What we learned – Monday 3 June
The Fair Work Commission has granted minimum and award wage workers a 3.75% increase for the 2024-25 year.
The immigration minister, Andrew Giles, is facing increased pressure from the Coalition after revealing today that information he gave on the use of drones in immigration monitoring had “since been clarified”.
Independent senator David Pocok has urged Australia to cut all military ties with Israel, pointing to targeted sanctions against members of the Israeli government and the Israeli Defense Forces.
The former member for Kooyong, Josh Frydenberg, will not seek to return to the political arena in the next election and has publicly backed the local Liberal candidate, Amelia Hamer, amid mounting speculation.
And the journalist Antoinette Lattouf says she is “pleased” the Fair Work Commission has dismissed the ABC’s claim that she was not sacked.
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Continued from previous post:
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, hit back at the Coalition’s criticism of the government’s response to the unsafe Chinese military action:
We don’t equate shouting with standing up for Australia’s national interests as Mr Dutton seemed to when in government. We will make representations and we will also speak publicly when we regard it as necessary and we regarded it as necessary in relation to this incident.
Simon Birmingham asked whether a call would be sought between the foreign ministers.
Elly Lawson, another Dfat deputy secretary, said the two countries had had “such frequent high level engagement at the political level at the past year or more” so they had had “a lot of opportunities to raise these kinds of issues at a very senior level and to go into them in a lot of detail”. She said these meetings generally spanned “a whole range of concerns and certainly behaviours in the South China Sea have been a big part of those discussions”.
(That’s in contrast to the freeze on high-level dialogue that occurred from 2020 to 2022.)
Wong added:
We’re not just talking, we’re doing. Whilst this particular incident took place in the context of UN secure council sanctions against North Korea, we’ve also had concerns about actions in the South China Sea. And you would have seen that we recently conducted joint sails with Japan, Philippines and the United States. That’s something that’s not been done before, including by your government, so my point is there is a need for all countries to ensure that they behave professionally and safety and the context of at sea and in the air.
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Dfat officials defend response to ‘unsafe’ Chinese military action
Australian officials have defended the government’s response to China’s alleged unsafe and unprofessional military conduct.
The Coalition has used a Senate estimates committee hearing to question the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade about the response to the 4 May incident, when a Chinese fighter plane released flares in front of an Australian helicopter in the Yellow Sea.
Michelle Chan, a deputy secretary of Dfat, said the government responded “as it would normally in such circumstances through well-established processes”.
She said both Defence and Dfat made representations to officials in Canberra on 6 May, followed by both Defence and diplomatic representations being made in Beijing on 7 and 8 May:
Depending on the incident and the circumstances, both Defence and Dfat would make a determination of the best level at which to make those representations.
The representations were first made at “first secretary” level, but then elevated to “more senior levels”.
Elly Lawson, another Dfat deputy secretary, told the hearing that she spoke to the Chinese ambassador about the issue on 8 May.
Lawson said that phone conversation was prompted by two factors: “our deep concern at the incident as well as China’s response”.
Updated
Dfat asked about Chinese premier’s visit
There is a moment of mirth at Senate estimates after the Coalition’s Simon Birmingham asks about Chinese premier Li Qiang’s visit to Australia (expected later this month).
The Dfat secretary, Jan Adams, said the dates and details had yet to be announced.
Birmingham quipped:
I’m tempted to ask, but you’re not going to give us the Senate estimates exclusive?
Amid laughter from other officials, Adams replied:
Not on this occasion, senator. I’m tired, but not that tired.
Updated
ASX sees early month gains to balance May’s end
The local share market has started the month by picking off how it ended, with gains nearly across the board on renewed hopes for two US rate cuts this year, AAP reports.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Monday rose 59.3 points, or 0.77%, to 7,761.0, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 53.3 points, or 0.67%, at 8,024.1.
It was the ASX’s first two days of back-to-back gains since May 15-16. On Friday, the ASX200 rose 0.96%.
The gains came after the April US personal consumption index - the Federal Reserve’s preferred metric of inflation - were slightly softer than expected late Friday, with core prices rising 2.8% on an annual basis.
While inflation is still too high to make the Fed consider imminent cuts, the readout would provide some confidence the disinflation process is still under way, albeit slowly, according to ANZ economists Brian Martin and Daniel Hynes.
Nine of the ASX’s 11 sectors finished higher, with telecommunications basically flat and tech down 0.7%.
The Australian dollar was buying 66.41 US cents, from 66.40 US cents at Friday’s ASX close.
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Continued from previous post:
Finance minister Katy Gallagher, the minister at the table, said public interest in the campaign was growing – referencing that the government’s website about the tax cuts had received 2.8 million visits since 21 April, with 700,000 in the last week alone.
Treasury officials there had been an “uptick in awareness” of the tax cuts from the campaign, based on their evaluation research, with original research finding 52% of people had heard about tax cuts, but only 4% knew that all taxpayers were getting a tax cut.
Smith asked: “why is that relevant – when the tax cut is flowing to people automatically?”
“It’s not as if people have to register for a tax cut,” he said.
Gallagher defended the spending, saying “this campaign gives information about what it means for them.”
Smith shot back to ask if it was “a prudent use of money” from taxpayers.
Given all the free media the government gets on its budget, why is it necessary to spend $40m?
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Government to spend $40m on ads spruiking stage-three tax cuts
The government has spent more than $6m on its advertising campaign spruiking the new tax cuts and plans to spend nearly $34m more, prompting questions from the opposition about whether it was a “prudent use” of public funds to advertise tax cuts which flow automatically to all people anyway.
Liberal senator Dean Smith in Senate estimates has been asking the Treasury about its ad campaign for the government’s revamped stage-three tax cuts. Officials said the tax cuts campaign had been allocated $39.9m over two years, with $6.5m spent so far.
The “media buy” has been $3.793m, with evaluation research accounting for $47,500, some $111,000 going to the creative agency handling the Indigenous communications element, $301,000 to a Cald communications specialist for culturally and linguistically diverse communities, $292,000 for public relations advice, $367,995 for a creative agency, and $1.692 for the creative agency doing the wider campaign.
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Dfat to report on Zomi Frankcom’s death in ‘coming weeks’
The former Australian defence force chief Mark Binskin is set to provide a report to the Albanese government in the “coming weeks” on his assessment of Israel’s investigation into the killing of Australian Zomi Frankcom and her colleagues in a World Central Kitchen convoy in Gaza.
After the Israeli military’s triple drone strike on the aid convoy on 1 April, the Australian government appointed Binskin as a “special adviser” on the incident. He’s been asked to provide advice to the Australian government on a range of issues, including “the sufficiency and appropriateness of steps taken by the Israeli government”.
At a Senate estimates committee hearing this afternoon, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials confirmed that Binskin had travelled to Israel between 5 May and 13 May. Binskin had also met with the Israeli ambassador in Australia, World Central Kitchen, and other NGOs.
The Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi asked whether Australia had obtained all the information it had requested of Israel. Craig Maclachlan, a deputy secretary of Dfat, told the hearing:
He has had a good level of access to very senior people within Israel. At no point has Mr Binskin said to me that he has felt that he has been short on information or detail. I anticipate Mr Binskin will be able to finalise his report in coming weeks and present that to the government.
Pressed on whether the findings would be released publicly, he said that would “be a matter that will be determined once we’ve seen the final report”.
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said she understood “the desire of many in our community for clarity around this”. She said the need for clarity and transparency would “inform how we approach what we can release”.
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Energy system ‘hijacked by self-interested politicians’: Canavan
On to nuclear power, which the Coalition has been touting as the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Pointing to a poll published in the Herald Sun today that showed reasonable support for nuclear power alongside other energy forms, Canavan says “we have designed our energy system based on what people feel and think”.
People feel and think solar and wind is warm and fluffy so let’s do more of that and governments are doing more of that and we can see the disaster this has generated in our power bills every quarter because we are focused on polling … because our energy system has been hijacked by self-interested politicians seeking to get themselves elected.
Apparently, the existential threat of climate change is merely an issue of overthinking/feeling.
Canavan does counter despite the Coalition’s keen-ness for nuclear, coal is needed in addition to the power source while these hypothetical reactors get built – which is around a decade.
It will take us time to ramp up and I don’t think it is time we have so I think the best option is to build what you can off the shelf.
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Barbara Pocock says minimum wage rise just meets inflation
The Nationals senator Matt Canavan and Greens senator Barbara Pocock, an “unconventional pairing”, are appearing on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing as Senate estimates continues.
Asked about the Fair Work Commission’s announcement of a 3.75% increase for minimum wage workers today, well below what the ACTU had sought, Pocock says there are “human beings” on the end of the decision.
On minimum wages the last five years have seen them go backwards in real terms and the decision does not fix that, just sets them for this year on the inflation rate.
If you look at the prices people are paying in supermarkets, rent, energy, this decision does not serve those 2.6 million workers who are the backbone of our retail, hospitality sectors, 60% women, half casual. They deserve to make up what they lost in the last few years. They are battling and I would like to have seen a higher decision … if you wanted to recover the losses in real earnings of the last few years we would have gone for 5%.
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The federal member for Macnamara, Labor’s Josh Burns, has released a statement backing US president Joe Biden’s ceasefire proposal.
I want to see an end to this war … The deal presented by President Biden will see the hostages returned home and an end to the immediate suffering in Gaza.
It’s a vital first step for both peoples to begin to rebuild their lives.
My statement on President Biden’s ceasefire proposal. #auspol pic.twitter.com/RhdXaqu9aM
— Josh Burns (@joshburnsmp) June 3, 2024
Burns, who is Jewish, last year accompanied Australian MPs on a trip to Israel following the 7 October attack.
The backbench MP played down the significance of the Australian government-backed UN vote for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, saying during the visit that it “couldn’t be less relevant to the people here on the ground”.
Tehan says there is ‘still a chance’ Frydenberg will seek re-entry
Next, Tehan is quizzed on comments made by the former member for Kooyong Josh Frydenberg today rejecting suggestions he would run to regain his seat at the next federal election.
It’s currently held by the independent Monique Ryan.
Asked whether he had spoken to Frydenberg before his public posting today that he would not seek a re-entry as a candidate before the next election, Tehan said he spoke to him on Friday.
The discussion I had with him and I think things ran away with themselves is we obviously have a redistribution occurring in Victoria [in October], but … there is still a chance, although it is unlikely, there could be even further changes or they might look at doing something differently.
All this was very premature speculation and I think ran away from itself because, in the end, the party had made it very clear we needed to … see the final boundaries.
Josh has made it crystal clear today that he won’t be at the next election, what he does beyond that is ultimately up to Josh and up to the preselectors of the Liberal party.
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Dan Tehan urges Giles to ‘clear record once and for all’ on drones
Liberal MP Dan Tehan is appearing on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing now, following a clarification from the immigration minister on the use of drones to track people released from immigration.
Earlier today, Andrew Giles released a statement revealing an interview on Sky News, in which he stated that Operation AEGIS was using drones, was relying on information provided by his department that had since been clarified.
Tehan urged Giles to provide the briefing offered to him on drones.
He needs to come out and he needs to clear the record once and for all … there are just more and more questions that he needs to answer.
Updated
Caitlin Cassidy will take you through the evening now, which will include any further estimates revelations that may emerge from the continuing hearings.
Politics Live will be back with you from early tomorrow morning for the second house sitting day of this week. A very big thank you to everyone who followed along with us today so far – you are the reason this little blog keeps on ticking along. Until tomorrow, take care of you.
Seems like it was a day for smiles in question time today.
Here’s the opposition’s brains trust:
Smile and the world smiles with you, apparently:
Smile, smile, smile.
Updated
David Pocock urges Australia to cut all military ties with Israel
David Pocock outlines what he sees as Australia’s responsibilities:
We should be looking at targeted sanctions against members of the Israeli government and the Israeli Defence Force - they simply cannot be allowed to continue operating with impunity and disregarding the ICC and international community.
We must also cut all military ties with Israel.
Just this year, an Australian army contract worth $917 million was awarded to Elbit Systems to work on new Infantry Fighting Vehicles being constructed in Victoria.
Australia continues to export ‘dual use’ items to Israel that can be used for military purposes - and we still don’t know what these dual use items are.
What we do know is that parts made in Australia are being used to kill kids.
Weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin has said that every F-35 built contains some Australian parts and components. These are the planes Israel uses to bomb Gaza. This has to end.
Our government has been speaking out against the actions of Israel, but they are still holding back.
They need to stop holding back and start pulling out all the stops.
If they don’t, history will judge us.
Future generations will look back and ask why we didn’t do more - and act more quickly - to stop this mass killing of civilians.
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David Pocock’s statement continues:
Like so many people, I have condemned Hamas’s deplorable actions in the strongest possible terms and continue to advocate for the release of hostages.
I also deplore the rise in antisemitism and other forms of hate speech we’ve seen.
It is disappointing how this issue has been so weaponised and used for political gain. We diminish all of our humanity when we do this.
The cracks we’ve seen in our social cohesion are something we need to work together to repair.
In the wake of the news that the ICC prosecutor is seeking arrest warrants for key Hamas leaders, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli Minister for Defence for war crimes and crimes against humanity, I welcome the Australian government affirming their support for the International Criminal Court.
We cannot pick and choose which potential crimes are politically convenient for the ICC to investigate. Nations around the world must support its work without fear or favour.
