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Luca Ittimani (now) and Krishani Dhanji (earlier)

Husic says Labor pile-on after Aukus criticism ‘not healthy’ – as it happened

Labor Ed Husic AUKUS United States Nick McKim Max Veifer United Kingdom Ahmad Nadir Greens Australia
Labor member for Chifley Ed Husic
Labor member for Chifley Ed Husic. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

What we learned, Thursday 4 June

Thanks for staying with our live coverage today. Here were Thursday’s top stories:

Parliament’s sitting fortnight is now over but Senate estimates continues and there’ll be plenty more news to keep across tomorrow. See you then.

Updated

Unions NSW welcomes medicinal cannabis changes

Unions NSW has endorsed a long awaited reform proposed by the Minns government to allow motorists who use medicinal cannabis to drive on New South Wales roads without fear of a severe penalty.

The government announced on Thursday it would introduce legislation which would provide drivers with a medicinal cannabis prescription a medical defence if they are caught with a limited amount of the THC component of cannabis in their system.

Unions NSW secretary, Mark Morey, said:

For too long, working people have lived with the fear that a single roadside test could end their career over a legal medication.

That fear has kept people off treatment they need. It has cost some of them their jobs and their licences for no good reason.

A cleaner who drives between sites, a hospital worker on shifts, a delivery driver, these are all people doing the right thing by following their doctor’s advice. Until now, the law has treated them like potential criminals for it.

If a driver is not impaired, there is no reason to drag them through proceedings that could stop them paying their mortgage. We don’t do this to people taking any other prescription.

Updated

Israeli influencer denies recording nurses with aim to get them fired

More on the case against two Australian nurses accused of making antisemitic comments to an Israeli influencer.

On Monday, the influencer, Max Ilinsky, appeared before the Downing Centre district court and was cross-examined by the nurses’ lawyers over allegations he recorded the video illegally.

Ilinsky told the court while under questioning from Greg James KC that he questions “Israeli haters” on Chatruletka about their opinions, and that he records the videos for his “protection”. He said he doesn’t always upload the videos to social media.

Asked by James if he was aware that recording someone without their knowledge was illegal in Australia, Ilinsky said “I’m not a lawyer so I don’t know the law”. He said he had researched the legality of recording videos before and came across different opinions.

Ilinsky told the court he recorded the videos to “warn out people” and that up to five people across the world had been fired after their opinions were aired via his videos. The court heard that he had faked his location via a VPN so that it showed him as being in Canada, not Israel.

He denied that his intention in recording the videos was to get people fired.

My intention was to get it to the authorities so they could review it and decide.

Updated

Case against two Australian nurses accused of antisemitic comments could collapse

The case against two Australian nurses accused of making antisemitic comments to an Israeli influencer might collapse if video footage is struck out of court, AAP reports.

Ahmad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh are accused of being menacing and offensive when they allegedly said they would refuse to treat Israeli patients and threatened violence towards them.

The pair are due to face a trial at the end of August, but the key piece of prosecution evidence might yet be excluded if it is ruled to have been obtained illegally.

Israeli national Max Ilinsky, popularly known as Max Veifer, recorded video of his conversation with the nurses on the platform ChatRoulette in 2025.

The platform, known as Chatruletka in Israel, randomly matches people from across the world to facilitate conversations.

Lawyers for Nadir and Abu Lebdeh argued in Sydney’s Downing Centre district court on Thursday the video showing the exchange was recorded illegally and should not be used as evidence.

Even though Veifer recorded the conversation from his home in Israel, the voices of the nurses being recorded without their consent at Bankstown hospital in south-western Sydney was an illegal invasion of their privacy, Nadir’s barrister said.

“This man [Veifer] is running his own private … vigilante activity,” Greg James KC said.

He doesn’t care what legal regime may prevail to obtain the recordings.

Crown prosecutor Justin Hannebery KC argued in court the online chat did not have the same expectations of privacy because of the random nature of the connection between the nurses and Veifer.

“Not all private conversations are created equal,” Hannebery said.

It isn’t exactly (a chat) with a close personal friend where that expectation might be regarded as absolutely heightened.

Judge Michael McHugh is set to hand down his decision on whether the video can be used as evidence on 23 June.

Updated

Greens may not decide whether to back Labor’s taxes until inquiry is over, says McKim

Nick McKim, the Greens’ treasury spokesperson, says the party may be weeks from deciding on whether to pass Labor’s tax reforms.

The reforms have passed the house and will go to a Senate review. McKim has told the ABC:

Well, we are always happy to talk to anyone who wants to make a fairer tax system in Australia … But in terms of any discussions with the Coalition or with Labor or with other crossbenchers, we are happy to talk to anyone who wants fairer tax system.

McKim said the Greens were still yet to take a position on the tax legislation but would “factor in” a view on whether Labor’s changes were a “step in the right direction”.

He suggested they may not reach a view until the end of the inquiry.

Once the inquiry is over we will have more to say about our position, substantively and on amendments.

Asked specifically if the Greens wanted to pass the laws by the mid-winter break, McKim said:

Well, if we do decide to support this legislation, that is one of the things that we’ll be considering. So I’m sorry, it’s pretty boring, but I’m not going to rule it in or rule it out at this stage …

We’re not saying we won’t pass it in the upcoming two weeks.

What about the Liberal offer of a deal on the NDIS?

McKim:

The Liberals have effectively said that they would be open to a longer inquiry on the National Disability Insurance Scheme cuts if they get a longer inquiry into the tax package … of course we’re thinking about that.

Updated

Husic skewers Labor’s ‘disingenuous’ sell for new Aukus deal

Ed Husic says his Labor colleagues have been “disingenuous” in claiming Australia is better off under the revised Aukus submarine plan.

Australia is now set to get three secondhand US Virginia class submarines as it awaits the nuclear-powered successors. Previously, Australia was going to get two second-hand Virginias and one new one. Husic asked about the deal in a Labor caucus meeting.

Husic has told the ABC:

The reason I spoke up is I feel really strongly when countries don’t do the right thing by us … This deal was changed and we were supposed to get two subs and a new sub. We now have got three [old] subs. And it looks like our US friends have asked us to take the sub-optimal option …

We are being told that this is now a better deal and it is more efficient and it’s more cost-effective, but you can’t retrofit reasons to something that wasn’t explained that way in the first place. I would say that’s disingenuous. … If this was a better option then why wasn’t it the first option?

Husic referred to Malcolm Turnbull’s arguments that the secondhand subs will have a shorter lifespan and that the US and UK parliaments are more open to scrutinising the deal than Australia’s has been.

Updated

Husic says Labor ministers’ ‘pile-on’ after his Aukus criticism ‘not healthy’

Ed Husic has said the backlash to his criticism of the Aukus agreement is unhealthy for Labor and designed to suppress dissent.

Labor frontbencher Mark Butler said Husic’s comments were just those of one backbencher. Pat Conroy said the comments were disingenuous.

Husic has just told the ABC:

There were a lot of others that phoned me or spoke to me after the meeting, welcoming the comments as well. I’m really concerned about the culture that exists at the moment in the party that you’ve seen. Like, I asked one question in one caucus meeting and I’ve had all these ministers lined up this week to respond to the things I’ve said, and it’s designed to sort of put a heavy blanket, heavy layer, to stop people from doing exactly what I’ve done . … It’s right for me to be able to ask questions and not necessarily have the pile-on that we did.

Husic said the party reaction to his comments would discourage other MPs from speaking up on issues.

I think the sort of emphasis on rigidity and the emphasis on compliance is not healthy for the party.

And quite frankly, if I may say, I don’t even think Anthony [Albanese] would have tolerated this when he wasn’t leader. You know, he often spoke up on things that he cared about, and good on him, when it was big enough for those calls to be made.

Updated

RBA governor says Australia is not suffering stagflation

The term “stagflation” has been getting a good run of late, as the global oil crisis delivers the twin blow of higher inflation and weaker growth.

But Michele Bullock, the RBA’s governor, does not believe it’s the right description of what is going on.

She was asked in estimates whether there was at least a “pulse” of stagflation, a phenomenon that became famous during the oil shock of the 1970s when unemployment and consumer price growth were both in double digits.

“No, I wouldn’t even use the term stagflation in the current circumstance,” she said.

I think we are in a supply shock and stagflation is about … a prolonged period of high inflation and very poor growth and poor employment outcomes. We’re not in that situation.

That’s a little more optimistic than Bullock’s deputy sounded back in April:

Updated

ANU approved controversial cost-cutting program without 'clear evidence', says scathing audit report

The Australian National University council approved its controversial $250m cost-cutting program without clear evidence it was needed or urgent, ignored key factors and failed to consider other options, says the national auditing office, in a scathing review of the university’s financial management.

