What happened Wednesday 9 August, 2023
With that, we’ll wrap up our live coverage of the day’s news.
Here’s a summary of the key developments:
The Coalition has asked the Senate to tear up changes allowing patients to buy two months of medicine for the price of one unless Labor pauses the policy and blunts the impact on pharmacies.
The ABC is shutting down almost all of its official accounts on Twitter – now known as X under Elon Musk’s ownership – citing “toxic interactions”, cost and better interaction with ABC content on other social media platforms.
An Indigenous man has died in custody after advice was ignored to transfer him to a secure mental health facility.
Brittany Higgins has accused police of “absolutely awful” treatment of her while investigating her allegations of rape, saying she felt belittled and violated.
The man who was behind the wheel of a bus that crashed, killing 10 people in the Hunter Valley in June, has been hit with more than 50 fresh charges.
Police are investigating after a partially clothed and decomposed body was found in a pond at an exclusive golf course in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
A realist portrait of the television personality and actor Noni Hazlehurst has won the $5,000 people’s choice award for the 2023 Archibald prize.
A piece of paper was the only notice given to a train driver that he should slow down before his train derailed north of Melbourne, killing himself and another man, the final report of an investigation has found.
Thanks for reading. Have a pleasant evening. We’ll be back tomorrow to do it all over again.
Updated
Senate order to show documents on PwC shared between tax office and police rejected as doing so could impede criminal investigation
An order from the Senate for documents shared between the tax office and the federal police relating to the PricewaterhouseCoopers tax breach has been rebuffed.
The Labor government has upheld its public interest immunity claim stopping the release of what was shared between the Australian Taxation Office and the Australian federal police in 2018.
The motion by the Greens senator Barbara Pocock was agreed to by the Senate on 2 August.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said in a letter on Wednesday the information was the subject to an investigation, and releasing the documents could potentially impede a criminal investigation. Chalmers wrote:
It is a matter of public record that the AFP and ATO commenced engaging on this matter in 2018. I am advised that all engagement between the ATO and AFP relating to the allegations is being considered as part of the current investigation.
The Labor senator Deborah O’Neill spoke in the Senate on Wednesday evening, saying she shared Pocock’s frustration over the lack of information but urged unanimity among senators.
I’ve not met a senator who said ‘you should stop this inquiry, you should cease the inquiry’. People here really want us to continue the drive to uncover the fullness of transgressions that have occurred within this sector.
I urge continued unanimity on this matter ... we must do our work with integrity, with rigour and with vigour here in the Senate but we must do that without compromising the inquiry. I urge all senators to stick to that path.
Updated
Coalition seeks reversal on Labor medicine dispensing changes
The Coalition has asked the Senate to tear up changes allowing patients to buy two months of medicine for the price of one unless Labor pauses the policy and blunts the impact on pharmacies.
On Wednesday the shadow health minister, Anne Ruston, and Nationals Senate leader, Bridget McKenzie, announced that if the Albanese government did not pause the 60-day dispensing policy they would seek to have it disallowed.
That is despite the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, telling the party room the Coalition supported 60-day dispensing but did not think pharmacists should pick up the tab.
Read more:
Updated
Shadow education minister backs calls for sexual violence reforms
The shadow minister for education, Sarah Henderson, has welcomed the government’s appointment of the victim support organisation Our Watch’s CEO, Patty Kinnersly, as its sexual violence and prevention expert, while echoing calls for stronger measures to combat sexual assault on campuses.
Henderson said Kinnersly was a “leader in her field” and would play an important role on guiding future reforms in the sector. Earlier today, the federal government announced a working group to provide advice to ministers on university governance reform, one of the priority recommendations of the universities accord interim report.
Henderson said the most recent statistics from 2021, which found one in 20 students had been sexually assaulted in the past 12 months and one in six had been sexually harassed since starting their studies, were “alarming”:
Universities need to take much stronger action to combat sexual assault and harassment on their campuses. All university students deserve to be safe in lecture theatres, on campus grounds and in residential colleges.
Updated
Jacinta Price continues questioning over amount of pages in Uluru statement from the heart
Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has hit back at the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) after it refuted her claims about the Uluru statement from the heart. In a letter to the agency today, the Coalition senator claimed there were “conflicting accounts” which she alleged raised “serious questions and concerns”.
This goes to the questions this week over whether the Uluru statement from the heart, the document at the core of the voice referendum, has one page or 26.
The Uluru Dialogue, its co-chair Megan Davis (the architect of the statement), the NIAA and the government all flatly say it has one page. Critics of the voice are claiming it has 26 pages – you can catch up on this stand-off in our earlier story today:
Nampijinpa Price wrote back to the NIAA today, after its CEO, Jody Broun, wrote to her this morning. In the reply, obtained by Guardian Australia, Nampijinpa Price writes that the NIAA’s letter “appears to be at odds” with information she says she received from the agency’s FOI team and with statements made by Davis.
While Davis has made comments saying there were more pages that went along with the Uluru statement, the UNSW academic said overnight that the extra pages were a “draft of conference floor butcher’s paper”; Anthony Albanese called the further pages “minutes from meetings with a whole lot of verbal statements from whoever to whoever”.
But Nampijinpa Price characterised the comments as “conflicting accounts”, and questioned why the issue had even been escalated from the FOI team to the CEO of the NIAA.
“My colleagues and I look forward to pursuing this matter vigorously in Senate estimates,” she wrote.
Updated
Universities Australia commits to national survey on sexual harm following lobbying from advocacy groups
Universities Australia has committed to run a new national safety survey on sexual harm in 2024 and a similar forum to Respect At Uni week following continued lobbying from student safety advocates over its lack of response to alleged sexual violence at institutions.
Following a caucus meeting this afternoon, the chair of Universities Australia, Prof David Lloyd, said members were “unanimous” in their acceptance that “while much is being done in this domain, much more is required of us collectively”.
Our members are committed to continuing to run tailored and individual campus-based activities in 2024, similar to initiatives such as the existing Respect at Uni week delivered by Victorian universities.
We are committed to revisiting and advancing an appropriately redesigned survey, to be rolled out in 2024. The survey will be guided by contemporary best practice and research, to establish a solid baseline against which we can measure the effectiveness of our actions and interventions.
Lloyd said there was agreement that individual universities had “strong understandings” of their own demographics and were “best placed” to continue leading reform. He also reiterated the body’s commitment to working with Patty Kinnersly, announced today as the expert advisor to a working group advising the government on how to strengthen university governance.
We recognise that one-size-fits-all intervention strategies do not translate to broad benefit in this most difficult of domains.”
The last survey, held in 2021, found 275 students are sexually assaulted in university settings every week.
Updated
Not had a chance to keep up with the news today?
Fear not, Guardian Australia’s afternoon update has just landed.
Read more, from Jordyn Beazley.
Elias Visontay is going to take you through the rest of the evening, so make sure you keep checking back with the blog.
A very big thank you to those who joined us for Politics Live – we will be back tomorrow morning for the last day of this sitting fortnight. Until then – take care of you.
Updated
Greens and Liberals join forces to establish inquiry into Antarctic science funding cuts
The Greens and the Liberal party didn’t find common ground when it came to 60-day prescription dispensing, but they DID come to an agreement to set up an inquiry into what is going on with the Australian Antarctic Division funding.
The Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson said:
It’s time to put politics aside and get to the bottom of why the AAD is short $25m and has to cut scheduled science programs this summer.
Now isn’t the time for splitting hairs over the semantics of what went wrong – Antarctic science is too important and too time critical for that.
What needs to be thoroughly scrutinised is why the AAD is set to lose $25m from its operating budget and what decision-making process is being employed to determine which science programs are being deemed “critical” and which programs are being cancelled.
This is a highly distressing time for some of Australia’s best scientists and a government seemingly unconcerned about cutting Antarctic science programs is not acceptable, especially not for those now facing job insecurity as a result.
The fact the minister is still spinning that there are no budget cuts is incredibly unhelpful and shows the government is more focused on shifting blame than tackling the matter head-on.
We have internal documents identifying Antarctic science projects that can’t be supported ‘due to budget constraints’ and a leaked email from the Head of the AAD revealing it will lose 16% of its operating budget - the situation speaks for itself.
Updated
Chair of ethics board cautions against breaking up big four consultancy firms but says some forms of seperation may be possible
The chair of the Accountants Professional and Ethics Standards Board, Nancy Milne, has warned breaking up the big four consultancy groups could be an overreaction that leads to unintended consequences.
Former ACCC chair, Allan Fels, has championed the idea of ensuring EY, KMPG, Deloitte, and PwC, cannot provide assurance work to clients while also offering consultancy services that may lead to real or perceived conflicts of interest.
If that change was implemented, it may have stopped EY providing assurance work to gas giant Santos while simultaneously helping the NSW government produce a new gas policy, which greenlit a Santos development.
Milne has cautioned against Fels’ proposal, but said some form of separation could be possible:
I’m not sure that will actually solve the problem and it may cause other unintended consequences. One of the benefits of having these large firms is that you do have access to specialist knowledge that is able to be accessed for example, in audit, or even in consulting.
I think if you look at what the UK has done, there may be some examples of how you can have some form of separation that isn’t actually throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Updated
Accountants ethics board concedes there are ‘systemic problems’ within consultancy industry
The Accountants Professional and Ethics Standards Board has conceded there are “systemic problems” within the consultancy industry that rival those uncovered by the banking royal commission.
The board sets voluntary standards for the industry that are not enforced. Its chair, Nancy Milne, has told a NSW parliamentary inquiry that many consultants at the big four firms have failed to meet those standards in recent years.
The chair of the inquiry, Greens MP Abigail Boyd, read a long list of scandals involving the big four to Milne, including the misuse of confidential tax information by PwC, an internal review of workplace culture at EY, Deloitte admitting it misused government information, and KPMG receiving 88 complaints about staff conduct last financial year.
In response, Milne told the inquiry that ‘real action’ was needed to drive change:
It is clear that there is a systemic problem that needs to be addressed and it is not dissimilar to what was unearthed in the banking royal commission. I mean, the parallels are quite apt. We think there needs to be some real action.
Milne did not specify which aspects of the banking royal commission she was referring to. The commission unearthed examples of shocking misconduct and ethical breaches that led to the commissioner, Kenneth Hayne, making 76 recommendations for change.
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, has not ruled out calling a royal commission into consultancy firms, but has previously said it is too early to decide whether that is necessary.
Updated
Greens do not back Liberal motion to disallow prescription changes
The Greens will not support the Liberal motion to disallow 60-day prescription dispensing. Senator Jordon Steele-John said the Greens consultation has shown that the community want it:
We’ve heard from the community that their priority is cost of living relief. Additionally, the move to 60-day dispensing will support disabled and chronically ill people as they will undertake fewer trips to the pharmacist.