But there is more our government can and should do.
The scale of ongoing killings and human suffering in Gaza, especially of women and children, necessitates a stronger response.
Countries around the world must step up and use every lever at our disposal to stop this horror.
(continued in next post)
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Independent David Pocock releases statement on Gaza
Ahead of a parliamentary briefing from humanitarian workers who have returned from Gaza, independent senator David Pocock has released a lengthy statement:
I am hosting this briefing today with humanitarian workers, Arunn Jegan, Scarlett Wong and Dr Sanjay Adusumilli, recently returned from the frontline in Gaza because it is critical everyone in this place focuses on our shared humanity.
On the need to do everything we possibly can to protect the lives of children and put an end to a conflict that has cost so many lives.
There are more actions our government and others around the world can and must take without further delay.
Over 36,000 people have been killed by the Israeli Defence Force in Gaza since October last year - half of whom are women and children.
Over 81,000 have been injured - many horrifically. Severe burns, explosive injuries, lost limbs. These are injuries that will change the course of people’s lives.
Israeli strikes are continuing on Rafah - despite the International Court of Justice ordering them to stop, aid to be allowed to flow, and the border to re-open. These strikes are in an area that was designated as safe and where more than 1.5 million people fled and have been living in tents for months.
Since attacks on Rafah have commenced and intensified, nearly a million people have fled again - people don’t know where to go, and nowhere in Gaza is safe.
Key humanitarian facilities, including hospitals and clinics, are being forced to close.
The violence is not just restricted to military attacks - the population of Gaza is starving because of restrictions on aid. The UN estimates that more than 50,000 children need treatment for acute malnutrition across the Gaza strip.
There are trucks loaded with food stuck at the borders, with children starving to death on the other side.
(continued in next post)
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Jane Hume says she donated Rudd government’s GFC payment to Liberal party
Liberal senator Jane Hume said she donated her 2009 $950 stimulus cheque to her political party, after the then Labor government sent out the payments as a response to the global financial crisis.
Kevin Rudd’s government sent out $950 one-off payments for low and middle income people during the GFC, to stimulate growth in the global downturn.
Hume, the former finance minister, was in Senate estimates today asking Treasury officials about the government’s $300 energy bill rebates, which go to all households - without any means testing. She mentioned offhand, in questioning the all-in nature of the energy rebates, what she’d done with her cheque in 2009.
[The energy rebates] seem to be ongoing and it does seem to be very inconsistent with Labor budgets of the past. I personally was a recipient of the $900 [sic] cheque, which I found a little bit of an insult, I’d just gone back to work at Deutsche Bank and was earning more money than I ever had before, but because it was based on previous years’ income when I was on maternity leave, I got a $900 cheque,” Hume said.
You’ll be pleased to know I donated it to the Liberal party,” Hume added, to a small amount of laughter in the room.
Finance minister Katy Gallagher, at the table with department officials, shot back:
You sure there wasn’t a worthier charity out there than the Liberal party?”
Hume retorted:
Well it worked, we got re-elected.”
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Mike Bowers was in question time and captured Peter Dutton looking as giddy as a toddler presented with a Tiny Teddy ahead of today’s questions.
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Just one more out of question time – Paul Karp hears shadow treasurer Angus Taylor shout: “sank without a trace, worst budget ever” at Jim Chalmers as the MPs begin to relocate.
Good times.
Services Australia contracts personal speech writer for Bill Shorten, Senate estimates hears
Earlier in Senate estimates Senator Linda Reynolds said she is “in the wrong business”. On it’s own, it would be an eyebrow-raising statement, considering Australian senators get paid $230,000 each year.
But she was comparing herself with a personal speech writer for Bill Shorten, whose contract cost Services Australia $620,000 over two years. The agency has its own full-time speech writers.
Liberal senator Maria Kovacic, who Reynolds had made the quip to, said it was outrageous, considering the agency was not getting crisis payments to residents on time.
Kovacic:
Senators who work in this building get paid about $230,000 a year.
MPs in the government and senators in the government, on the crossbench and in the opposition, get paid less than the speechwriter that Minister Shorten, it appears, has personally requested to write speeches for him when there is a 180 [full-time equivalent] capability that is already being paid for within the department.
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Employment estimates continued
Cash, in her letter to Shields about the policy proposal, said the opposition was finalising its industrial relations policy in the coming months and that the state branch’s ideas were “good” and “align strongly with the Coalition’s approach to industrial relations”.
Cash writes:
It is very important that we reverse the negative impact of the Albanese government’s legislative changes on small and family businesses and creating an industrial relations framework built on co-operation between employers and employees, rather than conflict.
Sheldon and agriculture minister Murray Watt characterised the letter as proof the Coalition is planning to repeal the better-off-overall test.
Cash denied the charge:
We are now in this ironic space where we’re getting questions about the alleged policies of the opposition, which are not our policies. I’m happy for you, if you want, to have some fun with this but not to verbal me, please.
Watt pointed out he was reading her own words. The bickering continued.
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Senate estimates – employment
Over in the Senate employment estimates today, Labor is using some of its questions to target the Liberals for considering a winding back of some of the government’s key workplace relations reforms.
My colleague, Paul Karp, reported back in February the NSW Liberals branch will adopt an industrial relations policy to water down unfair-dismissal protections and abandon annual wage rises for middle and high income earners on award safety nets.
The Labor senator Tony Sheldon tabled the general meeting’s agenda and a letter from Liberal senator Michaelia Cash to NSW Liberal state director Richard Shields on 8 May, describing them as “leaked” and “secret” – descriptions Cash rejects.
The policy says the test for approving a workplace pay deal should be that it does “not disadvantage the employees compared to any relevant award that would otherwise apply” rather than the current more generous better-off-overall test, or BOOT.
It also outlined approval requirements for enterprise agreements should be simplified, a cap on penalty rates for workers earning more than the full time average weekly earnings (more than $99,000 a year), and a simplification of unfair-dismissal laws.
(continued in next post)
Updated
Anthony Albanese pulls out the one dollar coin again to reference his election promise about wage increases and then, mercifully, question time ends.
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Clare O’Neil is asked “is the ABF’s drone fleet still grounded?” by Dan Tehan and says:
This was dealt with by estimates in ABF, and I invite you to look at the transcript.
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Monique Ryan asks Mark Butler about medicine shortages
Kooyong independent Dr Ryan:
There are now 422 medications on the TGA Medical Medicine shortage report list. These include blood thinners, medications for glaucoma, and HRT patches. My constituents can’t access the Novavax and the Shingrix vaccines. Medication shortages in this country are getting worse. They’re not getting better. What is your plan for ensuring Australians can have access to the vaccines and the medicines that they need and deserve?
Butler:
Perhaps, first of all, as the member may know, the Novavax original vaccine was finally approved and made available a couple of years ago in Australia. Take-up was pretty low and it dropped off very quickly. The original vaccine was withdrawn from the market more than 12 months ago in Australia because essentially Novavax stopped making it, as the member probably knows. The Omicron version of the vaccine has been considered by TGA for registration here in Australia over some time, I’m advised.
A few weeks ago, Novavax has decided to withdraw that application for registration. I encourage Novavax to continue working with the TGA. We would like to see as many Covid vaccines on the market as possible, but ultimately that is a matter for the company.
In terms of Shingrix, we have the most comprehensive shingles vaccine program in the world. Take-up by older Australians was phenomenal, and about 40% higher than we projected. Using the usual force casting models. As a result, we negotiated the supply of an additional 750,000 doses of the Shingrix vaccine, which has already been delivered over recent weeks to all of the state and territory governments, that should be hitting vaccination points, GP surgeries and pharmacies pretty much as we speak and we’ve got another 400,000 as well being delivered in May and June. So we hope that some of those supply issues should be resolved.
He says the broader problem of medicine shortages is one the government is working on.
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Chris Bowen on Coalition’s nuclear plan
Chris Bowen takes a dixer which is basically ‘please take the next three minutes to explain how terrible you think the opposition’s nuclear idea is’.
He does.
We’ve had a lot of misinformation from the honourable members opposite. The leader of the National party is keen to say, ‘look at America, look at what’s happening in America’, he says. Well, what’s happening in America is the cancellation of a small modular reactor after a 70% cost blowout. That’s what’s happening in America.
We’ve had the member for Hinkler and our old friend, the member for New England, say we are the only OECD country without nuclear power.
Well, in fact, there are 16 OECD countries without nuclear power Mr Speaker, 16, but the leader of the opposition himself says this all the time: ‘Australia is the only country of the G20 that hasn’t got nuclear power as part of its energy mix, or hasn’t committed to doing so as part of their domestic energy mix’. We’ve all heard him say it repeatedly.
Now, the G20 is a very important organisation. A key member of the G20 is Germany, the third or fourth largest economy in the world, depending on the measure. They closed their last nuclear power station last year in April, Mr Speaker. The Chancellor of Germany says nuclear energy is now a dead horse.
Oh, they say they get it from France. France and Germany are different countries. One has the Eiffel Tower and one has the Brandenburg Gate. They are different places. They speak different languages.
Ted O’Brien has a point of order:
It can’t be relevant if he doesn’t understand that Germany imports electricity from France.
He is sent out for abusing the standing orders.
Updated
Albanese says ‘there’s nothing new’ in response to persistent immigration questions
We get a Michael McCormack sighting!
The former-former deputy prime minister asks:
In the prime minister’s June 2022 press conference with then New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, after the prime minister told the media, “We had a wonderful dinner last night.” Then the prime minister said, “Prime Minister Ardern’s concerns are clear. We’ll work through them in an orderly way.” What steps did the prime minister directly take to give effect to his commitment to work through Jacinda Ardern’s concerns about deportations in an orderly way?
Anthony Albanese:
I’m asked do we work things through in an orderly way. Yes we do. Last week, I was asked a question which suggested that commonsense should apply to politics. Yes it should.
This is a rabbit hole which they insist on going down. Now, there are two issues here. One is citizenship changes to make it easier for New Zealanders to become Australian citizens who have been here for a long period of time. More than 20,000 people have taken up that opportunity. More than 20,000! That’s a good thing that that occurs. It’s a good thing that people who have been here for a long period of time commit to Australia and become citizens.
Now, with regard to ministerial directions: Direction 99 set a similar tone to that which applied under the leader of the opposition when he was minister for Home Affairs. Direction 90, signed by then minister Alex Hawke in 2021, drew up a higher level of tolerance for criminals who lived in the Australian community for most of their lives. Direction 79, signed when the leader of the opposition was the senior minister, used the same phrase. So did Direction 65, issued in 2014 by then immigration minister Scott Morrison. So there’s nothing new in any of these things.
There is a point of order which is not a point of order (I really need a keyboard shortcut for that sentence) and Albanese continues, but that is the main gist.
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Anthony Albanese: Australia’s relationship with US ‘not between leaders’
As prime minister of this great nation of Australia, I regard the relationships that we have as being very important, and an important part of my undertaking having the great honour of being sworn in as Australia’s 31st prime minister.
One of my priorities upon being sworn in was to repair and improve our relationships right across the globe. That is something that I’ve done.
If you look at the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom - two historic relationships that have been very important for us. The United Kingdom, of course, for a long period of time given our history and, of course, the United States particularly in the wake of John Curtin’s correct and courageous decision to put our national defence of Australia first during World War II and the important alliance we have had with the United States of America since then.
That relationship is a relationship not between leaders. It’s a relationship between people and between nations. It’s one that is very important and enduring, and will continue to be into the future.
At the same time, we’ve repaired our relationships with countries like France, with other countries in Europe.
We’ve got as good a relationship as we have ever had with the Asean nations - the priority has been our region.
So whether it be hosting the Australia Asean forum in Melbourne this March - something that saw the leader of every single Asean leader come personally and to participate fully in that forum was there.
Similarly, our relationship with the Pacific Islands Forum has been so important as well.
I note that coming up, we will have Chogm [Commonwealth heads of government meeting] hosted in the country of Samoa coming up as well. And that will be an important time for us to renew our relationship with Commonwealth nations.
In addition to that, of course, in a short period of time, welcome the premier of China to Australia as well. We’ll make an announcement at appropriate times about that. That will be a positive thing given that China is our major trading partner and given the important regional relationships - we do have strategic competition - we are attempting to manage those, that competition, in Australia’s national interest. Always speaking up for our national interest.
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Greens leader asks Albanese ‘Will you join us in condemning Donald Trump?’
Adam Bandt has the next question:
My question is to the prime minister. Donald Trump has repeatedly said that immigrants are ‘poisoning the blood of America’, a phrase with a very dark history. And that ‘they’re not humans, they’re animals.’ He wants to wreck climate action and last week he also said the judge that convicted him was corrupt.
Isn’t it clear that this man is a danger to democracy, to Australia and the world? Will you join us in condemning Donald Trump and commit to a full review of Australia’s relationship with the US if this dangerous man is elected president?
Paul Karp reports from the chamber that Albanese is not happy with this question, squinting, shaking his head, looking at the Speaker.
Tony Burke is immediately on his feet:
The starting point for everything in question time is for ministers to be asked about ministerial responsibility. This question - can I suggest that we go down this path, then the whole premise for question time falls over. And I’d suggest moving to the next question as an option.
Milton Dick says he would prefer if Bandt reworded the question to meet the standing orders.
