Category Archives: Australian economy

Gas lobby plans ‘national public awareness campaign’ – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

‘Good women’s policy is good economic policy’: Sussan Ley convening women’s economic security roundtable

The deputy opposition leader and shadow minister for women, Sussan Ley, is convening a women’s economic security roundtable today.

Restarting the Career Revive program for older women to retrain and re-enter the workforce.

Greater flexibility in childcare arrangements (for which there are no details, but the rhetoric is consistent with allowing women to use subsidies on alternatives such as nannies).

Paying superannuation on paid parental leave.

Helping older women who face relationship breakdown achieve financial security, including through access to superannuation.

The Liberal party can be the party of choice for women – we must be – and that is why we are going to meet them where they are in life with new ideas and real solutions that help them.

I want the women of Australia to know that the Liberal party that Peter Dutton and I lead will be back in your corner – we will support your career choices, we will look at ways to help you as you manage your work-life balance and we will help you secure your financial independence.

I don’t think anyone would question when you’ve got something like the debt ceiling being negotiated in the United States …

In terms of the relationship between the countries and the strength of the relationship, as allies, that’s all there; and I think anyone who knows what negotiations with the debt ceiling are like in the United States understands exactly why President Biden’s been in a situation to make a decision like this.

Continue reading...

The Australian economy lost 27,100 full-time jobs in April as unemployment rose to 3.7%

Posted on by

The labour market has remained tight since Covid curbed the influx of migrants and foreign students

Australia’s economy shed 27,100 full-time jobs last month, easing concerns that the Reserve Bank may need to hike its interest rate again to curb inflation.

The country’s unemployment rate in April rose to 3.7%, seasonally adjusted, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday, up from a reported 3.5% for March. Economists had forecast it would remain at March’s 3.5% level, close to a half-century low.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Regional Australia property market dips as prestige areas give up pandemic gains

Posted on by

Big beneficiaries of regional migration during Covid such as Byron Bay have been hit hardest by increasing interest rates, experts say

Regional Australia’s housing market has taken another hit with prestige areas such as Byron Bay continuing to reverse pandemic gains.

Richmond-Tweed (-24.2%), the southern highlands and Shoalhaven (-16.0%) and Illawarra (-13.7%) in New South Wales recorded the largest annual declines in house values.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australia news live: Dutton condemns ‘scumbags’ and ‘sick individuals’ after weekend Nazi display in Melbourne

Posted on by

Ahead of Reserve Bank releasing board meeting minutes, opposition leader continues to accuse budget of being inflationary. Follow the day’s news live

Dutton also brushed off the idea that he needs to be careful with his language around migration.

Now in terms of the dog whistling comments and the rest of it. They are comments made by former Labor staffers who now masquerade as journalists. So I don’t take that as authoritative sort of assessment of my view which I think is quite valid.

The best thing we can do for Australian families at the moment is reduce their mortgage payments.

Continue reading...

Australian banks announce new anti-fraud platform to help quickly freeze scam payments

Posted on by

Move adds to ‘arsenal of anti-scam initiatives’ as consumer rights groups call for laws to see banks reimburse victims

Australian banks have announced a platform that will help them act quickly to freeze money being sent to scammers by allowing the reporting of bank-to-bank scam payments in close to real time.

On Tuesday the Australian Banking Association announced the new Fraud Reporting Exchange (FRX) platform, which will facilitate the quick reporting of fraudulent payments as they are transferred to another bank. The move will boost “the likelihood that funds can be frozen and returned to customers”, the association said in a statement.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

UK ministers urged to intervene if Australian bank takes 100% of gas business

Posted on by

Macquarie has option for all of National Grid gas transmission and metering despite tainted history of owning utilities

Ministers have been urged to intervene if the Australian banking powerhouse Macquarie pushes the button on a mooted £3bn deal to take full control of a vital part of the UK’s gas grid.

A consortium made up of Macquarie Asset Management and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation completed the acquisition of 60% of the equity in National Grid’s gas transmission and meter business in January, in a deal which valued the business at £7.5bn.

Continue reading...

Labor leaves door open for jobseeker recipients to work more hours before losing payments

Posted on by

Treasurer says government won’t rule out adopting Peter Dutton’s proposal for social security recipients to be able to earn more before being penalised

The Albanese government has kept open the option of taking up the opposition’s proposal to increase the hours jobseekers can work before losing their payments.