We are incredibly proud that after years of the Greens calling for the change, the government has agreed to support better access to medicines for people with opioid dependency.
Through our negotiations, the Greens have pushed the government to announce measures that will provide additional support to regional and rural pharmacies, along with a commitment to bring forward the negotiation on the next community pharmacy agreement.
Mark Butler announced earlier this week that the negotiations for the next community pharmacy agreement would begin a year earlier than planned.
Updated
Labor press conference called over dispensing changes
The health minister, Mark Butler, is holding a snap press conference in about 10 minutes following the Coalition’s announcement it will try and move a disallowance motion in the Senate to stop the change to 60-day dispension.
Pharmacists are very, very upset at the regulation change, which will save patients about $180 a year, but also mean pharmacists miss out on fees from the government.The government says it will reinvest the $1.2 bn over the forward estimates into community pharmacies, but that has not done anything to quell the sector’s anger.
Updated
Safety advocates respond with ‘shock and disappointment’ to University Australia chairs press club address
Student safety advocates have responded with “shock and disappointment” to University Australia chair Prof David Lloyd’s National Press Club address, in which he deferred questions as to another national safety survey or the respect at uni week until caucus met later today.
Lloyd told the ABC’s Claudia Long he was of the view surveys gave an indication of “where the issues are” but weren’t linked to actions, adding he was about “support” as they seek to further improve.
Sharna Bremner, founder and director of End Rape on Campus Australia, said survivors were struggling to make arrangements to avoid sitting their exams in the same room as alleged offenders.
The notion that universities should be ‘supported’ on their current track is absolutely galling. Right now, student survivors tell us that their rape was bad; but the response from their university was worse. That’s what supporting the current approach looks like.
Renee Carr of Fair Agenda said universities were “failing to meet good practice standards in the prevention education they provide to students”:
The inference today that Universities Australia needs further advice to get started on substantive improvements ... is wild. In 2017 Prof Andrea Durbach launched an internationally informed framework for change at universities, and recommended changes that have still not been substantially implemented by many institutions.”
A press release put out by Universities Australia saying they had “committed to delivering a national respect at uni week in semester one 2024” has since been deleted.
Updated
Coalition will move for disallowance motion on medicine dispencing changes if not paused
Here is that update on 60-day dispensing that our own Paul Karp previewed just a few moments ago: The Coalition says that if Labor doesn’t pause 60-day dispensing, it will move a disallowance motion.
Without the support of the Greens, though, that disallowance motion would not get the numbers to pass though, as Paul has pointed out in his post.
Coalition says if Labor doesn't pause 60 day dispensing of medicine they will move a disallowance pic.twitter.com/6Dvwi2hA1B
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) August 9, 2023
Updated
After he was struck down with illness earlier in the week, Mike Bowers is back with us, so here is some of his photographic magic from QT.
LNP MP Garth Hamilton seems to have made himself very comfortable in the chamber:
How much is that MP in the window? (Coalition staffers have given the printer a workout this week – first 26 pages of ‘voice’ documents, now coloured print AND landscape!)
Careful the wind doesn’t change, as my nana would say.
We’ll leave this one alone.
Updated
Labor criticises David Pocock over attempt to move inquiry into Middle Arm development
The deputy manager of government business in the senate, Anthony Chisholm, has responded to Senator David Pocock, who will move a matter of public importance that calls for an inquiry into the proposed Middle Arm precinct on Darwin harbour.
The Greens’ motion for such an inquiry was voted down by the government and the opposition in the Senate last night.
Chisholm says:
The government will not be supporting the proposal from Senator Pocock. Bringing this motion to the Senate not even 24 hours after the same question was opposed yesterday is a disappointing attempt from Senator Pocock to play politics on this issue.
Our commitment to this investment, which will deliver economic growth to Northern Australia and help drive Australia’s future net zero economy, has always been clear and we intend on delivering it.
A Guardian Australia investigation revealed earlier this year that a background briefing environment officials sent to the environment and water minister, Tanya Plibersek, described the Middle Arm development as a “key enabler” for the export of gas from the Beetaloo basin.
The same document also states the development would improve the “feasibility” of proposed offshore carbon capture and storage, which could be associated with projects such as the Barossa offshore gas field and pipeline.
Updated
Labor and crossbench brace for Liberals to announce position on medicine dispensing changes
The shadow health minister, Anne Ruston, and the Nationals Senate leader, Bridget McKenzie, are about to announce an update on the Coalition policy on 60-day dispensing.
The crossbench and Labor have been bracing for a possible disallowance motion of changes that have been rejected by the Pharmacy Guild, which argues patient savings on medicine have been built on cuts to their dispensing fees.
Earlier, the Greens’ acting leader, Mehreen Faruqi, told reporters in Canberra the Greens support cheaper medicine
She said:
So the disallowance hasn’t come up yet and I said that our focus is definitely on patients and making it cheaper for patients and the disallowance would not do that.
Updated
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry takes aim at union-led inquiry into price gouging
While we are talking critiques, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is not overly impressed with the ACTU’s inquiry into price gouging.
The ACTU has appointed the former ACCC head Allan Fels to head up the inquiry, but ACCI’s CEO, Andrew McKellar, said the union had “undermined the credibility of its own so-called inquiry into prices on day one by predetermining its outcome”
The union movement is not known for its tolerance of a diversity of opinion. How will it accept any outcome other than that which it wants? The experts at Treasury and the Reserve Bank have already examined claims of profits causing inflation and rejected it.
Cost of living is a significant issue. Interest rates, soaring energy prices and inflation are all biting Australians, whether that be in households or in business.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has the expertise and resources to examine the data and have found no evidence of price gouging.
Updated
NTEU criticises new University Australia chair’s response on casualisation of sector
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has critiqued the address of University Australia’s newly appointed chair, Prof David Lloyd, at the press club today, in which he was asked about the reliance on casual teaching staff in the sector.
Lloyd replied that while casualisation was “one of the means” staff were employed, it tended to be in areas where professionals were placed into classrooms to deliver lectures and tutorials and student surveys showed the highest satisfaction rates in five years.
The NTEU said it was “seriously concerned” there wasn’t greater reference in his speech to university governance and staff underpayment, highlighted as a priority area in the interim accord report and by the education minister, Jason Clare.
The NTEU’s national president, Dr Alison Barnes:
The idea that casual university staff are mainly professionals moonlighting as lecturers and tutors is false. We know the overwhelming majority of casual academic and professional staff are systemically employed to do ongoing work.
At best, this is a wilful ignorance of the insecure work crisis which has permeated every corner of higher education. It was incredibly disappointing to barely hear a reference in the speech to staff – the lifeblood of universities.”
Barnes welcomed Lloyd’s admission university management “can and must” do better on governance while noting it was “incredible” it had taken Universities Australia “this long to acknowledge governance failures when staff have been consistently raising issues like wage theft and insecure work for years”.
Updated
David Pocock to move for inquiry into Middle Arm development
The Greens are not alone in their disappointment the government voted against an inquiry into the proposed Middle Arm development in the senate last night.
The independent senator David Pocock – who yesterday said the government was doing “the bare minimum” on climate change and its decision to take a $1.5bn equity stake in the development was “negligence” – will move a matter of public importance (MPI) about the project later today calling for an inquiry to scrutinise it.
The text of the MPI reads:
Noting the open letter to the prime minister from almost 2,300 health professionals raising concerns about the health impacts of the Middle Arm development, the Senate accepts the need to further scrutinise the development by way of a Senate committee inquiry.
Pocock is among the independents who have supported doctors protesting against planned new gas developments in the Northern Territory because of their effects on health and the climate.
He says:
The Senate should listen to concerns about the Middle Arm petrochemical precinct raised by doctors, scientists and medical professionals. There’s no excuse to deny them a voice through a Senate inquiry into Middle Arm.
We’ve reached out to the government for some comment.
Updated
Murray Watt announces major barley producers are again allowed to export to China
The agriculture minister, Murray Watt, used Senate question time to announce two major Australian barley producers are again allowed to export to China.
In a dixer from Labor senator Louise Pratt, Watt says his department had received the news on Wednesday morning that CBH Grain and Emerald Grain would be reinstated as exporters.
It gives me great pleasure today to provide the Senate with an update. Earlier today, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry received formal notification from the Chinese customs agency that CBH Grain and Emerald Grain Australia would be reinstated as registered exporters of barley to China.
This, as I say, is great news for Australian farmers and the whole grain supply chain. The Albanese government certainly welcomes this decision.
Watt added the situation was a result of “ongoing technical discussions” between China and Australia and follows last week’s announcement from China to scrap barley tariffs.
Watt says:
There are good days and bad days for Australian agriculture and today is a good day. Both companies will be able to recommence trade with their Chinese customers from today.
Updated
Anthony Albanese says that “after no questions on the economy or the cost of living from those opposite” he’s calling an end to question time.
Updated
Linda Burney: ‘we support the implementation of the Uluru statement from the heart’
The LNP MP Michelle Landry is up next with the non-government question and asks Linda Burney:
Prominent yes campaigner Marcus Stewart says of treaty negotiations that they could take 10-20 years to be negotiated, can the minister inform the House as to how long the government expects treaty negotiations to carry on for?
Burney doesn’t have to account for Stewart’s comments, under the standing orders, so she can just focus on the last part of the question there.
The question went to issues to do with development of the Uluru statement from the heart. And the position from the government is that we support the implementation of the Uluru statement from the heart. This is an idea that came from Indigenous Australians themselves, not the government. It is a generous offer to all Australians, to walk together to a better future. And this year we have the chance to vote for constitutional recognition through a voice.
Updated
Albanese confident on national housing accord
The independent MP for Wentworth, Allegra Spender asks Anthony Albanese:
In national homelessness week, the stark truth is that housing has become a nightmare for many Australians, particular young people. I welcome the government’s commitment to work with the states to boost housing supply by improving zoning and laws and processes.
But despite the states receiving an extra $2bn in federal funding, we have no guarantees they will deliver on much-needed reforms. What guarantees of reform are minister aiming to get from the states next week and will the prime minister make future funding contingent on actually delivering more housing?
Albanese answers, with a markedly different tone to how he answers Greens MPs when they ask these sorts of questions (to be fair there is a bit more politics involved in those exchanges, particularly on this issue, but there is also a difference in how the government responds to the teal independents, compared to the Greens in general).
The bit of the answer which is relevant here is: supply.
Albanese:
I’ve spoken with state premiers and chief ministers about how we move forward when it comes to supply. We, with the $2bn that we brought forward in the social housing accelerator, when we met in June, we insisted that has to be additional supply.
…The other thing that will be discussed next week is how we achieve the national housing accord. The national housing accord is really critical.
We want to make sure that all states and territories will have plans to get there. That is about land release and that’s about zoning and it’s about that feeling, particularly around appropriate public transport routes, and making sure we increase supply because that is what will make the big difference.
