the state’s Indigenous truth-telling commission as part of hearings focusing on the child protection and criminal justice system:
I formally and unreservedly apologise for police actions that have caused or contributed to the trauma experienced by so many Aboriginal families in our jurisdiction.
Patton acknowledged that systemic racism and discriminatory action in the force had gone “undetected, unchecked and unpunished”:
It should not have happened.
He vowed to ensure that the police force reviewed its policies to stamp out systemic racism and unconscious bias.
Updated
Albanese quizzed on coronation: ‘We need more fancy hats in Australia’
Josh covered this off a little earlier this morning (bless him) but here is some more of Anthony Albanese’s latest foray into FM radio.
This line of questioning was about how tired the PM is after his flight from the coronation (somehow I don’t think the PM’s Vip is quite as difficult to sleep in as long-haul economy).
Albanese was saying he did not know what time it was:
Host: You don’t need to figure it out till you get back to Canberra.
PM: 7:30 tomorrow night, I have to be in the chamber for Jim Chalmers’ budget speech. I know that. If I wasn’t there, people might notice.
Host: It’s amazing, we were just talking about the fact that you are looking, you’re in history, like you’re attending history. We’re watching it. You’re in it. You’re in it.
PM: Well, it’s an extraordinary event, of course. The first time in my lifetime. First time in 70 years. And you absolutely had that sense of history. And the British, no one does pageantry and ceremony like the British.
Host: It was like an Anne Hathaway movie.
Other host: And that was slimmed down, they said.
Another host: I tell you what, we need more fancy hats. Like we don’t have enough fancy hats in Australia.
I have lost count of the hosts: That’s where we’ve gone wrong, obviously.
Some other dude: Everyone had like a big furry one and a cone shaped one and a princess one.
Host: We’re gonna get more details on the coronation. We’ve got to get a song on.
PM: We have caps and Akubras.
Host: I know, corks on strings.
Other host: Alright, we’re going to find out all the details of the coronation, coming up next with the prime minister.
(Song break)
Updated
Spill motion for NSW Nationals leader could be called
The New South Wales Liberals and Nationals will each meet today for party room meetings before the state parliament resumes tomorrow following the March election.
A spill motion for the leader of the junior Coalition partner could be called amid growing frustration among party members that leader Paul Toole has mismanaged the situation with former arts minister and Nationals MP Ben Franklin, who is expected to become the new upper house president with the support of premier, Chris Minns.
Toole has expressed concern over Franklin nominating for the position that would make it easier for Labor to pass legislation through the chamber, while others in the party have accused him of treacherous behaviour.
But Franklin has told the Sydney Morning Herald that Toole had previously told him it was “really good for us” and had been acting under the assumption that it was fine for him to put his hand up.
A number of Nationals MPs are concerned about the handling of the issue and may call for a spill on the leadership today.
The Liberals will also meet to vote on a change to the party rules to enable an upper house MP to become deputy leader - a change that would enable Natalie Ward to nominate for the role.
The party will elect a deputy if the vote succeeds or not, with the final shadow crossbench expected to be announced later today.
Updated
Greens and teals not happy with PRRT changes
So far the Greens and the teal independents are on a unity ticket on the PRRT changes –they are not happy.
The industry wants the Coalition to pass the changes so the government doesn’t have to negotiate with the Greens and crossbench (insert thinking face emoji).
Thanks for clarifying these changes are the absolute barest minimum. Under Labor’s proposed changes, the higher the gas price, the less additional tax that corporations will pay. Any wonder the gas companies are very happy with them. https://t.co/5WvrzFcubQ
— Nick McKim (@NickMcKim) May 7, 2023
Updated
Minns on not lighting Opera House sails to mark coronation
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has defended his decision not to light the sails of the Sydney Opera House to mark the coronation of King Charles over the weekend, citing the significant cost to taxpayers.
Speaking on 2GB this morning, Minns explained it costs between $80,000 and $100,000 every night they are lit.