Bandt:
Will you join us in condemning Donald Trump and commit to a full review of Australia’s relationship with the United States if this dangerous man is elected president?
Dick still has a problem with the question because he says it is asking for an opinion from the prime minister, not about the responsibilities of the prime minister. So he asks Bandt to reword it one last time.
Bandt:
As prime minister, will you commit to a full review of Australia’s relationship with the United States if candidate Donald Trump is elected president?
The question is allowed, but with the caveat that the answer can be broad.
Updated
Albanese pressed on meetings with Jacinda Ardern
Sussan Ley gets a question:
Sky News reported that following the prime minister’s meetings with Jacinda Ardern and prior to the introduction of Direction 99, the prime minister’s department directly instructed the Home Affairs Department to attempt to find a way to stop the deportation of so many New Zealand citizens and to, “Fix the problem.” Prime Minister - is this true?
Anthony Albanese:
Sky News... occasionally, on occasion, don’t get things right. I know that they’ll come - usually it’s at night.
Usually during the day before it becomes dark when truth sort of gets darkened as the day goes on.
But the truth is that I, unlike my predecessor, have a job. I don’t have multiple jobs. I haven’t sworn myself into multiple portfolios, including to Home Affairs, in the Treasury.
I’m also not the health minister.
And what we do is we have ministers who have responsibility for doing their jobs. Now, let me be clear - section 501 remains in place. This has not changed.
We continue to refuse and cancel visas on character grounds. We continue to deport people who have no right to be here.
Since coming to government, we’ve deported over 4,200 individuals from immigration detention.
Now, that stands in stark contrast to one of the people who were sworn in as home affairs minister, who on the leader of the opposition’s watch, almost 1,300 hardcore criminals were released from immigration detention centres - not because of a high court decision, not because he had to do it, but they were released without any curfews, no ankle bracelets, any monitoring and no regard for community safety.
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Aged care minister Anika Wells continues to display major school vice captain energy in this dixer, as she thanks WA Tangney colleague Sam Lim for his question.
I wish his aged care residents and his aged care workers alongside himself a very happy WA Day.
I’m told that it is a very big deal.
Andrew Giles questioned about visa cancellations and New Zealand
The LNP MP for Flinders, Zoe McKenzie, asks Andrew Giles:
My question is to the minister for immigration and concerns the meetings held by the prime minister with the then prime minister of New Zealand in 2022.
Did the prime minister have any questions with the New Zealand prime minister or his office detailing what needed to be following the commitment given by the prime minister to the then New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern around visa cancellations?
Giles:
Now, obviously, I can’t speak to meetings that the prime minister had with any other prime minister, or indeed, any other person that the prime minister had meetings with.
What I can say is that I did the work for Ministerial Direction 99 with my office in our national interest.
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Greens respond to Penny Wong’s comments about protest
The Greens have responded to Penny Wong’s comments in Senate estimates a little earlier today.
Wong said (during a back and forth with Jordon Steele-John about whether the Australian government thought Israel was following international law, which then went to domestic protests):
No, what is inappropriate is staff being injured inside at events that Greens MPs speak outside – Greens MPs speak outside an event which is then invaded by protesters. Electorate staff are injured. The MP concerned has written to your leader expressing concern about the role and involvement of Greens MPs, and Mr Bandt has not even replied. It is double standards to engage in violent and aggressive protests and incite them and think that you’re doing something about peace.
A spokesperson from the Greens said:
Senator Wong’s statements today are not correct.
The protest at an MP’s event Senator Wong refers to was not addressed by a Greens MP; a former Greens candidate spoke. Senator Wong is also not correct in that Mr Bandt has spoken to the Labor MP concerned.
The Greens support peaceful protest.As long as Labor fails to take action against the State of Israel to stop the invasion of Gaza and the occupation of Palestine, including sanctions, the community will continue to be concerned.
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The LNP MP for Casey, Aaron Violi, is booted out under 94A while Jim Chalmers is giving a dixer.
Chalmers waits until he is almost out the door and says:
He should be careful Mr Speaker or Josh Frydenberg might be in his seat when he gets back.
The house (including the opposition) finds this hi-lar-i-ous.
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Giles: ‘We know where all of these people are’
LNP MP Angie Bell has the next non-government question and asks:
On February 13, following the release of 149 hardcore criminals, the minister told the house that, quote, ‘Each one of them is being continuously monitored’ and ‘All of the individuals in the cohort are being continuously monitored.’ 153 criminals have now been released and it’s been revealed that more than half of them are not wearing a monitoring device. How else are they being continuously monitored?
She has to ask it twice as Clare O’Neil is interjecting too much.
(And your standard reminder that Australian criminals who complete their custodial sentence are released into the community, often without further conditions)
Andrew Giles:
We remember, on this side of the house, it was Peter Dutton’s delegate, opposition’s delegation, that let someone out of detention when his delegate gave them a visa. No monitoring, no reporting, no conditions. That person who went on allegedly to commit an attack, and he’s been strangely silent about this.
He’s got a lot to say about others - very little to say about his own record. We are not interested in playing politics with this issue. We are interested in community safety.
And I’d remember the honourable member to the evidence given in Senate estimates by the ABF who corresponded about what we have done in terms of community safety. $250 million has been invested to support our strong laws. We have Operation Aegis in place to bring together state and territory law enforcement officials and, as he said, we know where all of these people are.
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Chris Bowen questioned on household energy funding
Helen Haines has the first crossbench question and it’s to Chris Bowen:
In a cost of living crisis, rooftop solar and home batteries can save thousands on bills and reduce emissions. Last week, the first low-interest loans under the Household Energy Upgrade Fund were announced. But these loans represent just 6% of the $1 billion promised. How much of the remaining $940 million will be delivered before the next election?
Bowen (after a preamble on the project):
I expect to make other announcements in coming weeks and months. This is very much the first. There is much more to do. We intend to get many of these rounds out the door as soon as possible, and to see that billion spent.
That billion dollars is allocated and spent in providing the concessional loans to families.
Now, of course, we’ll see what the take-up rate is. It’s a demand driven program in that respect. We’ll have to see the take-up. I can assure the honourable member that we intend to roll out the scheme and see it work to help hours holds deliver themselves renewable energy which will reduce their bills and reduce emissions.
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Giles insists he has ‘answered the question’
It has taken until the second opposition question for the house to descend into a mess.
Dan Tehan:
Will the minister release the advice that led him to say drones were being used to monitor detainees?
Andrew Giles:
I’ve answered his question already. I relied on information provided by my department.
(the chaos doors are opened)
Tehan is back on his feet with a point of order – it has been 14 seconds.
It’s on relevance.
Milton Dick is trying to rule (under the standing orders, a minister is relevant if they are referencing parts of the direction, but can not be directed on how to answer). He has to tell Anthony Albanese and Michael Sukkar to stop interjecting.
Giles is back and now he is cranky:
I think that I have answered the question. But what we’ve seen here, what we’ve seen here is the shadow minister loving it at the dispatch box. He really, and I think that what it tells us is that his real target is the record of the leader of the opposition.
Because he knows, as we know, that if the leader of the opposition was held to the standard that he seeks to hold others, he would not have lasted a day in the job.
This is a bloke, this is a bloke who trashed our immigration system. Who trashed integrity. Who trashed enforcement. Who let nearly 1,300 people out, not via an accord or a tribunal, but without any on their behaviour. That’s the measure of the man. The shadow minister obviously agrees with me.
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Question time starts and Andrew Giles is quizzed on drones
We are straight into question time and, as expected, the first question from the opposition is to Andrew Giles.
Giles attempted to get ahead of some of this with the statement he released just a few moments ago, but Dan Tehan wants to know:
When the minister was asked on Thursday by Sky’s Kieran Gilbert why two murderers released from immigration detention were not being [monitored], the minister responded he was “using drones to keep track of these people. We know where they are”. What was the basis of the advice that led to this latest example of gross incompetence?
Giles:
Over the last week, I’ve cancelled 30 visas in the national interest. By the end of this week, we will have in place a new revised ministerial direction. And as the shadow minister said last week, in on interview on Sky News, I did state that Operation Ageis was using drones. I relied on information provided by my department at the time which has since..(there are interjections)which has since been clarified.
As part of the work, monitoring and supporting community safety, Operation Aegis draws on information from a range of sources using different technology, including aerial open source and other imagery through their work with state and territory law enforcement bodies.
Now, our strong laws impose strict visa conditions on everyone in the NZYQ cohort, released in the High Court decision. This includes curfews, reporting, spot checks, random home checks as well as other mandatory conditions, which means the location of every individual is known. As the government has consistently said, community safety is our number one priority and we will always act to keep Australians safe.
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Matildas love in Sydney
The line between sports and politics is always pretty slim – so let’s step out of politics ahead of QT for this update on the Matildas’ love from Mike Hytner:
The Australian public’s appetite for the Matidas continues unabated with the team’s run of selling out stadiums to continue this evening, when a 14th straight match will be watched by a full house.
The incredibly popular national women’s team come up against China at Sydney’s 80,000-capacity Accor Stadium, just days after 53,000 fans packed into Adelaide Oval on Friday night for the first of two Olympic warm-ups against the reigning Asian Cup champions.
Monday’s match is the Matildas’ final outing before coach Tony Gustavsson on Tuesday finalises his squad for the Paris Games in July and August, when they will attempt to win a first Olympic medal.
Due to the numbers expected, fans are being urged to arrive at the stadium early, with the game scheduled to kick off at 7:40pm AEST. Guardian Australia will be running a live blog of the match from 7pm.
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Antoinette Lattouf ‘pleased’ by Fair Work Commission dismissal of ABC claim
Antoinette Lattouf says she is ‘pleased’ the Fair Work Commission has dismissed the ABC’s claim she was not sacked, the radio journalist said in a statement after the decision was published on Monday.
Lattouf:
I believe the ABC’s challenge was a waste of taxpayers’ money, causing unnecessary delays in my pursuit of truth and justice.
I remain bitterly disappointed that I was fired for posting a fact the ABC itself was also reporting, namely a report of Human Rights Watch about starvation used as a tool of war.
I remain committed to achieving a just outcome in this matter, for me and a free and fair press. An unprecedented amount of journalists have been targeted and killed in Palestine. Countless journalists in Australia are also under attack. The truth isn’t always convenient or comfortable, but it doesn’t stop being factual.
She thanked her supporters, including the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance and her legal team.
I remain passionate about an ABC that is fearless, independent, and not brittle and susceptible to external pressure.
Her lawyer, Josh Bornstein from Maurice Blackburn, said the decision meant her claim of unlawful termination could proceed to the federal court, where her claim that the ABC violated its enterprise agreement is already being tested.
If the court is satisfied that the ABC acted illegally it has broad powers to make orders including reinstatement and compensation together with the ability to impose penalties,” he said in a statement on Monday.
Updated
(continued from last post)
The Coalition asked whether the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is due to host the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, for a visit to Australia later this month. The Coalition asked whether Albanese would raise concerns regarding the Chinese consulate general’s complaint to MPs who attended a Taiwan inauguration-related function in Sydney.
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, said China was “well aware of our view about the functioning of the Australian democracy”. She added, however:
The tendency by the opposition to sort of try and do a list of what everybody should say in bilaterals is really about domestic politics. It is not about how we deal with a challenging relationship where we have different views. And appropriate decisions are made about what is said by whom and when and how. But we have been clear in relation to these issues … Australian parliamentarians determine who they meet.
Turning to the Chinese embassy’s criticism of a bipartisan delegation that travelled to Taiwan to attend the presidential inauguration, Dfat first assistant secretary Daniel Sloper said he “spoke with the ambassador on 14 May, in regard to his comments”. Sloper told the Coalition’s Claire Chandler:
He rang me in fact in regard to the proposed visit to Taiwan – at the time proposed because it was before your departure and that of others. I outlined our views on China which are known publicly and we communicate regularly with the Chinese government on.
Chandler said it was “interesting” that the ambassador “rang you rather than you ringing him”. But a Dfat deputy secretary, Elly Lawson, said “we engage with the Chinese embassy including the Chinese ambassador on a very regular basis”. Lawson said the Chinese ambassador “knows that he can contact us if there are things he wishes to discuss”.
Responding to China’s military drills last week, Lawson said the Australian government had last week also reiterated its position that there should be no use or threat of force or coercion across the Taiwan Strait. Lawson said that military activity “does raise the risks of a potential escalation, miscalculation and accident”. Lawson said the government stated that view publicly but had “also raised our concerns with China directly”.
Dfat ‘raised concerns’ with Chinese embassy over consulate general complaints
The Australian government has raised concerns with the Chinese ambassador over reports that China’s consulate general in Sydney complained directly to politicians who attended a function making the inauguration of Taiwan’s new president.
State and federal MPs who attended a function in Sydney last week received an email from the consulate general. The ABC reported that the email said the consulate general “has noted that you recently attended the event in celebration of the inauguration of the so-called 16th-term President and Vice President of Taiwan region on the evening of May 20” and added: “The Consulate-General firmly opposes this action.”
The Coalition’s assistant foreign affairs spokesperson, Claire Chandler, asked during a Senate estimates hearing today whether it was acceptable for the Chinese consulate to be “monitoring the attendance of our members of parliament in functions such as this” and contacting them.