The review found the Renew program, which led to the resignation of the then vice-chancellor Genevieve Bell, cost more than $35m to implement and achieved an ongoing annual saving of $74.8m, and warned revenue and people risks remain.

The report says that while there are long-term sustainability issues around ANU’s finances, including an overreliance on international students for income, there was no immediate financial crisis at the time that Bell announced the program in 2024.

While the draft report raises questions about the long-term sustainability of ANU’s financial situation, it includes the assessment that the university was not in immediate financial crisis at the time Bell announced the cost-cutting program, dubbed Renew ANU, in 2024.

The independent senator for the ACT, David Pocock, called the report a tough read, and said it justifies the community’s outrage at the “manufactured financial crisis”.

The ANAO’s report highlights a swathe of failings, finding that Renew ANU was approved without a clear understanding of the problem, the options available, or the implementation risks.

Updated

Zara, H&M and Sephora pay $596,000 for late financial reports

Three major fashion and beauty retailers have paid a combined $596,000 after allegedly failing to lodge their financial reports when they were due, the corporate regulator says.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission said it sent them infringement notices, resulting in the payments, which Asic said were not an admission of guilt.

Zara’s parent company, Inditex Australia Pty Ltd, paid $198,000 for failing to lodge its report for the financial year ending 31 January 2025.

H&M, or Hennes & Mauritz Pty Ltd, paid an infringement notice of $198,000 for failing to lodge its report for the financial year ending 30 November 2025.

Sephora Australia Pty Ltd paid an infringement notice of $198,000 for failing to lodge its report for the financial year ending 31 December 2024.

Asic said all three companies had now lodged their outstanding financial reports.

The regulator announced its focus on late lodgement and non-lodgement of financial reports in August 2025 and has since issued 24 infringement notices totalling over $4.5m for alleged financial reporting breaches.

Updated

Jane Hume says Liberals ‘are not One Nation’

Jane Hume has dismissed as “nonsense” suggestions the Liberals could partner with One Nation to take on Labor.

Hume, the deputy Liberal leader, has told the ABC:

It’s nonsense. The Coalition has been in place for 80 years now and has served Australians well for generations … We are not One Nation. We will never be One Nation.

That last line (perhaps unintentionally) echoes comments from Labor’s Clare O’Neil earlier today.

Hume also claimed Bridget McKenzie’s now-infamous invitation to Pauline Hanson to join her in campaigning against Labor in Queensland had been misinterpreted.

Asked about her views on recommending voters preference One Nation, Hume said it depended on the candidates in competition.

My instinct is always to preference last the party or person that would do the most damage to the country … If there is a particular candidate that we feel is a danger, a problem, we would preference them last …

It depends on the particular candidate in the particular seat. But, you know, it might be that the Socialist party is worse, it might be that the Greens are worst, it might be that Labor’s candidate is the worst for the country. And we should make a decision based on which is the best candidate and which is the worst candidate.

Updated

Hume says Greens and Coalition both interested in NDIS and tax inquiries

Jane Hume, the deputy Liberal leader, hasn’t ruled out the chance the Coalition could work with the Greens to apply more parliamentary scrutiny to Labor’s tax reforms.

The Australian Financial Review has reported the Greens are open to a deal if the inquiry into the national disability insurance scheme gets extra time.

Asked if the Liberals and Greens would do a deal to extend the tax reform inquiry in exchange for a longer NDIS inquiry, Hume told the ABC:

We have said from day one we think these taxes should have appropriate scrutiny … I also believe that there should be an NDIS inquiry … Both the Greens and the Coalition can see benefit in not just an NDIS inquiry but through proper scrutiny of these tax changes.

Updated

‘Credible sightings’ of missing Tasmanian devil Mary

Zookeepers hunting for a Tasmanian devil which escaped from a Gold Coast theme park – and has spent several nights on the lam – have reported “credible sightings” of the elusive carnivorous marsupial overnight.

The devil, called Mary, did a Houdini from Paradise Country in the dark early hours of Tuesday morning. Zookeepers suspect an “abnormally large leap” saw Mary clear the fence of a quarantine area. A dozen of the park’s wildlife team have been scouring the grounds since – alongside a drone operator with thermal imaging capabilities.

On Thursday morning, a spokesperson said “some credible sightings [came] through overnight” from the neighbouring Kopps Road area.

“So [we] will focus our efforts on this location again tonight when she is likely to be active again,” the spokesperson said.

Updated

Budget has not added to inflationary pressures, RBA says

Michele Bullock, the RBA governor, says the May budget has not changed the central bank’s estimates around total government spending, suggesting it has not made its inflation-fighting job more difficult.

“What matters for inflation is demand relative to supply, and fiscal public demand adds to aggregate demand,” Bullock said at estimates, when asked about the impact of measures such as the fuel excise cut.

Our assessment is that … relative to our forecast in May, this budget is not adding anything further to public demand than it was adding in our former forecasts.

Sarah Hunter, the RBA’s chief economist, added that spending by the states is “actually very important in all of this”.

Updated

Thanks Krishani Dhanji and hello readers. Stay with us for the rest of today’s breaking news.

Thank you so much for joining me on the blog this sitting fortnight!

I’ll leave you with the wonderful Luca Ittimani for the rest of the day’s news, take care.

Tl;dr here's what happened in question time

  • The prime minister labelled Tony Abbott a resurrected dinosaur while rebuking criticisms from the opposition on its tax changes.

  • Having just passed the House of Representatives, the opposition used most of its questions to focus on the capital gains tax reforms and housing.

  • Clare O’Neil told the opposition they can’t “out One Nation, One Nation” as the Coalition tested the government on the 51,000 permanent residents who have accessed the 5% housing deposit scheme.

  • The independent MP Nicolette Boele asked the government why mining giant BHP received hundreds of millions in diesel credits when it posted a $15.5bn profit last financial year.

  • Zali Steggall asked the government why it hasn’t banned advertising for gambling inducements as recommended by the 2023 gambling inquiry (she didn’t get an answer).

Updated

RBA governor plays down recession fears

The Reserve Bank governor, Michele Bullock, has played down fears the global oil shock will trigger a recession, saying the “economy is still expected to grow” even in a more severe scenario where oil prices are “significantly higher”.

After three interest rate hikes this year, Bullock told Senate estimates “I recognise that this is a difficult time for many households facing cost-of-living pressures”, but that it was “important that we bring inflation under control”.

“If high inflation persists, it risks becoming embedded in price and wage-setting behaviour, particularly given the prolonged period over which underlying inflation has been above 3% since the pandemic.

“That would result in more persistent inflation and would require even higher interest rates, and for longer, to return inflation to target.”

There is a high degree of uncertainty about how the Middle East conflict will play out, Bullock noted, “but under a wide range of scenarios the conflict could well contribute to even higher global and domestic inflation”.

“The effects of the conflict on economic activity are less certain and expected to vary across countries, but for Australia we judge that it will weigh modestly on growth” – making it harder for the central bank to manage the trade-off between inflation and economic activity, she said.

While these are challenging conditions, the economy is still expected to grow, albeit modestly, even under these scenarios where oil prices are significantly higher than recent levels.

Updated

Anthony Albanese takes the final dixer for the fortnight and then calls time on QT.

Crossbench tests Labor on gambling inducements

Back to the crossbench, Zali Steggall asks if the government will ban gambling inducements and advertising for inducements – it’s a follow-up to Allegra Spender’s question earlier this week (when Anika Wells didn’t say the word inducement once in her answer).

Gambling inducements are incentives by operators to encourage people to open betting accounts and to gamble more.

The late Peta Murphy’s report on gambling advertising had recommended a blanket ban on the practice as well as a ban on advertising for inducements.

Anthony Albanese takes the question and he says he refers to Wells’ earlier answer.

We’re taking action when it comes to problem gambling, more than any government in Australian history has, and the next comprehensive level of reforms we’ll continue to engage, and I’ll continue to engage with people on the crossbenches and across the parliament.

He also doesn’t mention the word inducements once.

Updated

‘They’re against first home buyers,’ PM says of Coalition

The LNP MP Andrew Willcox asks the prime minister if he will “admit that his economic strategy has failed all Australians”.

He says that yesterday Labor MP Rowan Holzberger confirmed Australians are worse off after four years of Labor.

Anthony Albanese lists a bunch of case studies of people who have told him they’ve benefited from the government’s tax changes. He then clarifies what Holzberger was actually saying:

The member for Forde that I was asked about, his question [yesterday] was about the Liberals’ closing of the car industry, that is what his comment was about, because those opposite are against jobs, they’re against living standards being improved, and they’re against first home buyers.

Updated

One Nation’s David Farley gets his first question

David Farley has asked his first question to the house since he was sworn in on Tuesday.

