What we learned, Sunday 4 June
That’s where we’ll leave the blog for today – thanks so much for joining us. Here is a wrap of the day’s main news:
The Australian government has played a leading role in supporting the inclusion of binding measures to limit the production of plastics in a draft global plastics treaty.
The Australian defence minister, Richard Marles, met his Chinese counterpart and called for “safe and professional interactions” between military planes and ships in the Indo-Pacific region.
The Greens called for national rent freeze after the party’s announcement they will offer a compromise on Labor’s stalled housing bill.
The government responded cooly – saying while it would work “constructively across the parliament” to try to secure passage of the $10bn Housing Australia Future Fund legislation, it will not support “proposals that won’t work, are not backed by evidence and would only make our housing challenges worse”.
Marles said understands the defamation ruling in the Ben Roberts-Smith case “will be evoking a lot of feelings around the country” but that the ADF must be held to the “highest standards”.
Voice advocate Noel Pearson accused the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, of “being a bit duplicitous” in his claims that the proposed change to the constitution “will re-racialise our nation”.
The NSW transport minister warned of “massive disruptions” every weekend for at least a year for already weary and longsuffering rail commuters across Sydney.
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart was awarded the Western Australian of the Year by the nonprofit Celebrate WA. Australia’s richest person was recognised for her “outstanding contribution to the state and national economy” at the awards, which have run for 50 years and are sponsored by BHP, the WA government and Lotterywest.
Australia will deliver a $105m package to aid Vietnam in its clean energy transition. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese announced the package will support sustainable infrastructure planning, stimulating private investment in clean energy infrastructure, and deliver technical assistance to develop Vietnam’s critical mineral sector.
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Don Farrell to head to France for OECD ministerial council meeting
The trade minister, Don Farrell, will then head on to France where he will lead Australia’s delegation at the annual OECD ministerial council meeting, alongside the assistant minister for trade, Tim Ayres.
In advocating for Australia’s interests in the rules-based multilateral trading system, he says he will raise the important role that open international markets play in addressing major global challenges including rising food and energy insecurity, and climate change.
While in France, Farrell and Ayres will also host Australia’s annual informal gathering of key World Trade Organization ministers to shape expectations ahead of the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference in February 2024.
Farrell says Australia will continue to advocate for the restoration of the WTO dispute settlement system, after longstanding blockages as the US vetoes appeal judge appointments.
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In more international relations news, the minister for trade, Don Farrell, has announced he is heading to Belgium this coming week to progress negotiations for a trade agreement with the European Union.
Farrell will meet European Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, as well as the EU Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski in Brusells. He says:
A trade agreement with the EU that strengthens our trade relationship and supports economic growth, investment, and Australian jobs is a top priority for the Australian Government.
Taking questions, Albanese is asked about the tensions in the South China Sea and across the region more broadly. A journalist asks about the latest incident in which the US military said a Chinese destroyer had cut across the bow of the USS Chung-Hoon in the Taiwan Strait. Albanese replies:
One of the things I spoke about in Singapore in the Shangri La dialogue was the need for proper rules to operate, for there to be that engagement and dialogue. And these issues are of concern.
I spoke there about a misadventure or miscalculation having consequences.
We need to make sure that the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea applies. We need to make sure that all operations – maritime and aviation – in the region are able to operate safely.
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Albanese is wishing his own political class around the globe would learn a bit more from the sports pitch:
Wherever you are in the world, sport brings people together by playing on the same field, abiding by the same rules, competing in a spirit of mutual respect.
What team sport does and shows us is the way that we want international relations to work as well – working towards that common interest with common rules with mutual respect.
And that’s why I think team sport can be a bit of a microcosm for the way that we want to see international relations operate throughout the world.
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Australians underestimate how big FIFA Womens World Cup event is, PM says
Albanese is speaking to the media following that press conference in front of a soccer pitch in Hanoi where the qualifiers for the Asian Cup are taking place.
Having changed out of the formal suit he wore to the Presidential Palace, and that earlier press conference, Albanese is spruiking the FIFA Womens World Cup which Australia will be hosting this next month:
That will be a big event. I think some Australians underestimate just how big it is.
It is the third most watched event in the world, after men’s football World Cup and after the Olympic Games, and it will be a real opportunity for the Matildas led of course by the wonderful Sam Kerr, who represented Australia so well as the flagbearer at the coronation, to represent Australia with the Matildas in the World Cup, where Australia have a real shot of great success in our home finals.
I do want to wish the Young Matildas best of luck while they’re here as well.
