What we learned: Sunday, 12 May
That is all for today folks. Thank you for joining us on the blog. Here is a wrap up:
Five state education ministers have urged the federal government to properly fund public schools ahead of the budget on Tuesday;
Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison has condemned a vote by the Australian government at the United Nations in support of giving a Palestinian delegation more rights;
Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers has promised a “balanced” federal budget that will combat inflation while offering Australians some cost-of-living relief;
Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor says the government should follow financial rules laid down by Peter Costello when putting together its budgets;
Warragamba Dam is spilling after continuous rain across the Sydney metropolitan area and reports of thunderstorms across northern New South Wales and south- east Queensland;
The Greens have called for the government to commit to making childcare free;
A tornado has hit Bunbury, about 175km south of Perth, causing millions of dollars in damage and scattering asbestos through the local community.
We will be back tomorrow morning with all the latest.
Updated
Asbestos emergency after tornado hits Bunbury in WA southwest
Asbestos scattered over residential streets has prompted a “hazmat emergency” response in Western Australia’s southwest, with specialist crews urgently working to contain any possible exposure following a devastating tornado.
More than 100 homes were damaged when the tornado ripped off roofs, collapsed walls and sucked up debris into the sky at Bunbury on Friday afternoon.
The town’s prison, a sporting centre, other community buildings and infrastructure were badly damaged but no one was seriously injured.
Seven homes have so far been declared uninhabitable and seven others were severely affected. That number is expected to rise after crews finish assessing the scale of the damage.
Residents living in three blocks have been told to stay away from their homes due to asbestos contamination fears near the Hay Park sports complex.
WA Premier Roger Cook says there is “a lot of asbestos in the streets”.
We’ve got specialist teams on the ground trying to clean that up but there are exclusion zones which ensures that we can secure the public’s safety.
Authorities are now turning their attention to recovery, Department of Fire and Emergency Services Acting Commissioner Melissa Pexton says.
Specialist contractors have been hired to sweep affected streets to reduce the size of the exclusion zone.
We are hopeful that in the next two to three days we will have that finalised and we’re very comfortable with the progress that’s being made; we’ll definitely keep the community up to date.
Nine people are booked into emergency accommodation and Bunbury locals will gather at a community meeting on Sunday afternoon to discuss what other services are needed.
- AAP
Updated
Elective surgery target slashed by Victorian government
A key target for 240,000 Victorians to go under the knife for elective surgery each year is no more, with the state government quietly moving the goal-posts.
In 2022, the Andrews Labor government boldly set itself a target to carry out 240,000 elective surgeries a year by 2024, as part of a $1.5bn Covid catch-up plan.
But buried in Tuesday’s budget papers, was a new, lower target of 200,000 for 2024/25 after failing to reach the earlier target in 2023/24.
The budget attributed the shortfall to continued demandfor health services post-pandemic.
In November, the state’s health Minister, Mary-Anne Thomas, told ABC Radio Melbourne the government would not stop until it hit the ambitious target, saying she couldn’t accept anything less on behalf of Victorians.
We’re going to hit it.
We will come very close ... and if we don’t achieve that target we’ll keep working until we do.
Thomas told reporters on Sunday that the government had changed the target because of staff shortages within the health system.
We’re still not able to access the workforce that we need.
We’re in a global war for talent when it comes to getting healthcare workers.
The opposition health spokeswoman, Georgie Crozier, says the government has broken a promise, leaving tens of thousands of Victorians to languish in pain waiting for vital surgery.
Whether it’s elective surgery, building hospitals like at Arden Street or the 10 community hospitals that they promised two elections ago, this government is full of broken promises and as a result it’s Victorians who are paying the price.
- AAP
Updated
Proposed laws will tighten Queensland’s assisted reproductive technology regulation
Assisted reproductive technology companies will face greater scrutiny and regulation under laws proposed by the Queensland government.
The state health service will be able to enter and inspect premises, put conditions on licences and even suspend or cancel non-compliant IVF clinic services, bringing Queensland into line with other states and jurisdictions.
A donor conception register is also set to be unveiled in the legislation put forward by Health Minister Shannon Fentiman following recommendations from a parliamentary inquiry.
Queensland has fallen behind the rest of Australia in regulating assisted reproductive technology providers, Fentiman says.
It’s so important that Queensland Health has the compliance and enforcement powers it needs to make sure that the services these companies are providing are safe,” she told reporters on Sunday.
