Amy Remeikis

Amy Remeikis

Gallagher: ‘we cannot undo 10 years of damage in one economic update

On the other side of politics, the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, was continuing her run of interviews on the budget where she can’t say too much about what will be in the budget.

Gallagher has been given the job of acknowledging the pressures but moderating expectations, particularly when it comes to welfare. The government is under pressure to raise the jobseeker rate to something livable, particularly in this cost-of-living crisis (cozzie liv for anyone online) but Gallagher is making no promises.

She told ABC radio RN Breakfast:

I’m sympathetic to a lot of measures and requests for funding that come forward right across the board. There is no shortage of them, PK. The question for me as finance minister is, how do we prioritise? How do we make some of that and still put together a budget that’s fiscally responsible?

So it’s not just in social security payments, it’s in national security, it’s in health. It’s in meeting some of the pressures in the NDIS, it’s keeping the lights on [in] departments. There’s a whole range of very worthy [requests] and I am sympathetic to them …

But, you know, we have to create, I guess, we have to take decisions that balance all of that out.

So is Katy Gallagher a “bleeding heart” finance minister?

Well, there’s a hard edge to me. But yeah, I understand the need for government to fund and invest in programs for the benefit of society.

But don’t get too excited.

We can’t do everything that is coming at us right now. That’s the reality, because what’s coming at us is so great, that the budget couldn’t sustain it. And the budget is in pretty average shape, as you know. And so some of these decisions were taken about – are about – what can we do right now to assist people. And you know, some of it has to be staged. Essentially, we can’t do everything all at once and we cannot undo 10 years of damage in one economic update.

Key events

And in breaking news, South Australia will join the federal government in announcing a TikTok ban for all government phones.

Premier Peter Malinauskas announced the ban at a press conference earlier, after receiving a briefing from the state government’s cyber experts, where he said there were concerns the apps privacy was compromised.

He said that the app could potentially be used for foreign interference from China “can’t be ignored.”

The state government is banning TikTok on government issued mobile devices, we are not banning the use of TikTok, that is an important distinction.

There may be government agencies, government employees, politicians who have TikTok accounts that can be maintained. But what can’t be used is a TikTok app on a government issued device, particularly those devices that have important government information that we don’t want in the public realm.

Dutton ‘tried to undermine support’ on voice, Albanese says

The PM has criticised the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, on his question on the voice to parliament in the lead up to the announcement of the Liberal Party’s decision on the referendum.

Speaking to reporters, Anthony Albanese said he had met with members of the opposition and other parties in the lead up to the announcement of the referendum question, with very few raising concerns:

We went through a process leading up to the press conference and the legislation that’s now been introduced between July last year and now April and not a single word was proposed in any of the meetings that I had and I had seven with the leader of the opposition and meetings as well with the leader of the National party. I’ve met with people across the board.

The leader of the opposition has, with every utterance he has made, tried to undermine support … that’s my assessment.

I wish that wasn’t the case. I seek as much support as possible for this change.

There has been no reaching out by Julian Leeser, [he] has not sought a meeting nor has he attended with the leader of the opposition with me, since this process begun.

Tamsin Rose

Tamsin Rose

Paul Toole will remain the leader of the New South Wales Nationals following a vote in the party room.

The deputy leader, Bronnie Taylor, will also remain in her position.

All NSW Nationals leadership positions are vacated after an election.

Ahead of the vote, Toole said the Nationals did “extremely well” at the election to lose just one seat.

Daniel Hurst

Daniel Hurst

PM commits to G7 meeting in Japan

It is not a surprise, but Anthony Albanese has just confirmed that he will attend the G7 meeting in Hiroshima in May. Japan invited Australia to be one of the countries attending even though it is not a member of the G7 (this invitation was hinted as far back as October last year).

The prime minister made the comments during a press conference in Canberra. Asked about reports that China has extended an in-principle invitation for Albanese to visit Beijing later this year, Albanese suggested a timetable for this had not yet been agreed, but reiterated that

I have said very clearly dialogue is a good thing.

Daniel Hurst

Daniel Hurst

China: ‘we are willing to continue to resolve differences’

Wang Shouwen, the international trade representative and vice minister at China’s commerce ministry, also described China and Australia’s economic and trade relations as being “at an important juncture of stabilisation and improvement”. He said:

The two sides should strengthen communication and coordination, and properly resolve their respective concerns through bilateral or multilateral channels. It can expand cooperation in the fields of climate change, new energy, and digital trade, and inject more momentum into China-Australia economic and trade cooperation.

