What we learned, Thursday 19 September
As the Senate-only sitting week winds down, so too does the live blog for today. Here’s what made the news:
Australia joined 42 other countries in abstaining in a vote at the United Nations overnight on a resolution demanding that Israel “brings to an end without delay to its unlawful presence” in the occupied Palestinian territories, and should do so within 12 months.
There was applause across the UN general assembly chamber when the motion demanding Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied territories was passed by 124 votes to 14 with 43 abstentions.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, says Australia should have voted against the motion with the United States.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has responded to criticism of the government not seeking to ban gambling advertising by saying that ads are not the problem, gambling is.
The Greens senator, Sarah Hanson-Young, described the PM’s comments as “dead wrong” and “weak” and called for the PM to “be better and not so crap”.
Forty years of unsolved murders in New South Wales will be reviewed and evidence that could be investigated with new technological advances will be forensically tested as part of the state government’s response to a landmark gay hate crimes inquiry.
Young Australians are significantly more worried about their financial future after the Covid pandemic than they used to be, a report from youth-oriented non-profits Orygen and Mission Australia suggests.
Australia’s unemployment rate in August came in at 4.2%, unchanged from July, and in line with forecasts.
Australia’s population has grown to 27.1m.
We’ll be back with the news live blog on Friday. Until then, enjoy your evening.
Updated
NSW government announces free weekend train travel in bid to avoid strikes
Trains will be free this weekend in New South Wales in a government effort to avoid industrial action that would have cancelled extra services getting fans to footy finals.
But the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) could still follow through with its threat to disrupt works on the T3 track’s conversion into a metro service by stopping work along the entire train line.
Earlier this evening transport minister, Jo Haylen, announced that rail travel would be free this weekend. She said:
We’re going to open the gates and deliver free travel for passengers this weekend so tens of thousands of families across our city can get to the footy.
We’re also making train travel free this weekend to give the works to convert the T3 line to metro a chance to go ahead.
We’re hoping that the RTBU will come back to the table and lift bans to get Sydney moving this finals weekend and build the infrastructure we need.
RTBU members had refused to work outside normal rosters unless the government cut train fares to 50c or lower, threatening to disrupt services during the Bledisloe Cup and NRL and AFL finals on Friday and Saturday.
But the RTBU NSW secretary, Toby Warnes, said earlier today that the union had inserted a clause in the paperwork to lodge its industrial action that meant its members would legally have to return to work if the government offered cheaper fares.
The RTBU and the government are still locked in disagreement over a new pay deal for train staff and safety concerns about the metro conversion of the T3 line between Sydenham and Bankstown in western Sydney.
The union said its metro concerns were separate from pay bargaining and could be resolved by carrying out a safety audit before the line opened and employing supervisor staff on each new train and station.
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The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has suggested his claim he apologised for remarks about “Lebanese-Muslim” migration being a “mistake” was based on a conversation with just one “senior person” in the community.
The opposition leader has come under renewed scrutiny for his 2016 comments due to reports in the Sydney Morning Herald noting that, despite having claimed in 2023 to have apologised, community leaders cannot recall him having done so.
Five leaders of Australia’s Lebanese Muslim community interviewed by the Sydney Morning Herald reportedly said they have no recollection of Dutton making that apology.
Asked about the apology on Thursday, Dutton told reporters in Brisbane: “Look, there are a couple of leftwing journalists who are obsessed on this issue, it’s not something I’ve got a further comment on.”
“I had a conversation, and I’ve had that discussion. I’m not going to betray that conversation with a senior person who was in the community at the time, the Sydney Morning Herald can obsess about that all they like.”
Read Paul Karp and Andrew Messenger’s full report:
Men fined $4,000 over Australian of the Year bets
Two Victorian men were sentenced with $4,000 in fines on Thursday over using inside information to bet on the winner of three Australian of the Year awards.
The men, both 39, from Mornington and Mount Martha were charged last year after an investigation into irregular betting on the awards.
The Australian federal police (AFP) said investigators found the Mornington man, then an employee of a federal government-owned corporation, was informed of the names of the Australian of the Year each year between 2017 and 2019 before they were made public.
That information was then passed on to the Mount Martha man, who placed 48 bets worth $2,469 on five online betting accounts, netting the pair $9,363.
The Mornington man pleaded guilty to one count of abuse of public office, while the Mount Martha man pleaded guilty to one count of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring offences of abuse of public office.
The men were fined $4,000 each, had their convictions recorded and were ordered to pay court costs.
Separately, in January the AFP charged a 48-year-old Sydney man for using inside information to win $7,542 on the Australian of the Year awards between 2017 and 2021. The matter was referred to the NSW Mental Health Review Tribunal for assessment, and there was no link between the two matters.
No Australian of the Year award winners were suspected or involved in wrongdoing.
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Report calls on government to ‘further explore’ using super accounts to offset mortgages
The economics references committee’s inquiry into retirement incomes has released its second interim report, calling on the government to “further explore” creation of special super accounts that are used to offset homeowners’ mortgages.
The committee is chaired by Andrew Bragg, the shadow assistant minister for housing affordability, who has been examining this as a way to expand the Coalition’s policy of allowing first home buyers to access some of their super.
Independent actuary Jonathan Ng told the inquiry that a super mortgage offset could allow Australians to own their homes sooner. For example a homeowner with a $800,000 unit and $40,000 from their super in an offset account could save $164,000 in interest over the life of their loan and repay their mortgage 3.6 years sooner.
Tabling the report on Thursday, Bragg clarified that super mortgage offset accounts is “not the policy of my party” but an option it is exploring to give people “more choice and more agency” over their money. After the mortgage had been paid off, funds would be returned to their super fund.
Bragg said in a statement:
Mortgage holders have faced 12 interest rate hikes under Labor because of their highly inflationary agenda and economic mismanagement. The committee’s second interim report offers a tangible option for Australians to reduce the overall cost of their mortgage, empowering them to use their own money to own their homes sooner.
Labor senators issued a dissenting report. Senator Jess Walsh said:
This undercooked proposal to raid your super to offset your mortgage won’t help anyone to buy their first home and it won’t see a single new home built when we know the answer to our housing issues is supply. The Coalition’s answer to every issue is to raid your superannuation balance. It’s reckless, dangerous and must stop.
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Many readers have been wondering today which aspects of the UN resolution on the Israeli occupation were of concern to the Australian government (Australia abstained on the resolution at the UN general assembly this morning, but said it did so with disappointment and had hoped it would have been in a position to support it).
Guardian Australia understands that Australia argued during the negotiations on the draft resolution that the wording mischaracterised a “prescriptive list of policy demands” as legal obligations on all countries.
Sources familiar with the diplomatic negotiations said Australia was already taking many of those steps, such as imposing sanctions on Israeli settlers, but “as a matter of considered policy not because we are legally obliged to do so”.
During the negotiations, Australia also argued the resolution included demands on matters that had historically been regarded as final-status issues to be negotiated between the Israeli and Palestinian sides.
For example, the resolution demanded that Israel allow all Palestinians displaced during the occupation to return to their original place of residence.
Here’s our latest news wrap on the issue:
Updated
And with that, we will hand over to Josh Taylor who will take you through the rest of the evening.
The Senate is being very senate-y – but none of the bills we have been talking about this week – housing, the EPA etc will be coming up for debate. So enjoy having all these same conversations again in the second week of October when parliament resumes.
We’ll be back with Politics Live then – until then, you can reach me at the usual areas (I am almost through answering your questions) – and please, as always – take care of you.
Updated
‘Leftwing journalists obsessed’ with Dutton apology to Lebanese Australians
The transcript from Peter Dutton’s press conference has lobbed, with this exchange:
Q: There was a story yesterday in the Sydney Morning Herald about an apology you made to Lebanese Australians. When did you make that apology and who did you make it to?
Dutton:
Well look, there are a couple of leftwing journalists who are obsessed on this issue. It’s not something I’m going to further comment on. I had a conversation and I had that discussion. I’m not going to betray that conversation with the senior person, who it was in the community at the time. The Sydney Morning Herald can obsess about that all they like.
Q: Not just leftwing journalists, Mazhar Hadid, who’s a Liberal on the Liverpool Council wants to know when you made it?
Dutton:
I’ve made comment.
Updated
The Senate is moving through its new order of business.
But the senators are also starting to look at the exits.
Updated
NSW retains Moody's triple-A credit rating
New South Wales has held on to its status as a reliable debtor, with global financial agency Moody’s giving it another triple-A credit rating.
In a bit of good news for government finances, the state will avoid the hike in borrowing costs that would have come with a downgrade, reflecting high agency confidence that the government will be able to repay its debts.
Treasurer Daniel Mookhey had previously warned the state was set to lose its Triple-A rating after an April carve-up of GST revenue stripped the state finances, and again when he revealed forecasts of persistent deficits in his June budget.
In April, he said the “GST rip-off” had sent NSW “back to square one [and] almost certainly will lead to a downgrade” – apparently trying to pre-empt any bad news on credit agencies.
But Mookhey on Thursday celebrated Moody’s judgment that NSW’s strong governance and management had offset the risks of inflation and costly new programs. He said:
This determination is an acknowledgment of the difficult work that has been done to wrangle the state’s debt back under control.”
For alternative agency S&P, NSW remains at an AA+, after being downgraded from a triple-A under the Coalition government in December 2020. Western Australia remains the only state still holding a triple-A certification from both agencies.
Victoria, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory have all maintained ratings that are positive but below triple-A in the last week.
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It is not the EPA bill – the agreement there is to keep talking on the government legislation.
This is about the cost protection bill – which aims to ensure people suing for sexual harassment would not have to pay costs if they lose.
Penny Wong is moving to guillotine the debate, so there will be a vote on it before the Senate rises.
Which means yes – the Senate will pass two pieces of legislation in the four days it has been sitting.
Updated
The last Senate-apoolza question time ends.
Penny Wong is now moving a motion to suspend standing orders to re-order business to consider legislation – which potentially means the Senate is about to pass its second bill for the week.
Exciting times. Two bills in four days – stunning.
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Parliament ‘acutely aware’ of effects of past policies on Indigenous Australians, McCarthy says
McCarthy she is more than happy for the interjection and says:
Oh, look, I’m more than happy for people to watch. I think it’s important that people should see what democracy is all about and how debates take place in this Senate. Those that are sensible and those that are nonsensical, but I will say this – that the policies of the past have impacted First Nations people, President.