He asks the defence minister about the importance of water security for our national defence, and whether the defence department has provided formal input into the review of the Water Act, Murray-Darling Basin Plan Review or development of the National Food Security Strategy.

The deputy PM and defence minister, Richard Marles, agrees with Farley that water is critical for defence but does not confirm whether the department has been involved in those reviews.

The Defence Strategic Review made it clear that we really need to be exercising those national muscles again in terms of thinking about the future, and so that does go to the question of thinking about water security in the context of our national security, as it does in relation to food security.

Updated

Labor's Clare O'Neil tells Coalition 'you're never going to be Pauline Hanson'

The Liberal MP Henry Pike is next and asks if the government has acted as a guarantor for 51,000 non-citizens to buy their first home.

He’s referring to the 51,000 permanent residents accessing the government’s 5% first home buyer deposit scheme.

The housing minister, Clare O’Neil, confirms that Australian citizens and permanent residents are both eligible under the scheme, and accuses the opposition of engaging in a “race to the bottom” with One Nation over migration.

Those opposite can continue racing to the bottom against One Nation, but I’ll tell you what, you can’t out One Nation, One Nation. You’re never going to be Pauline Hanson.

Those opposite can point the finger and blame the problems facing our country on permanent residents. That is not the position of those of us on this side of the chamber.

She warns the opposition that their words aren’t just heard in Farrer (which is the seat One Nation just picked up from the Liberals in a byelection), but in Chisholm and Reid, two Labor seats with significant migrant populations.

Updated

Minister says AI chatbots will be included in digital duty of care rules

Will AI chatbots be included in duty of care legislation, asks the independent MP Kate Chaney, who says “children are increasingly spending their formative years talking to AI chatbots that simulate emotional intimacy, which can cause deep psychological harm and erode critical thinking”.

The communications minister, Anika Wells, gives a long preamble on the work the government has done with the under-16s social media ban and the increase in funding for the eSafety commissioner.

She then reveals that yes, AI chatbots will be included under digital duty of care reforms.

Under the digital duty of care, AI chatbots will have to adopt safety by design principles in how they develop their tools from the start, and they will have to continue to have systems in place to protect young Australians from harm. So the short answer to your question is yes.

Updated

Granny flats don’t count for favourable tax settings, O’Neil says

The Nationals MP Anne Webster is next and asks the government whether granny flats will count as new builds that would allow the owner to access favourable negative gearing and CGT settings.

My colleague, Pat Commins, brought you this question and answer a little earlier today from estimates, which you can see here.

The short answer is no.

The housing minister, Clare O’Neil, tells the house what’s out under the new-build rules according to the budget papers:

An established property recently extended a free-standing house constructed through a knock-down rebuild, replacing an older, smaller free-standing house, a granny flat built adjacent to an established property, that isn’t eligible for negative gearing.

As she finally says granny flat, we hear some calls of “bingo!” from the opposition benches.

Towards the end of the answer, the Nationals MP David Littleproud gets the boot from the speaker.

Updated

Chalmers rebuffs ‘extraordinary powers’ claims

The Coalition, Greens and crossbench have all raised concerns over discretionary powers that will give the treasurer the ability to make changes to the CGT reforms after they’ve passed parliament.

The Nationals MP Pat Conaghan asks the treasurer, “why would small businesses and farming families trust the treasurer with sweeping extraordinary powers?”

Jim Chalmers says again that these are not extraordinary powers.

The problem that the member, that the member opposite asking the question, has is just because you can get someone to write this rubbish doesn’t make it true, Mr Speaker. It doesn’t make it true. There is nothing extraordinary about treasurers of either political persuasion settling definitions in this manner.

Updated

‘You’ll be working for him soon,’ Chalmers warns Taylor on Hastie

Andrew Hastie is next and says the prime minister said the capital gains tax regime is going back to 1999 (before the 50% discount was introduced by John Howard), but the Treasury secretary, Jenny Wilkinson, today said the minimum 30% tax rate was not part of the pre-1999 system.

Anthony Albanese thanks Hastie for the “support” and quotes him from an interview in March:

I want to fight for my generation and the generations below. They see the housing market, particularly, is rigged against them.

Angus Taylor shouts back and Albanese says to him, “you better listen” pointing to Hastie.

From the frontbench, Jim Chalmers shouts to Taylor, seemingly making a reference to Hastie’s previous leadership ambitions, “you’ll be working for him soon, you better listen up”.

Hastie tries to make a point of order on relevance, and Albanese continues, making another dinosaur reference.

He [Hastie] said this: young Australians want to tear down the system because it doesn’t work for them, and if we’re not responsive to that as a party, we may as well become extinct. Perhaps that explains the return of the great dinosaur, Tony Abbott.

Hastie shakes his head and shouts, “it’s karaoke, speaker, enough karaoke”.

Albanese (after another point of order from Dan Tehan) continues:

He yabbers away, Mr Speaker, nonstop. What he should do, the leader, even if he won’t listen to people on this side of the house, he can listen to the people behind him, because soon enough you might have to.

Updated

Independent asks why BHP receives $622m in diesel credits despite posting $15.5bn profit

The independent MP Nicolette Boele asks the government why it’s given $622m diesel credits to BHP in the last financial year when it posted a profit of more than $15.5bn.

The energy minister, Chris Bowen, gives a fairly short answer, and says the government is focused on fuel supply while the war continues in the Middle East (it’s a similar answer the government has given when asked why it’s not introducing a tax on gas exports).

He then says that the government is also focused on reducing emissions in the heavy industry – including mining “through reforms to safeguard mechanisms, which have now been operating for two years and have resulted in 5.8m tonnes of avoided emissions”.

Importantly, [they] are projected to avoid 17bn litres of diesel being used between now and 2035 because we are putting in place the settings which will encourage those big emitters and big facilities to reduce their fuel use in a careful methodical and properly designed fashion.

Updated

Wilson ‘never lets facts get in the way’, Albanese says

Tim Wilson gets a go next and asks a similar question to his leader – why did the government vote against the Coalition’s amendments to lower taxes 11 times – and asks the prime minister to admit the government voted to “steal hundreds of billions of dollars in extra taxes from hard working Australians”.

There’s a bit of back and forth because it’s deemed unparliamentary language.

Before Anthony Albanese can even begin, the Labor MP Basem Abdo is kicked out of the chamber.

The PM tries to shift the narrative and says that it was the opposition that voted against lower taxes because it didn’t support Labor’s bill that included the $250 working Australians tax offset.

One thing you’ll say about the shadow treasurer: he never lets facts get in the way. Today we just passed legislation through the House of Representatives to lower taxes, that is what we just did, and those opposite voted against.

It takes some capacity to actually go to an election arguing for higher taxes, but at the same time delivering higher deficits, but that’s what this bloke [Taylor] did at the last election.

Updated

High court dismisses neo-Nazi group's injunction attempt

Breaking out of QT for a moment, a neo-Nazi group’s interlocutory application in the high court to prevent it being listed as a hate group – until its full case has been heard – has been dismissed.

Moments ago in the high court in Canebrra, justice Stephen Gageler dismissed the bid, brought by Thomas Sewell’s White Australia group.

The reasons will be published shortly. Read more:

Updated

PM references 'resurrecting dinosaurs in Jurassic Park' as he criticises Abbott's new role in question time

Angus Taylor starts question time by asking why the government voted 11 times today against tax cuts (under the Coalition’s amendments) and voted for $77bn in tax hikes (the revenue over a decade from negative gearing and capital gains tax changes).

Anthony Albanese relishes the opportunity to talk about opposition policy, because it allows him to rail off about the Coalition.

The PM says the opposition voted against the working Australian tax offset of $250 and the $1,000 automatic tax deduction.

It shouldn’t be surprising, given the history, which is there, because we know the costings that the Coalition released when the member for Hume was the shadow treasurer, just two days before the last election. The Coalition went to the last election arguing for … higher personal income taxes.

Midway through that answer Milton Dick kicks out the Liberal MP Ben Small for interjecting too much.

Albanese then turns to his current favourite attack – criticising the election of the former prime minister Tony Abbott as federal Liberal president – with perhaps his sharpest line yet.

At least when they resurrected the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, they chose a species that had been successful.

Updated

‘More challenging environment for first home buyers,’ Wilson says

The shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, is responding to Labor’s tax changes passing through the house, and he’s not happy about it.

He says Treasury modelling shows that under the changes there will be 35,000 fewer homes built over 10 years, which could make the market worse rather than better for first home buyers (the group that the legislation is supposed to most benefit).

Wilson tells journos in Parliament House:

We don’t have a pathway where incomes are going to rise, where people invest in growing the future of the Australian economy, or even to build more housing.

So, no matter which way it is, we’re going to see a more challenging environment for first home buyers.