A deputy secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Elly Lawson, said:
We have raised concerns with the Chinese embassy ... I won’t go into the details, but I can confirm that I raised this issue myself with the Chinese ambassador on 29 May.
Chandler asked whether Australia was concerned “that these actions and tone of the correspondence that was being sent by the consulate could have the effect of deterring members of parliament from engaging with our Taiwanese community here in Australia”.
Lawson reiterated that even within Australia’s longstanding “one-China” policy, “members of parliament are able to engage with Taiwan and for that reason we raised the issue with the Chinese embassy”.
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, added that it was “for Australian parliamentarians ... not any other government ... to determine what they do in Australia and parliamentarians are free to engage with their communities”.
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Andrew Giles releases statement on immigration drones: ‘information … has since been clarified’
Andrew Giles, the immigration minister, has released a statement ahead of QT:
Over the last week I have cancelled 30 visas of non-citizens with serious criminal histories, in the national interest.
It is clear that the AAT’s decision to reinstate these visas did not meet community expectations, and Ministerial Direction 99 has not been working as the Government intended.
The Government is on track to overhaul this regime and put in place a new Direction before the end of the week.
Last week, in an interview on Sky News, I stated that Operation AEGIS was using drones.
I relied on information provided by my Department at the time, which has since been clarified.
As part of the work monitoring and supporting community safety, Operation AEGIS draws on information from a range of sources using different technologies including aerial open-source and other imagery through their work with state and territory law enforcement bodies.
Our strong laws impose strict visa conditions on everyone in the NZYQ cohort that were released due to a High Court decision.
This can include electronic monitoring, curfews, financial reporting, spot checks, random home visits, as well as the other mandatory conditions which means the location of every individual is known.
As the Government has consistently said, community safety is our number one priority and we will always act in the interest of Australians.
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Media union calls for laws to prevent misuse of artificial intelligence
AI is big in the political landscape at the moment – but artists just want some action, as AAP reports:
Artificial intelligence technology could be used to mislead Australians and steal creative work from artists and writers, a union has warned, while calling for laws to prevent its misuse.
The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance issued the call on Monday after releasing a survey showing almost three in four of its members strongly supported AI regulations and their concerns ranged from the spread of harmful content to job losses in creative professions.
The survey results will be submitted to the Senate’s Adopting Artificial Intelligence inquiry which is expected to report its findings in September.
The union’s study surveyed 394 actors, voice artists, film crew, musicians, performers and journalists about artificial intelligence technology and found most were extremely concerned about the growing use of AI.
Their biggest worry was the potential of AI to spread misinformation, with 74 per cent of respondents registering the highest level of concern, followed by the theft of creative work (72 per cent), the creation of harmful content (70 per cent), and the loss of human creativity (66 per cent).
Respondents were also worried about potential job losses arising from the use of AI (59 per cent) and the lack of transparency in source material used to create AI models (59 per cent).
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Despite one Auspol minute often feeling like 15, we are almost at the beginning of question time.
You’ve got just over 30 minutes before the first QT of the week is held, so make sure you grab what you need to get through it. Go get a treat. You’ve earned it.
Colourful characters …
After last week’s Michael McCormack lesson to school children in the marble hall (the Parliament House foyer), where he informed them that the lifts go down … all the way to the basement (just incredible insights), Paul Karp has overheard Greens MP Stephen Bates giving a lesson of his own.
Q: What colour is the House of Representatives? The children correctly answered “green” in unison. And the Senate? (They got that one too – red).
Well, they did better than my dad who thinks both chambers are “browny coloured’.
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Back-in-the-box moment
Given the amount of blow-back about a female candidate being potentially made to stand aside to clear the way for Josh Frydenberg (who didn’t put his hand up for preselection after polling found it would be a tough fight in Kooyong) and that the redistribution analysis by those who know about how these things work (pollsters) is less glowing about the Liberals’ chances than some original commentary suggested, it is not a surprise Josh Frydenberg has released the statement he has.
The boundaries for Kooyong won’t actually be decided until later in the year (the AEC has released a proposal) so you never say never, but for now it’s a back-in-the-box moment.
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Josh Frydenberg says ‘I am not rushing back to politics’
Josh Frydenberg has released a statement on the speculation he may be considering a return to the political arena on social media:
Re the recent speculation about Kooyong: I am not rushing back to politics, my position on contesting the next election remains unchanged. I will continue to support the Liberal party and our local candidate Amelia Hamer.
Re the recent speculation about Kooyong: I am not rushing back to politics, my position on contesting the next election remains unchanged. I will continue to support the Liberal Party and our local candidate Amelia Hamer.
— Josh Frydenberg (@JoshFrydenberg) June 3, 2024
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Origin says it is returning $2.5m wrongly received from customers via Centrepay
Origin Energy wrongly received $2.5m from the welfare payments of almost 3,000 former customers using the much-criticised government-run Centrepay debit system, parliament has heard.
Guardian Australia revealed last month that Origin and two other energy retailers, AGL and Ergon, had used the Centrepay system to wrongly take money from the welfare payments of former customers.
The government has, until now, refused to say how much Origin and Ergon received in overpayments and from how many customers.
But, under questioning by Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne in Senate estimates on Monday, Services Australia officials revealed that Origin had received about $2.5m from 2,898 former customers via the Centrepay system.
I can say that those moneys are being returned,” Cathy Toze, general manager for working age and pension programs, said.
AGL wrongly took more than $700,000, according to court documents, but it remains unclear how much Ergon may have received from former customers.
Services Australia also conceded that the Centrepay system had “lost its way” and revealed that they are now auditing the use of Centrepay by every energy retailer in the country.
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Minimum wage rise ‘will not substantially push up inflation’, Ceda economist says
The chief economist for the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (Ceda) Cassandra Winzar has reviewed the Fair Work Commission’s decision to raise the minimum wage and found it “should not materially affect the outlook for wages and inflation”.
Winzar:
It will not substantially push up inflation or place upward pressure on interest rates.
Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock has previously noted that wage growth of around four per cent is consistent with the central bank’s inflation target.
The key to reconciling low inflation with solid wage growth is stronger productivity growth.
We continue to expect the Reserve Bank of Australia will not lower the cash rate until early 2025.
The lowering of the cash rate (interest rates) is one to keep an eye on politically as well –because Anthony Albanese is unlikely to call an election until that interest rate cut has occurred.
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Penny Wong and Jordon Steele-John clash over Israel-Gaza response
At the Senate foreign affairs committee hearing, the Greens senator Jordon Steele-John accused the Australian government of having “such a breathtaking double standard” given that it was “so happy to place sanctions” on other countries, but not on Israel.
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, responded to Steele-John during the committee hearing. Under the protection of parliamentary privilege, Wong said:
You want to talk about double standards? I tell you what. You know what double standards is? Let me finish on this point. The double standards is you and your party participating in protests which have become violent and aggressive. Greens MPs speaking outside of rallies, which then invade and intimidate people at Labor party state conferences ...
Steele-John said this argument was “so inappropriate”, prompting Wong to reply:
No, what is inappropriate is staff being injured inside at events that Greens MPs speak outside – Greens MPs speak outside an event which is then invaded by protesters. Electorate staff are injured. The MP concerned has written to your leader expressing concern about the role and involvement of Greens MPs, and Mr Bandt has not even replied. It is double standards to engage in violent and aggressive protests and incite them and think that you’re doing something about peace.
Steele-John complained that Wong was engaging in “a political attack and a distraction”. Wong continued to tell the Senate committee:
You know, on social media, we have posts which target people personally, we have posts which are threatening and violent, and you are collaborating with them. That is not leadership. So if you think you are for the cause of peace, maybe you should start practising it in this country.
Steele-John added:
And maybe you should apply autonomous sanctions, as you have the power to do and have done on many occasions.
A response has been sought from the Greens, but Bandt said on Friday:
The Greens support peaceful protest and agree with the calls from today’s protest organisers that any action shouldn’t involve breakage or property damage.”
Updated
Penny Wong says question of Israel’s compliance with international law ‘a matter for international tribunals’
When asked whether Australia believed Israel had complied with international law since October, the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Jan Adams, said officials “won’t be in a position to be providing legal advice or assessments to the committee”.
That answer prompted the Greens senator Jordon Steele-John to tell the Senate estimates committee:
So 35,000-plus people dead, horrific, horrific crimes - clear for the entire world to see - and the Australian government is not able to answer the question whether the state of Israel has acted in compliance with international law since its invasion of Gaza?
In response, Wong told Steele-John:
Senator, again you come in seeking a grab for social media, that’s what you’re doing, which doesn’t advance the cause of peace, does it?
You and I both know that that question cannot be answered because it is a matter for the international tribunals. You and I both know that you shouldn’t be asking hypotheticals in here, and you and I, I would think, both know that all of us share the horror of what we are seeing in Rafah, just as many of us expressed horror at what occurred on October 7th.
Pressed by Steele-John to say when the government would take any actions imposing consequences on Israel for breaches of international law, Wong said the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice were “the appropriate tribunals to make the findings that you now assert”.
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More on effect of $300 energy rebate
Just further to Paul’s post there, one of the big reasons behind the $300 ($75 a quarter) energy rebate is because of its material impact on inflation. When the ABS is measuring inflation, that reduction in energy costs will mean a direct reduction on the inflation figures – that is the half a percentage point Paul is talking about. So the rebate is aimed at lowering inflation, as much as it is at lowering consumers’ energy bills.
But if the relief is not continued into the next financial year (and so far, it is only slated for one year) then that means energy prices will increase (because the $300 rebate will no longer be in place) which is why inflation would nudge up.
The government (and Treasury) are calculating that the underlying rate of inflation will be within the RBA’s target band of 2-3% by then so it won’t have too much of an impact.
(The RBA’s target band is the acceptable rate of inflation (the underlying assumption being prices always rise) where it doesn’t feel the need to take action – ie increase interest rates)
Updated
Energy price relief to cause ‘mechanical increase’ in inflation in 2025-26, Treasury says
Luke Yeaman, the deputy secretary of Treasury’s macroeconomic group, has revealed in Senate estimates that although the $300 energy price relief plan will shave half a percentage point off inflation in the year 2024-25, it will cause a mechanical increase in the year after.
Yeaman:
There will be, as those rebates roll off, there will be a mechanical increase in inflation at that point. That is incorporated into our forecasts.
In response to questions from Liberal Dean Smith, Yeaman said that Treasury’s estimate for inflation in 2025-26 is 2.75% and “that includes that mechanical effect you describe”.
Asked if this meant inflation would have been more like 2.25% in that year, if not for the energy price relief, Yeaman confirmed Treasury expected inflation to be “well within” the target band of 2-3%, and at the middle or lower end of the band.
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ACCI on minimum wage increase: ‘This tests the acceptable limits for businesses’
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on the other hand, is not happy with the Fair Work Commission decision.
Chief executive officer Andrew McKellar says:
This tests the acceptable limits for businesses. The outcome is slightly above current inflation and well over the Reserve Bank’s target range for inflation.
This decision is not in line with the trajectory needed to shore up the Australian economy, but it does not pose a significant inflation threat so long as productivity is addressed.
Over the past year, productivity has been flat at best. For the outcome of 3.75 per cent to be justified, it is essential that there is renewed growth in productivity as an urgent priority. This must be central to bargaining at an enterprise level.
This decision is further evidence of wages being de-linked from underlying productivity, which is not an economically prudent approach.
It is worth pointing out that the last Fair Work Commission decision also increased the minimum wage, and inflation continued to fall.
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Sally McManus on increase to minimum wage: ‘Any day working people get a pay rise is a good day’
ACTU boss Sally McManus is happy with the 3.75% increase in the minimum wage that the Fair Work Commission has handed down:
Any day working people get a pay rise is a good day. This decision allows people to keep up with inflation and have a small real wage increase. If employers got their way, Australian workers would’ve seen a significant real wage cut while facing cost-of-living pressures.
July will be a very positive month for Australian workers. Every working person will have significantly more in their bank accounts because of the federal government’s cost-of-living bonus through tax cuts and, for over 20% of the workforce, this 3.75% increase. This means that an entry-level retail or [hospitality] worker will be $2,600 per year better off. A mid-level community sector worker will be $3,260 a year better off and a forklift driver will be $3,170 better off.
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Daniel Hurst reported on this estimates exchange a little earlier this morning, but here is how it played out in the committee room:
Tony Burke says graffiti targeting MPs’ offices ‘disgusting’ and people should deal with disputes ‘civilly’
The employment minister held a brief doorstop in the press gallery just a moment ago, talking up the minimum wage decision and saying again the government was happy to see the increase.
The minister also said it was “unacceptable” that people in his department had been underpaid, an issue which emerged in Senate estimates today. Some 200 people had been underpaid, up from the previously disclosed 99, which Burke said was due to a complicated “matrix” and interaction between awards and agreements.
That’s no excuse though. I expect people are going to be paid properly. Until the number [of underpaid employees] is zero, I won’t be satisfied, he said.
Burke was also asked about a spate of graffiti, related to the war in Gaza, targeting political offices today. As Amy brought you earlier, climate change minister Chris Bowen said his office had been vandalised yesterday, with the word “murder” appearing to be among the damage.
Any vandalism, anything designed to intimidate, and anything that involves destruction of property is unacceptable, disgusting and inexcusable,” Burke responded.