We are seeing that addressed in the redress, as I was saying to the Senate today in terms of the stolen generations. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of families across Australia still traumatised by the policies of the day, by governments from way back in the 1800s through to the 1970s and I know that the parliament of Australia today is acutely aware of this.
Thorpe asks another couple of questions, but doesn’t get the answers.
Updated
Thorpe asks for acknowledgment of ‘genocidal policies against First Peoples’ by successive governments
Independent Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe asks the minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy:
Minister, you’ve stated that one of your priorities is to stop politicians using First Peoples as a political football. Your government said it is committed to truth-telling. If we want to talk about truth, let’s talk about how over 98% of First Peoples in this country have been wiped out in less than 300 years.
There have been over 500 documented massacres and our children are still being removed and locked up at growing rates.
Minister, do you acknowledge that since colonisation, governments have implemented genocidal policies against First Peoples?
McCarthy:
I think it’s probably my first question from you as minister. What I will say is that the history of this – well, first at question time. You’ve had plenty in estimates, no doubt about that and I’m sure there will be more to come. But certainly the history of this country is fraught with policies that have impacted very negatively the lives of First Nations people, whether it’s to do with the stolen generations now in terms of the high rates of removals from the 1800s, right up to the 1970s, what this government has done has redressed those issues in trying to work with the stolen generations …
Thorpe has a point of order:
It was about genocidal policies against us. It wasn’t about what her government’s doing.
Updated
Gerard Rennick:
Capitalism only occurs when people manage their own capital. This excludes politicians, corporate executives and superannuation funds who manage other people’s money. However, politicians and corporate boards are at least elected by taxpayers and shareholders. Do the boards of superannuation funds have to be elected by their members? If not, why not? Shouldn’t members get a say in who manages their money?
Katy Gallagher:
Well, the superannuation legislation is clearly around the governance arrangements for superannuation funds and they are accountable to their members.
And they must act in the best interest of their members. I mean that is a requirement of the legislation, so there are very tight laws and governance arrangements through APRA that are there precisely for that reason.
I mean members of superannuation funds are not often the most engaged members with what’s happening with their accounts.
We would like to see more engagement of course with people’s superannuation arrangements but the reality is certainly for large periods of people’s careers, they’re not and therefore the laws and regulations and oversight of that industry is really important and I think the … superannuation legislation and all of the other accountability mechanisms ensure the best interests of members are paramount.
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Government looking to help older, more vulnerable women
Gerard Rennick back with the super chat:
On average, men will retire with approximately 35% more superannuation than women, as many women choose to stay home for some of their career to raise their children. Wouldn’t it make more sense to reduce superannuation tax concessions and instead lift the pension and cut tax on low income-earners so that they and stay-at-home parents can live a better life in retirement?
Katy Gallagher:
Thank you and I thank you for the question on women and super and it is really important and I’m happy to have further discussions with you about what we can do to make it a fairer and better system for women.
Obviously the passage of the paid parental leave or super on PPL bill that passed this place this morning is an important step, as is increasing wages in those highly feminised industries like aged care and early education and care and for workers on the minimum wage, because those wage increases will actually flow through and contribute to higher superannuation balances as well. But I am open to further discussions and, indeed, I met this morning with HESTA, whose membership is 80% women, about improvements that can be made for women’s superannuation because, you’re right, women on average retire with 25% less super.
Women who are older are more economically vulnerable and we are looking at ways to strengthen that.
Updated
Superannuation not providing ‘good retirement’ for low-income earners, Rennick says
There are a lot of back and forths and people thinking they are very clever but nothing in terms of answers to report.
Gerard Rennick then gets the call and asks:
ATO figures show that the median superannuation balance for males aged 60 to 64 is $211,000 and for women $158,000, below the pension asset threshold of $314,000.
This means over 50% of the people about to retire approximately will still receive a full pension, the same percentage of retirees when superannuation began in 1992. Superannuation tax concessions cost the budget $50bn a year plus $30bn in fees but most of the concessions and fees go to the upper 30% of income earners. The pension funds 70% of retirees at a cost of $54bn.
Why does the Albanese Labor government believe that superannuation can provide a good retirement for low income-earners, when it clearly is not achieving that goal?
Katy Gallagher:
I hadn’t expected that question from you, Senator Rennick. But we are strong supporters of superannuation but at the same time we recognise that for the aged pension, it’s an important social safety net and that, at times, people will rely completely on the aged pension or they will have a mixed of aged pension with some superannuation in their retirement years. And as the superannuation system matures, we expect more people will benefit for higher incomes in the superannuation system but we also acknowledge that the aged pension is there as that social safety net.
Obviously, we are big supporters of super and increasing the superannuation threshold is part of that.
We have some legislation in this chamber now to, I guess, decrease some of the concessionality for high-balance super accounts, still highly concessional in the taxation system but less concessional.
And we would like that legislation progressed in the first instance, but we certainly strongly support the superannuation system, the concessions that are around it are around it for a reason and we accept also that the aged pension will be an important social safety net for those on low incomes even if they supplement it somewhat with their superannuation balance.
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Small regional businesses ‘shocked’ by IR ‘agenda’, McKenzie says
Bridget McKenzie asks Malarndirri McCarthy:
Many small businesses in regional Australia have been shocked at the impact of Labor’s industrial relations agenda, especially measures like multi-employer bargaining and right-to-disconnect laws that were never revealed by the Labor party prior to the election. At the National Press Club yesterday, Minister Watt was asked by [Nine newspapers] David Crowe if Labor will put your IR agenda to voters or will there be some surprises after the election. In response, the minister said, “Well, I mean, I think governments always take items to an agenda, and then deliver extra things after they’re elected.”
To reassure small businesses in regional Australia, will the minister rule out surprise and unwelcome Labor industrial relations reform after the election? Or should they brace for more unwelcome surprises from Labor?
Penny Wong says that sounds like a question “for the bloke sitting next to her” in reference to Murray Watt. Simon Birmingham, looking like he has waited for this moment his entire life, actually has the receipts of when he asked a similar question but this one was framed in terms of the impact on the regions, which is McCarthy’s area.
Sue Lines:
Thank you very much, Senator Birmingham. I’m pleased that you take an avid interest in the rulings I make from the chair.
Always good to have a Martin Prince Jr in the house.
Updated
At that, Tammy Tyrrell who has one more question says she doesn’t need it, as her questions have now all been answered.
Tammy Tyrrell calls for long-term funding for teaching program
Independent senator Tammy Tyrrell asks Murray Watt:
Teach for Australia is one of two programs under the high achieving and teachers program funded by the Australian government to place high-quality teachers in disadvantaged schools facing workforce shortages.
An evaluation of the program in 2017 found participants became high-quality teachers, delivered the skills schools needed and a majority stayed teaching at the schools for two years after their placement.
Teach for Australia is currently funded in small blocks. I reckon a program like this would benefit from more certainty. Does the government support longer-term funding periods for Teach for Australia and similar programs?
Watt:
I want to thank you on behalf of my family, most of who are or have been, teachers. I think we all – are you questioning something, Senator Hughes?
And I think we all understand the incredibly valuable role that teachers play in our community, educating younger people in school environments and preparing them for the future.
I’m happy to seek some advice, Senator Tyrrell, on the specific question about the Teach for Australia program and the government’s intentions for that.
And then there was a follow-up where Watt finds himself answering the question.
We do acknowledge there is a teacher shortage in Australia and it is 10 years in the making. Too few people have been becoming teachers and too many have been leaving. In December 2022, education ministers agreed to the national teacher workforce action plan, which sets out a clear pathway to address teacher workforce shortages.
And for the first time, the commonwealth, state and territory governments have been working together to tackle this issue, a novel concept I understand for people opposite – working together with state and territory governments – but as a result of that we have 27 actions in train across five priority areas, improving teacher supply, strengthening initial teacher education, keeping the teachers we have, elevating the profession and better understanding future teacher workforce needs.
So there’s no doubt whatsoever that we need to invest in the teaching workforce. All research indicates that the best thing you can do for kids’ education is invest in their teachers and that’s what we’ll keep doing.
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Terrorist organisations should ‘expect retaliation’, Dutton says
Peter Dutton also repeated criticism of the prime minister from this morning about his decision to abstain on a UN vote condemning Israel’s “unlawful” occupation of Gaza.
The opposition leader also commented on an apparent operation by Israeli intelligence on Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, using booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies.
I just think if you’re going to be part of a terrorist organisation, you can expect retaliation, and you can expect there to be a price for your murderous conduct,” he said.
Terrorists are involved in the slaughtering of women and children. We know with ISIS, as we do with Hezbollah, they don’t care for human beings. These are people who are involved in suicide bombings and terrorist attacks, and the fact that Israel has struck back against them shouldn’t surprise anyone at all.”
Among the 32 fatalities of the explosion was a nine-year-old girl and two health workers. 3,200 people were injured.
Updated
Dutton claims government responsible for increased interest rates
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has declared “this government’s increased interest rates on 12 occasions” at a press conference in Brisbane on Thursday.
The independent Reserve Bank raises or reduces interest rates, not the federal government.
Dutton made the comment at a press conference in Brisbane on Thursday, where he slammed the government over the latest jobs data, released today. Workforce participation was at a record high and unemployment steady on 4.2%.
Asked what policies the opposition would implement to reduce unemployment if they won government Dutton said:
If you look at the position that we had when we were in government, it led to an interest rate increase on one occasion, this government’s increased interest rates on 12 occasions.
So the government can say, well, here’s another $10 in your pocket through some allowance, but people are taking $100 out of the other pocket to give to the ANZ or to the Commonwealth Bank because their mortgage rates have gone through the roof under this government, and the Reserve Bank governor keeps pleading with the prime minister to not spend as much money in the economy because it’s inflationary, and inflation drives up interest rates, and interest rates are coming down in comparable economies, but they’re not coming down here yet, and they should already be down.”
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Wong to Greens: ‘You’re about building your brand. We’re about building houses’
Nick McKim follows it up with:
We’re very proud of Mr [Max] Chandler-Mather running rings around the prime minister, I’ll tell you that!
Senator, is your government seriously so committed to handing over $176bn in tax concessions to property speculators, to disadvantaged renters, that you would actually go to a double dissolution election to defend those obscene tax handouts?
