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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Amy Remeikis and Christopher Knaus

Albanese delivers budget speech and Sydney reports new virus locations – as it happened

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On that note, we are going to close off the blog. We will be back very early tomorrow for the last day of the Senate sitting.

And of course, we’ll have all your Covid news as well.

Thank you so much for joining us. We truly appreciate it. Sleep well – and take care of you. Ax

Updated

Mike Bowers was in the chamber:

Anthony Albanese and Labor colleagues after making his budget reply speech
Anthony Albanese after making his budget reply in the House of Representatives tonight. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

That ends the interview.

Anthony Albanese won’t say whether or not Labor will reverse the university changes, if it wins government.

“Tonight is not the night for it,” he says.

Updated

Leigh Sales: Just on the point about three days, if somebody need childcare for five days, under what you are proposing tonight – it looks like childcare will be mostly not means tested – doesn’t that go against the progressive nature of our system, so that somebody on $50,000 a year is going to be paying the same roughly for five days of childcare as somebody on $500,000 a year?

Anthony Albanese:

Well, that is not right, in terms of the benefits – they’ll be substantial for people on low and middle incomes. They’ll still receive four times the benefit than those on higher incomes, from what we are proposing, but we don’t see this as a welfare measure.

We think that there are substantial advantages by having, not just low-income women, but middle income, higher income as well. I announced tonight that what we envisage doing is having in our first term the 90% figure and it would taper down in a straight line to $530,000, that would be the upper limit.

I announced tonight that we asked the Productivity Commission to look at a review of how it’s operating in our first term and consider where whether you make that universal. Just like if someone needs health care when there is a report there about – you just heard about James Packer, when Kerry Packer had a heart attack, he ended up in the hospital in the public section, he got the same care.

That’s part of the benefit of having a universal health care system. Superannuation is universal. Our schools, anyone can send their kids to a public school. The fact is that childcare should be regarded as an essential service. You should deal with the tax system in a whole range of other ways by having a progressive tax system, but when it comes to childcare, it shouldn’t be seen as a welfare measure. It’s economic reform which will boost productivity.

Updated

Leigh Sales: You have announced that you will spend billions on further government spending on childcare. Governments have three ways they can pay for things: raising taxes, cutting spending or borrowing money. How would you pay for the childcare plan?

Anthony Albanese:

Well, all of our commitments will be fully funded by the time the election comes – we’ll announce all of that program. One of the things about childcare is that it’s not just money out, it’s money in as well.

And the estimates are from KPMG and from the Grattan Institute and others, as investing in childcare, they say, it provides substantial growth. The Grattan Institute is $7-10 billion, KPMG at least $4 billion. If you are about growing the economy, [it’s the three Ps: population, productivity and participation. Good policy on childcare is about increasing participation, but it’s also about boosting productivity that helps produce returns to the government.

This is a substantial economic reform. This is not about welfare, it’s about a substantial economic reform, recognising that we need to use the talents of our entire population, and that includes women and men.

Sales: On the point about women and the talents of the population, if you care about that, why in your childcare policy is there no mention of an increase in wages for childcare workers, mostly women and the most under-paid members of the community?

Albanese:

I actually did mention that tonight in my speech.

Sales: Well how much will they be getting, their wages...

Albanese:

Well, what we are not doing is announcing a full comprehensive policy on every single issue tonight. This is a budget reply speech, not an alternative budget. And the area where we thought the biggest priority was was in increasing participation in removing the disincentive that is there for women who often – and it can be men as well, of course – provide so that they lose 80 to 90 or 100% of their income if they work more than three days.

That is a massive inefficiency in our economy, it’s one that should be addressed, it’s one thing that has been identified by economists of how you grow the economy. If this is low-hanging fruit. The government should have said something about it this week.

Updated

Anthony Albanese is now on 7.30.

Leigh Sales: You have been using the term the “Morrison recession” recently. You used it again in your speech tonight. Australians aren’t stupid, they see what is happening globally. Who do you think believes it’s all Scott Morrison’s fault?

Albanese:

Well, he referred to the Keating recession today in parliament. He’s the prime minister and the fact is...

Sales: You are the opposition leader – like address the question. Who do you think believes it’s Scott Morrison’s fault?

Albanese:

The fact is that it is Scott Morrison’s as prime minister who presided over an economy that was weak going into the pandemic, and if you look at what was happening last year in terms of growth was so low, the only thing keeping growth going was population increase. We had wage stagnation, we had business investment falling, we had productivity going backwards, so it was a productivity recession last year, that’s one of the concerns that we had.

Then this year, of course, Scott Morrison was very reluctant and slow to introduce wage subsidies. He opposed it when Labor was first suggesting it. And Scott Morrison’s the prime minister, there’s nothing unusual about describing something that happens in government by the name of the leader at that particular time.

Sales: But the economy would be in exactly the same recession if Bill Shorten were the prime minister?

Albanese:

Well, the fact is that we would have had a very different economic program. We had a plan for economic growth. We weren’t successful. The government was elected last May and then what you had was the Reserve Bank continually intervening to lower interest rates and use monetary policy, calling upon the government repeatedly to use fiscal policy to invest in infrastructure, to do something to grow the economy.

They didn’t have a plan then and they don’t have much of a plan now in terms of this budget.

Updated

I am told that Anthony Albanese had a bit of help, but “substantially” wrote the speech himself.

The Labor leader felt invested in this speech.

This reaction is not surprising.

Updated

But the Senate is sitting tomorrow.

The Parenthood likes the speech (they advocate for parents):

Executive director Georgie Dent said:

Putting women at the heart of Labor’s plan to kickstart the economy and get Australians back to work is compelling politics and policy because of the adverse implications women have suffered out of Covid-19.

Addressing the economic reality women in Australia are facing is desperately needed.

And the opposition leader appears to understand that by putting women at the centre of his reply and key policy pledge.

“This is not welfare. This is structural reform,” Albanese said of Labor’s $6 billion Working Family Childcare Boost plan.

The child plan outlined in Labor’s federal budget response tonight will:

  • End the $10,560 child care subsidy cap which often sees women losing money from additional days worked;
  • Lift the maximum child care subsidy rate to 90 per cent; and
  • Increase childcare subsidy rates and taper them for every family earning less than $530,000.

Longer term, Albanese said if he’s PM he will make affordable, high quality early education universal.

Updated

Murph’s story on the budget-in-reply is up:

Updated

Dave Sharma has responded – he argues yes to trains, but thinks they should only be built in Australia if there is some sort of advantage.

Updated

Anthony Albanese is now off to the ABC studio for his 7.30 interview.

The House is adjourned.

Updated

He did say pandemic.

Climate change featured once in Josh Frydenberg’s reply.

The Labor leader is now bringing it all home:

The year 2020 has been the year from hell. But during this calamity we learnt a lot about ourselves. And about each other.

A man called Tom Uren was the closest person in my life I had to a father figure. Tom fought in world war two, he spent his 21st birthday as a Japanese prisoner of war on the notorious Thai-Burma Railway.

He never talked much about what he went through. But he always said Australians survived because of a simple code: the healthy looked after the sick, the strong looked after the weak, the young looked after the old.

Those values are at the heart of what it is to be an Australian. And those values are why I’m optimistic about our country’s future. Because just as our people have rallied to each other and risen to the challenges of this pandemic, I know Australians can seize the opportunities of the recovery, seize the chance to rebuild and renew our country.

But people can’t do it on their own. My mum battled a tonne of adversity to give me opportunities she never had. But government played a part too: it put a roof over our head, it gave me an education and a start.

That’s why I want to be prime minister. Because I know government has the power to break down barriers of disadvantage, to change lives for the better. I’ve seen it. I’ve lived it.

And that’s what Labor’s plans are all about:

    • Creating jobs for today – and training our people for tomorrow.
    • Making quality child care a right for all, not a luxury for some.
    • Rebuilding our manufacturing sector.
    • And powering our recovery with clean energy.

Tonight, I’ve talked about how we can make this once-in-a-century crisis the beginning of a new era of Australian prosperity and Australian fairness. With the right plans, the right policies and the right leadership, I truly believe our country can make this moment our own.

Strength and fairness. We can beat this recession, we can launch a recovery and we can build a future where no one is held back and no one is left behind.

Updated

Labor recommits to a national integrity commission, and then Anthony Albanese moves on to bushfire recovery:

Then there’s the emergency response fund. This $4 billion fund was created in the aftermath of the catastrophic bushfires, with $200 million available each financial year from 2019-2020. It’s for recovery, as well as resilience in the lead up to bushfire seasons.

Not a dollar has been spent. Not one.

This week I spoke to Zoey Salucci in Cobargo. The prime minister should remember her. She was the young pregnant woman who had lost her home and asked for more help for the Rural Fire Service. She was reluctant to shake his hand.

Zoey’s son Phoenix turned six months old this week, named after the Greek mythological bird that obtains new life by rising from the ashes.

When Phoenix was born, Zoey, her husband and their two-year-old daughter Uma were still living in a van. She despairs that so many of her community are still living in temporary caravans on land that is yet to be cleared.

Yet the $4 billion funding announced remains untouched.

That’s why the true test of this budget isn’t this week’s headlines. It’s not the rhetoric or the promises. It’s whether money reaches the people who need it.

Updated

Murph tells me Greg Hunt yelled out “false” when Albanese said the line about pandemic preparation – and was very quickly shut down by a look from Scott Morrison.

Updated

This was briefed out ahead of time: Labor wants to set up a Centre for Disease Control (which America has – but, presumably, one the political leadership would listen to in the event of a pandemic).

Anthony Albanese:

The pandemic has exposed Australia’s vulnerability. This has particularly impacted the elderly, with more than 670 deaths in aged care, in a system described by the royal commission – in their one-word title of the interim report issued last year – as “neglect”.

This budget has done nothing to address this neglect and nothing to ensure aged care residents have enough nurses, carers and other staff that they need and deserve.

The royal commission declared last week there was still no plan for aged care. It is also the case that our pandemic preparedness was poor. The last national pandemic preparedness exercise was run by the Rudd government in 2008.

A Labor government will establish an Australian Centre for Disease Control to bring us into line with other advanced economies.

Updated

Look, criticise but maybe think it through?

Social Housing:

One of the fastest ways to lift economic growth and get tradies back on the tools is to invest in social housing.

There’s 100,000 social housing dwellings around the country that are in urgent need of repair. The roof leaks, they’re full of mould or damp, the plumbing isn’t up to scratch.

If these were MPs offices they’d be fixed overnight.

These are people’s homes – and they’re a job creation plan ready and waiting in every city and town. Tradies could be ordering from suppliers today, they could be onsite tomorrow.

And the pipeline of work doesn’t stop at existing houses that need fixing. There are new houses that need to be built too. 200,000 Australians are on waiting lists for social housing.

I grew up in public housing. I know, when you don’t have much, having a roof over your head provides security and makes all the difference.

So many economists have identified investing in social housing as the best way to provide immediate stimulus to the economy. It would create thousands of jobs in construction and the trades ... and just like for my mum, it would give thousands of people a better life.

Updated

Anthony Albanese says a Labor government will rebuild the energy transmission grid:

Australia’s electricity network was designed for a different century; for a time when solar panels ran pocket calculators, not the one in four households which have rooftop solar.

The current network takes no account of the rise of renewables as the cheapest new energy source, and doesn’t help link these new sources up to the national grid.

A Labor Government will tackle this head on. We will establish a new Rewiring the Nation Corporation to rebuild and modernise the national energy grid. By using the commonwealth’s ability to borrow at lower interest rates, it will be done at the lowest possible cost.

The projects needed to rebuild the grid have all been identified in the Australian energy market operator’s integrated system plan. The planning work is done.

Rebuilding the grid will create thousands of jobs, particularly in regional Australia, and deliver up to $40 billion in benefits.

Fixing transmission is technology neutral and will allow the market to drive least-cost, new energy production.

Updated

More instant reaction. (The immediate reply will be “what about NSW?”)