He said he intended to reserve the public display for “Australia and Australians”, to mark “sacrifice and heroism” or for major international events.
He said:
I respect the king, but I’m mindful of where and when we spend taxpayer money.
Updated
Victoria police chief apologises to First Nations families at truth-telling inquiry
Victoria’s chief police commissioner is appearing before the state’s Indigenous truth-telling commission.
The appearance marks a historic moment for the state as it progresses with Australia’s first Indigenous truth-telling inquiry. Donna Nelson, mother of First Nations woman Veronica, who died in custody in 2020, is in the first row of the public gallery. Nelson’s death sparked renewed calls for the Victorian government to overhaul its controversial bail laws.
Shane Patton, chief commissioner of Victoria Police, apologised for the actions of officers that contributed to trauma experienced by Indigenous families:
“I know Victoria Police has caused harm in the past and unfortunately continues to do so in the present.”
Updated
‘Our budget is lightening that load’
Lots of purple words here – but not sure people are in the mood for flowery language when reality is so stark
This is an issue close to my heart.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) May 7, 2023
Single parents, who are overwhelmingly women, carry the world on their backs.
Our budget is lightening that load.
We’re expanding access to the single parent payment so it covers families until the youngest turns 14, up from 8.
Updated
More affordable housing NOW
The Greens are also pushing the government to go further on its housing fund. The government is not budging:
This week, the Senate will decide whether to back Labor’s plan to build 30,000 social and affordable homes.
— Senator Murray Watt (@MurrayWatt) May 7, 2023
The Greens Party says they’ll join Peter Dutton’s LNP to block it.
Call on your Greens MP or Senator to vote for more affordable housing NOW. pic.twitter.com/LvJjiRspBh
Updated
Monique Ryan: ‘not a good sign when the gas industry is happy with a tax change’
Independent Kooyong MP Dr Monique Ryan is also skeptical of the PRRT changes – particularly since the gas industry is a fan of them:
It’s not a good sign when the gas industry is happy with a tax change.
Capping gas company tax deductions at 90 percent of annual income, and changing the point at which the tax is imposed, leaves Australia a global laggard when it comes to taxing its domestic gas industry.
I urge the federal government to listen to the experts and adopt more meaningful reforms to the PRRT.
Australians are dealing with a cost-of-living crisis, and the federal government is making life harder for them by letting gas companies receive windfall profits off the back of a war.
The federal government is facing a test of compassion this budget.
Young people will be hit with the single biggest increase to their Hecs/Help loans they have ever faced on June 1; single parents are urging the government to allow those with children up to 16 years of age to be eligible for single parent payments; and job hunters remain on a jobseeker rate that leaves them in poverty.
I sincerely hope the federal government shows a little more compassion to young people, single parents and job-hunters when the budget is delivered on Tuesday.
Updated
Victoria to trail driver’s licence on phones from July before statewide rollout by 2024
The minister for roads, Melissa Horne, and the minister for government services, Danny Pearson, announced the new technology will give motorists the choice to store a secure digital version of their driver’s licence in the Service Victoria app, before the VicRoads app is launched next year.
From June, full licence holders in Ballarat will be able to sign up for the pilot through the Service Victoria or VicRoads websites before the trial begins the following month. During the trial, feedback will be sought from motorists, retailers, licensed venues, Victoria Police and places where a licence is used as proof of identity.
Pearson said the card has bolstered security features - with the licence updated in real time in response to any changes such as new licence conditions or a change of address:
This is world-class technology – the digital driver licence has a constantly refreshed unique QR code and the customer has control over the level of personal information shared. We know Victorians are calling out for more cards to be added to the Service Victoria wallet and that is why we are thrilled that the digital driver licence will soon be added.