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, declined to rule out adopting the idea, saying the government was “always looking for ways to make it easier for people to participate in work”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Don Farrell invites Chinese commerce minister to visit SA family vineyard after Beijing meeting

Posted on by

The pair agreed to ‘step up’ dialogue to resolve outstanding trade issues and confirmed the review of China’s tariffs on Australian barley was ‘on track’

The Australian trade minister, Don Farrell, has invited the Chinese commerce minister to visit his family’s vineyard in South Australia after the pair met in Beijing on Friday night.

Speaking after the talks with Wang Wentao in Beijing, Farrell said he was “very pleased to confirm that we agreed to step up dialogue under our free trade agreement and other platforms to resolve our outstanding issues”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australia news live: John Pesutto praises Liberals’ ‘reform journey’ after Moira Deeming party room expulsion

Posted on by

Controversial MP Moira Deeming expelled from Victorian Liberal party room; ally Renee Heath sanctioned. Follow live

Medicare benefits increase will help all patients, Butler says

The surprise centrepiece of the budget was $5.7bn increased funding for Medicare, including incentives to improve bulk billing for children and concession cardholders.

Rebates aren’t frozen, every rebate on the MBS [Medicare Benefits Schedule] in going to increase next year – the biggest Medicare increase across the board – every single service, for every single Australian.

Continue reading...

Opposition will ‘use every tactic’ to block bill – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

Treasurer pushes ‘middle Australia’ benefits in budget

Jim Chalmers says the big program changes – cheaper medicines, tripling the Medicare bulk billing incentive and childcare subsidy changes (which come in July after forming part of the last budget) will help middle Australia.

And kids under 16 … there are kids right throughout middle Australia and they will benefit substantially, but also we’re making medicines cheaper.

Also … we’ve put these caps on gas and coal and that’s the big reason for the moderation in the … electricity price increases, the household energy upgrades funds, the home guarantee scheme, the Tafe and training places, the fact that we’ve got wages moving after a decade of deliberate wage suppression and stagnation.

I think the divisive commentary is coming from the opposition. I mean … Peter Dutton is a divisive figure, but he’s not a credible figure.

He takes his cues from Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison. The rest of Australia has moved on from Abbott and Morrison but he hasn’t. And we’ll see that tonight in his budget reply. He is trying to divide people against each other in this budget.

Continue reading...

Australia’s trade minister says ‘de-escalation of rhetoric’ bearing fruit in trade spat ahead of China trip

Posted on by

‘We want everything back to the way it was’, says Don Farrell but cautions that problems won’t be fixed overnight

Australian exporters are starting to see benefits from the “de-escalation” of tensions with China, the trade minister, Don Farrell, said on the eve of crucial talks in Beijing.

Farrell will arrive on Thursday to press for an end to restrictions on a range of Australian exports – including lobster, red meat and wine – in the latest step to “stabilise” the relationship with Australia’s biggest trading partner.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Budget 2023 live updates: government ‘got the balance right’, PM says when pushed on inflation and $40 jobseeker rise – latest news

Posted on by

Treasurer to resume spruiking his budget today at the press club in Canberra. Follow the day’s news and budget analysis, live

What about the jobseeker rate?

Anthony Albanese:

Reform is never done.

What we do as a Labor government is focus on what we can do for people, but we focus as well on doing it in a really practical way. I think one of the things that we need to examine, for example, with people who are on jobseeker, is how we improve employment services to get those long-term unemployed into work quite clearly. When you have an unemployment rate of 3.5% but you have a whole lot of people who are just stuck in, in unemployment, then what you need to do is to focus on how is it that the system can be reformed so that we provide those people with employment opportunities, because that’s the key.

You can’t do everything in every budget. And if I did that, you would be asking me questions about inflation. You’d be asking me questions about whether the deficit was too large. As it is what we’ve done is produce a projected surplus. We’ve got the balance, right, providing support, doing, I think, very significant changes.

Continue reading...

Australia’s post-pandemic surge in net overseas migration temporary, federal budget predicts

Posted on by

Most of the increase is attributed to the return of overseas students, skilled temporary visa holders and working holidaymakers

Australia’s surge in net overseas migration, forecast to be 400,000 in 2022–23, is a catchup from the pandemic and is expected to be temporary, the budget papers reveal.

The forecast for 2024–25 is 260,000, broadly in line with the long-term historical average of 235,000.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Treasurer delivers budget speech – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed. Follow the budget reaction blog here

Greens accuse Labor of designing budget surplus ‘for political reasons’

Greens treasury spokesperson Nick McKim is next on ABC radio RN Breakfast and he is still not happy with the changes to the petroleum resource rent tax.