There was really no powers for Queensland Health to be able to enter these premises, inspect these premises, make sure that these providers were doing the right thing by families.
This legislation now will give Queensland Health those powers that most other states already have.
The $2m donor conception register will allow donor-conceived people to access genetic and medical information from the past 50 years.
Counselling will be offered to those using the register as part of its implementation.
- AAP
Updated
Australians need more cost-of-living relief, higher wages, ACTU president says
ACTU President Michele O’Neil has called for the government to prioritise cost-of-living relief and support for continued wage growth.
Ahead of Tuesday’s budget, O’Neil says Australians have dealt with 10 years of weak nominal wage growth, while real wages stagnated under the previous 10 years of a Coalition government. But she says that had changed under the new government.
Australians suffered historic low wage growth under the Coalition government, and it remains the economic and ideological position of the Dutton Coalition to drive down workers wages as [an] answer to economic growth.
Wage growth has finally turned around as a result of decisions made by the Albanese government, and we expect the 2024 budget to continue to deliver on the economic conditions that support higher wages.
The government has made good steps in addressing the cost-of-living, with workers seeing improvements in bargaining rights, support for increases in the minimum wage, and a pay rise for aged care workers. Particularly important is the cost-of-living tax bonus from 1 July for workers who need it the most, as well as last year’s energy bill relief, which took pressure off household budgets.
Updated
Woman suffers serious spinal injury at Australian band Trophy Eyes’ New York gig
A woman has been left partially paralysed after the lead singer of Newcastle post-punk bank Trophy Eyes attempted to crowd surf during a show in New York.
Local news organisation WGRZ reported that Bird Piche, 24, attended a show by Trophy Eyes at Mohawk Place in Buffalo last week.
Video of the incident later posted to the band’s Reddit page shows the moment where frontman, John Floreani, jumps from the stage during a crowdsurf.
Floreani, however, appears to land on Piche’s head as others lift the singer.
Those who claimed to be at the concert posted in the Reddit thread that people thought the women had fainted but when she didn’t get back up, the show stopped and people, including Floreani, rushed to help her.
She was taken to a hospital emergency room.
She is thought to be in a stable condition with a severe spinal cord injury, although she still has use of her arms and is able to communicate through text messages.
Updated
Stores up in smoke following suspected tobacco war attacks
Victoria’s tobacco wars show no signs of abating, with two stores in Melbourne’s north-west suffering extensive fire damage after suspected targeted attacks.
Two tobacconists have been torched in more suspected fire bombings linked to ongoing tobacco wars in Victoria.
The stores at Hadfield and Gladstone Park in Melbourne’s north-west caught alight within the space of 45 minutes on Sunday morning.
Nobody was inside either store at the time and both stores suffered significant damage.
A burned-out ute remained in front of the Gladstone Park store on Sunday morning, while an SUV with major fire damage to its front was outside the Hadfield shop.
No arrests have been made for the suspected arsons.
Investigators are treating the fires as targeted attacks and will look at any possible links to other recent fires.
Victoria police set up Taskforce Lunar in 2023 to investigate the firebombing of dozens of shop fronts and other venues in an ongoing battle for control of the state’s tobacco market.
In April, assistant commissioner Martin O’Brien told a parliamentary inquiry that youths recruited into the illegal tobacco and vape wars were being paid as little as $500 to commit arson attacks.
O’Brien says gangs have stepped into the market as the cost of legal tobacco products soars, shipping in illegal tobacco and vapes from China and Arab nations.
The Victorian government has committed to establishing a tobacco retailer and wholesale licensing scheme in the second half of 2024.
- AAP
Updated
Australian data expected to show robust wage growth
Australian workers have likely logged a robust start to the year for wage growth, even as the jobs market continues to soften around the edges.
While the federal budget on Tuesday is likely to dominate the headlines this week, there are a couple of top-shelf data releases due as well.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics is scheduled to drop the March quarter wage price index on Wednesday and the April labour force report on Thursday.
Wages have been growing strongly due to a tight labour market and robust public sector pay decisions, lifting 0.9% in the December quarter, and 4.2% for the year.
For March, Westpac economists had a 0.9% quarterly rise pencilled in, keeping the annual pace flat at 4.2%.
The April jobs data from the statistics bureau will follow March’s unemployment rate ticking higher to 3.8%, from 3.7% in February.