Updated
Coronation ‘a lot of pomp and spectacle’, Plibersek says
Tanya Plibersek is still sentenced to “debating” Barnaby Joyce each week on the Seven network for *reasons* and this morning’s segment was the usual Joyce-a-thon where the former Nationals leader spouted his talking points no matter who was speaking, but there was a bit of agreement at the end – neither was a fan of the coronation:
Plibersek:
Look, I’ve been dipping in and out of the coverage. It is a lot of pomp and spectacle. But Saturday night I wasn’t sitting around with a cup of tea, I was out at the movies.
Q: Oh, so you’re not a fan of the whole thing?
Plibersek:
No, no, no. I watched bits and pieces of it but, you know, there’s a lot of it. I wasn’t prepared to put the weekend on hold to – I had, you know, kids to take to sport, the shopping to do, all sorts of things.
Q: That’s not a rousing backing of it. Barnaby, what did you think of the coronation over the weekend?
Joyce:
Look, I hate to say it, I’m kind of [on] Tanya’s page. I’m not a republican but I did watch it for a while, but I did go to bed and, you know, good luck to them, but I’ve got other things to do now.
Updated
‘Back in Black’ mugs
Not sure given the cost of living crisis a surplus in the budget is anything worth crowing about, given surpluses are just a public spending deficit.
Truth hurts. https://t.co/FvyW1FjQci
— Tanya Plibersek (@tanya_plibersek) May 7, 2023
Updated
Release on single parent payment change
Here is the official government release on the single parent payment change – in case you didn’t know, single parents still have to undergo mutual obligations and that won’t change:
This Budget will extend the Parenting Payment (Single), so eligible carers can access that support until their youngest dependent child turns 14.
From 20 September 2023, and subject to the passage of legislation, single parents will no longer have to transfer to JobSeeker when their youngest child turns eight.
These parents will continue to receive the higher support, with a current base rate of $922.10 per fortnight (95 per cent of the Age Pension), until their youngest child turns 14.
With these changes, eligible single parents currently on JobSeeker will receive an increase to payments of $176.90 per fortnight.
By 14, children have typically settled into high school and need less parental supervision, and single parents are in a much stronger position to take on paid work.
More than 90 per cent of parents who will benefit from this change are single mothers.
Labor’s Budget changes will provide additional financial support to at least 57,000 single principal carers, including 52,000 women and around 5,700 First Nations carers.
This represents a $1.9 billion investment through to 2026-27.
Mutual obligation requirements will remain in place for recipients of Parenting Payment (Single) to encourage single parents to participate in employment, study or training, and maintain connections with the labour force so they can return to work when their children are older.
Updated
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, has called a press conference for 10.30am this morning. No doubt the PRRT changes will feature heavily.
Updated
PRRT changes don’t go far enough, says Sophie Scamps
The independent MP for Mackellar, Dr Sophie Scamps is not a fan of the PRRT changes Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers have been speaking about this morning – she says they don’t go far enough and makes the point that if the industry is a fan of the changes, they can’t be that great:
The changes to the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) announced yesterday by Treasurer Jim Chalmers are a positive step, albeit tiny and timid. The fact that the changes have been so enthusiastically welcomed by oil and gas lobby group Appea is a red flag.
Multi-national resource companies are making super profits out of resources that belong to all Australians. LNG exports currently amount to around $92 billion annually, however the PPRT is riddled with so many loopholes and exemptions that companies are able to shift most of their profits overseas and avoid paying tax here in Australia. These resources belong to the Australian people, so it is not fair that Australians are missing out.
The changes announced by the Treasurer today will see a mere additional $600 million per year collected in revenue from the PRRT. If Australia taxed oil and gas exporters in a similar way to Norway, we could add billions of dollars to the budget each year and it would benefit us all.
Nearly 30 years ago, Norway implemented a simple 55% special tax on their resource profits on top of the corporate tax. They also tightened up their laws on transfer pricing. As a result Norway now has a sovereign wealth worth over two trillion dollars for the benefit of future generations. In contrast, Australia is leaving future generations a massive debt of nearly one trillion dollars.
The PRRT needs a complete overhaul so Australians start to benefit from the sale of our resources in the same way Norwegians do. At a time when we cannot adequately fund essential services and millions of Australians are living in poverty, we need a government brave enough to take on the fossil fuel lobby.