I must say that … ministers have been positive and constructive about this and I’m confident that next week we will have some really good results and outcomes that will lead to what the member for Wentworth wants to see, which is real change, making a real difference out there.
He runs out of time before he can get through the housing Australian future fund section of the answer.
Updated
Catherine King: no single factor led to decision to reject Qatar Airlines request for additional services
Paul Fletcher wants to know what advice Catherine King received from her department about Qatar Airways being approved for additional domestic routes (I missed the actual question, but that was the vibe).
King says:
He would well know that these are bilateral agreements that are made between governments. And as with all bilateral agreements that are made between governments … we only sign up to agreements that benefit our national interest in all of its broad complexity. and that includes ensuring that we have an aviation sector through the recovery that employs Australian workers.
[In] determining what our national interest is, we have to consider a broad range of factors and not one factor led to this particular decision.
The government has determined that agreeing to the Qatar civil aviation[’s] … request for additional services is not in our national interest and we will always consider the need to ensure that there are long-term, well-paid … secure jobs by Australians in the aviation sector when we are making this decision. And I am pretty sure that the minister, when he was in the position, had exactly the same view when faced with the same question.
Updated
Rishworth: national action plan on domestic violence will included dedicated Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander plan
Back in the House and the independent MP for Goldstein, Zoe Daniel, asks Amanda Rishworth, the minister for families:
42 Australian women have been killed this year, mostly by men, three have been killed in the past five days. Most are alleged to be killed by current or former partners. And [in] Goldstein, 50% of the police caseload is family domestic violence.
It’s been 10 months since the release of the national plan. When will we see the action plans and how is a commonwealth going to work with the states and territories to meet measurable targets to urgently address this national crisis?
Among Rishworth’s answer is this:
We’ve also been working very hard in collaboration with state and territories in the development of our action plan. At a meeting of women safety ministers just recently, state and territory and commonwealth ministers renewed our commitment to ending violence against women and children.
At this meeting, all ministers affirmed that the importance of the final endorsement of the action plans which support our national plan. The action plans will detail the actions our government will take at a commonwealth level, as well as the shared ambition that each state and territory will also take to help achieve our goal.
There will be the action plan, the first national action plan and a dedicated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander action plan. This will be accompanied by an outcomes framework. This will be an important document for accountability for all levels of government to be measured against.
Updated
Wong: Labor is maintaining consistent and principled position on Israel/Palestine
Penny Wong continued:
I would make this point about consistency, because consistency is important, and what we will not do is tell one thing to Australians and another thing to the international community, which is what you did.
Wong said the Coalition government had continued to support security council resolutions affirming one thing “but you told [the] voters of Wentworth something else”.
Simon Birmingham returned to ask another follow-up question:
Minister, now that you’ve changed Australia’s position in relation to Israel yet again during the life of your government, and done so in order to appease the factions ahead of next week’s national conference, can you rule out any further changes to Australia’s position, particularly in relation to the recognition of Palestinian statehood, regardless of whatever faction divisions, debates, shenanigans occur at next week’s Labor party national conference?
Wong – who has previously publicly declined to be drawn on a timeframe for recognising Palestinian statehood – said she was maintaining a “consistent” and “principled” position:
I think anybody who has observed the way I have approached national conference on these issues over five years would know I am very consistent on these issues and I will be continuing to assert the same position to all parts of the Labor party that I have asserted since pre-2018. And I think people know that, some people don’t like that position, some people do, but that is the view that I have.
Updated
The Senate back and forth on Israel
As Amy mentioned earlier, Peter Dutton kicked off question time in the House with an attack on the government’s decision to reinstate the term “Occupied Palestinian Territories” and strengthen its objections to “illegal” Israeli settlements.
Over in Senate question time, Simon Birmingham began with the same line of attack. But the Senate gives more time for immediate follow-up questions. Birmingham blasted it as a “unilateral change” that must have been made to “appease” Labor party factions.
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said the government’s guiding approach to the Middle East was to advance the cause of peace, and progress towards just and enduring two-state solution. She reiterated that the government was “deeply concerned” about “alarming trends” that were “significantly reducing the prospects of peace”.
She cited escalating violence and the loss of Israeli and Palestinian lives and reports from NGOs that “more settlement units have been advanced in the first half of this year than in any full year in the last decade”.
Wong said:
And I would have hoped that Senator Birmingham and the opposition would also share our concerns that have been expressed about changes to the judicial system and changes to the planning regime which would enable further settlements.
In a supplementary question, Birmingham asked Wong to “acknowledge that there also in recent times have been positive trends, such as the normalisation of relations between Israel and many other Middle Eastern nations”.
Wong said it was an Australian Labor government – the Chifley government – that supported the establishment of Israel.
Updated
Chris Bowen corrects Ted O’Brien’s record on Canadian energy
Energy minister Chris Bowen takes a dixer (government minister answering a government MP’s question, usually written by the minister’s office or the tactics team) so he can speak on his favourite topic – the shadow energy minister, Ted O’Brien.
I was listening to my favourite podcast on the weekend, [Sky News’] Sundays with Stoker, Mr Speaker … the honourable member for Fairfax [O’Brien] was on and he said ‘look at Canada, they have 60% of their grid on nuclear and they pay half the energy prices of Australia’ and I had to rewind and listen again because I thought, actually, I know that 50-60% of Canada’s power comes from renewable hydro energy; less than 15% comes from nuclear as electricity … their access to renewable resources allow them to have some of the lowest prices in the world.
He tables the transcript and the report.
Updated
Liberals attempt attack lines over Labor’s internal Aukus debate
Over in Senate question time, the opposition is taking a short break from attacking the voice to focus on some other fronts. One of those fronts is the Aukus deal.
The Liberal senator James Paterson asks the government why Labor is facing a “rank and file party revolt” over the deal, saying more than 40 Labor branches are calling for a review into the decision. Labor is holding its party conference next week so a lot of stories on policy debates are hitting the media in the lead up to it.
Paterson asks:
Isn’t it clear that the prime minister is failing even to bring his own party together to support Australia’s most significant national security commitments since the Anzus treaty?
Labor senator Penny Wong says it’s “important for [Labor] to have that discussion with the community, including inside our own party and beyond” and will continue to articulate the “strategic rationale” of the deal.
She agrees with Paterson that national security shouldn’t be politicised, but goes on to reference some of the Coalition’s greatest hits in that regard.
We do believe that national security should be above politics. We don’t believe, that in pursuit of an election victory, a government should try and scare Australians about the drums of war. We don’t believe, in pursuit of an electoral victory, a government should try and smear a senior member of the opposition as the ‘Manchurian Candidate’ ... if you want to be part of making sure national security is above politics, I’m happy to have that discussion.
Updated
Jenny Ware asks if government will rule out financial payments as part of treaty
It’s Angus Taylor time! Alas –no. I have missed heard member for Hughes as the member for Hume.
Jenny Ware asks Linda Burney
My question is to the minister for Indigenous Australians, will the minister rule out financial payments being made by the commonwealth as part of a treaty process?
Burney:
… This government is focused on the referendum at the end of this year … A treaty is being progressed in Queensland with bipartisan support. A treaty is being progressed in Victoria, with bipartisan support … and in Tasmania, a Liberal government has established a pathway to truth telling and treaty with bipartisan support. Jeremy Rockliff, the Liberal premier of Tasmania said we are committed to progressing truth telling and treaty in true partnership with Tasmanian Aboriginal people.
Our priority is constitutional recognition through a voice, a voice that will help drive better results for Indigenous people, and that was what the Australian people, that is what the Australian people will vote for later this year.
Updated
Albanese: Liberals have become a ‘fringe political party’ with this nonsense
Anthony Albanese continues …
As Chris Kenny told Sky News, the referendum council six years ago took these background papers and published them in a report. Who was in government six years ago? Who was in government? Who set up the referendum council?
This is a conspiracy … Tony Abbott establishes a referendum council, it does its work leading up to 2017, they published a report online and give it to the government, the government that was in office in 2017, it’s been available online ever since 2017 – but we’ve covered it up?
I mean, for goodness sake, you couldn’t make this up.
As Chris Kenny said, noone needed an FOI to get the stuff, that’s how uncontroversial it is, and then Scott Morrison was prime minister for four years, did Scott Morrison too just pretend that the Uluru statement was was one page long and conspired to hide their full statement?
Mr Speaker, this is absolute conspiracy and nonsense that shows that [the Liberals] have become a fringe political party, Mr Speaker. They are making One Nation look like a mainstream political party with this nonsense.
They made it clear last night again. I was at Uluru for the national convention and witnessed the adoption of the statement, it was one page.
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Albanese: pages conspiracy ‘has been around a while’
Anthony Albanese then picks up the answer and says that the Coalition has become a “fringe” political party, which is making “One Nation look like a mainstream party”.
Albanese:
I thank the deputy leader for continuing to ask questions about this conspiracy [about these documents] that has been out there for a long period of time.
Mr Speaker, Megan Davis said this: there’s been a lot of news this week that the Uluru statement from the heart is 26 pages long; it’s one page, that’s her statement, that’s what we issued to the Australian people.
Indeed, this conspiracy has been around a while. ABC news fact check – I wonder who they got this off? – ‘Pauline Hanson claims list of Indigenous demands found via FOI shows dangers of the voice to parliament – what’s actually in the documents?’ I table the RMIT fact check from 21 April 2020 that found that it was a nonsense.
I table the AAP fact check: ‘email misleads with secret documents’ from April 21 2020, but here we have in August, they reheat a conspiracy theory based on absolute nonsense ...
Ley tries to table documents, but you can’t do that in the middle of a question’s answer.
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Sussan Ley continues questions over number of pages in Uluru statement from the heart
Sussan Ley, the deputy leader of the opposition, is up and her question is … on the voice and how many pages it is.
(I am not sure how we got to how many pages a document is being the most burning issue in the country at the moment, but here we are.)
Ley:
Prof Megan Davis, a key member of the prime minister’s referendum working group has said and I quote, the Uluru statement from the heart isn’t just the first 1-page statement, it’s actually a very lengthy document of about 18-20 pages. Does the prime minister agree?
In case you missed it earlier, here is the statement Prof Megan Davis has sent out on the matter:
The Uluru statement from the heart is one page.
It is 439 words.
It is supported by other documents contained in the referendum council report that reflect and document the many regional dialogues and consultation leading up to it.
These have been public for seven years. They are found on the referendum council website. These are the official documents.
For seven years, we have encouraged politicians, the media and Australians generally to engage to learn more about the Uluru statement from the heart. We have asked Australians to read the one pager and the “Our story” that follows and the summary of the decision making and many other documents contained in the report.
We have conducted thousands of conversations about it and offered many more.
