What we learned today – Sunday, 21 May
That’s where we’ll leave the blog for today. Thanks so much for joining us. Here is a wrap of the day’s biggest stories:
It’s been one year since the election of Anthony Albanese’s government;
The prime minister has been in Hiroshima Japan for the G7 conference where he has met with other world leaders and held a Quad meeting;
Albanese announced a new climate pact with the US to help accelerate investment;
Tony Bourke has promised a crackdown on loopholes for labor hire firms but a Nationals senator says this will collapse small businesses who can’t afford the wages bill;
Strong winds have battered southern Australia, leading to severe weather warnings across three states;
There has been yet another ruckus among the Victorian Libs as the party has met to present a vision for its future;
Liberal senator Simon Birmingham says his party does not want to see Australia go backwards on climate change, despite voting against legislated emissions targets and the safeguard mechanism.
An information campaign for the Indigenous boice has been launched to help provide a civics lesson in the lead up to the referendum vote;
A protester at the Fremantle-Geelong AFL game invaded the pitch yesterday to draw attention to Woodside’s oil and gas operations on the Burrup peninsula.
Updated
Rural Queensland farm raid sparks $23.1m cannabis bust
More than $20 million of cannabis has been stopped from hitting the streets in the latest bust linked to a nationwide drugs syndicate growing crops on isolated Queensland farms.
Nearly 3000 cannabis plants were discovered on May 15 at a property in Coominya, about 80 kilometres west of Brisbane.
The plants were growing inside 19 greenhouses measuring 70 metres in length.
As well, close to 1600 cannabis seedlings were found in two hydroponic growth rooms, along with more than 32 kilograms of dried cannabis in a house and shipping container.
Detective inspector Brad Phelps said the street value of the drugs was estimated at $23.1m.
What you need to remember with the production of cannabis and particularly the hydroponic of cannabis is it’s a cyclic process.
So this particular crop we can value at over $20 million on the street. But they can produce three of four of these crops in any given year from the same site. So it’s a significant disruption.
No one was found on the property at the time of the raid but a 26-year-old man has since been arrested at a Heathwood home.
He was charged with producing a commercial quantity of cannabis ahead of facing court on June 6.
Police are still searching for others involved.
The bust is connected to an alleged national drug syndicate, facilitating the commercial production and distribution of cannabis across Queensland, Victoria, NSW and the Northern Territory.
Police believe the syndicate is scouting, purchasing and resourcing isolated farms in rural Queensland to grow cannabis on a large scale as part of its nationwide operation.
Det Insp Phelps said Queensland police are working with other jurisdictions to destroy the group, with a total of 12 similarly sized cannabis farms dismantled thus far.
- AAP
Two men arrested over body in metal cabinet
Two men have been arrested after the discovery of a body in a metal cabinet on the NSW mid-north coast.
Police became aware of a missing person after launching an investigation in March into the supply of drugs in the Caringbah area in Sydney’s south.
Homicide squad detectives on 12 May searched Warrell Creek in Macksville, south of Coffs Harbour, where they recovered the body of a 22-year-old man in a large metal cabinet.
Three days later, a 22-year-old man was arrested and later charged with murder. He was refused bail.
Another 33-year-old man was arrested across the border in Queensland after several raids across the Brisbane area on Wednesday, with an application made for his extradition to NSW.
– AAP
Nominations have closed for candidates wanting to take over from Stuart Robert as the LNP candidate for the Fadden byelection – but now there is a rush on to choose who will win the preselections.
Candidates are being warned the preselection could be held as early as this Friday – 26 May. Why the rush? Because they are worried there could be a byelection called at any moment.
We are hearing there are five candidates and the branch is split – so looks like there will be a bit of behind the scenes flurry this week
Australian property market continues revival
Australian capital cities have recorded the highest preliminary clearance rate since February 2022.
According to CoreLogic’s weekend market summary, auction activity increased 13% this week with 1,921 auctions held across Australian capital cities. This is up from the 1,692.
