Australia news live: Albanese says no to random alcohol and drug testing in parliament; unemployment hits two-year high

Anthony Albanese has said he does not support random drug and alcohol testing in parliament, in a response to a question from Zali Stegall.

LIVE – Updated at 03:40

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03:40

Another LNP MP removed from Queensland parliament

The LNP MP for Herbert, Phil Thompson is also booted out under 94a for interjecting during an answer.

Thursday is parliament Friday (because there is no sitting on Friday) and so by this time in the week, the Speaker usually has no patience left. Neither do the MPs, particularly when it is the last day of a two-week sitting, because it’s so close to home time.

So it is like keeping a bunch of emotionally unregulated children inside for the fifth wet lunch in a row and the third playing of Willow is no longer cutting it.

 

03:39

Nationals MP Kevin Hogan is the next to answer Andrew Giles about the cohort of people who were released by the high court indefinite detention decision.

…there have been 27 reports of further crimes committed by them, according to AFP evidence at Senate Estimates. Minister, isn’t this clear proof that the minister’s so-called continuous monitoring is completely ineffective to keep Australians safe? When will the Government take action to keep Australians safe, including community detention orders?

A note on that – Australia has one of the highest rates of recidivism in the world. The WORLD. More than 60 per cent of Australia’s prison population has been previously incarcerated. So let’s not pretend that reoffending is a new problem this cohort of people have invented.

Andrew Giles:

We put in place four layers of protection to keep the community safe, including through Operation Aegis, the capacity for state, territory and commonwealth agencies to work together.

We also, as I’ve discussed on many occasions, as one of those levers of protection, put in place a legal regime to enable detention applications.

Those applications, I can assure the House, are under way, noting the concerns that have been expressed, including by the member for Wannon about the high threshold that is required to succeed in such an application.

‘We’re accountable. Every three years, at least’: PM

03:39

Anthony Albanese:

I thank the member for Warringah for her question and I recognise that it comes from a place of genuine concern.

And there have been, of course, issues from time to time in the parliament. But one of the things about our jobs is we’re accountable. Every three years, at least, we go to the Australian people and we’re accountable for what we say and what we do and how we act.

And that is a democratic process that is appropriate. I would have thought that we are all responsible adults and we should act appropriately out of respect for the people who vote to put us here. It is a great privilege to be a member of parliament, and many people try, not as many succeed.

I’ve had the privilege of being elected to this parliament 10 times, and every day – every day – I feel grateful and humbled by representing the community where I have lived my whole life, in the inner west of Sydney, and being able to occupy the extraordinary position of being Australia’s 31st prime minister.

I don’t want to see us be in a position where we say that we are unable to act like adults, and to have the suggestion which is made.

So, I understand why she makes it, the member for Warringah, but it is not something that I have supported.

I think that people need to act responsibly at all times, to bear in mind the great privilege and honour that we have, of being in this chamber in the various positions that occur, whether they be on the frontbench of either side, whether they be backbench members or whether they be cross-bench members as well.

Barnaby Joyce was listening on as Albanese spoke.

 

03:35Daniel Hurst

There has been a lot of speculation the government will soon announce decisions on the Hunter class frigate project and the rest of the naval surface fleet (possibly next week).

In his latest dixer, defence minister, Richard Marles, confirms that the government will release its response to the independent review of the surface fleet “shortly”. He goes on to take aim at the Coalition’s defence record.

 

03:33

Question on random alcohol and drug testing in parliament

Zali Steggall to Anthony Albanese:

My question is to the prime minister: Numerous workplaces in Australia have random alcohol and drug testing to help ensure a safe and respectful working environment. Will you commit to legislating for random alcohol and drug testing of MPs, senators and staff in the federal parliament due to the apparent ongoing issues with too much alcohol consumption?

What. Could. Have. Prompted. That. Question.

Albanese says no.

 

03:32

Annnnd Liberal MP for Lindsay, Melissa McIntosh is the next to get booted under 94a.

Michael Sukkar has just been warned. So he’ll most likely be next.

 

03:29

Peter Dutton to Andrew Giles:

Despite the prime minister’s suggestions earlier that this is not a worthy question, I ask the Minister for Immigration why the family I referred to earlier, the victims of the … Who lost their mother and mother-in-law to a murderer, why hasn’t that family been contacted?

Giles:

I say again that my thoughts are, of course, with all of the victims, all of those affected by the [high court decision].

In terms of that family, I have spoken a little bit about the Victim Link approach, but if the leader of the opposition has the relevant contact details, I will be very pleased to speak with any affected family members immediately after question time.

 

03:28

MP Aaron Violi thrown out of parliament again

Milton Dick counts how many times the Liberal MP for Casey, Aaron Violi, interjects during a dixer from Jim Chalmers – it turns out it was eight times.

Dick then throws out Violi for the second time this week (I think it was this week, but time has no meaning) because of his ongoing interjections over the last two weeks.

 

03:25

Question time begins in earnest

Peter Dutton in literally the next breath after the jovial wedding congratulations:

My question is to the minister for immigration: Earlier today, I spoke to Andrew, a member of the family whose mother, Svetlana, was brutally murdered by one of the 149 criminals the minister released. He is disgusted that, despite the minister’s undertakings, no one has contacted the family. They fear the murderer turning up at their home. Why hasn’t this family been contacted, as the minister and deputy prime minister promised?

Andrew Giles:

I acknowledge, all members of this place, acknowledge that the decision by the high court to release those individuals …

Dutton uses a point of order to try to pretend that the court ruling that just one person be released and the government took it upon themselves to release another 148 which is completely ridiculous – the way high court rulings work (or all court rulings) is that if a precedent has been set with one case, then it’s set for anyone with similar circumstances. So if the court says “the indefinite detention of this person with these circumstances is unconstitutional” then it is unconstitutional to keep the other people with the same set of circumstances in indefinite detention. To not follow the court’s ruling would leave the government open to being (successfully) sued, with the court ruling the release of the other people anyway.

 

03:21Andrew Messenger

Queensland opposition alleges child was sexually abused in watch house

Queensland’s LNP opposition has raised in parliament allegations a child was sexually abused while being detained in one of the state’s watch houses.

The Warrego MP, Ann Leahy, asked the premier during question time:

A whistleblower has provided information that a young girl was sexually assaulted by another detainee in the … watch house. Can the premier confirm this is under investigation and what action has been taken?”

The premier, Steven Miles, replied:

As the member would be aware, that’s not the kind of incident that would be referred to me but I would urge the member to refer it to police because it’s very very serious.

The child safety minister, Charis Mullen, suggested holding a private meeting with the opposition to discuss the issue.

 

03:15

Andrew Giles:

The government is committed to ensuring that all victims, and their families, are supported, noting, of course, the privacy restrictions and the fact that the vast majority of these victims are, of course, victims of breaches of state and territory laws, not commonwealth laws.

 

03:14

‘Whatever it takes to get an invite to the gala wedding’: Dutton on PM’s engagement

Peter Dutton then congratulates Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon on their engagement:

Can I share our congratulations and best wishes to you. We look forward to our version of the royal wedding some time in the future.

Albanese:

Keep checking your mailbox!

Dutton:

I will be there, throwing roses out in front of you, prime minister. Whatever it takes to get an invite to the gala wedding.

And then they get into the questions.

 

03:13

‘Russia’s invasion was illegal and it was immoral’: Dutton

Peter Dutton also speaks on Ukraine:

When Russian troops poured across Ukraine’s border on 24 February 2022, many in the West finally awoke from the naive dream of the end of history. The cruel reality of a return of history hit home.

Russia’s invasion was illegal and it was immoral.

It was unprovoked, it was unjust, it was unacceptable. It was a reminder that the days of despots are not gone, that the age of autocrats is not behind us.

Putin, of course, expected [it to be] behind us. Putin, of course, expected a quick victory. He thought the people of Ukraine would swiftly surrender and his appetite would only have grown with territorial eating. But Putin miscalculated, he underestimated, he was wrong. The people of Ukraine did not acquiesce, they resisted.

They took arms, they did not cower in fear, they fought back with courage. Amidst the heartache, the horror, and heroism of war, a man has continued to inspire his people and, in turn, imbibe their collective spirit – Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

 

03:10

LNP MP urges government not to sign agreements with global organisations

The LNP MP Terry Young has just used his statement to link Australia Day to freedoms to … not signing binding agreements with global organisations.

Like, for instance, with the UN.

Young:

Although we’re a part of a global community, we must protect Australia’s sovereignty no matter the price.

Organisations such as WHO, the World Health Organization, World Economic Forum, the United Nations and the like may have opinions and suggestions on how countries interact with each other on the global stage.

