PM to attend Joko Widodo’s inauguration and hold talks on FTA, which opposition leader says will be good for jobs
Scott Morrison’s whirlwind trip to Indonesia is a “good thing”, his political opponent says, as Labor embraces bipartisan support for Australia’s latest free trade agreement.
Morrison travelled to Indonesia for Joko Widodo’s second inauguration as president, with talks between the two leaders planned at the presidential palace.
Continue reading...Shadow treasurer calls for new banking inquiry after major banks failed to pass on full interest rate cut
Labor says the Morrison government should consider increasing the bank levy in response to the failure by the big players to cut interest rates in line with the central bank, and look at broader measures to boost competition in the sector.
The shadow treasurer, Jim Chalmers, told Sky News on Sunday the government needed to sign off on a new inquiry into competition in the banking sector by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, and consider all options, including hiking the bank levy, after the major banks declined to pass through the full rate reduction following the Reserve Bank’s latest cut to the official cash rate.
Continue reading...Ian Macfarlane says Australia facing the ‘most perplexing and difficult’ era for monetary policy ever
Former Reserve Bank governor Ian Macfarlane has weighed into the debate over interest rates, believing any further cuts will have very little power to do anything useful.
The central bank cut the official cash rate to a record low of just 0.75% this week, the third reduction in a matter of months.
Continue reading...Richard Marles accuses PM of taking ‘pot shots against our largest trading partner’ amid US-China tensions
Labor’s shadow defence minister, Richard Marles, says Australia’s relationship with China is in a “terrible” state following Scott Morrison’s visit to the United States.
Speaking fresh from a visit to Beijing, Marles said that Morrison’s “megaphone diplomacy” alongside Donald Trump about China’s status as a developing country had inflamed tensions.
Continue reading...In many regards, China’s climate action is stronger than that of Australia or America, at much lower levels of development
Visiting the United States, Australia’s prime minister demanded of China “participation in addressing important global environmental challenges” in light of its “new status and responsibilities”. As part of a broad call to expect more of China, the comments on environment caught attention as they were made at the time of the UN climate summit.
Pointing to China’s emissions growth as an excuse for lack of climate action in Australia was in vogue a decade and longer ago. Then, China’s energy use and carbon emissions rose sharply with its investments in factories, infrastructure and housing. But things have changed in China, and there no longer is a formal distinction between climate pledges from developed and developing countries. In many regards, China’s climate action is stronger than that of Australia or America, at much lower levels of development.
Continue reading...Panthera, being pursued by consumer watchdog, is parent of ARL, contracted to recover debt from welfare recipients
LThe parent company of a debt collector handed $3.3m in taxpayer dollars to pursue welfare recipients over robodebts and other overpayments is being sued by the consumer watchdog for alleged harassment, coercion and unconscionable conduct.
ARL Group was among three companies to share in $16.5m in contracts to carry out debt recovery services for the Department of Human Services in the 2019-20 financial year, tender documents published in July show.
Continue reading...Michael McCormack the acting prime minister as the government prepares to hand down its final budget statement. All the days events, live
From Josh Frydenberg’s office:
These outcomes demonstrate that the Government’s economic plan is working and confirm that the Budget will be back in the black and back on track for the 2019-20 year.
Importantly Australia has completed its 28th consecutive year of economic growth and maintained its AAA credit rating.
Josh Frydenberg (who is not yelling and for that we are all grateful)
The Australian economy is strong and ready for the challenges ahead.
As a result of the Morrison government’s economic plan and responsible economic management, the underlying cash balance in the final budget outcome for the 19/20 year is $13.8bn better than estimated at the time of the 2018/19 budget.
Continue reading...Guardian Australia reports from three communities hard hit by one of the worst droughts in living memory
Australia is experiencing one of its most severe droughts on record, resulting in desperate water shortages across large parts of New South Wales and southern Queensland. Dams in some parts of western NSW have all but dried up, with rainfall levels through the winter in the lowest 10% of historical records in some areas.
The crisis in the far west of the state became unavoidable after the mass fish kills along the lower Darling River last summer, but now much bigger towns closer to the coast, including Dubbo, are also running out of water.
Continue reading...The Senate powerbroker warns if the union boss does not resign, the Coalition’s ‘ensuring integrity’ bill will pass
The Senate powerbroker Jacqui Lambie has returned to Canberra following the parliamentary break with one message.
Either union boss John Setka resigns, or the government’s controversial ‘ensuring integrity’ bill will pass, with her vote.