Updated

Chalmers gives a thumbs up as Labor’s tax changes pass the house

The easy part is over for the government with its tax changes passing in the house, but now comes the hard bit.

In the meantime, Jim Chalmers gave the thumbs up as his legislation was voted through.

The opposition’s amendments failed – but in the Senate they might try to give the inquiry examining the legislation more time, arguing the bill needs to be given more scrutiny.

Updated

Staff in Australia’s onshore detention network begin strikes

Staff in Australia’s onshore detention network will begin rolling strikes today over concerns about their pay, rostering and safety.

From Thursday evening, detention officers will take a one-hour work stoppage with more to follow on Friday in centres across the country.

The industrial action follows a Guardian investigation that revealed a series of catastrophic security failures involving MTC, the US private prison company running the network under a local subsidiary, Secure Journeys.

Incidents included the escape of high-risk detainees and injuries to staff, which have triggered multiple investigations – one of which warned the contractor’s “minimalist staffing model” was putting workers and detainees at risk.

United Workers Union delegates who work in the centres said they were paid less than workers in comparable security roles and current rosters were unworkable and leading to burnout, safety risks and understaffing.

Ellen Domanyi, who works at Villawood, and who was speaking as a delegate of the union, told Guardian Australia the centre is “critically short staffed”.

I’ve been there 16 years and the morale with the staff … it’s really bad at the moment because of the concerns of short staffing and our wages.

In a statement the UWU allied industries director, Godfrey Moase, said:

These are facilities that are operating in communities across Australia, and the safety standards within them matter to all of us.

Secure Journeys is an American private prison company that is looking to maximise its profits from a contract with the Australian Government at the expense of the people doing this vital and difficult work. It should be operating at the highest standards of safety and care.

A Secure Journeys spokesperson said the company has made “a fair and balanced offer” to workers regarding wages, conditions and rostering, “while recognising the realities of operating in an immigration detention environment”.

The spokesperson said:

Secure Journeys’ commitment to maintaining safe and secure operations and detainee welfare remains our top priority.

Updated

Labor's tax reforms pass the house

The two bills that make up the first tranche of Labor’s tax reforms have now passed the House of Representatives unamended. It means the legislated changes to CGT, negative gearing, the tax offset and instant tax deduction will now go to the Senate.

The government has said the next tranche of bills – which have yet come to parliament – will have more of the details on the reforms.

On the second bill there was just one amendment from the shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, for the opposition and one from Allegra Spender. The independent MP was pushing for income tax brackets to be lowered – which the government and the Coalition voted against.

Once again, independents including Andrew Wilkie, Helen Haines and Monique Ryan voted with the government, and independents including Sophie Scamps and Spender voted against.

Updated

Nauru issues rare statement defending against allegations of threats of violence against NZYQ cohort

The Nauruan government has put out a rare statement about its deal with Australia to take on NZYQ members removed to the tiny Pacific nation, insisting it is a safe country with “friendly, welcoming people”.

Shortly after midday, a government media release said the 12 men currently residing in a regional processing centre had “the same rights as any other resident”.

However unlike Nauruans, they are provided with accommodation, a fortnightly allowance, and free transport for shopping and other travel around the island. Many have purchased their own motorcycles so they don’t need to rely on the transport provided. They have access to all government facilities in Nauru including free health and medical services.

The statement continued that the island nation’s medical centre was now a “leading facility in the Pacific, offering high-quality, specialist medical services”.

It continued:

All of these services are available at no cost to those settled on Nauru as part of the Third Country Reception Arrangement, and they also have access to newly developed, modern sports facilities, employment opportunities and a relaxed, Pacific way of life.

Nauru is one of the safest countries in the Pacific, if not the world. We are a friendly, welcoming people and this welcome extends to those who arrive as part of our arrangement with Australia.

The statement comes after the independent MP Andrew Wilkie shared an anonymous whistleblower’s statement, which claimed the cohort faced “serious threats of physical violence” and those overseeing the regime had “a fundamental lack of respect for the humanity and rights of the cohort”.

Read more here:

Updated

‘We’re not happy about any of this’: Wong angry over flotilla protesters’ treatment

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, says Australia is pushing for an independent investigation into the mistreatment of activists detained by Israel as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla.

Speaking in Senate estimates, Wong says Australia has pressed Israel for an urgent and thorough investigation into allegations protesters were subjected to mistreatment, including sexual assault.

A group of 11 Australians were detained by Israeli forces while attempting to deliver aid to Gaza last month. They have alleged abuse, torture and other violations while in detention.

Australia called in Israel’s ambassador after Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, taunted activists in detention, including posting a video showing detainees kneeling on the ground while restrained.

“We are pressing for a swift and transparent investigation,” Wong said. “I would like to see that, and so would other countries, of course.”

You would prefer, in these circumstances, to have an independent one, but I would rather have an investigation that is transparent than no investigation, and so we need to keep pressing for that.

Updated

Independent MPs split as Labor's first tax bill passes lower house vote

After numerous divisions on amendments from the opposition, Monique Ryan, Allegra Spender and Zali Steggall, the government has moved to vote on the substantive bill. There are two bills for these reforms to the CGT, negative gearing, tax offset and instant tax deduction.

Labor, as we know, has the votes in the lower house – the battle will be in the Senate.

The crossbench splits on the vote – Ryan, Helen Haines and Andrew Wilkie vote in support of the government’s bill unamended.

Others including Sophie Scamps, Kate Chaney and Spender vote against.

The first has now passed, and the house immediately moves on to the second. There’ll be more amendments from the opposition and crossbench on this bill as well.

Updated

Budget boosts funding to target parents not paying child support

On the nearly $2bn in outstanding child support we brought you earlier, Senate estimates has just heard there was more funding in the budget to stop parents who are not paying off their debts from flying overseas, and to chase people to do tax returns.

The average debt is about $8,700.

In the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee, the Department of Social Services’ child support manager, Lauren Power, said:

The measure that was announced in the budget is an $18.4m investment over four years from 2026-27 to increase the use of departure prohibition orders [DPO] to recover child support debts from payers with a large outstanding debt.

So DPOs will be automatically applied to parents who have at least $10,000 in debt or overpayments, and who have travelled overseas more than once in the last two years.

She said Services Australia makes about 150,000 referrals a year to the Australian Taxation Office for child support parents for non-lodgement of tax returns.

So $6.1m has been provided to the ATO to undertake the prosecution of people who are repeated non-lodgers of their tax returns.

Updated

What’s going on in the house?

Earlier we had amendments coming out of our ears over the government’s second reading of its contentious tax bill.

What that means is opposition and crossbench members were trying to make more of a rhetorical point about the bill and the passage of it, but they weren’t actual amendments to the bill itself.

That’s what’s going on now.

So each member who moves an amendment gets to speak on it, the government responds (so far saying no to all of them) and then they go to a vote.

Angus Taylor moved an amendment to remove the capital gains tax and negative gearing changes from the bill, which would allow the opposition to vote in support of the promised tax cuts (the working Australian tax offset).

He told the house:

Australians need cost-of-living relief after four years of Labor’s raging homegrown inflation … we support Labor’s $250 annual income tax cut, we support Labor’s $1,000 deduction for work-related expenses, these cost-of-living measures could have passed this parliament easily with bipartisan support, but tricky Labor, [and] its tricky treasurer have deliberately tied these measures to its toxic taxes.

Updated

Whistleblower warns of violent threats against people Australia removed to Nauru

A whistleblower has warned of the “serious threats of physical violence” non-citizens from the NZYQ cohort removed from Australia to Nauru face.

This morning in the federation chamber, the independent MP Andrew Wilkie read out a statement from an anonymous whistleblower who was fearful of being named for their own personal safety and employment security.

Using parliamentary privilege, Wilkie said the person’s statement claimed:

Through my employment, I am involved in the process which sees individuals removed from Australia and taken to the Republic of Nauru. I have come to hold grave concerns about the physical safety of individuals removed to Nauru …

In numerous conversations, serious threats of physical violence were made in relation to those removed to Nauru. These were not idly made threats. They were said with a tone and gravity that indicated, at best, an indifference to the dignity and wellbeing of the removed cohort, and at worst, an active desire to cause them serious harm. I came to understand that those responsible for overseeing the removed cohort had a fundamental lack of respect for the humanity and rights of the cohort. The threats included comments that those removed were quote absolute blank pieces of blank, who in Nauru would be mistreated in such a way to make quote very clear how they are going to be managed for the rest of their lives.

I was absolutely shocked by such unashamed and gratuitous threats of violence … I have repeatedly tried to raise concerns about these matters through appropriate channels. To date, I have seen no evidence that my concerns have been addressed.

Updated

Wong pushes back on Trump’s latest tariffs

The federal government is racing to understand the latest tariff plan by the US president, Donald Trump.

