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Key events
Albanese defends cutting down Covid-19 isolation time after concerns raised by top medical body
Circling back to the prime minister Anthony Albanese’s interview with ABC Breakfast News.
Albanese was asked about the concerns the Australian Medical Association has expressed following National Cabinet’s decision to reduce the Covid-19 isolation period from seven to five days.
Asked whether he understands why not everybody agrees with the decision, Albanese said:
If you’re sick, if you’ve got symptoms, you should not be going to work. It is as simple as that. But if people aren’t contagious, they are not sick, they don’t have any symptoms after five days and they want to be at work and they want to be at work, their employers want them to be at work as well, then, to me, it is on the balance of where we are at, a necessary change to take place and one that was supported by all states and territories, and to which the National Cabinet has come to a uniform position on.
Albanese said it was a “good thing that the National Cabinet is now operating with one voice” which had not happened previously and proved confusing for Australians.
NSW rail unions refuse government’s demand to halt industrial action
Michael McGowan
The New South Wales rail unions have refused to give in to the government’s demand to halt industrial action by 5pm today, warning more could be on the way.
The NSW government said on Thursday that it would seek to terminate the enterprise agreement of thousands of rail workers and scrap a deal to modify a multi-billion dollar fleet of trains unless the union agrees to end all industrial action by 5pm Friday.
But the head of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union, Alex Claassens, has vowed the union will not back down, saying there was “no intention” to stop current actions and warning more could be on the way.
I’ve never seen anything like it before. On Wednesday night, and then again on Thursday afternoon, we were sitting across from the most senior managers on our railway, and they were blindsided by political brinkmanship by the NSW Government. It’s like the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing.
For the last few days, we have been working towards a positive outcome but the documents they’re trying to force us to sign are not in the best interests of members or commuters. This government does not care about the people of NSW, all they care about is their own jobs.
We have no intention of stopping our protected industrial action and the premier shouldn’t be surprised if more industrial action is called next week.
The government has threatened to take the unions to the Fair Work Commission seeking to terminate the agreement, but on Thursday night the combined rail unions decided to take the first step themselves, lodging an urgent application seeking to force the government back to the bargaining table.
The application, which will likely be heard today, accuses the government of failing to bargain in good faith.
Tackling housing shortage ‘absolutely critical’ at the same time as migration, Albanese says
The prime minister is asked about what upping skilled migration numbers will mean for the housing shortage. Albanese says “it is absolutely critical”:
You need to have reforms that all work together. So you need to do something about immediate skills shortages through the migration system. You need to look at the nature of that migration system so that it is permanent rather than temporary. You need to train Australians for the jobs and skills that are needed so that they can benefit, whether it’s young people going into a trade or whether it is people retraining as the economy changes.
But you also need to look at housing affordability … we are looking at how you increase housing supply, how you free up private capital to go into housing, through the superannuation industry in particular … [that’s] one example of an area where you can get real improvement.
We are also looking at what the federal government can do in partnership with the states, including planning and land use issues … We need to deal with the challenges which are there, but we need to do it in a way that doesn’t create additional challenges somewhere else, and that’s where housing supply is so critical.
More permanent migration needed to combat ‘over-reliance on temporary labour’, PM says
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking to ABC News Breakfast from Canberra on day two of the jobs summit where skilled migration is on the agenda.
He is asked if a consensus emerged from taking the migration intake from 160,000 a year to 200,000:
There is a consensus that there is a need for an increase, and also a consensus that it is not just about the numbers but about the make-up of our migration system: that we need to move towards more permanent migration rather than a reliance on temporary labour.
What [a focus on temporary labour] did was set us up and make us more vulnerable so that when the borders shut, all of a sudden there was an overreliance on temporary labour, which meant that we could not fill the skills that were needed in this country.
Tasmanian Tafe needs to be fit for purpose before additional places can make a difference, Lambie says
The government yesterday kicked off the jobs and skills summit with the announcement of 180,000 more free Tafe places.
Senator Jacqui Lambie appeared on ABC Radio this morning and said while she supported free Tafe places, she said in Tasmania there were more pressing issues beyond creating the places themselves.
Lambie said Tasmanian Tafe facilities were “not fit for purpose”, with some machinery from the 1950s.
She also said staffing problems at Tafe also meant courses had needed to be cancelled.
Josh Butler
Government considering extending parental leave but not mining tax, PM says
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says extending paid parental leave to 26 weeks is “worthy of consideration” but that his government isn’t thinking about a mining tax.
Speaking on Channel Nine’s Today show ahead of day two of the jobs summit, Albanese said his government was “going to have a look at paid parental leave” after some business groups and unions called for expansion of the system.
Albanese said:
We certainly would like to do more, but some of these issues, of course, are within the budget constraints, which are there … we have inherited $1tn of debt. Yes, it is a worthy idea and worthy of consideration.
A Parliament House dinner after day one of the jobs summit last night heard from the respected economist Ross Garnaut, who suggested the government should consider a tax on mining profits. The PM shot that down.
No, that’s not on the agenda. But it is a good thing that people are able to put forward ideas.
Asked directly whether the government would entertain a mining tax, Albanese responded with a flat “no”.
Day two of jobs summit kicks off with focus on migration
The minister for skills and training, Brendan O’Connor, joins the other members of his government who are saying the jobs summit will deliver on developing skilled migration pathways.
Brendan O’Connor says today is about developing “skilled migration pathways” while ensuring we “invest in our own workforce” #auspol
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) September 1, 2022
Treasurer ‘proud’ of childcare policy despite ruling out bringing subsidies forward
Women’s participation in the workforce was front and centre of the jobs summit yesterday. The minister for home affairs, Clare O’Neil, told ABC Radio this morning that this was the first time women were genuinely “equal partners” at a summit of this kind.