Penny Wong:
First, senator, we’re going to give you another opportunity. We will reintroduce this bill, a version two, and we will give the Senate another opportunity, just as we did on the Haff, just as we did on the housing affordability fund, which you also delayed, we will give you another opportunity to vote for it. But what I would say to you is your interjection about Mr Chandler-Mather …
It really shows what you’re all about, isn’t it? It’s all about the politics. It’s all about the politics. It’s all about his profile. It’s all about him building his brand. We’re about buildings. You’re about building your brand. We’re about building houses.
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McKim says Greens ‘proud’ to stop Labor from making ‘housing crisis worse’
Nick McKim follows up with:
We’re very proud of trying to stop you making the housing crisis worse, Senator. But earlier this year, you were happy to revise stage-three tax cuts because circumstances had changed. The housing crisis has got massively worse since Labor came to power. Why won’t you negotiate with the Greens do help fix this massive societal calamity?
Penny Wong focuses on the use of “proud”.
I’ll take what Senator McKim said about being proud. Are you proud of delaying the more houses for low- and middle-income Australians? Are you proud?
Are you proud of negotiating with Mr Dutton and the Coalition, who only want some people to have the benefit of home ownership?
Are you proud of the spokesperson for the Greens, who is against 3,000 social and affordable houses in his electorate? Are you proud of that? Are you proud of that?
Are you proud of all the ways in which the Greens come in here, after having … social housing, affordable housing, in their own electorates and then come in here and vote with Peter Dutton to prevent us delivering more social and affordable housing? Are you proud of all that, Senator McKim?
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Wong says Greens were ‘embarrassed’ to vote on housing bill
Penny Wong to Nick McKim:
Senator McKim, you and your party have spent days in this place ensuring that we could not bring, even bring the legislation to a vote and you know why? You didn’t want it to come to a vote because you were embarrassed.
You were embarrassed.
You were embarrassed. You are embarrassed and we went through all these shenanigans in this place, including what we saw the other day, because you wanted to avoid a vote because you are embarrassed because you know you are voting against 40,000 houses for low- and middle-income Australians.
And now you ask a question about your demands and some attempt to try and tell people that actually we didn’t vote with Mr Dutton and the Coalition to ensure Labor couldn’t deliver 40,000 houses to low- and middle-income Australians. You interject on me because you don’t like the truth. The truth is you have been working with them to prevent us implementing our policy.
And now you come in here and you bleat about the fact that we haven’t adopted your policy! I mean, really? The fact is you’re working with the Coalition to stop houses being built. That is the truth and you should be ashamed.
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Greens senator Nick McKim asks Penny Wong about landlord tax incentives:
Senator, over the next decade, Labor plans to hand out $176bn in tax concessions to property speculators through negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount.
These pour fuel on the fire of Australia’s housing crisis, contributing to massive price rises that have locked millions of Australian renters out of home ownership and made it easier for an investor to buy their ninth or 90th property than it is for someone trying to buy their first home. Minister, do you accept that these tax breaks push up house prices and massively disadvantage renters trying to get into the property market?
Why won’t Labor negotiate with the Greens to curtail these tax handouts so more people can afford a home, rather than taking a bulldozer approach on your help-to-buy bill, legislation, which will only make matters worse?
(Someone asks if she is cranky.)
Penny Wong:
No. I haven’t had much sleep. I’m calm. Senator McKim, you know what our housing policy is, and you have spent days working with Senator Birmingham, working with the Coalition, to prevent more houses being made available to low- and middle-income Australians.
So I understand – I beg your pardon? I beg your pardon?
Liberal senator Sarah Henderson is yelling something across the chamber. Murray Watt asks her to withdraw as she “knows what she said”.
Sue Lines says that it is up to all senators to watch what they say.
Wong returns to the question.
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Wong says super for housing would ‘make the affordability crisis worse’
Back to Senate question time and Penny Wong takes the opportunity to bring up Saul Eslake’s report into the “super for housing” policy that Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has been raising. (Eslake was commissioned by the Super Members Council.)
Wong:
Mr Dutton’s only plan is to let young people raid their super to get into the market which will only drive up house prices and leave young Australians worse off by the time they retire. According to Mr Eslake, if super for housing was introduced, it would be one of the worst public policy decisions in six decades.
It would do little for the people most in need of assistance and do most for those who need it least. Super for housing – listen to this – would just make the affordability crisis worse.
Your policy would just make the affordability crisis worse. It would make it worse, but you don’t care. You don’t care, do you?
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NSW opposition leader says 50c public transport fares aren’t feasible
The New South Wales opposition leader, Mark Speakman, has said 50c public transport fares would cost the state too much money as he criticised the government and rail union for an impending service shutdown.
Speaking to reporters at NSW parliament this afternoon, Speakman said:
I don’t think 50c fares are practical ... The government has bungled the budget so badly it couldn’t possibly afford 50c fares.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union has said it will call off this week’s industrial action - which is set to delay trains this weekend and disrupt works on a new metro line - if the government caps fares at 50c.
Speakman also called on the government to take the RTBU to the workplace tribunal to force it to stop its industrial action and prevent disruptions. He said:
This is a bully union holding the people of NSW to ransom ... The government should be taking action now at the Fair Work Commission to get this resolved.
The transport minister, Jo Haylen, said tribunal actions were “not an avenue available to us” but negotiations with the RTBU were ongoing.
Speaking to reporters earlier today, Haylen also would not commit to a 50c fare cap. She said:
Public transport is already significantly subsidised.
If we were to reduce the fare box revenue, that would be less money to provide more services, and that would also be less money, potentially, for transport workers.
Updated
As Katy Gallagher answers two supplementary questions on the same issue, the Senate president yells “Senator Henderson. Senator Henderson!” repeatedly.
The questions move to a Labor dixer, where Penny Wong gets to deliver a monologue on the Greens and Coalition not passing the government’s housing legislation.
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Senate question time begins with question on inflation
The Senate question time opens up with Jane Hume asking Katy Gallagher:
My question is to the minister representing the treasurer, Senator Gallagher. Under Labor, Australia’s core inflation is higher than comparable economies, including the US, the UK, Canada, Japan, the Euro area, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and New Zealand. And our economic growth is lower than comparable nations like the US and the UK, with some nations already starting their interest rate easing cycles.
Minister, why is it that after three Albanese Labor budgets, Australians are saddled with an entrenched per capita recession, negative productivity, sticky inflation and interest rates staying higher for longer?
Gallagher:
I think those opposite, all of them, need to go and see a doctor, because I think they have the worst case of corporate and political amnesia that I have ever seen.
Sarah Henderson is on her feet:
Point of order [the senator was] reflecting on all senators on this side, given it’s dementia week, given the many implications of what...
Gallagher withdraws to “help question time run smoother”.
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Gerard Rennick’s People First party announces economic policy with ‘infrastructure bank’
Earlier today, the founder of the People First political party, former LNP and holey dollar enthusiast Gerard Rennick, announced his new party’s tax plans.
Rennick wants: lower income taxes, higher taxes on offshore profits, and monetary reform.
What sort of monetary reform? Well let’s head to his website where he tells us:
Australia should not just rely on Qualitative easing (changing interest rates) but also use Quantitative easing to fund infrastructure and Macroprudential measures to control capital funding. Interest rate manipulation has only punished savers and prospective home buyers.
The RBA should fund an infrastructure bank to build dams, power stations, railways, roads and ports. Focus should be on building Nuclear and high-efficiency coal power plants to power Australia into the next century and create manufacturing jobs in Australia. Profits from the bank can be used to provide better services.
The infrastructure bank is an old idea that was pushed during the Great Depression. The then Labor government wanted the then central bank, the Commonwealth bank, to fund infrastructure to keep Australians employed and the economy afloat. We know that didn’t happen, but it has stuck around as an idea.
Rennick also thinks superannuation should be optional, but childcare payments should be made to families directly rather than the providers, so parents can pay for at-home care if needed.
More broadly, Rennick wants to reform the federation:
Of all the issues faced by Australia, few are more damaging to our country than the fiscal imbalance and ambiguous responsibilities between state and federal governments.
He of course wants to remove “the jackboot of bureaucracy” to empower the individual.
And protecting the environment gets a subheading as well:
The greatest threat to the environment is climate change alarmism.
Money is being misdirected into “renewable energy” projects that are neither renewable, cheap or good for the environment.Real solutions aimed at reducing plastics, maintaining riparian zones, protecting biodiversity and land management should be the key environmental priorities
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Brace yourselves for week’s final Senate QT
We are now in the downhill slide to Senate yelling time, so brace yourself for the last one of the week.
The week of Senate-only question time has thrown up a lot of yelling and a lot of different issues, with Labor focussing its questions on housing. But beyond that, it has been hard to pick a theme.
Today will be no different.
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Faruqi says Labor standing ‘on the wrong side of history’ when it comes to Gaza
The deputy leader of the Greens, Mehreen Faruqi, says the Labor government should have voted yes on the UN resolution on Israel but instead had “shown itself to be gutless fence-sitters by abstaining”.
Faruqi said Labor was standing “on the wrong side of history” and “empty words”. She hinted that Australians who stood in solidarity with Palestine would punish Labor electorally.
Enough is enough. People are sick and tired of this. People in this country will not forgive and forget, and people will punish the Labor government at the next election.
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Albanese says whole western world is dealing with inflation
Anthony Albanese was asked about the US Fed’s decision to cut interest rates and said:
We know that global inflation is something that we have been dealing with. Global inflation has impacted the whole of the western world. We saw economies like the United Kingdom, Japan and New Zealand go into recession, we saw double-digit inflation in places like the United Kingdom and we saw interest rate go far higher in other countries than … here in Australia.
What we are managing to do is to try and land a decrease in inflation, which we have cut in half, while continuing to create employment. Today’s figures show 978,000 jobs created on our watch and unemployment rating remaining steady at 4.2%, while we are seeing wages increase, while we are seeing people being able to not just earn more but keep more of what they earn through our tax cuts for every taxpayer.
Interest rates, that is a matter for the Reserve Bank, but what we’re doing is putting that downward pressure on inflation while we are as well making sure that we address cost-of-living pressures because we understand that they are very real.
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Australia's population grows by more than 600,000 people to 27.1 million
As mentioned in an earlier post, population revisions have affected estimates of how many jobs have been created in the economy since May 2022.
The ABS’s latest population stats, also out today, show the wide (mostly brown) land hosted 27.1 million people as of March, a gain of 615,300 in the previous 12 months.
Of that gain, net overseas migration accounted for 83% and the balance of births and deaths made up the other 17%.