In Senate estimates on Thursday, the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, criticised the proposed 12.5% tariff on Australia, justified on the grounds that Australia could do more to stop slavery.

Australia continues to assert our view that we are not supportive of tariffs, and we continue to value open trade that has benefited both Australia and the United States.

It is the government’s position that we do not believe there is a basis for these additional trade measures, and that is what we will continue to robustly put.

Australia already faces a 10% tariff on goods exported to the US.

The trade minister, Don Farrell, has objected to the new tariff in Paris overnight, during talks with Trump’s trade representative at an OECD conference.

Updated

$1.99 billion in outstanding child support payments or debts

The Department of Social Services is up in Senate estimates today and it’s just been revealed there is $1.99 billion in outstanding child support.

That involves 221,145 cases, with the average debt being $8,675.

The department’s child support manager, Lauren Power, said:

41.8% of the value of the debt is under arrangement at the moment. That figure has increased over the last four years.

The $1.99 billion figure refers to all child support debt accumulated since the scheme commenced in 1988. So some of it would be quite longstanding… and some of it accrued more recently.

World Cup players scared to speak out: Craig Foster

Former Socceroos captain Craig Foster says there has been a “chilling” effect on the voice of footballers concerned that speaking up about human rights abuses could cost them their World Cup dream, AAP reports.

Human rights and geopolitical tensions are in the spotlight as the games approach.

But there has been little commentary from other players across the 48 teams as the tournament nears, in stark comparison to when the Socceroos were involved in a video campaign criticising 2022 host Qatar’s human rights record.

“It’s extraordinary that we’ve seen very few, if any, statements from any of the athletes participating in this tournament – no doubt because they realise the risks that that brings,” Foster said.

The prominent human rights advocate was speaking on a media briefing held by the Sports & Rights Alliance and Human Rights Watch. Foster said players faced censorship and would be concerned about the safety of their family, friends and colleagues, along with fans potentially being racially profiled by ICE, and couldn’t fully focus on performance. He said:

We’ve seen a very significant chilling effect on the voice of players, and on their right to speak out on various violations, many of which, of course, the US are participating in right now …

And undoubtedly because players will know that that would have almost certainly prejudiced their opportunity to actually travel to the US, be granted a visa and participate in their own World Cup.

Germany football director Rudi Völler this week urged members of the squad to avoid making political statements while at the World Cup. Foster said:

Players would have, and teams would have, been advised long before now about the very severe risks.

Updated

Federal Liberals want to cut tobacco excise, says Tim Wilson

Tim Wilson, the Liberal shadow treasurer, says cutting tobacco excise should be “part of the solution” to eliminating the black market for cigarettes.

New data yesterday revealed 80% of cigarettes smoked by the nation last year were sourced illegally, meaning they did not attract the excise. Legal cigarettes are typically far more expensive, mostly due to the heavy tax.

Speaking on ABC Radio Melbourne this morning, Wilson said:

No one can tell me how much we need to cut excise to get the illegal tobacco out. About 12 months ago, there was talk of it being somewhere around 30% [cut] would get the illegal gangs out. Now it seems like it’s closer to 60%. And so it’s clearly got to be part of the solution …

We haven’t reached a formal position, but there’s absolutely an appetite from a lot of my colleagues that something needs to be done.

Illicit cigarette consumption doubled from 2016 to 2019 then doubled again by the end of 2022. Both Coalition and Labor governments have hiked the excise. Wilson denied the former Coalition government’s excise increases were responsible for the growth.

It’s been a trajectory consistently over multiple governments to do this. And it’s quite clear that it isn’t working and is now fuelling behaviour.

An excise cut would mean legal cigarettes face less tax, potentially boosting big tobacco companies’ sales and profits. Wilson said:

Well, presently, the people who are profiteering most are legal gangs and organised crime. They then go to do things like fund terrorism and antisemitism and social disruption. And so, in a choice between the two very bad options, ones who actively subvert the law and harm other Australians are absolutely worse.

Updated

Victorian opposition leader joins calls to cut tobacco excise

The Victorian opposition leader, Jess Wilson, has backed calls to reduce the federal tobacco excise, saying the price of legal cigarettes drives people to buy illegal ones. It follows data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which found that 80% of the cigarettes smoked last year were cheaper illegal products.

Speaking outside parliament, Wilson told reporters:

We should consider reducing the federal exercise on tobacco, given what we’re seeing play out on the ground when it comes to the illegal tobacco wars, particularly here in Victoria.

We’re seeing an underground operation here when it comes to illegal tobacco, and in part over time that has been driven by the rise in the excise, seeing people go to the underworld market.

She said the state Labor government had failed to “lobby their federal counterparts in Canberra – the federal Labor government – to actually do something about the excise”.

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has previously called for overhaul of the tobacco excise, saying it was no longer working “as a matter of tax or health policy”.

Updated

Most homes listed for auction last week did not sell

Most homes listed for auction in the last week of May did not sell, as interest rates and budget changes for investors reduce buyer demand.

Data from Cotality showed just 49% of the 2,659 homes listed for auctions across Australia last week sold. This was the lowest level since May 2020, when much of the country faced Covid lockdowns.

Of the other 51%, 13.6% were withdrawn (most of them in Sydney) and 37.3% homes went to auction but were passed in.

Annabelle Mezieres, a Cotality economist, said the drop was due to buyers stepping back, not sellers. The same week last year had similar auction volumes but a clearance rate of 66.2%.

Melbourne’s clearance rate was 51.9%, its lowest since April 2023. Sydney’s was 46.5%, lower than the 49.3% recorded the week before. Most homes listed for auction in Brisbane and Canberra did not sell.

Part of the decline in buyer interest has likely been because the federal government scrapped negative gearing for new investors in established homes. Banks have already changed their lending rules accordingly.

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, this week said of the falling clearance rates:

If we are making it easier for first home buyers to get a fair crack at auctions, then that’s a good thing.

Updated

Matt Canavan says US tariffs have ‘fig leaf of a justification’

The Nationals leader, Matt Canavan, says “Labor must push back on Trump’s new tariffs”, arguing they’re unfair and a breach of the free trade agreement.

Canavan has given the most muscular opposition to America’s proposed tariffs, announced yesterday by the US trade representative. In a statement he claimed the trade barriers were “unjustified and a clear breach of the Free Trade Agreement Australia has with the US”.

“We are great friends with Americans but these latest tariffs are based on a fig leaf of a justification,” Canavan said.

Just weeks after the US supreme court struck out the Trump administration’s first tariffs, the US launched an investigation of whether Australia fails to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labour.

Canavan noted that Australia has strict laws against the use of forced labour and modern slavery, and that the US investigation “has not provided detailed evidence that Australia fails to stop products made with forced labour”.

Its report is a smokescreen to justify tariffs it clearly intended to put on in any case.

Updated

Queensland government commits to reforming Adoption Act

The Queensland child safety minister, Amanda Camm, says the government will reform the Adoption Act, after tabling a months-long commission of inquiry into the state’s child safety system yesterday.

This morning, she was asked about one of the commission’s most controversial recommendations: an end to the legislated principle setting adoption as a last resort for Indigenous children. The rule does not apply to non-Indigenous children.

Commissioner Paul Anastassiou said government should “entrench adoption as the third permanency option for all children regardless of cultural background”. He acknowledged it came over the “strong submissions from First Nations stakeholders against adoption”.

Camm said she would “always put the interests of children first, no matter their cultural background, no matter where they live in this state”.

If they are a child known or in the child safety system, our government will prioritise their safety and wellbeing first, and that’s our commitment.

We’ll consider that recommendation, and we will bring forward reforms that are in the interests of children.

Updated

Can you negatively gear a new granny flat from next year?

Can you negatively gear a new granny flat once the new budget rules come into effect from the middle of next year?

You might be wondering, and so was Liberal senator Andrew Bragg in estimates this morning.

Just a reminder: under the proposed tax changes, only new home builds that “genuinely add to housing supply” can be negatively geared from 1 July 2027.

There are a variety of examples about what genuinely adds to housing supply, such as you won’t be able to knock down a home and then negatively gear the rebuild.

So: “Is a granny flat in or out?” asked Bragg.

The Treasury secretary, Jenny Wilkinson, reads out the line in the budget glossy tax explainer.

A granny flat adjacent to an established property that is not eligible for negative gearing would not be eligible.

She adds that the new rules will eventually be firmed up when the legislation is finalised.

Updated

Pocock pushes the Coalition and Greens to work together to delay budget bill

David Pocock says he would welcome the Coalition and Greens working together to delay the government’s tax legislation being rushed through the parliament.

