What we learned today, Friday 28 July
Thanks for joining us on the Australia news live blog today. That’s where we’ll wrap up our coverage – here are some key developments:
Prime minister Anthony Albanese announced he’d be reintroducing the government’s stalled housing bill but hosed down suggestions of a double dissolution election.
The prime minister also declared that the relationship between Australia and the US “has never been stronger” and flagged plans to visit the US “shortly”.
The shadow foreign minister and opposition senate leader, Simon Birmingham, said the opposition doesn’t “fear” a double dissolution trigger.
The federal education minister, Jason Clare, released a draft framework on the use of artificial intelligence in schools for consultation.
Australia’s shoppers cut back spending last month, with retail trade sinking 0.8% from May’s levels, the ABS said.
Two people have died in the mid-air collision at Caboolture Airfield, north of Brisbane.
The Australian Tax Office commissioner, Chris Jordan, has told treasurer Jim Chalmers he won’t be seeking another term as the ATO boss when his current term expires at the end of February next year.
Victoria announced this morning it will phase out gas in new homes, with planning permits from 2024 to only connect to electric networks.
The South Australian Liberals have joined with their federal colleagues in opposing an Indigenous voice to parliament.
Updated
PM believes hosting major sporting events has ‘tangible benefits’
I wanted to rewind to the PM’s media round earlier this morning, where he told ABC Brisbane radio that there were “tangible benefits” to spending on major sporting events.
The PM stood firm on the benefits of hosting and funding sporting events, pointing to the huge popularity of the Matildas games in the Women’s World Cup:
Of course people always look at these issues of expenditure, like they look at the issues of expenditure on Cross River Rail or on road projects, but infrastructure that lasts, that delivers for people, is something that will be a long-lasting benefit of the Games.
The other thing that will be a benefit is the human benefit.
If we had done this interview 10 years ago, if you had said there’d be 48,000 people at a women’s football game at Suncorp, followed on from 75,000 at the Olympic Stadium in Sydney last week, you would have thought, ‘Gee, that’s ambitious’.
Well, guess what? It’s happened. And it’s making an enormous difference.
That’s what you get when you get people participating in sport, you have better health outcomes. The health budget therefore goes down. There’s all sorts of tangible benefits.
Updated