Updated

Political Alert has distilled the manufacturing/skills announcement:

Jane Hume has been charged with giving the budget reply’s reply, immediately after the speech.

In the meantime ...

Updated

On trains (one of Anthony Albanese pet projects), the opposition leader says:

Liberal governments have consistently said we can’t build trains here.

And yet the ones they’ve bought from overseas have been too long for our stations, or too narrow for our tracks, or too tall for our tunnels.

Last December I visited the Downer EDI site in Maryborough, Queensland, where skilled Aussie workers are refitting rail carriages purchased from overseas by the former Newman LNP government. This work is being done in a factory that’s been building quality trains since the 19th century.

Our country has the skills and the knowhow. What’s missing is a government that believes in manufacturing and has a plan to deliver.

Tonight, I announce that a Labor government will create a national rail manufacturing plan. We will provide leadership to the states and work with industry to identify and optimise the opportunities to build trains here in Australia, for freight and for public transport.

Updated

Following the childcare announcement, Murph, who is in the chamber for the first time since the pandemic closed it, tells me that Amanda Rishworth, Labor’s childcare spokesperson, and Dan Tehan, who looks after it for the government, are sparring across the chamber.

Updated

Then we move to the “future-made Australia”.

Anthony Albanese:

To deliver maximum public value for money, Labor will create an Australian skills guarantee.

On every major work site receiving federal government funding, one out of 10 workers employed will be an apprentice, a trainee or cadet. These common-sense measures will train tens of thousands of workers.

We will also consider how this principle can be extended to federal government subsidised sectors like aged care, disability care and childcare in cooperation with providers. And we’ll bring the same approach to defence acquisitions too.

Over the next decade, there is $270 billion of defence spending on the books. These investments in national security should also deliver a dividend for national skills, training, research and manufacturing.

A Labor government will implement concrete rules to maximise local content and create local jobs.

At best, the Liberals’ approach is all over the shop when it comes to Australian content. Remember when one of this Liberal government’s defence minister said he wouldn’t trust Australians to build a canoe?

Australians will never forget that it was this government that drove Holden, Ford and other car makers out of Australia, taking tens of thousands of jobs in auto manufacturing, servicing and the supply chain with them.

This wasn’t just dumb and devastating in the short term. Cutting down the Australian auto industry also cut Australia off from the next round of opportunities, dealing us out of a new wave of technology that could have been made in Elizabeth and Altona and Geelong but instead is being made in Detroit and Tokyo.

It’s the same at a state level.

Updated

Labor childcare announcement

OK, after a slap over the handling of the NBN, we get to what Labor would do.

Right around Australia, instead of childcare supporting families where both parents want to work … the costs, and the tax system, actively discourage this.

And, as is too often the case, it’s working mums who cop the worst of it.

For millions of working women, it’s simply not worth working more than three days a week.

This derails careers, it deprives working women of opportunities they’ve earned. And it costs workplaces – not just day-to-day productivity but years of valuable experience and knowledge and skills.

If I’m elected prime minister, I’m going to fix this.

Tonight, I announce that a Labor government will, from 1 July 2022, remove the annual cap on the childcare subsidy, eliminating once and for all the disincentive to work more hours.

And we will increase the maximum childcare subsidy to 90% - cutting costs for 97% of all families in the system.

And we will order the ACCC to design a price regulation mechanism that will ensure every taxpayer dollar spent flows directly through to savings for Australian families.

This is real reform. It will boost women’s workforce participation, boost productivity and get Australia working again.

Building a childcare system that works for families will turbocharge productivity in workplaces, delivering a much-needed boost in economic growth of up to $4 billion a year.

For me, the principle is very simple: early education is vital for our children’s future. And childcare is an essential service for families – and for the economy.

So our long-term goal – and the mission we will set for the Productivity Commission, which will be asked to report in the first term of a Labor government – is to investigate moving to a 90% subsidy for childcare for every Australian family.

Labor created Medicare – universal health care. We created the NDIS – universal support for people with disability. We created superannuation – universal retirement savings for workers. And, if I’m prime minister, I will make quality, affordable childcare universal too.

Updated

Anthony Albanese:

Throughout this crisis, my colleagues and I have been constructive.

As the party that led Australia safely through the global financial crisis, we understand, that in the middle of an emergency, the priority is on urgent action. Still, we sought to make improvements including arguing for wage subsidies, which the prime minister rejected as “very dangerous”.

We wanted casuals, universities and the arts to be included. This would have saved tens of thousands of jobs.

We warned of the damage caused by a smash-and-grab on superannuation, forcing desperate people to raid their own retirement savings while they waited for support to arrive. We called for Telehealth and mental health support.

We backed the trade unions call for the government to introduce a national scheme of paid pandemic leave so no-one had to choose between turning up to work sick or putting food on the table.

Our constructive approach contrasts with the Coalition during the GFC which voted against the Rudd government’s economic stimulus to protect jobs – and complained about the debt they inherited, which was one quarter of the debt created by the Morrison government.

The only legacy delivered by this budget is trillion-dollar debt. A reform desert.

The decisions in this budget should be about setting Australia on a course for the next decade and beyond. And when those decisions are wasteful, or unfair, or short-sighted or just plain wrong … then it’s not the government who pays in the long run, it’s the whole country.

Updated

Anthony Albanese:

The budget figures tell the story: an end to three decades of economic growth, 1 million unemployed with 160,000 more by Christmas, $1 trillion of debt – debt which had already doubled under this government, now four times that which the coalition inherited. And there were the damning silences.

Too many Australians are in insecure work. The first to be laid off, with low wages and few entitlements.

And this budget said nothing about that. Too many women are shut off from economic opportunity, earning less and retiring with less. And this budget said nothing to change that.

Too many family budgets being pushed to breaking point by the cost of childcare. And this budget said nothing to help with that.

Too many older Australians who built this great nation are being treated without the respect and dignity they deserve. Too many older Australians are lonely prisoners of a broken aged care system; facilities run for the highest profits at the lowest standards; a care economy workforce in childcare, aged care and disability care that’s overworked and underpaid.

And Tuesday’s budget said nothing and did nothing about that. How can the government push the national debt to $1 trillion, yet leave these fundamental problems unresolved?

Tonight, as Labor leader, I want to outline how we can change this for the better. How we can emerge from this crisis with a stronger economy and a fairer society. The pandemic has shown that Labor’s values of fairness, security and the power of government to change lives for the better are the right values in a crisis. They are also the right values for the recovery.

Updated

Anthony Albanese:

I was brought up to look on the bright side.

My mother, Marianne, was a great optimist. She was crippled with rheumatoid arthritis and other health conditions which meant constant pain and often long stints in hospital. A single mum who raised me in public housing and relied on what was then called the invalid pension, now known as the disability pension.

She did it tough. But she always had a smile on her face. She never complained about her lot in life. One of her favourite sayings was, “There’s always someone doing it tougher than yourself.”

Like every Australian parent, her greatest aspiration - and the reason for all her sacrifice - was to make sure that her child had a better quality of life and greater opportunity than she enjoyed.

That aspiration for others has been on full display in 2020. Volunteers fighting bushfires. Healthcare workers fending off a pandemic. Cleaners and supermarket workers and truckies working around the clock to keep our economy going. Teachers redefining education practically overnight. Farmers in regional communities who had already copped drought and bushfires. Small business reinventing themselves, and locals backing them in. Trade unions agreeing to temporarily put aside hard-fought industrial gains to maintain jobs and to keep businesses going. Public servants reminding us of the honourable profession that they belong to.

Australians rallying to help each other through tough times.

But if this crisis has reinforced what we know is good about our country, it has also revealed what is wrong with our economy.

Updated

Anthony Albanese delivers budget-in-reply speech

Anthony Albanese has begun his speech:

My fellow Australians, we live in a great country.

Amidst all the chaos and hardship that has shaken our world in 2020, there is nowhere you’d rather be. The credit for that - as always - doesn’t belong to the politicians here in this chamber tonight.

It belongs to you, the people of Australia.

We are coming through this pandemic because of your hard work, your sacrifices, your sense of community. Your willingness to put not just your friends and neighbours, but people you’ve never met and probably will never meet ahead of yourself. Your values - Australian values - that we look after each other.

And it’s that spirit - those values - which should define what happens next. Because the challenge - and the opportunity - facing us now is not just a matter of getting back things to the way they were - we have to aim higher than that. Strive for so much more than that.

We have a once-in-a-generation chance to rebuild our economy and our country for the better.

To launch a recovery that delivers a stronger, fairer, and more secure future for all Australians. This budget fails the test. The budget reflects the government’s character of being guided by short-term politics rather than long-term vision.

Updated

Meanwhile ...

Updated

The bells are ringing for the resumption of the parliament sitting.

Just re-reading through previous transcripts from this morning when I was off, and I am still caught on this exchange between Scott Morrison and Sydney radio 2GB host Ben Fordham:

Fordham: Quick one. I know you don’t often get asked about bikinis, and probably for good reason, but we shared this story yesterday, that’s now on the front page of the paper today, about a girl called Christy who was in an apartment block swimming pool that she lives in and she’s having a swim. A security guard said no, sorry, you can’t go wearing that kind of swimwear. Here was a normal bikini. Now, are we going to head back to the days of the 1950s where inspectors are walking around with measuring tapes? Should Aussie women be allowed to wear what they want within reason when they’re having a swim?

Morrison:

Well, of course, I thought they always could. I wasn’t aware that any of that had been constricted. So yeah, Ben, I’m not aware of this story you’re talking about. It’s not one that sort of came to my attention, you wouldn’t be surprised to learn. I’m surprised that even applies. I tell you what, though. I mean, as a father of daughters, I can assure you as they get older, I might apply some dress standards and conditions, but that’s for families to sort out.

*Laughs nervously in patriarchy.

The image of Jean Shrimpton causing Australia-wide outrage by wearing a miniskirt to the Melbourne Cup is one of the most famous photos of the modern era. Women literally used to have their swimsuits and hems measured. I had a “fingertips” rule at school, where my skirt had to be longer than where the tips of my fingers ended, with my hands down my sides, and had to fight – literally campaign and protest – to change school policy and allow girls to wear the same tracksuit pants the boys were allowed in winter (we were meant to wear stockings under our skirts), and shorts instead of netball skirts for sports. And I went to a STATE school.

Meanwhile, my mentions and emails after any TV appearance usually carry some policing about my boobs, or my hair, or my outfit, or some combination of the three. But sure – women have always been cool to wear whatever.

Updated

“The only reason to have a border is health grounds,” says Scott Morrison.

Obviously he is talking about state borders.

Scott Morrison says Western Australia has been able to deliver a surplus in its state budget because of the GST deal his government gave it, as well as “other elements” like iron ore prices.

Updated

Scott Morrison is speaking to Perth radio 6PR in the next couple of minutes.

It is still just past 4pm there.

OK – it is an half an hour until Anthony Albanese’s budget-in-reply speech.

You can watch it on ABC 24, or on the parliament website.

We will also be covering it off here.

Updated

And yes, the official press release will be released when the university bill passes the Reps (it was altered slightly so bounces back there). But given the numbers in the House, there is as much chance of this not passing as there is of me not eating the last Haigh’s coconut square (diddly-squat).

Updated

Education minister Dan Tehan has responded to the passing of the university bill, not with a press release, but a quick statement:

The job-ready graduates legislation will provide more university places for Australian students, make it cheaper to study in areas of expected job growth and provide more funding and support to regional students and universities.

I welcome the passage of the legislation through the Senate and I want to thank the Senate crossbench for their good-faith negotiations.

Updated

Also ticking away in this building:

Updated

WA’s budget assumes its border won’t open until June next year. At least.

I mean, is anyone making cuts at the moment?

We can’t have old-school thinking for new problems. The country is headed towards a trillion dollars’ worth of debt if everything goes RIGHT (which is how much wealth Amazon boss Jeff Bezos is on track to earn by 2026).

Updated

It is now social-media official:

Updated

In my experience, most people actually want to see their kids. And there are penalties which can be put in place to monitor that sort of thing.

