Heavy rainfall is expected to hit the Gulf of Carpentaria coast with a risk of a possible tropical cyclone from Thursday. This blog is now closed
Not everyone voted to bring Julian Assange back to Australia
Looking at the Hansard, it seems there were 11 MPs who abstained from voting on the Assange motion:
Continue reading...‘Export of zero-carbon goods can underpin a long period of high investment, rising productivity, full employment and rising incomes,’ economist tells press club. Follow the day’s news live
When it comes to treaty and truth-telling though, things are a little less clear. For all intents and purposes the government seems to be backing away from a designated federal process. We heard some of that yesterday, but Linda Burney continues it today.
For all Jacinta Price is accusing the Labor government of doing treaty “by stealth” that doesn’t appear to be the reality. Instead, existing processes look like being utilised.
I am having discussions with the cabinet about that, and I’m not going to go into those discussions. But the issue of truth-telling is incredibly important. And there are many, many ways in which that can happen, including the school curriculum.
The reality is the treaty process is well under way at a state and in many ways at a local level. You look at the Noongar agreement in and around Perth. For all intents and purposes, that’s a treaty.
What I’m suggesting is that we will listen to what people are saying.
I know that there are some people in the media, but I want to talk also to community leadership. I’m meeting with land councils today, for example, who are in Canberra this week for estimates. Those are the organisations that really worked very hard towards the referendum and I want to hear from them where they believe the next steps should be.
Continue reading...Revenue from carbon solution levy could subsidise green iron, aluminium and fuel production, veteran economists argue
A tax on fossil fuel production could help fund Australia’s transition to becoming a carbon-free energy giant, lower the cost of living and assist the world to cut greenhouse emissions, according to two veteran economists.
Ross Garnaut, a leading economist during the Hawke government, and Rod Sims, a former head of the competition watchdog, say a so-called carbon solution levy would raise $100bn in its first year alone if introduced in 2030-31 and set at Europe’s five-year average price of $90/tonne of carbon dioxide-equivalent.
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Today is the 16th anniversary of Rudd’s national apology
It is National Apology Day, which marks the anniversary of the day the former prime minister Kevin Rudd formally apologised to Indigenous people for the stolen generations.
Continue reading...Airservices Australia were grilled in Senate estimates after nationwide flight disruptions due to the missing staff. Follow the day’s news live
Dutton says Liberals will bin ‘right to disconnect’ if they win next election
Switching gears now – Peter Dutton has vowed to scrap the “right to disconnect” if the Liberal party wins the next election. Last week, Dutton told Sky News:
If you think it’s OK to outsource your industrial relations or your economic policy to the Greens, which is what the prime minister is doing, then we are going to see a continuation of the productivity problem in our country.
And as the Reserve Bank governor pointed out, if you don’t address it you’ll see interest rates continue to climb or you’ll see them stay higher for longer.
We’ve been overwhelmed by positive feedback from people who say - yeah, it’s not right that I should be on call 24/7 when I’m not getting paid for it.
And Peter Dutton wants you electronically bound to your boss, and having to answer calls 24/7, even if you’re not getting paid for it.
Continue reading...The ‘Juno’ training helicopters will support essential training for aircrew before the arrival of new Black Hawks from the US later this year. Follow the day’s news live
The ADF expects that the training helicopters will be available for operations in Oakey in Queensland by around the middle of this year.
The government will argue these helicopters have been chosen because they can perform a variety of roles “including personnel and equipment transport and Defence assistance to the civil community”.
We need a highly capable Army. When the tough but necessary decision was made last year to expedite the withdrawal of the MRH-90s from service, it meant that we needed to look at all options when it came to filling the capability gap and the training which our servicemen and women need.
We have been working with the United States and United Kingdom on ways in which we can bridge this gap, and their support and willingness with the acceleration of the Black Hawks and leasing of training helicopters will have a significant impact.