But deputy speaker that is all they should ever be. Suggestions.

We should never sign binding agreements or treaties with organisations such as these because Australia must always be governed by Australians .

Let us never take for granted the freedoms so many have fought for and the price paid for those freedoms.

Not sure if Young has noticed, but signing these agreements does not actually mean that the UN or other organisations can force Australia to do anything.

 

03:08

‘An anniversary we wish did not exist’: PM on Russia-Ukraine war

Before questions start, Anthony Albanese gives a speech about the coming second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Twenty-four February is an anniversary we wish did not exist, but it is one that this chamber should recognise.

Twenty-four February 2022 was the date of Russia’s illegal and immoral, full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

And after 24 February, it’s clear that this illegal war will enter its third year.

I do look forward to the day when this house can celebrate that Ukraine is at peace, the work of recovery and rebuilding is under way, and the process of justice is running its course.

Regrettably, today we instead acknowledge that Vladimir Putin’s invasion is about to enter its third brutal year. Australia strongly supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity – a position which has been taken by every member of this House.

And Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is, of course, a gross violation of international law.

 

03:05

Government announces further $50m in funding for Ukraine

Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong have announced another $50m in funding for Ukraine:

Ahead of the second anniversary of Russia’s brutal full-scale invasion, the Albanese Government will provide a $50 million grant to the International Fund for Ukraine, directly supporting the procurement of priority military capabilities. The International Fund for Ukraine is administered by the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence. It uses international partners’ contributions to procure priority military equipment for Ukraine and ensure the continued supply of military support – lethal and non-lethal –through 2024 and beyond. Australia remains steadfast in our commitment to support Ukraine and the Ukrainians who are defending their people, their territory, and their sovereignty. The contribution announced today will take Australia’s overall support to Ukraine to approximately $960 million, including $780 million in assistance for Ukraine’s Armed Forces. In addition to Australia’s materiel and financial support, the Australian Defence Force continues to make an important contribution to multinational efforts in support of Ukraine under Operation Kudu. Australian personnel continue to train Ukrainian soldiers as part of an extended and expanded mission in the United Kingdom.

 

03:01Catie McLeod

New taskforce to investigate asbestos mulch in Sydney

A new taskforce has been set up in New South Wales to support the Environment Protection Authority’s criminal investigation into the widespread use of mulch found to be contaminated with asbestos.

The government announced the taskforce shortly after the premier, Chris Minns, flagged that the mulch had potentially been used at hundreds of additional sites across Sydney.

The chair of the NSW Asbestos Coordination Committee, Carolyn Walsh, will lead the taskforce of senior representatives from several state government agencies and local councils.

The environment minister, Penny Sharpe, said the group would coordinate government agencies and assist in prioritising locations considered of highest risk to the public to ensure resources were available to secure and remediate sites.

Sharpe, who is addressing the media now, released a statement a short time ago in which she said:

This is the largest investigation the Environment Protection Authority has undertaken in recent decades.

The complex, criminal investigation involves multiple lines of inquiry.

Our number one priority is to finish contract tracing the supply chain – so that any potential receiver of the mulch is notified. That means we can take immediate action to make the area safe.

The taskforce will meet for the first time tomorrow.

 

03:00

MPs are starting to file in for the final question time for a week.

Which means we are at the ‘prop’ stage of the 90-second statements. Today it’s Labor MP for Parramatta Andrew Charlton with an old ‘how to vote card’ distributed by the Liberals before the last election.

 

02:46

It is 90-second statement time in the house again which means we are hearing all about the tax cut changes from Labor MPs. Which we will also hear about during question time in dixers.

 

02:42Tamsin Rose

Hundreds of Sydney sites flagged in asbestos mulch fallout

Hundreds of sites across Sydney have been flagged as potentially having mulch contaminated with asbestos, according to the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns.

When asked why the NSW environment watchdog had not shut all parks and other developments where possibly contaminated mulch had been traced to, Minns said the resources needed would be too great.

He said:

I’m sorry to say but the truth of the matter is the number of properties can be very large right across Sydney. Not every place, not every project, park [contact traced] has tested positive to asbestos but to lock every single park up or school or hospital would be beyond our resources right now.

He confirmed hundreds of sites had been flagged by the Environment Protection Authority as part of the investigation so far.

 

02:23

Question time in 45 minutes

It has been a pretty big day so far and we still have question time to go.

That will happen in about 45 minutes or so.

You can pretty much start the clock on the Dunkley byelection now too – the conservative group Advance, which was so effective during the referendum has been running a very effective ground campaign and Labor, even with the tax changes faces an uphill battle to retain it.

That contest is going to start playing out in the parliament in earnest.

 

02:23Sarah Basford Canales

‘I think you’re missing a teddy bear, Senator Ruston’: Malarndirri McCarthy

Back to Senate estimates for a moment, where the health department was asked this morning about its use of teddy bears to promote the federal government’s urgent care clinics.

The Liberal senator Anne Ruston asked how much the department had spent on teddy bears as part of promoting the clinics.

The department’s first assistant secretary, Rachel Balmanno, said it was around $4,000.

The secretary, Blair Comley, said he was “reluctant” to be drawn into the teddy bear discussion but said promotional campaigns required multiple channels.

The intention of the teddy bears is not that they’re given to children – that’s not the target audience – but they are given to local members et cetera with urgent care clinics.

Comley said the bears were designed to sit in local MP offices to highlight electorate awareness about urgent care clinics and to encourage their use over emergency departments where necessary.

Ruston questioned why constituents needing emergency care would be in their local MP’s office. Comley countered it’s about broader awareness.

The Northern Territory Labor senator Malarndirri McCarthy, who is representing the health minister, interrupted Ruston:

I think you’re missing a teddy bear, Senator Ruston.

Ruston responded:

I may be. It may be because I’m missing a teddy bear, you just never know.

 

02:01

Mehreen Faruqi says Labor must ‘immediately lift the suspension of UNRWA funding’

Daniel Hurst reported on the exchanges between the Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi and Penny Wong in estimates over the suspension of Australia’s additional $6m in humanitarian funding to Unrwa.

Faruqi has made her thoughts clear on Wong’s responses to her questions, in a statement:

Three weeks after suspending UNRWA’s funding the Labor government still does not have a shred of evidence on Israel’s allegations. This smacks of a political decision to cut off life saving aid to Palestinians in the midst of a humanitarian crisis.

It is unbelievable that the Minister thought no evidence or even a call to UNRWA, at the bare minimum, was necessary before jumping to suspend aid funding while Palestinians are being bombed, killed and starved.

Faruqi says Labor must “immediately lift the suspension of UNRWA funding”.

 

02:01Sarah Basford Canales

‘It’s not a simple exercise’: aged care report remains unseen

Officials from the health department are up today in Senate estimates and we’re getting a non-update on the status of the aged care taskforce report.

The deputy secretary, Michael Lye, said the final report was handed to government just before Christmas and said its release date is a matter for the government.

The matters for consideration with the taskforce were kind of complex in nature so our view is that to properly analyse that and respond, it’s not a simple exercise, it’s not a quick exercise.

The taskforce considered ways to make the aged care sector more sustainable and equitable after the minister, Anika Wells, declared “the baby boomers are coming”.

A Medicare-style levy or ring-fencing super contributions to pay for aged care are some of the proposals put forward.

The Liberal senator Anne Ruston has said she’s been told by those in the sector they feel uncertain about the potential changes they face.

Lye said he held a more optimistic view:

They understand that the taskforce has been an opportunity to deal with a set of structural issues that are very longstanding. And I think they have faith … that there’s a genuine interest in trying to address those remaining structural issues, which are kind of – particularly in residential care – are barriers to viability.

 

01:59Caitlin Cassidy

Private $100m program retained just 500 teachers in a decade

Taxpayers have spent more than $100m for a private program that has retained just 500 teachers in more than a decade, Senate estimates has heard.

Data provided on notice shows that of people who began the Teach for Australia program, more than a third are no longer teaching and less than 18% are continuing in the school they started in.

The commonwealth has been the primary funder of the program since 2009, which aims to recruit high-achieving teachers into classrooms where teacher shortages are most acute.

The Greens senator and spokesperson for education, Penny Allman-Payne, said based on the numbers provided, roughly 500 teachers had remained teaching in schools in the entire time period.

You’ve got $100m going to a private company who’ve in return produced around 500 teachers. That’s over $100,000 of government money to get one teacher remaining in a school – is that an extraordinarily poor return on investment?”

In response to her questioning, a department spokesperson said while not all participants remained working as teachers, some had moved into other roles including the education department.