We have a way of dealing with issues, no matter how passionately they’re held in Australia, and to deal with those issues civilly.”
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Wong rebukes Greens over questioning on Australian response to Middle East conflict
Under questioning from the Greens, Penny Wong has outlined steps the Australian government has taken in response to the conflict in the Middle East, including calling in December for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and making clear in February that Australia opposed an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah. The foreign minister said she had “had over 60 engagements with foreign counterparts” from around the world regarding the unfolding events.
In a rebuke to the Greens, Wong told the Senate committee that “some of us” want to press for peace “in a way that holds the Australian community together”.
The Greens senator Jordon Steele-John asked whether the Australian government would uphold arrest warrants if they were issued by the international criminal court, and he asked whether Australia believed that Israel had acted in compliance with international law since the invasion of Gaza.
Marie-Charlotte McKenna, an assistant secretary in Dfat’s international law branch, noted that while the ICC prosecutor had made an application for arrest warrants covering two Israeli leaders and three Hamas leaders, “no arrest warrants have been issued at this time”. McKenna said:
Senator, it’s a hypothetical. I would also note, senator, that Australia’s obligations under part 9 of the Rome Statute are implemented domestically in the International Criminal Court Act, which is administered by the attorney general’s department, and so questions in relation to Australia’s cooperation obligations and the role of the attorney general in respect of those are best directed to that department.
To understand more about this Howard-era law – and the discretion it gives to the attorney general when dealing with arrest warrants – see this piece from the weekend:
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Underperforming employment providers should face penalties, unemployed workers’ advocate says
After Guardian Australia sent questions to the department, a spokesperson said the results showed “too many” providers were delivering “services below expectations”.
The department is “working closely” with those who received a low rating, including a performance plan if they deem it necessary. The spokesperson said:
In situations where performance does not improve, providers will be removed from the employment services system.
Welfare advocate and officer with the Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union, Jeremy Poxon, said the Workforce Australia system is almost two years old now, and providers not meeting requirements should face financial penalties.
Poxon said:
Unlike providers, participants don’t get offered the luxury of a ‘performance improvement plan’ if they don’t meet their requirements – their payments get instantly suspended.
It’s so cartoonishly unfair that there’s such intense financial penalties for welfare recipients, whereas huge companies who do the wrong thing will cop little more than a gentle conversation with the Department.
Updated
More than one in three employment providers not meeting performance measures
More than one-third of employment providers, who are tasked with helping unemployed Australians find work, are failing to meet the government’s own performance measures, newly released data has revealed.
The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations’ quarterly ratings of Australian employment services released last week show 38.2% of providers scored a low rating, meaning they “are not meeting the Department’s expectation of performance”. It was the lowest score in the two years the department has published the data.
The new data show there is an ongoing decline in the performance of providers. The most recent data has 38.2% of providers scoring a low rating, higher than the 19.77% recorded in the December quarter last year, 34.27% in the September quarter and 27.53% in the June quarter.
However, the proportion of providers receiving a high mark this quarter was 7.91%, the highest recorded since the June 2023 quarter when it was just 1.69%. It was a backslide compared to 11.3% in the December quarter last year and 14.04% in the June quarter.
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Services Australia pledges crackdown on Centrepay system
Services Australia officials have conceded that the much-criticised Centrepay system has “lost its way” and pledged a crackdown on companies wrongly receiving payments from the pockets of welfare recipients.
Last month, the government announced a major review of the Centrepay system, which is designed to ensure welfare recipients can afford essential services by giving approved businesses early access to their social security payments.
Guardian Australia has revealed deep and ongoing problems with the system, including that it has allowed at least three major energy retailers – AGL, Origin, and Ergon – to wrongly take money from the welfare payments of former customers. It has also allowed predatory conduct by rent-to-buy businesses charging exorbitant amounts for home appliances, predominantly in Indigenous communities, and helped prop up an extreme Christian rehabilitation service practising forced baptisms and exorcisms on vulnerable residents.
In Senate estimates on Monday the Labor senator Louise Pratt, who has repeatedly raised concerns about the system, pressed Services Australia officials on what prompted the review and what it would focus on.
Services Australia deputy chief executive Kirsty Faichney said:
I think we’ve had a number of conversations in this forum as well as more broadly with audits and such that had indicated that Centrepay had lost its way. This has probably going for a little while now and as a result of a group of advocates writing earlier in the year with very clear evidence of areas of concern, as well as our new CEO, we have commenced a review of Centrepay for the first time in a while.
Cathy Toze, general manager for working age and pension programs, said preventing overpayments would be a significant focus of the review.
We’re also having a really strong look at overpayments as part of compliance framework as well. And a big part of that is working with customers and industry to really make sure that deductions are cancelled, that people aren’t being overcharged where their accounts aren’t current, but it’s that empowerment of people to ensure their responsibilities as well.
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David Pocock to hold press conference with humanitarian workers returned from Gaza
Independent senator David Pocock will hold a press conference later this afternoon, with humanitarian workers from Médecins Sans Frontières who have recently returned from assignments for Gaza, including Arunn Jegan, Scarlett Wong and Dr Sanjay Adusumilli.
The press conference will be held ahead of a parliamentary briefing being given later this afternoon, which members of the public were also able to sign up to attend. Pocock’s office says the briefing has been booked out, with 290 people signing up to attend.
Arunn Jegan has just returned from his assignment as head of mission for occupied Palestinian Territories where he was responsible for MSF’s health related programming in Gaza.
Scarlett Wong is a clinical psychologist and mental health activity manager for MSF who was responsible for coordinating the mental health emergency response in Southern Gaza.
Sanjay Adusumilli is a general and colorectal surgeon who works in the Sydney West Area Health Service. He is also a cofounder of the charitable organization, the Global Medical Foundation Australia. He regularly travels overseas to perform medical missions and recently returned from Gaza.
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Family of woman found dead under rubble after explosion at social housing block releases statement
Returning to Sydney for a moment, as the family of a woman who was found dead in the rubble of a Western Sydney social housing property that exploded at the weekend has thanked emergency workers for their work.
They released a statement through the NSW police on Monday morning shortly after officers addressed the media near the site in Whalan.
They said:
We would like to thank all of the emergency services personnel for their tireless efforts over the past few days.
We especially want to thank all the police officers, NSW Fire and Rescue personnel and NSW Ambulance paramedics.
The family is so appreciative of their support, kindness and assistance.
We’d also like to thank the public for their prayers and for respecting our privacy at this tragic time.
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The energy minister, Chris Bowen, has responded on social media after his electorate office was spray painted overnight:
Locals who visit my Fairfield West office today may be disturbed by the confronting graffiti that appeared overnight. We are having it removed ASAP. My staff remain at work inside and are serving the community as usual. Peaceful protest of course has an important place in our society. Damaging public property and causing taxpayers expense is not peaceful protest.
Locals who visit my Fairfield West office today may be disturbed by the confronting graffiti that appeared overnight.
— Chris Bowen (@Bowenchris) June 3, 2024
We are having it removed ASAP.
My staff remain at work inside and are serving the community as usual.
Peaceful protest of course has an important place in our… pic.twitter.com/xGJfYgr43T
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Antoinette Lattouf sacked by ABC, Fair Work Commission finds
The Fair Work Commission has found Antoinette Lattouf was sacked from a casual presenting role on the ABC’s Sydney’s Mornings radio program, paving the way for the journalist to pursue an unlawful termination case.
Lattouf was taken off three days into a five-day casual contract after she posted on social media about the Israel-Gaza war. The deputy president of the commission Gerard Boyce said in his judgment handed down on Monday morning:
In this case, I find that the employment relationship between the applicant and the ABC, was terminated at the ABC’s initiative.
The commission rejected the ABC’s position that Lattouf’s employment was not actually terminated because she was paid for the full five days.
Boyce said the ABC did not tell Lattouf in a meeting that she would be paid for the full five days.
The ABC told the commission it decided “not to require” Lattouf to perform the last two of her five shifts because she had “failed or refused to comply with directions that she not post on social media about matters of controversy during the short period she was presenting”.
An unlawful termination case has already been filed in the federal court.
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Wong to Birmingham: ‘I don’t tend to read Hamas propaganda’
Back at foreign affairs estimates, and the Coalition’s Simon Birmingham has tried to get Penny Wong to say that Hamas welcomed the UN general assembly resolution (backed by Australia and more than 140 other countries) granting Palestine additional rights in UN forums.
The foreign affairs minister replied:
I’m not in the business of amplifying Iranian and Hamas propaganda. I’m surprised you are.
Wong said Hamas was “fundamentally opposed to a two-state solution”. She said the “whole logic of this resolution is progress towards two states, and progress towards Palestinian recognition that is alongside the state of Israel”. Wong framed this as “entirely contrary to Hamas’s beliefs”. It culminated in this exchange:
Birmingham: “Hamas welcomed it, didn’t they?”
Wong: “I don’t tend to read Hamas propaganda.”
Birmingham: “I read news reports, minister.”
Wong: “Of Hamas propaganda – that’s a matter for you.”
Birmingham: “Well, news reports on servers right around the world, minister, including many that I’m sure appeared in your clips.”
(Quick explanation: “clips” refers to media clippings. Ministers are routinely provided by their officials with a selection of news reports about developments in their portfolio areas so they can stay across emerging issues.)
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The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has welcomed the Fair Work Commissions’ decision with a post on social media:
Today’s 3.75% increase to award min wages is a win for 2.6M workers.
Australian Labor’s budget is all about helping people earn more & keep more of what they earn. Strong & sustainable wage growth is part of the solution to cost of living pressures not part of the problem #auspol
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Julian Leeser introduces private member’s bill on inquiry into antisemitism on university campuses
The Liberal MP Julian Leeser has introduced a private member’s bill calling for the establishment of a “Commission of inquiry with Royal Commission powers led by a current or former Judge to inquire into antisemitism on university campuses”.
Leeser:
The inquiry will examine incidents of antisemitic activity on campus both before and after 7 October 2023.
It will consider whether the response of university leaders, regulators, representative organisations and others has been adequate.
Among other the things, it will examine whether the universities adequately define and recognise the modern manifestations of antisemitism and whether they have put in place appropriate policy responses to prevent, reject and deal with it.
It will examine university policies and their enforcement including complaints handling and disciplinary policies, security arrangements and university powers to expel people from campus for antisemitic activity.
It will examine what steps universities are taking to ensure course materials and what is delivered during lectures and tutorials do not include antisemitic content.
And it will make recommendations on institution specific and sector wide policy, regulatory and legislative changes including education programs, disciplinary sanctions, and ministerial intervention.
As a private member’s bill, the government would need to bring on the debate by listing it as part of the business of the day, and support it in order for it to pass the house.
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The health minister, Mark Butler, has also released a statement on the pharmacy agreement. This is what he has highlghted:
The 8CPA, which will commence on 1 July 2024 will provide a better deal for pharmacies and delivers a funding boost of $3bn and a total $26.5bn in funding over five years including:
$22.5bn for community pharmacies to dispense prescriptions.
$2.1bn for a new additional community supply support payment.
$1.05bn over five years for other pharmacy services and programs, including dose administration aids, medschecks, staged supply of medicines, and an increased regional pharmacy maintenance allowance.
$484.4m to cover the costs of a one-year freeze on the maximum Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) copayment for everyone with a Medicare card and up to a five-year freeze for pensioners and other commonwealth concession cardholders.
$196.7m to increase the number of patients who can receive funded dose administration aid services.
$103.3m for new and improved pharmacy programs.
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(continued from previous post)
The inability of many tenants to regulate the temperature of their rental homes has come under increased scrutiny through the rental crisis. Biannual research by renter advocacy organisation Better Renting has repeatedly shown that rental homes around Australia often vastly exceed healthy temperatures in summer and are bitterly and sometimes dangerously cold in winter, with Victorian rentals an average of 23C indoors in summer and 9.8C in winter.
Victoria is one of the only states in Australia to already have minimum energy efficiency standards for rentals. The new, expanded standards would be phased in from 2025 to give landlords and rooming house operators time to accommodate them.
The minister for consumer affairs, Gabrielle Williams, said in a statement:
The proposed standards will make rental properties safer and more comfortable – giving renters peace of mind for both the winter and summer and driving down costs.
The minister for energy and resources, Lily D’Ambrosio, said:
Everyone deserves to live comfortably – these proposed standards will make rentals more energy efficient and cheaper to run – slashing their bills and making them more climate resilient.
Feedback on the proposed new standards is open until 1 July.
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Consultation on rental standards on heating and cooling to begin in Victoria
Better quality rental homes may be on the horizon in Victoria – at least in terms of energy efficiency – with the state government today launching a consultation process for expanded minimum rental standards on heating and cooling.
The proposed regulations would require landlords to install ceiling insulation where it’s not already present, for all rentals to include a functional fixed cooling system as well as heating, and for proper draught sealing to be installed, including weather seals on all external doors.
Fixed heating is already a requirement in Victorian rentals, but it’s currently not always mandatory for the heater to be energy efficient.
Landlords would also be required to upgrade their hot water and heating systems with energy efficient electrical appliances when their current appliance reaches end of life.
The Allan Labor government claims the changes and upgrades could save renters about $715 a year on their energy bills.
(continued in next post)
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The Pharmacy Guild is declaring the eighth community pharmacy agreement signed with the government to be a win.