Continue reading...PM says opposition ‘tying themselves in knots’ as parliament resumes. Follow the day’s news live
School funding data
(continued from previous post)
Continue reading...The foreign minister, Penny Wong, says ‘Australia will not relent in their advocacy for justice’ for Dr Yang. Follow the day’s news live
Finance minister Katy Gallagher was asked about the Grattan Institute research (we had this earlier in the blog) showing that a third of households don’t pay tax and therefore miss out on the benefits.
Will the government consider raising jobseeker?
I think the treasurer and I have made it clear that every budget, we look at all aspects of expenditure across government, that would include looking at our payments and looking at our services … I think the PM committed to that before the election, this is something that we keep under consideration. It has to be balanced up with all of the other competing pressures where people want additional spending as well.
I think people are up for a rational and reasonable discussion… We made this decision based on putting people before politics.
I’m sure there’ll be others that will write things about [this] in future, but that hasn’t been something that we’ve been conscious of, it really has been about what we can do to help people – particularly those that have been feeling the crunch from the interest rate increases.
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BoM issues wind weather warning for Tasmania
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for damaging winds in parts of Tasmania.
Australia has a very important role to play as a signatory to the ICJ, a signatory to the genocide convention, to ensure the protection of Palestinian civilians and ensure that the investigations that are occurring with UNRWA … don’t inhibit funding and delivery of services that are going to basically save lives in coming days and weeks and months.
UNRWA has done the right thing in standing down the staff, sacking them. They have got an independent investigation occurring. 150 UN UNRWA staff have been killed, their families and children as well, over the past several months of this conflict. The UN is in the middle, sandwiched in the conflict, trying to do its best to save lives. Donor governments like Australia need to bear this in mind that, if funding ceases, there is nowhere else to turn to. People will simply collapse and die.
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The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking to ABC RN, and says news that the inflation rate has plunged to a two-year low of 4.1% is “welcoming, encouraging progress”.
… We know that people are still under pressure and we need to not be complacent about it. We need to continue to work as we have with our three point plan, having the surplus, making sure we deal with cost of living pressures without putting pressure on inflation, and dealing with … supply-chain issues as well.
With parliament resuming next week, this is a wake-up call that 2024 is the last chance for meaningful democratic reform ahead of the 2025 election …
Australians should go to the next election with strict political donation disclosure laws, truth in political advertising laws in force and information about who’s meeting ministers made public as a matter of course.
Continue reading...Home values rose 0.4% in January and rents increased 0.8%, but the housing market remained varied around the country
The Australian housing market upswing continued in the first month of 2024 with property values rising another 0.4%.
As house prices rose, renters continued to feel pain, with the national rental index recording its biggest monthly rise since April. Rents were up 0.8% in January, after a 0.65% rise in December.
Continue reading...The latest ranking of revenue foregone shows the usual suspects topping the list
Concessions for superannuation cost the federal budget almost $50bn a year while rental deductions, much of them for negative gearing, have jumped by more than half in three years, the annual treasury summary of tax expenditures shows.
The ranking of revenue foregone in 2023-24, released on Wednesday, was headed by many of the usual groups, finding for example that shielding taxpayers’ main residence from capital gains taxes, saved them a combined $47.5bn for the year, up about a third from 2018-19.
Continue reading...Ms Bernard, a Kowanyama woman, was last seen at Archer River quarry on 10 February in 2013. Follow the day’s news live
Update on Queensland flooding
Senior BoM meteorologist Angus Hines spoke to ABC News Breakfast just earlier to provide an update on the rain and flooding in Queensland.
Last night the rainfall totals were between 50mm and 120mm which is still a very significant dose of rain, but bear in mind this time yesterday we were talking about 300mm leading to widespread flooding.
We could see these rivers with elevated levels for the next several days, as it will take a while for those flood waters to drain out, long past when the rainfall conditions have cleared up.
The goal for the AI taskforce is to be a trusted source of expert advice and assistance for the Law Society, and through it, for the solicitor profession across NSW. Its members will be drawn from the law, justice system, academia, and government.
The work of the taskforce will enhance the Law Society’s work to ensure that NSW leads the way in harnessing the best that AI has to offer for the legal profession while mitigating the risks.