Updated
‘I wasn’t there to have a protest’, PM tells Perth radio on coronation
(Before that press conference (which had the sun rising behind him), Anthony Albanese spoke to a Perth FM radio station, which Josh Butler listened to, so you don’t have to.)
Anthony Albanese is back in Australia, and stopped by Perth’s Nova FM radio on his way back to the east coast. In a long-ish interview, Albanese gave a fair bit of information on the seating arrangements at King Charles’ coronation, described what a “realm country” was, and discussed with the radio hosts what they’d be having for dinner when they visited him at the Lodge in coming weeks.
In other words, there wasn’t a real lot of news to be found.
Albanese said he jumped on the jet straight after the coronation on Saturday night (AEST), heading home via Dubai and arriving in Perth sometime overnight. He joked about being confused at the time, saying he hadn’t had a lot of sleep in recent days, describing his fatigue as 9.5 out of 10.
But in a far more lighthearted chat on Nova, Albanese talked about getting to know the leaders of Antigua and the Bahamas quite well (because they sat on either side of him at official events, by alphabetical order), and while he stressed he was still a supporter of an Australian republic, he was happy to attend the coronation.
“It’s important as prime minister that I respect institutions that are there. I wasn’t there to have a protest, which some people seem to think I should have done,” he said.
The radio hosts also played the new Ricki-Lee song in breaks during the interview, which really is a powerful way to start your morning, no doubt.
Updated
Anthony Albanese also enjoyed the coronation.
He mentioned Adam Hills being there a couple of times. They must have had a good chat.
Coalition can never claim to be responsible economic managers again: PM
On the wider budget, Anthony Albanese says:
You can’t just simply look at measures in the short term. We’ve done that, but we’ve looked at as well in the medium and long term, which you need to do as well to make sure that changes aren’t counterproductive by adding to inflation.
So what we’ve done is to look at a range of measures … The expenditure review committee met at times, multiple times a week, where we’ve been working on this budget since our last budget in October of last year.
And one of the things that we’ve had to do is to provide space for the funding of measures, which fell off a cliff … funding future programs in community services, funding in cybersecurity, so many areas where funding just stopped on June 30.
Now, our government has had to provide billions of dollars to make sure that certainty can be provided going forward, as well as deal with funding of our national institutions and other areas, that was simply stopped.
At the National Gallery, which had buckets collecting water from a leaky roof, when you’ve got an artwork like the Blue Poles sitting there, worth half a billion dollars, is just absurd.
What the former government did, they can never quite lay claim to being responsible economic managers ever again after the economic mess that they left. But we’re taking responsibility for cleaning it up.
Updated
PM says changes to PRRT ‘modest’ and ‘sensible’
On why the government didn’t go further on those changes, Anthony Albanese says:
Importantly, we have worked this through with industry. This is a modest change that we’ll bring forward by reducing the deduction to 90% that companies can claim. This is a sensible reform, which is a result of two reviews were established by the former government – two reviews, no response, no action.
My government is responding to those reviews. There are a range of options recommended. We have chosen what we believe is in the best interests of the economy and taxpayers, but also is in the interests of providing support for industry.
Updated
Albanese on PRRT: ‘We want to support’ gas industry
On the changes to the PRRT which even the industry supports – with Appea asking for the Coalition to support the changes so that the government doesn’t have to negotiate with the Greens and therefore go further (which probably tells you everything you need to know about these changes), Anthony Albanese says:
The Greens of course [are] people who don’t support that industry … they’d be quite happy to shut it down.
We want to support that industry. The gas industry is an important industry, for Australia, for our national interest.
And that’s why we worked with Appea and with individual companies as well on this modest change, which provides for a bring forward of taxation revenue, which would have been in later years we’re bringing that forward, so it’s available, which is appropriate.
We work these issues through, we make no apologies.
And we call upon the Coalition to support these measures.