Combined, Australia’s capital cities recorded a clearance rate of 70%, meaning a little over two-thirds were successfully sold. Melbourne recorded the most auctions with
Sydney: 762 (17.2% more than last week)
Melbourne: 834 (12.1% more than last week)
Brisbane: 121
Canberra: 72
Adelaide: 104
Perth: 13
Hobart: 0
For more on how property prices are growing at a time when rates are rising, read this full report by Guardian Australia economics correspondent Peter Hannam:
Updated
Albanese chats free trade and climate change with German chancellor
Anthony Albanese has had a busy day on his last day in Japan – he flies for home in about an hour or so, so the meetings are beginning to wind up now.
He had a “walk along” with German chancellor Olaf Scholz, where they took in the Hiroshma Bay and spoke about the German-Australian relationship, and their focus on “concluding a comprehensive EU-Australia FTA”.
Climate change came up, as did the need to continue to support Ukraine (expect that to get plenty of airtime at the Nato summit in Lithuania in a few months time).
There was also time for Albanese to grab a coffee with the prime minister of the Cook Islands, Mark Brown where the pair shared a “warm” conversation.
Hope he holds on to some of that warmth – Canberra is pretty chilly today.
Updated
Millions in Victorian government projects expected to be cut in budget
More than $17 billion worth of Victorian government projects are on the chopping block in the upcoming state budget as the state looks at reining in record debt.
Victoria’s independent Parliamentary Budget Office has identified 372 initiatives slated to lapse at the end of this financial year, unless extended by Treasurer Tim Pallas when he hands down his ninth budget on Tuesday.
The programs have been allocated $17.2b in taxpayer funding over the past four years and $6.4b in 2022/23 alone.
The calculations, requested by Opposition Leader John Pesutto and published on Sunday, are based on analysis of state budgets and updates since 2019/20.
The former jobs, precincts and regions department (67) and former health and human services department (63) have the most potentially lapsing initiatives, in part reflecting Covid-19 initiatives to help businesses and the health system through the crisis.
A $230.4 million Covid-related tutor learning program, $196.2m small and medium business pandemic package and $165.3m cladding rectification project are among those scheduled to lapse.
Others include a $153m gambling harm prevention program, $30m regional jobs and infrastructure fund and $5.3m specialist sexual assault services initiative.
The Parliamentary Budget Office said the Andrews government could qualitatively indicate these initiatives are ongoing but providing funding beyond this financial year would be inconsistent with their budget practices.
It is difficult, often impossible, to determine whether an initiative announced in either of these budget updates with funding to 2022/23 would continue to receive funding beyond that yea.
Some of these initiatives may have lapsing funding.
Budget initiatives are subject to name and portfolio changes meaning they may not be easy to concord. It is difficult to track such changes to initiatives that are not headline or large programs.
Paying back Victoria’s Covid-19 credit bill is a priority for this budget as the state’s net debt and annual interest payments are forecast to grow to $165.9b and $7.32b respectively by mid-2026.
- AAP
Allies of Victorian Liberal leader seek to reassure party
Victorian Liberal Leader John Pesutto can unify the party and is the right man to take the coalition to the next state election, allies insist, despite facing fresh dissension in the ranks.
Pesutto was booed and heckled after dozens of rank-and-file Liberal members walked out as he rose to give a speech at the party’s state council in Bendigo on Saturday.
The staged walk-out was prompted by the expulsion of renegade MP Moira Deeming from the parliamentary team last week after she threatened Pesutto with defamation action.
Opposition finance spokesperson Jess Wilson was disappointed members used the event as opportunity to air their concerns but said the party must draw a line in the sand.
She backed Pesutto for the job of uniting the party amid speculation of a leadership challenge less than six months after taking over from Matthew Guy, following the Coalition’s election drubbing.
Pesutto promised a review of Victoria’s tax system if elected and called for discipline among the party faithful.
Shadow treasurer Brad Rowswell said the opposition has to be credible, focused and disciplined to perform its function as the alternative government.
Victorian Liberal president Greg Mirabella said the internal factional warfare must end, estimating it has generated $58,000 worth of negative column inches.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton, who is not attending the two-day state council event, hasn’t ruled out federal intervention in the state branch to address the tumult.
– AAP
Updated
Nationals senator warns labour hire crackdown could squeeze small businesses
The Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie says a Labor plan to crack down on a loophole that allows labour hire firms to pay workers less for doing the same job will make some small businesses unviable.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, McKenzie said many small businesses would struggle to pay the increased wages bill.
