What we learned today, Sunday 4 February
With that, we are going to wrap the blog on this Sunday. Here are a few of the top stories:
A heatwave has swept across south-eastern Australia prompting warnings for people to take precautions.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has flagged his support for the creation of a Palestinian state on condition it is “demilitarised”.
The PM also defended his government’s shift on stage-three tax cuts saying his government has “listened” amid changing circumstances.
Tributes flow for the Aboriginal civil rights leader Lowitja O’Donoghue who died on Sunday, aged 91.
Australia will finally get vehicle efficiency standards with the government flagging it would like to pass the legislation by the end of the year.
Australia has backed US airstrikes across the Middle East.
We will see you back here again for more news tomorrow.
Updated
RBA expected to leave cash rate unchanged
Australians will hear from the Reserve Bank for the first time in 2024 and although interest rates are likely to stay on hold, concerns about inflation are likely to remain.
In a welcome development for borrowers, the central bank board is widely expected to leave rates unchanged when it hands down its decision on Tuesday after inflation data came in a little softer than anticipated.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, will also introduce Labor’s revamped tax package into parliament, with draft legislation released on Sunday outlining how the measures would further help ease cost of living pressures.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, Chalmers said the changes to tax rates and brackets are not expected to add to inflation, adding he and his treasury secretary had met with the RBA governor, Michele Bullock, to properly assess the economic impacts:
This is better for cost of living and better for middle Australia, but it’s also better for workforce participation and working incentives and labour supply.
But the inflation data combined with evidence of subdued spending and a softening labour market, most economists say the RBA has little reason to move the cash rate higher.
All 27 experts and economists surveyed by Finder expect it to stay at 4.35% on Tuesday.
The decision itself may be straight forward but the governor will have an opportunity to set the tone on monetary policy in a post meeting statement and press conference – the latter being the first since such a set up was recommended last year.
Bullock is also set to appear before a parliamentary committee on Friday.
- AAP
Updated
Peak motoring body cautiously supportive of fuel standards policy
The Australian Automobile Association – the peak body for motoring clubs across the country – has reacted cautiously to the federal government’s fuel standards policy for new vehicles.
AAA’s managing director, Michael Bradley, was broadly supportive of the policy intent but wanted more detail on how it would work in practice once introduced on 1 January 2025:
The government should be commended for pursuing this regulatory change. However, it must be transparent about the three scenarios presented; the winners and losers they each create; and their respective positive and negative impacts upon the price and availability of different vehicles.
The AAA encourages the Government to release its modelling so the millions of Australians to be affected by this change can understand exactly what it means for them.
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Queensland to ban rent bidding
Real estate agents and landlords in Queensland will be banned from accepting higher rental bids than the advertised price under a raft of housing crisis-fuelled reforms.
Queensland premier Steven Miles has unveiled a $160m rental relief package, the latest part of his Labor government’s long-term housing plan.
The extra funding will be distributed over five years among more than 20 existing supports and services, including bond loans, rental grants and rental security subsidies.
Rental laws will be beefed up under the package, with the state to ban rent bidding and enforce hefty penalties for agents who engage or encourage it.
Speaking to reporters today, Miles said:
The biggest thing we’re doing today is banning rent bidding.
I have heard from too many Queenslanders who’ve put their application in for a rental property thinking they would get it, only to find that someone else has bid more than the advertised price for that rental and they’ve missed out.
These new laws will stamp out that practice, will provide transparency for renters and provide an even playing field for everyone who wants that property.
A portable bond scheme will also be established, allowing tenants to transfer their bonds when relocating from one rental property to another.
In the interim, a bridging bond loan will be rolled out to help households afford the upfront cost of a new bond while still waiting for their old bond’s release.
Other reforms include setting up a framework to allow landlords and tenants to agree to modifications, a prescribed form for rental applications and a mandatory fee-free option for paying rent.
Tenants will also have to receive 48 hours notice before someone can enter and reletting costs will be capped based on the remaining time left on a fixed-term lease.