Albanese also thanks the Australian team from Unicef who were delivering a training clinic in Hanoi as part of Australia’s development, cooperation with Vietnam, “providing opportunities for some of the young girls who are getting to train with with these great young players from the young Matildas.”
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9News’ federal politics reporter is in Vietnam with the PM and reports that a little an hour after the pageantry, framed photographs of the event have been delivered to the Office of the Vietnamese Government.
And little more than an hour later, printed photographs. Framed and delivered to the Office of the Vietnamese Government. @9NewsAUS #auspol pic.twitter.com/yaBe5e6SQi
— Reece D'Alessandro (@R_DAlessandro9) June 4, 2023
Staying with the PM in Vietnam, here are some images of his visit to the Presidential Palace in Hanoi earlier today:
Albanese ends his speech affirming Australia and Vietnam’s shared commitments for an open and stable Indo-Pacific region:
The prime minister and I discussed our shared vision of an open, stable, secure, prosperous and resilience Indo-Pacific that is respectful of national sovereignty.
Australia sees and acknowledges the centrality of Asean, and next year in March, we will host in Australia a summit for Asean leaders and I of course, invited the prime minister to fully participate in that, but in addition, I am hopeful that the prime minister will be able to have a bilateral visit and a mutually convenient time in the future.
Both Vietnam and Australia want to see a continuation of the peace and progress our countries have enjoyed in the past half century.
We are committed to working together bilaterally and in concert with Asean countries and multilateral forums to further their vision.
It is indeed, a great honor for me to be here was Prime Minister Chinh as our to let nations work ahead through the next 50 years of friendship and progress.
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Albanese says a comprehensive strategic partnership between Australia and Vietnam is in the works “as soon as possible”:
All of this connection and cooperation comes together in our plans to elevate our relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, and the prime minister and I discussed today, how we can do that as soon as possible. To signal the trust that we each other, as top tier partners and enduring friends.
Good news for those hoping to make their way to Vietnam soon – Vietnam Airlines and VietJet have increased direct flights to Australian capitals.
Albanese goes on:
It is impossible to imagine modern Australia without the 350,000 Vietnamese people who have made a home there.
In the spirit of helping our people stay connected, I am especially pleased to acknowledge today the announcements by Vietnam Airlines and VietJet, of increased direct flights to Australian capitals.
And in the case of the VietJet, direct flights for the first time to beautiful Brisbane in the lead up to its hosting the Olympics in 2032.
My colleague Bertin Huynh wrote really beautifully about his family’s experience coming to Australia from Vietnam in this piece, if you didn’t read it when it came out in 2021:
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Albanese yesterday also opened RMIT’s Hanoi Industry and Innovation Hub. He says more Australians and Vietnamese coming together collaboratively will forge the deepest bonds between our two nations:
The mainstay of our relationship is education. It is an area to grow for our economies but it is also important to develop those people-to-people relations that are so important to develop mutual understanding and cooperation.
Yesterday, I was so pleased to open RMIT Hanoi Industry and Innovation Hub and review their plans for its exciting next phase, including its $250m investment in its new, upgraded Ho Chi Minh City campus.
At that event, I was also pleased to acknowledge 60 new scholarships from Western Sydney University in Gough Whitlam’s name. The university that ranked number one in the Global Times higher education impact rankings in just the last week.
After all, it is through our people coming together that we are unleash our best ideas and we forge our deepest bonds.
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Albanese announces a new agreement between Austrack and the state bank of Vietnam was also signed today in an effort to halt international money laundering in its tracks:
It will enable financial intelligence to be shared, to interrupt money laundering and terrorism financing.
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The PM also says there will be an expansion of the program which allows Australia’s national science agency to collaborate with its Vietnamese counterparts:
I am also very pleased to announce the expansion of the Aus4Innovation program, under which Australia says CSIRO will collaborate with its Vietnam counterparts to build partnerships to commercialise joint science research in areas like applied agriculture and food research.
Albanese announces $105m package to help Vietnam's clean energy transition
Australia will deliver a $105m package to aid Vietnam in its clean energy transition.
Albanese announces Australia wants to work together with its neighbour in the challenges of dealing with climate change:
I am pleased to announce that Australia will be stepping up our support for Vietnam’s energy transformation, with an important package of new overseas development assistance of $105 million for supporting sustainable infrastructure planning, for stimulating private investment in clean energy infrastructure, and delivering technical assistance to develop Vietnam’s critical mineral sector.
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The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has stepped up to announce the outcomes of his meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Minh Chinh.
He says on the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between our two nations, the partnership has gone “from strength to strength”.
Across our economies, in education, agriculture, security and of course, in an investment and trade. It has grown tremendously in previous years, but will grow even further in the future.
