What we learned; Tuesday 11 February
And with that, we are going to put the blog to bed. Before we go, let’s recap the big ones:
The government should prioritise helping Australians under 34 access bulk-billed GP appointments, make longer consults and mental health appointments cheaper, the peak body for general practitioners has said.
The treasurer has announced a package to keep regional bank services open. Jim Chalmers said Australia Post, CBA, NAB and Westpac have all reached new in-principle Bank@Post agreements to support banking services through regional Australia Post outlets.
The PM said he had “a great conversation” with Donald Trump and that the US president was considering an exemption from tariffs. Later, the president signed the executive order for tariffs on steel and aluminium.
In question time, Dutton asked the PM if he was planning any changes to negative gearing, which Albo sidestepped, instead attacking the Coalition for its long lunch policy. And there was a fight about who was responsible for Australia’s lack of bulk billing clinics.
Voters in Werribee in will have to wait a little longer as the vote is still close and neither Labor’s candidate, John Lister, to the Liberal party’s Steve Murphy will make a call.
Minister for Industry and science, Ed Husic, questioned the broadcaster’s controversial defence that its case against Antoinette Lattouf, when it had argued her case should fail because she had not proved that there was a Lebanese, Middle Eastern or Arab race.
Residents in the north-west of Tasmania, in Sandy Cape and surrounds, were told to take shelter on Tuesday afternoon, while those at Corinna were urged to leave immediately as fires rage.
In good news for Sydney commuters the minister for transport, John Graham, has just announced the industrial action planned for Wednesday has been paused. We will be back tomorrow to do it all again.
Thank you for spending part of your day with us.
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US says Australia broke ‘verbal commitment’ to limit aluminium exports
The US has accused Australia of breaking a “verbal commitment” to limit aluminium exports in the formal order imposing a 25% tariff on the commodity.
As we reported earlier, Donald Trump said he would give “great consideration” to exempting Australia from the tariffs after a phone call on Tuesday morning with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese.
The official proclamation to impose the tariff – which was published after the phone call – appears to explain why Australia was not exempted from the outset.
The former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull negotiated a carve out from steel and aluminium tariffs during Trump’s first term.
The proclamation read:
The volume of U.S. imports of primary aluminum from Australia has also surged and in 2024 was approximately 103% higher than the average volume for 2015 through 2017. Australia has disregarded its verbal commitment to voluntarily restrain its aluminum exports to a reasonable level.
The tariffs – which will also apply to steel – will start on 12 March unless Albanese can secure an exemption before then.
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Separate ETU industrial action to proceed on Wednesday
A separate industrial action by the Electrical Trades Union will proceed on Wednesday in Sydney.
The ETU action will still take place between 8am and 4pm on Wednesday, when some Sydney Trains employees taking part in rolling hourly “work stoppages”.
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Alcohol deliveries under scrutiny after woman’s death from poisoning
Alcohol delivery services could be restricted after a woman died from alcohol poisoning, with a coroner finding she had more than 300 alcohol products delivered in the six months leading up to her death, AAP has reported.
Kathleen Arnold, 30, was found dead by her mother in their Heidelberg home on 16 September 2023, after consuming at least one bottle of wine and half a bottle of vodka.
At the time, Arnold had been sober for about four days, but a postmortem found she had a blood alcohol level of at least 0.54, coroner Ingrid Giles said in her report.
Arnold’s mother, Jennifer Martin, told the coroner her daughter had engaged with multiple alcohol and drug services, and was able to reduce her drinking for periods. But easy access to alcohol through delivery platforms meant she could not maintain her sobriety.
Giles on Tuesday recommended a curfew for alcohol deliveries between 10pm and 10am, a two-hour delay between orders, and for the state government to develop a new action plan to address alcohol-related harms.
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Sydney trains ‘go-slow’ postponed for 48 hours, NSW government says as dispute with unions continues
In good news for Sydney commuters the minister for transport, John Graham, has just announced the industrial action planned for Wednesday has been paused.
In a statement he said:
The NSW government and the RTBU have agreed that a planned go-slow which would have commenced Wednesday 12 February be postponed for 48 hours.
This agreement was reached as part of ongoing discussions.
Passengers of Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink should continue to check travel apps.
Three weeks after combined rail unions gave an undertaking not to conduct any further serious work stoppages that would threaten to grind Sydney to a halt in a way that was seen earlier in January, several unions had various activities planned for Wednesday.
Members of the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU), who operate trains, were going to take part in protected industrial action that includes operating trains at reduced speeds for a two week period from Wednesday.
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Share market closes unchanged
The local share market has finished basically unchanged, with a sharp loss by CSL on a disappointing earnings report balanced by strong gains by goldminers as the yellow metal hit another record high, AAP reports.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished on Tuesday up 1.2 points at 8,484.0, while the broader All Ordinaries climbed four points, or 0.05%, to 8,751.6.
Capital.com analyst Kyle Rodda said that trade war angst and soft earnings saw the ASX200 give up an early gain to close about flat.
While the economic impact of the US president, Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminium imports into the US is expected to be modest domestically, the market was reacting to fears of further tariffs to come and the possibility that the global economy was spiralling towards and all out trade war, Rodda said.
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Fire warnings for Tasmania’s north-west
We have a bit more information on the fires raging in north-west Tasmania, with the premier urging people to heed warnings. From AAP:
Residents and visitors to Sandy Cape and surrounds were told to take shelter on Tuesday afternoon, while those at Corinna were urged to leave immediately.
TasAlert warnings said the blazes were expected to put lives in danger and may destroy homes:
Fire conditions are expected to be uncontrollable, unpredictable and fast moving.
There is expected to be thick smoke, and showers of embers which may cause fires all around you.
The Tasmanian premier, Jeremy Rockliff, said the next few days were critical in the fire fight:
If you are asked to leave, then leave, it is critical that we all follow those instructions very, very clearly.
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Labor MP weighs in on Lattouf v ABC
The minister for industry and science Ed Husic was just speaking on Afternoon Briefing. As the conversation was winding up, he said he had one more thing to add that may get him “into grief”.
He wanted to talk about Antoinette Lattouf v ABC, and the broadcaster’s controversial defence that her case should fail because she had not proved that there was a Lebanese, Middle Eastern or Arab race.
Today, the ABC withdrew the defence.
He said:
Why raise it in the first place?
I just speak as someone, I’m the kid of migrants, I think there were a lot of us that were surprised that they would enter [it].
I felt for people of a Middle Eastern, Lebanese or Arab background that had to hear that.
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Emergency fire warnings are in place for Tasmania’s north-west.
People in Corinna and surrounds are being told to leave immediately and those in Sandy Cape are being told to take shelter.