Queenslanders will head to the polls on 26 October, with a union-commissioned poll in December showing Labor trailed the Liberal National party 52-48 on a two-party-preferred basis.
– AAP
Updated
‘She was like a rock that stood firm in the storm,’ PM says of O’Donoghue
Anthony Albanese has released a lengthy statement on the passing of Lowitja O’Donoghue, describing her as a figure of “grace, moral clarity and extraordinary inner strength”:
Lowitja O’Donoghue was one of the most remarkable leaders this country has ever known. As we mourn her passing, we give thanks for the better Australia she helped make possible.
Dr O’Donoghue had an abiding faith in the possibility of a more united and reconciled Australia. It was a faith she embodied with her own unceasing efforts to improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and to bring about meaningful and lasting reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia.
Life threw significant challenges at her – not least a childhood in which she was separated from her family, her language, and even her own name. From the earliest days of her life, Dr O’Donoghue endured discrimination that would have given her every reason to lose faith in her country. Yet she never did.
Dr O’Donoghue was a figure of grace, moral clarity, and extraordinary inner strength.
She was like a rock that stood firm in the storm – sometimes even staring down the storm. More than anything, she was of the great rocks around which the river of our history gently bent, persuaded to flow along a better course.
With an unwavering instinct for justice and a profound desire to bring the country she loved closer together, Dr O’Donoghue was at the heart of some of the moments that carried Australia closer to the better future she knew was possible for us, among them the Apology to the Stolen Generation and the 1967 referendum. She provided courageous leadership during the Mabo debates and as chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission.
Dr O’Donoghue knew that our best future was a shared one built on the strong, broad foundations of reconciliation. As she put it when she was made Australian of the Year, “Together we can build a remarkable country, the envy of the rest of the world.”
Throughout her time in this world, Dr O’Donoghue walked tall – and her example and inspiration made us all walk taller.
Now she walks in another place. Yet thanks to all she did throughout her long and remarkable life, she will always be around us.
Updated
‘She will be forever remembered in our hearts,’ Dodson says
Former senator Patrick Dodson says the passing of Lowitja O’Donoghue is a “sad day for First peoples of this Nation”:
We have lost an extraordinary person of great courage and strength. Her leadership in the battle for justice was legendary. Hers was a strong voice, and her intelligent navigation for our rightful place in a resistant society resulted in many of the privileges we enjoy today. She will be forever remembered in our hearts. Galiya.
Updated
Burney pays tribute to ‘fearless and passionate’ O’Donoghue
Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney has released a statement after the death of Aboriginal campaigner Lowitja O’Donoghue.
Burnie paid tribute to the “extraordinary” O’Donoghue, saying “it is with great sadness and love that I pay tribute to her remarkable legacy”.
She described O’Donoghue as a “fearless and passionate advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians” who “displayed enormous courage, dignity and grace” throughout her time in public life:
Lowitja’s leadership and tenacity has been an inspiration for generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, including myself.
I had the great honour and privilege of working with Lowitja when I was appointed to the National Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation in 1997.
She was a truly extraordinary leader. Lowitja was not just a giant for those of us who knew her, but a giant for our country.
My thoughts and sincere condolences to her family.
Updated
Renowned Aboriginal civil rights campaigner Lowitja O’Donoghue dies
Lowitja O’Donoghue, a Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara leader and activist, has died at the age of 91.
The Lowitja Institute announced her death today. A pioneering leader in Aboriginal advancement and recognition campaigns, she was a “formidable leader who was never afraid to listen, speak and act”, her family said.
The statement read:
Yankunytjatjara woman, Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue AC CBE DSG, aged 91, died peacefully on Sunday 4 February 2024 on Kaurna Country in Adelaide, South Australia, with her immediate family by her side.
Our Aunty and Nana was the matriarch of our family, whom we have loved and looked up to our entire lives. We adored and admired her when we were young and have grown up full of never-ending pride as she became one of the most respected and influential Aboriginal leaders this country has ever known.
