Category Archives: Australian economy

Medibank records profit rise despite data breach – as it happened

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Husic refuses to comment on crossbench negotiations over coal and gas

Moving on from science and industry, Ed Husic is asked if the approval for Santos to expand its Queensland gas field has killed off the government’s negotiations with the Greens over the national reconstruction fund (which Husic has carriage of) and safeguards (where there is a little crossover with Husic, because of manufacturing).

I’m very grateful for their engagement, all the engagement from the crossbenchers, and I’ve sought to make myself as available as I possibly can to work through issues some stuff we agree on some stuff we don’t I would love to go into the ins and outs of it, but I’d rather private negotiations sort themselves out because they will obviously be made public very soon and people that rightly expect that to happen.

But, you know, I am grateful that some of those points that are raised because from our point of view, and I think you heard in the PM’s speech yesterday – we take a view as a government that we’re not the holders of all knowledge, that we do accept, accept and expect people to provide their input so that we can build a better outcome.

I think what we’ve tried to do as a government is say we’re going to make decisions in the way that they’re supposed to.

We don’t want decisions to be politicised. We want them to be done a national interest and there’ll be pathways to making decisions that will be quite separate. So the big thing coming to your question, the answer I would, I would give you is they’re separate things.

I want them [the public] to answer that question.

I want them to guide us in the way in which we shape research priorities into the future. The last time that we actually updated these national science and research priorities was in 2015, back when Malcolm Turnbull took over as prime minister, a lot has happened since then.

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Jim Chalmers signals cap on super balances to rein in tax concessions for wealthy

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The treasurer suggested that the small percentage of people with pots over $3m should not receive tax benefits, but prime minister more cautious

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has signalled the government could cap superannuation balances as part of efforts to rein in generous tax concessions that benefit Australia’s wealthiest retirees.

After starting the conversation on the “sustainability” of the super tax concessions on Monday, the debate has narrowed on the small percentage of superannuants with more than $3m in their retirement accounts.

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Wage growth surprise: slower-than-expected gain eases RBA rate rise fears

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December quarter wage index rose from 3.1% to 3.3%, but 7.8% inflation indicates a 4.5% decrease in real wages

Australian salaries increased at a faster pace in the December quarter in a tight labour market, but not enough to prevent the gap with inflation widening to a record level.

The wage price index (WPI) for the final three months of 2022 came in at 3.3%, an increase on the 3.1% pace in the September quarter and the highest since the end of 2012. Economists had forecast a 3.5% increase.

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MP gives first speech to parliament – as it happened

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Energy ministers to meet on Friday as regulator updates forecasts

Summer is almost done (according to the calendar) and we managed to get through it without significant electricity shortages. A heatwave building across southern Australia in coming days will add some extra demand.

I mean, yes, in nine months have we fixed every single reliability gap for the next decade? No, there’s more work to do.

Am I pleased with what we’ve done? Yes. Am I yet satisfied? No.

You know that this report normally comes out once a year or so, this is a report which has been put out in a much more rapid timeframe because Aemo has reached the view that the guidance they provided last August is out of date because we’ve seen a lot more investment coming through with renewable.

So the sorts of decisions we are making across the board are making a difference on that sort of a timeframe, I expect Aemo will provide further updates.

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Guardian Essential poll: most think RBA rate hikes an overreaction as shine comes off Albanese

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Majority believe government at least partially to blame for rises but don’t assume Coalition would manage them better

A majority of voters believe the Reserve Bank of Australia has overreacted in jacking up interest rates to tame inflation, and people worry economic conditions will get worse over the next 12 months, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll.

The latest survey of 1,044 voters demonstrates cost-of-living pressure is starting to bite in the community after nine consecutive cash rate hikes.

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Shorter Indigenous life expectancy should mean lower pension age, court told

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Landmark case from Indigenous man seeking to access pension three years early hears Australia fails to account for age gap from ‘racial disadvantage’

First Nations Australians should be granted access to the pension at a younger age due to a gap in life expectancy “which is closely connected to race”, the federal court has heard.

The full federal court on Monday commenced hearings in a landmark case brought against the commonwealth by 65-year-old Indigenous man, Uncle Dennis, who is seeking to access the pension three years early.

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Australia news live: landmark report confirms wage theft by universities; treasurer calls for changes to super laws

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Staff underpaid more than $80m in past three years. Follow the day’s news live

Fresh push to ban ‘asbestos of the 2020s’

There’s a fresh push to ban engineered stone commonly used in kitchen benchtops and linked to an incurable lung disease likened to asbestosis, AAP reports.

Instead of planning a family, we’re planning my funeral. I used to install kitchen benches. People liked engineered stone because it was cheap. But the dust got into my lungs causing deadly, incurable silicosis.

