Australia news live: Labor MP defends Fatima Payman; Chalmers accuses Dutton of ‘intentionally divisive’ budget reply

Labor senator Fatima Payman and Labor MP Maria Vamvakinou in November 2023, calling on Labor to back a ceasefire in Gaza. Vamvakinou has defended her Senate colleague after last week’s criticism about comments Payman made against Israel.

LIVE – Updated at 00:54

Follow the day’s news live.

00:54

Chalmers defends GST deal with WA as ‘responsible’

Jim Chalmers is being asked by David Speers about the GST deal with Western Australia outlined in the budget, which is going to cost nearly $53bn over the next 10 years, especially given Western Australian is the wealthiest state in the country.

Chalmers defends the decision, calling it “responsible because we made the commitment and we want to make sure that Western Australia, which is such a driver, such an important contributor to our national prosperity, gets their fair share of the GST”.

Speers is pushing Chalmers whether spending to top up WA’s GST allocation is more important than spending on support for victim-survivors of domestic violence and an increase in JobSeeker.

Chalmers does not respond on domestic violence – advocates for which were critical of the budget for the minimal increased expenditure in the sector – or JobSeeker, which did not see an increase, and pivots to some other areas.

Well, first of all, it doesn’t come at the expense of helping people with the cost of living. It doesn’t come at the expense of strengthening Medicare and all of other things we’re doing, investing in housing. But it’s a deal that was struck and a deal we’re committed to.

Australians in New Caledonia rationing food amid riots

00:51

Reuters is reporting that Australians stranded in New Caledonia have been forced to ration food as they wait to leave amid riots that have now killed six people.

Joanne Elias, from Sydney, has been stuck in a Noumea resort with her family since the violence broke out earlier this week.

“The kids are definitely hungry because we don’t really have much option of what we can feed them,” she told Reuters.

Penny Wong has issued a statement warning Australians not to travel to the Pacific territory.

Australians should reconsider their need to travel to Nouméa and exercise a high degree of caution in New Caledonia.

We are working with authorities in France and New Caledonia, and like-minded partners including New Zealand, to assess options for Australians to safely depart.

Julien Mazzoni in Nouméa has written about the reason for the riots, the response from France and the impact on the community for the Guardian. His story is well-worth a read:

On Friday, local authorities said the situation was ‘calmer’, after hundreds more French marines began arriving.

However, despite appeals for calm from political groups – in particular, the pro-independence parties most angered by the planned voting change – unrest has continued to be reported.

‘We don’t want to let our people disappear, we’ll fight until Kanaky is free,’ say two rioters, who did not want to be named. They stood near a roundabout in the New Caledonia capital, Noumea, as a vehicle burned.

Chalmers criticises Dutton's 'dark' budget reply

00:51

Chalmers calls Dutton’s budget reply and criticisms that immigration leads to pressure on housing “dark” and “divisive, intentionally so”. Chalmers says Dutton’s reply is based on “numbers that he has plucked out of the air”.

If you think about the relationship between migration and housing, for example, of the less than 5,000 homes purchased by foreigners in the most recent data, around 1,300 of them were established homes, and so this will make nowhere near the difference that he is claiming that it will.

Chalmers says that Dutton’s commitment to cut immigration would also have an impact on the economy and skills base of the country.

We need a sensible migration program to find the nurses, and the builders, and other people that we need to ensure that our economy can continue to grow into the future.

00:31

Labor have been trying to reshape the narrative about the party’s handling of the economy, often a stick they are beaten with by the opposition, and clearly front of mind in this budget.

“You know, we have been turning big Liberal deficits into Labor surpluses,” Chalmers has told Insiders, which is a line that I have no doubt will be reappearing in next year’s election campaign.

Even the deficit next year is $19bn smaller than what we inherited. We’ve been banking most of the upward revisions to revenue. We saved $150bn worth of debt this year. We’re saving $80bn in debt interest costs. Real spending growth is a fraction of what we’ve seen in the last 30 years. And all of this means that we’re getting the Budget in much better nick so we can fund cost-of-living relief and invest in the future.

00:18

Jim Chalmers is up on Insiders, he’s on his country-wide campaign to sell this budget, likely the last before the next election.

In particular he’ll be facing questions about housing and immigration, after Peter Dutton’s criticisms of the budget that higher levels of immigration will lead to pressure on housing, something that is obviously of deep concern to the community at the moment.

Welcome

00:11

Good morning and welcome to our rolling coverage of the day’s news.

To kick things off this morning, the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, will be appearing on Insiders to discuss the budget and reactions to it. On Friday, Chalmers criticised the opposition leader, Peter Dutton’s budget reply speech as “unhinged” and lacking in economic credibility.

The Victorian Labor conference will continue today after dramatic scenes yesterday, when a group of pro-Palestinian protesters entered the Moonee Valley Racecourse building and began chanting outside the conference room filled with MPs, unionist and other rank-and-file members.

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, accused the protesters of bringing “violence, homophobia and antisemitism to the front door of state conference”.

And some disturbing news from AAP, which reports an increase in scammers hacking the cybersecurity systems of conveyancing professionals and tricking potential homebuyers into transferring them settlement money.

AAP reports that the scams have led property buyers to be swindled out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Labor MP Maria Vamvakinou defends Fatima Payman

00:10Sarah Basford Canales

Federal Labor MP Maria Vamvakinou has defended her Senate colleague Fatima Payman after last week’s criticism about comments Payman made against Israel.

Payman, a first-term Western Australia senator, broke ranks with her party’s position last Wednesday by directly accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and by using the politically charged phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”.

The opposition backlash was swift with Liberal Senate leader, Simon Birmingham, introducing the following day a motion to condemn the comments. Labor voted with the Coalition to pass it. Later in question time, Liberal senator Hollie Hughes also shouted Payman “supported” terrorists before withdrawing the comment shortly after.

Vamvakinou, the member for Calwell and a longtime advocate for the Palestinian cause, said Payman had a “right to express the way she’s feeling”.

She comes at it from a very emotional and personal perspective … she’s doing what I guess any member of parliament would probably do on a number of issues.

The comments follow those from science minister, Ed Husic, on Friday when he said it took “guts” to say what Payman said, despite not agreeing with the use of the phrase.

Vamvakinou, who is also a co-chair for the Parliamentary Friends of Palestine group, said she agreed Payman was courageous.

I don’t think politicians should be afraid to speak, it does take courage and she has been courageous … especially in this climate and at this time.