Continue reading...CPI came in at 4.1% in the December quarter, easing from the September quarter pace of 5.4%
Australia’s inflation retreated to a two-year low in the December quarter as food and fuel prices increased at a slower pace, fanning hopes the next move by the Reserve Bank will be an interest rate cut.
The consumer price index came in at 4.1% in the final three months of 2023 compared with a year earlier, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. Economists had expected CPI to come in at 4.3%, easing from the September quarter pace of 5.4%.
Continue reading...Labor’s bid to skew package towards low- and middle-income earners given boost, as only 22% say it should go ahead unchanged
Almost half of voters support revising the stage-three tax cuts to help low- and middle-income earners while only about one in five believe the plan should go ahead unchanged in July.
That is the result of the Guardian Essential poll of 1,201 voters, which provides a boost for the Albanese government’s plan to reform the tax package, finding only 22% of respondents agreed the previously legislated cuts should be left untouched.
Continue reading...Follow the day’s news live
Paterson calls for ‘swift and decisive action’ against neo-Nazi groups
Over the weekend, NSW premier Chris Minns doubled down on his push to tighten anti-vilification laws after a group of neo-Nazis attempted to hold another rally in a public park.
I’d like to see swift and decisive action taken against these neo-Nazi groups who have no place in Australia.
I never thought we would see [something like this] in such a demonstrable way in a pluralistic country like Australia.
It’s the reason why the federal parliament, before Christmas, went to the extraordinary step of passing laws to ban Nazi symbols being publicly displayed, to ban the Nazi salute. And it’s critically important that those laws are rigorously enforced so that people understand there are consequences for this action.
Continue reading...Key senator calls for broader tax reform, while arguing changes to stage-three plan could fund increases to jobseeker and other payments
The independent senator David Pocock has called on the Albanese government to use $28bn of savings from its new tax-cuts package to increase welfare payments and urged Labor to trim other tax concessions.
With the Greens signalling that they will press Labor to recoup even more from high-income earners, Pocock has suggested the revamp of stage three should be a springboard to other tax reforms in the too-hard basket including capital gains tax.
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Continue reading...Anthony Albanese rejects calls for a fresh election by the opposition leader who continues to accuse the PM of breaking a promise
Peter Dutton has refused to commit the opposition to an official position on Labor’s amended stage-three tax cuts, as the government begins negotiations with the Greens and key independents.
Anthony Albanese said on Friday he would soon begin discussions with crossbenchers to get the updated tax cuts through parliament, as the Greens say they will push for further support for low-income earners.
Continue reading...The latest advice from the Bureau of Meteorology is that Tropical Cyclone Kirrily will begin crossing the coast from 10pm tonight. Follow the day’s news live
As we flagged just earlier, wind gusts associated with Tropical Cyclone Kirrily have already begun around the Whitsundays, with gusts over 100km/h.
In a Facebook group for Whitsundays locals, a new resident has asked an innocent question:
Hey there I’m kind of new to town from Melbourne. Does anyone know how to tie my tree down so that it doesn’t blow away?
“I would use fairy lights.”
“If you hop around clockwise on your left leg 3 times and then do a Kangaroo hop to the right, the drop bears will take care of it by having the tree extend it’s roots deeper.”
“If you’re really from Melbourne you would know how to tie down a tree with the windy crap weather down there. Ride a kangaroo to bunnings [and] get some ratchets.”
“From the state of the supermarket shelves I’m guessing everyone is using toilet paper to tie their trees down.”
“Take the leaves off and store inside. The rest will be fine.”
Continue reading...Prime minister to use National Press Club address to defend new plan as the ‘right thing to do’
Anthony Albanese has pledged to more than double tax relief for Australians on the average income in a suite of low and middle income tax cuts paid for by trimming benefits to high income earners.
At the National Press Club on Thursday the prime minister will defend Labor’s plan by arguing it will still deliver “a tax cut for every taxpayer” and that modification of the stage-three tax cuts was “the right thing to do” in changed economic circumstances.
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