Category Archives: Australian economy

Albanese government pledges $41m for six Tafe centres of excellence and more higher apprenticeships

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White paper to be released on Monday promises new policy initiatives including national skills passport

The Albanese government will spend an extra $41m in a bid to double higher apprenticeships in the care economy, digitisation and net zero, three priorities identified by the employment white paper.

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, will release the white paper on Monday, promising nine new policy initiatives including a national skills passport and the bid to boost Tafe with six new centres of excellence around Australia.

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Smorgasbord of conspiracy theories join forces at Sydney’s unofficial no rally – as it happened

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And now that I’ve introduced you to the “wanking off the dolphin” story, I’m going to skedaddle. Jordyn Beazley is set to steer the mighty blog ship for the next little bit, enjoy!

Our reporter Ben Doherty has been following developments at the UN this week and here’s the top of his story on Penny Wong’s speech, which was delivered in New York this morning Australian time.

With its special responsibility as a permanent member of the security council, Russia mocks the UN every day it continues its illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine.

The rest of the permanent members and all member states must be unyielding in our response to Russia’s grave violation of Article II of our shared UN charter.

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Uluru Dialogue accuses Dutton of ‘deception’ over voice – as it happened

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Jim Chalmers is now on RN Breakfast, where he was asked by host Hamish McDonald whether he was reconsidering the stage-three tax cuts given much of the $22.1bn budget surplus comes from the taxes of “hard working Australians”.

Chalmers said the government has not changed its view on the tax cuts, which recent data showed will flow disproportionately to high-income earners and men:

Well, first of all, it’s partly a function that people are working more and earning more. The labor market is incredibly resilient given what’s coming at us from around the world. And so unemployment is lower than what many people anticipated. And wages have began growing again, and that’s a good thing too. And that’s one of the reasons why the budgets in better nick but also getting good better prices for our commodities and what that means for company tax.

We haven’t changed our view about the stage three tax cuts, but we have found a way to provide substantial cost-of-living relief for people on low and middle and fixed incomes, because we recognise people are doing it tough and they’ve been our priority.

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Australian health, wellbeing and connectedness shrinking in the cost-of-living crisis, research finds

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Australian Cohesion Index shows material pressures eroding trust in government and in other people, particularly among young and financially distressed

Demographer James O’Donnell likes to talk about Australia’s Matildas moment – a span of time in the recent past when people from all walks of life rallied behind a common aspiration and shared a sense of national identity.

“That was a really unifying moment,” O’Donnell says. “Then we go straight into this divisive debate around the voice to parliament. How that is playing out in the data is something we are still grappling with.”

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Politics live: Jacinta Nampijinpa Price says she does not believe legacy of colonisation continues to impact Indigenous Australians

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Shadow Indigenous affairs minister last spoke at forum alongside Marcia Langton and Josephine Cashman in 2016. Follow live news updates today

We’ll be hearing from Michael Long and the Long walkers very soon.

In other news ahead of us, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price will give an address to the national press club and then she is down for an event with the Australian newspaper later this afternoon.

[It’s an issue that’s been identified across international media and domestically, but we need to make sure that there are absolutely no loopholes or ability for people to think that they can operate contrary to Australia’s national interest.

And so we’re making sure that our laws clearly identify and make it clear to any veteran to any firm former service personnel to public servants that have worked in defence that we take the integrity of our information, our national security information and training very seriously, and that we are going to properly regulate any work that they do for a foreign military or companies associated with them so that we’re protecting our national interest.

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Australian economy adds 65,000 jobs in August, raising prospect of further rate hikes

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Unemployment rate remains steady at 3.7% in a sign that the economy could avoid a hard landing as impact of 12 interest rate rises is felt by households

Employers hired almost 65,000 more workers in August, many more than expected, improving the prospects that the economy will avoid a hard landing but also raising the possibility the Reserve Bank may hike interest rates again.

The unemployment rate last month was 3.7%, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday. Economists had forecast the economy would add 25,000 jobs in August, which would have left the jobless rate at July’s reported level of 3.7%.

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Women’s World Cup fuelled uptick in Australian household spending last month, CommBank data shows

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Increase in nominal spending contrasts with other recent surveys showing consumer confidence was languishing at depressed levels

Spending on the Fifa Women’s World Cup and a jump in education, insurance and petrol outlays nudged national spending higher last month, according to CommBank data capturing the spending of about 7m households.