Earlier this morning Angus Taylor told a press conference he was open to working with anyone – including the Greens – after reports in the AFR that formal negotiations were taking place between the two parties to support a longer inquiry into both the tax legislation and the NDIS overhaul. Taylor said:

We’ll work with whoever we can to stop this toxic legislation getting through the parliament. Well, they’re dirty, rotten taxes, that’s the, that’s the underlying problem here.

On Sky News, Pocock said the bill is “something that absolutely needs scrutiny” and added that he also had serious concerns over the discretionary powers the bill would give to Jim Chalmers.

I think both the NDIS changes and changes to CGT should have a lengthy Senate inquiry process.

I’ve been really concerned abut the number of bills the government has been introducing to parliament that gives a minister extraordinary powers … we have to maintain parliamentary oversight and I’ll be pushing the Greens and the Coalition to ensure we do that.

I do think we shouldn’t be handing those powers to the treasurer, any of those changes should come through parliament

Updated

Drew Hutton speaks out after resigning from the Greens

A co-founder of the Greens has spoken out after handing in his resignation to the party, weeks after winning a court battle that saw the party reinstate his membership and pay tens of thousands of dollars of his legal costs.

Drew Hutton, who is nearly 80, says he will back “progressive independent candidates” who are committed to “changing the federal government’s Sex Discrimination Act so that it clearly defined a woman as a biological female”.

Hutton says he will not back teals, who he describes as “woke”.

His Greens life membership was officially terminated last July after his online comments sparked a lengthy internal conflict over what the party considered his pursuit of debate harmful to trans people but he framed as an issue of free speech.

But in March, the Greens accepted they had denied him natural justice and were forced to reverse that decision. Hutton says the party paid $55,000 – about half – of his legal fees.

Hutton says after he was reinstated, he tried to persuade the party to “have another look at gender policy and their approach to freedom of speech”.

“But, basically they’ve taken out a fatwa on me,” he says.

Hutton says his politics haven’t changed since 1984, when he founded the Brisbane Greens and that he remains committed to the four pillars of ecological sustainability, grassroots participatory democracy, social justice and peace and non-violence.

“This [the Greens] is a big part of my life’s work – I don’t know whether I feel more sad or bitter about it,” he says. “Probably bitter.”

The Greens put out a statement to “wish Drew well” and recognise his “significant contribution to progressive and green politics in Queensland” in “years past”.

Updated

Following from our previous post …

Although the Victorian and New South Wales governments introduced several reforms to combat the illegal tobacco trade, data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday shows these measures haven’t made much of an impact. The amount of nicotine consumed nationwide soared by 40% between 2017 and 2025, despite population growth rising by just 14%.

The ABS also found that 80% of the cigarettes smoked last year were cheaper illegal products.

It’s led to calls for the federal government tobacco excise to be lowered to reduce criminal incentive, including by the NSW premier, Chris Minns.

Asked whether he backed Minns’ call, the Victorian minister, Enver Erdogan, said the “price differential between the legal and illegal products” was one of “multiple factors for the growth of this illicit trade”. He continued:

I know that many in the sector – the convenience stores – have said that that is a big factor for them, and they feel that, especially with cost of living [and] affordability being a factor for many people that use these legal products otherwise. That’s what the industry says. From my perspective I’m focused on making sure we crack down and making it harder to profit and sell.

Pressed on whether he would support a reduction to the excise, Erdogan said:

It is a factor for the growth. I think that’s undeniable – the federal assistant minister has said that too. So I think it is the reason for the growth of the sector, but what we need to do now is work together across the commonwealth. We have to make sure we crack down, make sure less of this product enters our country, make sure those settings are correct, but also that law enforcement in our state takes tough action.

Updated

Victorian government introduces laws to shut down illegal tobacco shops, with minister conceding price factor in growth of trade

The Victorian government will introduce legislation to parliament today to give police and its tobacco watchdog the power to shut down shops selling illicit cigarettes.

The minister for casino, gaming and liquor regulation, Enver Erdogan, told reporters the bill, first announced in March, will allow authorities to issue 90-day closure notices to shops found selling illicit tobacco. Police and Tobacco Licensing Victoria will also be able to apply to the magistrates’ court for longer-term closure orders.

Businesses that defy the orders will face fines of $2.4m and up to 20 years in jail, which he said are the nation’s “harshest” penalties.

When asked why the state was lagging in introducing the powers, given NSW introduced similar laws last month, Erdogan said:

In Victoria, we’ve never had a tobacco licensing scheme, so a lot of the work last year was focused on setting up the regulator in the first place, and the enforcement began in February. We know that this is a national problem, even states that had a long-term regulator – regulators for 10 to 20 years – they still have this issue. The criminal organised crime elements are very similar in Melbourne and Sydney, to be frank, and our crackdown is quite serious. I want to thank Victoria police who have made hundreds of arrests.

Updated

Treasury says 90% of young Australians better off under budget measures

The Treasury secretary, Jenny Wilkinson, says about 90% of young people will face lower taxes as a consequence of the tax changes in last month’s budget and which the government plans to pass through parliament today.

Wilkinson was asked whether young Australians investing as a way to save for a home deposit would pay more tax under the proposed changes.

My understanding is that most young Australians earn most of their income through wages and salaries. If you want to think about how most young Australians save to place a deposit on a home, most of the savings will come through wages and salaries.

She then referred back to analysis she revealed in a speech last week, which looked at Treasury’s best estimate of the combined effect on young Australians had the measures in the budget been put in place at the turn of the century.

That’s when she repeated the findings that “around 90% of young people will face lower taxes as a consequence of these changes”.

Updated

‘Bad practice for legislation’: opposition and independents push for tax amendments

It’s amendments galore in the House today, with the government’s budget bill up for debate.

Angus Taylor and independents Monique Ryan, Kate Chaney, Zali Steggall and Dai Le have all put forward amendments.

Taylor’s amendment is to stop the bill getting a second reading in parliament and calls on the government to pass laws to end bracket creep (the promise the opposition leader made in his budget reply).

Meanwhile, Chaney and Steggall are pushing for CGT reforms to stick to property, Ryan has raised concerns over the impact on small businesses, and Le is pushing for the legislation to be delayed until after the next election in 2028.

Of course none have the numbers, but it shows the government how the opposition and crossbench feels about the reforms.

Before the vote on the amendments (which the government will win due to its numbers), several MPs used debate time to criticise the bill, including independent Helen Haines:

We are actually being asked to vote on this legislation knowing that it likely doesn’t represent the intended final operation of these reforms, because the govt is currently working through potential modifications and crave-outs. Frankly this is really bad practice for legislation and it makes it truly difficult to engage with the substance of the legislation.

Updated

Budget measures will be a boost for new home buyers, Treasury says

The Treasury secretary, Jenny Wilkinson, says the budget measures overall will boost the supply of new homes, and that the tax changes will drive a “switch” in home ownership from investors to owner-occupiers.

Liberal senator Claire Chandler in estimates this morning is asking about budget modelling which showed the changes to the capital gains tax and negative gearing rules will reduce home supply by 35,000 over coming years, and whether this will make it harder for Australians to get into the market.

Wilkinson says:

What we have made clear is that the direct impact of the tax changes might reduce supply by a bit but that would be more than offset by what we estimate to be the impact on supply of the additional infrastructure measures.

Looking at the budget overall there would be an increase in net supply available to first home buyers.

If these changes were not made there wouldn’t be a switch of investors out of home ownership which makes more homes available for first-time buyers. Two things are going on here: questions about supply, and questions about the ownership mix. Those two things together will influence whether first home buyers can get into the market.

Updated

NDIS inquiry receives more than 4,000 submissions

The inquiry examining the government’s bill to overhaul the NDIS has received more than 4,000 submissions, says shadow NDIS minister, Melissa McIntosh.

She says the overwhelming volume of submissions reflects “the high level of anxiety that many Australians who rely upon the NDIS [are] feeling”.

Just over 300 of those submissions have so far been published on the inquiry’s website.

Influential thinktank the Grattan Institute has said in its submission that the overhaul is “blunt and inequitable” and “underpinned by dubious logic”. Read more on that from my colleague, Sarah Basford Canales, here:

McIntosh says:

Minister Butler talks a big game about consulting with the disability community, but Labor has gone about this in the wrong way – they’ve introduced the legislation first and are only now consulting with the community.

We have to strike the right balance between reducing growth in the scheme and ensuring that people with significant and permanent disabilities can access the support they need.

Three days of public hearings are scheduled for next week with the committee due to report back on 16 June.

Updated

Economy ‘solid’ in early 2026 ahead of Iran war impact, Treasury secretary says

The Treasury secretary, Jenny Wilkinson, has described the economy’s performance over the first three months of 2026 as “solid”.

Appearing at Senate estimates this morning, Wilkinson in her opening statement said the 0.3% real GDP growth rate in the March quarter – and 2.5% through the year – “aligns broadly with our expectations” as laid out in the budget.