The fact that a single no advocate has used her privileged media platform to confuse the mainstream media and our political leaders so dramatically about the voice tells you everything you need to know about the way Indigenous issues are treated in this country.
When we speak, we are ignored.
When we work harder to reassure, we are ignored.
When we strive to meet the many hurdles that are put in front of us, the goal posts are shifted.
When we encourage all Australians to inform themselves by reading deeply, that is distorted and weaponised by a no campaign that has no alternative and is intent on misinformation and division.
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Helen Haines questions why government has not intervened in whistleblower Richard Boyle’s case
The independent MP for Indi, Helen Haines, asks Mark Dreyfus:
Today the South Australia court of appeal is considering tax office whistleblower Richard Boyle’s case. He faces trial and potential prison term because it is not protected by the Public Interest Disclosure Act.
[Why has the] government failed to intervene in this case and when will you fix whistleblower protection laws including by introducing a whistleblower protection commissioner?
Dreyfus lays out what the government is doing in reforming whistleblower protections. When it comes to Boyle, he says:
I would say this, integrity and the rule of law are central to Australia’s criminal justice arrangements.
The attorney general’s power to discontinue proceedings is reserved for very unusual and exceptional circumstances and it does require careful consideration for the power exercise.
Mr Boyle’s proceedings remain ongoing as the member for Indi indicated in her question, and it would be inappropriate to comment.
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Speaker Milton Dick is in a MOOD this afternoon and is issuing out warnings and calls for order all over the place.
“We are doing things differently today,” he says, without the usual Dick good humour.
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Labor questioned over nuclear waste storage
Andrew Hastie gets the second Coalition question today, so you’ll have to wait a little longer for Sussan Ley, who until recently, had the second slot locked down.
Hastie asks:
Signing up to the Aukus deal the Labor government has agreed to establish a domestic nuclear industry and dispose of nuclear waste from nuclear submarines. Is there any state or territory the deputy prime minister can rule out from servicing or curse nuclear submarines all storing their nuclear waste?
Richard Marles after an introduction on where submarines will be built/serviced says:
Your question, that is relevant in the context of your specific question around what happens with nuclear waste, and we have made clear that as part of being a responsible nuclear steward, Australia will take responsibility for the disposal of the nuclear waste, which comes from operating nuclear-powered submarines, which is both the low-level waste with things such as cleaning the submarines but ultimately the high-level waste which will be the reactor itself.
We have made clear that the high-level nuclear waste will be disposed or dealt with, finally, on a defence site current or future.
We have said nothing more or less and that.
In addition to that, what we have made clear is the process by which we will determine how that all occurs is a process that we are under way right now and will complete within 12 months.
To be clear on that, that is not to say that in 12 months time there will be a place, but it is to say 12 months’ time we will identify what the road will be to determining where.
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Dutton grills Albanese about Israel’s borders
Peter Dutton comes out of the benches with a question on … Israel’s borders.
My question is to the prime minister, can the prime minister explain why his government has taken the decision to unilaterally determine where Israel’s borders lie? Does the prime minister think it is appropriate for him to hang one of Australia’s closest Middle East partners out to dry as part of a backroom deal to avoid an embarrassing factional fight over Aukus at the national conference?
Anthony Albanese is obviously very prepared for this and sticks pretty closely to the script:
There has been no unilateral action by my government. My government is a strong supporter of Israel and its right to exist within the borders.
We also support a two-state solution that includes a Palestinian state. We believe that it is in the interests of both Israelis and Palestinians to have a settlement as to what has been a substantial dispute in the Middle East that have had implications, not just for the region but for the world.
My government will continue to engage constructively on these issues. And my government has the same position as the Conservative government, led by Rishi Sunak, as the European governments, as the Australian governments historically have had as well.
We regard a two-state solution as being essential.
We think it is in the interest of both the Israelis and Palestinians that there are not actions by either side that undermined the potential of the achievement of that two-state solution.
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Question time begins
Strap in, question time is just about to begin.
We are expecting to hear a lot more from both sides on the voice.
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NIAA refutes Coalition senator's claims on voice document
The National Indigenous Australians Agency has written to Coalition senator and no campaign leader Jacinta Nampijinpa Price to flatly deny her claims that it told her the Uluru statement from the heart was a 26-page document, again confirming it is a one-page document.
It is likely to further escalate tensions in the parliament over the voice referendum, after the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, described Coalition questions about the Uluru statement as “conspiracy theories”. Prof Megan Davis, the Uluru Dialogue co-chair and architect of the Uluru statement, claimed opponents were seeking to “confuse the mainstream media and our political leaders”.
“The Uluru statement from the heart is one page,” the NIAA chief executive, Jody Broun, wrote to Nampijinpa Price on Wednesday.
Nampijinpa Price told Sky News on Tuesday that her office had contacted the NIAA about the Uluru statement, following scrutiny of documents released under freedom of information about the processes leading to the 2017 statement. The documents were released in March, but have attracted renewed attention following recent reporting by News Corp.
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Question time to start in 20 minutes
We are now on the downhill slide towards question time – which means now is a great time to go grab yourself something to get through it. Maybe a cookie. Maybe something stronger. Dealers’ choice.
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Richard Boyle appeals decision to deny him whistleblower protections
Tax office whistleblower Richard Boyle is today appealing against a decision to deny him whistleblower protections.
Boyle is facing trial and potential imprisonment on 24 charges, including allegedly disclosing protected information and recording protected information. The charges are related to his collection of information about unethical debt recovery practices at the Australian Taxation Office. Boyle blew the whistle on the practices, first internally and then to an independent watchdog and the ABC.
The South Australian district court denied him whistleblower protections earlier this year, but Boyle has appealed, hoping to use the Public Interest Disclosure Act to stop his prosecution.
It is the first real test of the PID Act’s ability to protect individuals in such circumstances.
The appeal is being heard in the SA court of appeal on Wednesday. Prior to the hearing, the Human Rights Law Centre senior lawyer Kieran Pender said the case was a “critical moment”.
The strength of whistleblower protections for all Australians who speak up about wrongdoing are being put to the test in the court of appeal today. This is a landmark test case.
The Human Rights Law Centre has successfully applied to intervene and assist the court on points of law relevant to the case.
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Universities Australia chair quizzed over national safety survey
Universities Australia chair, Professor David Lloyd, was asked whether there would be another national safety survey or the respect at uni week by the ABC’s Claudia Long at the National Press Club.
Lloyd says a decision hasn’t been made by the UA caucus as yet and so can not say either way. (The meeting is later today.)
We meet after this so the vice chancellors will be having that discussion later on.In terms of running this survey, personally I’m of the view that the surveys give us an indication of where the issues are but not linked to the actions and outbacks we have.
So I do welcome Patty’s appointment as the external advisor to the governance which will give us hard evidence-based interventions so we can have better outcomes for the students.
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‘Our job is to work with both sides of the aisle’: Rudd on a potential second Trump presidency
At the end of that very quick doorstop Daniel Hurst and other reporters snagged ahead of Kevin Rudd’s speech, the Australian ambassador to the US was asked what preparations he was making in the event of a second Trump presidency.
Rudd:
Well, US politics is a complex beast, a bit like Australian politics. That’s what we have with our robust democracies.
Our job as the Australian embassy in Washington is to work with both sides of the aisle.
So in my period in DC, I’ve worked comfortably and seamlessly with Speaker [Kevin] McCarthy and with minority leader [Mitch] McConnell.
I have spoken at length of both of them, met with them, know them well, as in fact, we’ve done with Republican House and Senate leaders from across the US Congressional system and also with former members of the Trump administration from last time round.
That’s our job as an embassy and it’s my job as ambassador.
What the good burghers* of the United States choose to do in their own electoral process is a matter for them. From which thankfully, Australian ambassadors are immune from comment.
*Rudd loves a good burgher.
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Kevin Rudd confident in US legislative process for Aukus, calls it ‘complex process of sausage making’
The Australian ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, has expressed confidence that the legislation required for Aukus will make its way through the US congress, while saying it was “a complex process of sausage making”.
Speaking to reporters briefly on his way into a tech sector event at Old Parliament House in Canberra, Rudd said “pretty colourful debate” was to be expected on any legislation before the US Senate and House:
In my own engagements with committee chairs and ranking members, it’s been quite a remarkable level of bipartisan support …
So far, we have achieved massive progress both with the administration, and with the relevant Senate committees on this. But I also know it’s a complex process of sausage making.”
On Julian Assange, Rudd said:
As for secretary Blinken’s statements recently, that’s to be anticipated from the administration, reflecting their concerns about the history of the case. We in Australia have our own concerns that we continue to reflect. And my job as Australia’s leading diplomat in the US is to engage effectively, which usually means silently with the US administration, in order to maximise our prospects. The prime minister has already made clear that this has gone on for too long. I agree with him.”
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Commonwealth Bank to stop directly financing new oil and gas projects and related infrastructure
Australia’s biggest lender, Commonwealth Bank, will not directly finance new and expanded oil and gas projects and some related infrastructure, such as pipelines, according to its updated climate policy.
The bank has pledged to end funding from 2025 for fossil fuel clients without independently verified plans to cut all emissions, including the end use of their coal, oil and gas.
CBA announced the changes on Wednesday in its climate report released alongside its full year results that showed a record $10.16bn cash profit.
We expanded our commitments in relation to fossil fuels extraction and introduced restrictions on project finance for certain infrastructure dedicated to new gas or oil extraction projects,” CBA said.
Activist group Market Forces said CBA’s policy ranked it above its banking peers, even if it falls short of full alignment with the bank’s commitment to the climate goals of the Paris agreement.
This update is significant progress for thousands of CBA customers, shareholders and staff who are demanding climate action, but they won’t be satisfied while gaps in the bank’s policy allow any finance for fossil fuel expansion,” Market Forces acting chief executive, Will van de Pol, said.
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Megan Davis: ‘the Uluru Statement from the Heart is one page’
Prof Megan Davis, one of the architects of the Indigenous voice to parliament, has released a statement in response to claims, which were pushed by the Coalition in question time yesterday, is secretly 26 pages. The claims were first aired by conservative commentator Peta Credlin on her Sky News program last week and have been pushed by no campaigners in the day since.
It is one page, Davis says.
Her statement reads:
The Uluru Statement from the Heart is one page.
It is 439 words.
It is supported by other documents contained in the Referendum Council report that reflect and document the many regional dialogues and consultation leading up to it.
These have been public for seven years. They are found on the Referendum Council website. These are the official documents.
For seven years, we have encouraged politicians, the media and Australians generally to engage to learn more about the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
We have asked Australians to read the one pager and the “Our Story” that follows and the summary of the decision-making and many other documents contained in the report.
We have conducted thousands of conversations about it and offered many more.
The fact that a single no advocate has used her privileged media platform to confuse the mainstream media and our political leaders so dramatically about the voice, tells you everything you need to know about the way Indigenous issues are treated in this country.