In the release, the guild has highlighted these parts for notice:
The phasing-in of the $1 discount for all Australians, funded by the commonwealth government
The freezing of PBS copayments for up to 5 years
CPI indexation on the dispensing fees paid to community pharmacies by the commonwealth government
An additional AHI payment to community pharmacies for dispensing a 60-day prescription
A 30% increase for everyday healthcare programs delivered by community pharmacies, like dose administration aids, Indigenous dose administration aids, medscheck, diabetes medscheck and staged supply programs.
An increase in the weekly base cap for small pharmacies of dose administration aids that a community pharmacy is funded to provide.
Increase in the regional pharmacy maintenance alliance to support the 1,226 pharmacies supporting regional Australia.
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Some analysis of the FWC’s decision to increase minimum wage by 3.75%
Today’s Fair Work Commission wage increase of 3.75% is based on a view that inflation will continue to retreat and that productivity gains will continue to be minimal.
Based on what was released last year, minimum wages will rise to $915.90 a week and to $24.10 an hour.
The commission panel argued it was “not appropriate at this time to increase award wages by any amount significantly above the inflation rate, principally because labour productivity is no higher than it was four years ago and productivity growth has only recently returned to positive territory”.
According to the federal budget released last month, consumer price inflation would end this financial year at 3.5% and retreat to 2.75% by June 2025. The Reserve Bank’s latest forecasts – released prior to the budget – forecast inflation to be 3.8% for the current quarter and retreat to 3.2% by this time next year.
In its verdict, the commission indicated it was concerned that sectors typically staffed by many on minimum wages (think retailing) would be hurt by a bigger wage increase for now. The panel said:
We have taken into account that the labour market and business profit growth overall remain strong, but the picture is less positive in some of the industry sectors which contain a large proportion of modern-award-reliant employees.
Treasury (and the treasurer, Jim Chalmers) will probably be pleased that the commission cited the stage-three tax cuts that come into effect on 1 July and other cost-of-living measures reducing the need for a bigger wage rise.
And in a nod to the RBA, the panel said it viewed the 3.75% increase as “consistent with the forecast return of the inflation rate to below 3% in 2025”.
The RBA has a target inflation range of 2%-3%, and may not wait for inflation to dip back into that spread before it starts to cut interest rates. Guess we’ll find out by the end of 2025 or thereabouts.
You can follow developments, including more reaction, here:
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Social media companies should be forced to collect 100 points of ID: Liberal MP Andrew Wallace
The Liberal MP for Fisher, Andrew Wallace, has called on the government to force social media companies to collect 100 points of identification and remove anonymity from social media.
In the House of Representatives on Monday, Wallace introduced a motion calling on the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, to bring in ID verification for social media within 12 months. He said that “the identification of people who use social media accounts is as important as age verification”.
Wallace said:
One of the biggest problems we have with social media is anonymity. If you hide behind, anonymity, you can say whatever you like, without fear of being sued for defamation, without fear of having a knock on the door from police.
He pointed to a 2021 committee report on domestic violence from a committee he chaired, which recommended that new and existing social media accounts must identify themselves to the platform they’re signing up using 100 points of ID, similar to signing up for a new mobile phone.
Nationals MP Dr David Gillespie said “identity verification is everything” and was key to resolving the ills of social media, he said in supporting the motion.
Labor MPs arguing against the motion noted the Coalition has opposed the government’s digital ID legislation, while arguing for social media companies to collect vast amounts of personal information.
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Mike Bowers is with us this week (huzzah) and has captured some very estimates expressions in senate estimates:
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National Retail Association says minimum wage increase will ‘amplify’ challenges for businesses
The National Retail Association is the first interest group out of the blocks to criticise the Fair Work Commission’s decision to raise the minimum wage by 3.75%.
NRA Interim CEO Lindsay Carroll said the NRA was “disappointed” and “78% of retailers highlighted wage costs as one of the top three constraints to their business’ success in 2024”.
This wage increase will only amplify the extreme cost of doing business challenges being felt by retail businesses, and many may be forced to reconsider hours of trade, reduce labour, or worse close up shop.
Our recent retail sentiment report shows 84% of Australian businesses expect profitability to be significantly worse over the next year, and the commission’s decision is sure to exacerbate this expectation.
For the record, this is what the NRA had to say about last year’s decision:
The National Retail Association has today expressed its disappointment at the 5.75 per cent award wage increase handed down by the Fair Work Commission, saying it was divorced from the commercial reality for most Australian businesses.
NRA Legal Director Lindsay Carroll said the increase would be simply unattainable for most businesses, and predicted many would be forced to cut work hours for employees or lay off staff.
“Frankly, we are disappointed that the Commission could be so out of touch with the realities of most Australian businesses,” Ms Carroll said.
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‘Errors’ found in some Centrelink debts, says Services Australia deputy CEO
Chris Birrer, the deputy CEO of the payments and integrity group at Services Australia, has said there are “errors” in some current Centrelink debts.
What we’re doing is that we’re undertaking some initial work to restart a range of matters that could be impacted by income apportionment, including where customers have asked for an explanation of a decision in relation to a debt dates back before December 2020, that we think might be impacted by income apportionment.
Questioned by the Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne, Birrer could not say how many of these debts were incorrectly calculated.
We have identified debts where income apportionment has been applied.
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Pharmacy guild reaches agreement with government
Looks like the government and the pharmacy guild have come to some understanding – the eighth Community Pharmacy Agreement is about to be signed.
That agreement lays out what the government will pay community pharmacies for things like immunisation programs, as well as other government-led programs pharmacies roll out, and the payments pharmacists receive for dispensing medication and serving rural and regional communities.
There had been a pretty big brouhaha when the government allowed 60-day dispensing, which meant chronically ill patients could receive more of their prescription medication from one script. The move cut down on the dispensing fees pharmacists would receive from the government (and at the same time, saved patients money), which led to protests and threats of campaigns against the government at the next election.
But there has been some agreement, it seems. We’ll find out what it is soon.
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Age pension claims taking longer to process despite reduced volume
It is taking longer to process age pension claims despite the fact the number of claims has come down, Senate estimates has been told, with the average time sitting at 83 days in March.
Services Australia’s deputy chief executive officer Jarrod Howard said:
The average days to answer may have increased, but we have less work on hand at the moment in the age pension space.
The age pension work, senator, is very complex, so it is taking us longer.
On 31st of March, our work on hand in the aged pension space was sitting at around 44,000 and as of the 30 the 12th of May we’re sitting [on] 36,000, so our work is going down.
The chief executive officer, David Hazelhurst, said:
The figures that we are producing, … the figures of average days and average waiting times … are cumulative across the year.
The figures that you’re referring to, 83 days on average [were as at] the end of March. We’ve had two further months of processing time since then, so I’m not sure that we have a number for what the average waiting time is right now.
We are focused on the age pension. The number of claims has come down substantially. They will continue to come down, and we will also see the length of time taken to process come down.
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FWC lands on 3.75% increase for workers on minimum wage
The Fair Work Commission has granted minimum and award wage workers a 3.75% increase for the 2024-25 year.
The decision affects about one in four workers, many of them part-time and female employees. The wages affected, though, tally about 11% of the national total, the commission noted again in its Monday decision.
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Independent MP introduces bill to require businesses to accept cash
Over in the house, where the sitting is under way, independent MP Andrew Gee has introduced a private member’s bill which has Bob Katter’s full support – keeping cash transactions legal tender.
Gee (and Katter) are very concerned that cash is on the way out – cash transactions are declining, which the pandemic shutdown helped speed up, and Gee wants to make sure that businesses are required to continue to accept cash as legal tender.
(No words on whether stamps remain legal tender, but that’s a battle for another time.)
From Gee’s explanatory notes:
The Bill mandates that businesses providing goods and services in face-to-face settings, within a premises, structure or vehicle at which a person carries on a business, must offer to accept, and must accept, payment in cash if the transaction does not exceed $10,000.
The Bill provides for maximum civil penalties of $5,000 for a person and $25,000 for a body corporate if its requirements are contravened.
Everyone in Australia should have the ability to pay for transactions in cash if they so choose. This Bill is crucial in protecting the availability and acceptance of cash payments across the nation.
In order for the bill to get anywhere, the government would have to bring it on for debate, and then also back it.
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Wong says Coalition wants to play ‘domestic politics’ with Middle East crisis
Things are starting to get heated during the foreign affairs Senate estimates hearing on the Middle East, with Labor’s Penny Wong telling the Coalition she understands that there is “a lot of domestic politics you want to play with this”. Wong added:
There is a bigger issue, which is the tens of thousands of people who have died. And this country, as a decent international player, needs to play our part in progressing the cause of peace. We are not a major player, but we are a respected voice.
The Coalition’s Simon Birmingham said he hoped Wong was not implying that those countries that voted against or abstained on the UN general assembly resolution on Palestine “are not acting in a decent way in advancing the cause of peace as well”. Birmingham said “many of our like-minded partners” like the US and Canada came to a “different conclusion”. (The US opposed the resolution and Canada abstained.)
Wong said that was “a straw man argument that is frankly mischievous”. She acknowledged that countries would make their own decisions, but Australia voted the same way as close partners Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Singapore. More than 140 countries voted yes. Wong said:
You and I both know that there are a lot of countries, including those that have traditionally taken a different view, who chose to support this resolution or abstain.
Wong “invited” Birmingham to “be clear” on the Coalition’s stance. Birmingham said the Coalition continued to support the longstanding bipartisan position of a negotiated two-state solution in which “challenging issues” including boundaries were resolved.
Wong contended that the Coalition had breached that stated position when the then prime minister, Scott Morrison, recognised West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel “ahead of any negotiations”.
Speaking with the protection of parliamentary privilege, Wong made mention of a recent report about “Senator [Dave] Sharma hosting an organisation which has been disavowed by many other Jewish groups that actually is for a one-state solution”.
Birmingham replied:
Do you want me to come back in here with the folder of comments from Mr [Ed] Husic or Mr [Chris] Bowen or members of your cabinet who appear to freelance on the government’s potion?
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Wong says it may be appropriate to consider Palestinian recognition ‘as part of a peace process’
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, responding to repeated questions from the Coalition about Australia’s recent UN vote, has said the world is “confronted with a catastrophic set of circumstances in Gaza”.
She told the estimates hearing that the government was looking at what it “can do from afar to progress the cause of peace”. Wong told the Coalition’s Simon Birmingham:
We’ve also said that, unlike your government, we no longer see recognition [of a Palestinian state] as only occurring at the end of a negotiation. And why is that? Because we recognise that given where things are it may be appropriate for countries to seek to consider recognition as part of a peace process – and that is the position of Germany and the United Kingdom.
Wong said she had made clear that a Palestinian state “cannot be in a position to threaten Israel’s security” and that the Palestinian Authority must pursue governance reforms and disavow violence:
This is a very complex problem that has not been able to be resolved, eluded resolution from leaders and presidents and people with much more diplomatic capacity than you or I will ever have, but what we can do in this country is try to do the right thing in terms of Australia’s engagement to progress peace …
You or I are not going to resolve the Middle East in an estimates hearing, but what Australia can do is contribute to the progress of peace in whatever way we can and that’s what we seek to do …
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NSW housing minister ‘deeply concerned’ by reports gas fears were raised before house explosion
Looking at NSW for a moment – reports that residents of a social housing block that exploded in Sydney’s west at the weekend had raised concerns about the smell of gas over the past year will be investigated by the government after a woman was found dead in the rubble early Monday morning.
NSW housing minister, Rose Jackson, said what had happened at Whalan was “devastating” and that affected residents would be provided temporary housing until a permanent solution was found.
She said:
I am deeply concerned to hear of accounts from residents who reportedly raised the issue of the smell of gas within the last 12 months.
I have instructed Homes NSW to urgently investigate this matter. The department are currently checking maintenance logs for any history of this.
I am monitoring this active situation closely as it continues to unfold.
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Dutton pays tribute to Gary Nairn after former LNP MP dies
Peter Dutton has released a statement honouring the former LNP MP for Eden-Monaro Gary Nairn, who died over the weekend aged 73.
Nairn held the seat of Eden-Monaro from 1996 until 2007.
Dutton said in his statement:
A dependable and duty-driven man, Gary served his country, his constituents, and the Liberal Party with distinction.
Gary’s counsel and common sense were readily sought after by his colleagues and his Prime Minister, John Howard, who appointed him his Parliamentary Secretary and Special Minister of State.
In his maiden speech, Gary spoke proudly about being part of a government that was decent, honest, and worked for ordinary Australians – the very traits Gary embodied in his life.
Nairn was appointed an officer of the Order of Australia in 2015 for his parliamentary service, work as a surveyor and support of Australians with disability.
Dutton:
On behalf of the Federal Coalition, our heartfelt condolences are with Gary’s wife, Rose, his children, Ben and Deborah, and his grandchildren.
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Majority of domestic violence crisis payments are not processed in time
The Liberal senator Maria Kovacic has asked about the domestic violence payment, which has a timeframe of two days. The average is three days but in some LGAs the wait time is as high as 11 days.
From 1 January to 29 February 2024, 62.1% of crisis payments weren’t processed in time, the data tabled shows.