For more on this story, read Guardian Australia’s full report:
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Warning to beachgoers as drowning toll rises
The coastal drowning toll rose yesterday, with Surf Life Saving NSW saying it fears more deaths amid hazardous surf conditions and low-intensity heatwave warnings across the state.
One person drowned yesterday at Iluka Bay on the state’s far north coast; a body was found washing up on the rocks in the area.
This followed two near-fatalities at Puckeys beach in the Illawarra and at Freshwater beach on Sydney’s northern beaches. A 20-year-old woman was saved after she was pulled unconscious from the surf and a member of the public activated an emergency response beacon to call for help.
Police will also resume a search for a rock fisher who was swept into the ocean at Fingal Bay at 9am yesterday.
Surf Life Saving NSW CEO Steve Pearce urged the public to practise good beach safety:
We’re expecting extreme temperatures across the state today and, with the big surf as well, it’s a recipe for a dangerous day on our coastline.
We know the public is going to seek the beach as refuge from the heat and all we can ask is that, if you’re going to go in the water, that you do so at a patrolled location and between the red and yellow flags where our dedicated volunteers can see you.
Updated
Australia backs airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen
Australia air has once again lent “support” to US- and UK-led airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, according to a statement distributed by defence minister Richard Marles.
The deputy prime minister shared the statement this morning, a joint statement on behalf of the governments of Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and United States.
The statement said they had “conducted an additional round of proportionate and necessary strikes against 36 Houthi targets across 13 locations in Yemen in response to the Houthis’ continued attacks against international and commercial shipping as well as naval vessels transiting the Red Sea”:
These precision strikes are intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities that the Houthis use to threaten global trade, and the lives of innocent mariners, and are in response to a series of illegal, dangerous, and destabilizing Houthi actions.
Today’s strike specifically targeted sites associated with the Houthis’ deeply buried weapons storage facilities, missile systems and launchers, air defence systems, and radars.
The governments said they aimed to “de-escalate tensions and restore stability in the Red Sea” and sent a warning to Houthi leaders that they “will not hesitate to continue to defend lives and the free flow of commerce in one of the world’s most critical waterways in the face of continued threats”.
Updated
The Australian dumpster divers who find treasure in the trash
Tim Fisher stands with his arms on his hips, inspecting the bins in front of him.
“It’s always a bit of hit and miss,” he says, digging through the mountains of disposed food on a muggy night in Sydney’s inner west.
You never know what you’ll find – some of it is obviously about opposing waste and consumption, but some of it is the thrill of the chase.
Fisher has come equipped with plastic tubs, tongs, bags and hand sanitiser – and a sense of what to look for.
He’s part of a growing community of dumpster divers in Sydney who share tips and locations on private Facebook groups. Many are people looking to dumpster dive for the first time, interested in the practice as a way to live more ethically.
Grocery prices and supermarket profit margins have been under intense scrutiny amid an ongoing cost-of-living crisis. In January prime minister Anthony Albanese announced supermarkets would be targeted in an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission inquiry.
For Fisher, dumpster diving is less about saving money, and more about reducing supermarket waste:
It comes from a distaste for these supermarket giants, but it’s also altruistic in a way. We share locations with people, support food pantries and always leave food for others.
For more on this story, read the full feature from Guardian Australia’s Mostafa Rachwani:
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Uber hopes for influx of affordable SUVs
Uber Australia’s managing director Dom Taylor has also reacted to the Australian government’s proposed fuel efficiency standards, welcoming their introduction as a means to attract more affordable EV models to Australia.
Taylor said an influx of more affordable EVs would “address the biggest barrier we know drivers face when making the switch”:
It’s encouraging to see the government propose a fuel efficiency standard that will catch Australia up to its international peers and have a meaningful impact on the country’s emissions targets.
We’re working to eliminate tailpipe emissions from the Uber platform by 2040, and a robust standard will help bring a wider range and greater volume of lower-cost EVs to Australia, making it easier for rideshare drivers to make the switch to a zero-emissions vehicle.