How extraordinary is it that you have the gas companies and the peak organisation out there, saying they can live with this change, acknowledging the work that the government did to work these issues through and the Coalition saying, “yeah nah, nah” … all they do is just say no to everything.
And that’s why the Coalition of yesterday become the no-alition of today.
The group that just say no to every measure that is put forward. I think Australians are tired of a coalition that simply are negative and say no to everything.
Updated
Extending single parent payment will boost productivity: PM
Anthony Albanese says the move to up the age at which single parents come off the payment will boost productivity.
My government has focused on productivity, focused on measures that improve the economy, providing that cost-of-living relief in the short term, but making sure we’re always looking towards the medium and long term.
Updated
Single parents ‘deserving of more support’, says Albanese
It is going to cost $1.9bn over the next couple of years. And Anthony Albanese then also rehashes his origin story:
I know first-hand what it’s like to grow up with a single mum doing it tough and we want to make sure that the children of single-parent families have the best opportunities in life, to go on and to fulfil, to aspire to, a good life with good jobs, with security. And we want to look after single parents because we know that the role that they play in raising their children is such a priority for them and they’re deserving of more support.
Not sure children get cheaper at 14, or that they don’t need you as much when they start high school, but here we are.
Updated
PM confirms single parent payment to be extended until youngest child is 14
It looks like it is dawn in Perth where Anthony Albanese is speaking – he is confirming that the single parent payment will continue until their youngest child turns 14.
It was originally 16. But the Howard government changed it to 8 and the Gillard government compounded it by ending the grandfathering which had been attached to the scheme.
It will mean an extra $176.90 every fortnight for single parents who had been taken off the payment.
Updated
The prime minister will be stepping up very soon in Perth – he then has the final leg of the journey back to Canberra. Parliament sits officially from tomorrow, but today is all about setting up the budget. So there are a lot of MPs in town and all of them seem cranky about something.
Fun!
Updated
More needed to address child poverty and wellbeing, says Save the Children CEO
Meanwhile, Save the Children CEO, Mat Tinkler, said the government needed to do more in this budget to lift children out of poverty and address their wellbeing issues:
In just the past few years, children and young people across Australia have faced multiple crises including the ongoing mental health fallout from the pandemic, the increase in climate-fuelled disasters, and now a worsening cost-of-living crisis.
As the budget is handed down, we urge the government to take stock of the measures they have put in place and assess whether they are going far enough to address the deep wellbeing needs of young Australians.
Updated
$20-a-week jobseeker increase will leave millions ‘on payments below the poverty line’, says anti-poverty advocate
The Antipoverty Centre has responded to the speculation there will be a $40 a fortnight increase to the working age welfare payments.
Spokesperson and DSP recipient Kristin O’Connell said the $20 a week increase falls well short of any meaningful help:
Every working-age Centrelink payment is below the poverty line. There is not a single rental property anywhere in the country that is affordable for a person on jobseeker or youth allowance, and only a handful for other welfare recipients.
We know that whatever is in the budget tomorrow, there will still be millions of people left behind on payments below the poverty line, and there is absolutely no good reason that any person on this continent should be in poverty. We saw in 2020 the government has the power and the money to fix this overnight, it is simply choosing not to in favour of helping themselves and their wealthy mates.
Updated
Westpac propelled to $4bn profit with rate hike tailwind
Westpac has posted a 22% rise in six-month net profit to $4bn, and increased its margins, in a result backed by rising interest rates.
The Westpac chief executive, Peter King, said most mortgage customers were ahead on repayments, although he said the bank was preparing for more difficult times ahead.
Interest rates are now closer to their forecast peak, but we are focused on how long they stay high and what this means for household budgets and discretionary spending.
We expect to see more stress in the period ahead, particularly in small business.
Westpac’s half-year results, for the six months to the end of March, resembled those recorded by National Australia Bank and ANZ last week, which have all profited from a string of Reserve Bank rate hikes by increasing borrowing costs at a faster pace than deposits.