Continue reading...Investors seek safe havens such as US treasuries and gold as the superpower standoff shows no sign of being resolved
Shares in Australia and across Asia Pacific have fallen sharply amid a new flare-up of US-Chinese trade tensions.
Despite a senior Chinese leader saying Beijing wanted to resolve the dispute with “calm negotiations”, indices were deep in the red on Monday.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Coalition needs to include over 65s and other disadvantaged welfare recipients to hit $600m budget plan
The Morrison government could target thousands of pensioners and other “sensitive” welfare recipients under a proposed expansion of the controversial robodebt scheme needed to achieve a promised $2.1bn in budget savings, according to confidential documents seen by Guardian Australia.
The documents, stamped “PROTECTED CABINET”, show the scheme would fall $600m short of its required budget savings unless it is expanded to hit “sensitive” groups originally quarantined from data matching.
Continue reading...Beijing has alarmed investors by threatening counter-measures against the US, threatening to escalate the trade war
Earlier:
Update: Britain’s FTSE 100 has hit a new six-month closing low.
The blue-chip index just closed 80 points lower at 7,067, a drop of 1.1%.
Time for a quick recap
Financial markets remain volatile today, as fears of an economic downturn hit stock prices and drive bond prices to new record highs.
Related: Online shoppers and Amazon Prime Day lift UK retail sales
If President Xi would meet directly and personally with the protesters, there would be a happy and enlightened ending to the Hong Kong problem. I have no doubt! https://t.co/eFxMjgsG1K
Continue reading...Labor accuses government of being ‘complacent’ about economy as ASX200 falls amid fears of a global recession
The Australian stock market has suffered its worst day in almost 18 months after $63bn was wiped off the value of shares amid mounting fears of a global recession.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Thursday tumbled 187.8 points, or 2.85%, to 6,408.1 points, while the broader All Ordinaries shed 186.7 points, or 2.8%, to 6,490.8 points.
Continue reading...US secretary of state dismisses warning by top security analyst, arguing ‘you can sell your soul for a pile of soy beans or you can protect your people’
The US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has declared “you can sell your soul for a pile of soy beans, or you can protect your people”, dismissing a warning from prominent Australian security analyst Hugh White that Australia should avoid following Donald Trump into a confrontation with Beijing that America probably can’t win.
Pompeo issued the provocative declaration during a question-and-answer session at the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney on Sunday.
Continue reading...Attorney general responds to crossbench calls for inquiry. All the day’s events, live
Siri: what is the definition of “a punish”?
David Gillespie saddles the despatch box, and therefore us, with Michael McCormack, which gives me the permission I needed to go make a cup of tea.
“All politics is local, as it should be,” says Sliced White.
Continue reading...Energy minister accuses opposition of ‘grubby smear campaign against my family’ and ALP pursues Coalition over its superannuation schism. All the day’s events, live
With the chambers all quiet and the rush to the airport in full swing, we are going to go collapse in a heap and stare at a wall.
Until Monday, when the parliament is back for the last sitting ahead of the winter break.
Here’s how Mike Bowers saw some of the day
Continue reading...The Australian businessman says he’s ‘so horrified’ by his cash rebate amount and wants the scheme means-tested
The Australian businessman Dick Smith has called for the franking credits system to be reformed after revealing he was once handed $500,000 in cash rebates in a single year.
When Smith was told he would soon receive what he called “ridiculous money”, he complained to the tax office and requested that the agency close down his self-managed super fund.
Continue reading...By suggesting switching jobs can even out the power imbalance between employers and employees, Treasury hinted at an obvious solution
Treasury caused consternation in the labour movement on Tuesday by suggesting the best way to win a pay rise might be to switch jobs.
It looked to unions like an attempt to blame workers for their bosses’ failure to grant a pay rise.
Continue reading...The outage could also have significant impact on welfare recipients, who use MyGov to contact Centrelink
As thousands of Australians try to submit their tax returns, the main online portal for federal government services has gone down.
In an outage that will also affect thousands of welfare recipients across the country, the MyGov site appeared to be unavailable on Friday morning, returning an error.
Continue reading...New and old faces are back in Canberra as the 46th parliament prepares to sit for the first time. All the day’s events, live
Welcome to the first (semi) official day of the 46th parliament. The MPs are back in town, and so are we, and it will no doubt be a bumpy ride.
Today is mostly formalities - finishing to set up offices, swearing in David Hurley as the new governor general, finding where to get coffee - you know, the important things.
Continue reading...