Australia’s labour market has proved resilient in a slowing economy, although there are signs it is softening, with job vacancies increasing and the underemployment rate edging up.
The National Australia Bank business survey for April will be released on Monday, which will show how the private sector is coping.
There’s also a speech expected from Reserve Bank of Australia chief economist Sarah Hunter on Thursday, which will follow the central bank’s decision to keep interest rates on hold at 4.35% in May.
Local investors will assess modest gains on Wall Street on Friday as investors digested the Federal Reserve’s comments about monetary policy and eyed upcoming inflation data.
- AAP
Updated
‘Exemplar’ solutions to housing crisis being blocked by councils, resident groups
When a group of Melburnians banded together with a plan to build their dream homes, they did not envision the barriers they would face from local council.
The proposed development of 21 townhouses overlooking a creek in Eltham, on Melbourne’s fringe, promised environmentally-conscious design, plenty of shared space and respect for heritage and the local neighbourhood.
According to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, it is the type of project that “could and should have been supported and fast-tracked”, an “exemplar of an innovative approach” to dealing with the state’s housing crisis.
Instead, the Brougham Street co-housing project has been “met with substantial delays and opposition” from the local Nillumbik Shire council and residents group, in what Vcat says is a growing issue across the state.
“[It] is part of a wider trend we are observing, that will fail to produce appropriate housing projects that can start to address the existing shortfall of housing supply presently being experienced across metropolitan Melbourne,” Vcat says.
For more on this story read the full report by Guardian Australia Victorian state correspondent Benita Kolovos:
Updated
Auction activity has remained stable this weekend with 2,168 auctions scheduled.
This is just below the 2,202 held last week but a gain on the 1,692 auctions on the corresponding weekend last year.
CoreLogic’s found on results collected so far that the preliminary clearance rate was 72.6% across the country, which is lower than the 73.5% preliminary rate recorded last week but well above the 65.9% actual rate on final numbers.
Across the capital cities:
Sydney: 572 of 753 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 75.9%.
Melbourne: 766 of 1066 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 68%.
Brisbane: 103 0f 152 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 76.7%.
Adelaide: 60 of 115 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 91.7%.
Canberra: 35 of 69 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 71.4%.
Tasmania: Two auctions to be held.
Perth: Eight of 11 auctions held.
Updated
Thunderstorms forecast for south-east Queensland and northern NSW
The wet weather along the east coast is set to continue through Sunday into the evening with thunderstorms forecast for south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales.
Rainfall is expected to continue further south towards Sydney.
⛈️Qld Storm Forecast for today. Thunderstorms are possible in #SEQLD, including #Brisbane, #GoldCoast & #SunshineCoasts. Severe storms unlikely, though localised moderate rainfall amounts and small hail could occur with isolated storms. Forecasts: https://t.co/nDZJ7dDEq9 pic.twitter.com/MdPAoLfEUr
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) May 12, 2024
#Thunderstorms are possible about northeast parts of #NSW today, including as far south as #Sydney. This risk of thunderstorms will contract to the coast by this evening and then likely to clear overnight to a more settled day across the state on #Monday: https://t.co/5cuB2RjPZr pic.twitter.com/RqjFWKvLiO
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) May 12, 2024
It's continuing to #rain this morning along parts of the southern #NSW coast and localised heavy #rainfall is still possible. therefore the #SevereWeatherWarning has been reissued this morning: https://t.co/qhBsmBqtS2 pic.twitter.com/TQe8fwf8Sl
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) May 12, 2024
Updated
Celestial display lights up southern skies
Australians living in the southern states were treated to a light show on Saturday night as the aurora australis lit up the night sky.
Guardian Australia reporter Stephanie Convery snapped these photos overnight.
South Australia’s department for environment and water is encouraging residents to share their best photos of the event.
Wowsers, what a show! South Australians have been flooding social media with spectacular photos from last night's incredible Aurora Australis. Did you see it? Follow the link to share your photos with us #AuroraAustralis https://t.co/QKmzhgOrGW pic.twitter.com/HTpBXD81U2
— SA Department for Environment & Water (@envirosanews) May 12, 2024
Updated
Sudanese Australians desperate to reunite with families
There are renewed calls for the Australian government to set up a special humanitarian scheme for Sudanese people to be repatriated with families in Australia, similar to those offered to Afghans and Ukrainians.