That’s too high a price for anyone to pay. Nothing will save my life but if you join the campaign to stop the importation and manufacture of engineered stone, you can help save someone else’s. Please.

Australian workers like Kyle are dying because of engineered stone.

The companies flooding our markets with this cheap and nasty material know that, but to them profits are more important than people’s lives.

It is incredibly distressing … when we hear about these horrific murders and we have to do more to prevent [them from] happening.

I often say we have to start responding to the red flags before more blue police tape surrounds the family home.

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Australia news live: back safeguard mechanism to ‘put climate wars behind us’, Labor urges Coalition and Greens – as it happened

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‘The onus is on Labor’ to explain why it needs more coal and gas: Bandt

There’s some discussion about possible alternatives – one suggestion is to pause new developments on gas and coal developments while reforms to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 have been hammered out.

We are up for good-faith discussions and proposals like that are coming from people like the Climate Council, from The Australia Institute. I’ve seen the Australia Conservation Foundation out saying there are serious problems with the government’s proposal.

You can’t put the fire out while pouring petrol on it.

I don’t think the penny has quite dropped with the government how much things are have moved on. 66% of people between 18 and 34 back our position – don’t want new coal and gas mines opened. 57% of the general population. Things have moved on.

I know Labor talks a lot about history, but the students who are marching in the streets at the moment, behind banners saying, “No new coal and gas” were in primary school in 2009. They do not want it, no one can understand why we are coming up to the year anniversary of the floods in Lismore, people cannot understand why Labor says they want to open up new projects.

Why does Labor want to go to the wall to open new coal and gas projects? These are huge climate bombs. They’ve got a very – I think it is an untenable task...

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Dozens re-detained after visa cancellation bill passes – as it happened

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Special legislation passed by the Albanese government with Coalition support. This blog is now closed

Marles says Australia able to track balloons

The defence minister, Richard Marles, says government would have capability to track a balloon if one was to appear over Australia as it did in the US a couple weeks ago.

Well, I think it’s important that this statement’s been made by the president to clarify the circumstances. There’s obviously been a particular fascination about balloons over the last month given the original spy balloon that we saw over the United States. I think from an Australian point of view, what’s important to say is that we’ve had no advice of any balloon of that kind being over Australia but we very much do have the capability to track such an object if there was one-to-and to deal with it.

Look, human rights matter and need to be central in the way we engage with the world. For this government, we will always call out human rights concerns where we have them and we’ve done that in respect of Xinjiang and the Uyghur population. I’ve done it publicly in China.

It forms part of the way in which we speak with China in our relationship. I think it’s also important, though, that in doing that, you know, be we raise those issues in a respectful way with China and in the context of the broader relationship and in the context of seeking to take steps which actually make a difference and it is important that we are stabilising our relationship with China.

There is no room for any harmful practices in NSW, particularly if they affect our young and vulnerable.

When the parliament returns, my government will provide in principle support for legislation that brings an end to any harmful practices. This is a complex matter and in working through it with parliamentary colleagues we will carefully consider the legal expression and effect of such laws.

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The RBA’s ‘narrow path’ on inflation and interest rates: six things we learned from Philip Lowe

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When the governor and colleagues faced the economics committee, rates were the focus – how high will they go, and will they stall the economy?

Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe and fellow senior executives fronted the economics committee of the House of Representatives on Friday for about three hours.

Here are six things we learned.

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Collapse in new home listings in Sydney and Melbourne hits real estate company profits

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Domain chief Jason Pellegrino says decline is worse than during Covid lockdowns and banking royal commission

A collapse in the number of new homes on the market, especially in Sydney and Melbourne, is outpacing even the shaky listing rates recorded during pandemic lockdowns, weighing on the profits of real estate companies.

The chief executive of property portal company Domain Group, Jason Pellegrino, said on Thursday that the scale of listings declines during the last three months of 2022 also eclipsed pullbacks recorded during the banking royal commission, which scrutinised lending practices in public hearings in 2018.

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More light and less heat would be appreciated at Philip Lowe’s next grilling on Friday

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Lost in the questioning from hostile senators was much insight into why the Reserve Bank wants to keep raising rates

There’s no doubt the Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe’s appearance before Senate estimates on Wednesday was good theatre.

Dubbed by one media outlet as Australia’s “most-loathed banker”, Lowe parried questions from mostly hostile senators demanding to know why the central bank had inflicted a record nine interest rate rises in a row, with more to come.

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Australia politics live: Philip Lowe says RBA ‘still unsure’ how high interest rates will go during Senate estimates grilling

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RBA boss tells Senate estimates about rationale for rate rises as Adam Bandt demands end to new coal and gas projects. Follow live

Around and around we go …

So CBA shareholders are to get a (fully franked) dividend of $2.10 for each of their share – 20% more than the last time dividends were sent out.