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Everybody’s Home spokesperson Maiy Azize said the findings paint a devastating picture of a sector in crisis, with services struggling to meet overwhelming demand.
Azize:
The services at the coalface of Australia’s housing crisis are at breaking point. They can barely keep up with the rising number of people facing housing stress and homelessness.
Frontline organisations are telling us this has been the worst summer for increased workload, as sky-high rents and the cost of living continue to smash Australians.
With more and more people in need of help, frontline services are facing more complex casework, longer waitlists, and staff burnout and turnover.
Record numbers of people are being turned away from the help they need because there are simply not enough resources to meet the demand.
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Agencies supporting homeless people experienced surge in demand
Frontline organisations supporting people affected by Australia’s housing crisis have faced their worst summer on record, experiencing an unprecedented surge in demand, according to Everybody’s Home.
The national housing campaign’s ‘Under Pressure’ sector survey interviewed 61 frontline organisations across the country. It found that nearly nine in 10 (87%) had a major increase in workload during December and January compared to previous years, due to the worsening housing crisis.
The vast majority (98%) of organisations—including those in housing, homelessness, domestic violence, and other social and community services— reported increased workloads over the past year and expect demand for their services to keep rising in 2025.
As a result of soaring demand for their help, three in four (76%) organisations reported more complex casework, seven in ten (72%) cited increased waitlists, while two in three (67%) said they’ve been unable to provide clients with long-term housing solutions.
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Hi everyone – this is Cait Kelly. I will be with you for the rest of the day, so let’s get into it!
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Thanks all for joining me on the blog today!
I’ll leave you in the very capable hands of Cait Kelly for the rest of the afternoon, and see you bright and early in the morning.
Tldr: what did we learn in question time today?
The opposition started on negative gearing (which didn’t go far), and then pivoted to bulk-billing rates, challenging the government on why the rates have been dropping.
Mark Butler said he “wouldn’t be lectured” on bulk-billing by the opposition, after Peter Dutton froze Medicare rebates for several years.
The dixers were a mixed bag today, the first few celebrated the passing of production tax credits, but then swerved to housing, cost of living and veterans affairs.
Honestly, can’t say we learned a lot, it was all pretty tame today.
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Another day without a result in Werribee byelection
Voters in Werribee in will have to wait a little longer for a result from the weekend’s byelection in Victoria.
A recount continues today in the outer western Melbourne seat and both major parties still expect Labor’s candidate, John Lister, will retain his narrow lead over the Liberal party’s Steve Murphy.
But it seems like neither will make a call today.
Opposition leader Brad Battin told reporters this afternoon that it remains a “big challenge” for the party to get over the line. He said:
To get over the line right now would be difficult but it’s not impossible. We know that up in Ripon – when we won Ripon the last occasion [in 2018] – we were nearly 300 votes behind before the recount. We ended up getting on top [during] the scrutineering process. So I’ll be making sure I back my scrutineers. There’s hope, and we’ll work towards seeing every vote count, and if fingers crossed we’ll manage to just get over the line, but it’ll be difficult.
He said he felt “the frustration” that the community in Werribee were going through due to the VEC having not updated the count on their website. Battin said:
The reality is people just want to know, they want to see what’s happening. It shouldn’t just be the scrutineers or the parties ... getting information about the count ... so we can come out and start to talk about who is the new member for an area like Werribee. They deserve to know who’s going to be representing them as soon as possible.
Battin also defended choosing Murphy as the Liberal candidate despite him no longer living in the electorate. He said:
For 30 years, [Murphy] raised his kids in the area, still has his business in the area, and goes there each and every day. Our issue about [the former member] Tim Pallas was not the fact that he also didn’t live there – he didn’t even turn up. This is a guy that didn’t even come into the electorate. Steve Murphy has spent more days in the last four weeks in the electorate than what Tim Pallas spent there in the last 10 years.
While Labor may hold onto the seat, its once-comfortable margin has shrunk from 10.9% at the 2022 state election to a razor-thin 0.6%.
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And with that question time is over.
Another question from the crossbench comes from independent member for Fowler Dai Le. She asks:
Since my election in May 2022, I’ve repeatedly raised concerns about the rising cost of living. As your government’s term ends, what real reforms will you introduce now fix the electricity market and bring down energy prices for families, small businesses and councils, who are now paying double just to keep the streets lights on? With those costs passed down to ratepayers? Australians needs more than just a one-off $300 Band-Aid rebate.
The PM speaks broadly to the cost-of-living issue, pointing to inflation coming down, higher wages and tax cuts.
Le stands up on relevance, asking for Albanese to say what reforms he’ll introduce “now” to fix the electricity market. Milton Dick says because she said cost of living in her question – Albanese is in order.
He says “The member for Fowler, I’m sure, supported our $300 [electricity] rebates that are making a difference”. But he doesn’t go to the heart of her question about fixing the electricity market.
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After a dixer on housing, Angus Taylor stands up for another question from the opposition. He asks:
Prior to the last election, the prime minister ruled out any changes to the superannuation. Why is the treasurer persisting for the first time in our history to tax unrealised capital gains on superannuation assets?
A note here – the government hasn’t been able to secure enough support from the crossbench to pass the bill, so it’s unlikely to pass anyway.
Jim Chalmers responds:
It’s becoming clearer and clearer to us that they had a very different question time in mind for today and so they’ve gone back to the reserve bank and all of the old chestnuts, Mr Speaker.
… He [Taylor] should know that unrealised gains are calculated elsewhere in the superannuation system. If he’s the shadow treasurer, he should understand that the arrangements for tax on superannuation would still be concessional for the 0.5% of people who would be impacted by the modest change that we are proposing.
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The opposition is continuing their line of questioning on bulk-billing. SA MP James Stevens says “GP bulk billing rates in my electorate of Sturt were at 79% in 2019 before Covid. Under the Albanese Labor government, they’ve fallen as low as 69%”.
Health minister Mark Butler is again using the opportunity to pin the blame on the opposition and Peter Dutton for freezing the Medicare rebate for GPs for six years.
Perhaps after question time go and have a talk to your leader about what happened to Medicare over the last 10 to 15 years, because the truth is those opposite have never supported bulk billing. The father of the modern Liberal party, John Howard, called bulk billing an absolute rort. He fought it tooth and nail, election after election.
… I say this - we’re not going to take lectures on bulk billing from a party that has spent 41 years trying to dismantle the universal health mission of Medicare, a system that we created, that we delivered.
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Liberal MP ejected as question on 'bulk-billing crisis' sparks finger-pointing across chamber
We’re back on Medicare bulk-billing rates. Liberal MP Terry Young asks:
GP bulk-billing rates in my electorate of Longman were at 93% in 2019 before Covid. Under the Albanese Labor government, they’ve fallen to as low as 79%. Australian families are already facing a cost-of-living crisis, a housing crisis and an energy bill crisis. Why are my constituents now having to endure a bulk-billing crisis under this minister?