Allman-Payne:

Was that the goal of the program? To get more people working in the education department?”

The program is funded until at least 2026, with an evaluation under way into its success.

 

01:58Caitlin Cassidy

States must be told federal government won’t allow them to artifially inflation school funding, AEU says

The Australian Education Union (AEU) has weighed in on revelations in Senate estimates today that the federal government may continue to allow states to artifically inflate school funding shares in the next agreement.

Prior to the election, then-shadow education minister Tanya Plibersek said Labor would remove the loophole that permits states and territories to claim non-school expenditures on items like bus passes as part of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS).

AEU president Correna Haythorpe says assistant minister for education Anthony Chisholm’s statements suggesting the 4% inflation of figures was a matter for negotiations with state and territory governments are “concerning” given the party’s “clear position in the past on this issue”.

They also raise real questions about the WA statement of intent on school funding recently announced. The WA government clearly stated that it believes the 4% inflation of the SRS is going to be allowed in the new agreement. They need to be told that is not the case.”

‘I can do this all day’: Queensland parliament heats up ahead of election later this year

01:56Andrew Messenger

Speaker Curtis Pitt has banished six opposition members from the chamber this morning, amid impassioned debate around youth crime.

The LNP members for Everton, Tim Mander, Mudgeeraba MP Ros Bates, Nanango MP Deb Frecklington, Currumbin MP Laura Gerber, Ninderry MP Dan Purdie and Buderim MP Brent Mickelberg have all been removed from the chamber for an hour for interjections during question time.

Pitt told Gerber, the opposition spokesperson for youth justice:

I can do this all day.

He later said the MPs were removed from the chamber after all being warned about interjecting inappropriately.

Question time started late on Thursday due to a condolence motion for the former Nationals MP Neville Harper, and the volume in the room quickly became a touch louder than normal.

That problem is rapidly resolving itself, with the LNP now left with just 28 of their elected 34 representatives.

 

01:51

‘Australia, Canada, and New Zealand remain steadfast in their commitment to a two-state solution’

The statement continues:

An immediate humanitarian ceasefire is urgently needed. Hostages must be released. The need for humanitarian assistance in Gaza has never been greater. Rapid, safe and unimpeded humanitarian relief must be provided to civilians. The International Court of Justice has been clear: Israel must ensure the delivery of basic services and essential humanitarian assistance and must protect civilians. The Court’s decisions on provisional measures are binding. We are clear that a sustainable ceasefire is necessary to finding a path towards securing lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians. Any ceasefire cannot be one sided. Hamas must lay down its arms and release all hostages immediately. We again unequivocally condemn Hamas for its terror attacks on Israel on October 7. Ultimately, a negotiated political solution is needed to achieve lasting peace and security. Australia, Canada, and New Zealand remain steadfast in their commitment to a two-state solution, including the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, where Palestinians and Israelis live side by side in peace, security, and dignity.

 

01:50

PMs of Australia, Canada and NZ ‘gravely concerned’ about Israeli plans in Rafah

Anthony Albanese has issued a statement with his counterparts in Canada and New Zealand on Israeli’s planned ground assault in Rafah.

We are gravely concerned by indications that Israel is planning a ground offensive into Rafah. A military operation into Rafah would be catastrophic. About 1.5 million Palestinians are taking refuge in the area, including many of our citizens and their families. With the humanitarian situation in Gaza already dire, the impacts on Palestinian civilians from an expanded military operation would be devastating. We urge the Israeli government not to go down this path. There is simply nowhere else for civilians to go. There is growing international consensus. Israel must listen to its friends and it must listen to the international community. The protection of civilians is paramount and a requirement under international humanitarian law. Palestinian civilians cannot be made to pay the price of defeating Hamas.

(continued in next post)

 

01:42Peter Hannam

NSW unemployment rises to national average of 4.1%

New South Wales has long been a national jobs machine but the state that accounts for about a third of the economy is dropping back to the pack.

Its seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.1% last month, matching the national average. Six months ago, NSW boasted a 3.4% jobless rate, compared with 3.7% for Australia overall (and it was at 3.3% last March when the Minns Labor government ended 12 years of Coalition rule).

Among the states and territories, Victoria and the Northern Territory have the lowest unemployment rate at 3.9%, both down from December’s rate. (Six months ago, Victoria’s rate was 3.6% and the NT’s 3.9%.)

The economy in Tasmania will probably feature prominently when voters in that state go to the polls on 23 March. The island state’s jobless rate jumped from 3.6% in December to 4.5% last month.

The change might make for slightly awkward timing for the Liberal premier, Jeremy Rockliff, although the numbers can be volatile. Six months ago, Tassie’s jobless rate was 4.7%.

Queensland, which is also going to the polls later this year, has seen its unemployment rate edge lower. Back in July, for instance, it was 4.5% and as of January it’s eased back to 4.2%.

 

01:34

There has been a lot of interest in Penny Wong’s comments about Israel’s planned ground assault of Rafah, where 1.5m displaced Gazans have been forced to flee and about Australia’s pause in sending an addition $6m in humanitarian aid to Unrwa.

Here is some of what she said this morning:

 

01:21

‘We enter this period of economic uncertainty from a position of genuine strength’: Chalmers

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has started his victory lap on the stage-three tax cuts passing the house of representatives, but he has also spoken about the unemployment figures, which show an increase from 3.9% to 4.1%.

What we’re seeing in these figures is that the market continues to soften in expected ways. We have seen our labour market has been weakening but it has been weakening from a quite incredibly strong and resilient base.

In the 46 years now since these monthly records were first kept there has only been one calendar year where every month of the calendar year has had unemployment south of 4% and that was the year just finished.

So we enter this period of economic uncertainty from a position of genuine strength and the labour market is a big part of that story.

 

01:17Peter Hannam

What do latest job figures really mean?

The jobs figures need a bit of nuance because recent surveys, including NAB’s this week, point to the labour market remaining tight and job adverts have also been ticking higher.

And as the ABS notes, more people are tending to work less in January than during pre-Covid times, sending the seasonal adjustments a bit awry.

Hours worked in January fell by 49m, for instance, continuing a trend downwards since mid last year.

Since October 2023, the annual growth rate in hours worked has slowed considerably, down to 0.7% in January 2024, and well below the annual employment growth of 2.6%,” ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis says.

The RBA has also said it expect employers to hold on to their employees if they can, trimming their hours if demand sags. That’s why they’re not expecting the jobless rate to climb above 4.5% even with the economy barely growing (and declining in per capita terms).

The markets viewed today’s figures as being on the weak side, reducing on the margins the chances of another interest rate rise (and making a rate soon a bit more likely).

The Australian dollar was down about 0.1 US cents to 64.9 US cents and the ASX 200 share index extended its gains for the day by about 0.1 percentage points to 0.9%. (Lower interest rates make it less attractive to hold the Aussie dollar while also making it cheaper for firms to borrow, hence those reactions.)

 

01:14Caitlin Cassidy

Government’s school education funding mantra

If you feel like hearing the same thing over and over again, tune in to education estimates. The Greens are continuing to question Labor on government school funding – which languishes below 100% for the vast majority of public schools and above it for the majority of privates.

Asked whether it seemed fair that public funding was being distributed to Australia’s wealthiest schools, assistant minister for education, Senator Anthony Chisholm repeats the government is in the process of negotiating the new funding agreement this year.

According to Save our Schools, hundreds of private schools, in places where the median family income is in excess of $209,00, are expected to receive $1.3bn above the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) to 2029 – the level agreed to by governments to provide a baseline education.

Chisholm has now said an iteration of “we’re going through negotiations with the states and territories” about a dozen times.

It is important all schools are funded appropriately – that’s why the next agreement is so important … some people are making enormous sacrifices [to send their children to private schools] and those schools deserve support as well.”

 

01:12

‘Pandering’ to cost-of-living concerns poor tax policy, ex Treasury chief says

Former treasury secretary Ken Henry, who was the last person to do a review of the entire Australian tax system (the 2009 Henry review) has spoken to the ABC about the current tax system.

He sounds pretty despairing to be honest.

We’re in a worse position now than we were 15 years ago when we were writing the review,” Dr Henry told the ABC.

It’s an intergenerational tragedy that we have allowed this to happen.”

And on the stage-three tax cut changes?

You do not do tax reform based on pandering to people’s concerns about immediate cost-of-living pressure.

You should be worried about the cost of living pressure in five years, 10 years, 20 years — the poor bastards who are going to have to pick up the bloody cost of all of our stuffing around, and some of those are not yet born.”

You can read more, here.