Ummmmmm.

Updated

My Senate secret squirrels have informed me that Simon Birmingham almost missed the university vote this afternoon.

Mathias Cormann moved a debate gag motion, to bring the bill to a vote immediately - Birmingham missed that vote and it tied. Then Cormann put the bill to final vote a short time later – for which Birmingham made it.

If he missed that vote, the result would have tied and, status quo rules – so it would have been blocked (the government would have just brought it back on again, but still).

Updated

And then:

Updated

Victoria has updated its high-risk locations as well.

Updated

Universities Australia has welcomed the passage of the Orwellian “jobs ready” uni bill, despite having “concerns” about the additional cost burden to students.

From its release:

Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson said certainty has been in short supply and universities are keen to get on with the job of delivering higher education and research on behalf of all Australians.

As with nearly every sector in the Australian economy, it had been a tough year for higher education.

The emphasis on participation in the package is appropriate with increasing demand for university qualifications in the face of the Covid-19 recession.

Universities Australia welcomed changes to the legislation that strengthen protections for students who fail units due to circumstances beyond their control.

Jackson said:

It is important that we do not compound disadvantage.

Also, from the day the package was announced, we have been expressing concern about additional financial pressure on students. That concern remains.

Updated

The “jobs ready” university bill has passed the parliament.

Humanities and arts students will now be paying 113% more.

What could possibly go wrong?

Updated

So yup, as reported (in the Australian), the childcare package Labor is presenting is worth $6bn.

It is targeted on low-income earners

Updated

And right on cue, NSW Health is updating its “please monitor yourself for symptoms” list of places:

NSW Health is alerting the public to the following locations visited by new cases of Covid-19 notified today. These cases will be included in tomorrow’s numbers and contact tracing is underway.

Anyone who attended the following venues is considered a casual contact and must monitor for symptoms and get tested immediately if they develop. After testing, they must remain in isolation until a negative test result is received:

  • Surf Dive ’n’ Ski at Castle Towers shopping centre, Castle Hill – 5 October, 12-5pm
  • Chemist Warehouse on the corner of Bridge and Rawson Streets, Epping – 6 October, 10.30-11.00am
  • Macquarie University Sports and Aquatic Centre outdoor pool area at North Ryde – 7 October, 5.30-10.30am

Updated

Northern Territory revokes Sydney hotspot status

There might be a bit more community transmission going on in Sydney these past couple of days, but the Northern Territory is moving to revoke the city’s status as a Covid hotspot:

The NT chief health officer has confirmed that greater Sydney will be revoked as a hotspot from 12.01am on Friday 9 October.

This means that people arriving in the Northern Territory from greater Sydney will no longer have to undertake mandatory supervised quarantine. Anyone currently in mandatory quarantine from greater Sydney will be able to exit.

Decisions on declaring and revoking hotspots are reviewed and made by the NT chief health officer and take into account the monitoring and data collection of Covid-19, extent of community transmission and risks to the NT community.

The risk of Covid-19 in our communities cannot be eliminated which is why it is important for everyone, particularly those people travelling from interstate, to follow all health regulations.

  • If you have Covid-19 symptoms, do not travel. Make sure you get tested and stay at home.
  • Maintain a physical distance of 1.5m at all times.
  • Wash your hands with soap and water and use hand sanitiser regularly.
  • Cough and sneeze into your elbow or a tissue. Put your tissue in the bin straight away.
  • Do not go to work if you feel sick.

If you have symptoms, stay away from others and call a doctor or the NT Covid-19 hotline on 1800 008 002.

Updated

This year has taken so much from us. And some, even more:

Updated

The university bill is in its third reading in the Senate.

Sigh.

How is Simon Birmingham going to handle his new responsibilities, now that he is taking up Mathias Cormann’s jobs?

Just dandy, he tells Sky News:

Well it is a busy time, but it’s always a busy time across government. What’s important is not the job that I’m doing, but the job the government does for the people of Australia. And the priority that I have coming into this role is to make sure that we deliver on the budget that was handed down this week. It’s a budget focused on creating jobs for Australians to ensure that we continue to save the jobs and cushion the blow from the pandemic, to create new jobs and new opportunities, hence our investment in skills and manufacturing and energy reforms.

And so there are many things for us to get on and focus on doing. And for me – continuing as well till the end of the year, at least – to expand our trade pathways and to support our tourism industry, who are doing it so tough, and for whom the support measures in this budget, such as the loss carryback provisions, are just so crucial in providing ongoing cash flow assistance.

Updated

Labor to announce $6bn childcare package

Hi all, I’m not in a position to go into details of Labor’s childcare announcement without breaching an embargo, but the reports around saying the measure costs $6bn are correct. As I reported this morning, there is also an energy announcement in tonight’s budget reply speech by Anthony Albanese. Tune in tonight for details. Amy will be covering the speech live.

Anthony Albanese works on his budget statement ahead of his reply in the House of Representatives tonight
Anthony Albanese works on his budget statement ahead of his reply in the House of Representatives tonight. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

Dave Sharma is up next on the defend the budget train:

Patricia Karvelas: We know young people were targeted by your budget. So obviously that’s very specific. And the treasurer kept telling us he knew women were being hurt more, so they are affected more, you have to do more to help them, don’t you?

Sharma:

Well, I think, certainly the ... women as a share of the population took a larger hit at the start of the crisis because some of the sectors they are employed in.

We have seen – over – of the 1.3 million people who lost their jobs or had hours reduced to zero, 760,000 who have come back to work since, 60% have been women. Women were quick out of the workforce, or quick to have hours reduced, they are coming back ... None of this is set and forget, I would say. We need to keep an eye on all this. If more things need to be done to help different sectors, be it young people, elderly, Indigenous Australians ... we are going to be mindful of that. We want to get all of Australia back to work, get unemployment back to a level where it was before this crisis and we want people to feel prosperous and secure again.

Updated

If there is one thing this country could not handle at the moment, it is having the Nationals back in charge of trade.

Updated

Anthony Albanese is due to give his budget reply speech in a few hours. What is expected?

A childcare package – there are reports floating around about that this afternoon (and yesterday) – and as Murph reported earlier this morning, a “significant” energy announcement.

Stay tuned.

Updated

Student organisations are planning protests against the proposed university funding changes, which will put the cost of a humanities or arts degree out of reach for many students.

From Student Fightback’s statement:

“This is the most significant attack upon students in years. We’re not going to take it lying down. We will be taking to the streets in every major city and causing chaos for the
government until the fee hikes are reversed,” said University of Sydney Education Officer & Student Fightback NSW convenor Jack Mansell.

“The fee hikes are a despicable move. They’ll make higher education less accessible to
students with low-income backgrounds, and force graduates into even more debt; right as the economy is entering a recession.”

Beth Jackson, the National Union of Students’ Victorian education officer, said: “The
Morrison government is clearly attempting to force students to shoulder the burden of the recession we’re entering.

“The budget gave trillions in funding to the private sector, and at the same time they’re forcing jobseeker recipients back below the poverty line and making university study more expensive. The rich are being bailed out, and we are being made to foot the bill.

“We’ll be protesting to demand that the rich pay for the economic crisis, not students or the poor.”

Australian National University Student Association representative Grace Hill said: “We’re committed to continuing a campaign against this attack on higher education, and will continue to resist the changes.”

Updated

Linda Burney was also asked about the Greens’ push for a treaty, over the voice to parliament and the Uluru statement.

Look, I’ve listened very carefully to the debate and I must say I find it quite baffling. There should not be a competition between treaty and a voice. And certainly the party that I represent, as you know, Patricia, believes in the three elements of the Uluru statement, and Anthony Albanese has made, on a number of occasions, it clear that Labor supports the treaty.

But let’s be clear about something – a treaty doesn’t happen overnight. It takes years and years to develop, and people have to be treaty-ready. Calling for treaty now is really, in my view, putting the cart before the horse.

I think a voice to the parliament – which the government is walking away from – constitutionally enshrined, is incredibly important and we have to respect what the people at Uluru requested.

Patricia Karvelas: I spoke to the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, about this and pressed him on whether there’s a change in the Greens’ position. He said it’s a grassroots movement. Is it?

I read your transcript with Adam Bandt. I found it completely confusing. I don’t think he really answered any of your questions. There is a very strong view in the community, as there has been for a long time, that treaty is important. We are seeing treaty processes take place in three states and territories right now.

A federal treaty’s important. But we need to get a voice to the parliament in place, first enshrined in the constitution, the establishment of a Makarrata commission, which would then have the responsibility for developing agreements and treaty.

Updated

Victoria Health has put out its official update:

If you have symptoms no matter how mild – get tested. We all have a responsibility to do what we can to stop this outbreak from getting any bigger.

Anyone who visited Chadstone shopping centre between 23 September and 1 October should get tested – even if they have the mildest of symptoms. Testing is available at Chadstone car park drive through – level 2 Chadstone car park, outside Coles and a walk-in clinic is open for staff only at central amenities on the ground level between MJ Bale and Marimekko. Both sites are open from 12-8pm today and tomorrow.

Anyone who visited Oddfellows Café in Kilmore between 30 September and 3 October are classified as potential close contacts and should come forward for testing, even if you don’t have any symptoms at all. Testing has been set up at the Kilmore and District hospital from 9am-7pm and Kilmore Soldiers Memorial Hall pop-up testing site from 10am-5pm today. There are currently around 230 people isolating in Kilmore following cases linked to the Oddfellows Café.

Victoria has recorded 11 new cases of coronavirus since yesterday, with the total number of cases now at 20,247.

The overall total has increased by 10 due to one case being reclassified.

Six of today’s new cases are linked to known outbreaks – three are linked to the Frankston family outbreak, one is linked to the Oddfellows Café, one is linked to the Box Hill hospital outbreak and one is linked to a complex case. The other five cases remain under investigation.

Of today’s 11 new cases, there are three in Frankston, two in Hobsons Bay and single cases in Boroondara, Brimbank, Melton, Port Phillip, Mildura and Mitchell.

The Mildura case is not a definite positive, however, it is being treated as a positive at this stage. Retesting is under way. All public health actions are being undertaken, including managing close contacts.

Investigations are continuing into an outbreak at Box Hill hospital, which includes two staff members and one patient. The contact tracing process is under way and all appropriate public health actions are being undertaken, including cleaning, testing and quarantining.

There have been no new deaths from Covid-19 reported since yesterday. To date, 809 people have died from coronavirus in Victoria.

The average number of cases diagnosed in the last 14 days (24 September to 7 October)
for metropolitan Melbourne is 9.7 and regional Victoria is 0.4. The rolling daily average case number is calculated by averaging out the number of new cases over the past 14 days.

The total number of cases from an unknown source in the last 14 days (22 September to 5 October) is 14 for metropolitan Melbourne and zero for regional Victoria. The 14-day period for the source of acquisition data ends 48 hours earlier than the 14-day period used to calculate the new case average due to the time required to fully investigate a case and assign its mode of acquisition.

In Victoria at the current time:

  • 4,276 cases may indicate community transmission – an increase of two since yesterday
  • 203 cases are currently active in Victoria
  • 17 cases of coronavirus are in hospital, including one in intensive care
  • 19,174 people have recovered from the virus
  • A total of 2,795,529 test results have been received, which is an increase of 15,298 since yesterday

Updated

Linda Burney was also on Afternoon Briefing, where she was talking about the government’s assertion this last budget, is a ‘woman’s budget’ (despite not having a lot of measures which are purely for women, or even an answer for childcare costs, which should be for both parents, but we know the bulk of the care falls to women still)

I find it almost laughable. I understand that the Prime Minister’s office has been briefing out that this is a budget for women and Minister Ruston made the statement on the radio this morning, that of course it’s a budget for women because women drive on roads.

