What we learned; Friday 5 May
That’s where we’ll leave you this Friday evening. Here’s what we learned:
Australia’s free trade agreement with the UK will start at the end of this month, which will mean no tariffs on almost all Australian goods exported to the UK and more Australians will be eligible for lengthier working holidays in the UK.
Anthony Albanese has said there is “nothing to be served by” Julian Assange’s ongoing incarceration.
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, has cancelled two applications for coalmines in Queensland on the basis that proponents failed to submit additional information requested of them.
Jim Chalmers said next week’s budget would look to tackle “entrenched disadvantage” through a series of place-based initiatives “to try and shift the needle in disadvantaged communities”.
Gabrielle Carey, the co-author of Puberty Blues, has died.
Julia Gutman has won the 2023 Archibald prize for her portrait of Australian singer Montaigne, also known as Jessica Cerro.
A Service NSW worker is in a critical condition after being stabbed multiple times at a service centre in Sydney’s CBD.
A Bangladeshi student has died after he was allegedly assaulted during a break-in at his Darwin home, triggering a homicide investigation.
Father Bob Maguire was farewelled at a state funeral in Melbourne.
Thanks for your company this afternoon. See you tomorrow.
Updated
Abolition of ParentsNext is overdue but other punitive welfare programs remain
Parliamentary inquiries, experts, advocates, and Guardian Australia’s own reporting over the years revealed the same thing about the ParentsNext program: it was punitive and caused harm to some of the most vulnerable people in Australia.
Its abolition was long overdue and the Albanese government is to be commended for heeding the calls of those who argued for reform over many years.
In a budget that will probably disappoint advocates calling for an across-the-board increase to the jobseeker payment, the end of ParentsNext and moves to restore to parenting payment for those with children over eight years old represent a shift in thinking.
But it raises a question as to whether the problems within ParentsNext still exist in other parts of our welfare system.
Read the full analysis here:
Updated