Mark Butler starts by asking:
Why is there a bulk-billing crisis in Australia? Hmm.
Oh boy, there’s a lot of finger pointing and a lot of shouting from both sides of the chamber.
The opposition tries to raise a point of order on … hubris…?
Butler continues:
In response to the member for Longman, when we came to government, the college of doctors said that bulk billing was in free fall and the general practice was at a tipping point and it was very clear why that was - because the Medicare rebate had been frozen for six years.
Now Milton Dick has sent Young out of the chamber under 94a.
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The next dixer is for the prime minister and we’re staying on the manufacturing theme, with the passing of the production tax credits in the Senate yesterday.
He brings up a presentation that the shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, apparently made as a consultant on aluminium exports – which gets a point of order from the opposition. While Albanese continues there’s plenty of shouting.
He’s also asked to table the document he’s reading from that contains the presentation by Taylor.
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The first crossbench question (following a dixer to the industry minister on manufacturing) goes to independent Kate Chaney who asks:
Governments from both sides rely on bracket creep caused by inflation to increase tax over time and surreptitiously fund their additional spending. Do you agree that indexing tax brackets like 17 other OECD countries have done would stop us sleepwalking into greater reliance on income taxes and provide greater transparency for taxpayers about new spending?
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says there are a “range of suggestions” for where to go next on tax reform.
There are more or less – to oversimplify – three different ways that you can return bracket creep. There’s the way that member for Curtin is proposing. There’s the way those opposite were proposing, which is to just return bracket creep to people who are already on the highest incomes, or it’s the Labor way, the way that we have chosen to return bracket creep and as the Treasury analysis makes clear that we released a little over a year ago now, when we made the changes to the tax cuts, the way that we chose has positive benefits for workforce participation and other benefits as well.
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The second question from the opposition is from Liberal MP Jenny Ware and goes to the health minister on GP clinics closing down.
27,000 small businesses have collapsed since the last election. Minister, how many GP clinics have closed since the election of the Albanese Labor government?
Butler says he’ll take that question on notice, and talks through bulk-billing rates around the country.
Butler announced this morning that their bulk-billing increases have created an additional six million bulk-billed GP visits – an average of 100,000 additional visits each week. He says:
When we came to government, I made it very clear that of all of the myriad pressures on our health care system - and there are many - with an ageing population more chronic disease and the impacts of a once-in-a-century pandemic, there are many pressures on our health care system, but of all of them, the one we have focused on more than any other is rebuilding general practice.
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The first dixer goes to resources minister Madeleine King. She’s in a jolly mood as the Senate last night passed the production tax credits bill with the crossbench, but was not supported by the Coalition.
She points out that the policy has been supported by the opposition’s state colleagues in WA.
The Coalition has voted against the resources sector.
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Dutton quizzes PM on negative gearing as question time gets under way
Peter Dutton stands up first and asks this:
My question is to the prime minister. Will the prime minister rule out any changes to negative gearing and capital gains treatment on property during his time as prime minister?
It’s a bit of a step change from what the opposition has been asking over the last fortnight.
As Albanese starts his answer, mentioning Labor’s $32bn housing policy, he gets a bit snarky: “We actually are a political party that is saying what we are doing. Now, I know that’s unfamiliar, unfamiliar to those opposite.”
That prompts a point of order from the opposition, and speaker Milton Dick seems like he does not want to deal with drama in the house today. He tells Dutton to “be quiet now for the remainder of the question”.
Albanese continues:
After three years in the job, this bloke has had three ideas. One - $10bn to fund long lunches for business. Two - $600bn to pay for nuclear reactors. Three - cuts to everything else to pay for them.
He doesn’t ask about the Housing Australia Future Fund. That’s so important, building social and affordable homes for people, providing additional housing for women and children escaping domestic violence, providing additional housing for Indigenous communities, just like he doesn’t ask us about help-to-buy or about all those tens of thousands of Australians who have been helped in to home ownership as a result of what we have put in place.
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Kevin Andrew’s wife, Margaret, is sitting in the chamber, and following the condolences there’s a line of MPs from both sides going up to speak with her.
Andrews was the member for Menzies in Victoria, and the current member Keith Wolahan also spoke to the chamber on his legacy.
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The prime minister is speaking before we get to questions, on the passing of former Liberal MP Kevin Andrews.
His life was, indeed, a very full story indeed. Our condolences to all who loved him. Our condolences to the Liberal party of Australia, an organisation that he loved and served with loyalty and with distinction. May Kevin Andrews rest in eternal peace.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton also speaks on the former minister, and offers his condolences.
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Administrative Review Tribunal bill under consideration
We’re counting down to question time and it’s anyone’s guess what will go down in the chamber today.
In the meantime, senators have been voting on Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) legislation.
The ART was set up last year, to replace the AAT (Administrative Appeals Tribunal) that Labor said was stacked by the previous Coalition government, and wasn’t doing its job properly.
So far, some amendments to the bill have been agreed to (but the whole bill will need to wait until after question time to be voted on). Greens senator David Shoebridge says:
Last year the government tried to sneak through changes that would have had a devastating impact on people seeking asylum and migrants making it far harder to challenge migration and refugee decisions.
Human rights organisations, refugee advocates and the legal community were quick to come out against it and demand change, and today we got it.
Critical amendments we have negotiated with the government will also double the time from seven to 14 days for people in immigration to bring review applications in the Tribunal. This has been a longstanding call from refugee advocates and we are very glad to help make it happen.
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Confidence the key to dealing with Trump, says former ambassador
Former Australian ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos, who was Australia’s representative at the tail end of the last Trump administration says Trump “needs to be taken by his word”.
Sinodinos tells Sky News Trump had foreshadowed putting in place tariffs before the election in November.
He believes tariffs is the most beautiful word in the English language. He believes that tariffs raise money for the US Treasury.
Sinodinos says he expects the trade minister Don Farrell will be in discussions with his counterparts, but believes a lot of the work on negotiating a carve out for Australia will be done by Ambassador Rudd and the embassy team in Washington DC.
A lot of Americans say the best way to handle someone like the president is to be confident, to go in there … to put stuff on the table that shows that you can work together for mutual benefit. So it’s all about how you conduct yourself. Because he is the sort of leader that he thinks if I’m dealing with someone weak, he’ll treat them accordingly.
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Union says moratorium on regional bank branch closures contains ‘no new safeguards’
The Finance Sector Union says the government’s announcement of a moratorium on regional bank branch closures until mid-2027 “contains no new safeguards” and is “effectively a statement of the banks’ status quo.”