Treasury still believed unemployment would peak at current levels of 4.5% and that inflation would ease into 2027. But much depends on what happens in the Middle East, Wilkinson said.

The impacts of the closure of the strait of Hormuz has been cushioned to some extent by a drawdown of global inventories. But there are limits on the extent to which stocks can continue to be drawn down before operational stress levels increase.

This also creates the risk of higher prices in the future if the current continues, even if it doesn’t escalate.

Updated

Six childcare centres shut, 99 hit with notices to improve standards under reforms

Six childcare centres facing disciplinary action by the government for not meeting minimum standards have shut, while 99 services have been issued notices to improve since the government passed new safety legislation in December.

Guardian Australia understands the five centres had failed to meet standards within the deadline set by government, but had not yet had their childcare subsidy funding suspended.

Ninety-nine childcare services have been issued notices since new standards were legislated, with 44 now meeting them. The government says those services had persistently failed to improve prior to intervention.

Ninety-two per cent of services are now meeting or exceeding the standards.

The education minister, Jason Clare, says the percentage of childcare centres meeting quality benchmarks “is now at the highest level ever”.

I have been very blunt – not enough had been done by governments – state or federal, Labor or Liberal.

But a lot has happened in the last 12 months and we’re seeing quality and safety across the sector improving.

Under the new reforms, 90% of the childcare workforce has now undertaken mandatory safety training while state and territory regulator inspections have increased 7.15% compared with the previous year, with 6,147 visits in the first quarter of 2026.

Updated

Minister defends controversial aged care assessment tool after review ordered

The government has been in hot water over an aged care assessment tool that determines financial support for elderly Australians and has no human override.

The aged care minister, Sam Rae, has continued to defend the process, and said the tool assesses data that is provided by a human who has done an assessment with an elderly person, and then a second human reviews the decision made by that automated algorithm (but critically, that second person can’t change the outcome).

In April, the health department revealed that it had received 834 requests for a review of tool’s assessments since it launched in November.

On RN Breakfast earlier this morning Rae said:

So the human being does the assessment, they’re a highly trained assessor. After that happens, the data goes into the integrated assessment tool. There’s then a second human being, that’s the assessor delegate, who then reviews the data against the notes that have been taken through the assessment process, makes sure that the input data is right.

Host Sally Sara asks him several times to confirm that the second person can’t override the outcome, but Rae won’t say the words.

She asks what the financial benefit has been of making a key part of this process automated. He replies:

This has not been based on any financial savings. This is based on getting the best outcomes … This is getting much better outcomes than the old system. We’re getting fairer outcomes for older people.

Yesterday the government said it had decided to review the integrated assessment tool.

Updated

Henry VIII powers on tax bill a ‘secret back door’, say Greens

You say godlike powers, I say Henry VIII powers, either way, the Greens and the Coalition have a problem with the discretionary powers that would allow the treasurer to make rule changes to CGT and negative gearing after the legislation passes.

As we’ve heard many times from the government now, they say it’s all standard practice, but the Greens are sceptical.

Greens senator David Shoebridge says the legislation needs “a really bloody close look”, as the party considers its position.

The term politically is Henry VIII powers, the ability to rewrite laws that have been passed by parliament … That didn’t go well for parliament at the time.

I can’t see how the government can say, well look these laws are really important, we’ve got to pass all these laws, but we want a sort of secret back door to write them off whenever we want, that’s what this bit of legislation says.

Updated

More than 50,000 permanent residents accessed 5% first home buyer deposit scheme

About 51,000 permanent residents have benefited from the government’s 5% first home buyer guarantee scheme, Housing Australia officials revealed at a Senate estimates hearing last night.

The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, has said he would restrict the program to citizens.

The 5% deposit scheme has been hugely popular with buyers struggling to build a deposit to get into our overpriced property market. Cotality has estimated it takes a typical couple 12 years to save a standard 20% home deposit.

The scheme allows eligible first home buyers to buy with 5%, and in some cases 2%, with taxpayers acting as the guarantor for the remaining 15-18%.

Housing Australia officials said there have been more than 310,000 first-home guarantees since the scheme was launched under the former Coalition government in 2019. A more expanded scheme under Labor has turbocharged demand, with 251,000 of those guarantees since 2022.

Experts say the popularity of the scheme has added to price pressures in entry-level properties.

Updated

Meta criticises news media bargaining incentive as ‘poorly designed’ and ‘grossly unfair’

Meta has said the federal government’s proposed news media bargaining incentive as a “discriminatory tax” that is “poorly designed” and “grossly unfair”.

The incentive is designed to force Meta, Google and TikTok to make commercial deals with Australian media outlets or they will be forced to pay a dedicated 2.25% levy on local revenues.

Meta published its formal submission to the draft legislation on Thursday morning, and said it would insulate publishers from competitive pressures by guaranteeing revenue. The company again argued that news organisations share their content on Meta platforms for free because they get commercial benefits.

Meta said the news bargaining incentive is:

A discriminatory, retroactive tax targeting a handful of foreign companies while competitors offering comparable services face no equivalent obligation.

Meta claimed it “plainly violates” the US and Australia free trade agreement.

The company said it wasn’t a plan to save journalism but “a tax on innovation dressed up as media policy” and Meta said it is “vehemently opposed” to the legislation.

Meta said most people now come to its platforms for “creator-driven video content” and it’s not the role of digital platforms to pay to rescue public interest journalism.

Updated

Hockey endorses plan for three used submarines

Hockey, who last month at the national press club said he had some concerns around Australia receiving three Virginia class submarines, says that the change to buying three second-hand, instead of two used and one new, has allayed some of his fears.

He says that the deal has played out almost exactly as he had predicted under the Trump administration (remembering that the Aukus deal was originally signed under the Democratic Biden administration).

I was repeatedly asked about how Donald Trump would react to the Aukus deal. And I said at the time, he’ll confirm the deal, but say don’t give him the new ones. Now, that’s played out exactly as I predicted. And look, from a military perspective, I think it works well that we have a single platform.

Hockey adds that whether new or used, the Virginia class submarines are “a massive improvement on the Collins class subs”.

Updated

Joe Hockey says he’s ‘argued personally’ with Trump over tariffs

There were no surprises for Joe Hockey, the former Liberal treasurer and ambassador to the United States, when the Trump administration yesterday slapped on a new round of tariffs on 54 nations including Australia.

Speaking to the ABC’s RN Breakfast this morning, Hockey said he’d argued personally with Trump over tariffs, but the US president is “not for moving”.

Hockey would know, having served as ambassador from 2016 to 2020, during the first Trump administration.

He says that the US is “running out of money and they need to get it from somewhere”, and Trump believes that somewhere is foreigners paying tariffs (but in fact its American consumers that get hit with the higher prices).

The president of the United States is absolutely convinced that tariffs are great. I’ve argued personally with him on the issue, and he’s just not for moving. He just can’t see the inflationary impact and the negative impact on American consumers. And it just goes to show how the world’s on its head when a leftwing Labour prime minister is trying to convince a rightwing Republican president that free trade is actually the right way to go.

Updated

‘We’ll fight against these rotten tariffs’: Angus Taylor

The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, has also joined the fight against the Trump administration’s latest round of tariffs announced yesterday.

He’s doing a doorstop in Canberra, and says the US shouldn’t put tariffs on a friend like Australia, and promises to fight against them.

Not being in government might mean it’s a little tricky for the opposition leader to engage in diplomatic battle against the administration, but at least it’s a bipartisan stance.

Taylor says:

They’re a great friend, and they shouldn’t do it to a friend. We’ve fought with them in every war, every major war. They shouldn’t be imposing tariffs. It’s not what we want to see, and we’ll fight against these rotten tariffs.

Updated

‘Nothing good faith’ about tax negotiations, says Paterson

Liberal frontbencher James Paterson has slammed “godlike” discretionary powers in the government’s tax legislation and said the treasurer can’t be trusted to make changes to the reforms once they’ve passed.

Jim Chalmers earlier called the characterisation of the powers being godlike as a “beat-up” and said it was standard practice for several tranches of legislation to make and then refine the rules.

Speaking to Sky News, Paterson says it’s not standard practice when “fundamental questions still can’t be answered about how [the rules are] going to apply”.

[There’s] certainly nothing good faith about the way in which the government has gone about this. As the prime minister admitted himself, he lied to the Australian people on 50 occasions about CGT, negative gearing and trusts.

So, these are not people to trust with godlike powers to make changes at the stroke of a pen after legislation has passed. They should actually get the legislation right.

Updated

Tariffs unwarranted and unjustified, says Chalmers

Chalmers also gives a strong rebuke of the Trump administration’s 12.5% tariffs for countries allegedly importing goods made by slave labour, announced yesterday. The administration named 54 countries including Australia.