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It’s the first week of winter, and temperatures are reaching well below zero in Tasmania where white frost can be seen from space.
It was #frosty about #Tas this morning. Liawenee was as low as -8.1°, Tunnack -5.2° and #Launceston -0.5°. The white frost was seen in the satellite pic this morning and especially through the #Midlands: pic.twitter.com/gikvXHGrdM
— Bureau of Meteorology, Tasmania (@BOM_Tas) June 4, 2023
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Rinehart was also awarded Celebrate WA’s Business award, for transforming Hancock Prospecting into one of “the most successful private businesses in Australian history” the awards said.
Under her stewardship, Hancock Prospecting has successfully diversified into mining, iron ore, copper, potash, gold, coal, gas, cattle, dairy, and property industries and importantly supports many philanthropic sectors,” the awards said.
Celebrate WA names Gina Rinehart Australian of the Year
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart has been awarded the Western Australia Australian of the Year by the nonprofit Celebrate WA.
Australia’s richest person was recognised for her “outstanding contribution to the state and national economy” at the awards, which have run for 50 years and are sponsored by BHP, the WA government and Lotterywest.
Rinehart covered her face with a fan as she accepted the award, telling the audience she had recently had a melanoma removed.
WA Today reported her saying:
I should probably remind you all, please do the sun cream, do the hats and do the check-ups, please, which I didn’t do.
Presenting the award was outgoing premier Mark McGowan, with Rinehart telling the audience a lot of people were going to miss him before asking them to give him a round of applause.
In her acceptance speech the billionaire, who is worth about $40bn according to Forbes, urged everyone in the room to keep businesses competitive.
Rinehart continued:
I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved … and what we’ve been able to contribute to Western Australia and our country and its future.
We must ensure that our country is not left behind by shortsighted decisions and encourage policies that welcome investment in our wonderful state.
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‘Massive disruptions’ expected for Sydneysiders as NSW government clears rail maintenance backlog
The NSW transport minister is warning of “massive disruptions” every weekend for at least a year for already weary and longsuffering rail commuters across Sydney.
Jo Haylen today said the state Labor government is launching a massive maintenance backlog blitz on the beleaguered system, with plans to cram several years’ worth of work into the next 12 months.
Haylen was at Croydon railway station in Sydney’s inner west to inspect track-work already under way, and to announce details of the Minns government’s Sydney Rail Repair Plan.
She told reporters:
We need to do this critical maintenance backlog of jobs, or things will just get worse. Anyone in Sydney will tell you the train network isn’t working as it should.
She warned anyone who took trains on the weekend across Sydney will be using buses instead on Saturdays and Sundays for at least a year, probably more.
People living near train stations may want to buy earplugs.
I want to be totally honest with everyone – for the next year or so we are going to massively disrupt the network on weekends while our crews get in and fix it.
- AAP
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Queensland nursing and midwifery students to get $5k rural bonus
Queensland nursing and midwifery students in their final year will receive a $5,000 payment if they undertake a placement at a regional or rural hospital, AAP reports.
The state government has set aside $22m for the payments in the 2023/24 budget, which will be handed down on 13 June.
Treasurer Cameron Dick said the money would help alleviate cost-of-living pressures on the state’s future frontline workers. He told reporters today:
It’ll also strengthen our health system and it’ll encourage more people to take up the opportunity to work in our healthcare system.
The government will work with education providers to finalise the scheme’s details before it is rolled out, Dick said.
It’s expected about 1,000 nursing and midwifery students will benefit from the payments each year.
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Government responds cooly to Greens on housing
The federal government has not exactly embraced the calls from the Greens on housing today.
The government said while it would work “constructively across the parliament” to try to secure passage of the $10bn Housing Australia Future Fund legislation, it will not support “proposals that won’t work, are not backed by evidence and would only make our housing challenges worse”.
Previously the Greens had demanded $5bn of direct spending on housing every year and a $1.6bn-a-year fund to incentivise states to freeze rents for two years and limit increases thereafter. The Greens announced this morning that the party would settle for half as much direct spending, and $1bn a year to incentivise the rent freeze, as my colleague Paul Karp reported here.
Asked for a response today, the federal housing minister, Julie Collins, said:
Australia desperately needs the 30,000 new social and affordable rental homes the Fund will deliver in its first five years.
What we don’t need are proposals that won’t work, are not backed by evidence and would only make our housing challenges worse.
This bill can’t be delayed any longer. Senators who say they support more social and affordable homes need to stop the delays and pass the bill.
Government sources say rental tenancies are the legal domain of states and territories, and a number of states have recently ruled out a rent freeze. Labor sources also argue there is significant evidence that rent freezes don’t work.