We do not grow the economy, we do not get inflation under control, we do not keep our standard of living unless businesses in this country stay viable and sustainable.
Private enterprise runs the joint and we need to make sure they are able to be prosperous so they can continue to employ Australians.
McKenzie said labour hire companies played a vital role, especially in plugging gaps in a tight labour market.
So I’d want to see the detail.
There are significant concerns about making sure we link productivity gains to wage increases.
– AAP
Updated
Push for rise in wages and more workplace changes
The government maintains it wants to see the lowest-paid Australians keep up with the cost of living as it pours cold water on suggestions a wages boost would spike inflation.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, workplace relations minister Tony Burke said the government is not putting a number on what it believes the Fair Work Commission should raise wages by, only saying their vision was “for people on the minimum wage to not go backward”.
He said there were a range of incomes on different awards so a blanket number didn’t need to be put in place and could be tapered across different sectors.
There’s a big range of incomes there, you don’t need to have the same percentage for everyone.
If ... you’re out there working but you’re on the lowest rates of pay, where are you meant to cut? Are you meant to skip a meal?
Burke said there was no indication Australia was heading towards a wage-price spiral, where wage increases spike inflation, which in turn leads to the need for higher wages.
“Wages aren’t the only pressure on inflation,” he said, noting the government had worked to ease cost-of-living pressures through cheaper childcare and medicines as well as limiting power bill increases.
The minister said the government was also working to close a loophole that allowed businesses to pay labour hire workers less for the same jobs as employees.
He said it was unfair a company could negotiate an agreement with employees and then undercut wages at the same workplace through a loophole.
Workers should get the same treatment, if there are loopholes that are undercutting their rates of pay, government needs to act and we will.
– AAP
Updated
Voice referendum debate to begin when parliament returns on Monday
Parliament sits tomorrow, although the Senate will be tied up with estimates, so no legislation can get passed. But there will be plenty of shenanigans, including the House beginning debate on the Indigenous voice referendum legislation.
Tony Burke told Sky News he expects to see quite a few names on the debate list:
Now, the nature of a referendum, it’s a debate that you can’t cut short. Anyone who wants to speak, you need to make sure that they can, and the procedures are a bit different with a referendum.
When you get to the very end of the debate, whether people call for a division or not, every single person gets their name recorded as to which way they vote. That final part of the process, we won’t get through until next week, but this week we’ll be making sure that everybody who wants to have their say on the referendum proposal gets a chance to do that.
Updated
Australian and Japanese PMs meet at G7 summit
Anthony Albanese has wrapped up his bilateral meeting with Japan’s prime minister Kishida Fumio.
The official read outs of these things are always quite dry, but the pair discussed renewable energy, trade and investment and security of the region.
Our shared commitment to democracy, free trade and the security of our region make Australia and Japan great friends and partners.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) May 21, 2023
Thank you - Prime Minister @kishida230 for hosting us at the G7 summit. Australia will continue to stand with Japan to face our global challenges. pic.twitter.com/FZ5ZMc5Yjn
The pair also met as part of the Quad meeting, so that’s quite a lot of face time between the two leaders
Updated
'Not one country complained' after G7 dinner delayed for Quad meeting, Albanese says
Anthony Albanese says the G7 dinner was delayed in order for the Quad meeting to take place and “not one person, not one country complained” despite the late night.
The Quad leaders meeting had to be hastily rescheduled after Joe Biden was forced to pull out of the planned meeting in Sydney later this week to deal with domestic issues.
It was held on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Japan, and Albanese said that meant having to move things around for some of the other leaders.
We delayed the G7 dinner last night, and that meant that that was a very late night for everyone that was here – that shows what a priority it was. Can I make this point as well – that delay, that meant the dinner went towards midnight, I’m not sure what time it was it ended, I know it was late.
Not one person, not one country complained … And everyone accepted that it was an important enough organisational body for that to occur.
And that says a lot about not just the way that the United States and Japan, India and Australia see the Quad, that said a lot about the way that the G7, the world’s largest seven democracies, see the Quad as well.