 

01:07Andrew Messenger

Queensland anti-corruption body to be reviewed

The Queensland government has commissioned former chief justice Catherine Holmes to conduct a “short, sharp” review into the powers of Queensland’s anti-corruption body.

The High Court last year blocked the Crime and Corruption Commission from releasing reports into former deputy premier Jackie Trad and public trustee Peter Carne. The inquiries made no criminal findings.

In September, CCC chairperson Bruce Barbour urged the government to introduce “urgent” legislation to reverse the decision. The body had long released reports through Queensland parliament, and he said the ban “reduces transparency and is clearly not in the public interest”.

Attorney-general Yvette D’Ath told parliament the government plans to legislate to overturn the High Court decision.

D’Ath told parliament the former jurist’s inquiry will “ensure that any legislative amendments strike the proper balance between the rights of the individual” and the public interest.

The recommendations, due by May, will be considered by cabinet and then “released in full”.

Holmes served as chief justice of the Queensland Supreme Court between 2015 and 2022, the first woman appointed to the position of senior jurist in any Australian state. She later led the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme.

 

01:03Daniel Hurst

Status quo failing, two-state solution still needed, Wong says

At Senate estimates, Penny Wong says her recent visit to the Middle East had reinforced her long-held view that a two-state solution is necessary, for both Israelis and Palestinians:

We will not see Israel have the security that it is entitled to, nor the Palestinian people fulfil their aspirations for peace and security, unless there is a two-state solution.

The foreign minister says the US and the UK are both talking about the role recognition of Palestinian statehood might play in a peace process. She says:

Obviously, there are 130-odd countries that already recognise Palestine. Those of us that don’t, I think, were generally seeing recognition as the end of the process. I think what particularly [UK] foreign secretary [David] Cameron is raising is considering what role recognition might play in bringing forward or locking in progress towards a two-state solution …

I think the comments by [US] secretary [of state Antony] Blinken reference the first point I was making, which is, the importance of an independent state of Palestine for the overall security of the region, particularly Israel. Israel’s goal, legitimate goal, of normalising relations with countries of the region won’t be fully realised without a Palestinian state. We’ve seen that in comments from the Saudis, for example, so that’s the context of the discussion which is really about parties trying to [discern] how it is we can collectively give impetus towards that pathway to peace.

Asked by Labor senator Nita Green what that means for Australia’s position, Wong says:

I’ve always said that when considering the issue of recognition, we would be guided by the principle of advancing the cause of peace and progress towards a two-state solution and that was what I said before this conflict and it is only reaffirmed in my view.

I think the status quo is failing everyone. And as I said, I don’t think there is a lasting peace unless this issue is resolved. This is a discussion about what is the pathway to peace that is viable and … the question is: how can recognition contribute to achieving real progress. I think it is a discussion we are engaged in in line with the issues that Secretary Blinken and Foreign Secretary Cameron have outlined.

Wong reiterates that Hamas could have “no future role in the governance of Gaza”.

Asked how Australia’s position “sits with recent comments by the Israeli prime minister opposing a two-state solution”, Wong repeatd her belief “that ultimately a two-state solution is the way in which we can see security for Israel, security for the Palestinian people and peace in the region”.

 

00:59

Economics 101: relatively low unemployment may have encouraged people to join labour force

Just as a refresher, for those wondering how jobs can be added to the economy but unemployment can still increase, remember that the unemployment rate is all about the size of the labour force.

It is calculated by taking Australia’s working age population and then dividing it between those in

the labour force and not in the labour force.

If you are in the labour force, you are either employed, or actively looking for work. So, you are divided into two categories – employed and unemployed.

If you are not in the labour force, it means you are not looking for work. This can include people who have retired, but it can also be people who have given up looking for work.

So you can add jobs to the economy, but people who were not in the labour force may be encouraged to look for work – adding them in the unemployed category. And if the size of the labour force increases because of things like migration, that can also affect the numbers.

 

00:54Peter Hannam

First time in two years Australian unemployment rate above 4%

Economists had expected the economy to have added 25,000 jobs last month and for the jobless rate to edge higher to 4%. Some of the January increase, though, was due to rounding, with the increase about 0.1 percentage points from December, the ABS said.

“This was the first time in two years, since January 2022, that the unemployment rate had been above 4%,” Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labour statistics, said.

Part of the increase in the jobless rate was because more people started to look for work at the start of the year, although the participation rate remained unchanged from December at 66.8%.

 

00:47Peter Hannam

Australian unemployment rises to 4.1% in January

The unemployment rate jumped to 4.1% in January with the economy barely adding any jobs for the month.

Employers added 11,100 full-time positions and shed 10,600 part-time roles, well short of the 30,000 or more new entrants to the labour market each month.

 

00:44

Labor’s stage-three tax changes pass the house of representatives

The legislation will head off to the senate when it resumes sitting at the end of the month.

There were a few attempts at amendments by the Greens and the Coalition, but all of them failed. As expected though, the legislation sailed through.

 

00:43Peter Hannam

Some companies are ‘probably’ price gouging, RBA’s Bullock says

The RBA governor Michele Bullock has conceded some companies were likely to be using the cover of inflation to “price gouge” customers.

Bullock tells senate estimates that from an aggregate level, “there’s not evidence of wholesale increasing margins across the board”, particularly once mining companies are excluded from the surveys.

However, she agrees with Greens senator Nick McKim that “yes, absolutely, within that [aggregate] there’s going to be different experiences and I think there are probably examples” where firms have used their market power to push up prices.

I think that’s what people are using to define price gouging,” she says.

Bullock, though, has declined to be drawn on particular sectors where that market power is being flexed. The dominance of the supermarket industry by two big players – Woolworths and Coles – is something for the ACCC to examine, she says.

I wouldn’t like to express a view on that,” Bullock says.

 

00:41

There’s nothing like an impending wedding to lighten the mood

Mike Bowers was in the chamber for the final stage-three vote in the house of reps, which looks like it provided an opportunity for Anthony Albanese to show off the engagement photos from last night.

 

00:34Daniel Hurst

Wong continues to defend government’s position on UNRWA funding

(Continued from last post):

Penny Wong is at pains to say that the $6m in funds to UNRWA that Australia has paused are top-up funds announced in mid-January, and that the $20m in annual core funding had already been distributed for the 2023-24 financial year.

Wong tells the Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi:

It would be nice, at some point, senator, if you could acknowledge that this Labor government has doubled funding to UNRWA. As yet, I have never heard you say that.

Faruqi:

The $20m that you say you have funded UNRAW – if you need my approval to do that or my appreciation to you for doing that, sure, great, but $20m was the funding that the government gave UNRAW in 2014. So [that was what it was] 10 years ago and you brought it back, so in real terms the funding is still less than what it used to be 10 years ago. And basically when people are starving, when there is this genocide that Israel is committing against Palestinians, we need to give more funding, not suspend it, not bring it back to what it was 10 years ago.

Wong:

I would like us, Australia, to be in the position to have the confidence to provide additional funding including through UNRAW, because I have no doubt that the humanitarian need is dire. You have heard me in the Senate, in answer to questions from the Coalition, say that 400,000 people are starving, a million people on the brink of starvation … so this is why we have increased the core funding, this is why I announced the additional funding …

Senator, I hope you would see that we are trying to help. But you ask the question about irresponsibility. I don’t think the person in this position can reasonably say to the Australian people: ‘I have been confronted with or informed of allegations of participation in a heinous terrorist attack including by employees of an organisation and simply continue to fund without gaining insurance’. I don’t think that is responsible. I wish that we were in a different position and I hope that the international community can, through these processes, be given the confidence to continue to support UNRAW. That is my position. I know it is not the Coalition’s position.*

* The Coalition has suggested that funding should be channelled through different agencies.

 

00:24Daniel Hurst

Government grappling with how to resolve Unrwa funding issue

The government appears to be in a holding pattern when it comes to precisely when it can reinstate funding to Unrwa, but Penny Wong says she wants to resolve it “as quickly as possible”.

The foreign minister told the Senate estimates hearing that her “first duty as a minister of the crown is to make a judgment about whether I can continue to fund an organisation when such serious allegations have been not only raised but also countenanced and action taken by the organisation itself”.

Wong says:

I’m a supporter of development assistance, I have argued long and hard for additional aid in the budget, and the government has provided additional development assistance in our budgets. If I am going to continue to do that, including to seek to provide further funding to Unrwa and others in the region, then I have to be able to say to this committee, to the parliament, to the Australian people that I have confidence in the organisations and their processes that we are funding. That is my duty.

Wong tells the Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi, who asked about the risk of Unrwa’s operations collapsing by the end of February:

Now, like you, I am worried. I would make the point to you we have already provided our core funding for this financial year. I know other partners are considering their core funding for this financial year. The $6m from Australia is not the critical amount. And many other partners suspended their funding for the same reason.