I mean... I don’t quite understand that. But the simple fact is this, Patricia - that 61% of women who are over the age of 45 are actually the biggest group in the unemployment figures. There’s something like 754,000 women who are on JobSeeker. And whilst, of course, we support young people, the simple fact is that there is a massive - there is a massive gap in the budget for people over the age of 35 on JobSeeker and there is a large proportion, as I’ve just said, of these people that happen to be women.

A little more from Alan Tudge:

There will be one of two requirements you’ll have to meet: either demonstrate that you’ve got functional level English – you may be able to demonstrate that by the fact you went to an English-speaking school, or demonstrate that by passing an English language test; or you demonstrate you have at least had a decent shot of learning the English language while you’re here in Australia before you apply for the visa.

It doesn’t prohibit – this is important – it doesn’t prohibit any partner coming into the country. You might fall in love with a foreigner who doesn’t speak English.

They can come in, but they will have to be here typically for two, sometimes three years before they can apply for that permanent residency visa. It is in that time that we ask people to have that genuine go at learning the English language by doing those free English language glasses.

Updated

Alan Tudge says it is a “reasonable” attempt to learn English – 500 hours.

Updated

We spoke about this on the blog on Tuesday night – the move the government is making to make the English language test part of the partner visa requirements.

This is a pretty big change and one of the reasons we brought it to your attention on the night of the budget.

It’s getting a bit of attention today – and people are rightly criticising it for discriminating against people who come from countries that don’t speak English.

You’ll have a much easier time of it coming from England than Iran, for example.

Alan Tudge has been taking an increasingly firm stance on English being necessary, repeatedly stating it is “the national language”.

Here he is trying to justify it to Patricia Karvelas:

Well, if you look at the data, PK, only 13% of those who don’t speak English in Australia are in jobs, compared to 64% of those who speak English well. It is that stark.

When your parents came to Australia, presumably – I don’t know – perhaps in the 60s or the 50s, I don’t know, but there was a lot of jobs which you could do without English language. Today nearly – even the labouring jobs typically require basic English because of the occupational health and safety requirements. So the world has changed. And, of course, if you want to participate fully in our democracy, then English language becomes very important as well.

Updated

The Senate is now holding its condolence motions for Susan Ryan.

The House did this on Tuesday.

Susan Ryan in 2015
Feminist trailblazer Susan Ryan in 2015. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

The federal agriculture minister, David Littleproud, has backed the Narrabri gas project despite objections from farmers and the community.

During a National Rural Press Club event today, Littleproud was asked whether he supported the Santos-proposed coal-seam gas project that was recently approved by the New South Wales Independent Planning Commission.

“Yes I do, on conditions,” he replied.

The National Farmers Federation last month urged the Morrison government to tread carefully with its “gas-led recovery”, declaring farmers needed to be in control of their land use, and the security of groundwater must be paramount, as Katharine Murphy reported.

NSW Farmers, the state’s peak farming body, explicitly opposes the Narrabri project, saying its members “believe the project poses an unacceptable risk to the water resources, soil and air quality, local food and fibre production and rural communities in western NSW”.

While backing the project, Littleproud also stressed the need for good regulatory oversight by the states and for farmers’ land rights to be protected.

He was speaking during a post-budget debate organised by the National Rural Press Club but held at the National Press Club in Canberra. The other panellist, Labor’s agriculture and resources spokesperson, Joel Fitzgibbon, said he too supported the Narrabri project.

Updated

The university changes are just going to have more and more impact on this sector.

Updated

The final question time for this week has ended. You might have noticed a theme there from the opposition – it wasn’t about what was in the budget, but what wasn’t.

Including what was there for women, who have been impacted harder than men in this pandemic, and older workers.

The government says it does not see the budget in a gender lens. Must be nice.

The only people who don’t see gender (or colour, or disadvantage, while we are at it) are people who have never had to worry about it.

Anthony Albanese and Scott Morrison in question time
Anthony Albanese and Scott Morrison during the final question time of this week. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

Good afternoon.

A massive thank you to Christopher Knaus, for not only steering the blog through an insane day incredibly well (as always) but also stepping in so I could have a few hours off (it has been a long year).

You have Amy Remeikis with you for the rest of the day. As always, you can reach me here and here if you have a question.

Let’s see this day through.

Updated

That’s where I’ll leave you for now. The incredible Amy Remeikis will take you through the afternoon and evening. Stay tuned for Labor’s budget reply.

Ken Wyatt, the Indigenous affairs minister, is asked why the Coalition did not provide funding support to Indigenous schools to help close the gap, when it made funding available for the Clontarf Foundation. My colleague Lorena Allam reported on this earlier today.

Wyatt says:

Whilst we increase funding for the Clontarf Boys’ College, and the Clontarf program, we provided a number of other programs across this nation to build the capacity of young Indigenous women. When we think of role models, we think of the netball program that is provided for.

We have other – yes, there is a netball program to build the capacity of young people. But we also provide a program in which we look at leadership across a range of opportunities to develop the capacity of women. Our women in our community are our strength. We fund a number of programs right across the nation. They’re not just one major program. We fund according to a region or a specific need.

I can provide you with a much more detailed briefing on some of these programs that exist in places like Roebourne that are designed to protect young women, designed to build their capability. And women play a significant role in those pathways through high school. And the funding is significant. We have not lost sight of the need.

But the Clontarf program, commenced in order to deal with school attendance and suicide rates, and giving young men an opportunity to find a place in which they were comfortable, engaging, and worked through opportunities into league football. But our women’s programs are now focusing on the same opportunity and intent. And we are not going to have one prevail over the other.

Updated

Labor’s Tanya Plibersek asks about funding cuts to a domestic violence program for young Australians.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. My question is to the prime minister: in Tuesday’s budget, funding for an anti-sexual assault and anti-domestic violence program for young Australians, Respect Matters, was halved. Why is the government racking up a trillion dollars of Liberal debt while cutting critical programs like this?

Morrison talks about funding for a series of other programs, but not Respect Matters.

Plibersek jumps up on a point of order on relevance. Morrison responds:

Mr Speaker, I make reference to that in the context of the broader package of which it’s funded, and receives support from both sides of this House.

Updated

Health minister Greg Hunt is asked about funding for new medicines and telehealth.

Hunt says the government has invested $2.4m in telehealth services.

In terms of Medicare, there’s a $6 billion increase in funds that are allocated. But I think even more importantly than the funds is the landmark transformative reform, borne of the pandemic, which is telehealth. A landmark reform which would otherwise have been expected to have taken 10 years was delivered in 10 days, with the help of the profession, with the help of the public service, with the support of the prime minister and the treasurer.

And that’s now seen – and has been embedded in this budget – it’s now seen 33 million services delivered to Australians. Over 11 million Australians benefit. Over $2.4 million invested in the delivery of those telehealth services, and will change the face of medicine in Australia forever.

The Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association, though, is not so chuffed on telehealth. Chief executive Alison Verhoeven issued a statement today saying the government lacked “strategy or vision for telehealth” in its budget.

With so many people out of work or hurting financially due to the Covid-19 pandemic, decisions should be made to help them access telehealth appointments, which have proved to be such a ‘winner’ during the pandemic, and which will be continued in some form after the pandemic is over.

The trouble is that there is no indication from the government of a long-term vision for these services in the interests of patients.

Updated

Another Labor question on the trillion-dollar debt, unemployment and looming cuts to jobseeker.

Scott Morrison:

I have made it extremely clear, extremely clear, that as we get closer to the end of this year, the government will assess the ongoing arrangements when it comes to the Covid-19 supplement. We’ve made that abundantly clear, Mr Speaker. What the government is doing now is paying a higher level of jobseeker support than has ever been provided by any government,

Updated

Sussan Ley, the environment minister, is asked about the major environmental initiatives it is using to lead Australia’s Covid-19 recovery.

There is, needless to say, no mention of climate change or renewables. It’s all about waste diversion.

Ley says:

The Morrison government is driving a billion-dollar transformation of Australia’s waste and recycling capacity, by building onshore demand for recycled content. This will not only devote over 10 million tonnes of resource from landfill, it will create more than 10,000 jobs through the largest renewal of the waste and industry recycling capability in our history.

It’s another example of how the Morrison government’s plan for economic recovery is creating jobs, driving investment and achieving excellent environmental and social outcomes.

Updated

That “trillion-dollar debt” line is being embraced by Labor. Linda Burney asks why the government is racking up so much debt while allowing unemployment to grow by 160,000 by Christmas and cutting jobseeker to $40 a day.

Stuart Robert takes the question. He says most people receiving jobseeker are eligible for other payments.

This is the same rationale the government has traditionally used for keeping Newstart at remarkable lows.

Robert says:

Just so the House is aware, as at 25 September, 648,621 women are receiving jobseeker payments, 751,237 males. And then there was a number over 100,000 who are on payment but not receiving any because of the income or asset threshold.

At present, the decision of government is for the coronavirus supplement be set at $250, and that will be reviewed as we come closer to Christmas. But it’s important the House also understands that that payment itself is not the single payment that people receive. For everyone who receives jobseeker payment, their eligibility for some other form of assistance is also available.

So, on top of the existing jobseeker rate, the $250 coronavirus subsidy, the rent assistance, up to $185 a fortnight for families with three or more children; $164 if it’s one or two.

Family tax benefit part A per child, up to $246 a fortnight for children aged 13-19. Of course, there’s family tax benefit part B per family, up to $161 a fortnight for children under five years. Pharmaceutical benefit, of course, for $6.20 a fortnight.

There’s telephone allowance, energy supplements; 99.9% of all people who are receiving a safety net are also eligible for another payment.

Updated

Labor’s Meryl Swanson asks:

My question is to the prime minister: Rose is 47. She’s a single mother of two and she lost her job in March. Her daughter has cystic fibrosis. Rose says, “You buy two loaves of bread and two cartons of milk and you wonder whether it will last a fortnight. I’ve never had to do that before. My kids miss out, and it’s not fair.” Why has the prime minister racked up a trillion dollars’ worth of Liberal debt but left women like Rose behind?

Scott Morrison says the reason the government has taken on the “cost” that it has is because of the pandemic. He said the government had doubled the social security safety net, made two separate payments of $750 to all welfare recipients, and kept people in jobs through jobkeeper.

As tough as this global crisis has been as it’s impacted on Australia, Australians can stand here today, knowing that around the world there is South Korea, there is Finland, there is Norway, there is the economy of Taiwan, and there is Australia, who have been able to cushion the blow both on the health effects and the economic effects of this pandemic. Better than any other nation in the world today.

Now, that is an extraordinary achievement by Australians, their resilience, their determination to push through very difficult times, to follow the health advice, to look out for each other, to make sacrifices in each of their own lives, most particularly most recently down in Victoria, in Melbourne, where it’s been extremely tough.

Updated

Anthony Albanese accuses the government of leaving those aged 35 and over “on the scrap heap”.

Morrison says the pandemic has had a huge impact on younger workers and he does not “allow the young people ... to become the long-term unemployed of tomorrow”.

In the early ‘90s, there was a program called jobstart, which was introduced follow the Keating recession, Mr Speaker. The Keating recession, Mr Speaker. Not a recession produced by a global pandemic today, Mr Speaker. This recession has been produced by the global pandemic. Australians know that. Those opposite, Mr Speaker, the leader of the opposition, seems to be the only person in the country who doesn’t know there’s been a global pandemic.

But back in that time, Mr Speaker, the former prime minister said, with that program, that it was about supporting young people. Now, I don’t know what the leader of the opposition has got against getting young people back into jobs, Mr Speaker, in opposing the programs that we’re putting forward and characterising them in the way he does.

Updated

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg gets a dixer on the budget and has a red hot go at the world record for repeating the word “jobs”. It was used seven times, by my count, in that answer. Extra points for this segment:

And the reality is this budget was all about jobs. This budget was all about jobs. And it was all about jobs because we’ve seen our unemployment rate go up.

Updated

Adam Bandt, the Greens leader, asks a question on the government’s fast-tracked tax cuts via videolink from Melbourne. He asks about independent analysis suggesting that next year 69% of the benefits will go to men, and only 31% to women.