Updated
Woman taken to hospital after crashing into mob of kangaroos
A woman has been flown to hospital after colliding with a group of kangaroos while on a motorbike.
The woman, aged in her 50s, crashed into the mob when the bounding marsupials crossed the road in front of a group of riders on Saturday afternoon.
A rescue helicopter arrived on the scene in Queensland’s Southern Downs region on the NSW border about 12.30pm.
The group provided the injured woman with first aid before emergency services arrived.
LifeFlight said in a statement on Saturday that the woman was treated for several injuries, including to her chest, shoulder and broken wrist, being flown to Toowoomba hospital in a stable condition.
The woman ... had been riding in a group when a bunch of kangaroos crossed the road in front of her, causing her to crash into one.
-AAP
Updated
Footage shows officers used two sets of handcuffs on 81-year-old woman with dementia
Six police officers used two sets of handcuffs on a distressed and frail 81-year-old woman with dementia after she took a lanyard from a staff member at her Sydney nursing home.
Body-worn camera footage shows Rachel Grahame, who has advanced dementia and weighs just 45kg, howling in distress as a team of police surround and handcuff her late at night at St Basil’s aged care home in Randwick on 31 October 2020.
At various points, a confused Grahame asks police why they are handcuffing her, tells one he is a “big brute”, and screams in discomfort at the tightness of the restraints.
The incident prompted Grahame’s family to sue NSW police in the state’s district court, accusing officers of assault, battery and false imprisonment. Police settled and paid compensation for their treatment of Grahame in November 2021.
Rachel’s daughter, Emma Grahame, is now speaking publicly for the first time, outraged at revelations that police used a Taser on 95-year-old dementia sufferer Clare Nowland in Cooma this week.
Grahame said:
It just showed me that the police have learned nothing from the actions that we took against them.
For more on this exclusive story from Guardian Australia’s Christopher Knaus, read the full report:
Protester invades pitch during Dockers game
A man stormed the pitch during the Fremantle Dockers v Geelong game in Perth on Saturday as part of a protest about the removal of Indigenous rock art on the Burrup peninsula and concerns about climate change.
The man jumped the fence during the second quarter with a large yellow flag, and a white t-shirt that said “disrupt Burrup hub”, forcing play to stop for several minutes in front of a crowd of 35,000.
A group of three security guards carried the man off the field.
Disrupt Burrup Hub is also name of the protester group behind other protests targeting Woodside, including an protest where a woman spray-painted the company’s logo over the protective glass protecting a famous Australian painting.
Woodside, an oil and gas company behind the $16bn Scarborough gas project off the Western Australian northwest coast, is a major sponsor of the Dockers.
The development involves the removal of ancient Indigenous rock art at the planned location on the Burrup peninsula in order to expand gas processing facilities and associated infrastructure.
Updated
Tasmanian government releases detail of AFL deal
The Tasmanian government has bowed to pressure and released details of its agreement with the AFL to build a controversial new stadium in Hobart.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff’s government was forced into minority status earlier this month after Liberal MPs Lara Alexander and John Tucker quit the party over concerns about the planned $715m stadium.
Today Rockliff has made public the 134-page club funding and development agreement for Tasmania to become the AFL’s 19th club.
We committed to releasing the agreement with as much detail as possible, and that’s exactly what we’ve done.
The agreement confirms our targeted investment that will not only deliver us our own AFL and AFLW sides, but will create over 4,000 jobs and deliver massive returns to our economy – allowing us to reinvest the dividends into the areas that matter to Tasmanians.
The state and federal government are funding most of the proposed Macquarie Point complex, but Rockliff said the AFL would invest $358m back into Tasmanian football as part of the deal.
Only $15m of that would go into stadium, but game development in the state will receive a $90m boost, while the new club can expect $210m over 10 years.
Tasmania’s opposition leader, Rebecca White, last week declared Labor would campaign to have the stadium scrapped, and said she expected there to be an election this year.
Thousands of people protested outside state parliament earlier this month, calling for the stadium to be scrapped.
- AAP
Updated
Severe weather warnings for south-east
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued multiple severe weather warnings for “destructive wind gusts” in the southern states.
The conditions have been caused by a high pressure system sweeping west over southern Australia, which is colliding with a cold front over Tasmania.