Wong says she had spoken to UNRWA and partners and “there is a lot of action being taken to try and resolve this matter as quickly as possible”.

 

00:17Daniel Hurst

Australia has asked Israel to share ‘evidence’ Unrwa staff were involved in 7 October attack

Back in Senate estimates, the Greens’ deputy leader, Mehreen Faruqi, has been questioning Penny Wong over the freezing of $6m in top-up funding to UNRWA (announced in mid-January) following allegations that as many as 12 staff members may have been involved in the 7 October Hamas-led attack.

Faruqi told the hearing it had been widely reported that a “so-called dossier” prepared by Israel contained no evidence to back up the claims. She asked the foreign minister:

Do you have the dossier – have you seen it?

Wong replied:

No, I do not and I have asked Israel through my officials for the information on which they were relying when that story appeared in the international media and I would hope that the Israeli government would ensure that its friends and partners were provided with that information.

Asked whether that information had been provided to her, Wong said: “Not as yet.”

Faruqi told the committee:

You made a decision on suspending funding without a single piece of evidence of the claims that Israel has made … Don’t you think it is irresponsible for a government to suspend funding for a main UN agency [when] you have yourself said that reports from the UN say that 400,000 Palestinians in Gaza are starving and a million are at risk of starvation. Is it not irresponsible to just suspend funding without even talking to the chief of the agency, without having a shred of evidence?

Is this how you make decisions, without any evidence, without speaking to the people who are being impacted? That is highly irresponsible and reckless, and is this a pattern of how your decisions are made?

Wong says she does not agree “with your multiple characterisations”.

Wong says the head of Unrwa “sacked a number of his staff, he put out a statement which, to my recollection, said serious allegations [were] to be investigated, to be considered by Unrwa, so I would say to you Unrwa itself demonstrated concern about the actions”.

 

00:14Amanda Meade

Network Ten staff await news of job cuts

Not politics, but note worthy: staff at Network Ten will find out today if they have been made redundant, following company-wide cuts of 3% by parent company Paramount Global.

The chief executive officer and president of international markets, Pam Kaufman, has confirmed the cost-cutting will include Australian staff at Ten, which is owned by Paramount ANZ.

Unfortunately, this includes parting ways with some of our respected colleagues across the Australian business, who will be notified by close of business today,” Kaufman said in a memo on Thursday.

These decisions are never easy. I know the changes will be felt across the region, and I encourage you to support one another as we navigate this next phase of our evolution.”

 

00:11

Albanese government must press on with Indigenous treaty, GetUp says

GetUp has lashed the federal government for effectively walking away from its treaty promise, with the Albanese government pointing to it being something the states are doing.

The organisation’s CEO Larissa Baldwin-Roberts says:

After another year of failed outcomes in the Closing the Gap report, what is clear is that it’s time to do something new and the Albanese government needs to articulate their plan for a federal treaty process.

First Nations affairs have been weaponised in our politics, Labor committed to a truth-telling and treaty process and we will hold the government accountable to their election promise for treaty and truth-telling.

We know 6 million people voted for First Nations justice, for change in the referendum through a yes vote. We won’t walk away from a treaty – something our communities have been fighting for, for decades.”

 

00:05Caitlin Cassidy

Opposition targets federal funding of state education in Senate estimates

Over in education estimates, Greens Senator and spokesperson for schools Penny Allman-Payne is struggling to pin Labor down on school funding – which is on the agenda this year as ministers negotiate the next agreement.

Education experts have blasted a deal reached between the Commonwealth and the Western Australian government to get to 100% of full funding as a “deliberate lie” because it allows state governments to continue to use a depreciation tax – and that allows them to claim about 4% of funding on non-school expenditures, such as transport and capital depreciation.

Asked whether the government will rule out the depreciation tax in the next funding agreement, assistant minister for education, Senator Anthony Chisholm, says the current agreement was put in place by the previous government.

We’re obviously in the process of negotiating new agreements over the course of this year.”

Allman-Payne continues:

You’re not ruling out allowing states to include 4% for things like capital depreciation? Which I would argue as a classroom teacher makes no difference at all to what goes on in my classroom.”

Chisholm repeats: “we’re in the process of negotiating a new agreement,” to which Allman-Payne replies: “I’m going to take that as a ‘no’.”

Chisholm:

Well … ”

 

14 Feb 2024 23:44Caitlin Cassidy

‘It’s just appalling’: Shadow education minister fumes about public service dining ‘rorts’

The department of education has provided a dollar figure for the amount spent by public servants to hold meetings in prestigious restaurants. The total was $12,637.31 in a six month period, with an average cost per person of $81.53.

Among the expenditures were $1,840 at Ginger Indian Restaurant in Sydney, $509 at Black Fire Restaurant in Brisbane, $3,000 at Mabu Mabu in Melbourne and $1,543 at Mezzalira Restaurant in Canberra – at an average cost of $171 per head.

Shadow minister for education Senator Sarah Henderson is outraged.

This is extraordinary … these are [departmental] meetings … it’s just appalling … these are just restaurant rorts.”

Secretary of the department Tony Cook says the pair are in “furious agreement”.

I agree with you entirely, it should not have happened, we should not have been utilising taxpayers’ money in those sort of expenses.”

Assistant minister for education, Senator Anthony Chisholm weighs in:

It’s not unusual, from time to time, for politicians to have spent money.”

 

14 Feb 2024 23:43

Like school children out of sight of the teacher …

The MPs are moving around the chamber for a division, which gives the opportunity for a chat and some sledging (mostly) away from the ears of speaker Milton Dick.

Someone is loudly proclaiming that someone should have “at least done your hair” before going on TV this morning, to which someone else answers “Angus [Taylor] should have done it” because this is what passes for humour when no one tells the student politicians they aren’t funny, and they carry that false confidence into parliaments all over Australia.

 

14 Feb 2024 23:30

Unrwa must demonstrate transparency, accountability, Wong says

(continued from previous post)

Penny Wong went on:

Australia is now working with a number of other major contributors to make clear to Unrwa it needs to demonstrate strong, transparent and accountable leadership for the international community to move forward together.

While this work is being done, Australia and 14 other countries including Canada, Japan, the Netherlands and Sweden are temporarily pausing funding.

For Australia, this means the recently announced $6m in additional funding for Unrwa has been temporarily paused.

I want to emphasise, this does not affect Australia’s annual core funding of $20.6m – core funding that was doubled by this government, and which has already been provided for this financial year.

Since the beginning of this conflict Australia has committed $46.5 m in humanitarian assistance. This full amount will be delivered.

(That means the government is still seeking assurances that would allow the unfreezing of the $6m to Unrwa, but the government won’t cut overall humanitarian funding to the region)

2021 promise of no rate rise until 2024 was ‘always caveated’, Bullock says

14 Feb 2024 23:27Peter Hannam

Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock is before senate estimates this morning, saying, among other things, that she doesn’t think the RBA’s rate rise in November was a mistake. (It would be big news if she did.)

Another issue being probed, by NSW Liberal senator, Andrew Bragg, is the central bank’s “forward guidance”, or projections made during the Covid period and since dropped. Of course, the most notorious guidance was given by Bullock’s predecessor Philip Lowe, in late 2021 that interest rates were unlikely to rise until 2024.

Bullock has come to Lowe’s defence, reminding people that the RBA at the time had qualified the guidance by saying the bank wouldn’t move until inflation was “sustainably” within its target band of 2%-3%.

It was always conditional, it was always caveated,” she said, adding the message was “very, very clear in my view”.

Bullock said if “the media, whoever” did not include Lowe’s (and the RBA’s) caveats, that was “unhelpful”.

Many people who took out big mortgages at the time, and then were hit by the biggest rise in interest rates in about 30 years might query the emphasis put on the caveats at the time.

The RBA being big consumers of the media and monitoring market behaviour had opportunities to intervene to make sure the conditions that might trigger a rate rise were better understood. Perhaps having a revamped media team to help communications might avoid a repeat of messages not cutting through.

Speaking of the economy, Bullock said the bank thinks Australia is relatively well-placed. “We think we’re in a good position to get inflation down in a reasonable amount of time while still keeping employment growing,” she said.

We’ll get ABS figures on the labour market in January at 11.30am aedt, so we’ll get an update on how employment is going. The market expects the economy added a net 25,000 jobs last month, a figure that won’t be enough to stop the jobless rate ticking up to 4%.

We’ll find out soon enough.