The pace of increase was 2.3%, down for a second quarter in a row from a 2.55% peak in the December quarter, to be back where it was in the March quarter of 2023.
Net migration was 509,800 in the year to March, easing from a record 559,900 in the September quarter. Still, that’s way above the 395,000 estimate for this fiscal year contained in the latest federal budget from May.
Assuming the numbers will end up being about 100,000 more than predicted for the 2023-24 year, will there be a big impact?
Well, the rental market is likely to be tighter than it would otherwise have been (since that’s where migrants usually turn up until they can purchase their own digs).
The RBA, though, tends to view the effects of extra population as balancing out as far as interest rates go. Yes, there’s more demand in the economy but there’s also more labour, skills, and so on.
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Reactions to Australia’s abstain vote on UN general assembly resolution
More reaction is coming in after Australia abstained on the UN general assembly resolution that called for Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories within 12 months. Here is a sample of reaction from prominent Jewish groups:
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim:
This comes at the very moment that Israel is once again under a ferocious multi-front attack … The resolution will stand as a monument to the moral abyss into which the UN has sunk. Australia should have had no part of it. It should have voted no instead of taking the morally cowardly way out and abstaining.
Zionist Federation of Australia:
By abstaining, Australia distances itself from its natural ally — the United States — who stood with Israel in this critical moment by voting against this motion. Australia has missed an important opportunity to take a strong stand against the politicisation of the UN and in favour of a negotiated, peaceful resolution benefiting both Israelis and Palestinians.
Jewish Council of Australia executive officer Max Kaiser:
We urge the Australian government to join the vast majority of countries in the international community that are taking a firm stance. Australia can and should be doing more to hold Israel accountable for its unlawful presence in Palestinian territories. The time for decisive action is now.
New Israel Fund Australia:
NIF supports Australia joining its British and Canadian allies in abstaining from this vote after attempting, unsuccessfully, to amend the resolution to reflect the timeline suggested by the ICJ …
In partnership with its international allies, the government needs to work towards ending the occupation on a feasible timeline, to help build a viable future for Israelis and Palestinians. However, instead of taking such steps, the far-right, Netanyahu-led Israeli government has increased settlements in the West Bank at a record rate and sanctioned settlers’ attacks on Palestinians living under occupation in the West Bank.
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Lidia Thorpe wins vote for regular reports on deaths in custody
The independent senator Lidia Thorpe says she has had a small win in the Senate when it comes to more transparency:
This motion was just passed:
“That there be laid on the table by the minister representing the Attorney-General, statements which detail, by state and territory, the number of:
deaths in custody, including breakdown by age groups and cause of death
ongoing coronial inquests;
incidents of self-harm in custodial settings; and
miscarriages and stillbirths in custodial settings.
That the statements are due not later than the tenth day after the end of the preceding three-month period commencing 1 January, 1 April, 1 July, and 1 October.
That this order is of continuing effect.”
Labor senators voted against the motion, but it was passed by the non-government senators.
I just successfully passed a motion to make the Attorney-General provide quarterly reports to the Senate about deaths in custody, ongoing coronial inquests, incidents of self-harm, miscarriages and stillbirths in prisons.
— Senator Lidia Thorpe (@SenatorThorpe) September 19, 2024
Everyone supported this motion except Labor. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/UIt2qR7p5A
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A million new jobs under Albanese government? Not so fast
Just when we were noting the Albanese government would have cause to declare “one million new jobs since we took office”, the champers is apparently being put back in the fridge.
Normally, if you declare a month ago that you’d clocked up 989,200 new jobs - as they did - and you register a net 47,500 extra jobs in August - as we reported here today - you’d expect at tally something like 1,036,0000.
Well, in the miracle of statistical revisions, the government now reckons its jobs gain since May 2022 is actually just shy of 978,000.
The change is apparently related to a revision to how much Australia’s population has changed. We await more nuance since it’s not clear why absolute job numbers should change instead of, say, the unemployment rate.
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Labor releases disability roadmap for next year
Bill Shorten and Amanda Rishworth have released the disability roadmap for the next year:
This roadmap includes the key actions all governments are taking right now to:
plan and implement reforms arising from the response to the Disability Royal Commission;
prepare for and implement a response to the NDIS Review;
progress legislative and other changes to the NDIS to improve the experience of participants and restore the original intent of the Scheme;
design additional Foundational Supports to support people with disability outside of the NDIS;
review and improve Australia’s Disability Strategy.
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Work planned to begin next week on jointly funded social housing project in Cairns
The Queensland and federal governments have made their official statement on the new affordable housing development they are jointly funding:
Work is planned to start next week on Queensland’s biggest ever social and affordable housing project, jointly funded by the Albanese and Miles Labor Governments.
The big housing build will deliver 490 homes in Woree and will be the biggest social and affordable housing project to be built in Queensland.
It’s aimed at older Queenslanders who are looking to downsize from their current home, and will in turn free up larger homes for families.
The complex will include 245 social, 223 affordable and 22 specialist disability apartments.
The purpose-built, architecturally-designed precinct features modern, low maintenance and energy efficient one and two-bedroom homes for people over 55 and those with disability, and is set among landscaped gardens and picnic grounds.
The Woree site has direct access to transport routes, the Bruce Highway, the local shopping centre and the Woree Aquatic Centre.
The project is being funded through the Miles Government’s Housing Investment Fund, as well as lending from Housing Australia, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) and ANZ as well as a capital grant from the National Housing Infrastructure Facility.
Community Housing Limited (CHL) and Tetris Capital are joining forces to deliver and manage the homes with construction undertaken by FCC Construction Australia and Modscape.
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How does Australia’s unemployment rate compare with other countries?
For what it’s worth, Australia’s jobless rate at 4.2% is in line with that of the US (also 4.2% in August), and the Federal Reserve has started to cut interest rates there.
The UK’s was at 4.1% in June and New Zealand’s at 4.6% (both in June), while the European Union’s was a hefty 6.4% (July) and Canada’s 6.4% (in August), according to The Economist.
The latest ACCI/Westpac business survey, meanwhile, found “a net 13.1% of respondents indicated that labour was more “difficult to find” in the September quarter, a modest increase from the net 11.7% in Q2.
Good if you’re hunting for work, but not so good if you’re hungry for an RBA interest rate cut.
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Unemployments rates by state: WA, SA and ACT lowest while Victoria highest
A bit more on the jobs figures. There’s a fair bet treasurer Jim Chalmers will soon be telling us the August labour market numbers mean there’s been a million jobs added since the Albanese government took office.
(Back in August, he’d put the tally at 989,200 taking into account July’s data - although my abacus had them at topping the 1m-mark by then. Oh well, time to trade it in, I suppose.)
Western Australia, South Australia and the ACT (which goes to the polls 19 October) get the bragging rights for the lowest jobless rates across the country, at 3.9%.
Queensland’s unemployment rate improved by 0.1 percentage points (seasonally adjusted) to 4.2% in August. Voters in that state are also going to the polls soon, on 26 October, and unless they vote really early, most will have September jobs data to mull over when they land on 17 October.
Of the big states, New South Wales continues to do OK, with a 4.1% unemployment rate (up from 4% in July), which might help explain why Moody’s left its triple-A credit rating intact yesterday despite the state’s budget woes.
And Victoria’s jobless rate was still the highest at 4.5%, but easing from 4.6% in July.
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Dutton blasts abstain vote at UN assembly, saying Australia ‘should have voted with the US’
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, used his regular weekly chat with 2GB to blast the government’s “abstain” vote at the UN general assembly.
Speaking to 2GB president Luke Grant, Dutton was asked whether abstaining was the right call. Dutton replied:
No, they should have voted with the United States.
That much is very clear, and that’s exactly what the Hawke government would have done, it’s what a Howard government would have done, it’s what an Abbott government would have done, and I think Penny Wong here is – and along with the prime minister, frankly – damaging our relationship very significantly with Israel, with the United States and with like-minded partners.
New Zealand, France, Japan and Ireland were among the majority of states that voted yes to the resolution calling for Israel to end the occupation of the Palestinian territories within 12 month. Australia was alongside Germany, the UK, South Korea and others in abstaining.
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Australia Palestine Advocacy Network ‘extremely disappointed’ by abstention in UN vote
The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network says it is “extremely disappointed” that the Australian government had not joined with New Zealand, France and many other countries to support the UN resolution overnight calling for end to the Israeli occupation within 12 months.
The network’s president, Nasser Mashni, said the government’s claim to support international law was not matched by action:
Australia, as a respected middle power, missed a significant opportunity to take a leadership role in ending the occupation of Palestine and ending the Gaza genocide …
Whilst the Gaza genocide is live-streamed all over the world with the daily horrors broadcast to our handsets, it is clear now that Israel will not stop without decisive intervention from third party states.
Penny Wong said earlier today that Australia had been seeking amendments to ensure that the wording more closely matched the advisory ruling of the international court of justice in July.
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Sydney Metro industrial action will cost taxpayers $100m a month, NSW transport minister says
The New South Wales transport minister, Jo Haylen, says there will be “significant” disruption to works on a new Metro train line at a cost to the taxpayer of more than $100m a month unless the rail union calls off its industrial action.
Haylen also warned commuters to prepare for limited services this weekend after negotiations with the Rail Tram and Bus Union hit an impasse on Wednesday night.
Train staff have refused to work outside normal rosters, limiting network coverage for the NRL and AFL finals and Bledisloe Cup on Friday and Saturday,
Addressing the media at parliament house this morning, Haylen hit out at the RTBU:
Don’t let your opposition to Metro stop people getting to the footy on the weekend .. that’s not fair on families. There is still time to reach an agreement.
The RTBU and the government are locked in disagreement over a new pay agreement for train staff as well as the union’s safety concerns about the metro conversion of the T3 line between Sydenham and Bankstown in western Sydney.
Updated
Hours worked rises by 0.4% in August as unemployment stays steady
Back to the unemployment figures: of the jobs added in August, 50,600 were part-time, with 3,100 full-time roles being shed. That will moderate the hawkish view that this is another particularly strong month for jobs.
Hours worked increased by 0.4%, though, underscoring what looks to be still a pretty tight labour market.
Much like the Fed Reserve’s interest rate cut overnight, the jobs figures are pretty close to what financial markets had expected. As a result, the Australian dollar was little moved, hovering at close to 67.5 US cents, and the stock market remained flat.
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NSW parliament Speaker warns MPs against offensive, racist or sexist language
The New South Wales parliament Speaker, Greg Piper, has warned politicians against using offensive, racist or sexist language in the state parliament ahead of question time.