Destructive winds as strong as 125km/h are expected in some parts of Tasmania, and dangerous wind and surf warnings have been issued for Victoria.
Another front is lining up to cross the south-eastern states from late tonight into Sunday, bringing damaging winds to parts of NSW, VIC and TAS.
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) May 20, 2023
More: https://t.co/rPVVCpWPCk pic.twitter.com/RZCG6Dfky2
A strong high approaching the Great Australian Bight is responsible for these classic dry season conditions across the #NT with cool, dry and gusty southeasterly winds.
— Bureau of Meteorology, Northern Territory (@BOM_NT) May 20, 2023
A Marine Wind Warning is current https://t.co/Y3ODTyPbij
4-day MSLP chart: https://t.co/eSdMN2PkWA pic.twitter.com/0c9wEzQeY5
Tasmania is bearing the brunt, with a risk of “destructive wind gusts” of up to 100km/h to 125km/h. Similar winds are expected to reach 90km/h in eastern Victoria.
The area of possible damaging wind gusts about #Tas has been increased in the latest issue of the severe weather warning to include #Burnie and other nearby parts of the Northwest. The full warning: https://t.co/8cvZh1myxc pic.twitter.com/q6h0uxFmCo
— Bureau of Meteorology, Tasmania (@BOM_Tas) May 20, 2023
Damaging wind warnings extend as far as parts of regional NSW, where wind speeds averaging 60 to 70km/h, with gusts up to 100km/h are expected to continue into the afternoon.
Hazardous surf warnings have been issued along the Hunter, Sydney and Illawarra Coast, with swimmers, rock fishers and boaters asked to take note.
Severe Weather Warning for possible DAMAGING WINDS for people in parts of Illawarra, South Coast, Central Tablelands, Southern Tablelands and Snowy Mountains Forecast Districts.
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) May 20, 2023
See https://t.co/Km8rRyvyYW for details. pic.twitter.com/xTYZs7RKH8
A Hazardous Surf Warning for the Hunter, Sydney and Illawarra coasts for today and Monday.
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) May 20, 2023
See https://t.co/O2tn0RONvW for details. pic.twitter.com/DSnEBazBGW
Out west, fire warnings have been issued for parts of Western Australia’s north around the Kimberley region, particularly in Karratha.
☀️ Fire Danger Ratings have been forecast for WA. You can find which Local Government Authorities are affected and relevant community safety messages on https://t.co/hYCrBsWsIr
— DFES (@dfes_wa) May 20, 2023
Updated
Indigenous voice to parliament information program announced
An information program on the upcoming voice to parliament referendum is being launched by the federal government, involving television and radio commercials and translations in a number of languages.
The minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, said the program will encourage Australians to get ready for the conversation about recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through establishing a voice.
All Australians need to be well-informed with access to a trusted source of information as they consider the proposal to change the constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia through a referendum.
Under the program, voters can learn about the proposal through voice.gov.au ahead of the referendum to be held between October and December this year.
Burney said the “neutral civics information” was one part of the government’s broader civics education program to help all Australians answer questions they may have around the proposed change to the constitution.
In parallel, the Museum of Australian Democracy and Constitution Education Fund Australia is set to deliver a grassroots civics program focusing on general information about the constitution and referendum processes in the coming months.
The minister said the information program would give Australians everything they needed to make an informed decision at the referendum and it would reach audiences of every background.
- AAP
Updated
So what was Birmingham really saying about the China relationship?
Amy Remeikis in Canberra was listening very carefully to what Birmingham was saying about the Australia-China relationship and has some observations:
Over on Insiders and Penny Wong’s Coalition counterpart and resident moderate Liberal Simon Birmingham is doing his best to criticise the Albanese government, while also walking the bipartisan line when it comes to diplomacy and foreign policy.
Which means he has to agree, but also find wriggle room to disagree.
So the Quad is good, and working on the relationship with China is good – but Australia needs “clarity” in trade sanctions.
I think Australia does deserve to have absolute clarity that these trade sanctions are going to be lifted and that clarity should be there before the prime minister entertains a formal state visit to Beijing. Why? Because China is acting very clearly in breach of its commitments to Australia. China is acting in breach of its commitments under the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement. It’s acting in breach of commitments it’s given in a number of regional trade compacts with Australia. And it’s acting in breach of its commitment to the World Trade Organization.