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Motion to support the Aukus submarine deal voted down at Queensland Labor conference
A rift between Queensland Labor members has been exposed after a motion to support the Aukus submarine deal was voted down at the party’s state conference in Mackay.
The failed motion, which 140 members voted for and 229 against, congratulated the federal government on the nuclear submarine deal with the US and UK, saying it would create jobs and security for the country.
Throughout the tense voting process, members of the left and right quarrelled, yelling “shame” at each other, while several state MPs left the room to avoid taking a stance.
An earlier resolution to ban nuclear submarines built as part of the alliance, brought by the Electrical Trades Union, passed, despite members of the right and the Australian Workers’ Union voting against it.
The burst of division on Sunday came after members of the government, including the state’s premier, had stressed on the first day of the conference that there was unity in the party ahead of next October’s election.
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Firefighters from Queensland’s fire and emergency services are helping Canada as the country battles extreme fire conditions, which has razed 2.7m hectares so far.
Here’s an insight into the conditions facing the 37 QFES personnel who have answered the call for help from Canada.
— Qld Fire & Emergency (@QldFES) June 4, 2023
Extreme fire conditions continue to grip the country, with about 2.7 million hectares burned so far.
The QFES deployment is set to continue into early July. pic.twitter.com/W4EChmWbzo
You can read more about those fires here:
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Dutton ‘assured me that he did not take the voice to be a racial proposition’: Pearson
Pearson said he met with Dutton “two or three times” alongside the then Coalition spokesperson for Indigenous Australians, Julian Leeser:
And at those meetings Peter was very, very clear in what he said to me. He said, I do not agree with the race argument. Don’t take me to be taking a race argument here. He assured me that he did not take the voice to be a racial proposition.
But of course since Julian’s left in the spokesperson role, he [Dutton] has come back to make this completely dishonest argument about re-racialising the constitution.
That is not the position Peter took to me when Julian Leeser was in the room. He was very anxious to assure me in fact that he wasn’t making that argument. I think he’s being a bit duplicitous now in talking about re-racialising the constitution. He’s taking a very different position to the positions he took in meetings with me.
Dutton’s office was contacted for a response but declined to comment.
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Pearson accuses Dutton of duplicity over claims voice 'will re-racialise our nation'
Voice advocate Noel Pearson has accused the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, of “being a bit duplicitous” in his claims that the proposed change to the constitution “will re-racialise our nation”.
Dutton made the claim in a recent speech to parliament, when the opposition leader argued the proposal “will permanently divide us by race” and “will have an Orwellian effect where “all Australians are equal, but some Australians are more equal than others’”.
The Sky News political editor, Andrew Clennell, asked Pearson for a response to those claims during an interview broadcast this morning. Pearson replied:
I don’t know, Andrew, if you’ve ever been to Cooktown, or to Aurukun, or Yuendumu or Darwin or Alice Springs and you’ve seen any Blackfellas on the streets there – would you say that they’re more equal than other Australians? Who could sustain an argument like that?
Pearson said it was “disappointing” that Dutton’s position was “very different” from what he had previously expressed in private meetings.
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Victorian debt to top $305bn in a decade, budget office warns
Victoria’s net debt will rise to $305.3bn if the government doesn’t start to pay off its borrowings, the independent budget watchdog has warned.
The Parliamentary Budget Office today released its projections on the state’s debt after the 2023/24 state budget.
Treasurer Tim Pallas forecast net debt will increase by 10.1% per year on average from 2022/23 to 2026/27.
The budget office found if net debt continued to rise at that rate, it will reach $305.3bn in 2032/33 or 31.9% of gross state product.
The office also looked at the government’s forecast that net debt would hit $171.4bn and be 24.5% of GSP in 2026/27.
It found if the ratio stayed at 24.5%, net debt would grow 5.3% per year to reach $234bn in 2032/33.
Pallas has conceded measures are needed to stabilise the state’s debt, with the government introducing new levies on big businesses and property investors.
But shadow treasurer Brad Rowswell said debt would only rise under the current government.
We are paying the highest taxes in Australia while debt continues to climb because of the financial incompetency of Labor and life just gets harder for Victorians.
– AAP
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Teen arrested after man found dead in Melbourne
A 17-year-old boy has been arrested after a man was stabbed to death in Melbourne’s inner south-east, AAP reports.
Emergency services were called to an address in South Yarra just after 8pm on Saturday after the body of a 34-year-old Ripponlea man was discovered.
A 17-year-old boy from Frankston has since been arrested over the death.
He is assisting detectives with their inquiries.
Anyone who witnessed the incident or has information should contact police.