When we speak, we are ignored.
When we work harder to reassure, we are ignored.
When we strive to meet the many hurdles that are put in front of us, the goal posts are shifted.
When we encourage all Australians to inform themselves by reading deeply, that is distorted and weaponised by a no campaign that has no alternative and is intent on misinformation and division.
Updated
Universities Australia is ‘wholly supportive’ of Kinnersly’s appointment to working group
Universities Australia is also on board with Patty Kinnersly’s appointment.
Universities Australia Chair Professor David Lloyd, who is giving a speech to the National Press Club as I type this, said that the organisation and its members were “wholly supportive” of the appointment.
This is an area where we have work to do, to build on our efforts to date.
We are committed to working with Ms Kinnersly and the government to stop the scourge of sexual harm at universities and in the community.
It is a shared responsibility and one which we don’t – and won’t – shy away from.
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Push for student safety on campus has bipartisan support
Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley also gave a statement on the issue and said universities needed to step up.
The senate committee which is looking into consent laws across Australia included Liberal senator Paul Scarr, Labor senator Nita Green and Greens senator Larissa Waters – all were shocked by what they heard during the committee hearings, but particularly when it came to some of the complaints levelled against universities.
So this is an issue which has bipartisan support when it comes to addressing it.
Ley welcomed Patty Kinnersly’s appointment and said:
Addressing this issue requires cultural change.
Leaders at all levels – administrators, faculty, and student leaders – must champion a safe and respectful campus culture.
Students need to see universities taking strong action.
Let us not lose sight of the broader picture. Ending sexual assaults on university campuses and in our communities is a collective responsibility.
It is a call to action which requires every university to recommit itself to this goal.
Only by redoubling our efforts can we shape a future where every student can thrive in an environment free from fear, harassment and assault.
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Education minister: ‘Universities need to be doing more’ on campus safety
Jason Clare made a special statement to the house about it when the parliament session began a little while ago and said he wants universities to know the government “is serious about this”:
This is not about more research or more surveys.
This is about what will make a difference on campuses.
It needs the input and the action of federal, state and territory governments.
That’s why the working group draws in members from each.
And universities need to be doing more.
I want to work with universities on this.
Universities have responsibilities to their staff and to their students which must be met.
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Chief executive of Our Watch, Patty Kinnersly, appointed to working group on university safety
Education minister Jason Clare has appointed the CEO of Our Watch, Patty Kinnersly to the working group that will provide advice on how universities can create “safer campuses for students and staff”.
The working group is part of the government’s response to the Universities Accord interim report and comes after the 2021 national student safety survey found one in 20 students reported being sexually assaulted since starting uni. One in six reported being sexually harassed.
Clare:
The actions universities have taken to address sexual assault and harassment on campuses to date have not been good enough.
We have the research. We have the evidence. We have to act.
It is clear that university governing bodies must do more.
The working group will provide advice on concrete actions that are aimed squarely at strengthening university governance and keeping students safe.”
The group will consult with groups like End Rape on Campus, Fair Agenda and STOP and includes representatives from across Australia.
Updated
If you wanted to read more on Sussan Ley’s 2011 speech Daniel Hurst referenced in his blog post below, you can find the whole speech here.
Updated
Additional charges for Hunter Valley bus driver
Breaking out of politics for one moment:
The bus driver involved in the Hunter Valley crash, Brett Button, has been hit with further charges over the June accident that claimed 10 lives.
The additional 52 offences were laid today by police during a mention at the Newcastle local court.
The 58-year-old driver was initially charged with 10 counts of dangerous driving causing death.
The new charges include 25 counts of causing bodily harm by misconduct and nine counts of negligent driving occasioning death.
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Coalition says recognition of West Jerusalem as Israeli capital was ‘a reflection of reality’
Simon Birmingham also denied it was a mistake for the former Morrison government to recognise West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel (a decision the Albanese government reversed last year):
No, it wasn’t. It was a reflection of reality – the reality of where the capital of Israel sits in terms of the seat of government, the Knesset, and indeed all of the functioning, usual elements of a seat of government and a capital of a nation.
On the broader issue, Labor has pointed to a series of comments by Coalition figures in the past.
They include the Howard government foreign affairs minister, Alexander Downer, saying in 2001 that he was “alarmed at the expansion of violence across the Occupied Territories” and confirming in 2003:
Australia has consistently voiced its disapproval of Israeli settlement activity, which it has described as against international law and harmful to the peace process.
Sussan Ley, the current deputy leader of the opposition, told the parliament in 2011:
Earlier this year I spent 10 days in the occupied West Bank as the co-chair of the parliament’s Friends of Palestine …
As I return to my rural electorate, I will recall the farmers we met who have been chased off their land and livelihood by illegal settlers and are now mendicant aid recipients.
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Simon Birmingham insists West Bank is ‘disputed’ not ‘occupied’ territory
The Coalition’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Simon Birmingham, has avoided describing the West Bank as occupied and Israeli settlements as illegal. Instead, he says “these are disputed territories”.
Birmingham went on ABC TV today to make the opposition’s case that the government’s decision to harden its language on settlements and the occupation is all about “backroom factional deals” ahead of the Labor national conference.
The government has pointed to UN security resolutions, including resolution 2334 (passed in 2016 when the US abstained), which:
Reaffirms that the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.
ABC News Breakfast host Michael Rowland asked Birmingham to confirm that bodies like the UN security council had repeatedly described settlements as illegal.
Birmingham acknowledged “that the advancement of the settlements has been unhelpful in terms of trying to advance the cause towards a two-state solution”.
Rowland asked:
As you know, I mean there’s a big difference between the words ‘disputed’ and ‘illegal’. So the Coalition view is that these settlements are not illegal?
Birmingham replied:
Well, these are disputed territories. Now they are disputed territories where, what we want to see and what we have long been clear in our support of, is that there is a negotiated lasting settlement, achieving a two-state solution where a future Palestinian state can live in peace alongside Israel, and can do so with agreed borders and territories. Now, that requires negotiations, and we don’t think that prejudging those negotiations helps to achieve that outcome.
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Economic outlook on bank profits positive despite mortgage holder pain
While we are all digesting the news of the latest bank profits ($10bn for the Commonwealth Bank) it is worth remembering that many economists see the news as good – that a strong banking sector is good overall for the country.
Here is outgoing Reserve Bank governor Dr Phil Lowe in February (following what was then giant profits being reported)
I know it’s hard for people to accept when they’re suffering … but the country is better off having strong, resilient banks that can provide the financial services that we need.”
That attitude was firmed following the global financial crisis, where governments had to bail out banks which were over-exposed on loans. So you can see where they are coming from, but there is a strong banking sector and then there is a strong banking sector. Particularly when this is coming from what is essentially a wealth transfer from mortgage holders to bank shareholders, through higher interest rates.
Many of whom don’t have mortgages. And have saving buffers. And haven’t had to slow down their spending or change their habits.
Updated
And a little bit more of the reaction:
The executive director of the Australian Centre for International Justice, Rawan Arraf:
This is a welcome step by the government to finally move back in line with accepted international legal fact.
The Coalition’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Simon Birmingham:
Labor’s back-room decisions on Israel and the Palestinian territories have everything to do with managing factional differences ahead of the Labor national conference and nothing to do with advancing a lasting two-state outcome.
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Palestinian government responds to Australian position on OPTs
Here is a sample of reaction to the Australian government’s decision to reinstate the term “Occupied Palestinian Territories” and object to “illegal” Israeli settlements.
The Palestinian foreign ministry:
The ministry views this significant and important development in the Australian position positively, as it aligns with international law and United Nations resolutions, and supports global efforts aimed at reviving the peace process based on international peace frameworks, foremost of which is the principle of the two-state solution. In this context, the ministry emphasizes that the State of Palestine continues to await action by the Australian government towards implementing resolutions passed by the Australian Labor Party calling its government to recognize the State of Palestine without delay or hesitation.
The president of the Zionist Federation of Australia, Jeremy Leibler, and the president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Jillian Segal:
Describing East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza as ‘Occupied Palestinian Territories’ effectively denies any Jewish claim to the West Bank and Jerusalem. The most important Jewish holy sites of the Temple Mount and the Western Wall are in East Jerusalem, and there has been an unbroken Jewish presence in the West Bank for thousands of years …
It is concerning that just as Arab states are moving closer to Israel and normalising relations, this announcement moves Australia in the opposite direction. The announcement will be used by Israeli and Palestinian hardliners to bolster support within their respective constituencies and put a peace agreement further out of reach.
The acting leader of the Greens, Mehreen Faruqi, said:
While this small change in Labor’s language is welcome, it doesn’t even begin to recognise the daily injustice and apartheid Palestinians face in their homeland.
(The Israeli embassy in Australia was also contacted for comment yesterday; it has yet to respond.)
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Coalition and others respond to changed Australian position on occupied Palestinian territories
Reaction continues to roll in after the federal government’s announcement yesterday that it would reinstate the term “Occupied Palestinian Territories” and strengthen its objections to “illegal” Israeli settlements.
Given the move was announced in the lead-up to next week’s Labor party national conference, the Coalition is arguing the move is driven by internal party politics. We can expect the Coalition to raise concerns about the decision in parliament today, including through an “urgency motion” in the Senate this afternoon condemning “the Albanese Labor government’s latest broken election promise on Israel, as a result of a backroom factional deal ahead of Labor’s national conference”.
We’ll take stock of reaction shortly, but given the complexity of the issue we should step through exactly what yesterday’s announcement entails.
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, told the senate the government was “gravely concerned about alarming trends that are significantly reducing the prospects of peace” and would be “strengthening its opposition to settlements by affirming they are illegal under international law and a significant obstacle to peace”.
Australia will also explicitly refer to the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Here’s what Wong told the Senate:
In adopting the term we are clarifying that the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and Gaza, were occupied by Israel following the 1967 war and that the occupation continues and reaffirms our commitment to negotiate a two-state solution in which Israel and a future Palestinian state coexist.
Wong argued Australia was matching “the approach taken by key partners including the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and the European Union”. She also said it was in line with UN security council resolutions. That includes UN security council resolution 2334 (passed in 2016 when the US abstained), which says:
Reaffirms that the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-state solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.
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Clare O’Neil responds to nuclear energy debate, saying renewables ‘the way to go’
Labor senator Clare O’Neil was also on that Seven network segment and this is what she had to say about the nuclear idea:
Nuclear energy is not the answer for Australia’s problems – it is incredibly expensive to build, it is very slow to roll out. Meanwhile, Australia has all of the assets it needs to become a renewables energy powerhouse. We’ve got the sun, we’ve got the wind, we’ve got the waves. And we can power Australia’s economic future through clean energy through renewables.