The deputy chief executive officer of Services Australia Jarrod Howard said:
So we don’t allocate based on LGA, we base [it] on a day’s process. And it does depend on how many staff we have with the right skill tag and the process that it takes for a particular claim type.
The crisis payment does need a social worker and other elements to assist with the other elements – to assist with making those assessments.
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Treasury secretary concedes young people ‘not getting the same opportunities’ in housing market as older generations
The Greens senator, Nick McKim, has put to officials that young people are being “smashed” by interest rate rises and are “cannon fodder” in the war against inflation.
The Treasury secretary, Steven Kennedy, cautioned against that use of language, which he said is not “helpful” given there is nothing “unusual” about the way monetary policy is working at the moment. Monetary policy affects those in debt, who tend to be younger or middle-aged working people who have recently bought a home.
Kennedy said he understands we need to be “concerned about intergenerational equity issues” but the young people of today are the older people of tomorrow. Older people of today had faced their share of rate rises in their time.
Kennedy did make one small concession, that when it comes to the “structure of the housing market” young people are “not getting the same opportunities” as preceding generations.
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The video team have put together part of Penny Wong’s opening statement to Dfat estimates – Daniel Hurst has been reporting on that hearing throughout the morning.
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Fair Wages Commission to announce minimum wage decision at 10.30am
The (optimistically named) Fair Wages Commission will release its annual decision on minimum and award wages this morning.
Last year, the commission granted a 5.75% increase, with a top-up for 180,000 workers that lifted those on the national minimum award by 8.6%. At that time (although the FWC panel wouldn’t know it for another couple of months), consumer prices were increasing at a 6.1% pace.
The challenge is to anticipate what inflation might be in the coming year knowing that, on the margin (literally), the commission’s decision will influence price increases over that period.
The Reserve Bank, which has tended to tolerate wage hikes for those paid the least, expects inflation to come in at 3.8% in the June quarter and 3.2% in a year’s time.
The ACTU would like to see a 5% increase for the coming year, while employers’ associations such as the AiGroup would like to see it closer to 2.8%. (These lobby groups tend to be coy about what wage increases their executives are getting, as we noted here.)
As for commercial economists, ANZ expects a 3.5%-4% verdict today and NAB at “around 4%”. Westpac looks like being among the most relaxed, saying “anywhere in the 4–4.5% range seems reasonable”.
Watch out for the verdict at 10.30am AEST (which can also be viewed live here).
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Dfat officials questioned over Australia’s ‘yes’ vote to UN resolution on Palestinian mission
Back in foreign affairs estimates, and the Coalition is questioning foreign affairs officials about Australia’s decision to vote “yes” at the UN general assembly last month to giving the Palestinian mission greater rights at the UN.
Officials confirm that this yes vote does not equal Australia bilaterally recognising Palestine as a state.
Craig Maclachlan, a deputy secretary at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, says Australia had, at the time of the vote, made it “explicit that not everything in the resolution was what we would propose and yet we did vote for it”.
Maclachlan says Australia supported a two-state solution and it was “not necessarily the resolution we would have crafted but on balance it was one we felt lent its weight towards the objective of a two-state solution”.
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The crossbench have come together to call for a “broader remit for the Net Zero Economy Authority”.
The bill establishing the Net Zero Economy Authority will be debated in the house this week and the crossbench have announced they will be urging the government to give it more power.
They want it to support communities in rural and regional Australia who are “on the front line of the shift to renewable energy” rather than just on coal and gas fired power station workers.
The members for Indi (Helen Haines), Wentworth (Allegra Spender) and Warringah (Zali Steggall) will all be moving amendments to the legislation.
Haines:
My amendments address deficits in the Bill by establishing measures to maximise local benefits for communities by offering tangible, practical measures such as reduced power bills and investment opportunities.
Spender:
At a minimum, the government must legislate a statutory review of the Authority’s remit and explicitly consider whether the scope of industries it supports should be expanded in future.”
Steggall:
We have an opportunity now to establish an effective Authority that has sufficient teeth to meet the demands and opportunities of transitioning our economy – let’s get those foundations right. The amendments I have proposed, that were rejected by government provided a mechanism to allow a Minister and the Authority to respond to Australia’s economic needs, and the needs of workers as our transition to a renewable economy unfolds.”
Back to Treasury estimates where a little earlier, Steven Kennedy took aim at “a long-term underinvestment in social housing by governments” as one of a number of factors contributing to housing undersupply.
He said:
The market supply of housing continues to be too low to meet demand, particularly in recent years. This is despite a large number of medium-high density dwellings being built between 2014 and 2018, when low interest rates encouraged a significant pick up in investor activity. A limited supply of dwellings creates affordability pressures for households and makes it difficult to find a property to buy or rent …
Nominal dwelling prices and advertised rents have more than doubled since the mid‑2000s, having increased sharply in the past five years. Households are taking longer to save for a deposit and more people are renting. These impacts are disproportionately felt by those on lower incomes.
The government has addressed some of these distributional effects through changes to commonwealth rent assistance. Both this budget and the 2023–24 budget included assistance for renters on low incomes by increasing the maximum rates of commonwealth rent assistance. The further 10% increase in this budget is in addition to the 15% increase provided in September 2023.
The current lack of new supply has been exacerbated by several factors flowing from Covid-19, including supply chain bottlenecks in inputs to construction and higher inflation, both of which have increased the costs of materials and financing needed to build homes. This is compounding structural barriers in the system itself.
… Industry’s capacity to add new supply has also been hampered by a lack of essential infrastructure in greenfield development sites, while there have been critical shortages of skilled labour and low productivity in the sector in recent years …
At the same time, there has been a long-term underinvestment in social housing by governments, leading to lengthening waitlists … The government’s policies are sensibly focused on boosting the supply of housing. However, meaningful progress cannot occur unless the states use their policy levers to boost supply and, longer-term, allow the housing supply to adapt more flexibly to changes in housing demand.
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Trial of MDMA to treat PTSD to begin in NSW
Stepping outside politics for a moment for a trial approved for MDMA to be used to treat PTSD for the first time in NSW.
Led by Prof Ranil Gunewardene, the director of evolution: medicine enhanced therapy, the trial will be the first to examine the effectiveness of MDMA treatments in a public setting in NSW.
The first patients to be treated include a father who lost his son in the Hunter Valley bus tragedy, an Indigenous woman suffering from trans-generational, family of origin and relational trauma, and a former elite private school boy who was the victim of savage bullying.
It is hoped that a combining MDMA with intensive psychotherapy will allow patients to “more safely explore and reprocess events, feelings, belief and relational experiences that were previously found to be far too distressing, or in some cases downright terrifying”. Gunewardene said:
Whilst these treatments are not for everyone, and there are risks associated with treatment, this evolution of psychiatric treatment provides hope for patients, where conventional treatments have had limited or no benefits, or caused significant side effects.
Patients will not be allowed to use medicines without expert supervision, nor access them outside the medical setting.
Natasha May has written for us previously on the debates surrounding these proposed treatments:
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Treasury secretary defends bracket creep as ‘feature of the tax system’
The shadow finance minister, Jane Hume, is asking Treasury about bracket creep (the increasing income tax take as income-earners move into higher tax brackets).
Last week the Treasury secretary, Steven Kennedy, gave a speech arguing that bracket creep had helped fight inflation unlike the US where automatic indexation of tax brackets had given fiscal policy a pro-cyclical effect of adding to inflation.
Senate Estimates discussing this graph, which shows bracket creep in blue (including that given back by tax cuts in most recent year). pic.twitter.com/XxsCZhgi44
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) June 2, 2024
Kennedy said he would rather leave adjusting tax brackets to a decision of government. Asked if bracket creep was a “core tenet” of the fiscal strategy, he replied it’s a “feature of the tax system” and to the extent it was a tenet of the budget, it had been in everyone’s for “decades”.
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, said it was a “longstanding feature of your fiscal strategy”.
Seems like everyone loves banking bracket creep but nobody likes defending it. The Coalition is yet to tell us what their “lower, simpler, fairer” income tax plan will be before the next election. Could it be a promise to index brackets?
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Over in Treasury estimates, bracket creep (where you creep into a new tax bracket through pay rises, thereby negating much of the impact of the pay rise) is once again under discussion:
Senate Estimates discussing this graph, which shows bracket creep in blue (including that given back by tax cuts in most recent year). pic.twitter.com/XxsCZhgi44
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) June 2, 2024
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It is well worth heeding The Tally Room’s Ben Raue here on what the proposed electoral redistribution in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs actually means:
Firstly, the idea that Kooyong is suddenly far more competitive for the Liberals is nuts. It is difficult to calculate a "notional" 2CP for Monique Ryan in an area where no equivalent independent ran, but I estimate that Labor polled 47.8% of the 2PP in the transferred area. pic.twitter.com/YHCbzCo7dX
— Ben Raue (@benraue) June 2, 2024
Wong says she welcomes Israel-Gaza ceasefire proposal from Biden
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has reiterated the government’s view that the situation in Gaza is “catastrophic” and she has called on Israel and Hamas to accept the ceasefire and hostage release proposal backed by the United States.
Wong told Senate estimates:
What we have seen in Rafah underlines why Australia and the international community have been united in opposition.
The death and destruction is horrific. This human suffering is unacceptable.
We reiterate to the Netanyahu government: This cannot continue.
We must see an immediate humanitarian ceasefire so that civilians can be protected.
Hamas must release hostages. Israel must allow aid to flow at scale, as directed by the ICJ [international court of justice].
And so we welcome the current ceasefire proposal from President Biden and we urge parties to agree to its terms.
Biden, over the weekend, characterised it as an Israeli proposal, although far-right members of the Israeli government have threatened to quit if the deal is agreed.
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Consumption spending to recover from second half of 2024, Treasury secretary says
The Treasury secretary, Steven Kennedy, has given his opening address at Senate estimates.
Kennedy said growth in household spending has “softened considerably” due to high inflation and interest rates, with the result that household spending is contributing the least to growth in the last decade with the exception of during the pandemic.
The Treasury expects that economic activity in the March quarter, to be released on Wednesday, will be “very weak”. The economy is expected to grow by 2% in 2024-25, which Kennedy said is “more subdued” than the mid-year economic update.
The Treasury expects consumption to remain subdued until the first half of 2025. But the expected moderation in inflation as well as wage growth and tax cuts have helped to bolster real household disposable incomes, resulting in a recovery from the second half of 2024.
Kennedy rejected criticism of Labor’s third budget, explaining that fiscal policy was “consistent” with Treasury projections that inflation will return to within the target band in 2024-25, and saying it strikes the “appropriate balance”.
Kennedy has said that net overseas migration is believed to have peaked in 2023, with arrivals to “ease” and departures to “pick up” and a range of government policies to reduce arrivals. Treasury is working with the home affairs department to improve forecasting of NoM.
Kennedy said the labour market has been “resilient”, with unemployment of only 4.1%. It is expected to rise to 4.5% by June 2025.
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Services Australia CEO tells Senate Centrelink claims backlog reduced from 1.35m to 607,000
The chief executive officer of Services Australia, David Hazelhurst, has been addressing senate estimates.
He started talking about the backlog of Centrelink payment claims and the number of callers who can get on to an operator.
He says they’ve cleared the Centrelink claims backlog from 1.35m in February to 607,000, at the beginning of this week.
We’ve also been able to improve the experience of people calling us. Overall call wait times for social security and welfare have reduced from an average speed of answer, which peaked at around 33 minutes in February, to around 25 minutes in May, depending on daily demand.
Importantly, our use of congestion messaging has halved since January.
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Wong denounces Dutton’s ‘reckless’ threat to pull out of international criminal court
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has blasted Peter Dutton’s “reckless” threat to pull out of the international criminal court, saying it undermines Australia’s attempt to promote a rules-based order.
In an opening statement to a Senate estimates hearing, Wong said when disputes arise, the Australian government wants them to be managed according to the rules by talking “not by force, or threat of force, or raw power”. In a clear message to the opposition leader, Wong said upholding international humanitarian law – including in the Israel-Gaza war – was important:
Of course this does not happen on its own. We have to help make it happen, including by upholding international law, whether it be the law of the sea or humanitarian law.
We do nothing to help make it happen by recklessly threatening to pull out of the bodies that uphold international law – that kind of talk may seem tough to some, but it undermines Australia’s core security interests.
For example we cannot insist that China abide by international legal decisions in the South China Sea, but threaten to pull out of the international criminal court.
We do nothing to shape the kind of region Australia needs by picking fights, blowing up relationships or beating the drums of war.
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Assistant health minister unveils plan to raise awareness of organ donation in Cald communities
The assistant health minister, Ged Kearney, has announced a new “grassroots engagement” plan with culturally and linguistically diverse (Cald) communities to increase organ donation awareness.
Eleven organisations will share in almost $400,000 in grants to “deliver digital resources, content, and host DonateLife Week events for Australia’s culturally and linguistically diverse communities, multicultural and faith groups”.
Four out of five Australians say they support organ donation, but only one in three have registered to donate their organs.
The grants aim to increase awareness of the donor programs within migrant communities, with Kearney saying it’s all about starting the conversation.
Australia is a diverse and multicultural country. These grants will help encourage conversations around organ and tissue donation with Cald communities in their own voices.
Regardless of where you were born, what language you speak at home, and what religion you practice, you can register to be an organ and tissue donor and save lives.
You can register on the Medicare app or at donatelife.gov.au.