This is great news for Australia, as our data shows an EV on rideshare can have four times the emissions reduction impact compared to private ownership.
According to a company survey of more than 2,000 rideshare drivers, half said they were open to buying an EV as their next car and a third planned to get an electric vehicle in the next year.
But many cited the high upfront cost and lack of affordable models as the biggest barrier to change.
Updated
Search resumes for fisher swept into ocean near Port Stephens
A search has resumed for a man swept into the sea while rock fishing near Port Stephens.
Emergency services responded to reports four rock fishers had been swept into the waters of Fingal Bay about 9.20am on Saturday.
Two men and a woman were rescued and treated by NSW ambulance paramedics. A fourth angler – a man in his 60s – was not found.
An extensive search began involving officers attached to Port Stephens-Hunter police district, marine area command, local water police, the police airwing PolAir, marine rescue and surf life savers.
The water-based search was suspended at 6pm, due to dangerous surf conditions but picked up again at 9am this morning
Updated
David Pocock supports fuel efficiency standards
The ACT’s independent senator David Pocock has joined the list of those throwing their support behind the government’s efforts to introduce fuel efficiency standards.
The senator said the proposed standards were a good starting point but there was “scope for even more ambition in what the government has announced to ensure a quick catch up and get us on par with countries like the US earlier”:
For years Australia has languished at the back of the pack. The absence of fuel efficiency standards have made us the world’s dumping ground for the most fuel inefficient vehicles.
Our lack of any standards has cost Australians at the bowser, and has damaged the climate due to high emissions.
Finally, we have an opportunity to turn this around. Australians will save up to $1,000 a year as a result of these changes, which will go a long way in the current cost-of-living crisis.
I congratulate the government on taking strong action on what was a key election commitment.
I want to see these new standards implemented as soon as possible and call on the government to bring forward the slated commencement date of 1 July 2025 to at least the end of this year.
Anything less ambitious than what is being proposed will increase the cost of transport and do further damage to our climate.
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Solid-state batteries: inside the race to transform the science of EVs
Working in the dry room at Deakin University’s Battery Research and Innovation Hub is no day at the beach.
“[It’s] more desert than beach,” says its general manager, Dr Timothy Khoo. “At the beach, you at least still get the moisture coming in.”
The 150-sq-metre dry room is, as far as Khoo knows, the largest in Australia for research purposes and essential to work prototyping and testing the next generation of batteries:
“It’s very difficult working in there for extended periods. It’s not dangerous but your eyes starting getting dry, your skin starts getting dry and it feels like you’ve been outside in the sun all summer.
The room must be dry because water, moisture and humidity is lethal to a battery during production. Contamination, Khoo says, means it might not work or its performance will be compromised.
Most will be familiar with the lithium-ion battery, first commercialised by Sony in the 1990s to power its portable music players. From these humble beginnings, the rechargeable lithium-ion battery is now king, powering mobile phones, laptops and – in their most high-performance application – electric cars.
One McKinsey analysis suggests the global lithium-ion battery market will grow into a $400bn industry by 2030. But with lithium-ion technology well-understood, those seeking transformative change are increasingly looking to solid-state batteries.
For more on this story, read the full feature here:
Updated
Nationals defend utes amid fuel efficiency standards release
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, has accused the Australian government of trying to take away the country ute and of discriminating against regional people ahead of its fuel efficiency standards release.
Speaking to Weekend Today, Littleproud was asked about comments by the former prime minister Scott Morrison that electric vehicles would “end the weekend” in light of the government’s plan to introduce fuel efficiency standards by the end of the year.
Responding to the question, Littleproud said “we need to let technology take its course and it’s not there yet”:
We can’t let ideology get in the road of practical reality. If you take away particularly utes, they’re tools of trade, particularly for people, not just tradies in the cities, but also people in the bush.
And if you put a tonne on the back of an electric ute at the moment, you don’t get far. And then if you put a trailer on the back of it, towing another tonne, you get even shorter distances. And so I’ve got properties, that are over a hundred kilometres to their front gate – 400, 500 kilometres to the town nearest them.