And, Jane, I know that the Coalition and Jane and her colleagues have come forward with this particular proposal. Can I just remind your viewers these people were in government for 10 years. They denied that climate change was a problem. They had 22 different energy policies, none of which got implemented. And the cost for Australians has been we have not made that move we need to make to renewables, and our energy prices are incredibly high as a result. Labor has a really clear plan here – it’s clean, it builds on our natural assets, and we’re really confident this is the way to go.
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Coalition says it is time to examine nuclear after rejecting it while in government
The Coalition is once again all about nuclear. Now in opposition, the Coalition want nuclear power to be part of Australia’s energy mix. While in government, the Coalition did not support nuclear as as option, given its expense and how long it takes to come on board the grid.
On the Seven network this morning, Liberal senator Jane Hume said it is time to at least examine it:
The move to nuclear energy is one that the Coalition has embraced because there is no country around the world that has a credible path to net zero emissions that doesn’t have nuclear. Already 32 countries have adopted nuclear technology, and another 50 are looking at these modern nuclear technologies to get to a net zero emissions future. With the largest deposits of uranium in the world and we have 50 coal-fired power stations right now that are providing more than 58% sometimes up to 80% when demand is high of our energy mix. They’re going to retire soon. Why not retire them with a nuclear energy alternative? And we know even if we retire just one, replace just one coal- fired power station with a small modular nuclear reactor option, well, then we’re going to reduce emissions to the equivalent of taking 900,000 cars off the road.
Why would you not consider nuclear in the energy mix if it’s going to be a low-emissions technology option that’s going to provide that baseload power that makes energy reliable and affordable? If you don’t, it’s either intellectually lazy or it’s ideologically belligerent.
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Greens slam Labor’s move to block inquiry into Middle Arm
The Greens have accused the Albanese government of breaking a commitment to establish an inquiry into the proposed Middle Arm development on Darwin harbour, which is receiving $1.5bn in financial support from the federal government.
The government and opposition voted against a motion to establish the upper house inquiry moved by the Greens environment spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, on Tuesday night.
It is the second time the Greens have attempted to establish the inquiry after it was recommended by a committee examining the proposed expansion of gas projects in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin.
There has been growing concern over the Middle Arm project after Guardian Australia revealed the Albanese government knew it was seen as a “key enabler” for the Beetaloo expansion despite being branded a “sustainable” development precinct.
Hanson-Young says the government’s decision to vote with the Coalition to block the inquiry is “extremely disappointing”:
This is $1.5bn of taxpayer money which will expand gas and fracking, help open up the Beetaloo and cook the climate. It should be scrutinised at the very least, as promised by Labor in recommendation 2 of the Beetaloo Basin inquiry report. Labor has broken its promise to scrutinise this project in the public interest.
A delegation of doctors and NT parents has been rallying and meeting with MPs in Canberra this week to call on the government to prevent the expansion of new gas projects in the territory.
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Jane Hume compares being welcomed to country to the Lord’s Prayer
Shadow finance minister Jane Hume responded to Tony Abbott being “a little bit sick” of being welcomed to country on Sky News and compared it to the Lord’s Prayer at the beginning of each parliament day:
I’m not a particularly religious person. But when we recite the Lord’s Prayer at the beginning of each day in the Senate, I think deeply about the words and what they mean. And, you know, quite frankly, an acknowledgement of country or indeed a welcome to country should be delivered and received in exactly the same way – it should mean something. I would hope it does for those that are delivering it.
Updated
Tony Abbott ‘little bit sick’ of welcome to country ceremonies
Former prime minister and former shadow minister for Indigenous affairs, Tony Abbott, has been busy campaigning against the voice.
He has been speaking at no forum events, and at one he said he was “a little bit sick” of being welcomed to country because he believes Australia belongs to everyone.
Abbott received applause when he said “I’m getting a little bit sick of welcomes to country because it belongs to all of us, not just to some of us” on footage broadcast by Sky News.
Sky News also showed Abbott saying:
The authors of this voice are putting to us is that we are essentially a racist country. We are essentially a country that should be ashamed of ourselves. We are essentially a country that needs to atone for 240 years of exploitation and oppression. And I’ve got to say, I am bloody well voting no to all of that crap.
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No competitive tender for surveillance aircraft necessary, according to department secretary
(cont from previous post)
In February Pezzullo explained that there was no competitive tender for the contract because a market sweep indicated no other provider could deliver the capability and “there’s no capital program” for the government to do it itself.
Pezzullo said without more capital investment, the government would be forced to deal with a “monopoly provider” of an “outsourced capability” or it would face the “darker” possibility of not flying surveillance aircraft.
But in a report tabled by committee chair, Julian Hill, on Wednesday said this was “not persuasive”.
It said:
The contract is for the provision of surveillance services. The contractor owns the surveillance assets, and there is no capital investment required by the commonwealth that would have necessitated an ongoing capital funding to re-tender. Following his offer to do so, the committee invited the department to make a supplementary submission explaining its views on the department’s funding model and its relevance to the surveillance services contract in more detail. However, this has not been provided.”
The committee also said it was “unable to understand why the department has not sought amendments to the terms and conditions of the contract to remediate the issues identified in the audit before approving the latest six-year extension”.
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Home affairs aerial surveillance contract under scrutiny as explanation for renewal ‘not persuasive’
The audit committee has said it “does not find persuasive” the home affairs department secretary, Michael Pezzullo’s, explanation for renewal of an aerial surveillance contract.
In December my colleague Amy Remeikis revealed that the department of home affairs extended a contract for civil maritime surveillance for six years, just months after a critical report found it had paid for flight time when no planes were in the air.
The auditor general in October 2021 found the department’s management of the contract with Surveillance Australia was “not effective” and “as a result, while surveillance services have been provided, the quantum and range of those services has fallen short of the contractual requirements”.
That included not having actual planes in the air for billed surveillance flight times, which the audit office estimated cost taxpayers up to $87m.
(continued in next post)
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Australian Council of Trade Unions announces inquiry into price gouging for essential items
The ACTU has announced an inquiry into price gouging, which will be led by former ACCC chair, Allan Fels.
Prof Fels will be looking at what extent price gouging played, if any, in the price increase of essential items as well as the impact on workers and people in vulnerable financial positions.
The Australian Council of Social Service (Acoss) has welcomed Fels’ appointment and the inquiry.
CEO Cassandra Goldie says Acoss accepts that inflation has put some businesses under pressure as well, but the burden should be shared fairly, not just shifted to lower paid workers and people on fixed incomes.
Inflation has eaten into household budgets over the past year and has been used to justify aggressive interest rate hikes by the Reserve Bank, putting people’s jobs and living standards in jeopardy. Experts agree one of the causes of excessive inflation is businesses with market power being unwilling to reduce profit margins as inflation took hold and business costs rose.
People on low incomes, though, have had to bear cuts in real wages and grossly inadequate income supports failing to cover the costs of essentials. We face the real possibility of an economic downturn over the next 12 months.
… If we can tackle inflation at its roots, then we don’t have to rely so much on interest rate hikes and higher unemployment to curb it. People should not be sacrificed to unemployment and poverty to control inflation.”
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GetUp wants government to give traditional owners ‘right to veto destruction’
After the mess of the WA cultural heritage laws, GetUp wants the Albanese government to legislate a federal cultural heritage act “that protects sacred sites, giving Traditional Owners the right to veto destruction”.
CEO Larissa Baldwin-Roberts said the cultural heritage laws were being used “as a political football” by the no campaign “who are aggressively spreading misinformation and racist rhetoric that threatens to throw our work for First Nations justice back generations”.
Right now there are no comprehensive federal laws that protect cultural heritage and a patchwork of state and territory legislation that’s inconsistent and will lead to more destruction similar to Juukan Gorge.
We put our sites at risk when traditional owners don’t have an equal seat at the table and veto rights to stop projects that threaten cultural heritage - investment needs to be made to ensure that this legislation receives adequate First Nations consultation with traditional owners, not just mining corporations.
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Former prime minister Kevin Rudd is in Parliament House today – he’ll give a speech a little bit later which Daniel Hurst will keep an eye on for you – and then tomorrow, his official portrait will be unveiled.
This portrait was created by Ralph Heimans AM. The curtain will come down just after 10.30 tomorrow morning.
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Suncorp reports 68.6% rise in full-year cash profit
Speaking of bank profits, we have seen what the Commonwealth Bank has posted, now it’s time for Suncorp.
As AAP reports:
Suncorp Group has posted a 68.6% rise in full-year cash profit, bouncing back from the paper losses on its investment portfolio that impacted the prior year’s returns.
The Queensland financial company announced on Wednesday it made $1.15bn in net profit after tax for the 12 months to 30 June, a bit less than consensus expectations of $1.17bn.
Suncorp made $755m from its Australian insurance products, up 333.9% from 2022.
Suncorp Bank made $470m, up 27.7 % from the previous year, with Suncorp still hoping to sell that division to ANZ for $4.9bn despite last week’s knock-back from the competition regulator.
As a result of the delays, Suncorp said it expects the separation costs to rise to between $575m and $600m, up from $500m originally forecasted.
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National Homelessness Week: ‘All Australians deserve to feel safe and secure,’ housing minister says
In amongst all of that, the parliament sitting began.
Housing minister Julie Collins has given a speech recognising National Homelessness Week:
Everyone in this place knows that Australia is facing a significant number of housing and homelessness challenges, with very real consequences for individuals and families.
Although the rate of people experiencing homelessness has remained relatively stable over the decade to 2021, based on the last census results, across Australia there were around 122,000 people experiencing homelessness.
This is a number that we must bring down. We also have to remember what this number represents.
We must remember who it represents.
This number is made up of sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends and families – they are people.
We must continue to humanise these numbers, so we are reminded of the true costs of housing insecurity.
Because all Australians deserve to feel safe and secure.
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Australians overwhelmingly back investment in public schools
Around eight in 10 Australians believe more money should be spent on public schools while mythologies that “private is better” continue to persist, new research published by ANU has found.
The research on Australian attitudes towards education was published by Prof Nicholas Biddle using an ANU poll of around 4,500 adults across the nation.
It showed a gap in perceptions of the performance of public and private schools. Just over half of respondents said they were satisfied with the job state schools were doing compared with nearly three quarters for private schools.
Persistent studies have shown no gap in outcomes between public and private education.
Biddle said the survey also found overwhelming community support for more public school funding, with 81% of respondents in agreement that more money should be spent in the public system.
Education in Australia need not be a zero-sum game, with money for one sector coming at the expense of money for another … our results clearly show that the general public thinks that a re-balancing is required.”
The study found education institutions remain some of the most trusted in Australia, behind only the police, but faith in schools has dropped significantly since the first year of the pandemic.
There was also a gap between institutions. While universities dropped by 3% since the pandemic, confidence in schools fell by nearly 15% over the same period.