Morrison:

Mr Speaker, this is a budget for all Australians. Mr Speaker, all Australians who work, pay tax. All Australians who work, they pay tax. Mr Speaker, men and women. The tax system does not discriminate based on your gender, it doesn’t discriminate based on your age. It doesn’t discriminate on any of those things that go to who you are, Mr Speaker. The only thing it discriminates on is how much you earn.

Updated

It’s all childcare this afternoon from Labor.

Anthony Albanese:

Thanks, Mr Speaker. My question is addressed to the prime minister: the prime minister says, and I quote: ‘The reforms we put into childcare had their desired effect.’ The budget had nothing additional for childcare. Why is this prime minister punishing parents for working an extra hour or an extra day when they’re just trying to get ahead during the Morrison recession?

Morrison says childcare fees increased by 53% when Labor was in government. He says Labor must outline tonight how he will offset extra spending.

I notice those opposite are saying here today ... that the debt is too high, the deficit is too big. That’s what they’re saying. But they’re also saying that the debt should be greater, and we should spend more.

So, tonight the leader of the opposition has an opportunity. If he wishes to spend more, Mr Speaker, then he needs to say what in the budget he wants to spend less on.

Updated

The deputy prime minister gets a dixer about infrastructure and shouts a whole bunch of stuff.

Michael McCormack:

Give us a cheer, everybody who’s optimistic about regional Australia!

I’m sure drought-stricken farmers will be chuffed with that.

Updated

Morrison gets a dixer asking him to explain how the budget will help “all Australians by creating jobs and rebuilding our economy from the Covid-19 recession”. He responds:

Mr Speaker, this is a budget for all Australians. It’s a budget that brings Australians together. We came here to build Australia, Mr Speaker, not pick fights.

Labor continues its attack on the Coalition’s childcare funding. Labor MP Amanda Rishworth asks the prime minister whether he believes a police officer and teacher earn too much to deserve extra childcare support.

Dan Tehan, the education minister, takes the question. He says the government is “providing support to the childcare sector at record levels”.

Record levels. And that support goes directly to families, to help them to be able to afford childcare. And that will grow from $9.2 billion this year, over the forward estimates, to $10 billion. To $10 billion. And can I say that the government stands ready to help and assist the childcare sector, as it comes out of this pandemic, because we stood by the sector throughout the pandemic, providing an additional $900 million to the sector throughout the pandemic.

Updated

Question time starts

Labor begins question time with an immediate attack over childcare. Prime minister Scott Morrison is asked if “thousands of parents are knocking back extra work because it costs them more in childcare than they earn at work”.

Morrison says the Coalition’s policies have helped increase workforce participation to record levels.

And it saw the gender pay gap in this country under the economic policies of this government, which included the major changes that were made to childcare, Mr Speaker, reduced to its lowest level.

Mr Speaker, it resulted in 70% of families having out-of-pocket costs of less than $5 an hour per child, and nearly a quarter paying less than $2 per hour per child for centre-based child care, during a period of all-time highs of workforce participation for women. But it results in $9 billion being spent each and every year to support the childcare needs of Australian families.

The childcare package, Mr Speaker, that this government has pursued, while those opposite couldn’t put a policy together at any election. They ran a policy which had the end of the double drop, Mr Speaker. I remember that. They went through myriad different positions that never arrived anywhere. And, Mr Speaker, while the government got on with the job of ensuring that childcare was more accessible, particularly to those on lower incomes, we were the ones who introduced the 85% rebate, that abolished the cap, Mr Speaker, on payments and rebates that were received right across the board. And we made it fairer...

Morrison says the opposition is having an “each-way bet” on every issue. Labor wants the government to spend more, but criticises it for the size of the deficit.

I note that those opposite have drawn attention to the size of the deficit and the debt in this program, Mr Speaker. Those opposite say that the government has spent too much and then they say we’ve not spent enough. They say that the debt is too high, but then they seek to add to it, Mr Speaker.

It would seem that the opposition, as always, has an each-way bet on every single issue.

Updated

The byelection to replace John McVeigh, the Queensland LNP member for Groom, will take place on 28 November. The speaker has just announced the dates in connection with the byelection. They are:

  • Writ will be issued on 26 October 2020
  • Rolls will be closed on 2 November
  • Nominations will close on 5 November
  • Poll will be held on 28 November
  • Writ returned on or before 3 February

Updated

Uni changes pass Senate as Labor prepares for budget reply

It’s been a fairly frenetic day. Question time is nearly upon us in Canberra, so let’s recap what we’ve learned so far.

  • The government’s job-ready graduate bill, which will hike fees for some courses, including the humanities, has passed the Senate with the help of Centre Alliance and One Nation. The National Tertiary Education Union immediately condemned the bill’s passage and took particular aim at Centre Alliance senator Stirling Griff. The government earlier gagged debate on the bill.
  • Queensland says it is on “high alert” over the new Covid-19 cases in NSW, and has not ruled out pushing its border reopening back. News of eight new locally acquired cases in NSW has prompted a war of words between the two states. Queensland wants NSW to find the source of two clusters within 48 hours. NSW has recorded a total of 12 new cases, more than Victoria’s 11.
  • Labor is preparing its budget reply speech, which is expected to feature commitments on women, childcare, and social housing. Ahead of the speech, Labor has pressed the attack on Scott Morrison for spending “more time over the weekend picking out womens’ names for his chickens than he did putting policies in his budget to help actual Australian women”.
  • The government has announced that finance minister Mathias Cormann, upon leaving parliament at the end of the month, will be nominated for the top OECD position. The departure prompted a mini reshuffle, with Simon Birmingham becoming the leader in the Senate and finance minister, and Michaelia Cash becoming deputy leader in the Senate. Birmingham will remain trade minister.
Mathias Cormann, Simon Birmingham, Michaelia Cash and Scott Morrison
Mini reshuffle: from left, Mathias Cormann, Simon Birmingham, Michaelia Cash and Scott Morrison at Parliament House today. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

The the passage of the job ready graduate bill has prompted immediate condemnation.

The National Tertiary Education Union’s president, Alison Barnes, said the union was “extremely disappointed that Centre Alliance senator Stirling Griff chose to support the bill, allowing it to pass the Senate by the barest of margins”.

The ‘funding certainty’ that senator Griff and Centre Alliance have delivered today to Australia’s universities is an overall funding cut of $1 billion.

The passage of the jobs-ready graduates bill lumps a generation of students with overwhelming debt and will deter many from seeking a university education.

This legislation does nothing to address the funding and jobs crisis that is smashing our universities, with over 12,000 jobs lost and a revenue shortfall of nearly $3 billion.

But the author of this mess is Dan Tehan and the Coalition government, which has completely abandoned Australian universities during their worst ever crisis.

Mehreen Faruqi, the Greens education spokeswoman, said the changes would condemn the higher education sector to a bleak future.

The Coalition’s hatred of public education is on full display today. Job-ready graduates will do horrendous damage to our universities.

One Nation and Centre Alliance have maimed our future by doing a grubby deal with the government to hurt students, staff and researchers.

Now is not the time to lose hope. Now is the time to get angry, and get active.

Our work for lifelong free university and TAFE, the abolition of all student debt and generational new investment in research is only made more urgent by this bill’s passage.

Updated

Uni reforms pass Senate

The Senate has passed the jobs ready graduate bill by 28 votes to 26.

The bill was amended to implement Coalition deals including:

  • A commitment to One Nation for a 10% discount for students who pay upfront
  • A commitment to Centre Alliance to include legislated protections to excuse students who fail more than half their students in extenuating circumstances

So, from 2021 future university students in disciplines such as law and humanities will pay up to 113% more than current students, while those studying science, engineering and maths will get fee cuts.

Updated

Queensland on 'high alert' over NSW cases – Palaszczuk

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says she is on “high alert” over mystery cases in NSW.

News of the eight community transmission cases has prompted warnings from Queensland that it may not reopen its borders. The state wants a 28-day Covid-19 community transmission-free period in NSW before lifting border restrictions.

It also wants NSW to find the sources of the community transmissions within 48 hours.

Palaszczuk said:

We are going to be looking at those cases, we are looking forward to what the premier of NSW has to say. But let me say this – this is what the NSW premier said yesterday: ‘I want everybody in NSW to continue to be vigilant, and to continue to be on high alert.’

That puts me on high alert.

Asked whether Queensland is ruling out lifting border restrictions on November 1, as planned, the premier responded:

We’re not ruling anything out.

Updated

Kevin Rudd says there are “two giant buckets of bullshit” in the Coalition’s budget.

AAP reporter Colin Brisden has filed this report on the looming passage of the tax cut reforms through the Senate.

Personal income tax cuts will soon pass the Senate after breezing through the lower house with the backing of Labor.

The tax office says workers will start receiving the tax relief as soon as practicable.

Labor has thrown its support behind the bringing the cuts forward by two years, in a bill which also includes tax concessions for small business and more instant asset write-offs.

Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers told parliament on Thursday:

We are prepared to vote to get these through the house today and into the Senate as soon as possible.

We do acknowledge that these are serious times, we are in the deepest, most damaging recession for almost 100 years.

But the Greens says the money to implement the tax cuts could be better spent to stimulate the economy.

Greens leader Adam Bandt told parliament:

Right now today, the government and Labor are funnelling tens of billions of dollars out the door that are going to go the pockets of big corporation, and are going to go to the millionaires.

Chalmers wrote to tax commissioner Chris Jordan on Wednesday to confirm Labor’s support for the tax cuts, which are backdated to July.

There is a longstanding practice that tax measures are implemented as soon as bipartisan support is confirmed.

The tax office said:

The ATO will work closely with providers of payroll software and employers to ensure the reduced withholding associated with the threshold changes and the increase of LITO (low income tax offset) is reflected in software as soon as practicable.

Updated

In Queensland election news, Katter’s Australian Party and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party have struck a preference-sharing deal ahead of the Queensland state election.

AAP reports that the minor parties will put each other second and the Greens last on their how-to-vote-cards for the 31 October poll.

It is understood that KAP and One Nation will preference either Labor or the Liberal National party differently across individual electorates.

Updated

Rex Patrick is attacking his former Centre Alliance colleagues for gagging debate on the higher education reforms.

Government gags debate on uni reforms

The Senate has just voted to gag debate on the higher education reforms (the jobs ready graduate bill) at 12.45 – so we should expect the final, third reading stage and vote very soon.

The Senate will also come back on Friday to consider two government bills implementing the biggest budget programs: one, an omnibus bill rolling the income tax cuts together with most business measures; and the second giving the government the power to create programs to incentivise job creation and labour market participation. The second allows them to create the jobmaker hiring credit.

Labor supported the part of the motion to consider the budget bills, although its preference is for the budget measures to be considered separately.

It opposed the gag on higher education changes, but the government won the day with support from One Nation and Centre Alliance.

The Greens were very upset about the gag:

Updated

The Australian Council of Social Service, the peak body for welfare and social service groups, has issued a detailed statement with further analysis of Tuesday’s budget.

Cassandra Goldie, the council’s chief executive, says the budget leaves millions of people stranded and gives “the least to people who already have the least”.

We should have given the most to people who needed it, and who are most likely to spend it.

Each job that may be created by the tax cuts will cost $475,000, whereas improving community services would create jobs at less than a quarter of the cost.

Goldie said the budget should have included adequate and permanent increases to jobseeker and related payments and a bolder plan for job generation, investment in aged care and childcare, social housing, closing the gap services, and comprehensive unemployment support.

We welcome the wage subsidies announced for people under 35 but there must be clear protections so that longer-term employment is not the outcome and subsidies need to also be available for people over 35.

We also welcome the leadership of minister Ruston in securing the continuation of equal pay funding for community services funded through her department and the vital jobs and services that will be protected. We urge other Ministers to follow suit.

ACOSS has long been calling for fair pay for the community service sector – made up of 80% women – to help tackle the gender pay gap and ensure communities receive the supports they need. Community services are vital at all times but especially in crisis. We must ensure these vital services have the funding they need to support people reaching out for help.