A 48-year-old Sudanese-Australian civil engineer, Ahmed El Tahir, is among those desperate to reunite with his family which has been displaced to Egypt following ongoing violence that Human Rights Watch has described as a genocide.
El Tahir says the circumstances his wife and daughter are living under are intolerable.
When she (his daughter) hears a chopper or an aeroplane, she starts to hide under the bed.
My daughter is an Australian citizen and has her passport. I applied to get my wife here but ... I still haven’t received a humanitarian visa for her.
All my thinking is geared towards them. I can’t concentrate the whole time.
His seven-year-old daughter had no citizenship papers at the outbreak of the conflict in April 2023 to prove she could be evacuated with other Australian nationals, let alone with her mother who is a Sudanese national.
She and her mother had an arduous journey waiting for four months at the border crossing between Sudan and Egypt.
El Tahir says the government has not done enough to assist Sudanese people in similar situations.
We tried to mention this to (the immigration minister) Andrew Giles. We are Australian and are supposed to be treated the same but when it comes to the Sudanese crisis, nothing has happened.
- AAP
Updated
Victorian Greens call for universal free childcare
Ahead of Tuesday’s federal budget, Victorian Greens Senator Steph Hodgins-May has called for free childcare.
The senator says making childcare free would provide women with economic security and provide a “lifeline” to those seeking to escape violent partners by ensuring their children are safe while they try to find work. She cited research by the Australia Institute that found free childcare would combat inflation by boosting the participation of women in the workforce.
In this cost-of-living crisis, early childhood education and care is too expensive and too hard to access. As a result, women are missing out on paid work, they’re being left behind because they can’t afford childcare.
For women trying to flee violent partners, free childcare means women aren’t forced to choose between violence and poverty.
If we can spend $368bn on submarines, we can spend money on making childcare free for all parents across Australia. Labor must prioritise women’s safety.
Childcare is an essential public service, and for children the early years are the most important in their development. It removes barriers that limit choices for women, boosts women’s capacity to engage in paid work and relieves financial pressures in a cost-of-living crisis.
Hodgins-May replaced Greens Senator Janet Rice at the start of May after Rice retired.
Updated
New scholarship program will train regional nurses to treat endometriosis
Endometriosis Australia is partnering with the Australian College of Nurses to launch a scholarship aimed at delivering 100 trained nurses to regional, rural and remote communities across the nation.
The scheme, funded by government grants and community donations, will train nurses to treat those living with endometriosis without access to health services available in major cities.
Endometriosis is a disease that causes tissue similar to the lining of the uterus to grow in other parts of the body.
Its symptoms include period pain, heavy menstrual bleeding, fatigue, pain during sex and reduced fertility.
Director and co-founder of Endometriosis Australia, Donna Ciccia, said nurses better understanding the condition could drastically change how patients are treated.
Some communities only have nurses - they don’t have any GPs in town, or it might take longer to see a GP or clinic that specialises in endometriosis and pelvic pain.
Having a nurse that can dedicate more time so they can understand what’s happening to [patients’] bodies can be life-changing.
It’s also just awesome to have someone who [understands] endometriosis, that you don’t need to walk into a clinic and explain what endometriosis is.
- AAP
Updated
Government investment in extra urgent care clinics ‘misguided’, GPs college says
The Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) says the government has the wrong priorities on healthcare in its budget.
The RACGP’s president, Dr Nicole Higgins, says amajor investment in 29 extra urgent care clinics is a “misguided investment” when frontline GP services are struggling.
There is no substitute for the personalised quality care delivered by a GP who knows you and your history.
The urgent care clinics will make some difference, but the government should be boosting investment in general practice care so that no patients anywhere are left behind.
There is no greater health need right now than supporting people struggling with their mental health and suffering from chronic conditions.
Higgins says the urgent care clinics will “take years to roll route, create confusion for the public and disrupt care people usually receive from their regular GP”.
These clinics are also likely to redirect limited general practice workforce capacity away from regular clinics where they are needed most.
Updated
Warragamba Dam spilling, minor flood warnings for Hawkesbury, Colo rivers
Sydney’s Warragamba Dam is spilling over after reaching capacity following heavy downpours across New South Wales.
WaterNSW has confirmed the dam began spilling at 7.30am on Sunday following widespread rain across Sydney catchments.
The water reservoir last spilled after heavy rain on 6 April, causing catastrophic damage to some homes near the catchment area.