Though not available yet – partly due to a lack of support by the previous Coalition government for the introduction of electric vehicles, there are several EV ute models likely to be headed for Australia, including the Rivian R1t and Ford F-150 Electric.
Electric motors are also capable of producing more power than internal-combustion engines – a lesson the carmaker Toyota learned the hard way. In 2022 its engineers failed to calculate the additional force applied to the wheels from a more powerful engine on its first EV model, causing them to fall off and forcing a recall.
In 2018 a Tesla X electric vehicle broke a new record by towing a Qantas 787-Dreamliner 300 metres.
Updated
Climate groups support fuel efficiency standards
Climate groups and industry bodies representing electric vehicle companies have praised the introduction of fuel efficiency standards in Australia.
Behyad Jafari, from the Electric Vehicle Council, said previous governments had turned Australia into a “dumping ground” for fuel-thirsty, inefficient, petrol guzzling cars that can no longer be sold elsewhere:
Australia has always been at the back of the queue when it comes to the best and cheapest electric vehicles, because carmakers have been incentivised to offer them elsewhere first. That should end now with this policy, and Australian car buyers should notice the change very quickly.
By bringing Australia into line with the US and Europe, car manufacturers will now be incentivised to offer Australians their best zero- and low-emission vehicles. Motorists will still have the choice to buy what they want, but they will be offered much better options to choose from.
The Climate Council CEO, Amanda McKenzie, said the regulations were “simple and transparent” and encouraged the government to “put the pedal to the metal” to get them over the line:
Today’s important announcement gets us off the starter’s grid and on the road to cheaper, cleaner transport.
Many Australians are doing it tough right now, with petrol one of the expenses causing the most financial stress for households. At the same time, pollution from inefficient petrol-guzzling cars is fuelling harmful climate change.
By giving Australians better choice of cleaner, cheaper-to-run cars, a strong fuel efficiency standard will cut household costs and clean up our air.
The announcement has also been welcomed by the car insurance company NRMA, whose CEO, Rohan Lund, said it would open the market to greater options while adopting targets that were reasonable and achievable:
Australia could not continue down the path of voluntary targets as it left us behind when it came to choice and the NRMA is strong advocates for choice so that motorists can buy the cars they wish to drive.
The business as usual approach meant that Australian families and businesses were not benefiting from the best technology designed to reduce fuel consumption. The NRMA’s opposition to Australians being forced to spend more money on fuel than they otherwise should have to, is well known across the country.
Updated
Australia will finally get fuel efficiency standards
Australia and Russia have been the two only advanced economies without fuel efficiency standards.
But today the minister for climate change and energy, Chris Bowen, and the minister for transport, regional development and local government, Catherine King, announced that Australia will adopt the “new vehicle efficiency standard”.
The standard, which was made available online today, will apply to new passenger and light commercial vehicles in Australia, and bring it into line with the US.
Bowen said the standard meant Australians would save about $1,000 from 2028:
Because of a lack of action on an Efficiency Standard, Australian families are paying around $1,000 a year more than they need to be for their annual fuel bill – the Albanese Government is delivering long-term cost-of-living relief to fix that for new vehicles and put money back in people’s pockets.
We’re giving Australians more choice to spend less on petrol, by catching up with the U.S. – this will save Australian motorists $100bn in fuel costs to 2050.
This is about ensuring Australian families and businesses can choose the latest and most efficient cars and utes, whether they’re petrol and diesel engines, or hybrid, or electric.
The government will consult on the preferred model for a month and introduce the legislation as soon as possible, with the new cost saving rules to come into effect by 1 January 2025.
Updated
More rain for Queensland
Queenslanders can expect another day of wet weather before relief arrives as ex-Tropical Cyclone Kirrily makes its final run through the state.
Kirrily’s remnants are moving through the south-west along the Northern Territory border on Sunday.