The household spending insights index picked up 0.7% to 137 in August. Compared with a year earlier, the index was up 2.3%, improving from the 1.9% annual rise in July.

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Soft landings, sticky inflation: a top economist on key challenges for Australia and the world

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S&P Global’s chief economist Paul Gruenwald believes interest rates will stay elevated for some time

Soft landings, sticky inflation, the dash to decarbonise and great power rivalry including the emergence of India are among subjects exercising Paul Gruenwald, S&P Global’s chief economist.

New York-based Gruenwald, whose career includes stints at the International Monetary Fund and ANZ, was speaking ahead of an economists’ briefing in Sydney on Tuesday.

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Politics live: James Paterson calls for security vetting of Australian parliament staff in wake of UK espionage scandal

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Shadow home affairs minister calls for extra checks ‘at the very least for MPs who work on sensitive committees’. Follow today’s live news updates

Ley defends pharmacists’ opposition to 60-day dispensing rule for prescriptions

The interview then gets to the issue of pharmacists and the change the government made to allow for 60-day dispensing (two-for-one prescriptions) which will save chronically ill patients up to $180 a year (as well as money on less trips to the doctor, travel etc.) but will cost pharmacists up to $150,000 a year (from the fourth year of the change) in lost dispensing fees (plus people buying fewer ‘incidentals’ such as jelly beans).

I’ve been in contact with many pharmacists over recent weeks, including those who left their businesses and assembled here a couple of weeks ago and I really am concerned about the impact this policy change is going to have.

I’m hearing [about] pharmacies who are already laying off staff. They’re already letting people go and most importantly, they can’t continue to provide the previously free support services that they used to …

Because they’ve told me.

Because if the government has changed the contract it has with pharmacy and is paying them less, they have to change their business in response. It’s as simple as that.

I would like to absolutely recognise the contribution she has made. She has been a trailblazer for our party. She has changed national politics and I have seen the work that she’s done over many years, much of it very modest, very behind the scenes, very in community.

So people often think of her as a defence and foreign affairs minister. I’ve seen her as a local champion for Western Sydney, and disadvantaged people across this country, and I have yeah, I mean, I’ll be really sad to see her go.

Always standing up for Australia’s national interest and a safer, stronger region. It’s as simple as that.

I think we did extremely good work with the Solomon Islands and, indeed, with the Pacific and people are looking at this through the lens of Covid and suggesting that we could have done more when, in fact, travel was an impossibility. I think that issue is well and truly being put to bed.

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Anthony Albanese pushes to finalise EU trade deal by end of year during talks on sidelines of G20

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Discussions had reached an impasse over the use of geographical indicators for products such as prosecco and feta

The prime minister says there have been positive signs in long-stalled negotiations over a free-trade deal between Australia and the European Union.

Anthony Albanese held talks with European leaders on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi, India, with time running out for the deal to be finalised by the end of the year.

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Marise Payne to quit parliament – as it happened

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The Bureau of Meteorology is urging people in western Sydney, southern and central ranges and the Hunter region to tidy up loose items around their yards as damaging winds are extending over the areas today.

Gusty storms may hit Sydney and the Central Coast today, while there are possible severe storms heading to the Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast this afternoon, with a risk of damaging winds and large hail, the BoM says.

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Australia politics live: Kylea Tink calls out ‘overly aggressive and personalised’ question time debate

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If you want to make a submission to the government about the Australian aviation industry, the link to the green paper is here

The green paper is public consultation. It comes before the white paper, which is a discussion paper provided to the parliament. White papers lay out the issues with context (the whole picture as it were) and then make recommendations on what needs to happen.

I consulted colleagues prior to the decision, but the decision was mine.

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Outgoing RBA governor Philip Lowe says tough decisions made him ‘very unpopular’

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At a speech in Sydney, Philip Lowe has said some of his economic explanations ‘missed the mark’ but that media should avoid ‘clickbait’

Philip Lowe has used his final public comments as governor of the Reserve Bank to defend his more controversial comments, saying while some of his explanations had “missed the mark” the media also had a responsibility to avoid “clickbait”.

“Raising interest rates and tightening policy can make you very unpopular, as I know all too well,” Lowe told a Sydney function on Thursday for the Anika Foundation. “This means that it is easier for an independent central bank to do this than it is for politicians.”

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Question time chaos – as it happened

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Tasmanian hospitals experiencing significant demand, public asked to reconsider attending

Tasmanians are being urged to stay away from the state’s two main hospitals unless it’s an emergency as they face “significant demand”.