Westpac’s net interest margin, the main gauge of profitability, was up 5 basis points to 1.96% compared to the previous corresponding period.
Updated
Jane Hume: Coalition government would offer ‘real savings’ and not ‘offsets’ in budget
The Liberal senator and shadow finance minister, Jane Hume, is now speaking to Patricia Karvelas on ABC RN Breakfast, rebutting everything Jim Chalmers just said.
(Don’t you just love budget week?)
What would the Liberals do if they were in government?
The most important thing we would do is rein in expenditure … And I’m not saying that we would make cuts. I think that that is far too simplistic a term. But when something gets tight, for instance, we probably wouldn’t put on an additional 8,000 public servants which is what we’ve seen from this government just in the last 12 months …
We would make sure that the guardrails were on the budget so that we had a tax to GDP ratio, so that not only do we have offsets for your expenditure – which is of course, what this government is talking about when it says savings – we would have genuine savings and bank those savings to make sure that you don’t just deliver a surplus in one year, but you deliver it sustainably in future years.
And that will be the real test of this government, is whether it can restrain itself from its innate instincts to spend more, to tax more and instead bring the budget back into balance.
Soooooooo what about this report, then?
As Stephanie Convery reports:
The previous Coalition government spent $20.8bn outsourcing more than a third of public service operations, an audit has found.
The federal government released the findings of the Australian public service audit of employment on Saturday, which examined the hiring practices and associated costs of 112 public service agencies, excluding the CSIRO, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and parliamentary departments.
It found the equivalent of nearly 54,000 full-time staff were employed as consultants or service providers for the federal government during the 2021-2022 financial year – the equivalent of 37% of the 144,300-employee public service.
Hume seems annoyed when Patricia Karvelas brings this up:
“I think this is partisan … it isn’t grounded in fact,” she says.
Except it is an audit.
Hume:
It’s nonsense to say that consultants aren’t needed to assist with public service responsibilities. All governments need external expert support and advice and often it’s a more efficient means of having access to that expertise.
She then moves on to say that the Victorian Labor government has increased its use of consultants by “200%”.
Updated
Chalmers nods to PRRT for $2.4bn ‘which wouldn’t be there’ if not for tax changes
Jim Chalmers also spoke about the change to the petroleum resource rent tax (the PRRT):
This is $2.4 billion, which wouldn’t be there.
As Paul Karp reported:
Under the changes to the PRRT, which have been under consideration since 2019, the Albanese government will accept a recommendation from Treasury to limit the proportion of PRRT assessable income that can be offset by deductions to 90%.
But it could have been higher. And the industry isn’t entirely upset about it. So take from that what you will.
Updated
Chalmers hopes budget will be seen as ‘responsible’
And there will most likely be a surplus in the budget tomorrow. Which is not a win when you consider how many people need help.
Jim Chalmers says:
The budget will be about seeing people through a difficult period but also setting Australia up for success into the future.
He hopes that people will describe it as “responsible”.
Updated
Cost-of-living support will not be limited by age: Chalmers
Jim Chalmers is asked about raising payments on ABC radio RN and says:
I’ve been saying for some days really, since the story about people over 55 first appeared, that the cost-of-living support will be broader than that, and it won’t be limited by age.
And I think when people see the package in its entirety, they will see what we’ve tried to do here is recognised the genuine pressures that people are under, and to do what we can, beginning with the most vulnerable people.
Updated
A very tired-sounding Jim Chalmers is on ABC radio RN Breakfast talking the budget.
He says there will be cost-of-living relief – but it won’t be in the form of cash payments.
What you’ll see in the budget … is we have found ways to take pressure off bills, rather than add to these cost-of-living, inflationary pressures in the economy.
Updated
If you are looking for what we know is in the budget so far, we have put together this list for you:
Updated
Zoe Daniel reveals hopes for tomorrow’s budget
Independent Goldstein MP, Zoe Daniel, has released her wishlist for the budget. She hopes to see a focus on restoring gender equality:
The single parent payment restored (95.5% of recipients are women).