Goldie said she was strongly opposed to the cashless debit card extension and cuts to asylum seeker support services, the drop in the humanitarian refugee program, and the English test proposal for partner visas.

Cassandra Goldie at the National Press Club in Canberra
Cassandra Goldie says the government’s 2020 budget gives ‘the least to people who already have the least’. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

For those wanting to follow the vice-presidential debate in the United States, you can do so here:

And for global coverage of the Covid-19 crisis, my colleague Helen Sullivan is live blogging here:

Updated

Some lovely pictures from Mike Bowers in Canberra this morning, as Anthony Albanese prepares his budget reply.

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese works on his budget statement ahead of his reply in the House of Representatives tonight.
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese works on his budget statement ahead of his reply in the House of Representatives tonight. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Anthony Albanese at his desk.
Anthony Albanese at his desk. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Albanese addresses his Labor colleagues about his women’s budget statement.
Albanese addresses his Labor colleagues about his women’s budget statement. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Anthony Albanese walks to the caucus room with senior Labor colleagues.
Anthony Albanese walks to the caucus room with senior Labor colleagues. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

Senate votes in favour of higher education package

The Senate has just voted 30 to 28 in favour of the Coalition’s jobsready graduate package, which hikes fees in some university courses like humanities and law to pay for cuts to the government contribution to degrees from 58% to 52%.

This is what we expected – because on Tuesday Centre Alliance MP Rebekha Sharkie revealed her party, which holds the swing vote, would pass it.

The bill passed the second reading stage but still has to go through committee stage (to consider amendments) and a third reading. The vote confirms the government has the numbers.

Updated

NSW records more cases than Victoria; Queensland records none

OK, once again, the press conferences were taking place simultaneously there. A live blogger’s dream.

Let’s take stock:

  • NSW has announced 12 new cases, eight of which were locally acquired, one is under investigation and seven are linked to a known case or cluster.
  • NSW’s result means for the first time in a long, long time, it has recorded more new cases than Victoria. It is looking at two clusters, both involving healthcare workers. Authorities are investigating whether the two are linked.
  • Premier Gladys Berejiklian said her patience with businesses not doing the right thing is wearing thin. It comes as authorities try desperately to work out who may have attended the Ripples restaurant in Milsons Point on Saturday 3 October, from 8pm to 10:30pm. Health minister Brad Hazzard said a sense of “complacency”. and “apathy” is creeping into the state.
  • Victoria recorded 11 new cases. Daniel Andrews said its strategy is working. More targeted testing of high-risk industries will be rolled out this week. The government is also looking at rapid saliva testing as a means of broader surveillance.
  • Andrews said the 14-day rolling average, key to relieving restrictions, is 9.7 cases in metro Melbourne and 0.4 in regional Victoria.
  • Queensland has recorded another day of zero cases. It wants NSW to find the source of its mystery cases within 48 hours or it will keep the border closed. Berejiklian said she will not be pressured by other states.

Updated

Health minister Brad Hazzard says a level of “complacency” and “apathy” is on show in NSW. He said the 12th day without cases had led to people “getting a little overexcited”.

I ask all restaurants and cafe owners and pubs to really step it up. We had our 12th day and we’re all getting a little overexcited about the new cases. This is the real world. Until we’ve got a vaccine, until we’ve got treatment, you’ve got to say: this is the real world and you’ve got to have cases. It is our job to minimise it. When you go out – use the hand hygiene. Make sure that you’re on the QR code and make sure that restaurant knows how serious it is.

Updated

Berejiklian says the clusters, both centred around healthcare workers, show how important it was for healthcare settings to “do well in the way that they manage PPE”.

It also demonstrates how important it is for everybody to do well in the way that they manage PPE. The way that they manage Covid-safe practices within a health setting, and you can’t be too cautious in a health setting and all of us know that when we’ve personally been to a health setting wearing masks, having extra caution to hand hygiene, extra caution to social distancing is so critical. And obviously, a lot of health worker, whether they’re in government system or the private system, do move around as W and therefore, it’s really important to make sure that they have good resources with PPE, but they’re well trained and that those practices are being upheld all the time, because we know the risk of contagion is so high. And at times like this, we remember just how contagious it is. And I remember during the course of the pandemic a few

Updated

Berejiklian says NSW will consider whether to make the government’s QR code check-in system mandatory.

Can I say the New South Wales Government is considering making the Service New South Wales QR code a compulsory feature moving forward. We’re looking at that. Because all those organisations that are using the Service New South Wales QR code system are successfully able to provide us, or provide Health, with all the contacts that have come into their place of hospitality or place of activity, and that’s worked really well. We appreciate there’s also QR codes that exist which businesses have established themselves.

The chief health officer, Kerry Chant, is urging anyone who attended Ripples Restaurant in Milsons Point on Saturday 3 October, from 8:00pm to 10:30pm, to get tested and self-isolate.

She also suggested Ripples has not been keeping proper records of people at the venue.

Well, obviously I’m calling out to people that attended Ripples, because we have had difficulties in ascertaining everyone who was at that venue. And so we are working through that. We’re obviously looking at accessing credit card records as well. They have got some booking details. And we’re pursuing that.

She says the focus is on contact tracing from the venue, but that “full compliance with the Covid safety requirements” will also be looked at.

Gladys Berejiklian is less circumspect.

Can I make it very clear that if any business has found to have been negligent in their responsibilities or purported to have a Covid-safe plan and didn’t act on it, the full force of the law will be brought down on them. As I said, I’m incredibly proud of the way in which the majority of our community, the majority of businesses have done an outstanding job. Everybody has had ample notice to do the right thing. Everybody has had ample notice to register to get information to put Covid-safe plans in place. And when organisations go beyond complacency and don’t fulfil those obligations, well, they let everybody down.

Updated

Health minister Brad Hazzard says NSW currently has two clusters, but they may be linked.

Our investigations are ongoing and at this stage we can’t preclude there may be subsequent links between the clusters.

The first cluster is linked to the Liverpool dialysis cluster. One person involved in that cluster, a female in their 30s who works at Liverpool hospital, hosted a social event at home. She had no symptoms.

Two of her household contacts became infected – a man in his 80s and a woman in her 60s. Another two people who went to the social event – one woman in her 30s and another in her 50s – were also infected.

We’ve managed to interview that lady in her 50s, who came forward for testing because she had symptoms. We were able to then determine about the social event, that she had been in that preceding 14 days, because we’re looking back at her potential exposure source, detected that there was a social event, then rapidly contacted people at the social event, tested people at the social event, and that’s allowed us to identify this all within the 24-hour period.

Hazzard then talks about the second cluster and says there are investigations into whether it is linked to the first.

If I now go to the second cluster that we have been investigating, you might recall yesterday that we identified that there were two cases – one, a gentleman in their 50s, and the second, a female in their 50s. What has subsequently transpired is a household contact of the gentleman in his 50s is actually a coworker of the lady in their 50s. And they both are healthcare workers who work at a private healthcare clinic. And I can say that contact tracing in relation to one of the sites that that worker works at has been completed, and we’re just working through any additional contact tracing in relation to the second venue, which is located in Liverpool.

Updated

Berejiklian says NSW’s contact tracers are working around the clock to find the source of the locally-acquired cases. But she warns some businesses are not doing enough to be Covid safe, which is making their job harder.

I also want to stress that, on the basis of advice from Health, it’s become apparent that some venues, some businesses, are not doing enough to be Covid-safe. It makes the job of our contact tracers that much more difficult if businesses aren’t doing the right thing. And I have no patience anymore for people who aren’t doing – for businesses in particular who aren’t doing the right thing. We’ve been extremely patient and tolerant to bring everybody on board. But we can’t have a few people let down the whole community. And I can’t say that strongly enough. Our patience in relation to businesses not doing the right thing is wearing thin, and we need to make sure that all businesses who say they have a Covid-safe plan actually have one.

Updated

NSW says a new cluster of three people is likely linked to an existing cluster. The premier, Gladys Berejiklian, is also warning that the public will be told of “additional venues, additional locations” to respond to during the day.

The remaining three cases of community transmission are all linked, and that source is being investigated by Health. Health has not ruled out also being able to establish a link between that new cluster of three people and also an existing cluster. It’s also important to note that we anticipate during the day there will be additional venues, additional locations, which we’ll be asking the public to respond to.

She says residents will need to be on “high alert”.

We anticipate that because we’ve identified these eight cases, that a number of close contacts and family members could be found to be positive as a result, so it’s really, really important for everybody to stay on high alert, look at the information which Health provides during the course of the day, and please react and make sure you take that advice. If you’re asked to get tested and stay home for 14 days, please make sure you do that.

Updated

NSW sounds alarm on testing drop-off

In NSW, another four cases were recorded from returned travellers.

Of the eight locally-acquired cases, one is under investigation and seven are linked to a known case or cluster. NSW Health said:

One new case reported today was locally acquired, is likely to have been infected some days ago and appears linked to the Liverpool Hospital Dialysis cluster. Four more cases are close contacts of this case.

One new case is locally acquired whose source is under investigation. The remaining two cases today are close contacts of this case.

A known case travelled on a train on Saturday, 3 October that left Parramatta station at 7:13pm and arrived at Milsons Point station at 8:04pm. Anyone who caught the train at this time is considered a casual contact and must monitor for symptoms and get tested immediately if they develop. After testing, they must remain in isolation until a negative test result is received.

NSW conducted 12,498 tests reported in the 24-hour reporting period, compared with 5,970 in the previous 24 hours.

Authorities said the drop in testing numbers is a concern,

Testing numbers have dropped recently, which is a concern. NSW Health renews its call for increased testing across Sydney, even if you have the mildest of symptoms like a runny nose or scratchy throat, cough, fever or other symptoms that could be COVID-19.

This is especially important for people across West and South West Sydney with these new cases and after the state’s sewage surveillance program detected fragments of the virus at the North Richmond and West Camden treatment plants.

NSW reports eight locally-transmitted Covid-19 cases

NSW has reported eight cases of locally transmitted COVID‑19 through to 8pm last night. Three of these cases were announced yesterday.

The strategy is working: Andrews

The Victorian premier says the state’s strategy is working and the case numbers are coming down. But he says the state must be “as stubborn and as determined as the virus”. Decisions to re-open will depend on the science. Re-opening too early will risk Victoria coming in and out of harsh restrictions throughout the summer and 2021, he said.

More broadly, this strategy is working, these numbers are coming down. And we’ve just gotta stay the course on this. We’ve gotta defeat this properly so that we can have a 2021 that is COVID-normal, that is very, very different to 2020. I know there’s a lot of people out there that would like certainty, they’d like all of these things, all these rules off yesterday. We will make - we’ll take further steps, we’ll make further decisions, but they’ll all be driven by the science, the data and the doctors. We as a community have got to be as stubborn and as determined as this virus. If we’re not, this thing lingers and it is wildly infectious.

Andrews says targeted testing is occurring across Victoria, particularly in the regions.

One-quarter of the workforce in high-risk industries is being tested each week, he says.

That’s all about not only surveillance but also those three points: If you test, then you find virus, there’s a real imperative to make sure that in those settings, where if it went undetected, it would spread rapidly. And thirdly, all of those numbers can be aggregated up and give us a more complete picture from a surveillance and sentinel point of view, for those reasons that program is really important.

I think saliva testing is gonna be a bigger part of this, following the important validation through a trial with Victoria Police just recently, where 800 or a thousand members participated in that important trial.

The 14-day rolling average, key to relieving restrictions, is 9.7 cases in metro Melbourne and 0.4 in regional Victoria.

There are 14 mystery cases in Metro Melbourne and none in regional Victoria.

In terms of total active cases across regional Victoria, that is four. With, of course, that Mildura case being still one that is under review. Active cases in disability facility settings, we still have that one member of staff. Pleasingly, very vulnerable cohort, so it’s impressive that we’ve just got only the one case. And that has been very stable over recent periods. In terms of aged care, there are 50 active cases that are connected to aged care. That will be staff as well as residents.