The Bureau of Meteorology warns of severe thunderstorms bringing heavy rain, flash flooding and damaging wind gusts in western and north-western Queensland.
As the weather system made its way south, areas in its path could receive between 15mm and 50mm, bureau meteorologist Angus Hines said.
Across the border in the NT, eastern parts of the Barkly and Simpson districts face heavy rainfall that could lead to flash flooding today.
⛈️Storm forecast Sun 4 Feb: Severe thunderstorms with heavy rainfall/flash flooding & damaging wind gusts are possible in western & northwestern #QLD west of #Winton & south of #Croydon. Locally intense rainfall also a risk near ex-TC Kirrily. Warnings: https://t.co/HcPf611tYn pic.twitter.com/ShZYsI5txG
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) February 3, 2024
But Hines says brighter skies are coming early this week when the weather system finally leaves the rain-battered sunshine state:
On Monday, the whole system will move into northern NSW and should clear Queensland entirely through the day and not bring too much further rainfall there.
It would eventually cross the coast and clear away from Australia entirely about the end of Tuesday.
Despite the relief, the full extent of Kirrily’s damage may not be known for some time as regions continue to face flooding.
Strong, gusty winds and possible showers and storms could hit Queensland in the second half of this week even if the system does not cross the coast.
with AAP
Updated
‘Labor must stop backing the invasion,’ Adam Bandt says of Gaza
The Greens will this week seek to reverse a parliamentary motion that declared Australia “stands with Israel” and its right to defend itself, made before the invasion of Gaza.
In the 16 October motion, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, urged the Netanyahu government to “operate by the rules of war” amid increasing expectations at the time of an imminent ground operation.
As well as condemning antisemitic hate speech, the motion included recognition that Hamas did not represent the Palestinian people, nor their “legitimate needs and aspirations”. It passed by 134 votes – with just four Greens MPs against.
In the first sitting week of the year, the Greens will seek to pass a counter motion that states parliament does not support Israel’s continued invasion of Gaza and calls for a permanent and immediate ceasefire.
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, said “Labor must stop backing the invasion”:
Surely there has been enough loss of life for Labor to change position.
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Crisis-hit consultancies throw money at political parties
Consultancy firms and other businesses engulfed in scandals threw money at political parties last year as they struggled to contain reputation damage.
In some cases donations were made while politicians investigated allegations of wrongdoing and planned tougher regulations that could affect the companies’ revenue.
PwC Australia – which plunged into crisis after it monetised confidential Treasury information – donated $369,973 directly to Labor and the Liberals last financial year. This was a 50% annual increase and its highest spend since 2018-19.
On 24 January, a day after an industry regulator announced it had banned a former partner for integrity breaches, PwC Australia gave $49,500 to the federal Labor party. The next day, the treasurer declared he was “furious” about the breach.
For more on this story, read the full report by the Guardian Australia’s Henry Belot and Cait Kelly:
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‘We need to de-escalate,’ PM says of Middle East
Just to go back to the prime minister’s comments during his ABC Insiders appearance regarding the creation of a demilitarised Palestinian state.
Anthony Albanese suggested Australian support of a Palestinian state could be based on it being “demilitarised”:
We need to de-escalate. Part of that might mean, for example, any existence of a Palestinian state would be one that was a demilitarised state as well. Those are the sort of issues that need to be on the table.
Albanese did not provide additional detail.
In late January the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Gaza “must be demilitarised, under Israel’s full security control” once its military campaign had ended. He then went much further by stating that he would “not compromise on full Israeli security control of all territory west of the Jordan River”.
For more, read this Guardian Australia report from the time:
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Greens reiterate opposition to Australia’s support for Israel
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, has reiterated his party’s opposition to Australia’s support for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza before an appearance by the party leader at a pro-Palestine rally today:
Labor must stop backing the invasion. With 26,000 people dead, a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding and the international court of justice intervening, Labor must withdraw its support for the invasion when parliament resumes.