FSU national president Wendy Streets said the CBA previously announced a moratorium until 2026, and Westpac and ANZ until at least 2027.
The union said today’s moratorium announcement doesn’t cover smaller banks and mutuals, “leaving thousands of regional customers out.” Streets said:
We are troubled by what we have seen in recent months with smaller banks making significant announcements about regional branch closures. For example, BOQ has already closed 14 branches and the union has fears for the remainder of the 114 owner-managed branches it has bought back.
And the People’s Choice bank are closing 20% of their network in April this year. This announcement does nothing to address that, it’s just more of the same from the Big Four.
The FSU said an agreement struck between the government and the major banks to increase regional services through Australia Post outlets was not a replacement for banking:
Auspost is not a bank and does not provide banking services to regional Australia. It’s only provides an ATM service: cash in and cash out.
It is calling on the government to commit to the recommendations of last year’s senate inquiry into regional bank closures, to declare banking an essential service and develop a mandatory industry code.
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Waters accuses Labor of snubbing Greens and crossbench on electoral reform
The Greens senator Larissa Waters spoke a little earlier at parliament on the prospect of a deal between Labor and the Coalition on electoral reform.
Neither of the major parties have confirmed a deal has been agreed, but Waters says their negotiations have been “the worst [kept] secret, and we have been waiting months for the two big parties to reveal their collusion”.
The special minister of state, Don Farrell, says he’s been consulting widely on the bill to find a path through the Senate.
Waters says she’s still expecting an announcement on a deal today.
The two big parties are so happy to scratch their own backs with this arrangement, and they will do everything they can to lock out challenges to the two-party system as well.
It’s been clear from the outset that the Labor party only wanted to deal with the Coalition on this and they have snubbed the Greens and the crossbench.
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Funding for eating disorder helpline welcomed
The Butterfly Foundation has welcomed the government’s investment of $9.2m over three years to support Australians living with eating disorders.
The national charity for people affected by eating disorders and body dissatisfaction welcomed the funding for the foundation’s helpline, which provides support for people experiencing eating disorders, their friends and family and professionals including GPs and psychologists.
The foundation’s chief executive, Dr Jim Hungerford, says Butterfly reaches more than 300,000 children and millions of adults through its prevention and education services, with more than 20,000 people contacting the helpline every year.
4.4 million Australians, one in six of us, self-identify as having symptoms of an eating disorder.
These experiences can affect people from all walks of life. The Cost of Appearance Ideals report launched today shows that appearance-based discrimination is particularly prevalent among the age cohort of 15-17-year-olds, especially in females, which has devastating implications on both mental and physical health.
The assistant minister for mental health, Emma McBride, said the funding will held reduce barriers such as stigma, wait times and cost.
Eating disorders have some of the highest mortality rates of any mental illness and many Australians go undiagnosed … The Butterfly national helpline means there are now more ways for people with an eating disorder to get the professional and compassionate care they need
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Dreyfus ‘stands by everything’ he said on antisemitism in parliament
Earlier as we reported, Peter Dutton backed the Coalition’s attempt to gag the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, in question time on Monday after he accused the opposition of politicising antisemitism.
Dreyfus has issued a statement in response to Dutton’s press conference remarks on Tuesday, saying he “stands by everything” he said.
I never thought I’d see the day when a Liberal leader would try to silence a Jew for speaking about antisemitism in the Australian parliament.
I stand by everything I said yesterday.
We need to put an end to the wave of antisemitism in this country, which is exactly what the government I am a part of has worked tirelessly to do. The only way that will happen is if there is unity and bipartisanship.
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Expanding low-cost rentals key political issue at upcoming election – poll
An expansion of low-cost rentals will be a vote-changing political issue at the upcoming federal election, according to research from Redbridge.
The poll, conducted for the Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA), surveyed more than 1,500 people across 24 of the most contestable electorates. Almost three-quarters (73%) said housing affordability would be important in influencing their vote, 84% believed ensuring safe and stable housing is a fundamental government responsibility and 76% agreed more social housing is needed.
The CHIA chief executive, Wendy Hayhurst, said housing was “at the eye of the cost-of-living storm”.
In this election, we know increasing community housing is the best solution to this crippling problem and it has overwhelming public support.
Fewer than 4% of Australian homes are social or affordable. To fix our broken housing system, it needs to be more like one in 10.
This research not only confirms voters want more action on affordable housing, but that there are alarming levels of housing stress. In these key electorates, one in three people lack confidence they can afford their housing costs over the next year. These findings should send a strong message to all political leaders.
The research found that 28% of renters and mortgage holders spend more than half their income on housing.
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Negotiations on electoral reform continuing: Farrell
The special minister of state, Don Farrell, says the parliament will decide in 24 hours whether it wants to let “billionaires determine who gets into” power as proposed changes to overhaul electoral laws sit in wait.
Farrell told the Labor caucus this morning negotiations across the parliament are continuing but a decision would be made before the end of the likely final sitting week.
As flagged earlier, the Greens and crossbenchers are bracing for a deal between Labor and the Coalition to overhaul spending and donation caps for federal elections to be confirmed today and rammed through the Senate as soon as tomorrow.
Farrell has been angling for an agreement with Peter Dutton’s opposition on laws to curb the influence of big money in politics, including through caps on donations and spending, and introducing real-time disclosures for donations.
The crossbench has felt increasingly sidelined from negotiations, heightening concerns Labor and the Coalition will land a deal that disadvantages aspiring independents and minor party candidates.
The legislation as drafted would cap individual donations at $20,000, limit spending to $800,000 per seat and $90m nationally, and require near-real-time disclosure of donations above $1,000. Speaking this morning, Dutton said negotiations with Labor were continuing.
We have been conducting good-faith negotiations with the government and that continues on, and if at some stage an arrangement [is] arrived at, we will make some [announcement], but at the moment we are still in those discussions.
– with Dan Jervis-Bardy
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‘Energy costs will go up as a result of 2035 targets’: Dutton
The press conference goes to a few other issues.
Dutton is asked about the Coalition’s climate policy. He won’t give much away, just that the party continues to support net zero by 2050, and then turns attention back to the government.
Dutton says modelling shows “energy costs will go up as a result of 2035 targets”, targets that the government hasn’t yet released, and are a requirement of the Paris climate agreement.
We’ll have a sensible policy which helps us decarbonise, which makes sure we can keep the lights on.
Dutton is also asked about the majority of Coalition senators supporting a motion by Pauline Hanson to set up an inquiry on trans children.
Dutton just says it was “a conscience vote”, despite reportedly telling colleagues a week ago that they should avoid wading into culture wars.
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Coalition ‘still in discussions’ with Labor over electoral reform
My colleague Josh Butler has asked Dutton whether there’s a deal between the Coalition and Labor on electoral reform.