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Keneally on the ‘inevitable’ conflict and adversarial nature in politics
Keneally also warned against the disappearing common ground in politics, saying it was really only when she left that she realised its level of conflict:
To some extent, I feel I was a frog in boiling water in politics.
I’d done it for so long that I had just come to accept that the adversarial nature of it was a given and the conflict was an inevitable part of it.
It probably always will be, but now I look back and think – because the common ground in politics seems to be disappearing – that earlier in my career, I can remember times where people did work together more collaboratively across the aisle.
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Keneally warns against ‘physical and online threats’ politicians receive
Keneally also warned against the rising threats to politicians’ personal safety and wellbeing.
I have observed through my time in the Senate that it’s also the demands on MPs’ and senators’ personal wellbeing and safety that have changed.
That, frankly, is one of the reasons I don’t miss the job – the physical incursions into people’s lives, the physical and online threats that people receive.
They’re real, and the AFP takes them seriously. It’s a changed landscape to what it used to be 20 years ago.
Keneally said she received online threats and was also aware of what other MPs experienced, including people making clear they knew where politicians lived.
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Kristina Keneally says she has no ‘longing’ to return to politics
Former Labor senator Kristina Keneally has ruled out returning to political office.
Keneally hasn’t spoken out much publicly since she was defeated in last year’s federal election, losing the seat of Fowler in western Sydney to Independent Dai Le, but this weekend she has opened up about her sense of relief at exiting politics in a profile in the Australian.
Keneally, now chief executive of the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation, says she has no “longing” to return to politics, despite missing out on the frontbench role in the Albanese government:
The moment I knew I was going to lose the seat (last May) I felt a sense of relief.
Really, I loved my career in state politics and I am grateful for my career in the Senate. But for the years that I was there, I did feel a sense of disconnection from my family and my community (in Sydney).
I used to say I was an accidental senator, that I never set out to be a federal senator. I don’t regret that I took up the opportunity. There were things I was able to achieve there, but I also don’t have a sense of longing or missing that role. There are things across the community where I was able to contribute, but there’s a time and a season for everything and the season of politics is done.
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The NSW lawyers who cover 200,000 sq km to see their clients
Our justice and courts reporter, Nino Bucci, has taken a deep dive into the funding problems of NSW’s beleaguered community legal sector.
His feature takes you on a journey with the lawyers who spend almost as much time driving the hundreds of kilometres across the vast expanse of the state’s far west, as they do meeting clients struggling to achieve justice as the cost of living crisis worsens:
There are more goats on the road than cars.
Francesca Cutri, from the centre’s domestic violence unit, Western Women’s Legal Support, is behind the wheel. Blasting the horn shifts the goats, she reckons, but you have to be careful of emus who are known to lose their heads, and even run towards you.
This will be Cutri’s last trip out west, and the last the centre thinks any domestic violence lawyer will take for some time. It has no funding to replace her.
The service will simply vanish, and domestic violence lawyers from the centre will stop visiting these towns once Cutri leaves.
Read the full story, along with the beautiful images of Mike Bowers, here:
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Albanese to meet with key leaders in Vietnam
AAP has more on the prime minister’s day in Vietnam today:
Anthony Albanese will meet key leaders to discuss shared interests including China’s position in the region as he continues Australia’s diplomatic push in Vietnam.
Albanese will sit down with Vietnamese prime minister Pham Minh Chinh, as well as the Communist party general secretary, the president and the chairman of the national assembly.
The Australian leader said with China bordering Vietnam to the north, the issue of the country’s relationship with Beijing would no doubt be on the agenda.
Last week, Vietnam accused a Chinese survey vessel and its escorts of violating its sovereignty amid a territorial dispute involving the South China Sea.
On Sunday he will participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the resting place of the country’s communist revolutionary leader.
The Vietnamese prime minister will later host the Australian leader at an official dinner ahead of Albanese’s departure.
Talks in Vietnam are also expected to encompass clean energy technology, tourism, education and transnational crime fighting.
There will also be discussions on improving Vietnamese workers’ access to jobs in Australia.
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Albanese calls for Vietnam to help maintain stability in Pacific region
There are close links between the Vietnamese Communist party and the Chinese Communist party, but Albanese’s words at a press conference in Hanoi late last night hint that countries in the region, including Vietnam, should do everything possible to ramp up pressure on China to maintain stability.
Albanese said Australia and Vietnam shared the same views on the South China Sea and maritime laws in the region needed to be maintained:
We share a common interest in a region that is stable, that is prosperous, and that is resilient, and we are pleased to work with Vietnam, particularly through Asean, and we share a commitment to maintaining the global rules and norms that can assure that stability in the region going forward.