This surplus has been designed for political reasons, by Jim Chalmers. And again, what we are seeing in this budget is an acknowledgment rhetorically that the government needs to do more to help people who are doing it really tough, but they are not taking the action they need to actually deliver help at the extent that it is desperately needed.

Continue reading...

Federal budget: Labor to collect billions more in petroleum resource rent tax

Posted on by

Treasurer Jim Chalmers and finance minister Katy Gallagher announce changes ahead of budget tipped to be at or near surplus

Labor will cap deductions to collect $2.4bn more in petroleum resource rent tax over four years and boost community services by $4bn through fairer indexation of wage costs.

The two major measures were announced by the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and finance minister, Katy Gallagher, ahead of Tuesday’s budget, which is expected to be at or near surplus.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Opposition leader says no federal intervention needed – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

Albanese added he is concerned about Assange’s mental health.

There was a court decision here in the United Kingdom that was then overturned on appeal that went to Mr Assange’s health, as well, and I am concerned for him.

It’s frustrating. I share the frustration. I can’t do more than make very clear what my position is.

… I think that the Assange case needs to be looked at in terms of what occurred, what the allegations are, and whether the time effectively that has been served already is in excess of what would be reasonable if it were proved that this had occurred.

Continue reading...

First major bank passes on rate hike – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

Asked whether he would swear allegiance, Albanese replied he “will do what is entirely appropriate as the representative of Australia” promising to “engage in that spirit” by swearing the oath – as he has done 10 times when sworn in to parliament and as a minister.

Albanese noted that Australians had voted at the 1999 referendum to remain a monarchy, but acknowledged that Australians have a “wide range of views” on whether to become a republic.

I think that Australia should have an Australian as our head of state, I don’t shy away from that. I haven’t changed my views.

But my priority is constitutional recognition – I can’t imagine going forward, for example, going forward as was suggested by some legitimately that we should be having another referendum on the republic before that occurs.

All Australians wish King Charles well regardless of the different views of people will have about our constitutional arrangements.

Continue reading...

Australia news live: RBA interest rates decision a ‘wake-up call’ for Labor, Angus Taylor says

Posted on by

Follow the latest news live

Chalmers promises ‘substantial cost-of-living relief’ for most vulnerable

Asked if the age of 55 is the distinction Jim Chalmers thinks should be made on jobseeker, the treasurer says:

The reason I’m using 55 is because the reports that we received women’s economic equality taskforce and the economic inclusion advisory committee, which has been, in welcome ways, discussed quite a lot on your program, say that women over 55 are the most vulnerable group amongst unemployed Australians.

We’ve indicated before that we want to do something to help them in particular, but again, without pre-empting what’s in the budget in a week’s time, there will be a number of elements to our cost-of-living relief. Not all of them will be determined by age. For example, our energy bill relief plan, which will be in the budget in a week’s time, is for people on pensions and payments right across the board, not limited by age.

Will you increase jobseeker for people aged over 55?

There will be responsible cost-of-living relief in the budget, and it will focus on the most vulnerable people. There will be a number of elements to it. It won’t all be limited to one cohort or another. But it will all be made clear in the budget.

First of all, the jobseeker payment already makes a distinction between workers closer to the age pension, older workers, it already pays a different rate at the moment for people over 60. And that’s in recognition that it is harder to find a new job at that end of your working life. That’s the first point.

The second point is related. All of the expert advice a lot of the analysis I’ve heard it on your show, and it’s been right, says that the group that’s most likely to be long-term unemployed – people over 55 – that that group is dominated by women that the most vulnerable part of the unemployed population in Australia is at the moment women over 55. And so that’s another issue that people need to factor in.

Continue reading...

Labor MPs condemn ‘discriminatory’ plan to increase jobseeker only for those over 55 in budget

Posted on by

Concerns growing that any changes to rental assistance will also fall along generational divides

Labor MPs who have advocated for an increase in the jobseeker base rate were mostly unimpressed by the prospect of their government limiting the raise to those aged over 55 in the upcoming federal budget.

Concerns are also growing that any changes to commonwealth rental assistance will also fall along generational divides and be lower than what is needed to meet the rising cost of housing, with a 25% increase firming as the likely figure, when advocates had called for 50%.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Labor announces payday super to crack down on billions in unpaid funds each year

Posted on by

The measure will deliver a ‘more dignified retirement to more Australian workers’, treasurer Jim Chalmers says

Employers will be required to pay superannuation on payday, rather than quarterly, under reforms aimed at cracking down on the scourge of more than $3bn of super that goes unpaid each year.

The measure, announced by the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and financial services minister, Stephen Jones, will take effect in July 2026, giving businesses three years to prepare.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...