 

14 Feb 2024 23:26

Unrwa work ‘life-saving’ but allegations regarding Hamas can’t be ignored, Wong says

In addressing the foreign affairs estimates hearing, Penny Wong delivered an opening statement where she spoke about the decision to pause $6m in additional funding to Unrwa:

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is dire and getting worse.

The linchpin of humanitarian support there is Unrwa. It does life-saving work. However, the recent allegations against UNRWA staff are serious and can’t be ignored.

UNRWA’s life-saving work is why Australian governments – of both stripes – have provided funding to UNRWA since 1951.

Right now, nearly 1.7 million Palestinians are sheltering in Unrwa facilities, and thousands of its staff are involved in the humanitarian response in Gaza.

The need for this critical work to continue is why Australia welcomed Unrwa’s swift response to recent allegations, including terminating staff and launching an investigation and a broader independent review.

(continued in next post)

 

14 Feb 2024 23:24Paul Karp

Peter Dutton has responded to the news of Anthony Albanese’s engagement.

Dutton told 2GB Radio:

Yes of course [I would wish them the best]. I just saw the PM in the chamber and shook his hand. Jodie [Haydon’s] a lovely person. I wish them every happiness. It’s obviously a special relationship that they’ve got. I wish them every success.”

 

14 Feb 2024 23:24

Anthony Albanese is speaking on the stage three tax cut changes during the consideration in detail debate.

He opens with it being “a great day” in reference to his engagement news, but then moves on to “for so many reasons” because “this is the day in which every Australian will get a tax cut”.

 

14 Feb 2024 23:24

Vigil to be held in Melbourne on Friday for murdered Manus Island refugee Reza Barati

A vigil will be held tomorrow at the Victorian state library to commemorate ten years since Reza Barati was murdered at the Manus Island detention centre in Papua New Guinea.

Barati was 23 when he was beaten to death by guards and other contractors during a violent rampage inside the Australian-run offshore detention centre in February 2014. His assailants attacked him with a length of timber spiked with nails, repeatedly kicked and punched him once he had fallen and dropped a large rock on his head.

The Refugee Action Collective Vic will hold a vigil from 6 to 7pm remembering Barati and other refugees held in Australia’s offshore detention system.

The group is also calling for the 50 people who remain stranded in PNG to be evacuated.

 

14 Feb 2024 23:20Sarah Basford Canales

‘So lucky to have found each other’: PM and partner’s Valentine

As you’re probably now very aware, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, announced his engagement to partner, Jodie Haydon, this morning. We’ve now got some more details on just how it happened.

The two shared a Valentine’s Day dinner on Wednesday night at Italian & Sons in Canberra’s inner north. Later on, after returning to the Lodge, Albanese popped the question to Haydon.

Guardian Australia understands Albanese specially designed the engagement ring.

The newly-engaged couple released this joint statement:

We are thrilled and excited to share this news and look forward to spending the rest of our lives together. We are so lucky to have found each other.

No ‘credible, executable plan’ to protect Rafah civilians has yet emerged, Wong says

14 Feb 2024 23:07Daniel Hurst

Coalition senator Simon Birmingham asks for clarity on what limits the Australian government is seeking, or caveats it has in mind, when it tells Israel regarding Rafah: “do not go down this path”.

The foreign minister, Penny Wong, says Australia is reflecting the concerns of many in the international community. Wong reads out stark and similar quotes from Australia’s closest allies and partners including the US, the UK and Germany.

Birmingham wants to know whether Australia is calling for no military activities in Rafah, or adopting the Joe Biden formulation of urging Israel to not proceed unless credible plans are presented to protect civilians.

Wong says her comments are “consistent with the principles of international law and international humanitarian law”. She says she intends to be “careful” in her language, given her position as foreign minister. Wong says she does not believe the international community has yet seen a credible and executable plan to protect more than one million civilians in Rafah.

Birmingham refers to the recent rescue of two hostages by Israel in Rafah and asks:

How does your statement sit or do you wish to have it viewed in relation to operations or activities to secure the release of hostages who are still held by Hamas?

Wong replies:

We have been calling for the release of hostages since the commencement of this conflict.

The government reiterates that it does not believe there is any place for Hamas in the governance of Gaza after the conflict.

 

14 Feb 2024 22:54

Be careful whose social media handle you link to

Labor MPs have been congratulating the prime minister and Jodie Haydon on social media. And some, like Justine Elliot, have been congratulating the Italian porn artist who holds the handle @albo. Tricky, that.

 

14 Feb 2024 22:52

Wedding bells and political firsts for Albanese

For the political buffs out there, or just in case it helps with Wednesday night trivia, Anthony Albanese is Australia’s first divorced prime minister and looks set to become the first person to get married while serving as prime minister as well.

 

14 Feb 2024 22:48Tamsin Rose

‘Far more work to be done’ to clean up rules regulating mulch production, NSW minister says

The New South Wales environment minister, Penny Shape, has acknowledged shortfalls in the system regulating mulch production as Sydney’s asbestos crisis deepens.

Speaking with the ABC, Sharpe says:

It’s been a long time coming in terms of the need to clean it up and there’s been some good work over the last decade or so … but what this has exposed is [that] there’s far more to be done.

She said there was “obviously a gap in the regulation” that would need to be dealt with once the environment watchdog’s investigation was finalised.

The government would look at increased penalties and changes to testing regimes and the way materials are traced through the system.

She said:

It is very concerning that asbestos is turning up in these products. We need to get to the bottom of where it has come from and how it has gotten there. We need to make sure that it doesn’t continue.

More here: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/feb/15/nsw-environment-watchdog-considers-mulch-recall-as-asbestos-investigation-continues

 

14 Feb 2024 22:42

Unemployment figures for January to be released today

The ABS will send out its report at 11.30 (AEDT).

Most economists expect the unemployment figure to rise, and continue to rise over 2024.

 

14 Feb 2024 22:41Caitlin Cassidy

Public servants should be satisfied with ‘tea and a biscuit’, not fine dining, opposition says

The Department of Education has revised its hospitality policy following revelations public servants were spending taxpayer money to hold meetings in fine dining restaurants, including a bill exceeding $1,200 in Canberra one-hat restaurant Courgette.

The expenditure, first revealed in questions on notice from a budget estimates hearing and later publicised by the Daily Telegraph, totalled $172,691 on events and catering in the first half of last year and $118,404 on accommodation and travel costs.

Shadow minister for education senator Sarah Henderson told senate estimates holding meetings in restaurants was a “complete rort of taxpayers’ money” and meetings should take place with “tea and a biscuit”.

Secretary of the department Tony Cook agreed with Henderson, adding “I think we have let the taxpayers down”.

He said he had spoken with the minister for education, Jason Clare following the publication of the article and the department’s hospitality policy had been revised placing a maximum rate of $77 for expenditures, in line with the Australian Tax Office.

 

14 Feb 2024 22:35

Government ad campaign joins ‘long list’ of ways to waste taxpayer money, Angus Taylor says

Angus Taylor is a happy man this morning. He got to speak to Sydney radio 2GB about the $40m Labor will spend advertising the stage-three tax changes.

The tax changes the Coalition is voting for; which they now apparently have a problem with in terms of how they are being funded. Which was not a problem when the tax cuts benefited people earning more than $180,000. But is now a problem, apparently.

Our problem isn’t with delivering lower taxes. We want to deliver lower taxes to Australians. It’s the way it’s being funded. And it’s being funded by Australians. It’ll be 4 million over the coming years who’ve got to pay for Albo’s broken promise. And he knows people hate broken promises. So he’s going to spend $40m trying to explain it to people.

Well, this is now becoming a long list of initiatives they’ve taken that are wasting money, Ben, wasting taxpayers’ money, hard-earned money. And I know how hard small businesses and employees out there are working to earn their income and pay their taxes.

We’ve seen $450m on a failed referendum. We’ve seen $209bn of extra spending. That’s $20,000 for every household since Labor came to power. We’ve seen grants going to the CFMEU, we’re seeing environmental activists getting funded at the EDO. You know, the list goes on.

And frankly, it’s time, in a cost-of-living crisis, that this government started to use taxpayers’ money with far more caution, because it is truly hard earned.

Penny Wong denounces Israel’s planned ground offensive in Rafah

14 Feb 2024 22:29Daniel Hurst

The foreign minister, Penny Wong, has strengthened the Australian government’s objections to a potential Israeli ground offensive in Rafah. She has told Senate estimates:

I wish to restate the Australian government’s grave concerns about an impending major Israeli ground offensive in Rafah.

This would bring further devastation to more than a million civilians seeking shelter.

Large scale military operations in densely populated areas risk extensive civilian casualties.

Australia believes this would be unjustifiable.