We’ve heard the crossbench are bracing for a deal to be announced shortly.
Dutton gives a generic – I won’t tell you until I tell you – answer:
We have been conducting good-faith negotiations with the government and that continues on, and if at some stage an arrangement [is] arrived at, we will make some [announcement], but at the moment we are still in those discussions.
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Dutton defends motion to gag Mark Dreyfus
You might remember Monday’s motion by the Coalition to gag the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, as he spoke about antisemitism during question time.
The opposition had tried to silence Dreyfus, who is Jewish, after he accused the Coalition of “politicising antisemitism”.
Dutton has been asked about whether the Liberal MP Michael Sukkar, who put forward the motion on Monday, “went too far”.
I won’t stand being accused of that. We supported the Jewish community. I have told you before I have the same stance in relation to any other element of society is being targeted in the way the Jewish community is. I don’t tolerate racism or intolerance on any basis, not on religion or somebody’s background, not on their heritage, on no basis whatsoever.
Dutton is asked if Sukkar made a mistake in trying to shut down Dreyfus. Dutton says “absolutely not”.
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Rudd and Wong’s criticisms of Trump ‘difficult’ starting point: Dutton
Dutton has taken aim at previous comments from the ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, and the foreign minister, Penny Wong, who have both previously made public criticisms of Donald Trump.
The president will have noticed those comments and I think it’s difficult when that’s the starting point in relationship, but what’s important now is … there is a bipartisan position in Australia to stand up for our national interest and that national interest is best served by a removal of the tariff as it applies to Australia.
Dutton has also backed the Aukus agreement as a key pillar of the ongoing relationship between Australia and the US.
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Dutton: ‘bipartisan position’ on US tariff exemption
Peter Dutton is speaking on the tariff announcement from the US, and says there’s a bipartisan position for Australia to be exempt from trade tariffs.
Dutton reiterates that Australia’s relationship with the US is “incredibly important” and that the US does have a trade surplus.
It’s important for the US and Trump administration to hear there is a bipartisan position in relation to the prime minister’s call to remove the tariffs.
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Greens and crossbench brace for electoral reform deal between Labor and Coalition
We’re hearing an announcement will be made within the next hour or so on a deal being reached on electoral reform.
This is legislation that would cap donations and spending for elections, as well as lower the transparency cap for donations.
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Trump giving 'great consideration' on Australia because of surplus
Trump has announced he is still giving “great consideration” to exempting Australia from the tariffs because the US runs a trade surplus with us.
He called Anthony Albanese a “very fine man” following their phone call.
I just spoke to him. Very fine man. He has a surplus. We have a surplus with Australia. One of the few. And the reason is they buy a lot of airplanes. They’re rather far away and they need lots of airplanes.
We actually have a surplus. It’s one of the only countries [with] which we do. And I told him that that’s something that we’ll give great consideration to.
So Australia could still find a way to be exempt from the tariffs after all.
The surplus point is one Labor has been at pains to make with the Trump administration, to show they benefit from the current trade arrangement.
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‘We don’t need it from another country’
Here’s the full quote from Donald Trump in the Oval Office, signing his executive order on trade tariffs for steel and aluminium.
It’s 25% without exemptions or exceptions. That’s all countries, no matter where it comes from, all countries. If made in the United States, however, the United States of America, there is no tariff, zero.
So if it’s made in the United States, there’s no tariff. All you have to do is make it in the United States. We don’t need it from another country.
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Opposition questions Kevin Rudd’s performance on tariffs talks
The opposition has been raising questions about Australia’s ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, and whether he’s close enough to the Trump administration to ensure Australia is carved out of any tariffs on steel and aluminium.
Before Anthony Albanese spoke, confirming Donald Trump is “considering” an exemption, the shadow trade minister, Kevin Hogan, spoke to ABC News Breakfast, and said it was “disappointing … we’re a bit on the back foot because this is the first serious conversation the prime minister has had with the president”.
Hogan said the government should be looking to former PM Scott Morrison and former ambassador to the US Joe Hockey for more support.
When we got the exemption with Trump mark 1, Ambassador Hockey had a huge role. He was pivotal. He had great relationships with the president, great relationships with, you know, people within the administration. So, look, I question whether Rudd had those – those same relationships.
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Trump signs off on 25% steel and aluminium tariffs 'without exceptions'
Things are moving fast in the tariff space.
Despite the PM just saying Donald Trump is considering an exemption for Australia, the US president has now signed the executive order for tariffs on steel and aluminium, and has thrown some doubt on the outcome of that conversation.
Trump signed the orders in the Oval Office and said:
Today I’m simplifying our tariffs on steel and aluminium. It’s 25% without exceptions or exemptions.
Trump also signalled in the Oval Office that he would look at imposing additional tariffs on automobiles, pharmaceuticals and computer chips.
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Watch: US congressman calls tariffs on Australia an ‘insult’
You can also watch US Democratic congressman Joe Courtney here, when he told the House of Representatives tariffs on Australia would be an “insult”.
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Watch: PM says tariff exemption for Australia ‘under consideration’.
You can see Anthony Albanese’s remarks on how that call with the US president went down, here:
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Parliament to sit at noon
If you’re wondering why the parliament isn’t yet sitting (as I’m sure you were), sitting starts at noon on Tuesdays.
That’s because we have party room meetings, where the parties discuss what they want to push for the week and what legislation they’re prioritising. It’s where the opposition and Greens would also decide if they’re going to support certain government legislation, or what amendments they might put forward on it.
You can also expect the leaders will be giving their members a spiel on the upcoming election campaign (which we still don’t have a date for).
Once those are over we’ll get the details and bring them to you – they tend to give us a sense of how the rest of the day and week will shape up.
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Albanese declines to comment on Trump’s Gaza plan
The PM is asked whether he spoke to Trump on the president’s plan to take over Gaza.
Albanese won’t say whether it was brought up.
Australia’s position – I’ve outlined very clearly, we haven’t changed our position. I’ll speak about what Australia’s position is. We support two states, the right of Palestinians and Israelis to both live in peace and security with prosperity.
He’s asked a final question on whether Australia would put forward its own tariffs against the US, to which he tells the reporter “you’re leaping way ahead”.
He says he’s concerned about securing an exemption, and that “today’s discussion was another step in developing that positive relationship”.
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‘Very positive support’ from US for Aukus: PM
On Aukus, Albanese says there’s “very positive support” for the agreement.
I have no intention of speaking on behalf of President Trump – that is up to him – but, quite clearly, I’ve indicated there’s strong bipartisan support for Aukus in Australia and in the United States.
He says again the call was positive and constructive, and that he’ll see Trump again at the next Quad meeting “or before”.