He said that as part of implementing the Broderick report’s recommendations, he would issue a guideline that “exclusionary or discriminatory” behaviour would not be allowed in the chamber.
He said:
We can all agree that such words are beneath the dignity of the house and this guideline confirms the standards for conduct and language to be observed in this place. It will signal to the broader community the assembly’s commitment to upholding the standards expected of elected representatives.
He warned he could expel members using language, making gestures of behaving in a way that could be considered sexist, racist, homophobic, exclusionary or discriminatory.
Previous reporting on the Broderick report:
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Unemployment rate holds steady at 4.2% in August
Australia’s unemployment rate in August came in at 4.2%, unchanged from July, and in line with forecasts, the ABS has just reported. Employers added 47,500 more jobs last month, giving the Reserve Bank little cause for an early interest rate cut.
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Helen Haines calls for better government funding for outside school hours childcare
In the last question time in the lower house, Helen Haines asked out-of-school-hours care centres in her electorate that she said were in danger of closing after missing out on government funding grants.
Her office said seven services that offer out-of-school-hours care, mostly in small rural communities, were rejected for government funding in recent months, including some that have been reliant on funding for ten years or more.
Haines said she is aware of at least five services that are “at risk of imminent closure without a lifeline from the government”.
If these services close, parents won’t be able to work if they can’t find alternate care.
This situation will have devastating impacts on hundreds of families and their schools.
Haines says her office is now helping services apply for special circumstances funding to stay open, but it shows how big the need is:
Over 800 services across Australia met the criteria for funding but only 475 received funding. The need is huge.
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What about China infiltrating tech devices?
The Washington Post reports that the US and allied countries say they have taken control of a network of 260,000 internet-connected cameras, routers and other devices that the Chinese government had been using to spy on sensitive organisations.
Simon Birmingham is asked about this. He says:
Technology can and will be deployed by different actors for nefarious purposes, and that we must all be alert to how we build the protections for it.
But in relation to China in particular, this announcement by the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia identifying these actions comes, of course, just a day after the revelations that Chinese propaganda was celebrating and glorifying military actions that endangered Australian military personnel.
And it’s completely unacceptable to see these types of conduct occur. China is now a great power, a great economic power, and a significant military power, and it should be acting and we should be urging it to act in a responsible way, in ways that actually preserve the peace and stability of our region and the world, rather than undermine it and jeopardise it.
Sadly, be it in those aggressive military conduct or in areas of cyber attacks, the actions we see coming from the Chinese government or sponsored or tolerated by the Chinese government all too often undermine that peace and stability.
Updated
Birmingham asked about attacks in Lebanon
Simon Birmingham was also asked about what has been happening in Lebanon in a Sky News interview and said:
None of us wish to see a situation where the war broadens out into a regional conflict. And of course, we all wish to see ultimately steps taken towards peace. But we do have to remember that Hezbollah is a listed and active terrorist organisation that relentlessly sends rockets into Israel.
Just two months ago sent rockets that, of course, killed children in a playground in the Golan Heights, has displaced tens of thousands of Israelis from the north of Israel and from their homes, and acts in constant defiance of a UN resolution that is meant to essentially keep southern Lebanon as a demilitarised zone.
But instead Hezbollah are constantly using that as a base for their rocket and military attacks on Israel.
(Hezbollah denied responsibility for the Golan Heights missile, which hit the predominantly Druze town of Majdal Shams in the mountainous Golan Heights, close to the border with Syria. Israel has occupied the area since 1967, annexing it in 1981)
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Superannuation for parents on paid parental leave passes Senate
While all of that was going on, we neglected to tell you that a piece of legislation has passed the Senate – the super on paid parental leave bill has gone through with no amendments.
So huzzah! A bill has passed.
Updated
Daniel Hurst reported on this earlier, but you can watch Australia’s UN ambassador explain why Australia was abstaining in the vote, here:
Greens ‘disappointed’ that Australia abstained from UN vote: Hanson-Young
On Australia abstaining in the UN vote, Sarah Hanson-Young said Adam Bandt will make the party’s official statement later on in the day, but from herself:
I will say we’re disappointed that Australia abstained in this way. Many Australians will be disappointed that leadership from Australia was not taken.
What is going on in the Middle East is horrific.
It breaks my heart every day. Think about the death and suffering of innocent children, and Australia has to be part of the moral conscience of the globe. Enough is enough Australia’s abstention from that vote overnight, is extremely disappointing and will be breaking, lots of hearts right across the country today.
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Hanson-Young says Albanese needs to learn about 'give and take' on housing
On the housing legislation impasse, Sarah Hanson-Young says:
We don’t want things to fail. We don’t want things to not pass. We want things to get done that will actually help people.
And if the prime minister refuses to negotiate and wants to ram through or see his legislation fail, on the environment, on housing, that is on him.
That’s not the game we’re interested in. We’re not interested in games. We’re interested in getting outcomes.
That requires some compromise. It requires cooperation. It’s what the Senate is good at. The prime minister is failing.
He’s failing to understand that you can’t just push your way through his way or the highway.
He doesn’t have the numbers in the parliament. He doesn’t have the numbers in the Senate.
He has to work with other people, and it’s about having a bit of give and take. The prime minister needs to learn, if you give a little, you get a lot, and he seems to be failing at that part.
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Hanson-Young asks if Albanese can ‘just be better and not so crap’
Sarah Hanson-Young then spoke a little more plainly:
I think people are wondering right across the country, what is wrong with this government?
Can’t they just be better?
Can’t the prime minister just be better and not so crap?
Updated
Hanson-Young says it is ‘unbecoming of a prime minister to attack the Senate like this’
Sarah Hanson-Young also responded to the prime minister’s criticism of the senate for spending the past three days “talking” and not passing his government’s legislation.
Hanson-Young says he’s the issue:
Frankly, as the manager of Greens business in the Senate, I get up every morning, come into this place and work damn hard to make sure we can get good outcomes.
And I work with his colleagues, his Labor colleagues, to get things done, to cooperate, to compromise, to get outcomes.
It’s the prime minister this week who has refused to negotiate, behaved like a bulldozer, wanting to get his way, and no one else’s.
It’s the prime minister this week who held up the Senate from getting things done, and it is unbecoming of a prime minister to attack the Senate like this.
The Senate is full of members on all sides who work cooperatively together for outcomes.
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Hanson-Young says PM's comments on gambling ads are 'dead wrong' and 'weak'
Sarah Hanson-Young says she will be introducing new legislation into the Senate to ban all gambling ads and that the prime minister was “wrong” to say advertisements weren’t the problem:
The prime minister said advertising wasn’t the problem. Well, he’s wrong. He’s dead wrong, and it is extremely disappointing to see him backtracking.
The prime minister today has revealed that he had gone weak because of the lobbying from the bookies. A weak prime minister who cannot stand up to the pressures of the gambling lobby is not a prime minister that you can trust.
He needs to have the guts to do what’s right.
He needs to have the guts to stare down the bookies, to look after families and deliver the reform that everyone knows is needed. The prime minister said, ‘Oh, banning gambling ads is the easy thing to do’. Well, get on with it. Get on with it.
Updated
Peter Dutton is also holding a press conference today – he is also in Brisbane.
Anthony Albanese is on his way to Cairns before heading to the US for the Quad meeting.
‘We will continue to do everything we are able to do to seek peace’
Penny Wong was also asked about Australians who don’t think the Albanese government has gone far enough to pressure Israel to withdraw from Gaza.
Wong said:
I understand why so many Australians are concerned by the conflict in Gaza. 10,000 children have been killed. I am deeply concerned about the conflict in Gaza. And we will continue to do everything we are able to do to seek peace, and you’ve seen that.
You’ve seen us vote for ceasefire, you’ve seen us work with Canada and New Zealand at leader level statements to call on Israel, and other parties, including the terrorist organisation, Hamas, to agree to a ceasefire. You’ve seen us vote in a vote that was highly criticised by some for greater recognition of the Palestinian delegation at the United Nations.
You’ve seen us put sanctions on settlers. We don’t export weapons to Israel, and we will continue to look at ways we can add our voice to a pathway out of this conflict, because we also want peace in the Middle East, and we regret that we were not in a position to support this resolution, alongside the United Kingdom.
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Wong: ‘I don’t speak for the government of Israel’
Penny Wong expanded on her comments in a quick doorstop outside the ABC studios this morning:
Q: Should Israel take responsibility if it is indeed behind these attacks, or should it rule it out if it’s not?
Wong:
Well, I don’t speak for the government of Israel, that’s a matter for them. What I would say is we know that Israel lives in a unique security environment, and we also know that we see a cycle of violence in the Middle East. We would like to see peace and the peoples of the region would like to see peace.
Q: Do you think Israel is responsible?
Wong:
I don’t speak for the government of Israel.
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Wong asked if Australia ‘tacitly condoning settler violence’ by abstaining from UN vote
On Israel’s anger about the UN resolution (which is not binding, but is influential) because it “rewards” Hamas, Penny Wong said:
Look, our position is that, first, the October 7 attacks were an atrocity. What we also have said is that we want to see a ceasefire. 10,000 Palestinian children have been killed in this conflict.
Q: But by abstaining are we also tacitly condoning settler violence and a lack of willingness on Israel’s behalf to compromise?
Wong:
No, I don’t agree with that. And you see that in both what we say and what we do. I mean the fact that we have sanctioned settlers, and we have made clear we would deny extremist settlers a visa is a demonstration of our consistency around this, and you know, if there had been some, I think changes to the resolution, you would have seen even more countries’ support, and you saw a number of countries who were prepared to vote in the recognition vote and the ceasefire vote who didn’t support this resolution.
You know, so be it.
Countries have to make their, you know, the Palestinian delegation has to make its decisions. We would have liked to have been in a position to vote for a resolution that more directly reflected the ICJ advisory opinion, and we support many of the principles in the resolution, and we are acting on a number of the matters which are referenced.
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Wong on UN vote: ‘We were disappointed the amendments … sought were not accepted’
On the UN vote and Australia abstaining from it, Penny Wong said:
Frankly, we were in a position where we were wanting to be able to vote for a resolution which did reflect closely the ICJ opinion, which gave impetus to a pathway to peace, and we worked very hard in New York with others, including the Palestinian delegation, to seek amendments that would enable us to support it, as we did the recognition vote, and the ceasefire vote, where text enabled Australia to support it, and we were disappointed that the amendments that we and many others sought were not accepted. For that reason we abstained.