Our message to Israel is: listen to the world; do not go down this path

 

14 Feb 2024 22:27Daniel Hurst

Australia ready to work closely with next Indonesian president, Wong says

Penny Wong opens DFAT Senate estimates:

I wish to congratulate Indonesia on the successful conduct of its election yesterday. The formal count is continuing, but early results indicate that Prabowo Subianto is well ahead. Whoever the Indonesian people have chosen, we look forward to working closely with the next president, when he is inaugurated.

Wong also reiterates her statements from last week that “we’re all appalled and outraged by the suspended death sentence” handed to Australian citizen Dr Yang Hengjun.

She says the Australian government has conveyed its objections to the Chinese government at senior levels and will continue with its advocacy.

 

14 Feb 2024 22:11

Husic keen for Unrwa funding to resume as soon as possible

Ed Husic then used what has been the most pointed language to date from an Albanese cabinet minister when it comes to Australia’s suspension of funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa).

Australia has paused an additional contribution of $6m it had committed to Unrwa after Israel made allegations Unrwa staff had been involved in the 7 October Hamas attack. Last week, foreign minister Penny Wong admitted Australia did not have “all the facts” about the allegations.

Asked when Australia would restore the funding, Husic said:

I’m very keen and I think you’ve seen the foreign minister express a keenness, for this to happen as quickly as possible. In terms of Unrwa, they are the principal mechanism by which humanitarian aid is delivered into this part of the world and they have had their funds suspended.

So that means there is no one else that is able credibly, to extend humanitarian assistance in an area, as I’ve said, where there’s no sanitation, food, water medicine, and we need to get that moving as quickly as possible.

Husic stuck to the line and said that he understood “the concerns are legitimate and real that there may have been workers in that agency that assisted Hamas undertake its brutal activities on 7 October. And so that is a very serious allegation” and he would want anyone found to have done that to be held to account.

And as soon as those [investigations] are done the better because we do need to have that humanitarian assistance flowing and … while Israel has been very successful, obviously, in getting countries to take that issue seriously and you’ve seen that defunding occur, I think the Israeli government’s got a responsibility to, in that case, to step in and provide humanitarian assistance or allow that assistance, I should say, to flow in there while these other matters are being resolved.

And I think there is a focus and determination, particularly within our government to get this resolved as quickly as we can, and I’m certainly one of those voices expressing the need for that to occur.

Israel’s plans for Rafah ground offensive ‘unfathomable’, Ed Husic says

14 Feb 2024 22:06

Industry minister Ed Husic has spoken to ABC radio RN Breakfast where he was once again asked about what is happening in Gaza.

Husic spoke very plainly about Israel’s planned ground invasion of Rafah, which is now being referred to as the world’s largest refugee camp, with more than 1.5 million Gazans crammed into a small area against the Egyptian border. Rafah was designated a ‘safe’ zone by Israel, which had told Gazans to move there as it continued its war against Hamas.

Husic:

When you think about what is happening right now, I mean, more broadly, over the last few months, this has been a humanitarian catastrophe, but it’s a particular crisis given you’ve got about 1.5 million people crammed into an area that’s about the size of Heathrow Airport. These are people who have left homes that have been just completely destroyed …

This was set up as a safe zone to create refuge for people and it’s now being potentially targeted for military action.

And there are a lot of women and children that are in that area right now. And the international community has been speaking up and Australia has been a voice saying that you cannot conceivably go in there and conduct military action in that last area where everyone has been told ‘move here, it’ll be safe here’ and now undertake military action … it is heartbreaking to see the humanitarian crisis that’s unfolded there.

No sanitation, no housing, no food, no water, no functioning medical system in there, and the whole notion that you would conduct military action in there with vulnerable people, particularly women and children is unfathomable.

PM announces engagement

14 Feb 2024 22:00

Anthony Albanese has announced his engagement to partner Jodie Haydon.

 

14 Feb 2024 21:58

Concerns raised about Australia’s Tuvalu climate deal after island nation’s election

Also worth keeping an eye on is this issue Daniel Hurst has covered:

A senior Australian intelligence chief has acknowledged a landmark climate and security deal with Tuvalu may be at risk after the Pacific nation’s election.

Andrew Shearer, who leads the government’s Office of National Intelligence (ONI), said his agency was “obviously aware of recent political change and turbulence in Tuvalu”.

But he cautioned that he could not yet predict the fate of the deal because ONI was not part of the negotiations between the two countries.

 

14 Feb 2024 21:52

Foreign affairs department to appear before estimates

The department of foreign affairs is in front of estimates today where the Unrwa funding suspension will no doubt be examined from all sides of the political divide.

Also on the list of hearings, economics, education and community affairs, which will focus on aged care and the government’s urgent care clinic roll out.

 

14 Feb 2024 21:39

Israel appears to be ignoring international opinion, Husic says

Does Ed Husic believe Israel is ignoring international opinion and advice from allies such as the US and UK?

Husic:

It appears to be.

I mean, let’s be frank.

I think if you’ve now got a US president that has expressed the view that the action that has been taken is over the top, but that is very serious language for a US president to express.

It’s not my role to interpret the underpinnings or the assumptions driving the expression of that statement, but I think there is a degree of concern that the Israeli government is not listening.

And people are very conscious, as I said, of the statistics that I just mentioned to you before and the fact that you know, 70% of the people who’ve lost their lives, who’ve been killed as a result of this military action in Gaza have been women and children.

People are just very conscious that it cannot continue. We now have 30,000 people who’ve been killed as a result of this military action in Gaza.

 

14 Feb 2024 21:35

Israel ‘can’t ignore’ US, international opinion about a Rafah offensive, Husic says

Ed Husic says he can’t see a credible way for Israel to plan a ground assault on Rafah while protecting civilians:

It’s hard to see how you can, as I said this is an area the size of Heathrow Airport where 1.5 million people have been crammed in. How do you undertake military exercise in there?

I think about 80% of the Gazan population. 1.7 5 million people. They’ve got nowhere to live. And there are a lot of them that have now moved into Rafah … we can’t look away … your ABC Global Affairs editor has pointed every 15 minutes, a Palestinian child dies.

One in 10 of the children that have died, they didn’t make their first birthday.

These statistics, these are not numbers, yhese are people and these are people whose futures have been ended and there are life and death decisions that are potentially being made by the Israeli government in an area where people are vulnerable and I just cannot see how you do a credible plan to protect civilians undertaking military action in that area where civilians are crammed in in that way.

I think the Israeli government cannot ignore international opinion and particularly from some of its closest allies and friends like the US for instance.

 

14 Feb 2024 21:23

Government ad campaign won’t let us forget who to thank for our tax cuts

The government will spend $40m on an advertising campaign explaining the stage-three tax changes.

It’s an easy win for the government – dressing it up as ‘education’ and therefore creating a need for the ads – but it’s mostly about making sure every one of those 13m working Australians who will receive a tax cut (the vast majority receiving a lot more than they would have under the Morrison stage-three cuts) know who they can thank.

Former deputy prime minister Michael McCormack (the one who doesn’t currently have a Google maps pointer to a planter box) had a few things to say about that in the parliament late yesterday:

The decision by this government to fund Foodbank to the tune of $14m today and the decision to fund an advertising campaign for its stage-three tax cuts to the tune of $40m says just about everything about this government and its priorities. What a disgrace! How shameful that is! That is $14m for those hardworking charities who do so much, particularly in our regional communities. People are going to Foodbank and people going to St Vincent de Paul and other charitable organisations — people who’ve never had to present themselves before but have to because of the cost-of-living crisis — and here we have a government spending $40m on advertising, on spin doctors, on marketing. What a disgrace! Those Labor members who were in that caucus who made that decision should take a good long hard look at themselves tonight. The public know. They will remember, and they will vote accordingly at the next election.

 

14 Feb 2024 20:57

Not everyone voted to bring Julian Assange back to Australia

Looking at the Hansard, it seems there were 11 MPs who abstained from voting on the Assange motion:

Bob Katter (QLD, Ind)

Colin Boyce (QLD LNP)

Pat Conaghan (NSW Nat)

Warren Entsch (QLD LNP)

Alex Hawke (NSW Lib)

Luke Howarth (QLD LNP)

Barnaby Joyce (NSW Nat)

Zoe McKenzie (Vic Lib)

Andrew Wilcox (QLD LNP)

Australia has granted two defence export permits to Israel since 7 October

14 Feb 2024 20:50Daniel Hurst

Australian officials say two defence export permits have been granted to Israel since 7 October, but won’t reveal what items they cover.