So should Anthony Albanese accept the invitation to visit Beijing or not?
There is a point where we should expect clear outcomes and that China should at here to the terms of the China-Australia FTA and without seeking concession or conditions from Australia, other than that we equally adhere to those terms, as we have been a good partner in doing so.
Which is diplomatic speak for: keep the relationship open, but don’t bend over backwards.
Updated
Is the pressure on Peter Dutton?
Crucially Birmingham is asked about the upcoming byelection in Fadden after the retirement of Stuart Robert from politics, and particularly how the pressure is on for the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, who needs to win after the Aston byelection upsets.
Birmingham says “we have a different set of circumstances” at this contest including the “broken promises of the government”.
One year on from the election of the Albanese government, most Australians are feeling worse off, not better off, and that is a key factor in terms of how we will campaign and the approach we will take to hold them to account.
And that’s a wrap.
Updated
Birmingham says he won’t act against Coalition’s voice opposition
Moving to the voice, Birmingham says he won’t be acting contrary to his party’s position but he has urged the government to “look, listen and think about the types of comments we’ve seen from Mick Gooda and others in recent days”.
We see very clearly a view that is emerging that the approach the government is taking is increasing the risk in relation to this referendum.
The comments from Gooda were immediately rejected by Noel Pearson, in somewhat colourful language, and Prof Megan Davis.
An exchange follows where Speers probes Birmingham about his personal position on the voice, but the shadow minister is keeping shadow cabinet solidarity by taking the party position – opposition – as his own.
David, look, there are many issues Australia faces at present. This will be an important debate. I think it is unfortunate this debate has been mishandled by the government in terms of getting to the position it is. There’s an opportunity for them to reconsider the way in which they put this to the people. If that means it takes a little bit longer, that won’t be necessarily a bad thing in terms of trying to get this to a position where we could actually have a unifying moment as a nation.
"I'm not going to act contrary to the party position."
— ABC News (@abcnews) May 20, 2023
"You'll vote no?"
"That's the party position and I'm not going to act contrary to it."
Shadow Foreign Minister Simon Birmingham on his personal position on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.#Insiders #auspol pic.twitter.com/cggwYV3YFi
Updated
Birmingham pushed on Coalition’s climate plan
Birmingham is pushed further on what the Coalition has been doing to win back its voters, and one of the issues nominated is work around net zero – it is pointed out the Coalition voted against legislating climate targets and the safeguard mechanism.
Speers: Do you think that helped?
Birmingham: That is where our policies have to be convincing and compelling for Australians, David, and that is the test we’ll face at the next election.
Birmingham is pushed on this – what does that mean? Speers asks: “Are you saying behind the scenes you have a secret plan that will wow us on the climate front?”
We will be outlining clear policies in the lead-up to the next election. You wouldn’t expect oppositions to do that two years out from a scheduled election. You know full well that’s done when they are fully developed and fully costed and can be released cognisant of the circumstances we will all face at that time of the next election. The circumstances now are different to what they were 12 months ago. We’ve seen Australia going from some of the lowest inflation rates among developed economies to having amongst the highest inflation rates of developed economies. We have a government forecasting lower growth and higher unemployment than previously forecast so we’ll face different circumstances and they’re the challenges to confront in our policies.
Updated
Labor waging ‘continuous war’ on gas sector, Birmingham says
On changes to the PRRT which bring forward the amount oil and gas companies pay to the government for extracting resources, Birmingham says the Coalition is concerned the government “seems to have waged a continuous war on the gas sector, an important revenue source for Australia and critical for our domestic industry”.
Birmingham said the Coalition would wait to see what legislation the government proposed and “engage with industry and come to a conclusion about our position in the parliament”.
We have grave concerns that the government’s interventions in the gas market have hurt Australia’s standing in terms of international investors and in doing so, jeopardised the affordability of energy in Australia and through that, the job generation and elsewhere that comes from that very strong export industry.
Birmingham is also asked about what progress the Coalition has made on winning back women who have largely abandoned the party and says “the work is under way in terms of policy development”.