I would say there are many things that the resolution calls for we are already doing. We do not supply weapons to Israel. We have imposed sanctions on a range of extremist settlers, Israeli settlers, and we will deny any extremist settlers a visa to Australia. So there are things in the resolution we have already done.
We wish we were in a position to have been able to support it. But like the United Kingdom and Canada and Germany, we were not able to support it, and so we have therefore abstained.
Updated
Q: Israel is talking about a new phase of the war. How does this bring about peace in Gaza?
Penny Wong:
As I said, you know, we would say to all parties, as I have for some time, that the risks and consequences of a wider war in the Middle East for the security of all peoples, including the people of Israel, are potentially dire.
So we have continued like, as others have, including the United States, to urge restraint on all parties.
Wong concerned about ‘cycle of violence in the Middle East’
Penny Wong spoke to Sabra Lane on ABC radio early, early this morning. She was also asked about Lebanon and said:
Obviously Hizballah is a terrorist organisation supported by Iran, and is listed as such in Australia, but this does reflect the concern I have raised for some time about the possibility of a wider escalation, a regional conflict, and which is why I have been calling for months now for any Australians in Lebanon to return to Australia whilst they still can. The consequences of regional escalation are obviously substantial.
… We do recognise, as I said, Hizballah as a terrorist organisation, and we recognise the unique security circumstances of the State of Israel.
Having said that, you know, we are concerned at all the violence. There is a cycle of violence in the Middle East.
We continue to see civilians in Gaza lost, we obviously have seen civilians attacked in Israel, and our focus is to do what we can from a very long way away to continue to advocate a pathway to peace.
That is the only way in which we will see security for both Israelis and Palestinians and self‑determination for the Palestinian people.
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Today’s jobs figures to give the RBA food for thought
One gauge of whether Australia will achieve a “soft landing” for the economy as the Reserve Bank hikes interest rates is how well the labour market performs.
The RBA has a twin mandate of fighting inflation but also achieving full employment, although the latter is clearly the bank’s secondary concern. Last week, its chief economist Sarah Hunter made it clear the RBA thinks current conditions are above “full” and that the unemployment rate will need to tick higher to ensure the inflation genie is re-bottled.
Later today, the ABS will release August jobs figures that will reinforce or counter Hunter’s view.
As always, there are potential quirks. The July jobless rate that was reported at 4.2% may be revised up or down. Economists are predicting August’s rate will be steady at 4.2% - provided there’s no revision.
A shift in participation (a measure of the portion of working age folks who are in the workforce or seeking work) may also sway the jobless rate. In July, the participation rate hit a record 67.1%, so any retreat or advance could shift the headline unemployment rate too.
A better measure of the economy’s health seems to be the number of jobs created or lost, particularly full-time ones. Economists expect that employers added 26,000 jobs in August, or less than half the 58,200 (unrevised) added in July. (The workforce swells by about 35,000 a month.)
One landmark, though, might be reached. The Albanese government last month claimed Australia had added 989,200 jobs since taking office in May 2022. A tad over 10,000 additions in August may deliver treasurer Jim Chalmers his “one million new jobs” bragging point.
Stay tuned for the ABS release at 11.30am AEST.
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Bragg hits out at ‘Labor & Big Super’ after report pans idea of super for housing
Liberal senator Andrew Bragg is continuing to push for superannuation to be made available to homebuyers.
He sent out a response to a report commissioned by the Super Members Council, but carried out by independent economist Saul Eslake, which did not recommend super be used for a housing deposit.
We want people to own houses with their own money. Labor & Big Super don’t want Australians to have this choice. pic.twitter.com/7OHadI32KC
— Senator Andrew Bragg (@ajamesbragg) September 18, 2024
Eslake says using superannuation for housing would lead to more expensive housing:
We have 60 years of history, which unambiguously tells us, anything that allows Australians to pay more for housing than they otherwise could leads to more expensive housing and not more homeowners.
Of all the demand-fuelling housing policies, the Coalition’s super for housing policy would be the biggest – it can only lead to higher prices.
If super for house was introduced, it would be one of the worst public policy decisions in the last six decades.
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The Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young is about to respond to Anthony Albanese’s comments on the government’s plan for gambling ads.
The proposal is not yet public, but the one which went to cabinet was a partial ban. It looks like from the PM’s “the problem isn’t advertising, the problem is gambling” comments this morning, this is what will be put in front of the parliament soon too.
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Sport to learn if they will be cut from Commonwealth Games
Given the Commonwealth Games were originally meant to be held in Melbourne and Glasgow has picked them up (albeit reduced) it might be worth having a check in.
AAP reports we the Australian Commonwealth Games Association (CGA), headed by Craig Phillips, will meet with the heads of 22 sports on Friday after confirmation that Scotland will host the event in two years’ time, to see what sports will be included.
With the Games funded by compensation paid by the Victorian government, which pulled out last year citing spiralling costs, Glasgow will be the site of a pared-down festival - with, basically, half the 19 sports in Birmingham, England, in 2022.
While Phillips sits on the executive board of the Commonwealth Games Federation, he said that, as Australia were no longer hosts, they would have no input into which sports would take part.
Glasgow intend the event to be staged at four existing venues, which Phillips said gave a strong indication to what sports that may be.
He said the CGA planned to keep the 22 sports under their umbrella regardless of whether they were part of the Glasgow program, although didn’t commit to the same funding level.
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New Zealand economy shrinks again as GDP figures confirm downturn
While we are taking a look at some global economies, New Zealand’s economy has again gone backwards, AAP reports:
On Thursday, Stats NZ confirmed the Kiwi economy contracted by 0.2% in the quarter to June, and 0.2% in the previous 12 months.
It is the fifth quarter in the last seven that GDP figures have been in the red, confirming an economy in retreat, ravaged by high interest rates.
Even more dire was the GDP per head result, an 0.5% fall, marking the seventh consecutive quarter of negative results.
The GDP per capita figures show the Kiwi economy has essentially been propped up by bumper migration in the past two years.
Leading the losses in the June quarter were primary industries, with agriculture dropping 1.4 per cent and mining by 3.7%.
The services sector, which makes up three-quarters of the Kiwi economy, was flat, though wholesale and retail trade also both fell by 1.3%.
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Treasurer says ‘do not travel to Lebanon’ as he raises concerns about wider conflict
On what is happening in Lebanon, Jim Chalmers says:
We’ve made it clear Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation, it’s prescribed under the Australian regime.
What we’re seeing in Lebanon is some quite remarkable scenes, and for us more broadly, from an Australian point of view, we are gravely concerned about the human consequences of an escalation of a much broader and wider regional conflict in the Middle East.
We’re worried about the human consequences of that primarily, but the economic fallout as well, and it’s another reminder I think to Australians, do not travel to Lebanon.
We’ve been saying that for some time now. Make sure you don’t go near Lebanon, it is a dangerous place for Australians to visit right now and we’re seeing that in some of this footage.
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But don’t expect a change from the RBA in the near future.
Jim Chalmers:
When it comes to the Australian situation, we’ve got inflation coming off pretty substantially, the Reserve Bank will weigh that up. The jobs market here in Australia has been pretty resilient. We’ve seen the unemployment rate come up a bit in the last year or so, we’ve seen job ads come off a bit, but we’ve seen around a million jobs created in our economy.
We’ll get an update on that at 11.30 today, but in the context of a slowing economy and a softening labour market, creating a million jobs under this Albanese Labor government is a pretty remarkable feat. It’s a tribute to our people, their economy, employers and workers.
No government has ever seen in one parliamentary term a million jobs created before, and so that would be a pretty remarkable thing and it’s all about our efforts to make sure that more people are working, earning more and keeping more of what they earn.
We’re making progress on all three of those fronts and that’s a good thing.
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Chalmers on rates: ‘We need to see [inflation] come down a bit more
Also on the Nine network, Jim Chalmers spoke about the US Fed cutting interest rates for the first time in four years:
What we saw in the US overnight was pretty much expected. People were expecting a rate cut there. It’s really important to remember that rates went up by more in the US than they did in Australia and even after this interest rate cut overnight in the US, interest rates are still higher in the US than they are here.
When the Reserve Bank meets next week they will consider a whole range of things including that, but they’ll be primarily focused on inflation, as the government is. Inflation had a six in front of it when we came to office, it’s halved since its peak in that year that we were elected, but we need to see it come down a bit more, and we’ll get some new inflation figures in the middle of next week which will tell us a bit more about how we’re going.
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Michaelia Cash then repeated that line for a third time:
Perhaps the terrorist organisation needs to have a bit of a think about what it does. Again though, Israel, all it’s doing is sending a clear message, “just stop attacking us, we want to live in peace just like everybody else”.
Her comments reminded a blog watcher of something they had read this morning – the Australian newspaper’s Greg Sheridan wrote an analysis on the situation which was published this morning. The headline?
“Israel’s message to terrorists is simple: ‘Just stop attacking us’”
Michaelia Cash says ‘Israel is just sending a clear message’
Michaelia Cash continued, telling the Nine network:
I lived in northern Israel 30 years ago. I lived up there, I experienced the Katyusha missiles coming over on a regular basis. That is life in Israel.
They [Hezbollah] are a listed terrorist organisation who have been indiscriminately attacking Israel for decades in a demilitarised zone, but since October 7, they have been attacking them almost every single day.
So, Israel is just sending a clear message, as distressing as that message must be, “just stop attacking us”.
The one thing I learnt when I lived there is they all ultimately wanted to live in peace.
Well then, the terrorists need to stop attacking Israel.
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Cash and McCarthy asked about attacks in Lebanon
Liberal senator Michaelia Cash and Labor senator Malarndirri McCarthy have been asked about the latest attack in Lebanon.
As Julian Borger writes in his analysis, “Israel has not admitted responsibility for the blasts but there is little doubt around the region that this was an operation bearing the Mossad’s hallmarks”.
McCarthy said it was “incredibly alarming in terms of the way it’s occurring”.
To hear the news yesterday of what occurred, now this morning we’re hearing different news. Obviously, our concern as the Australian government is to see a de-escalation of tension in the region. We certainly don’t want to see any escalation there or any thoughts or plans for war. It’s not something that we want to happen, and we’re certainly making sure through our foreign minister Penny Wong, in her discussions across the Middle East, ensuring that they know Australia’s point.