In an answer to a Senate estimates question on notice, the Department of Defence said:

Permit approvals should not be confused with weapons sales. Export permits are required for a wide range of goods and technology, many of which are used for legitimate civilian and commercial purposes. This includes where items must return to their original international manufacturer for return and repairs before returning to Australia.

Defence continues to assess export applications to Israel. Every export of controlled goods or technology is considered on its own merits in accordance with Australian export control law.

At an estimates committee hearing yesterday, the Greens’ defence spokesperson, David Shoebridge, asked what those export permits were for.

Hugh Jeffrey, the deputy secretary of the department’s strategy, policy and industry group, said:

Senator, you won’t be surprised [that] I won’t go into the content of individual permit decisions.

Jeffrey said the two permits in question “would have been agreed on the basis that they did not prejudice Australian national interests under the criteria under the legislation”.

 

14 Feb 2024 20:44

Australian parliament shows ‘unprecedented’ support for Julian Assange

In case you missed it late yesterday afternoon, independent MP Andrew Wilkie had his motion urging the US and UK to allow Julian Assange to return to Australia passed by the house of representatives, with the support of Anthony Albanese and the government.

As Daniel Hurst reports, Peter Dutton’s Coalition largely opposed it:

Australian federal MPs – including the prime minister and cabinet members – have voted overwhelmingly to urge the US and the UK to allow the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to return to Australia.

The independent MP Andrew Wilkie hailed the passage of the motion, 86 votes in favour and 42 against, as “an unprecedented show of political support for Mr Assange by the Australian parliament”.

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, joined Coalition colleagues in opposing the motion on Wednesday, although the Tasmanian MP Bridget Archer crossed the floor to back the pro-Assange motion.

The vote coincides with confirmation from the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, that the Assange matter was raised when he met his US counterpart, Merrick Garland, in Washington DC two weeks ago.

 

14 Feb 2024 20:32Daniel Hurst

Defence hasn’t detailed what items were covered by recent export permits to Israel

(Continued from last post)

That prompted an exchange in Senate estimates concerning the definition of a weapon.

Greens senator David Shoebridge:

Do you consider parts of an F-35 fighter jet, such as the parts manufactured in Australia and used on Israeli defence force fighter jets to open the bomb bay doors – do you consider those weapons?

Defence official Hugh Jeffrey:

Senator, a pencil is used for writing. It’s not designed in and of itself to be a weapon, but it can be used as a weapon.

Shoebridge wanted to know whether “weapons” would include the supply of component “parts to the F-35 fighter jets that are currently being used to drop bombs on the Palestinian people in Gaza”.

Jeffrey replied:

Senator, there’s a lot in your question. In responding, I don’t know if F-35s are being used in the conflict in Gaza …

Australia is a contributor to the global supply chain on F-35s. If Israel is seeking to purchase that equipment, it would need to go through the same export control process as does every other export that is covered by the [Defence and Strategic Goods List].

Good morning

14 Feb 2024 20:26

Welcome to the last sitting day for a week! A very big thank you to Martin for starting us off this morning. We’ll switch to politics now, but will still update you if anything major happens.

You’ve got Amy Remeikis with you for the final house sitting day and, of course, we have estimates (which will continue tomorrow).

Tony Burke will introduce a bit of a tidy up for the right to disconnect legislation after it included criminal penalties for employees the first time round, which is not the government’s intention.

And of course, there will be more on tax and the continuing targeting of immigration minister Andrew Giles as the opposition desperately tries to reclaim some lost ground over the stage-three tax cut changes.

Ready? It’s a three-coffee day. At least.

Let’s get into it.

 

14 Feb 2024 20:24

Greens call for overhaul of NSW requirements for landscaping mulch

While the scandal over mulch contaminated with asbestos turning up in parks around Sydney continues to grow, our reporters have been looking at what the rules are for suppliers and whether NSW compliance measures are strict enough.

It reveals there are no specific requirements to test mulch for contaminants and the Greens want a root and branch overhaul of the regulations to prevent a repeat.

Here’s the full read:

127,000 homes and businesses still without power in Victoria

14 Feb 2024 20:09

About 127,000 homes and businesses in Victoria remained disconnected from electricity networks as of last night, down from a peak of 530,000 following damage from storms, strong winds and lightning, reports Australian Associated Press.

Crews have been working through the night to clear debris and repair damaged powerlines to try to reconnect the properties in the state’s east.

But given the extent of the damage, it could take days or more than a week to restore electricity to those impacted, the Australian Energy Market Operator said.

The disaster is one of the largest power outages in Victorian history and could take weeks to fully fix.

Victoria’s State Emergency Service received more than 4000 calls for assistance as of 4pm on Wednesday, with that number expected to climb.

A dairy farmer was killed after being struck by debris while herding cows on a quad bike in Darlimurla in South Gippsland on Tuesday evening.

Five regional hospitals could remain on generator power for at least three days as authorities rush to prioritise fuel and restore energy to those sites.

Families of young children remain in the dark on whether they can send them to school on Thursday after 80 schools and early learning centres were impacted by outages, with the decision coming on Thursday morning.

Almost 500 phone towers and 450 NBN sites were down on Wednesday, leaving a quarter of a million customers without internet access.

Storm damage that collapsed transmission lines caused the Loy Yang A coal-fired power station in the Latrobe Valley to shut down along with several wind farms, which led to the outages.

 

14 Feb 2024 20:09

Renewables once again attract flak after Victorian blackouts

In the wake of the mass power outages in Victoria this week, some conservative commentators have sought to blame renewables for failing to kick in and provide power when things got tough.

But Graham Readfearn points out in his weekly Temperature Check column today that the outages had nothing to do with the type of power generation and were caused by high winds bringing down the transmission towers.

In fact, it was widely reported that when the storm brought down transmission towers near Geelong, it caused four power units at Loy Yang A power station to trip with a loss of 2.1 gigawatts of electricity. If it hadn’t tripped the station could have suffered permanent damage. That’s just how an electricity system works and has nothing to dow ith renewables, Graham writes.

Andrew Richards, chief executive at the Energy Users Association of Australia, says:

It’s not about wind, solar, coal, gas, nuclear, batteries or any other generation technology. Doesn’t matter what is attached to the system, when the system gets destroyed, what’s generating is irrelevant.

Read Graham’s column here:

Telcos on notice over scam texts

14 Feb 2024 19:40

Five SMS service providers have been slapped on the wrist for allowing scammers to impersonate brands and send millions of texts, and putting public safety at risk, Australian Associated Press reports.

SMS Broadcast, DirectSMS, Esendex Australia, MessageBird and Message4U – better known as Sinch MessageMedia – cumulatively sent 50m texts that were in breach of anti-scam laws.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority found the companies did not undertake appropriate checks necessary to ensure the outgoing texts were not scams.

Two of the telco failures allowed scammers to pose as well-known brands and government services and send more than 1.2m impersonation texts, while Esendex sent at least 99,000 scam texts.

Authority member Samantha Yorke said the telco’s behaviour was unacceptable, especially when Australians lost more than $25m to SMS scammers in 2023. She said:

Scammers will always look for cracks in systems and if even one telco fails to have its compliance in order, it can open the door for scammers to target Australians. The impact on individuals and families can be truly devastating.

Welcome

14 Feb 2024 19:33

Good morning and welcome to Guardian Australia’s politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ve got the best overnight stories for you before Amy Remeikis takes you through the main action of the day.

The US$1.89bn HyperVerse crypto scandal takes another twist today with our top story revealing that Australia’s corporate watchdog referred the company to Victoria police over concerns about “possible fraud offences” at a related company in 2020. However, nearly two years later, the police passed it back and said the watchdog was “best placed” to investigate. By that time the company was imploding with many Australians out of pocket by thousands of dollars.

Hundreds of thousands of Victorians have spent a second night without power after destructive storms wreaked havoc on the energy grid. The state’s energy minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, will push for a national approach to weatherproof the electricity grid after the deadly storm caused “one of the largest outage events in the state’s history”. About 127,000 were still without power late yesterday afternoon. She stressed the need to make the country’s electricity grid more resilient given climate change was leading to more extreme weather events and is understood to have met the Australian Energy Regulator, which oversees the transmission network service, yesterday afternoon.

The New South Wales environment watchdog raised concerns about mulch manufactured last year that it could not inspect when they visited the supplier of landscaping products that were since found to contain asbestos. The opposition has called for a central register of all sites being investigated for possible asbestos contamination by the state’s environmental watchdog, including parks and schools. More coming up on this still-growing crisis.

And has your mobile pinged with a suspicious text recently? It might have come via five SMS service providers who have been warned over not checking the bona fides of users before sending 50 million texts that were in breach of anti-scam laws. More on that in a minute.