The host of RN Breakfast, Patricia Karvelas, has continued to press members of government on if they would bring forward their policies to increase childcare subsidies, given their position that access to affordable early education was key to unlocking women’s participation in the workforce.
When Karvelas asked Jim Chalmers if bringing this subsidy increase forward to January is “definitely off the table,” he maintained his stance that “the cost was going to be prohibitive”.
Asked, “isn’t the cost worth it if it pays dividends, as you say?”, Chalmers responded:
That’s not how the budget works … again, I welcome a conversation about our childcare policy as I’m really proud of it.
But if and when the circumstances permit and the budget makes it possible there are some of these ideas I would love to pick up and run with.
Asked about how it sits with him that stage 3 tax cuts disproportionately go to men when the government is talking about helping women, Chalmers said: “I think we need to do more to invest in Australian women.”
We want to place women at the centre of our economic plan and our economic efforts.
Karvelas had yesterday also pressed Katy Gallagher, the minister for finance and women, on the issue of stage three tax cuts could fund the subsidies, but Gallagher she said Labor would not break an election promise.
Senator Jacquie Lambie this morning reinforced her support for scrapping the stage three tax cuts and said it was reasonable for a government to reassess their position, after gaining election and finding their books in a worse-than-expected state.
Government ‘cautiously prepared’ to lift migration cap, treasurer says
RN Breakfast’s host, Patricia Karvelas, tried to get a number out of Jim Chalmers on migration, asking if the cap will be lifted to 200,000. He replied:
That will be a matter for the discussions today … we are prepared to lift that cap, but cautiously and not in isolation from all the other things we need to get right at the same time.
Treasurer asked about proposal to reintroduce mining tax
Jim Chalmers is asked about the proposition that was put forward by the keynote speaker at the summit last night, Ross Garnaut, to reintroduce the mining tax to spread high-resource profits to workers:
We don’t have a policy for a mining tax.
Asked if it is worth revisiting, he replies:
We do have a tax reform agenda. It is about company taxes in the multinational realm.
Purpose of bargaining reform is to create agreement, not conflict, Chalmers says
The treasurer is now speaking with ABC Radio about reforming enterprise bargaining, and is asked whether the government will ensure laws don’t allow industry-wide strikes. Jim Chalmers responds:
Our purpose is not more conflict, it’s more agreement and that objective is broadly shared across unions and businesses. Obviously enterprise bargaining isn’t delivering … so something has got to change.
The final design of the laws [around multi-employer bargaining] is a matter for Tony Burke working closely with all of the stakeholders – that will happen almost immediately.
Asked if he will build into the bargaining system the right to strike across workplaces, Chalmers said:
All industrial relations systems in the free world have some level of industrial action in them … there is a right balance to be struck there.
And Tony’s job … is to make sure we strike that right balance.
Bargaining reform will help get wages moving, treasurer says
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says stagnant wages is a key economic challenge and the government will push forward with legislation to make it easier for workers to push for pay rises.
Chalmers said on 7.30 last night that one way to get wages moving was to modernise bargaining “in the interest, not just to workers, but also of employers as well the economy”:
There’ll be a lot of consultation which Tony Burke flagged today including with some of the employer groups who have raised their concerns. We listened respectfully to those concerns when they are raised but we intend to proceed down this path because we can’t have more of the same wage stagnation which has been a feature of the economy for the best part of a decade. That has been a recipe for Australian working families to fall further and further behind and that is a key economic challenge that we can’t ignore.
Migration should bring in those who are going to ‘set down roots’, minister says
Prime minister Anthony Albanese told ABC yesterday evening that he was “very confident” that a positive announcement would come out of the jobs and skills summit on migration.
The minister for home affairs, Clare O’Neil, spoke to ABC Radio this morning ahead of opening the summit’s discussion on the topic. This is what she had to say about permanent migration:
We can build a better program if we think more carefully about bringing people into this country who are going to set down roots and support their local school and, you know, do all these amazing things that our that our forebears did that built this great country. So we can do that again. But the migration system we have today isn’t getting us there.
Good morning!
Migration and training is on the agenda for the second and final day of the government’s jobs and skills summit, with movement expected on the cap on skilled migration. The government has promised it will produce a document with summit’s immediate outcomes by the day’s end.
Clare O’Neil is opening the migration debate at the summit and appeared on ABC Radio this morning. The home affairs ministers said there was “broad consensus” about the skills shortage, with the problem not just affecting business but all sectors from health to hospitality and agriculture:
One of the things about our migration system at the moment is there’s a big reform opportunity. I don’t think the system’s delivering for the country.
And one of the big problems with this system is that we’ve created one where it’s actually very easy to come to Australia as a temporary worker, probably in a pretty low-skilled job, but virtually impossible to come here permanently as a high-skilled worker.
But O’Neil said the government would only get the social licence from Australians on lifting migration caps if it could fix housing, committing to couple discussion about housing with migration.
She said there was a need to stop thinking about migrations as “turning a tap on and off” and to start discussions about the other appropriate policy settings needed to support it.
In state news, premiers including Mark McGowan and Dominic Perrottet have defended the national cabinet’s decision to reduce the Covid-19 isolation period after criticism from the Australian Medical Association, which called on authorities to release the health advice underpinning the decision.
Meanwhile, 5pm today is the deadline the NSW government has given unions to accept its ultimatum. It will seek to terminate the enterprise agreement of thousands of rail workers and scrap a deal to modify a multibillion-dollar fleet of trains unless the union agrees to end all industrial action before the weekend.
Let’s get going!
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