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Meanwhile in Vietnam, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will be meeting with the country’s leaders after a day enjoying the boons of the two nation’s trade ties. Here are some of the pictures the PM shared:
Australia and Vietnam are on a roll. Sam Tran took me to a local spot in Hanoi today to try a couple of Vietnamese classics. 🥖🍺 pic.twitter.com/0LhH9qq4tn
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) June 3, 2023
The banh mi and beer tasted even better knowing that it was made with Australian wheat and barley. pic.twitter.com/klTNrtUm6O
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) June 3, 2023
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Dan Hurst brought you the news earlier that Richard Marles had met with his Chinese counterpart. You can now read the full story here:
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Environment minister on land clearing around koala habitat
Labor members also quizzed environment minister, Leanne Linard, about land clearing around koala habitat and protections for national parks.
Linard, who was also caught up in the cabinet re-shuffle in May, acknowledged land clearing in south-east Queensland is “too high” and promised to look into it.
We are alive to this issue, very alive to the fact that this iconic species is in danger and the work we have to do.
Another Labor member told Linard he thought it was “hypocritical” that “certain factions” of the party have sat “on their hands” while the government plans a hydro project that could impact Eungella national park, west of Mackay.
Linard responded that the project will not be encroaching on the national park.
You should have that commitment. We know how valuable it is.
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State MPs face tough questions at Queensland Labor conference
I’m here at the Queensland Labor conference in Mackay where state MPs have faced some tough questions from party members.
One Labor member told the health minister, Shannon Fentiman, that “progressive” workplace policies that unions had fought for over many years are being “actively undermined” by bureaucrats at Queensland Health.
Staff … working in head office … aren’t able to access flexible work conditions … [and] are unable to access amended work conditions for the neurodiverse. The messages being sent out … is that you’ll be on the shit list.
Fentiman, who was moved into the plagued health portfolio in a cabinet re-shuffle last month, said she’ll listen to workers on the ground, “not just listen to the bureaucrats”.
In my first couple of weeks, I’m gonna hear directly from union members … on the ground, so that I can completely understand the frustrations.
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Chandler-Mather defends opposing new housing development in his own seat
The interview with the Greens housing spokesperson wraps up with Chandler-Mather defending his opposition to a new housing development on the Brisbane River bank in his own seat.
While others have accused him not supporting more housing supply in his own back yard, Chandler-Mather says that’s because the development proposed was in the middle of a “giant” flood plain.
I know what that leads to, because, during the floods, I was in people’s basements where a developer had been approved to build a development tower and they had lost power and lost everything they owned.
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RBA governor ‘wrong’ to suggest we need more share houses: Chandler-Mather
Chandler-Mather now gets a crack at those comments from RBA governor Phillip Lowe suggesting more Australians should be living in share houses.
He says Lowe is “wrong” because all Australians who can live in a share house already are doing so.
He says he’s looked at the data which shows there is now below 2.5 people on average per household:
Underlying that is the reduction in the number of children per household. The number of adults hasn’t dropped that much. But what we are seeing is a shift in the nuclear family.
Philip Lowe is sort of wrong to suggest that somehow we need more share houses.
Everyone who can is living in a share house already because rents are sky-high.
Really, the way to solve this issue (a) is a large-scale investment in public and affordable housing, the way the country used to in the 20th century, and a freeze on rent increases.
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Government should buy existing homes on the market: Chandler-Mather
The Greens have also suggested the government should buy existing homes on the market rather than just building new homes.
Chandler-Mather explains how they envisage that could work:
Well, the government could use the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation and they could blind-bid, so the person selling the home wouldn’t necessarily know what the government is buying.
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Renters are not getting political representation: Chandler-Mather
Chandler-Mather points to the government’s ability to put a cap on energy prices but says one-third of the country – renters – are not getting political representation.
Last year, they recalled parliaments around the country to put caps on energy prices. … All of a sudden, rents don’t matter.
Why is it that one-third of this country don’t get the sort of political representation – renters – where a lot of other people in the country do?
Especially when we’re what we’re proposing has been used for Australia before – freezes on rent increases. Used around the world – Spain just introduced caps on rent increases, because they’re looking after the renters, unlike the government right now.
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Chandler-Mather on whether Greens will stand with Coalition to block future fund
On whether the Greens really will stand with the Coalition block the future fund if they don’t accept the latest offer, Chandler-Mather says “of course we go into a negotiation with the possibility that we might vote it down, [otherwise] it’s not much of a negotiation”.