The hospitals are closely managing elective surgery activity to maintain access for emergency demand. This includes working with private hospitals to access contracted bed capacity and elective surgery.”

I think the Qantas board has to seriously consider some of the decisions that they have been making. I mean, not for nothing, you’re in front of the competition watchdog for what is alleged to be quite egregious behaviour.

You have also sought to, as I said, keep on your balance sheet half a billion dollars of your customers’ money rather than giving it back in the middle of a cost of living crisis. (The flight credits)

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The RBA’s interest rate-rising looks done – and a soft landing for the economy could be on

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Australia’s economy might be just where Philip Lowe wants it – barring any nasty surprise – as he hands over to Michele Bullock

As two of Australia’s more contentious figures Philip Lowe and Alan Joyce head towards their gilded departure lounges, the economy seems set in a holding pattern with improving prospects of a desired soft landing.

To be sure, a happy outcome of a jobless rate remaining within cooee of 4%, wages finally catching if not outpacing inflation, and even the federal budget staying in the black a bit longer is far from assured.

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Australia politics live: RBA interest rates decision today; question time under way

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The corporate regulator is suing Westpac after it allegedly failed to appropriately respond to hundreds of financial hardship requests from bank customers.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) said in a statement on Tuesday it had started civil proceedings in the federal court seeking financial penalties to be imposed on the major bank.

All of these customers told Westpac they were experiencing financial hardship.

Many of these customers also told Westpac about their difficult circumstances and vulnerabilities, including their inability to work, the impacts of serious medical conditions or their carer responsibilities.

This error meant we didn’t provide some of our customers with the help they needed. For this, we are deeply sorry.

The broader picture here is the we’re seeing big corporations at the moment making record profits off the back of everyday people, these big corporations line up to public handouts when the going gets tough and then when they get back into a more healthy situation, they just pocket the profits and they pass the costs on to everyday people and we think it’s time to say enough is enough and it’s time for these big corporations [to be] made to act in the public interest and that’s government’s job.

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Australia to roll out new south-east Asia trade strategy to hedge against China

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Anthony Albanese is expected to announce the new economic blueprint during his trip to the Indonesian capital Jakarta

Anthony Albanese will fly to Jakarta this week to launch a major new strategy to deepen Australia’s trade and investment ties with south-east Asia and hedge against top trading partner China.

Despite China recently reopening the door to key Australian exports that it shunned at the height of diplomatic tensions in 2020, the Albanese government wants to diversify economic ties to reduce exposure to further political tumult.

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US clean energy drive fuels shortage of engineers in Australia

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Australia has to make the case it is an attractive place to live with a solid commitment to renewable energy to counter America’s Inflation Reduction Act, experts say

Australia’s rush to build renewable energy fast enough to replace ageing coal-fired power stations is being fettered by the US’s own clean energy push that is luring key talent, particularly engineers, industry officials say.

America’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed just over a year ago, will pour at least US$370bn (A$570bn) into clean energy programs. Groups such as the Clean Energy Council warn the program “has the potential to permanently tilt the scales toward the US and hamper our progress in Australia”.

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Australia news live: ‘maintain the love’, Noel Pearson says, rebutting John Howard’s no campaign message

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Prominent yes campaigner and Cape York leader ‘surprised’ by former PM’s message to ‘maintain the rage’. Follow the latest updates live

Jane Hume to vote no despite anticipated home state yes

Liberal senator Jane Hume appeared on the Today show earlier this morning, saying she would be voting no in the upcoming referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament, however she conceded her home state of Victoria will likely vote yes.

My home state is probably where there’ll be a Yes. But the yes vote is very well resourced from corporates and individuals and that’ll be ramping up. I don’t think the No campaign can take anything for granted in these last few weeks.

That describes both the yes and the no case. They can make up their own mind.

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Australia’s gig economy workers set to benefit from minimum pay and protection against ‘unfair deactivation’

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Labor bill gives Fair Work Commission power to set minimum standards for hundreds of thousands of ‘employee-like workers’ on digital platforms

Gig economy workers in Australia including ride-share drivers and food delivery riders could soon benefit from minimum pay and protection against “unfair deactivation”.

Under a bill to be introduced by the Albanese government next week, the Fair Work Commission will be given the power to set minimum standards for hundreds of thousands of “employee-like workers” on digital platforms from 1 July 2024.

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