The SES has issued minor flood warnings for the Hawkesbury River at North Richmond and the Colo River but does not expect any significant impact to properties in the area.
There will possibly be low-lying flooding over roads but we’re not expecting major impacts like there was [during] the last spill.
Over the past 24 hours to 9am on Sunday, Sydney had recorded rainfall totals in excess of 30mm at Campbelltown (35.4mm) and Observatory Hill (31.2mm).
Heavy rain and significant runoff led to a 10-metre wide sink hole opening in a residential street at Dover Heights in Sydney’s east on Saturday night.
NSW SES Waverley-Woollahra Deputy Unit Commander Anthia Kollaras says:
We were on scene until 1 o’clock this morning, using sandbags and a retaining wall to divert water away from properties. The hole was quite big, and part of the road had washed away.
It was one of 273 incidents SES volunteers attended across the state in the 24 hours to 8am on Sunday.
– AAP
Updated
Executive Council of Australian Jewry: Australia’s UN vote on Palestine breaks with ‘like-minded democracies’
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin has responded to the Australian government’s vote in favour of a United Nations resolution giving more rights to Palestine:
As the government admits, the resolution alters practically nothing. The real obstacles to a two-state solution remain untouched. Hamas has not been eliminated, the Palestinian Authority is still corrupt and undemocratic and still won’t declare that it seeks a state alongside the Jewish national home and not in place of it.
Ryvchin says the Australian government has “broken with like-minded democracies” in casting its vote.
Australia voted in the same way as New Zealand, Japan and South Korea. The US voted against the resolution while the UK abstained.
Updated
Chalmers: ‘Deploying’ private investment a ‘massive focus’ of the budget
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, also flagged a bump in spending on Medicare, saying the country needs to train more health workers to meet growing demand.
There is a provision in the budget in aged care, early childhood education to make sure that we are paying people in the care economy what they need and deserve. This is also another important reminder that a budget which is primarily about cost of living and A Future Made in Australia [policy] also has really substantial investments in health and the care economy and Medicare, in housing, in universities reform and in skills you do need to train the workers that we’ll need in the care economy.
Asked what is its Future Made in Australia policy, Chalmers says the focus is “about grabbing these fast, industrial and economic opportunities from the fast growth” as the country moves to a net zero economic.
What you will see in the budget is a whole combination of levers to turn this opportunity into prosperity, whether it is using the tax system, whether it is using targeted grants, whether it is attracting and absorbing and deploying more private investment – which is a massive focus of the budget on Tuesday night. There will be a range of different levers and different measures and policies to make sure that we can make our economy an indispensable part of the global push to net zero [carbon emissions].
Chalmers says Australia isn’t trying to compete dollar-for-dollar with bigger economies but it wants the settings right so it can grab opportunities as they arise.
Our world is changing and the pace of that change is accelerating; other countries are changing their orthodoxies in order to take full advantage and we need to do that as well.
Updated
Chalmers: Budget will have short-term inflation focus, longer-term investment
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has kicked off Sunday morning with a media blitz, giving an extended interview to the ABC and appearing on channels Nine and Sky.
Speaking to ABC earlier this morning, Chalmers promised a “responsible” budget that would respond to persistent inflation pressures while offering modest cost-of-living relief.
Chalmers is trying to present the budget as a good news story saying “it is a good opportunity to remind people that we have made pretty substantial progress in this inflation fight” as inflation is “less than half of what its peak was in 2022”.
There is a really sharp near-term focus on the inflation fight in this budget. It’s the most important thing we can focus on in the near term but we need to remember that we have a growth challenge as well and we will invest in the future.
Challenged on the decision to tweak broad-ranging tax cuts instead of winding back or scrapping them, Chalmers said the government’s approaches “are bang on for the circumstances that we are confronting”.
We found other ways to provide cost-of-living help to those who may be not in the tax system, for example, or people who are under pressure in particular.
Updated
Taylor evasive on immigration detainee decisions made on Dutton’s watch
The back-and-forth continues between the federal government and opposition over former immigration detainees accused of participating in a violent home invasion in Perth, and whose fault it is that they were released into the community without electronic monitoring.
The coalition has been hammering the immigration minister, Andrew Giles, because one of the alleged offenders was out on bail and the government-appointed community safety board did not recommend he wear an electronic ankle bracelet.