Updated
Patricia Karvelas then asks if Dan Tehan thinks Canberra needs to listen, then why is he not listening to the Indigenous people who do want the voice.
Dan Tehan:
I would say that that’s not true, because I have been out in communities listening and I can tell you, there are a lot of Indigenous people who don’t support the voice, the permanent voice, who don’t think that is the right way to go.
You speak to people, I speak to people but not everyone and not every member of Indigenous communities, not every leader in those Indigenous communities think that this is the right way to go.
Karvelas:
Some don’t, but the majority do, don’t they?
Tehan doesn’t know if you can say majority or not. He says that is the great thing about referendums, that everyone can have their say. The interview ends.
Updated
Patricia Karvelas then asks:
OK, but you do believe in the same concept. So the idea that it’s racially divisive again seems inconsistent because if you believe in a special legislative voice for Indigenous Australians if it’s legislated, why is it not racially divisive?
Dan Tehan:
What you’re trying to do is do something which is going to close a debt and close the gap. And if this policy works in closing the gap, then that’s what you’re trying to do, but you’re not doing that permanent, you’re not putting in permanent division in your constitution.
Karvelas: So it is ok to have division that just lasts for a little while.
Tehan:
No. It’s not about division. It’s about trying to make sure that you’re closing the gap. That’s what this is about, and you’re trying to put policies in place, which which allow you to close the gap.
Now, if you think that you can’t ever close the gap, then you would put a permanent body in place in your constitution. We think that you can close the gap and you can do it by making sure you’re on the ground listening, especially listening to local communities outside of your capital cities, and ensuring that the policies that you’re putting in place are going to help and support those communities.
Updated
Tehan continues to avoid declaring support for voice
So if Dan Tehan believes in legislated voices giving opinions on Indigenous affairs, then isn’t his opposition to the referendum inconsistent with that belief?
Tehan ties himself in a couple of knots here:
Because what you’ve got when you put it in the constitution is a permanent voice.
What you have, if you legislate is you can see whether it’s working or not.
And if and let’s hope that it does, if that policy then led to the gap being closed, then you wouldn’t need that legislation anymore. You would be able to say okay, we’ve done what we set out to do.
Karvelas:
So you want to legislate so that you can get rid of the body when you want to?
Tehan:
No, it’s not about getting rid of the body when you want to, it’s about trying to make sure – if our whole aim is to close the gap, then surely we should be determined to do that.
And that’s what this is all about. We don’t want a permanent gap. We want to close the gap. So we deal with that issue and that’s what this is, this is all about.
Now if you want a permanent gap so you can have a permanent body, well, I just think that’s the wrong way to go about it.
Updated
Tehan pushed on whether he supports a legislated voice to parliament
Dan Tehan is pushed on whether or not he supports a legislated voice to parliament as his colleague Kerrynne Liddle said that was what the Coalition supported.
Tehan:
Well, I haven’t heard what Kerrynne Liddle has said and I’m happy to look at what Kerrynne Liddle has said.
What I’m saying is that our policy was that we would look at local voices because what we want to make sure that we’re doing is listening to local communities, because what we tend to see always is that we get these bodies set up in Canberra that don’t listen and don’t engage.
And one of the things and this is the point of why we need a little bit more detail about what the Labor government are doing is we don’t know whether they will be democratically elected – the representatives that go on this constitutional voice. We don’t know whether they’re going to be appointed.
We know in Victoria that we think that we would get two representatives on it.
We don’t know whether one of those representatives will be from rural or regional Victoria.
So these are all the details of where we’re trying to get an idea of and the government won’t tell the Australian people any of these details so we could have in Victoria two representatives from Melbourne, who are meant to be engaging and making representations on on issues in relation to Victoria.
Updated
Tehan calls Indigenous voice ‘a body in Canberra’ informing local communities
Patricia Karvelas teased that out:
PK: So your policy is that Indigenous voices should make representations to the government about policy that affects them?
Dan Tehan:
Our policy is that what we need to be doing is making sure that we’re engaging with local communities.
He says the concern with the voice is that “once again, you’ll have a body in Canberra which will tell local communities what they should be doing”.
Which is the reverse of what the voice is proposed to do – local communities will tell the voice representatives what they think, and that body would then use that consultation to inform what it tells the government about policy. So it’s bottom up, rather than top down.
Karvelas points that out.
No, it’s the other way round, actually. [Liberal senator] Kerrynne Liddle said the Coalition supported a legislated national voice. Do you support a legislative national voice that’s fed into by regional and local voices?
Tehan:
Let’s just go back to the point that we were discussing.
Updated
Tehan says Coalition was working with Indigenous communities before voice debate
Dan Tehan says that is what the Coalition was doing while in government:
We were going around to local communities, engaging with those local communities and seeing what we would do to make sure that especially on the ground in locations outside of the capital cities where you really see the disadvantage that there was an ability to engage with with local indigenous communities to make sure that we continue to close that gap.
How was the Coalition planning on doing that? It hadn’t yet landed on model yet, Tehan said.
We were doing the consultation and the engagement stage and going through those those processes, but at its heart, the idea was to make sure that especially when it comes to putting national policies in place that your bureaucrats in Canberra would be able to ensure that they engage with local communities because what we see Patricia, especially as someone who represents regional and rural Australia, is that we often see decisions taken by Canberra out of Canberra, which are fine for capital cities, but do not address the issues that we confront in regional and rural Australia. And that’s why we make we wanted to make sure there was engagement at the local level.
So, like a voice?
Updated
Liberal MP tells ABC the Coalition is supportive of legislated local voice
It has been a pretty busy morning, so I am only getting to some of the radio interviews now.
Liberal MP Dan Tehan spoke to ABC Radio RN Breakfast host Patricia Karvelas about the Coalition’s opposition to the voice.
The interview is a masterclass in listening to what is actually being said. Tehan is asked to explain his answers, and well – you can see the results.
Here is a taste:
Q: What’s your policy for ending disadvantage? Because you’re opposed to the voice. You were in power for nearly a decade and disadvantage and the closing the gap targets in many places have gone backwards. Isn’t some of that your responsibility?
Tehan:
Well, in some places, we’ve been able to bridge the gap and that’s been very welcoming and in some places we haven’t been able to. And what we are doing is we are developing policies to make sure that in those areas we are not closing the gap, that we can do so and [the] Indigenous Affairs shadow minister is out on the ground. She’s been in Alice Springs and other places, listening and making sure that the policies that we take to the next election will, in those areas where we are closing the gap, continue to do so. And those areas where we aren’t, that we look at okay, what do we need to do to make sure that we do have the correct policies in place.
Which sounds like a voice. Tehan says the Coalition supports a legislated local voice.
Updated
ACT senator Pocock’s ‘fair pay for radio play’ bill before parliament today
There is a lot of policy change pushes which occur in the parliament which don’t always get a lot of attention – here is one example from independent senator David Pocock.
The ACT senator is trying to overturn laws which limit radio station payment to artists. What artists get paid for their content on radio and streaming services is a huge issue within the music community – you would be surprised at how little they receive.
As the Conversation reported recently:
“Radio Caps” place an upper limit on annual license fees for the use of sound recordings, such as songs. Commercial stations are capped at no more than 1% of their gross revenue, while the ABC pays $0.005 (half a cent) multiplied by the total population of Australia.
Pocock’s copyright legislation amendment (fair pay for radio play) bill 2023 will be debated later today and seeks to remove the caps and enable artists to negotiate payments themselves.
Because a similar cap does not exist anywhere else in copyright laws, songwriters are often paid bigger royalties each time their song is played than the artists.
At the moment, we have odd examples where if a station plays Khe Sanh, songwriter Don Walker will be paid a greater royalty than Jimmy Barnes.
The bill won’t change the royalties but instead allows the market to decide a fair rate for renumeration.
Pocock will be joined by artists Josh Pyke and Jack River in parliament today to push for the bill’s support.
Updated
Community groups signing on to support yes campaign for voice to parliament
The yes campaign says now more than 750 organisations have publicly pledged their support for an Indigenous voice in the coming referendum, with Yes23 welcoming new support from councils, non-profits and arts groups.
Despite concern over slipping poll numbers, Yes23 says it is seeing increasing support from leading groups in various parts of society.
“As more people learn about the referendum and engage in the national conversation, we are seeing increasing support from all corners of society,” said Yes23’s campaign director, Dean Parkin.
We’ve ramped up our ground activity, speaking at forums and hosting events across Australia; volunteers door-knocked almost 10,000 homes in over 60 federal electorates last weekend. The number and diversity of our activities is reflected in the number and diversity of organisations now backing a Yes vote. It demonstrates the opportunity we have to unite the nation.”
Yes23 last reported around 500 groups publicly backing the campaign. The latest tally of 750 includes recent endorsements from Ipswich, Kingston and Kiama councils; the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, First Peoples Health & Wellbeing, and Equality Australia; and arts groups including the Melbourne Theatre Company, and the Live Performance Australia Executive Council.
Karinda Taylor, CEO of First Peoples’ Health and Wellbeing, said the voice would improve the lives.
As an Aboriginal community-controlled health organisation, we know there are many benefits to our health and wellbeing when we feel informed and empowered,” she said.
With a front-row seat to First Nations’ health services, we witness every day how self-determination leads to better results.”
Labor must boost Australia’s spending on research, Universities Australia chair urges
Lloyd will conclude his address calling for improved federal government funding on research and development, which has been in “free fall” relative to the economy for the past 16 years and lags well below other OECD countries.
He will argue a “decade of successive and consistent changes” to policy settings have weakened the sector.
This see-saw of corrosive policy oscillation and accompanying funding uncertainty has made any kind of sustained strategic planning that any major institution must carry out almost impossible.
The Labor party took a commitment to the last election to work with business and universities to boost Australia’s overall spend on research and development to almost three per cent of GDP … even three per cent itself is a very, very long way from research and development investments being made by other nations in our region.
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Faruqi on federal government’s role in states and territories rental laws
But given it is the states and territories who have dominion over things like rental laws, why are the Greens targeting the federal government?
Mehreen Faruqi says:
The prime minister has previously coordinated with the national cabinet, with states and territories, on energy prices, the prime minister was boasting just a couple of days ago that he could get the states to sign on to a new public holiday.
The prime minister absolutely has the power and the jurisdiction to be able to coordinate states and territories to then implement rent freezes and rent caps.
The housing market, including the rental market, is on the agenda for next week’s national cabinet meeting.
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Coalition’s job-ready graduates package 'hurting nation', Universities Australia chair says
Lloyd will also use his National Press Club address to take a large swing at the former federal government’s job ready graduates package.
The reforms were implemented in the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic to incentivise students to study certain degrees. It reduced the overall government contribution to degrees from 58% to 52% and increased fees for some courses, including humanities, to fund fee cuts in other courses and extra university places.