We need to see outcomes in terms of candidate selection as well. And these are very important tasks for the party. It’s an ongoing task and one that needs to reach a crescendo at that point, at the next election, to give voters the confidence that we heard messages from the last election.
The shadow finance minister says he is confident “there will be different issues at play at the next election”.
Updated
Birmingham says cost of Coalition’s jobseeker plan is ‘being worked through’
Asked whether the Coalition would support a lift to the jobseeker payment, Birmingham tells David Speers that Peter Dutton has “proposed an important alternative that would help Australians who are willing to and looking to engage in the workforce”.
Which sounds a lot like the Coalition does not support an increase to jobseeker.
However, Birmingham says the cost of the Coalition’s plan to increase the number of hours they can work before their payments are docked is “being worked through with the Parliamentary Budget Office”.
Which is another way of saying: no.
We’ve outlined an alternative at this stage, David. We are not at an election and not about to firm government in the next two years.
Updated
Birmingham says Albanese should not got to China until sanctions are lifted
Birmingham says Australia deserves “absolute clarity” about when trade sanctions imposed by China will be lifted – and that Albanese shouldn’t go on a state visit to Beijing before those sanctions are lifted.
That clarity should be there before the prime minister entertains a formal state visit to Beijing.
Birmingham said the prime minister’s dialogue with China was welcome but “there is a point where we should expect clear outcomes”.
The shadow minister said China was “acting in breach of its commitments under the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement” by maintaining the sanctions, and also in breach of its commitments to the World Trade Organization.
We should expect them to be lifted complete, as we should the tariffs on our wine industry.
Should the Prime Minister visit China before all trade sanctions on Australia are removed?
— ABC News (@abcnews) May 20, 2023
Shadow Foreign Minister Simon Birmingham responds.#Insiders #auspol pic.twitter.com/2ipiN1zLsY
Updated
Birmingham: ‘I don’t want to see Australia take backwards steps’ on emissions
Asked about the Coalition’s previous hostility to legislated emissions reductions targets Birmingham says “partnerships like this one will be important”.
I don’t want to see Australia take backwards steps in terms of our emissions targets.
Under the Paris Agreement, there are five-yearly steps for us to take in terms of updating the targets, whoever is in government at each point of time will have to assess what will be feasible under those five-yearly updates …
But partnerships like this one will be important in helping to ensure we make that type of progress.
Birmingham also reiterated the Coalition’s support for the Quad alliance as it allows “countries with common values” to coordinate when engaging with the Indo-Pacific region.
Updated
Simon Birmingham responds to climate pact with US
The shadow finance minister Simon Birmingham says the Albanese government’s announcement of a new climate compact with the US and other Quad countries is “complementary” with agreements struck under the previous Coalition government.
This agreement, is welcome and complementary with agreements Australia previously signed under the Coalition government and with Germany, with Japan, Singapore or the United Kingdom, where we established green economy agreements and cooperative arrangements to be able to ensure that the $22bn we had put in place for clean energy investment and transition of Australia’s economy to net zero was done in concert with the types of country who were going to be essential to help us get low-cost technological transformation.
Birmingham said the “challenge of getting to net zero is going to be a difficult one for all countries of the world” and that he “wouldn’t want to see Australia water down our climate targets”.
Updated
It being on the hour though, neither ABC or Sky are showing the rest of the press conference as Insiders and Outsiders are both on.
We will bring you the rest as soon as we can.
Albanese outlines clean energy pact with US
Anthony Albanese has moved on to what he has achieved at the G7 and associated meetings.
Which includes a “vision” statement for what the Quad is, for the first time since Quad 1.0 and Quad 2.0 began.
A clear way that says we’ll work with the Pacific Island Forum, Indian Ocean organisations, as well as Asean as well.
That this is about providing support – economic support, social support, environmental support – for the countries of our region, and about cooperating as four great democracies based in this region.
And there is also the clean energy pact Albanese signed with Biden, which will see Australian supplies given a leg up in the states:
What this will do is the president will support the [US] Congress taking action to treat Australian suppliers and activity as domestic activity in the United States, for the purpose of the Defence Production Act. Canada has that at the moment. And if we think about industries like hydrogen, without that support, there would be a massive incentive for hydrogen-based industries to be based in the United States.