Over the weekend, it’s emerged another of the alleged offenders was released when the Coalition was in government and Peter Dutton was immigration minister. Dutton and his shadow ministers, Dan Tehan in immigration and James Paterson in home affairs, have all called for Giles to take responsibility for the decision in the first case.
This morning on the ABC’s Insiders, shadow treasurer Angus Taylor was asked if Peter Dutton will now take responsibility for a decision made on his watch. Taylor didn’t answer directly but pointed the finger back at Labor.
This was an illegal arrival under a Labor government that gave this person a protection visa. So there’s a bit of hypocrisy going on here.
Expect this issue to get a bit of attention when parliament resumes this week, budget or no budget.
Updated
Taylor coy on full extent of Coalition’s plans for supermarket sector
On the National party’s push to break up Australia’s supermarket duopoly, Angus Taylor says Liberal policy is for a mandatory code for the supermarket sector.
Asked again about divestiture powers, Taylor says:
We’re working through the issue.
Updated
Taylor: Coalition’s nuclear position will be ‘significant change’ in Australia’s energy policy
Asked whether he believes nuclear power in Australia will deliver a financial return, Angus Taylor is bullish.
We’ll have more to say about nuclear in time but, yes, I do.
Taylor has also accused the government of being “mugged by reality” on energy policy saying “we have collapsing supply in Bass Straight and we need to get more gas out of the ground and into our pipelines”.
When will the public get to see the Coalition’s nuclear policy?
We have already been moving at a rapid pace towards nuclear, which will be one of the most significant changes in energy policy in this country in a long while. There’s a sense from some in the commentariat that we’re not contrasting with Labor. We’re making serious contrasts with Labor right now as an opposition and they’re important. Nuclear is one of them and gas has been another.
Updated
Taylor warns ‘major manufacturers leaving’ Australia
Angus Taylor says “we’re seeing major manufacturers leaving the country”.
It is worth bearing in mind that the first act of the Abbott Coalition government in 2016 was to demand General Motors Holden “come clean” about its plans for the future, which precipitated the collapse of a major manufacturing industry in 2016.
He says he has yet to see the detail of the government’s plan to encourage solar panel manufacturing or the plan to buy a Quantum computer.
Taylor is also asked whether a Coalition government would subsidise a nuclear power plant.
It has to be capable of delivering a commercial return. That’s an important threshold test for any investment.
Updated
Time to embrace free market, Coalition’s Taylor says
The key theme from Angus Taylor this morning is that the government needs to “get back to basics” saying that more housing and more manufacturing require an embrace of the free market.
You have to make sure you get your industrial relations right, which ensures that we have productive competitive workplaces, which are good for both employees and employers.
You have to make sure government is not getting in the way and you’re getting approvals done. Those there are basics. If you don’t get them right you try to do loads of government spending and it fails.
Updated
Shadow treasurer says government must ‘show restraint’ when it comes to spending
Angus Taylor is challenged on his budget spending claim, with it being pointed out that Labor’s spending increase is only 1.4% compared with 4.1% under the previous Coalition government.
The shadow treasurer says this is “going back to Covid-era spending”.
It is pointed out to him that it actually refers to spending over the past 30 years.
Asked what the Coalition’s proposed spending rule will look like, Taylor says it would involve “structural budget balance, not windfall surplus”.
What we’ve got at the moment is a focus on windfall.
Taylor says with Australian households “struggling with their budgets”, it’s now “time for the Australian government to show restraint”.
Updated
Labor should follow Peter Costello’s 1990s budget balance rules: Angus Taylor
The shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor says the government should be cautious about its spending or risk “another flop” in its 2024 budget.
Taylor says the government should “re-establish the fiscal rules that Peter Costello put in place back in the 1990s to have a structural budget balance.
The shadow treasurer accused the government of $209bn in additional spending since it came to power.
“That’s over $20,000 for every Australian household. I bet there’s not many Australian households out there listening to this who feel as though they’ve got that benefit. That’s what they’ve done.”
Challenging on this figure, Taylor says “it’s in the budget papers”.
Part of this figure includes automatic increases in Jobseeker and rent assistance, which the Coalition has supported.
Updated
And the winner is …
The 2024 Eurovision song contest has been decided with Switzerland’s Nemo taking out the competition.
It is the third time Switzerland has won, with the previous win taking place in 1988 when Celine Dion performed Ne partez pas sans moi.