The Chinese commerce ministry statement quoted Tim Yeend, the associate secretary of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, as saying that Australia attaches great importance to the development of economic and trade relations with China, and that the Australian government appreciated the fact that the two countries had recently maintained close communication in a bid to resolve concerns:

We are willing to continue to resolve differences through candid dialogue and enhance the confidence of both sides in advancing economic and trade cooperation.

Interestingly, the statement said the two sides also “exchanged views on regional and multilateral cooperation issues such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and WTO reform”. Australia has not yet said it is ready to support China’s application to enter the CPTPP, noting that the current members are determined to maintain high standards.

Daniel Hurst

Daniel Hurst

China urges government to provide ‘fair, open, non-discriminatory business environment’

China’s commerce ministry has released a statement about a meeting held on Monday in Beijing with Australian officials. It’s part of ongoing talks on trade issues in Beijing this week.

Wang Shouwen, the international trade representative and vice minister at the commerce ministry, held talks with Tim Yeend, the associate secretary of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

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The commerce ministry statement said the meeting was to “prepare for the next phase of the meeting between the two trade ministers”. The Australian trade minister, Don Farrell, is expected to visit China in the coming weeks, although a date has yet to be set.

The ministry said the two sides “exchanged in-depth views on promoting China-Australia economic and trade relations, properly addressing each other’s key economic and trade concerns, and strengthening cooperation in emerging fields”.

The statement quoted Wang as saying the economies of China and Australia are highly complementary and he saw “great potential for economic and trade cooperation”.

But he added that the Chinese side “pays close attention to Australia’s stricter review of Chinese companies investing and operating in Australia, as well as trade remedy measures against Chinese products”. Wang urged the Australian government to “handle relevant cases objectively and fairly, and take relevant measures prudently to provide Chinese companies with a fair, open, non-discriminatory business environment”. (This was a day before the Australian ban on the TikTok app on federal government-issued devices was announced.)

Josh Butler

Josh Butler

Liberal party room meeting gets underway

After some chopping and changing of times, the Liberal caucus has just gone into their party room in Parliament House to discuss the voice. The meeting, first scheduled for 10.30am then pushed back to 11.30am, went in just after 11am.

Liberal sources couldn’t predict how long the meeting would go for, but with dozens of MPs having come back to Canberra – and a lot of opinions to be canvassed – we don’t expect much news for at least the next hour or so.

The Liberal frontbencher Simon Birmingham was on the phone outside the party room as colleagues arrived. The former PM Scott Morrison walked in on his own.

We’ll keep you updated with movements.

Construction workers in Melbourne are rallying once again, calling for higher wages amid the ongoing cost of living crisis.

Marching their way to the Fair Work Commission, workers are reportedly asking for a 7% pay increase, to match with cost of living increases, and comes a week after they rallied in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD to push for higher wages.

Leaders tell building workers’ rally they will not be “stooges “ of wall to wall Labor Governments. Their job is to keep those Governments honest and ensure they do the “decent” thing. They want pay rises of at least 7 per cent . 6pm #7NewsMelb pic.twitter.com/B2EoZHQ8vy

— NickMcCallum7 (@NickMcCallum7) April 5, 2023

Josh Taylor

Josh Taylor

RBA releases titles of emails praising rate rises

He may have held rates this month, but the RBA governor, Philip Lowe, was arguing he was getting a lot of praise for raising rates in early March, despite the widespread frustration at increasing rates.

He told a forum that he’d been receiving letters praising his actions saying he was “preserving the value of money” and parts of the community know how damaging inflation is.

Someone on the transparency website Right to Know filed a freedom of information request for the letters of praise from the public for Lowe raising interest rates.

The bank however, is refusing to release 17 emails of praise to the governor, on the grounds it would violate the personal privacy of his fans.

But the bank did release the titles of the emails, which give an indication of his adoring public including:

Many thanks

Thank you for the work you are doing

A word of encouragement

support for your actions

great job on economy

keep up the good work

Phillip Lowe is brilliant

I support the Reserve Bank and their decisions to raise rates

It’s unclear whether he would have had the same adoring responses from the same people after yesterday’s decision to hold rates for at least the next month.