Universities cannot continue to do more and more for the nation with less and less. But that’s exactly what we were compelled to do under the job-ready graduates package – itself positioned as ‘a reform’.
False nomenclature aside, at its core, JRG simply cut the average level of government funding for student places while shifting the additional costs on to students and universities.
“I cannot be more fulsome in my criticism of JRG. It has hurt and is hurting students. It has hurt and is hurting universities. It has hurt and is hurting the nation.”
Labor has confirmed it plans to scrap reforms introduced by the former government which increased the student contribution of some degrees. But students will have to wait until at least 2024 to see how their contributions will change.
Lloyd will say Australia “urgently needs” a funding model that is fairer to students and sustainably resources universities for the future.
Updated
‘Horrific’ stories should push government on rent caps and freezes, Greens’ Faruqi says
Mehreen Faruqi says it’s one of the reasons the Greens are pushing so hard to have rent caps and rent freezes made uniform policy across the nation. The senator says the rental market is changing the course of people’s lives, and not for the better:
I have been over the last few months door knocking with my colleagues, talking to people about the impact of rent increases.
And the stories we hear are heartbreaking. They’re pretty horrific.
I spoke to a renter who was about to move states from New South Wales to Brisbane –so, uproot their whole life, moving states, because they just could not afford rents any more, because they had increased at such a high rate.
I have heard stories from a single mother who lives with her daughter, and they basically have broccoli and noodles every single night. Something has to be done.
I’m glad there’s going to be a national cabinet next year and housing and rental rights are on the agenda for that meeting.
It shows the Greens’ pressure is actually working. I do hope that the prime minister and the Labor party and states and territories come out from that national cabinet meeting with a plan for rent relief and with a plan to build more public and affordable housing, inject money into that immediately.
Updated
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi on corporate profits
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi is speaking to ABC News Breakfast and has been asked about corporate profits, following the Commonwealth bank result Jonathan has reported on below:
People feel the corporate profits are absolutely obscene, it’s corporate profits driving inflation, yet who is bearing the brunt of it? It’s everyday people with the cost of living and it’s at this point in time, renters who are facing such huge rent increases.
And that’s why we want the Labor government to make some strong policies to freeze rents, to cap rents there after, and to invest directly into more public and affordable housing.
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National Science Week to focus on kids in science
Next week is National Science Week (12 to 20 August) and science minister Ed Husic is out and about for its launch.
Husic’s focus is on capturing kid’s attention with science early on, with the hope being that a childhood fascination leads to an adult career – one that is ideally spent in Australia, because there is the industry and support, rather than those big brains headed overseas.
He told the ABC:
It’s really important that we have Australian know-how powering what we need for national wellbeing and also for our economy as well. It’s really important.
I commissioned last year a review that’s been headed up by Sally Williams looking at how do we get more people, women and people from underrepresented backgrounds involved in Stem and stay in Stem. We got so much work to do. We just cannot have people feeling like they’re being left out or not invited to take part in helping us with all that work we need to do as a country.
(Stem is shorthand for science, technology, engineering and maths – or all the subjects I failed in school)
Updated
Essential poll: New Zealand centre-right ahead of Labour in lead up to election
Looking to New Zealand for a moment ahead of its coming election – the first monthly Guardian Essential poll for New Zealand puts centre-right opposition solidly ahead of the ruling Labour party in the lead up to October’s election, with the National and ACT recording enough support to form a coalition government.
The poll is also one of the first to record a return to parliament for the populist party New Zealand First, led by Winston Peters, on 5.3% of the vote. The results include undecided voters.
National: 34.5%
Labour: 29%
ACT: 11.6%
Greens: 8.5%
New Zealand First: 5.3%
Te Pāti Māori: 2.5%
Other: 2.5%
Unsure: 6.1%
Updated
Commonwealth Bank posts record cash profit
Australia’s biggest lender, Commonwealth Bank, has recorded a record full year cash profit of $10.16bn, but has warned that economic conditions are weighing on customers.
CBA chief executive Matt Comyn said that while the economy had been resilient, there was evidence of stress.
There are signs of downside risks building as rising interest rates have a lagged impact on mortgage customers and other cost-of-living pressures become a financial strain for more Australians.”
The 2022-23 results were 6% higher than a year earlier, buoyed by expanding profit margins.
Loan impairment expenses increased by $1.5bn, which CBA attributed to rising cost pressures and increased borrowing rates.
The Reserve Bank’s cash rate has jumped from 0.1% to 4.1% since the rate-hiking cycle started in May last year, pushing most mortgage rates well above 6%.
Rounding out this interview, Anthony Albanese will work with the state and territory leaders on a public holiday if the Matildas win the World Cup, à la Bob Hawke.
And does he believe in aliens, given some of the news coming out of the US lately?
I think in spite of the fact that sometimes, I do wonder where people are coming from, I reckon there is no like secret thing.
It’s pretty extraordinary – there is in America, I think they’ve got some committee looking at it in the Senate or something – I think that probably says more about the people looking at it, then it does about the aliens.
He laughs and then adds:
That was subtle. I am not sure how diplomatic it was.
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Albanese jokingly invites FM radio host for ‘drinkies’ at Lodge
On those promises, Anthony Albanese just invited one of the hosts he’s speaking to on this FM radio show to “drinkies” with the Australian-American leadership dialogue attendees who will be at the Lodge tomorrow evening, because they are running a competition to party in Vegas for 24 hours straight, and might need some local contacts in case something goes wrong.
Yes, I know it is a joke. But access to the prime minister is not something that is just handed out and yet FM radio hosts get weddings, dinners … everything.
For the record, Albanese has requested Living on a Prayer as the ‘banger’ played in his honour during the Vegas trip. He assumes they won’t have Khe Sahn, but he’d like to see that played in a Vegas nightclub.
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Albanese tells FM radio referendum will be ‘after the footy grand final’
Anthony Albanese is starting his morning with another FM radio interview, and this one comes with his own musical intro set to easy like Sunday morning.
Good times.
The Melbourne radio Fox FM hosts ask about the voice (which is part of the reason for this FM radio blitz lately) and Anthony Albanese gives his usual lines:
It is an optimistic call for reconciliation to come together as a nation and I’m very hopeful that people will vote yes in the referendum, which will take place in coming months.
There was a moment then when the hosts thought they were going to get the actual date, which wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility given how many promises Albanese makes to FM radio hosts.
But no.
It’ll be after the footy grand final sometime in the period after that it won’t be too late in the year.
Because you have the wet season at the top end and we want to make sure that people who live right around Australia can get the opportunity to vote.
So sometime between the AFL grand final and Melbourne Cup day. Seems like 14 October is shaping up as the day.
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Economic cost to not meeting growing need for university degrees forecast at $7bn
Universities Australia’s newly appointed chair Prof David Lloyd will release new modelling today showing the cost of not meeting the economy’s need for more skilled workers in the future is forecast at $7bn in three years.
Speaking for the first time since taking on the role in May, Lloyd will tell the National Press Club there will be an economic cost to not scaling up university enrolments for the future.
The National Skills Commission’s employment projections show that in the next few years, more than half of all new jobs will be highly skilled – meaning they will require a university qualification. Jobs in health care, professional, scientific and technical services, and education and training … are among the fastest growing industries.
If university attainment doesn’t progress beyond current levels, modelling puts the cost to the economy of undershooting the National Skills Commission’s target at $7 billion in 2026.
His speech comes following the release of the universities accord interim report and ahead of its final report in December. The interim report was resolute in the need to attract more Australians to the tertiary sector - in particular, underrepresented groups including low SES students, regional students, First Nations students and students with disabilities.
Lloyd will say addressing the challenge will require the sector to rethink how it delivers education, including a “shorter turning circle” than the traditional three-year degree program.
The ways in which we educate for attainment – our very definition of attainment – must now be reconsidered.
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Greens say rent freeze could save $2,261 per household this year
The Greens have released parliamentary library research finding that renters would have saved a total of $3bn if a rent freeze had been implemented in June 2022, and could save another $4.9bn if a rent freeze is instituted for the coming year.
Based on the Reserve Bank’s projected future rent increase of 10%, a rent freeze implemented this year could save the average household $2,261. The parliamentary library found a rent freeze implemented last year would have saved the average household $1427.
The Greens say the average rent saved from a two-year freeze would have been $3,688 per household.
Max Chandler-Mather, the Greens spokesperson for housing and homelessness, said:
If the federal government acts right now and coordinates a national freeze on rent increases, they could save the average renter thousands of dollars in just a year, which could be life changing. These aren’t just numbers, a two year saving of $3,688 per household is food on the table, a desperately needed trip to the dentist or it’s the electricity bills for two years.”
National cabinet will meet on Wednesday 16 August, with housing reform to be discussed. Labor has agreed to discuss renters’ rights at national cabinet, but opposes a rent freeze on the basis it is not a commonwealth responsibility and could harm supply.
Anthony Albanese said:
I am looking forward to meeting with first ministers this month for positive and constructive discussions on Australia’s national priorities. Our key priority for this meeting is increasing housing supply and affordability across Australia.”
Updated
Key event
Good morning
It’s parliamentary hump day and there is a lot to get through before Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton continue their question time bull elephant dance.
Frustrations were bubbling to the surface yesterday over the voice, with Dutton frustrated Albanese wouldn’t answer questions as asked. (Which is ironic if you’ve ever had to go to a Dutton press conference or send questions through to his advisors.)
But it was indicative of just how personal the voice debate has become in the parliament. The Coalition feel as though it finally has something it can use to frame Albanese as they would like, while Albanese sees the stance as more blocking and negativity. It means the voice is dominating question time, but not in a way where you learn anything, other than the politics of it all. We’ll see more of that today.
We’ll also see more on the Greens push to have rent freezes made a national issue.
The Greens have released parliamentary library research which found that renters would have saved a total of $3bn if a rent freeze had been implemented in June 2022, and could save another $4.9bn if a rent freeze is instituted for the coming year.
Based on the RBA’s prediction rents could increase by 10%, the research showed that if a rent freeze was put in place now, the average rental household could save $2,261 this year.
National cabinet will meet in Brisbane next Wednesday (the day before the national Labor conference is held in the Queensland capital) where housing reform is the key item on the agenda. The federal government want to see uniform principles adopted which would then be up to the states and territories to individually interpret and carry out.
The Greens want a commitment from Labor that rental caps and rent freezes will be among the reforms before agreeing to support the housing Australia future fund. Labor has held firm that it will do everything for renters, but it can’t do that. The battle continues.
We will cover all of the parliamentary doings, as well as a little from outside of Capital Hill as the day unfolds. You have Amy Remeikis on the blog and we are thrilled to have Mike Bowers fighting fit and back with us in the hallways. You also have Josh Butler, Daniel Hurst, Paul Karp and Sarah Basford Canales in Canberra.
It is a three coffee morning. Easily.
Ready?
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