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Today’s estimates hearings are under way, but the house won’t sit until 10am.
If you want to tune in on any of the hearings, you can find them here, but we will also keep you updated with what you need to know.
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Brisbane now second most expensive capital city for housing prices
AAP has taken a look at the latest CoreLogic report into Australia’s housing prices and Brisbane house prices have rocketed up the rankings:
Brisbane is now the second-most expensive capital city in Australia behind Sydney for home values, data from CoreLogic shows.
It is the first time since 1997 that Brisbane has had the second-highest median dwelling value in the country after overtaking Canberra in May.
That follows sustained growth earlier in 2024 when the Queensland capital had overtook median Melbourne house prices in January, for the first time since June 2008.
Brisbane’s median house value is now $937,479 which is $190 above Melbourne. The value of units in Brisbane is also higher at $615,429 compared with $614,299 in Victoria’s capital.
The value of Brisbane dwellings has increased at more than five times the pace of Melbourne values since the pandemic began, with 59.8% compared with 11.2% respectively.
Brisbane has also significantly outpaced growth in the ACT where values are up 31.8% since March 2020.
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Still on the Lowy poll, here is what it had to say on attitudes around migration:
Almost half the population (48%) say the total number of migrants coming to Australia each year is “too high”, while the other half (50%) either think immigration levels are “about right” (40%) or “too low” (10%). Results are steady from pre-pandemic levels.
However, Australians are overwhelmingly positive about Australia’s cultural diversity. Nine in 10 (90%) think Australia’s culturally diverse population has been either “mostly positive” or “entirely positive” for Australia.
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Six in 10 Australians support nuclear power, Lowy poll shows
The 20th edition of the Lowy Institute annual poll is out.
Between 4 and 17 March 2024, 2,028 adults across Australia were surveyed on a variety of issues, with their answers shaping the latest poll.
Some highlights:
Almost half of Australians (48%) now say that “reducing household energy bills” should be the main priority for the government’s energy policy, a sharp 16-point rise from a similar question in 2021.
The number of Australians who say that “reducing carbon emissions” should be the main priority has fallen 18 points to 37%.
On renewable energy, two-thirds of Australians (66%) think the government’s target to generate 82% of electricity from renewable sources by 2030 is either “about right” (41%) or “not ambitious enough” (25%).
One-third (33%) say the renewable energy target is “too ambitious”.
On nuclear energy, six in 10 Australians (61%) say they “somewhat” or “strongly” support Australia using nuclear power to generate electricity, while a significant minority (37%) “somewhat” or “strongly” oppose it.
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Rishworth asked about ‘$50 billion lifeline bribey thing’ for East Timor to fast-track gas project
It’s always fun when things like national security and diplomatic relations are discussed on breakfast TV.
You get questions like this (this is from the Nine network, which is why there is a dig at the Seven network halfway through the question):
Well, Australia has offered the Timorese government a massive incentive to fast-track the Greater Sunrise gas project off the coast of Darwin. Not sure why they’re going with Sunrise. We’re number one in that month.
Joining us to discuss today’s headlines is minister for social services Amanda Rishworth and Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie. Ladies, good morning to you. All right, Amanda, you’re first up, a $50 billion lifeline bribey thing. You really are desperate to hold on to them. Is the deal worth it for us and will it be enough?
For the record, Amanda Rishworth answered:
Let’s be quite clear. The East Timorese are very close partners and friends. They have been for a long time. And of course, we want to see the economic security of East Timor to be developed and we want to see the Greater Sunrise project developed as quickly as possible to secure the future of East Timor. So I’m not going to go into any details of the arrangements. That’s obviously confidential. But East Timor is a country many Australians feel very close to and would like to see their success.
Q: I know, but China’s the big elephant in that room. Right?
Rishworth:
I think we’ve had a longstanding relationship with East Timor. We help secure their independence and we support them. And part of this Greater Sunrise project is something that we can, as both countries, mutually benefit from. But of course, importantly, can secure the East Timorese’s future.
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Jacqui Lambie had a chat to the Nine network this morning as well, where she was asked about defence spending and what would happen with China in 10 years’ time.
Ask Jacqui Lambie a question, get a Jacqui Lambie answer:
Oh, God forbid, don’t ask, because if they come down this way, we’re gone, let’s be honest.
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On her former Liberal party sparring partner Josh Frydenberg’s maybe return as a candidate, Sally McManus says:
I reckon that the people of those electorates are pretty happy actually with the new people who have been elected. I suppose Josh will want to have a go and it will be up to those people. You know, we’ll see what happens there. I’ll leave that to Josh.
Wage increase should be more than inflation so workers get real pay rise: McManus
Sally McManus says workers are still coming from behind:
I won’t be too happy if it’s 3.5%. That’s smack on inflation. I think it should be more than inflation.
People should see a real wage increase.
Already the lowest-paid workers are catching up with where they were before the pandemic. They have had some good increases the last two years because the federal government’s got behind our push for increases, but they still need to be getting more than inflation.
You have got to remember – their rents have gone up, everything else has gone up, businesses can adjust by putting up their prices and passing it on, these workers don’t have a choice.
This is one time when they get to – get an increase, and there’s one thing [we] can do about cost of living and that is to increase wages.
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ACTU’s Sally McManus hoping for at least 3.6% bump in minimum wage
ACTU boss Sally McManus is speaking ahead of Fair Work Commission’s minimum wage decision.
She is hoping for at least a 3.6% increase but says if it has a 4 in front of it, she will be celebrating.
McManus tells the ABC that workers are still struggling, and are paying the price for inflation:
One of the things that, you know, some people argue is … this weird wage price spiral idea which has been well and truly debunked over the last few years.
Just because one group of workers get a pay rise, like, the lowest paid … that’s not going to automatically flow on to everyone else.
That’s not the way the world works in Australia and we know that.
We also know that every single year when the minimum wage increase happens, it has really no effect on inflation.
Remember last year, we got a big increase of nearly, you know, 6%. At the same time, inflation [was] halved, nearly.
So, you know, these two things don’t fit together and the reason is because a group of workers who get this pay rise are the lowest paid so the amount of money in the economy that then happens as a result isn’t as much as if it was the highest paid getting the pay rise.
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Agriculture department says drone tracking of feral deer a success
Last week it was drones tracking former immigration detainees:
This week it’s drones in the ag sector.
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has declared its “innovation pilots” team a success, with drones being used to collect water samples and track feral deer.
Director of research and innovation Jessica May said the project “paves the way for a faster, safer, more cost-effective, and targeted method of DNA sampling”.
It took the team just 15 minutes to sample the water needed using the drone. Previously, sampling by foot took over one hour due to tough surrounding terrain.
This time-saving method will help us focus our resources and save on operational expenses when taking samples across a large geographic area.
(This is how SkyNet starts.)
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Rishworth: Liberals ‘obviously desperately trying to find’ a leader to replace Dutton
The social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, was out early this morning speaking to the Nine network, where she lays out what the government lines will be when it comes to the Liberals mulling over a Josh Frydenberg return:
I think all this talk about Josh coming back somehow suggests that the Liberal party are scratching around for a leader. I mean, they’re obviously desperately trying to find someone else other than Peter Dutton.
But look, if I was the candidate that had been working there, I’d feel pretty annoyed that you know, [they are considering] Josh Frydenberg because it looks a bit better, maybe?
… And it’s certainly not going to help with the Liberal party getting more women into parliament.
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Estimates hearings are rolling on today. You have:
Community affairs, where you are going to see Services Australia under the microscope.
Economics, which is going to be all things Treasury.
Education and employment, which is always a mixed bag.
Foreign affairs, defence and trade, which today will focus on foreign affairs, which means there will be a lot of questions about Israel and Palestine.
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Karen Andrews backs prospect of Josh Frydenberg’s return to contest Kooyong seat
Speculation is everywhere today that the Victorian Liberal party may redo its candidate preselection in the Melbourne seat of Kooyong in the wake of proposed new electoral boundaries that could be more Liberal-favourable, and that former treasurer Josh Frydenberg may seek to challenge 31-year-old Amelia Hamer, who was chosen in March this year.
Despite some Liberals raising concerns that it would be a bad look to oust a young woman to let Frydenberg return – after he chose not to contest the preselection when it was held just nine weeks ago – his former frontbench colleague, retiring federal Liberal MP Karen Andrews, is backing the move. Andrews has told ABC Radio National this morning:
This is about making sure that we have the strongest possible candidates in each seat, and we have the best team to take forward.
… What I am saying is, in respect of Josh Frydenberg, they should do all they can to attract him back into parliament. And then clearly if that means reopening preselection, then that has to be considered.
Amelia Hamer was selected to run against teal MP Monique Ryan, who took the previously blue-ribbon seat from Frydenberg at the 2022 election.
The former Victorian Liberal premier Jeff Kennett, who lives in Kooyong, is backing Hamer and says Frydenberg should “put up or shut up”.
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Liberal women’s network founder urges party not to ditch female Kooyong candidate
Charlotte Mortlock, the founder of Hilma’s Network, which aims to recruit more women into the Liberal party, has warned the party against pushing Kooyong preselected candidate Amelia Hamer aside for former member Josh Frydenberg.
Frydenberg lost to independent MP Monique Ryan in 2022. At the time, the former prime minister Scott Morrison was blamed, but there are also those who believe that the blue ribbon seats like Kooyong usually were held by Liberals who were either in the ministry or had an eye on the ministry, and therefore didn’t spend as much time in their electorate as they could have.
Mortlock identifies that as one of the reasons the Liberals lost the inner-city seats it had taken for granted. She said:
We need the people who lost seats to take account that they might have also not done enough in those seats to hold them.
You cannot blame Scott Morrison for everything. And I think that we are working really hard – we’ve actually got a lot of good women in the field for the next election. I’m really proud of the calibre that we have managed to attract.
And that is why it is so important that we stand by these endorsed candidates, because we’re lucky to have them and they are a great look for us and they will be fantastic members of parliament, and they will make a fantastic contribution to our democracy.
So we should be lucky to have them – not telling them to stand aside.
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Minimum wage decision due today
The Fair Work Commission will hand down its latest minimum wage decision on Monday. The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has again called for the decision on raising the minimum wage to keep track with inflation. In a statement, he said:
We believe one of the best ways to deal with cost of living pressures is to ensure workers earn enough to provide for their loved ones and to get ahead.
We want to see strong and sustainable wages growth because we see this as part of the solution to the cost-of-living challenge, not part of the problem.
We’ve gone in to bat for Australian workers, recommending the Commission ensure real wages for low-paid workers don’t go backwards.
Chalmers said the government believed it had made “welcome progress in the fight against inflation” but conceded “it’s not mission accomplished because many Australians are still under pressure”.
The FWC decision will be published later today.
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Frydenberg reportedly considering run for Kooyong after electoral redistribution
The Victorian Liberal party has not ruled out reopening preselections for some federal seats following a proposed redistribution of Melbourne electorates, which could pave the way for Josh Frydenberg to make another run for Kooyong.
It was reported on Sunday that Frydenberg, who didn’t stand for preselection, was reconsidering his options after the Australian Electoral Commission announced draft plans for new boundaries. Frydenberg would need the Liberal party to reopen preselections in order for him to have another crack at the seat he lost in 2022, with finance professional Amelia Hamer having been successful in winning endorsement in March.
Hamer is unlikely to stand down, and several Liberal sources spoken to on Sunday said it would be unfair to ask her to stand aside. However, other Liberals said they would welcome Frydenberg back to the party room.
It is unclear whether the party will reopen preselections. But a Victorian Liberal party spokesperson said they were still considering options, and didn’t rule out running another round.
“Like all parties, we will be considering the detail of the proposed draft boundaries in coming days. There are still two more rounds of public consultation, and previous drafts have been heavily amended in the past,” they said in a statement.
“The Party will advocate for the best interests of affected communities and the people of Victoria, and will carefully consider what this means for affected candidates at the relevant time.”
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Good morning
Welcome to the second week of house sittings and estimates hearings as we kick off another week of Politics Live.
It’s that time of the electoral cycle where everyone Auspol-related has one eye on the coming election. Anthony Albanese has until May to call it and with inflation proving sticky, interest rates still weighing down people’s budgets and general discontent, the smart money is on the prime minister waiting.
But that doesn’t mean people aren’t getting ready. The Victorian electoral redistribution has the former Kooyong MP Josh Frydenberg feeling a certain way apparently, with reports he’s considering another tilt at the seat. Frydenberg recently received a big dose of media attention after helming a Sky News documentary on antisemitism and so has been back in the news after almost two years out. The Liberals preselected a candidate back in March – 31-year-old Amelia Hamer, who would have to stand aside (or be moved aside) in order for Frydenberg to make his return, which has optics of its own. So stay tuned.
And the fair wage commission will hand down its decision on the minimum wage this morning – the government has made no secret of wanting the minimum wage to increase, given inflation, but businesses are getting antsy. We’ll get that answer mid-morning.
You’ll have Paul Karp, Daniel Hurst, Josh Butler, Sarah Basford Canales and Karen Middleton answering all your other questions today as the day unfolds. You also have Amy Remeikis on the blog for most of the day. It’s a rainy start here in Canberra, which is making it a colder morning than usual and calls for a hot chocolate along with the three coffees.
Ready? Let’s get into it.