The treasurer says Australia has world-leading legislation to combat modern slavery, and says the government will “continue to take every opportunity” to fight the levy.

These tariffs are unwarranted, they’re unjustified, and they’re inconsistent with our free trade agreement with the US, and we’ve made that case repeatedly.

So, we will continue to take every opportunity that we can to stand up for Australian exporters and to stand up for the workers and businesses in those industries.

Updated

Parliament to vote on tax changes

Jim Chalmers’ budget bill will face debate and a vote in the House today, and he poses the legislation as a “really simple choice” for the Coalition.

As we know, the government has set up the bill as a wedge for the opposition, by including both tax changes to CGT and negative gearing and tax cuts for workers.

Chalmers is doing a mini doorstop at the House of Representatives doors outside parliament.

A little note here: the “doors” are when the media set up a camera and a couple of reporters to talk to pollies as they walk in, generally backbenchers. Chalmers can use the ministerial entrance to get into parliament and avoid the cameras, so he clearly wanted to have a chat this morning and get his face on the morning bulletins.

Really simple choice in the parliament today: Labor lower taxes on workers, a fair go for first home buyers. The Coalition opposing both of those things.

On criticisms over the discretionary powers in the legislation that would allow Chalmers to amend the rules – the treasurer calls the concerns a “beat-up”.

Yet another beat-up about the sensible, commonsense tax reforms at the core of the budget. Not unusual, as I said, for definitions to be settled this way, and the parliament can disallow them if they want.

Updated

Farrell rebukes Trump administration’s latest tariffs

The trade minister, Don Farrell, has pushed back on Donald Trump’s latest round of sanctions, telling his US counterpart the targeting of Australian imports is unjustified.

Australia is among dozens of countries facing a 12.5% trade tariff from the Trump administration for allegedly failing to prevent imports of goods made by slave labour.

Farrell is in Paris this week leading Australia’s delegation at the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting and met with the US trade representative, Jamieson Greer.

Farrell used the talks to reinforce Australia’s position that any tariffs are unjustified and that Australian has a robust legislative framework and a world-leading approach to addressing modern slavery.

These tariffs would replace the US global 10% temporary import surcharge when it expires on 24 July this year.

Australia understands the latest announcement is just a proposal from the US not a determination.

Key Australian exports that have previously been exempt from tariffs are still exempt from these proposed tariffs – including beef and gold.

Updated

Coalition and One Nation ‘moulding into one point of view’, says Albanese

Anthony Albanese isn’t looking at a radical shift in the Labor party to counter the growing influence of One Nation, despite support for the minor rightwing party surging among women and city voters – according to new polling in Nine Newspapers.

Albanese claims the Liberals, Nationals and One Nation are “openly discussing being a rightwing partnership”. While speculation has been rife, when asked, members of each party say said they wouldn’t form a coalition with the other side.

Recently, Labor MPs have said its up to the government to highlight the “risk” of Pauline Hanson and her policies to the cost of living.

But Albanese takes a broader stance:

The Liberals, the Nationals and One Nation are openly discussing being a rightwing partnership. Increasingly, we see them mould into one point of view.

For the Labor party, we will always give voters respect and we’ll always look towards how we can deliver higher wages, how we can decrease their income taxes, how we can be a party of reform.

Updated

Australian dream shouldn’t only be in history books, says Albanese

Anthony Albanese says Angus Taylor and his Coalition will have a clear choice today to vote for tax cuts or oppose them – as they did on Labor’s tax cuts ahead of the last election.

Albanese has been facing an uphill battle trying to sell Labor’s budget both inside and outside parliament, despite pitching it as a game-changer for young people to get into the housing market.

He says that the Senate inquiry looking at the legislation will soon report back, which will be considered by the government.

We are engaging respectfully, as we always do, right across the parliament. My door is always open, as is the door of the treasurer and our Senate team. Of course, we will have the inquiry before the Senate sits in a few weeks’ time. That will be an opportunity as well for people to put forward their views, and we welcome that.

I don’t want the Australian dream to be something that is written about in history books of owning your own home. I want everyone to have that opportunity, aspiration.

Updated

'Ideological difference' between Australian and US government on tariffs says Albanese

Anthony Albanese says new tariffs from the US on Australian goods announced yesterday are “unwarranted” and that the government has made its position on tariffs clear.

Speaking to the ABC’s AM program, he says no notice was given and that Australia has “robust, comprehensive and world-leading legislation addressing forced labour and modern slavery”.

Albanese says Australia hasn’t been singled out in this latest round – 54 countries have been included on the US’s list.

It seems there is an ideological disagreement where the United States administration has broken with what was decades-long understanding that tariffs are not positive for the country that is imposing them, that they increase the costs of goods and services in the country that is applying them to its consumers, and that free trade is in the interest of the global economy.

We continue to use every opportunity that we have to advocate that US tariffs imposed in Australia are unwarranted.

Updated

Watt ‘confident’ tax legislation will pass parliament

The environment minister, Murray Watt, says the government is confident that the crossbench will support the government’s contentious budget bill after it passes through the House (likely today on Labor’s timeline).

Watt sits in the upper house which is where the government doesn’t have the numbers and will need at least the Greens support.

Speaking to the Today show earlier alongside Nationals frontbencher Bridget McKenzie, Watt says it’s “not unusual” for different parties to put forward different positions in the lead-up to legislation:

We’re confident, at the end of the day that the crossbench will see that our budget and legislation is about tax cut to every single working Australian.

McKenzie says she has some serious issues with the discretionary powers for the treasurer in the legislation.

It screams that they’re a bit like not letting us know what their plans were heading into the budget with the taxes they were going to impose that they don’t want to bring that to the parliament. And so they’re leaving that in Jim Chalmer’s back pocket for him to change at a later date …

The fact that you’re thinking that crashing the housing market is the solution to the housing [crisis].

Updated

Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here with you for the final day of the sitting fortnight, thanks to Martin Farrer for getting us started.

The government expects its contentious budget legislation to pass through the House today – it’s not a terrible assumption seeing they have a huge majority but we can expect lots of amendments and divisions from the opposition and crossbench that will drag the vote out.

The government will have a much trickier time getting the Greens over the line when that legislation reaches the Senate. The Greens have concerns over the government’s sweeping discretionary powers in the bill.

We’ll also be keeping a close eye on estimates today and we’ll bring you that as it comes.

I’ve got my coffee, I hope you’ve got yours, let’s get cracking!

Updated

Youngest convicted murderer sent back to prison

Australia’s youngest convicted murderer has been handed more time behind bars after a judge found him to have had complete disregard for his release conditions, Australian Associated Press reports.

The man, known for legal reasons as SLD, has spent almost two-thirds of his life in jail after the then 13-year-old abducted and fatally stabbed his three-year-old neighbour Courtney Morley-Clarke on the Central Coast in 2001.

The now 39-year-old pleaded guilty to five counts of breaching his supervisory orders and two charges relating to child abuse material.

The 39-year-old will be eligible for parole in March 2028.

“The reality is that … he cannot last long in the community without breaching the terms of his extended supervision order,” Judge Johnson said in Campbelltown district court yesterday.

The sentence took into account a mandatory minimum of four years’ imprisonment for a repeat child sexual offence, the first being his 2002 murder.

The judge also remarked that, since the age of 13, the defendant had spent all but four months behind bars.

Updated

Bank expects home price reduction from budget to be more than twice government forecast

Contentious tax changes will have a larger drag on home prices than the government forecast in the budget, according to analysis from Australia’s largest lender, reported by Australian Associated Press.

Winding back negative gearing and the capital gains discount for established properties will weigh on home prices by 5%, compared with Treasury forecasts of a 2% drag, Commonwealth Bank senior economists Trent Saunders and Ashwin Clarke found.

A slowdown in the property market was already under way before the budget due to global uncertainty and rising interest rates.

But the quick response to the tax changes suggested the near-term impact will be sharper than expected, the duo said in a research note on Wednesday.

“We now expect national dwelling prices to be flat over 2026, down from a forecast of three per cent at budget and five per cent in March.”

Analysts still expects the Reserve Bank to hike interest rates one more time in August, despite Australian Bureau of Statistics data showing a slowdown in Australia’s economic growth rate in the March quarter.

Updated

Welcome

Good morning and welcome to our live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.

Australia’s youngest convicted murderer has been sent back to jail after a judge found him to have had complete disregard for his release conditions. The man, known only as SLD, stabbed to death his three-year-old neighbour Courtney Morley-Clarke on the Central Coast in 2001. More coming up.

And expect more debate today over the government’s plan to change capital gains tax and negative gearing. The Commonwealth Bank is forecasting they will make house prices 5% lower than they otherwise would have been – more than twice the difference that Treasury had modelled.

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