Since the parliament tragically declared its support for Israel’s invasion, over 26,000 Palestinians have died, many of them children. Israel’s government has cut off food and humanitarian aid, pushing Gaza into a humanitarian crisis.
Labor must stop backing the invasion and join the community in pushing for a permanent ceasefire, the release of the hostages and an end to the occupation of Palestine.
Pro-Palestine rallies have been planned in Sydney and Melbourne:
Sydney: 1.30pm at Hyde Park.
Melbourne: 12pm at the State Library of Victoria
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Australians can expect next election in 2025, Albanese says
Asked whether he will consider calling an election before the end of the year, Albanese says “I think three-year terms are too short,” suggesting that the next election will take place in 2025:
I’m looking at 2025 in the normal pattern of things. We will make a decision. That is, as prime minister in consultation. I think governments as a general rule should serve the full term and that means an election in 2025.
And then that’s a wrap.
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PM on inflation
There is a long discussion about tax arrangements before the prime minister is asked about inflation.
Albanese is quick to claim this as a win:
Not by accident. Inflation is coming down because of the responsible policies my government has put in place and in contrast with – you spoke about what happened before the last election – yes, inflation peaked in the March 2022 quarter before we came to office at 2.1%, and the response of the former government under Scott Morrison, and Josh Frydenberg and Peter Dutton all sitting there as part of the ERC, was to pour money into the economy, which made inflation worse. We’ve been dealing with that.
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‘I’ve listened to people’ on cost of living, PM says
Anthony Albanese is asked whether his word is still his bond.
His answer:
I’m an honest person. I am upfront. What I have done, what I have done here is be very, very clear. I’ve listened to people who are all saying, who are all saying, to me, “Well, what are you doing about cost of living? What are the measures that you can put in place?”
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Labor tried to amend stage-three tax cuts, Albanese says
Anthony Albanese says Labor attempted to amend the stage-three tax cuts but its proposal failed by a single vote:
What we did in the parliament in 2019 is two things. One, we tried to amend our the stage-three tax cuts. We weren’t successful. We failed by just one vote. When that occurred, we thought that we weren’t prepared to stand in the way of all of the government to say they knew what the economy would look like in five years’ time.
On whether he has broken a promise:
One of the things, David, I have done is go to the National Press Club – and say we have changed our position. Why? We listened to people and particularly low- and middle-income Australians are under financial pressure.
What I can’t do as prime minister of Australia is to wring my hands and say, “If only there was something I co-do about it” What we needed to do was to look at what is the best way we can take pressure off cost of living without putting pressure on inflation.
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PM on stage-three tax cuts: ‘Circumstances have changed. We’ve responded’
The prime minister says his government will make legislation on the changes to stage-three tax cuts available “later today” and that the bill will be introduced to parliament on Tuesday:
We want it to be passed as soon as possible. Certainly, it needs to be passed during this existing session, so as to provide that easy transition for employers, the tax office, for others as well.
Asked why Labor supported the stage-three tax cuts and didn’t take a better proposal to the election, Albanese says:
Circumstances have changed. We’ve responded.
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Australia urged to reconsider support for Israel after ICJ ruling
Anthony Albanese says his government is “examining” allegations by Israel that 12 UN employees were involved in the 7 October attacks by Hamas:
The issue here is one of deep concern, that this occurred, that there were some involvement and those allegations need to be fully examined to ensure that every single dollar of aid is go going to just that, aid.
Asked whether he believes there are links, the prime minister says Australia is following “the processes, along with our like-minded allies”:
All of us want to see the support for kids in – kids in Gaza can’t be in a situation where people with literally starving and the only organisation that can provide that support there is UNWRA. They are providing shelter for hundreds of thousands of people there. So it’s an organisation that has had bipartisan support - funded by Australia for a long time and funded by our like-minded allies as well, but we want to make sure that the organisation has every single dollar going to the purpose for which it is given.
Australia cut funding to the agency after the announcement of an investigation into the allegations by the UN. The decision came days after the international court of justice refused to throw out a case allegation Israel was engaging in acts of genocide.