Earlier we brought you remarks from Democratic congressman Joe Courtney, a big advocate of Aukus, who called the tariffs an “insult” to Australia. You can see those comments here.
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Albanese insists tariffs let-off only ‘under consideration’
Albanese won’t stray from the words “under consideration” for the tariffs as he reveals more details of the conversation with Donald Trump.
He says the two countries will continue to “engage diplomatically” and he’ll use “all the assets at our disposal to stand up for Australia’s interests”.
I said to President Trump that this was an issue of some media coverage in Australia, and that we therefore agreed on the words that would be used – that it was ‘under consideration’. That’s what I’ll stick to. But we’ll continue to engage quite clearly constructively. But I’ll say this: it was a very constructive and warm discussion.
Albanese says there’s been a “tremendous” start to the relationship with the Trump administration.
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Tariff exemption ‘under consideration’ for Australia
Anthony Albanese says Australia’s trade with the US will rise to about US$7bn over the coming decade and a half.
I presented Australia’s case for an exemption, and we agreed on wording to say publicly, which is that the US president agreed that an exemption was under consideration in the interests of both of our countries.
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PM had ‘great conversation’ with Trump
Anthony Albanese has put out a short post on X following his conversation with Donald Trump.
We’ll await to hear more details shortly.
This morning I had a great conversation with President @realDonaldTrump
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) February 10, 2025
We committed to working constructively together to advance Australian and American interests, drive economic prosperity and face shared challenges.
For decades, the Alliance between the United States and… pic.twitter.com/92884sewyD
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Americans do ‘really well’ out of the trade relationship with Australia: treasurer
Chalmers has moved on to the biggest story of the morning: the possibility of trade tariffs on Australian steel and aluminium.
The prime minister will be standing up very shortly, so we can assume that call between him and Donald Trump has finished. Chalmers says:
The Americans have run a trade surplus with us for a long time, since the Truman administration in 1952, and that means that the Americans do really well out of the economic relationship with Australia, as does Australia. We will continue to stand up for Australia’s national interest. We know, as a trade-exposed economy, that we do have an interest in making sure that there the global trading system is maintained.
Chalmers says the announcements haven’t been “surprising developments”:
A lot of these proposals were flagged in the American election campaign, and that gave us the opportunity to do a heap of work with Treasury and with Dfat and other agencies to try and get a handle on the potential impacts.
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Queensland floods to hit quarterly GDP by 0.1%
Back to Jim Chalmers, the treasurer and Queensland MP says he’s looking at the economic cost of flooding in the north of the state.
Chalmers says we can expect prices of bananas and sugar to increase due to the impact on agricultural land. Treasury has estimated up to 20% of banana crop could be affected.
We know that the flood-affected region accounts for about 4% of agricultural production in Australia. That means there will be some economic impacts. Now we have some initial estimates from Treasury. We’ll update these … We expect lost economic activity due to the floods to reduce GDP in the March quarter by about 0.1% … In the context of an economy which is already quite soft, another 0.1% of activity in the quarter we’re in now will make a difference.
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The PM is holding a press conference shortly – so we’ll soon get some details on that call with Donald Trump.
Stay tuned!
Banks association chief welcomes branch closures moratorium
Anna Bligh, the outgoing chief of the Australian Banking Association and a former Queensland premier, says the moratorium on regional branch closures will give the sector “breathing space” to plan.
As Jim Chalmers said, CBA, NAB and Westpac have in-principle agreements for Bank@Post, while ANZ has agreed key terms to join the service, with Macquarie and HSBC to also start negotiations with Australia Post.
Bligh, who is at the press conference with Chalmers, has welcomed the deal.
[It will] give us some very much-needed breathing space to work more carefully with government and where possible, through authorisations by the ACCC, for the major banks to work together to determine better ways to service particularly remote parts of what is a very, very big country.
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Chalmers announces moratorium on regional branch closures
The treasurer has announced a package to keep regional bank services open. Labor says 36% of bank branches in regional Australia have closed since 2017.
Jim Chalmers says he and the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, convened a meeting with bank CEOs to make the agreement.
We are taking action today to arrest this decline in regional banking services … We are standing up for regional Australia, for the communities and people and small businesses of our regions, helping to secure them the banking services that they need and deserve.
Chalmers says Australia Post, CBA, NAB and Westpac have all reached new in-principle Bank@Post agreements to support banking services through regional Australia Post outlets.
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Passing production tax credits bill ‘big moment for our resources sector’: minister
Going back to Madeleine King’s interview on RN Breakfast, she said the passing of Labor’s production tax credits bill in the Senate last night was a “big moment”.
This is a big moment for Australia. It’s a big moment for our resources sector, for an emerging resources sector backed up by a traditional resources sector of coal or gas. So critical minerals are going to form a really strong part of how we build a better future for Australia and our regional neighbours.
King is also challenged on the government’s climate record and the fact that emissions haven’t dropped. She says:
We are working hard to drive down emissions and so is industry. We can’t do these things overnight.
But when host Sally Sara asks her whether Australia’s emissions need to be revised, she says she’ll leave that to the climate change minister.
A note – Australia will need to update its 2035 target this year, but the government is waiting on advice from the Climate Change Authority (led by former NSW state Liberal MP Matt Kean) before setting the new target.
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Hanson’s transgender children inquiry push ‘appalling’: Butler
The health minister, Mark Butler, has also been reeled into the Trump debate.
There’s not much he adds, but he reiterates the point on ABC News Breakfast, that the US and Australian economies are “deeply entwined” and that “the prime minister will be making that case very strongly. We’ll be batting for an exemption, and the PM will be leading that case very, very strongly.”
Butler is also asked about the inquiry into transgender children the One Nation senator Pauline Hanson was trying to push through in the chamber last night. You can see more details on that from this earlier post.
Butler says he’s already commissioned a review into the clinical guidelines for trans children.
Playing politics around the health and the lives – importantly, the mental health – of some of Australia’s most vulnerable young people is, frankly, an appalling thing to do. We have issued a review by the National Health Medical Research Council, which has a statutory charter to issue clinical guidelines across the health system. It’s been doing it for decades. It unarguably is the pre-eminent authority to do that.
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Resources minister: outcome of Albanese-Trump call ‘very soon’
The resources minister, Madeleine King, is on RN Breakfast, saying we’ll hear about the outcome of that call between Anthony Albanese and Donald Trump “very soon”.
King also notes that not only does the US run a trade surplus with Australia, but Australia’s financial systems also heavily invest in the US through superannuation and private capital investments.
King says she has “no doubt” US and Australian officials are having in depth discussions.
The diplomatic post in Washington is among the hardest-working people I’ve ever had the pleasure to deal with, …with the former administration and now present Trump administration.