We reported strong financial and operational performance in our financial results for the six months ended 31 December 2022. Our cash net profit after tax of $5,153 million reflects the Bank’s customer focus and disciplined strategic execution. Our continued balance sheet strength and capital position creates flexibility to support our customers and manage potential economic headwinds, while delivering sustainable returns to shareholders. A fully franked interim dividend of $2.10 per share was determined, an increase of 20% on 1H22, driven by organic capital generation and a reduction in share count from share buy-backs. Despite the current uncertainty, your Board and management feel optimistic for the future and are committed to delivering for our customers and for you, our shareholders

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Philip Lowe says interest rate rises painful but for the best, predicting more to come

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Inflation is dangerous, corrosive and hurts people, RBA governor tells Senate estimates

The Reserve Bank governor, Philip Lowe, says he has heard about the personal pain caused by soaring interest rates with a “very heavy heart” – but tackling “dangerous” inflation was critical even if the moves were unpopular.

Lowe, making his first public appearance for 2023 before Senate estimates on Wednesday, reiterated the challenges of achieving a “fairly soft landing” for the economy with unemployment rising only to 4.5% during next year.

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Four questions the RBA and Philip Lowe may face during grilling from MPs

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Further rate rises, Reserve Bank strategy, transparency and whether to extend Lowe’s term are likely to come under scrutiny

When Philip Lowe fronts Senate estimates on Wednesday and the House of Representatives’ economics committee on Friday, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia will be peppered with questions about the central bank’s performance and thinking.

Here are four key issues he and his RBA colleagues will likely be asked about during the review of the central bank.

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No questions asked: money laundering thrives in Australia because of professionals willing to facilitate it

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Lawyers, accountants and real estate agents face can little scrutiny and there is as yet no action from government to increase regulation

Raids earlier this month by the Australian federal police provided a rare window into the shady world of international money laundering. Australia is far from a model global citizen when it comes to cracking down on money laundering – and property has become a favoured vehicle for organised crime to hide and transfer dirty money.

The AFP arrested nine people, including the alleged head of the money-laundering organisation, Stephen Xin, at his Vaucluse home. They have now been charged with multiple money-laundering and proceeds-of-crime offences, allegedly carried out in support of the organisation’s extensive activities.

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Australia should force banks to repay scam victims and adopt better protections, advocates say

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Calls for federal government to mandate the checking of account details before money transfers are made

The federal government should take action to force banks to reimburse scam victims and check the account details match up on transactions to stop scams before the money is lost, consumer rights advocates say.

The call comes as Australia’s big four banks pushed back on mandatory reimbursements, arguing they could “inadvertently lead to increases in scam activity” and that customers should keep themselves safe.

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Jim Chalmers confident Australia will avoid recession despite warnings of more interest rate rises

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The treasurer also noted ‘very encouraging’ signs on power prices falling, saying Labor’s energy price relief package was working

The treasurer Jim Chalmers says there are “very encouraging” signs on power prices falling and is still confident Australia will avoid a recession despite continuing interest rate rises.

Last week in its first meeting for the year, the Reserve Bank increased the cash rate for the ninth time in a row to 3.35% and warned it was considering even more interest rate rises in coming months.

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Fines against WA climate protester ‘absurdly excessive’, Human Rights Watch says; refund for Myki charges during outage – As it happened

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Activist pleaded guilty on Friday to criminal damage. This blog is now closed

Productivity commission report will be released in March

Chalmers says he has received a five-year review from the productivity commission about how Australia can respond to flagging productivity across the Australian economy.

I’d like to do that sooner, ideally in May, so that we can have this national debate about our productivity performance and some of the recommendations in there. Now, inevitably, a government won’t pick up and run with every single one of the recommendations from the Productivity Commission, but there may be some that we can run with. There will be some that align with the government’s economic plan and our policy objectives.

No doubt people will want to ask him about that and he can explain it. I think there’s a broader issue here about how the bank communicates the context for its decisions. This is one of the things that I have been discussing with the RBA Review Panel. I actually discussed it with them on Friday in one of the regular meetings that I have with the review panel, how they communicate their decisions and the context behind their decisions is one of the key focuses of that review.

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Reserve Bank causing households ‘too much pain’ with rate rises, says union chief Sally McManus

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Australian union leader says the absence of labour market expertise on the RBA board had caused ‘missteps’

The head of Australia’s union movement has blasted the Reserve Bank and its governor for a lack of “understanding” that rate rises are causing “too much pain” and low income earners have exhausted savings.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary, Sally McManus, made the comments on Thursday after a ninth interest rate hike – and suggestions more increases will follow – sparked fears monetary policy could be tightened too far, risking recession.

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