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Any Palestinian state could need to be 'demilitarised', Albanese suggests
Asked whether Australia may follow the example of the UK and flag support for the creation of a Palestinian state, Albanese has reiterated his support for a two-state solution:
We support the right of Israel to exist within safe and secure borders but also support justice for Palestinians. We support a political solution in the region. It’s important that the international community play a role.
The prime minister suggested any Palestinian state could need to be “demilitarised”:
We need to de-escalate. Part of that might mean, for example, any existence of a Palestinian state would be one that was a demilitarised state as well. Those are the sort of issues that need to be on the table.
Updated
The prime minister says Australia has not been asked to contribute additional “support” and says his government’s focus is on the Indo-Pacific:
That’s something that the United States and our allies certainly understand.
Updated
‘We support the actions of the United States,’ PM says
Anthony Albanese says Australia supports the actions of the US in striking military targets across the Middle East, calling them “proportionate” and “retaliatory”:
We support the actions of the United States. These are proportionate, retaliatory for the actions of Iran-backed organisations and they are not an escalation. We think that the United States has got it right. It’s important that, given the attacks that have occurred by groups backed by Iran, there be a response.
Albanese says the actions don’t escalate tensions in the region and reiterated his belief that the US “has played a responsible role in the region”:
You can’t have the sort of attacks that we’ve seen and see no response. That’s whether it be the actions of the Houthis in targeting our trade, whether it be the attacks that occurred on Americans in Jordan. So you will have seen a response. We want to see the area settled down.
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The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is expected to appear on ABC Insiders this morning as parliament returns for another year. We will bring you all the latest as it happens.
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Heatwave settles over south-east Australia
People have been urged to seek shelter while avoiding sunburn and other illnesses as the weekend heat increases in Australia’s south-east.
Parts of the ACT, NSW, South Australia and Victoria are set for 40C maximums that many Western Australians endured last week.
Among the capital cities, Sydney is likely to face the toughest test with temperatures in western suburbs such as Parramatta and Penrith expected to reach 39C.
Melburnians will feel a top of 37C, while people in Adelaide are readying themselves for 36C.
People in regional Australia will experience the highest temperatures. Renmark in South Australia’s east is set for 44C, while Mildura in Victoria’s west is due for 43C.
While lower temperatures are forecast for much of SA and Victoria tomorrow, people in western Sydney have no such luck.
Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Angus Hines said people in suburbs such as Penrith and Richmond could expect temperatures of about 39C.
Many people on Australia’s west coast have enjoyed some relief this weekend after heatwave conditions last week.
People in Perth have a forecast maximum of 27C today. There were two days of extreme temperatures last week, including a record 45.1C in the Swan Valley in Perth on Thursday.
Conditions will remain hot in the north of WA.
– AAP
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Car park stabbing
Police have launched a homicide investigation after a 70-year-old woman was stabbed to death in a shopping centre car park in Ipswich, near Brisbane.
Emergency services were called to the Redbank Plains car park about 6.10pm last night by reports of the stabbing.
The woman had sustained life-threatening injuries and died at the scene a short time later after attempts to revive her failed.
Her six-year-old granddaughter was also assessed at the scene but was not physically injured.
A crime scene has been declared and investigations are continuing, with police asking for witnesses to get in contact.
– AAP
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Good morning
And welcome to another Sunday morning Guardian live blog.
Residents of the ACT, NSW, South Australia and Victoria have been told to prepare as temperatures are expected to rise close to 40c today, a week after Western Australians sweltered through similar temperatures.
Parts of Sydney are expected to reach 39C, with Melbourne topping 37C and Adelaide rising as high as 36C, with temperatures climbing higher in regional areas.
Queensland police have launched a murder investigation after a 70-year-old woman was killed in a carpark in Ipswich, near Brisbane. The woman died at the scene after she was stabbed and attempts to resuscitate her failed. Her six-year-old granddaughter was not physically injured.
I’m Royce Kurmelovs and I’ll be taking the blog through the day.
With that, let’s get started ...
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