Daniel Andrews: 11 new cases, more than 15,000 tests in Victoria in last 24 hours

Daniel Andrews, the Victorian premier, is speaking about the latest Covid-19 results.

There are 11 new cases. Six of the 11 are linked to known outbreaks. The other five are under investigation.

He says 17 Covid-19 patients are in hospital. One is in intensive care, but not on a ventilator.

Andrews praises the testing numbers.

A total of 2,795,529 test results have been received since the beginning of the year. That’s an increase of 15,298 test results since yesterday. That is a very strong number and we thank those more than 15,000 Victorians who had symptoms and went and got tested.

Deputy secretary for community engagement and testing at the Department of Health and Human Services Jeroen Weimar (left) and Victorian premier Daniel Andrews arrive at a press conference in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Deputy secretary for community engagement and testing at the Department of Health and Human Services Jeroen Weimar (left) and Victorian premier Daniel Andrews arrive at a press conference in Melbourne on Wednesday. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

Updated

Morrison is countering Labor’s criticism that his budget failed to invest significantly in women.

He says setting “women against men” and “young people against older people” will undermine the economic prosperity of all Australians.

This is a budget for all Australians. This is about a budget of bringing all Australians together in the national interest, to get us through. And there will be voices that will try and set young people against older people, women against men, jobs in one sector versus jobs in another sector – they are the voices of division that will undermine the future economic prosperity of all Australians.

Updated

Our political editor Katharine Murphy asks Cormann if this is the budget he would liked to have gone out on.

He responds:

Well, it’s a budget that Australia needs right now, given that we’ve been hit by the Covid recession. I mean, you know, I take a great amount of personal pride – and I know that all of my colleagues, rightly, take a great amount of personal pride – that the work that we have done during our first six years in government, to strengthen our economy, to create more jobs, to repair the budget, has put Australia in one of the strongest positions of any country around the world, as we entered into this crisis.

Updated

He is asked how he will position himself on climate change in his dealings with the OECD, given the Coalition’s position on climate change and opposition to carbon pricing.

In relation to climate change, the discussion in Australia has not been, as far as we’re concerned, about whether or not we are committed to active – to effective action on climate change. We are. The debate in Australia has always been about what the best method was to most effectively and most appropriately, from an economic point of view, achieve the best possible emissions reductions in an economically sensible fashion. And if you look at our track record in Australia, we have not just met, but exceeded, our emissions reductions targets agreed to in Kyoto. We are on track to meet and exceed our emissions reduction targets agreed to in Paris. We are committed to the Paris agreement.

He says he will approach climate on a “factual basis”.

I think you will find that both our track record and our commitments about what we are committed to do into the future compare very favourably with the performance of other nations around the world.

Updated

Cormann quips that he is a “veteran of selection contests”.

And rule number one: Never take anything for granted.

Cormann, of course, famously backed Peter Dutton’s doomed leadership bid in the 2018 spill.

The other thing I’ve learned as a veteran of selection contests is never to get ahead of myself. So, I’m not gonna think about these sorts of things. If we are successful in securing the consensus across the OECD membership, I’m sure that there will be enough time to consider these matters.

Morrison is seeking support from Labor for Cormann’s nomination.

He’s asked whether the Coalition’s failure to support Kevin Rudd becoming United Nations secretary-general in 2016 could come back to bite it.

We consider every candidate on their merits. And I know Mathias has gained the respect of members all around this place. I think that will be demonstrated today – whether it’s today or at a later time, Mathias will make a final statement in the Senate chamber.

He says he has spoken to Anthony Albanese.

It really is a matter for the Labor party to – I’m not going to make any statements on their behalf. I had a discussion with the leader of the opposition earlier today, and I know that Mathias has also had a discussion with the leader of the opposition in the Senate. So, I will leave their response to them.

Updated

Cormann is making his pitch for the OECD secretary-general position, talking up his international experience, his language skills, and his record as finance minister.

I believe I bring a combination of the right skills and experiences and perhaps a rare perspective to an organisation made up of 38 nations from Europe, the Americas, the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. I have shared my life in equal measure between Europe and the Asia-Pacific.

Cormann then shows off his rather impressive language skills mid-press conference, speaking fluent French and German.

He closes by saying he has “given this [job] my everything”.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my job as Leader of the Government in the Senate. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the Prime Minister to help put Australia on the strongest possible foundation and trajectory for the future. I can honestly say that I’ve given this my everything. I’ve put my heart and soul into this job. I will continue to put my heart and soul into this job until the end of October.

pic
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann in the Press Gallery on Tuesday. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

Simon Birmingham to become government's Senate leader and finance minister

Simon Birmingham, currently the trade minister, will become Australia’s next finance minister and the government’s leader in the Senate.

He will continue in that role as well as his current role as there are many issues that continue in the trade agenda, not the least being the EU and the UK free trade agreement, which he will continue to lead, and as I have already flagged, at the end of this year, I’ll be making further announcements about any further changes to the ministry line-up at that time after parliament has risen at the end of this year. Simon’s promotion also necessitates the appointment of a new deputy leader of the government in the Senate and that will be Senator Michaelia Cash and I congratulate Senator Cash on that appointment.

Michaelia Cash, who resigned from the frontbench after the 2018 spill, becomes the government’s deputy leader in the Senate.

Updated

Morrison says he approached Cormann with the idea of running for OECD secretary-general. He did so after Cormann announced his intention to retire.

And I was very pleased that he agreed because I can think of no finer candidate that Australia can put forward - with his experience, with his skills, he has accompanied me and former prime ministers as we have attended the G20 meetings, he has participated in all these high-level meetings in the past and is well-known, not only in North America in the Asia-Pacific, but particularly well-known in the big economies, in Germany and France and the United Kingdom, but also in the economies of Netherlands and, of course, his home of his birth. And he is well respected and he is well-known.

The formal nomination will occur immediately after Cormann retires on 30 October.

Updated

Morrison says the current recession is not a sign of “some global failure of capitalism or market-based principles”.

It is the pandemic that has caused this recession. It’s not some global failure of capitalism or market-based principles. Quite the contrary. The world economy got shut down because of a health pandemic and we’re going to grow our way back out of it and the way that is going to happen globally is through the return and the nourishment of those market-based principles that are so evident in the liberal democracies of the world today.

And there it is. Morrison says he intends to nominate Cormann, the outgoing finance minister, for the role of OECD secretary-general.

We believe the OECD needs the sort of leadership that we think Australia and an Australian can provide. And so I am announcing our intention to nominate Minister Cormann, Mathias Cormann, for the position of secretary-general of the OECD.

Mathias’s seven-year experience as our longest-serving finance minister, Belgium-born, French-German and Flemish to boot, I think ideally equips him for the challenging role of the secretary-general.

Updated

The prime minister Scott Morrison is speaking now. He says the pandemic is “the most significant global recession the world has seen since the Great Depression”.

It differs from the great depression, he says, because the world was now a “truly globally, interconnected real-time economy”.

Seems he’s readying himself to announce Mathias Cormann will be nominated for the OECD’s top job.

Albanese said the budget left “51% of our population” behind.

These things need specific strategies. They don’t just fix themselves. And in the Budget on Tuesday night, we had 51% of our population left behind, just forgotten. How it is - how it is - that you can produce a budget with a trillion dollar debt, with a $215 billion deficit, with money, it seems, for unlimited in terms of going out the door and not have initiatives directed, particularly to address the fact that it is women who have particularly suffered under the Morrison recession.

He said women were disproportionately affected by the pandemic, due to the insecure, casual nature of employment.

And yet Tuesday’s Budget provided no focus to any of that. We know from talking with people in our electorate and people we know that before the pandemic, child care fees were skyrocketing. We have some of the highest fees in the world. We know that women still earn less than men. We know that they retire with superannuation balances that are on average 47% less than men. What’s the Government’s solution to that? Encourage a raid on superannuation for people who are desperate to get by and put food on the table so that of the 600,000 Australians who have superannuation balances of zero as a result of this Government’s neglect and abandonment of people who needed support, a majority of those are women.

Budget failed to apply gender lens to policy development: Albanese

Anthony Albanese is speaking now.

He starts by paying tribute to the “strong, smart, decisive, energetic, innovative women” who are part of the Labor team.

He pays homage to Susan Ryan, the ACT’s first female senator and first Labor senator, for her trailblazing efforts on affirmative action, equal opportunity, and sexual discrimination.

He says she understood something missed in Tuesday’s budget. That failing to apply a gender lens to policy development would inevitably favour men.

Susan Ryan, the founder of the Women’s Electoral Lobby in New South Wales understood this: That you needed to do more than just complain and identify what the problems were. You needed to seize power and be where decisions were made and Susan joined the Labor party, changed the Labor party. She made an incredible difference. She also understood something that this budget has forgotten – that if you don’t apply a gender lens to policy development, then outcomes without that gender lens in so many areas will favour men.

Updated

Meanwhile, NSW’s environment minister, Matt Kean, is hitting out at “vested interests” who have influenced the energy and climate debate for “too long”.

“It’s definitely time to correct the imbalance,” he said.

Kean, remember, is a Liberal minister.

Anthony Albanese is about to address caucus in Canberra ahead of his budget reply speech tonight.

We’ll bring that to you as soon as we can. He’s due to speak at 10am.

pic

The prime minister is due to speak 15 minutes later.

He had earlier pulled out of an interview with Perth radio, 6PR, which his office had organised.

Updated

South Australian border restrictions are due to be relaxed today. Travellers from NSW can drive to South Australia, via Mildura, as long as they are only going through Victoria in transit. Residents of NSW border towns just across from Mildura will be allowed to enter South Australia.

But border communities say the current situation has left locals confused and frustrated. Those living north of the Victorian border are still required to go through 14-day quarantine before entering South Australia, should they go to Mildura for their essentials.

Wentworth shire council mayor Melissa Hederics spoke to the ABC a little earlier.

It’s got everyone totally confused out here. Knowing that you’re a border town – and probably 90% of my shire go into Mildura or Victoria for either work or school – just puts a big stop on us. If anything, I think the feedback I have been getting from the community is: ‘We feel like we’re in our own little Melbourne lockdown here’. The way they have put these controls on us out here is just – is just unbelievable in many ways. Like, we have not had a case up here for over 170 days.

Updated

The government’s higher education funding bill is due to be voted on in the Senate today. It is likely to pass with the support of Centre Alliance, despite concerns about the increase to fees for some courses, including humanities, to fund fee cuts for other courses such as sciences. The overall cut in the government contribution from 58% to 52%.

Rex Patrick, formerly of Centre Alliance, is still pressuring his former colleagues in the hope they will switch their position.

Jacqui Lambie is also not giving up the fight.

Labor has accused the government of cutting funding to the auditor-general in the wake of a series of politically-embarrassing audit reports, including on the Leppington triangle land purchase and the sports rorts scandal.

Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus and deputy chair of the public accounts and audit committee, Julian Hill, say the ANAO’s budget has been cut by a further $1.28m.

As the Morrison recession takes hold and Australia hurtles towards $1 trillion of Liberal debt, now is the worst time to cut scrutiny of government spending as every dollar must count.

Yet instead of providing the $6.5 million boost the ANAO requested, Scott Morrison has cut the ANAO’s budget by a further $1.28 million.

The Auditor-General’s budget was already in serious trouble after years of cuts and deficits, so this latest cut will now drive a rapid fall in the number of performance audits from the annual target of 48 to 38 in coming years.

These latest cuts come just days after the Auditor-General publicly warned that the ongoing cuts to his office “will continue to reduce the ANAO’s capacity to deliver performance audits into the future”.

My colleague Paul Karp has reported on this in more detail here:

Updated

The Coalition’s position on funding for women seems pretty clear. The budget’s helping business and women are business owners. It creates jobs, and women can work. You get the drift.