The rate of Commonwealth Rent Assistance improved to address the housing insecurity that affects a disproportionate number of women.
Superannuation on Paid Parental Leave.
Abolition of the Parents Next program.
Abolition of the Childcare Subsidy Activity Test.
An interim 10% pay-rise for all early childhood educators to address the urgent need to retain and attract workers to the sector.
Immediate funding of at least $1bn a year for the National Plan to Eliminate Violence Against Women and Children.
More treatment options and prevention programs for eating disorders.
Updated
PM to give press conference at 8.45am AEST
Anthony Albanese is starting the morning in Perth (he’s on his way back from the UK where he went to the coronation). He has called a press conference for 8.45am Canberra time.
We expect him to announce the single parent payment changes moving the cut off date (when a parent moves from the single parent payment to jobseeker) from 8 to 14.
Updated
Inquiry into Lehrmann trial to resume today
An inquiry into the criminal justice system’s handling of Brittany Higgins’s allegations of rape against Bruce Lehrmann will resume in Canberra today.
The ACT’s director of public prosecutions, Shane Drumgold SC, is listed as the first witness at the inquiry, which was called following his bombshell letter, revealed by the Guardian, which alleged police had attempted to pressure him against running the case and later sided with the defence during the high-profile trial.
Drumgold was the chief prosecutor at Lehrmann’s trial, into allegations he raped former political staffer Higgins at Parliament House.
Lehrmann denies the allegations and pleaded not guilty.
The trial collapsed after a lengthy period of jury deliberations due to juror misconduct. A retrial did not proceed due to prosecutors’ concerns about Higgins’ mental health.
The counsel assisting the inquiry, Eric Longbottom, told a preliminary hearing last month that decisions made to investigate and prosecute Lehrmann were “seemingly affected” by external factors, including the #MeToo movement, and intense public discussions about low rates of convictions.
The inquiry will be split into four “modules” of hearings. The first, scheduled to run from today until 16 May, lists only two witnesses – Drumgold and Lehrmann’s defence barrister, Steven Whybrow SC.
Guardian Australia will bring you coverage of the public hearing later today.
Updated
Good morning
Welcome to Monday and to budget week!
It’s been a long four weeks between politics live blogs – and there has been a lot of speculation about what is in and out of the budget. And there has also been a bit of shifting sands there too – particularly when it comes to the working age welfare payments.
The budget has been printed so it is all set in stone now, and we know, because the government told us that there is a $14.6bn cost of living package.
Here is what Paul Karp reported:
The centrepiece of the Albanese government’s budget will be a $14.6bn package of cost-of-living relief, paid for in part by savings of $17.8bn.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has confirmed there will be new measures in the cost-of-living package in Tuesday’s budget, adding to anti-poverty advocates’ hopes that the government will implement a broad rise to the jobseeker base rate, not just a limited increase for those aged over 55.
While the government has not supplied a breakdown of the measures, Chalmers has previously hinted at “additional measures” for renters such as a rent assistance increase. The package includes the previously announced energy relief for households and small businesses, investments in energy efficiency and cheaper medicines.
When the Morrison government raised the rate by $50 a fortnight, it was costed at $9bn over four years. So it looks like $40 a fortnight is this budget’s number. And not just for over-55s – after the massive backlash, it looks like the government made it a little more universal.
That’s still not going to even take the edge off poverty for the million or so people living below the poverty line.
It’s not the only cost-of-living measure in the budget, but it is the one which has the most attention, at least so far.
Meanwhile, parliament continues around the budget.
Stuart Robert has announced he will retire from politics in the next few weeks. He hasn’t put a date on it as yet, just that it is coming soon.
We will cover all the days events as they happen. You have Mike Bowers out and about and Amy Remeikis on the blog. Paul Karp will be leading the coverage along with Josh Butler and Daniel Hurst.
Is there enough coffee today? We will soon find out.