He won’t say something is better than nothing because:
I don’t think I could look the people in the eye that I’ve spoken to over the last few months the people one rent increase away from eviction, the people on a 10-year waitlist for social housing and know that under the government’s plan the waitlist for social housing will get bigger.
And the shortage right now by the way is 640,000 social and affordable homes, and that is going to increase by 75,000 homes, and the government has said they can build up to 30,000 homes over the next five years.
So, really, what they’re saying is – the crisis is going to get worse under their plan. That is not a response to the housing crisis.
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Chandler-Mather defends Greens’ stance on Labor’s future fund
Chandler-Mather defends his party’s stance of why the government’s future fund is not enough:
Australia is spending less on public housing than it ever has in the history of this country.
To give you an example, if we were building the same amount of public housing as we were in the 20th century over the next five years, Australia would build 150,000 public and affordable homes.
Right now, dwelling approvals for public sector housing is at the lowest it’s ever been in this country’s history. So no, we don’t think what the government’s doing right now is good, or in any way going to take the housing crisis seriously.
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Labor’s housing future fund is a ‘gamble on the stock market’: Chandler-Mather
On the other part of the demand – upping the direct spending on housing, Chandler-Mather says the Greens proposal is that the $2.5bn they want the government to spend would be taken out of the budget. He says they want the direct spend increased because they say the housing future fund is a “gamble on the stock market”.
You don’t fund schools and hospitals via investments on the stock market that don’t make a return in some years.
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Greens’ analysis on a rent cap showed decline in rents and rental stress
Chandler-Mather says Greens have also done their own analysis of publicly available evidence from economists and housing experts on what a rent cap would look like in Australia.
After some prompting from David Speers, Chandler-Mather agrees to make this analysis public on the Greens’ website.
Chandler-Mather:
What it has shown, by the way, is that rents declined, rental stress declined, and it had no material impact on housing supply.
With regards to supply, the key issue here at the moment is that Australia is no longer building public and affordable housing the way it used to.
And the other key part of our demand to the government is that, if we just rely on property developers, then we’re going to get what we’ve got over the last 20 years, which is soaring house prices and less and less people being able to afford to buy a house.
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International examples show rent freezes and caps work: Chandler-Mather
Chandler-Mather says the international examples point to the fact that caps on rent increases work:
The useful thing about a rent freeze is other countries have used it around the world, as well as rent caps, so we have a lot of evidence around that.
New Jersey was a state that introduced rent caps, and research found there was no material impact on the supply of private housing. What we did see, though, was an impact on reducing rents.
The reason we’re proposing this is because there are now millions of renters who are falling into renter stress. That means that a lot of them are one rent increase away from eviction on to the streets.
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Greens call for national rent freeze
Chandler-Mather says they now want Labor to shift too:
The Greens have shifted, and now we’d like Labor to too.
We’ve said two things. One, we’d like a guarantee of $2.5bn of investment in public community and affordable housing every year.
And we want the federal government to coordinate a national freeze on rent increases by putting $1bn on the table, similar to the way they’ve coordinated other national reform efforts, to states and territories who’ve freezed rent increases for two years and introduced caps on rents after that.
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Greens housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather is this morning’s guest on ABC Insiders following this news this morning that his party will offer a compromise on Labor’s stalled housing bill.
As our chief political correspondent Paul Karp writes:
The Greens have scaled back their demands on housing, offering to pass Labor’s future fund bill in return for $2.5bn a year of direct spending and action on soaring rents.
The Greens and Albanese government are still locked in negotiations over the $10bn housing Australia future fund, with the latest offer from the minor party designed to allow the Senate to pass the bill in the June sitting.
Previously the Greens had demanded $5bn of direct spending on housing every year and a $1.6bn-a-year fund to incentivise states to freeze rents for two years and limit increases thereafter. The Greens announced on Sunday the party will settle for half as much direct spending, and $1bn a year to incentivise the rent freeze.
If you want to read more about the reactions this landmark ruling, try this piece from legal academic, Daniel Joyce, who was teaching a class on the topic of freedom of speech when the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation verdict was handed down:
Richard Marles: ADF must be held to 'highest standards'
The defence minister, Richard Marles, says he understands the defamation ruling in the Ben Roberts-Smith case “will be evoking a lot of feelings around the country”.
But in an interview with Sky News broadcast this morning, Marles held firm to the position that it would not be appropriate for him to comment on the civil case itself. He said the Australian government was not a party to it and because “the parties still have rights in respect of the decision”.
Marles went on to point to the government’s broader efforts in acting on the Brereton inquiry into alleged war crimes, the final report of which was released in late 2020:
I think what I would say, putting the case to one side, is that the Brereton report is a remarkable document and a remarkable piece and it really did seek to have Australia hold itself to account against the highest standards.