Josh Butler

Josh Butler

Liberals warming to free party room vote on voice, MP says

The Liberal Party is getting ready to meet in Canberra this morning. Their caucus was due to meet at 10.30am, after a meeting of the Liberal members of shadow cabinet earlier today on the Indigenous voice – but we’ve just been told that the meeting of the wider partyroom has been pushed back an hour, to 11.30am.

the Liberal caucus meeting on the Voice has been pushed back to 11.30am – was meant to start at 10.30, after an earlier shadow cabinet meeting

— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) April 5, 2023

One Liberal MP, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they believed the meeting may resolve on a free vote for all MPs, and claimed the leadership was warming to that option. The MP claimed that Liberal moderates and even “soft” opponents of the referendum were keen to see a free vote for all Liberals.

The MP said some colleagues were discussing an option that would see the Liberals support constitutional recognition of Indigenous people, and a legislated (not constitutionally-enshrined) voice, but one that could only speak to parliament – not the executive government.

The Uluru statement from the heart calls for a constitutionally enshrined voice. Symbolic recognition has been rejected by numerous processes and consultations leading up to the Uluru dialogues.

Renters forking out $2,700 extra a year

Australians are forking out an additional $2,727 in rent in the past year, as the rental crisis continues.

As Caitlin Cassidy reports, CoreLogic’s latest review has found rents have increased by 2.5% nationally in the last quarter, amounting to approximately 10% in the past year.

The increases mean renters will on average have to fork out an extra $52 a week, or $2,727 a year.

Vacancy rates have fallen to near-record lows, with 1.1 per cent of rental properties available.

CoreLogic economist and the review’s author, Kaytlin Ezzy said a chronic shortage in supply was continuing to push rental prices up across the country, with the pinch felt most acutely in urban areas.

The uptick in rental growth can be attributed to surging rents in the unit market, particularly across the largest capitals, with increased demand from overseas migration occurring amid a shortage of rental supply pushing rents higher

Figures have shown the number of national rental listings at under 95,000 properties – 17.3 per cent below levels at the same time last year.

You can read more at the story linked below:

Majority support voice, poll shows

Elsewhere, Newspoll results released today have shown that a majority of voters in a majority of states support the voice to parliament, meaning the referendum would likely meet the double majority test to succeed.

The poll showed 54% of all voters supported constitutional recognition and the voice to parliament, with 38% opposed.

The only exception was in Queensland, with 49% supporting the yes vote and with 43% in the no camp, with Western Australia and Tasmania having the slimmest majorities in support.

Liberals will pay consequence if they don’t support voice, former minister says

Sticking with the Liberals and the voice referendum, the former Morrison government minister Ken Wyatt has said there would be consequences if his party did not support the yes vote.

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Wyatt was on ABC Radio National earlier, and he added that it was not correct that the work done on the process for the voice was not new:

Parties can no longer ignore the will of people because social media has a profound impact in informing people on … fairness they want within Australian society.

Parties that are out of touch will pay the consequence in the future.

This is not all new work, it’s been a culmination from [former] prime minister John Howard, Julia Gillard and subsequent prime ministers.

We’ve had this continuity and there have been numerous reports … people who argue contrary to that shows that they did not give scant attention to even the executive summary of those reports.

Voice referendum has gone ‘off the rails’, deputy Liberal leader says

The deputy Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, has previewed the Liberal party room decision on the voice referendum by saying the process has “gone off the rails” and that the prime minister has been “dismissive” of concerns.

The deputy Liberal leader, Sussan Ley
The deputy Liberal leader, Sussan Ley Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Speaking on Sky News this morning, Ley said the PM should be seeking bipartisan legislative consensus on the wording before taking it to voters, and that Albanese has not approached the process in a way that “builds consensus”:

I think a bipartisan legislative consensus where everyone agrees before you go to something as significant as a referendum would have been a sensible approach to take because that way you are bringing people with you.

That process has run well and truly off the rails by a point of view of a prime minister who should be bringing the country together and leading people.

We have dismissive responses from the prime minister who was incredibly rude to Julian Leeser, almost weaponising his previous contribution in terms of this debate … that’s not the way to build consensus. He has been speaking from both sides of his mouth on this issue.