Michaelia Cash was more bullish:
Let’s be very clear here. What is Israel doing and saying? They’re sending a very clear message to the terrorists, “just stop attacking us”.
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Greens senator says early education and childcare system ‘broken’
Greens senator Steph Hodgins-May’s staff are very quick off the mark this morning. Hodgins-May responded to Anthony Albanese’s comments about not responding to the Productivity Commission’s 56 recommendations on early childhood education and childcare.
Prime Minister Albanese’s lack of a commitment to universal childcare in this term on RN this morning is proof of yet more government delay on any real reform for early childhood education and care.
This year, we’ve had two government-commissioned reports on childcare released from the ACCC and now the Productivity Commission - both of which confirmed a broken early education system in Australia.
… The government needs to get on with the job and deliver concrete action to make childcare not just universal but free for all children, just like primary and secondary school.
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Eyes on RBA after US Federal Reserve cuts interest rates
As financial markets expected, the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, sliced half a percentage point off official interest rates overnight, the first US rate cut in four years.
The cut, lowering the target rate to a range of 4.75%-5%, will probably be followed by two more reductions by the year’s end – both of them coming after the 5 November presidential election.
The Fed clearly thinks inflation in the US has been quelled and it needed to cut deep to avoid a too-rapid slowdown in the world’s largest economy. As most US borrowers are on fixed terms, cuts don’t have the same near-instant demand boost as Australia’s variable-rate loans would.
Australians, naturally, will ask: can the Reserve Bank start its rate cuts soon, such as at its two-day meeting next Monday and Tuesday? The likely answer: no.
The RBA governor, Michele Bullock, has made it clear Australian conditions are different from peer economies, as is its inflation target (2%-3%). Bullock has also said a rate cut is unlikely this year (making its February meeting, to kick off 2025, the soonest a reduction might land).
She made those comments at a time when financial markets had already priced in a Fed cut this week. Indeed, the Australian dollar was only marginally stronger overnight, at 67.6 US cents in recent trading, because of those expectations.
Still, rate cuts are happening in Europe, Canada and now the US, so the Aussie dollar will tend to be stronger. On the margin, that means imports get cheaper and that helps lower Australia’s inflation rate.
All-seeing markets (until they get surprised) expect the RBA to leave the cash rate unchanged at 4.35% next Tuesday - where it’s sat since last November.
Monthly inflation figures land the next day, with the prospect of another drop from July’s 3.5% reading. More of those falls – especially for the more comprehensive quarterly CPI figures – will be needed before the RBA is ready to follow the Fed.
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Albanese says government will ‘respond appropriately’ to childcare report – but it will take time
And circling back to the Productivity Commission report on childcare, Anthony Albanese says the government will “respond appropriately”.
But it won’t be all done before the next election. Which isn’t new – the plan to make childcare universal is a 10-year plan, which is something Albanese has spoken about before.
We do think this is something that wouldn’t be achieved in just one term. I indicated that before the last election, but we’ve made significant advances on our agenda in our first term. There is more to do in our second term.
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Albanese: ‘The problem isn’t advertising. The problem is gambling’
So will the Albanese government be bold on gambling ads and commit to a total ban as recommended by the Peta Murphy led inquiry?
Anthony Albanese:
It’s not a matter of doing something in order to satisfy a perception of boldness. It’s a matter of policy.
He goes on:
The problem isn’t advertising. The problem is gambling. That’s the problem. And when you look at what the fact is that, overwhelmingly, almost 70% of problem gambling is about poker machines.
An additional about 15% is about lotteries and lottos and those things. I haven’t seen a campaign about advertising in lottery, lotteries and lotto, which is far bigger problem than than sports gambling.
Now sports gambling ads, I find them annoying. but we need to get the policy right rather than, I think, it’s the opposite of what you say.
Sometimes things that are characterised as being bold are actually the easy options. The easy option is just to do that. Not worry about the consequences for sporting code, junior sport, all of that, not worry about the prime minister or media, but to do what lobby groups want you to do now, we’re consulting, and we will listen to all of the groups with respect, and we’ll come up with the right policy that will make a positive difference.
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So is the Albanese government ‘bold’?
Anthony Albanese:
Well, have a look at that decision [stage-three tax changes].
There’s nothing timid about it, and many people will look back at the past and romanticise the past. What my government has done is dealt with the present and set us up for the future. That’s been our job. That’s been our job.
But there’s nothing timid about that. There’s nothing timid about reforming the NDIS so it’s sustainable.
There’s nothing timid about the largest reform to aged care in 30 years.
There’s nothing timid about putting forward a $32 billion plan for housing, and there is nothing timid about intervening into the gas and coal markets to control prices in order to put that downward pressure on energy costs for families and importantly, for businesses, including for manufacturing, that was an incredibly significant intervention into the market.
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Stage-three tax cuts were ‘not the politically safe decision to make’, Albanese says
The interview has moved on to whether or not the Albanese government is ‘bold’ or not.
Albanese is asked whether changing the stage-three tax cuts was the best decision of his government and says:
Clearly at the time, if you go back and look at the first 48 hours after that decision, every front page of the paper was not exactly lauding us and saying that we were a mild government.
That was not the terms that were being used. It was the right decision made for the right reasons, but it was a tough decision that we made, and it certainly was one which was not the politically safe decision to make.
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Albanese wishes Senate would 'do something more than talk to each other'
On the double dissolution threat, Anthony Albanese says:
Journalists raised it with me. What I’m interested in is governing.
But Albanese didn’t take it off the table.
You get asked these hypotheticals.
He could have just said no and taken if off the table.
We’re governing. We’re governing. We’re governing. The election will be held on a day when I get in the little car with the flag on the front and visit Yarralumla [Government House].
What I’m interested in isn’t elections, isn’t the nature of those elections. What I’m interested in is getting things done, and I just wish that the Senate would do something more than talk to each other for three days without having a vote on any legislation. I think the Australians deserve better, and they need to know that there is a vast difference between what the Grange political parties say they will do and how they actually vote when they team up with Peter Dutton to block funding for housing,
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Anthony Albanese is now saying the Greens did not influence the government to put more money on the table for social and affordable housing during the housing Australia future fund legislation negotiations.
That’s re-writing history a little there. The government announced a further $2bn for social rental homes during the negotiations, which was one of the Greens demands.
Albanese says Coalition and Greens are both ‘blockers’
Anthony Albanese expands on why he thinks both the Greens and Coalition are equally his greatest political opponent:
It’s called the no-coalition, where a government that is determined to build, that’s determined to advance an agenda to improve the lives of Australians, both the Coalition and the Greens have in common that they’re blockers.
They are now just opposed to an agenda.
They don’t put forward practical plans. In the Greens case, they put forward things which are un-costed and unachievable, really just the vibes of policies rather than serious ones.
And in the Coalition’s case, we don’t see any cost of policies for the one thing that they’re talking about is nuclear energy. Sometime in the 2040s they can’t tell us how it will be built. They can’t tell us how much it will cost.
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Who is Labor’s biggest political opponent right now?
Asked who is his “greatest opponent” politically at the moment, the Coalition or the Greens, Anthony Albanese says:
“Well, it’s both of them.”
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Anthony Albanese is speaking to ABC radio RN Breakfast. He is asked about the Productivity Report into childcare, but doesn’t give a time line on when (or if) the government will adopt the recommendations.
What we will do is examine these PC recommendations, and we’ll respond over time. But we’re absolutely committed to making childcare affordable.
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Chalmers says ‘it’s hard to tell where the Greens and the Coalition begins’ on housing
On the Greens, Jim Chalmers says:
The Greens are basically behaving like Liberals and Nationals when it comes to housing. We’re trying to build more homes and we’re making - trying to make it easier for people on low and middle incomes to buy one.
And the Greens and the Coalition are teaming up to prevent that. I think that says everything about the destructive, divisive politics being played by this alliance between the Greens and the Liberals and Nationals.
It’s hard to tell where the Greens end and the Coalition begins when it comes to housing.
We’re doing our best. We’re trying to get this passed through the parliament so we can build more homes and make it easier to buy one.
Our opponents unfortunately are lining up to block that and to prevent that progress and they should explain themselves.
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Chalmers on double dissolution threat: ‘It makes sense to leave all options on the table’
On the double dissolution threat raised this week by Anthony Albanese, Jim Chalmers says:
Our preference is to pass the legislation. We rather pass the legislation than go to a double dissolution election but when you’re dealing with Liberals and Nationals and Greens who are this divisive and this destructive it makes sense to leave all options on the table.
The politics will take care of themselves. Our primary concern here is building more homes and making its easier for people to why them particularly when I comes to people on low and middle incomes that need to live near where the jobs and opportunities are being created especially for workers like emergency workers or the early childhood educators we were talking about a moment ago.
The parliament should get together to build more homes and make them more affordable for people. That’s what we are trying to do.
It’s disappointing but not surprising given their behaviour that our political opponents to our left and to our right are teaming up to prevent that progress being made in the parliament.
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Chalmers: ‘We have seen the labour market soften a bit’
Asked about the coming unemployment figures, Jim Chalmers tells the ABC:
I think most people understand and expect that the labour market in Australia has been softening a bit, really since the middle of last year or so, that’s one of the inevitable consequences of the interest rate rises in the system, plus persistent inflation and the global economic uncertainty that we’re seeing around the world.
So we have seen the labour market soften a bit in Australia.
We have seen our economy slow. That’s why it’s so remarkable that under this Albanese Labor government, for the first time ever, in one parliamentary term, we have seen the creation of around a million jobs in our economy.
When our economy is slowing and our labour market is softening, those million new jobs created in just one parliamentary term is a pretty remarkable feat. It’s all about making sure that more people can work, earn more and keep more of what they earn.
We have made good progress all on three fronts despite the slowing economy and the softening labour market and that progress is a good thing.
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Unemployment rate expected to rise when figures released today
The unemployment figures for August will be released a little bit later this morning.
The jobless rate of 4.2% is expected to increase.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers was up early doing interviews (from the Greatest Nation on Earth, Queensland), where Anthony Albanese will also be a little bit later this morning.
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Australia’s UN ambassador insists Israel ‘must cease settlement activity’ despite abstaining from vote
Australia’s UN ambassador, James Larsen, told the UN general assembly that “the occupation must be brought to an end, such that we see security for Palestinians, for Israel, and for the region”.
Following the abstain vote, he said Australia “supports many of the principles of this resolution” and was “already doing much of what it calls for”.