The Brereton report has offered the nation an opportunity and we as a government are very clear that we want to do everything within our power to implement the recommendations of the report to the fullest extent.
And that’s the path that we will walk – and that’s actually the path which in our view means that the standing of our defence forces, the standing of the SAS and elements of it, but actually the standing of the nation is maintained.
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NSW meningococcal alert after person dies from disease
People in NSW should be on alert for meningococcal symptoms after a Sydneysider died from the disease, AAP reports.
NSW Health today confirmed a person in their 50s died from meningococcal, while a Sydney teen and a person in their 60s from the Central Coast are recovering from the disease. None of the cases are believed to be linked.
Meningococcal symptoms include sudden onset of fever, headache, neck stiffness, tiredness, joint pain, vomiting and a rash of red-purple spots or bruises.
Meningococcal is rare but can be fatal within hours if left untreated, NSW Health director Christine Selvey said.
Early treatment is life-saving so it is important that symptoms are recognised early.
Defence minister meets with Chinese counterpart
The Australian defence minister, Richard Marles, has met his Chinese counterpart and called for “safe and professional interactions” between military planes and ships in the Indo-Pacific region.
Marles is also believed to have raised concerns about the ongoing detention of Australian citizens and human rights issues during talks with China’s defence minister, Gen Li Shangfu, at a regional security summit in Singapore.
The meeting, held on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue late on Saturday, was notable in large part because Li Shangfu had refused to have a formal meeting with the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin.
Li and Austin greeted each other during the opening of the forum on Friday evening, but in a speech the next day the US defence secretary said “a cordial handshake over dinner” was no substitute for substantive talks to avoid military crises.
Austin said:
The People’s Republic of China continues to conduct an alarming number of risky intercepts of US and allied aircraft flying lawfully in international airspace.
The Australian Marine Conservation Society said it was relieved negotiations on the global plastics treaty were finally progressing and hoped the draft treaty text would include ambitious elements to limit plastic production and offer financial assistance for small island developing states in the Pacific region.
The AMCS said it remained concerned some key states were resisting global measures to cap plastics production.
Plastics campaign manager Shane Cucow said without concerted global action, the volume of plastic entering the oceans was projected to triple due to rapidly increasing plastics production:
This treaty is our one chance to secure the global action needed to stop the flow of plastic into our oceans and ensure future generations can once again enjoy healthy oceans that are full of life.
We are pleased to see Australia showing leadership in these negotiations, supporting strong, binding measures to control the production and trade of plastic and its waste.
Cucow said despite mammoth investment in waste management, just 9% of plastic was recycled globally.
It is clear that we have already exceeded planetary boundaries for the volume of plastic that can safely be managed. We cannot recycle our way out of this crisis.
Australia helps ensure global plastics treaty limits production
The Australian government has played a leading role in supporting the inclusion of binding measures to limit the production of plastics in a draft global plastics treaty.
Negotiations for a global plastics treaty in Paris this week ended with agreement to develop a draft text despite resistance from oil-producing countries to efforts to cap plastics production.
Talks for the “zero draft” text will resume in Kenya in November and there is a mandate to deliver a full treaty text by the end of next year.
In Paris, Australia supported efforts to reduce the production of plastics to a sustainable level. Observers said the government was also in favour of a ban on certain types of plastics and chemicals of concern, which would be informed by a scientific process.
Good morning!
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will meet Vietnam’s top leaders in Hanoi today as part of an official state visit.
He’ll begin his day visiting the Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam’s communist revolutionary leader and first president, before meeting with Vietnamese prime minister Pham Minh Chinh, as well as the Communist Party general secretary, the president and the chairman of the national assembly.
In Paris, Australia has played a leading role in negotiations for a global plastics treaty in supporting the inclusion of binding measures to limit the production of plastics.
Australia’s defence minister, Richard Marles, has met his Chinese counterpart at a regional security summit in Singapore. He’s called for “safe and professional interactions” between military planes and ships in the Indo-Pacific region.
Today I met with my counterpart General Li Shangfu in Singapore.
— Richard Marles (@RichardMarlesMP) June 3, 2023
The meeting is another important step forward in stabilising the relationship between our two countries. pic.twitter.com/6qKMFAsKYf
Meanwhile back home, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has officially announced Cameron Caldwell as the Liberal National Party’s candidate for Fadden in the upcoming byelection in July, following Stuart Robert’s retirement.
On the other side of politics, it’s the second day of the Queensland’s state Labor conference in Mackay. Eden Gillespie is there and will bring you updates.
Let’s get into it!
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