So, the big risk with the Inflation Reduction Act for the world – because we need to reduce the world’s emissions, not just that of one nation state – is that you’ll see capital leave Australia to go to the United States. This is about addressing that.
Updated
PM speaks after talks in Hiroshima
Anthony Albanese is holding a press conference in Hiroshima on the one year anniversary of winning government.
I said on that evening that I’d lead a government with a sense of purpose, and I believe that we have. We’ve set out to do what we said we would – to fulfil our promises and commitments we gave to the Australian people in the lead-up to 21 May 2022.
Part of that, said Albanese, is strengthening relationships – like with the Quad.
Updated
Quad leaders meet on sidelines of G7
Overnight, the Quad leaders held their leader-to-leader to meeting on the sidelines of the G7. It was meant to be held this week in Sydney, but US president Joe Biden cancelled because of domestic issues – the Republicans are not making it easy for the government debt ceiling to increase and that is a pretty big deal. So after the G7, Biden will be on his way back to the US.
But with Japanese prime minister Kishida Fumio hosting the G7, with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, Biden and Anthony Albanese attending (Australia was invited despite not being in the G7) the sidelines of the G7 set up the perfect opportunity to have the meeting and keep the Quad kicking along.
The last time Albanese was at a Quad meeting was just over a year ago, having been sworn in as prime minister just hours before. This year around, he seemed a little more in the swing of things:
I will never forget the very warm and generous welcome that I had after my election. I can’t think of any better way to begin a prime ministership than a gathering of such important friends from our region. One year on I’m absolutely delighted to be amongst close friends again here in Japan to continue our important work. Standing together for an open, stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.
A region where sovereignty is respected, and all countries large and small benefit from a regional balance that keeps the peace. Respect for the leadership of regional institutions including ASEAN, the Pacific Island Forum, and the Indian Ocean Rim Association is central to our approach.
Expect a little more of those sort of veiled words as the Aukus arrangement picks up speed – “a region where sovereignty is respected” are carefully crafted words aimed at China – that will continue.
Updated
Good morning from Canberra.
Acting prime minister Richard Marles has kicked off Sunday with a press release acknowledging the one-year anniversary of the Albanese government.
Anthony Albanese is in Japan for the G7 summit, talking all things Quad and geopolitics, so it is up to Marles to spread the word. (Although it has been hard to miss if you have paid attention to news this weekend – one-year anniversary pieces have been everywhere)
So what does Marles have to say?
One year ago, Australia voted for change.
The very next day, the Albanese Labor government began the work of building a better future.
Every member of the Government is proud of what we have achieved so far:
- Historic investments in Medicare
- Cheaper child care
- Fee-free TAFE
- Cheaper medicines
- Energy price relief
- Getting wages moving
- Action on climate changeThese are strong foundations for a better future.
We know there is still more to do. We can’t clean up the mess we inherited overnight.
What they want to focus on moving forward reads like a preview of the coming parliament sitting:
Investing in affordable housing. Continuing to strengthen Medicare. Creating more secure jobs and training Australians for those jobs. Making more things in Australia, powered by home-grown renewable energy. Investing in defence and national security to keep Australians safe. And importantly, continuing to be a force for stability, prosperity and growth in our region and in the world.
And of course, the voice.
Updated
Good morning
And welcome to another Sunday morning Guardian live blog.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese is in Japan for the G7 summit, where he has met with other members of the Quad alliance on the sidelines. The PM has declared a new focus on the Indo-Pacific for the alliance as the conference of the world’s richest seven countries considersseveral issues including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, tensions in Taiwan and nuclear weapons testing by North Korea.
The Albanese government has marked its first year in government, with defence minister Richard Marles talking up the government’s achievements on Sunday. In an early morning press release, Marles said the government has begun “the work of a better future” with reforms to healthcare, education, real wages and action on climate change – but has stressed the government “can’t clean up the mess we inherited overnight”.
I’m Royce Kurmelovs, taking the blog through the day. With so much going on out there, it’s easy to miss stuff, so if you spot something happening in Australia and think it should be on the blog, you can find me on Twitter at @RoyceRk2 where my DMs are open.
With that, let’s get started ...