Host Sally Sara asks King whether the US is potentially using the tariff threats for something else:
The truth is we’ve worked together on other things for some time, and we’ll continue to do so, for instance, on critical minerals and rare earths. These are really important parts of new supply chains that we want to develop with the US and something multiple governments have been working on.
Indeed it was President Trump, in 2017, who signed the first executive order around securing supply chains for the US in critical minerals and rare earths, followed by another one in 2020.
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Greens leader brands Trump ‘dangerous for peace’
All eyes are on Donald Trump this morning. It’s dominating the morning interviews here in parliament, with the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, weighing in, telling ABC News Breakfast, Trump is “dangerous”.
Donald Trump is dangerous – dangerous for climate, dangerous for peace, and dangerous for democracy. Today, it’s steel and aluminium, and who knows what it’s going to be tomorrow?
As Malcolm Turnbull said, you’ve got to take on the bullies – if you give them an inch, they’ll take a mile. But also, I think this shows that this is the wrong time for Australian to be joined at the hip to a country being led by Donald Trump.
Bandt took aim at the Aukus agreement. As we noted a short time ago, Australia just handed over $800m for US shipbuilding as part of the agreement with the US and the UK.
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Canavan: we should get ‘our own house in order’ before retaliating to US tariffs
The Nationals senator Matt Canavan just spoke with Sky News on the latest tariff announcement out of the US, labelling it a “test for the prime minister”.
Yesterday, Donald Trump told reporters he would impose tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports into the US, on top of existing metal duties. When asked which countries would be subject to the trade barriers, he replied: “Everybody.”
Asked how Australia should respond to the potential tariffs – such as through retaliatory tariffs on American imports like Canada did – Canavan said the focus should be getting “our own house in order”, arguing Australia’s safeguard mechanism was impacting the industry.
All of these facilities – the steel mills, the aluminium smelters – all of them are subject to the Labor party’s carbon tax, the so-called safeguard mechanism. So all of them have to reduce their emissions over time, and they have to pay for that …
So why would we be, on the one hand, losing our mind over an external tariff imposed on these factories, when internally ourselves, we put … similar taxes on this.
Canavan also argued that retaliatory tariffs “won’t make much difference” because Australia doesn’t import much steel from the US, and this wouldn’t be a “credible threat”.
A note here – Australia does not have a carbon tax. Here’s some more context on the safeguard mechanism:
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Greens push for world heritage nomination for Great Australian Bight
The Greens will introduce a bill proposing to increase protections for the Great Australian Bight from oil and gas exploration.
The bill would require the federal environment minister to nominate the area off the southern coastline of Australia for consideration for world heritage status.
There are no active licences for oil and gas exploration in the Bight, which the Greens said made it the right time for such a move.
The Greens Senator for South Australia and spokesperson for the environment, Sarah Hanson-Young, said:
The Great Australian Bight is a South Australian icon with global and environmental significance worthy of world heritage status and protection from oil and gas drilling forever.
World heritage protection is a priority for South Australia and the Greens will push for it in a hung parliament.
The Albanese government has dragged its feet when it comes to supporting a world heritage nomination, despite the pleas of community, industry, and traditional owners. The Greens are acting now to force action before it’s too late.
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Trade tariffs an ‘insult’: US congressman
The Democratic congressman Joe Courtney has taken to the House in the US, attacking the tariff announcement from Donald Trump. Courtney co-chairs the friends of Australia caucus, and has been an advocate of the Aukus agreement.
Courtney highlights the $800m downpayment Australia has just given the US for the Aukus submarine deal, just two days before the tariff announcement. He calls the announcement an “insult”.
Australia is a key strategic ally for our country. They are positioned in the Indo-Pacific at a place where, again, tensions are sky high and we need their input, their help in terms of making sure that we are going to rebalance that security environment and protect the rule of law and the Indo-Pacific,
Instead, what we’re seeing is a completely needless, almost, insult to the people of Australia by raising tariffs of Australian products coming into this country.
He also makes the trade surplus point – that Australia imports more from the US.
The US economy has a trade surplus with Australia. We export more into Australia than they export back to us. They have been a signatory to a trade agreement with no tariffs going back to 2002.
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No ‘megaphone diplomacy’ from the government
The assistant trade minister, Tim Ayres, says there’s “a long way to go” to understand the parameters of the announcement by Donald Trump.
This morning the prime minister is scheduled to speak with US president. There has been careful messaging from Labor on not commenting or reacting to every development from the US. Speaking to ABC AM, Ayres repeated that line:
We are going to approach this in a calm and consistent way, focused on the national interest, not megaphone diplomacy, not responding to every development, or commentating on every development.
Ayres also notes Australia – since facing a diplomatic freeze with China – has worked to diversify the export market to avoid similar pressures elsewhere.
[We’ve] put effort in to at all levels, from the prime minister down, to making sure that we’ve got access to these markets. But secondly, it’s about diversifying Australia’s economy and diversifying the markets that we sell into. So diversifying the products that we sell in the markets that we sell into to make Australia more resilient.
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Australian business and mining bodies weigh in on US tariffs
Businesses are concerned Australian jobs and living standards are under threat from tariffs threatened by Donald Trump, Australian Associated Press reports.
With the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, already scheduled to speak to Trump later today, the Minerals Council of Australia chief executive, Tania Constable, said the proposed tariffs “set a concerning precedent”.
“Action is needed now to ensure that trade restrictions do not expand to critical minerals and other resources that are vital to Australia’s economic future and global supply chains,” she said.
Government officials have been attempting to secure an exemption for Australian exporters for months but today’s phone call will be Albanese’s first opportunity to plead Australia’s case directly to the president.
The pair have not spoken since a brief congratulatory phone call shortly after Trump’s election in November.
The Business Council of Australia also had some advice for the prime minister to help win the president over.
Free and open trade contributed to lifting Australians’ quality of life and supported one in four jobs, the BCA chief executive, Bran Black, said.
“Australia has a good story to tell – the US has a trade surplus with us and we have longstanding cultural and military ties between countries, particularly with the significant Aukus agreement,” he said.
The two nations’ military alliance was further strengthened on Saturday when Australia paid the first $800m down payment to the US as part of the Aukus deal to deliver nuclear-powered submarines to Australia.
Even if Australia fails to receive an exemption, the impacts to its economy are unlikely to be catastrophic.
The AMP chief economist, Shane Oliver, said it would be bad for Australian steel and aluminium producers but, with exports to the US at just 0.03% of Australian GDP, the macro-economic impact would be minimal.
Australian exports of iron and steel to the US valued $US237.5m ($A378.9m) in 2023, while aluminium exports valued $US316.9 m ($A505.5m), according to the United Nations Comtrade database.