Industry minister Karen Andrews was on Sunrise a little earlier. This is how she explained it:

What’s important is that the Budget delivers a lot from men and women. So, we have a pretty strong jobs platform that’s going to support men and women. Women are business owners, women do go to university, women are already in jobs. We want to get more people back into jobs, both men and women. And of course there’s targeted support in the Budget specifically for women, particularly in areas where we know that there is a disparity, where there are less women than there are men, and that’s particularly in the STEM related careers – so there is support in there. But, as a government, we are doing all that we can to create job opportunities, and that will support women and men.

The day so far

Just a quick recap on the developments this morning:

  • the emergence of three mystery Covid-19 cases in NSW has threatened the reopening of the Queensland-NSW border. Queensland says it wants to see no community transmission in NSW for 28 days, before it will open the border. It also wants NSW to find the sources of the three cases within 48 hours. NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian and prime minister Scott Morrison have both attacked the Queensland government for its tough stance. Berejiklian said the rule was “not fair” and Morrison questioned whether Palaszczuk is “for jobs or not?”
  • Victoria has announced 11 new cases and no deaths. That has brought the 14-day rolling average down for metro Melbourne, aiding hopes that restrictions could be lifted.
  • Labor is preparing for its budget reply speech. It has slammed the government’s failure to fund specific measures for women. The shadow treasurer,Jim Chalmers, says the government is one “trillion dollars in debt and still managed to leave Australian women behind”. Chalmers spoke favourably of social housing as a means of economic stimulus and talked of the importance of childcare, so expect those to feature prominently in Anthony Albanese’s reply.
  • The families minister, Anne Ruston, defended the budget’s treatment of women by saying they could drive on the roads that the Coalition would build through its infrastructure spend.
  • Scott Morrison has defended the introduction of an English language test for those wanting to bring their non-English speaking partners to Australia on a partner visa. He said the test is “pro-Australia” and “pro-migrant”.

Updated

Cormann to push for OECD position: reports

The Australian Financial Review is reporting that Scott Morrison will seek to have his outgoing finance minister Mathias Cormann nominated as the next secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

The AFR reports Morrison will announce the nomination later today. The role is based in Paris and has a tenure of five years.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT!

Andrew Leigh, the shadow assistant minister for Treasury, spoke to Canberra radio this morning.

He described the Australian recession as a “human capital recession”.

There’s been a huge hit to physical health obviously, but also to mental health. It’s been a big shock to young Australians who are at school or university. And yet, there’s very little which uses this opportunity to increase the skills of the workforce.

Leigh said that, in that context, the government’s higher education funding changes made no sense.

We shouldn’t be taking money out of universities and making it costlier for young people to get there. We should be welcoming young people to universities. Why do we think it’s a good thing to have more young people on the unemployment queues, rather than learning at university?

Updated

Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers has also been out and about this morning, continuing the attack on the government for the absence of funding for women.

He said the budget racked up a “trillion dollars in debt and still managed to leave Australian women behind”.

I think the best way to look at it, Lisa, is if we’re going to make the economy stronger and more inclusive after Covid-19 than it was before, then we need to recognise that Australian women are up against it when it comes to things like child care, when it comes to participating in the workforce, and so if we want the recovery to be strong and if we want women to be able to grab the opportunities of that recovery, then we need to recognise that business-as-usual won’t cut it.

Asked about Labor’s budget reply, Chalmers says the opposition’s intention is to make the economy “stronger and more inclusive” and kick-start the recovery.

We want to make sure the economy is stronger and more inclusive and the recovery gets kick-started and we have the right kind of economy after the crisis better than we had before. What you can expect to see tonight is Anthony Albanese outlining the vision for the future that was missing on Tuesday night.

He says Labor will have more to say about childcare in coming weeks and months.

Chalmers also flagged social housing as a strong way to stimulate economic activity and help lower income Australians.

You know, when you think about the best way to kick-start this recovery, it’s hard to go past social housing. It’s labour intensive and builds a lasting benefit particularly for the most vulnerable Australians. So it’s a no-brainer. I can’t believe frankly that they racked up a trillion dollars in debt, didn’t do anything for social housing.

Updated

The government has mounted a rather interesting defence of the lack of specific budget measures for women.

Anne Ruston, families minister, was on ABC television a little earlier this morning.

She says women can drive on the new roads the Coalition is going to build, so everyone should just calm down.

Good stuff.

Every single measure in the budget is available for women. Younger women can take advantage of the subsidies for young people. You know, women can take advantage of the extra university spaces ... women can take advantage driving on the new infrastructure and roads.

She says there are specific measures for women, including the Women’s Economic Security Statement, which put $240m toward initiatives for women.

In relation to my portfolio, as an example, for instance yesterday, you know, as part of the budget, we have made changes to the paid parental leave scheme. So women who found themselves – without, you know with no fault of their own – out of work as part of this pandemic, who found they couldn’t meet the work test and, therefore, would not normally have been eligible for paid parental leave now have got access to paid parental leave because we have changed the work test. So there are many specific initiatives in the budget.

Updated

The Queensland Resources Council chief executive, Ian Macfarlane, has just spoken to ABC radio about the mining lobby’s campaign against the Greens in the Queensland state election.

That decision caused an internal rift this week. BHP and Origin both suspended their membership of the Queensland Resources Council over the strategy.

Macfarlane said the mining industry’s campaign was “modest” but defended the decision to target the Greens, saying they could not be allowed to achieve a balance-of-power position.

He said the campaign was supported by the QRC board. He refuses to say how much was being spent on the campaign, but said it was a small amount and thanked journalists for the “national coverage”, which was spreading the message across the country for free.

The risk to Queensland is that the Greens get into that position, so we’re trying to nullify that position.

He said the campaign would focus on four seats to ensure “the Greens are not in a position of power after the election”.

It’s not just in four seats, they’re the focus, but we are campaigning right up the coast ... that’s really to ensure that the Greens are not in a position of power after the election.

pic
Queensland LNP Leader Deb Frecklington (left), Prime Minister Scott Morrison (centre) and Queensland Resources Council Chief Executive Ian Macfarlane (right). Photograph: Darren England/AAP

Updated

Victoria announces 11 new Covid cases

Victoria has recorded 11 new cases and no deaths. Authorities say the 14-day rolling average is down in metro Melbourne.

Updated

Just on that Queensland-NSW border issue: Queensland has said it will not reopen the border without 28 days free of community transmission.

The emergence of three mystery cases, including an infected person who attended a Mazda dealership and waterfront restaurant, have thrown the planned reopening into doubt.

The NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian, speaking a little earlier this morning, described that rule as “not fair” and “not anything official I’ve ever heard before”.

Berejiklian accused the Queensland government of “thinking up every excuse you can as it goes along”.

“I don’t think that’s acceptable,” she said.

pic
Motorists are stopped at a checkpoint at Coolangatta on the Queensland-New South Wales border. Photograph: Dave Hunt/AAP

Updated

Labor is sharpening its attack on the budget’s lack of measures for women. Kristina Keneally spoke out the front of parliament this morning, saying:

Scott Morrison spent more time over the weekend picking out womens’ names for his chickens than he did putting policies in his budget to help actual Australian women.

Updated

Morrison says there’s nothing unusual in assuming a vaccine will be widely available next year. That assumption helped underpin the rosy growth forecasts baked into Tuesday’s budget.

Morrison said many of the spending measures – infrastructure spending, for example – depended on the emergence of a vaccine.

None of that is dependant on whether there is a vaccine or not. It’s an assumption of budget ... as you know with budgets, there are a lot of assumptions.

Updated

Morrison is doing the rounds this morning. He’s said “jobs” about a billion times, by my count.

He’s now on Adelaide radio 5AA, spruiking all the wonderful things the federal government has done for South Australia. Lots of infrastructure funding, lots of defence spending,

It’s all fairly parochial. How does Morrison rate SA’s premier, compared to other leaders?

Steve Marshall has been an absolute champion in that national cabinet process.

Marshall is a Liberal leader, for those playing at home.

pic

Updated

‘Is she for jobs or not?’: PM to Queensland premier

Morrison has attacked Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, somewhat prematurely, after reports that the emergence of three mystery cases in NSW could compromise the reopening of the Queensland-NSW border.

Morrison is asked by 2GB’s Ben Fordham what he’d say to Palaszczuk:

Well is she for jobs or not? That’s what I’d say. Simple as that. She says she’s all for jobs, well you know, being for jobs means you’ve got to balance the risks that you face, like NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian is. They’re managing to keep cases to an incredibly low level.

He goes on to criticise the WA premier, Mark McGowan, on his border stance, warning against “protectionism”.

Morrison, weirdly, is then asked about a girl in a bikini who made it to the front page of a Sydney newspaper for some reason. I won’t bother telling you much more about that.

Updated

Morrison defends English language test for partner visas

Scott Morrison has just defended the introduction of an English language test, to be applied to anyone trying to bring their partner to Australia to marry.

The test would apply to non-English speaking foreigners bringing their partners into the country to be married if they do not speak English, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The test would apply to both the sponsored person and the sponsor.

Morrison tells 2GB the test is “pro-migrant” and “pro-Australia”.

English is Australia’s first language, and for person to be able to get into jobs, to be able to be protected in our society, for people to be able to access government services and function in the community, having a basic level of English is actually really important.

Morrison said people can still come to Australia on a provisional visa.

They don’t have to pass the test before they come into Australia, but once they get here they have to make a reasonable effort to learn the language at a basic level, and we don’t think that’s unreasonable. It’s not stopping anyone from coming.

Updated

Aspects of Coalition budget face continued criticism

Prime minister Scott Morrison is about to speak with 2GB radio.

His budget is continuing to face criticism this morning. This morning’s headlines include:

  • Indigenous groups and Labor have criticised the Coalition for allocating more than $39m of extra funding to a non-Indigenous sport-based initiative for boys, but failing to adequately fund Aboriginal community-controlled organisations to meet the new Closing the Gap targets in its budget.
  • The Morrison government has earmarked $6.7bn in new infrastructure funding for the states and territories but just one-tenth of it will be delivered this financial year, budget papers show. The figures have fuelled fresh concerns about whether the government is getting additional stimulus out the door quickly enough, while the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has signalled he will push for more funding for projects in his state.
  • The government’s funding of 23,000 home care packages won’t “touch the sides” of the aged care capacity crisis, experts and workers have told the ABC.
  • The Coalition is facing criticism for introducing a test in the budget that would introduce an English language test for those wanting to bring their partners to Australia on a partner visa. The test would apply to the person being sponsored for a visa to move to Australia to marry their partner and their sponsor if they are non-English speaking permanent residents.

NSW issues alert after infections detected at Ripples restaurant, Mazda dealer

NSW Health says diners who visited the Sydney Harbour waterfront Ripples restaurant on Saturday night must immediately get tested for Covid-19.

AAP reports:

Anyone who dined at a Sydney Harbour waterfront restaurant on the weekend has been told to get tested for Covid-19, as the NSW government races to trace the source of three infections.

A person with the virus attended the five-star Ripples restaurant at Milsons Point, adjacent to Luna Park, on Saturday between 8pm to 10.30pm.

Contact tracing is underway but NSW Health says the details of a small number of walk-in diners on the night weren’t recorded.

All diners at the restaurant on Saturday night are now considered close contacts and must get tested and isolate for 14 days.

NSW Health has also issued a warning for anyone who was at the Mazda Artarmon repair centre on Sydney’s north shore between 7.30am and 9.30am on Friday to monitor for coronavirus symptoms.

NSW is on alert after recording 12 days of no cases of community transmission because the three new infections could upend plans for Queensland to fully reopen its border to its southern neighbour on November 1.


Updated

Good morning, dear readers.

It’s Christopher Knaus here taking you through all the morning’s Covid-19 and post-budget news.

It’s set to be a busy day. New health alerts have been issued in NSW after three infections were detected at a waterfront restaurant and Mazda dealership.

Labor is preparing for its budget reply speech this evening, while the federal government faces new criticism this morning the slowness and scale of its infrastructure spend, its lack of investment in Indigenous communities, and its meagre aged care offering.

Don’t go anywhere.

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Updated

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