I’ve had problems with this process all along. The prime minister says he wants to build consensus but he’s not approaching this in a way that actually builds consensus across the country, particularly when it comes to the regional, the local voice, having everyone have their say whatever corner of this country they’re in.

We also have problems with the wording. The executive government advice that’s in there. Sensible measures have been put forward by politicians that have just been pushed aside by the prime minister.

Woman and three boys die in Riverina crash

AAP is reporting that a woman and three young boys have died in a horror car crash in the NSW Riverina.

NSW police say the car crashed into a pole late on Tuesday night before rolling down an embankment into a water channel, landing on its roof, at Yanco, about seven kilometres south of Leeton.

Everyone inside the car was dead by the time emergency services arrived around 11.15pm.

“Whilst yet to be formally identified the occupants are believed to be a 36-year-old woman and three boys aged 10, 11 and 12, who are all related to one another,” NSW Police said in a statement on Wednesday.

Officers from the Murrumbidgee police district have established a crime scene that will be examined by specialist police.

Meanwhile, NSW police are launching Operation Easter – a highly-visible traffic operation focused on reducing road fatalities and trauma this holiday weekend.

The five-day operation will begin at midnight tonight and run until 11:59pm on Monday, with double demerits in place for drivers caught speeding, drink driving, not wearing seatbelts or helmets or using a mobile phone while behind the wheel.

Traffic and highway patrol commander, Acting Assistant Commissioner Tracy Chapman, said substantial police resources had been assigned to the operation.

“The message is simple; drive to the speed limit, focus on the road – not your phone, and make sure you have a plan B if you are drinking,” she said.

Amy Remeikis

Amy Remeikis

Gallagher: ‘we cannot undo 10 years of damage in one economic update

On the other side of politics, the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, was continuing her run of interviews on the budget where she can’t say too much about what will be in the budget.

Gallagher has been given the job of acknowledging the pressures but moderating expectations, particularly when it comes to welfare. The government is under pressure to raise the jobseeker rate to something livable, particularly in this cost-of-living crisis (cozzie liv for anyone online) but Gallagher is making no promises.

She told ABC radio RN Breakfast:

I’m sympathetic to a lot of measures and requests for funding that come forward right across the board. There is no shortage of them, PK. The question for me as finance minister is, how do we prioritise? How do we make some of that and still put together a budget that’s fiscally responsible?

So it’s not just in social security payments, it’s in national security, it’s in health. It’s in meeting some of the pressures in the NDIS, it’s keeping the lights on [in] departments. There’s a whole range of very worthy [requests] and I am sympathetic to them …

But, you know, we have to create, I guess, we have to take decisions that balance all of that out.

So is Katy Gallagher a “bleeding heart” finance minister?

Well, there’s a hard edge to me. But yeah, I understand the need for government to fund and invest in programs for the benefit of society.

But don’t get too excited.

We can’t do everything that is coming at us right now. That’s the reality, because what’s coming at us is so great, that the budget couldn’t sustain it. And the budget is in pretty average shape, as you know. And so some of these decisions were taken about – are about – what can we do right now to assist people. And you know, some of it has to be staged. Essentially, we can’t do everything all at once and we cannot undo 10 years of damage in one economic update.

Josh Butler

Josh Butler

Liberals to discuss voice at 10am AEST meeting

The Liberal partyroom will meet after 10am today to discuss the Indigenous voice. It will follow an earlier meeting of the Liberal shadow cabinet.

A couple of frontbenchers have been in the media this morning, but few other Liberals were keen to chat on their way into parliament this morning. Deputy leader Sussan Ley claimed that “many, many of my colleagues have approached me with problems with the process of the voice” in a brief doorstop this morning.

Senator Dean Smith said in brief comments that he had doubts about the strength of public support for the voice, pointing to polling showing a bit over half of Australians backed the change. A Newspoll in the Australian newspaper today shows a national majority of voters, and a majority in every state except Queensland, support the Indigenous Voice.

Senator James McGrath said it was “good for the Liberal party to get together” to discuss the voice, but reiterated his previous opposition, saying he didn’t back a constitutionally-enshrined voice.

Senator Hollie Hughes wouldn’t be drawn on whether the Liberals should resolve to give all members a free vote. She said she wanted to hear more from Julian Leeser about his suggestions raised at the National Press Club this week, and said PM Anthony Albanese “needs to come to the table” to discuss changes.




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