The real risk to Australia’s economy came from reduced global trade, Oliver said.
Read more here:
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PM should ‘play a straight bat’: Turnbull
The former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, who got Australia carved out of Donald Trump’s previous tariffs in his first term, has weighed in on the latest tariff announcement.
Turnbull told ABC 730 last night he could see some “people are trying to set Albanese up to fail here”, but said there was a pathway.
It may be that Trump is determined to impose this tariff on every country no matter what. And, you know, in which case, it won’t be possible to secure an exemption. All the Australian prime minister can do is use all of his advocacy skills, and play a straight bat, and defend the Australian national interest.
Labor has been making the case that the US has a trade surplus with Australia, that is, that we buy more from them than they buy from us. Turnbull also seemed to think that could play in our favour.
He [Trump] doesn’t believe in comparative advantage. He believes if a country has a deficit, a trade deficit, it’s a loser. If it has a trade surplus, it’s a winner. It’s economic nonsense obviously. And but he’s believed it and he’s believed it for decades.
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‘We know we need to do more to strengthen Medicare’: Mark Butler
The federal health minister has made his own announcement this morning regarding increasing numbers of general practice bulk-billed appointments, but concedes “we know we need to do more”.
New Medicare billing data shows since the Albanese government’s investment tripled the bulk-billing incentive for children and concession card holders in November 2023, it has created an additional 6m bulk-billed GP visits – an average of 100,000 additional visits each week.
The government’s statistics show the proportion of all GP visits bulk-billed has increased in all states between October 2023 and December 2024, with the largest increase of almost 7% coming in Tasmania, which has consistently been shown to have some of the lowest bulk-billing rates in the country. The proportion of all GP visits bulk-billed rose from 66.3% to 73.1%.
The lowest proportion of all GP visits bulk-billed in December 2024 was 53.8% in the ACT, going up 2.3% from 51.5% in October 2023.
NSW and Victoria both began with the highest rates of bulk-billing and saw the smallest change in percentage of visits bulk-billed, going up 1.4% in the period, from 80.6% to 82% for NSW, and 76.8% to 78.2% for Victoria.
Nationally, 77.5% of all GP visits were bulk-billed in December 2024, an increase of 1.9% before the investment took effect.
The health minister, Mark Butler, said:
When Peter Dutton was health minister he tried to end bulk-billing with a GP tax and then started a six-year freeze to Medicare rebates that the AMA says took billions out of Medicare.
As a government, we urgently moved to protect bulk-billing for those who need to see their GP most often: pensioners, concession cardholders and families with kids and young teenagers.
Our investments are making a meaningful difference, but we know we need to do more to strengthen Medicare.
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Good morning,
Krishani Dhanji here with you as we continue our way through the sitting fortnight.
It was a win for the government last night, passing its signature Future Made in Australia bill to legislate production tax credits, with some amendments from the Greens. That was after Labor moved a motion to sit longer through the night.
The prime minister will speak to Donald Trump today on a scheduled call, after the US president yesterday announced he’d be slapping 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports. No doubt we’ll all be keeping a close eye out for details on that.
Put your seatbelts on, it’s going to be a big one!
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GPs call for extending tripled bulk-billing to young people
The government should prioritise helping Australians under 34 access bulk-billed GP appointments, make longer consults and mental health appointments cheaper, the peak body for general practitioners says.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) launched its federal election platform today that will aim to get the bulk-billing rate back to 85% for Australians most in need it by delivering an extra 6.2m bulk-billed GP appointments per year.
The college is calling on all parties to support the 19 initiatives it has proposed, including halving the cost of longer consults, bringing down the average out-of-pocket costs for people who aren’t bulk billed from $59 to $25 per person for appointments longer than 20 minutes.
It wants mental health care with a GP to be more affordable, calling for a 25% increase to Medicare rebates for mental health consults.
It is also calling for the government to extend the tripled bulk-billing incentive – which in 2023 increased the amount that GPs receive when they bulk-bill children and concession card holders – to all Australians under 34 years of age.
The RACGP president, Dr Michael Wright, said “we know young people are doing it especially tough and are more likely to have delayed care due to costs”.
The 2025 election is critical – people across Australia need urgent cost-of-living relief, including for essential healthcare.
The RACGP has a comprehensive plan that will deliver more GPs, lower patient fees, and increase bulk-billing for Australia. Two initiatives are key: we need significant investment in Medicare to lower fees and increase bulk-billing, and we need to train more GPs, so everyone can get the care they need, when and where they need it.
The RACGP has estimated its plan would prevent 15,617 emergency department presentations and 42,168 hospitalisations, saving the health system about $485.8m per year.
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Majority of Coalition senators back Hanson’s transgender inquiry
More than half of Coalition senators have sided with Pauline Hanson in a failed push for an inquiry into the “human cost of experimental child gender treatments”.
Just a week after Peter Dutton reportedly cautioned his colleagues against wading into culture wars ahead of the federal election, 18 opposition senators on Monday backed the One Nation leader’s motion to establish the parliamentary inquiry.
Frontbenchers Michaelia Cash, Bridget McKenzie, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Jonno Duniam, Perin Davey, Kerrynne Liddle, Susan McDonald and Claire Chandler were among the Coalition senators to support Hanson’s push.
The motion failed 21 votes to 36 after three Liberal senators – Andrew Bragg, Maria Kovacic and Richard Colbeck – sided with Labor, the Greens and crossbenchers David Pocock, Lidia Thorpe and Tammy Tyrrell to sink it.
Hanson’s inquiry would have come on top of a review of medical treatment for transgender children, which the health minister, Mark Butler, announced last month.
The wide-ranging terms of reference for the proposed Senate inquiry included the testimonies from individuals who have undergone puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgical interventions, and the experience of families who were “pressured, misled or denied” consent in their child’s treatment.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then Krishani Dhanji will pick up the slack.
A key plank of Labor’s Future Made in Australia plan passed the Senate last night with the help of Greens and crossbenchers. The legislation will provide $13.7bn worth of tax breaks for critical minerals processing and green hydrogen production, with Anthony Albanese hoping it will give him a pre-election boost. We have more details and reaction coming up.
More than half of the Coalition’s senators sided with Pauline Hanson last night in a failed push for an inquiry into transgender children – more details in a minute.
Australian business groups say the prime minister should emphasise historic ties and the Aukus military deal when he speaks to Donald Trump later today amid the possibility of tariffs being imposed on exports to the US. More coming up.
And thousands of businesses and individuals in New South Wales were left without broadband access last night after huge storms caused a major outage for TPG, Vodafone, iiNet and Kogan. Almost 14,000 customers were affected after a power cut caused the loss of service but most were back on by mid-evening. Wild weather caused chaos in Sydney earlier in the day.