Australia failed to make it through to the final after Electric Fields was eliminated but an Australian representing Cyprus, Silia Kapsis, did make it through and wowed with her final performance.
For more, check out the Guardian’s Eurovision live blog:
Updated
States urge fair funding for public schools in federal budget
The education ministers of five states have urged the Albanese government to fairly fund public schools in Tuesday’s federal budget.
The ministers for South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and Queensland joined the Australian Education Union and principals’ associations to call for the federal government to bring the School Resourcing Standard up to 100%.
The Gonski 2.0 education reforms require states to fund 75% of the standard for public schools, with the federal government funding 20%, leaving a funding gap. The education ministers say fair funding would lead to billions more flowing to schools that need it. Only in the ACT are public schools funded to the full standard.
The NSW minister Prue Car said:
State governments are facing unprecedented pressure as our public schools do the heavy lifting when it comes to educating growing populations, and supporting students with increasingly complex needs.
The Victorian minister Ben Carroll said:
Federal Labor changed the course of education funding with the Gonski Review, the biggest reforms in 40 years. Today, we have a collective opportunity to change course after the inequities delivered by the federal Coalition to the school system.
We stand ready to work with the commonwealth government to deliver fair and full funding to government schools.
The Australian Government Primary Principals Association President Pat Murphy said:
When it comes to education there is no bigger elephant in the room than why government school students are not funded at 100% of the Schooling Resource Standard.
Since 2012 when the Gonski report identified the minimum funding a student should receive, we see only 3% of public school students in Australia receiving this minimum standard.
The federal education minister, Jason Clare, has struck deals with the NT and Western Australia – who did not sign onto the call on Sunday – and has said as part of negotiations with the other states that he wants the extra funding tied to reporting obligations on the states.
Updated
The shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor is speaking to ABC Insiders host David Speers this morning.
Coming up on #Insiders with @David_Speers:
— ABC News (@abcnews) May 11, 2024
• Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor interviewed🔎
• 📸 Alex Lee
• 🛋️ Niki Savva, Annabel Crabb and Jacob Greber.
See you at 9am #auspol pic.twitter.com/rGsTNVcDUk
Earlier the treasurer Jim Chalmers spoke to Sky after the shadow finance minister Jane Hume was interviewed.
We will bring you the highlights from those interviews across the morning.
Updated
Morrison condemns Australia's support of UN motion on Palestine
Scott Morrison has described Australia’s vote in support of a United Nations motion to give additional rights to Palestine as the “most hostile act of an Australian government to the state of Israel in our history”.
The former prime minister said Palestine was “currently governed by terrorists” and that any recognition “must only occur where there is an agreement and when Palestine can be a functional state”.
This is the most hostile policy act of an Australian Government to the State
— Scott Morrison (@ScoMo30) May 10, 2024
of Israel in our history. Such recognition must only occur where there is agreement and when Palestine can be a functional state. It is currently governed by terrorists. It has been taken at a time when… pic.twitter.com/MtLvXNJiAJ
Labor backbencher Josh Burns, who supports a two-state solution, said on Instagram that Australia should have abstained from the vote while Hamas remained in power in the Gaza Strip.
An abstention would have signalled we’re open to further recognition, but that we acknowledge the short-term hurdles that need to be overcome in order to achieve lasting piece.
Anti-Semitism is on the rise in Australia and this decision will make Jewish Australians feel even more isolated as they remain gravely concerned for hostages in Gaza.
The foreign minister Penny Wong has defended the move, saying Australia’s vote is “the opposite of what Hamas wants”.
Australia was among 143 UN general assembly members to pass the resolution calling on the security council to reconsider granting full membership to Palestine. The resolution was significantly watered down in last-minute negotiations.
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Updated
Good morning
And welcome to another Sunday Guardian live blog.
Education ministers from five Australian states have urged the Albanese government to fairly fund public schools ahead of Tuesday’s federal budget. Ministers from South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and Queensland joined with the Australian Education Union and principals’ associations asking federal Labor to fully fund public schools.
The Labor MP Josh Burns and the former prime minister Scorr Morrison have been two of the more vocal critics after Australia voted in support of a United Nations vote on Palestinian membership. The foreign minister Penny Wong said supporting the draft resolution was not about recognising Palestine as a state.
I’m Royce Kurmelovs and I’ll be taking the blog through the day.
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