He said Australia had adopted the name ‘Occupied Palestinian Territories’ in August 2023 “because that it what they are” and had “affirmed that Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal”.
Larsen said Australia insisted that Israel “must cease settlement activity”. He said Australia had also “sanctioned extremist Israeli settlers because they must be held to account for their violence”.
He said Australia would “continue to call out unilateral actions that undermine the prospect for peace”.
Reiterating a shift first foreshadowed in May, Larsen said Australia had “moved” its position on recognising Palestinian statehood:
We now see recognition as an integral part of a peace process, and as a way to contribute meaningfully towards the realisation of a two-state solution.
It’s a matter of when, not if.
It’s the only way to break the cycle of violence – the only hope for a prosperous future for both peoples. A Palestinian state and the State of Israel, side by side, behind secure borders.
Larsen ended by saying the situation in Gaza was “catastrophic” and “international law is under strain” with “the region is on the brink of escalation”. He called for an immediate ceasefire.
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Australa’s UN ambassador says resolution ‘distracts from what the world needs Israel to do’
Australia’s UN ambassador, James Larsen, said:
We wanted to vote for a resolution that clearly offered the Palestinian people a path to self-determination – and gave the world a path to a two-state solution.
And, we wanted to vote for a resolution that gave the international community a clear way to respond to the International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion.
However, we are concerned that by making demands of the entire UN membership that go beyond the scope of the Advisory Opinion, the resolution distracts from what the world needs Israel to do.
President, we are deeply disappointed these concerns were not able to be addressed.
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Australia abstains in UN vote directing Israel to leave occupied territories
Australia “abstained with great disappointment” on the Palestinian-drafted resolution at the United Nations general assembly in New York early this morning, the Australian ambassador to the UN has said.
The resolution – which sought to act on a recent advisory opinion of the international court of justice – was passed with 124 votes in favour and 14 against. Australia was one of 43 countries to abstain, including the UK, Canada and Germany.
However, New Zealand, Japan and Ireland were among the countries that supported the resolution that demanded that Israel “brings to an end without delay its unlawful presence” in the Occupied Palestinian Territory within 12 months.
Australia’s UN ambassador, James Larsen, said Australia was “resolute in advancing the cause of peace around the world, including the urgent need for a two-state solution in the Middle East”. He said Australia was also “a resolute defender of international law” including the ICJ:
That is why we abstained with great disappointment.
We wanted to vote for a resolution that directly reflected the ICJ Advisory Opinion.
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Real estate agents say they fear speaking out about realestate.com.au ‘price gouging’
Real estate agents have hit out at the market dominance of realestate.com.au, which is majority owned by the News Corp-controlled REA Group, saying the portal is “price gouging” as a result of its effective monopoly.
This is the latest part of our investigation into the Australian property market and you can read the full report here:
And we have more on the whole investigation with today’s Full Story podcast:
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Good morning
Hello and welcome to the final day of Senate-palooza, with the senate only sitting week drawing to a close.
Thank you to Martin for starting us off this morning. You have Amy Remeikis with you for most of the day now.
UN general assembly passes resolution demanding Israel end 'unlawful presence' in Palestinian territories
Our diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour has been following the UN vote in New York.
There was applause across the UN general assembly chamber when the motion demanding Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied territories was passed by 124 votes to 14 with 43 abstentions.
#BREAKING
— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) September 18, 2024
UN General Assembly ADOPTS resolution demanding that Israel “brings to an end without delay its unlawful presence” in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and do so within 12 months
Voting result
In favor: 124
Against: 14
Abstain: 43 pic.twitter.com/hIwn7y6EY4
Patrick says that condemnations of Israel by the UN assembly are frequent, including two resolutions passed by comparable majorities since the conflict began on 7 October, but this is the first since 1982 to advocate sanctions against Israel.
It arguably has additional force since it claims to be seeking to enforce an ICJ ruling. The resolution states: “Israel’s security concerns cannot override the principle of the prohibition of the acquisition of territory by force.”
Read his full report here:
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Government announces major survey of domestic violence workforce
The federal government has commissioned a two-year national survey of people working in the area of family, domestic and sexual violence to gather data aimed at improving the support available for victim-survivors.
Social services inister Amanda Rishworth said this morning that the survey, to be conducted by the Social Research Centre, would help identify system strengths and challenges, and the workforce’s breadth and capability.
“To stop violence against women and children in one generation, we need to have a robust workforce that is supported with the skills and qualifications to prevent and respond to gender-based violence,” Rishworth said.
“We need a better picture of the current workings of the sector and where we need to direct our focus to achieve the best, and most needed, results.”
To be concluded by late 2026, the survey was a key recommendation in the family, domestic and sexual violence commissioner’s recent first annual report to parliament.
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New South Wales on alert for fire risk
Sydney is bracing for an extreme fire danger today as a burst of warm dry and windy weather develops across eastern parts of the state.
The greater Sydney region, including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast and northern beaches is under the extreme forecast, which is the second highest behind “catastrophic”.
Large eastern parts of the state extending from the far north to the south coast are under high fire danger, with a total fire ban in place for Sydney and the Illawarra/Shoalhaven.
A Total Fire Ban will be in place tomorrow, Thursday 19 September for the Greater Sydney Region and Illawarra/Shoalhaven areas. With warm, dry and windy conditions, the Greater Sydney Region is forecast to experience Extreme fire danger. For more info: https://t.co/R9tDns8ts6 pic.twitter.com/u7sM36uqDc
— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) September 18, 2024
It is an early start to the bushfire season, with the statutory bushfire danger period officially running from the start of October to end of March in New South Wales.
Today’s forecast follows a severe weather warning for damaging winds on Wednesday covering parts of NSW including the south coast and southern tablelands. Gusts in excess of 80kmh were observed, including 94kmh at Perisher Valley in the Snowy Mountains.
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Young Australians fearing for financial future, report shows
Young Australians are significantly more worried about their financial future after the Covid pandemic than they used to be, a report from youth-oriented non-profits Orygen and Mission Australia suggests.
Fifty-five per cent of respondents to Mission Australia’s 2023 youth survey said they were concerned to some degree about their financial security and the current economy, the report found, while 31% rated it one of their most important issues – up from 22% in 2022 and 11% in 2021.
The survey canvassed the views of 19,501 people aged 15-19 between March and August last year.
One in five respondents reported having experienced financial stress over the previous year, with those identifying as gender diverse, female, Indigenous, culturally and linguistically diverse or living with a disability more likely to have experienced financial distress.
Of those young people, half reported needing financial assistance from friends, family, or charities during that time, and two-fifths said they had been unable to pay bills or car expenses.
They were also vastly more likely to live in poor quality housing and to work longer hours than their peers.
Mission Australia and Orygen are calling for better systems and services to help young people, including increasing jobseeker and youth allowance to $80 a day (currently $54 and $46 a day respectively), and a targeted, substantial increase of youth-specific social housing.
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Albanese steps up criticism of Greens over housing bill
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will amp up his criticism of the Greens and Coalition’s decision to block Labor’s latest housing bills, continuing to attack what he derided as the “No-alition” on a visit to a Queensland housing project on Thursday.
On his way to the Quad leaders’ meeting in the United States, the PM will stop off in Cairns today, to join the premier, Steven Miles, at what the government says is Queensland’s biggest ever social and affordable housing development – a 490-home project of modular buildings at Woree, scheduled to be completed in 2026.
In a double-pronged housing pitch, the industrial relations minister, Murray Watt, today is also announcing $6m in funding to building industry peak bodies to upskill more construction workers.
“In spite of the No-alition of the Liberals, Nationals, Greens and One Nation, we are determined to increase housing supply,” Albanese said before the visit.
Watt’s announcement will see the Housing Industry Association, Master Builders Australia and Australian Industry Group each be eligible to receive up to $2m to help builders gain accreditation to build homes through the government’s Housing Australia Future Fund and National Housing Accord.
Albanese and Labor continue to criticise the Greens and Coalition after they teamed up in the Senate to defer the government’s Help To Buy shared equity scheme.
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NSW government to accept recommendations of inquiry into gay hate crimes
Forty years of unsolved murders in New South Wales will be reviewed and evidence that could be investigated with new technological advances will be forensically tested as part of the state government’s response to a landmark inquiry.
The NSW government will release its response to the gay hate crimes inquiry today, accepting all 19 recommendations made by commissioner John Sackar.
In its response, the government said that the number of “all unsolved homicides pertaining to the period 1970 and 2010 is significant” and a working group within the NSW Police had been established to audit the cases.
The police have set up Taskforce Atlas to implement the recommendations of the inquiry.
Police have also started a review of the practices, procedures and resourcing of the unsolved homicide team, and a confidential volume of the inquiry’s report has been handed to the police and the state crime commission as part of current and possible future investigations.
NSW minister and the leader of the government in the upper house, Penny Sharpe, said:
In previous decades, NSW government institutions set a standard that not only stood by inequality and injustice but fostered and, at times, participated in it. We fundamentally failed the victims of these hate crimes and their families, and we can never let that occur again.
The inquiry found NSW police had failed to properly investigate potential gay hate crimes – including 32 suspected murders over 40 years.
Read more here:
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling politics coverage. I’m Martin Farrer, bringing you the best of the overnight stories before Amy Remeikis takes control.
“Six decades of evidence” suggests that policies to boost housing demand have only benefited people who already owned a home, according to a report by independent economists. It says the Coalition’s plan to allow first home buyers access to their superannuation would heavily favour older and wealthier people.
Australia joined 42 other countries in abstaining in a vote at the United Nations overnight on a resolution demanding that Israel “brings to an end without delay to its unlawful presence” in the occupied Palestinian territories, and should do so within 12 months. The non-binding vote, which follows a historic advisory ruling in July by the international court of justice (ICJ) urging Israel to cease “its unlawful presence”, was backed by 124 countries with 14 against and 43 abstaining.
In more news from New York that is bound to have repercussions in Australia, the US Federal Reserve has cut its main interest rate by 50 basis points. After holding rates at a two-decade high in an attempt to cool inflation, the decision indicates that the Fed believes it has prices under control after they surged in the wake of Covid and the Russia-Ukraine war. With other major central banks such as the Bank of England also cutting rates in recent months, the Fed move could increase pressure on the Reserve Bank to follow suit.
And New South Wales is releasing its response to the landmark gay hate crimes inquiry, accepting all 19 recommendations made by commissioner John Sackar and saying a working group within the NSW police has been established to audit homicides from 1970 to 2010. More on this soon.
