What we learned: Wednesday, 14 May
With that, we will wrap the blog for the evening. Here are the major developments from today:
New South Wales women will have easier access to abortion pills after both houses passed a bill allowing nurse practitioners and registered midwives to prescribe the medication.
Wages picked up a little stronger than expected at the start of 2025 to continue clawing back the purchasing power households lost from three years of high inflation.
Anthony Albanese said Australia has “no more important relationship than the one we have with Indonesia” before setting off for Jakarta.
Australia’s ageing coal power stations broke down 128 times during the hotter months of 2024-25, according to a report from Reliability Watch.
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has confirmed one container of ballot papers for the NSW seat of Barton was temporarily misplaced during the count, with a transport officer found to have possession of the container.
Macquarie Bank’s stockbroker arm is being sued by the corporate regulator, which alleges it misled the share market operator for 14 years by failing to properly report at least 73m sales, and potentially as many as 1.5bn.
And the co-founder and chief executive of Cheek Media, Hannah Ferguson, announced her intention to run for the Senate at the next federal election as an independent candidate while addressing the National Press Club.
Thanks for reading along – we’ll be back first thing tomorrow.
Updated
Nurses and Midwives’ Association expresses support for abortion bill
The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association have expressed their support for the abortion reform bill, which has allowed nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives to prescribe medical abortions.
Acting general secretary, Michael Whaites, said:
We see this as an important change that will improve access to care. More broadly, nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives have the necessary qualifications, clinical experience, training, and lawful authority to safely prescribe and make referrals and are an under-utilised resource.
This legislative change will bring NSW in line with most other states and territories, ensure the nursing and midwifery workforce is working to full scope of practice and remove barriers disadvantaging women in rural and remote areas.
Updated
NSW Greens celebrate after abortion access bill passes both houses
The Greens have welcomed their party’s second ever bill to pass both houses of the NSW parliament, and received support across the political spectrum, with a conscience vote for members of the Labor, Liberal and National parties.
The Abortion Law Reform Amendment (Health Care Access) Bill 2025, introduced to the legislative council by the Greens’ health spokesperson, Dr Amanda Cohn, will expand access to abortion in NSW by enabling nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives to prescribe abortion medication, as well as requiring additional public reporting of information about abortion access.
Cohn said:
The Greens are incredibly proud to have put abortion access on the political agenda and driven this needed change for women’s rights and reproductive rights in NSW.
Abortion is health care and that has been re-affirmed by the parliament today. Equitable access to reproductive health care in rural NSW won’t be fixed by this bill alone. The government must fund abortion services in public hospitals, as the premier promised last year.
The Greens’ spokesperson for women, Jenny Leong, who introduced the bill to the legislative assembly, said it continued the long Greens tradition of being “unapologetically pro-choice”.
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Nationals senator accuses Labor of not having ‘turned the corner on gender equality’
Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie has lashed out at Labor over having no “people of power who can also wear a dress” in a fiery exchange with Labor senator Marielle Smith.
Speaking on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, McKenzie said Sussan Ley was an “incredibly experienced, professional politician” who would be a “great opposition leader”.
This is the first time the Liberal party have had a female leader, I think we need to applaud them for that. Julie Bishop couldn’t get there. And we want to make sure that this is a successful leadership heading into the next election.
She later interrupted Smith as the Labor senator was praising her party’s quotas and strong female representation, saying:
I look forward to the Labor party power brokers being called “faceless women”, that’s when we know the power within the Labor party … is actually sitting with women … That’s when I know the Labor party will have actually turned the corner on gender equality, when the people who hold the power can also wear a dress.
Smith said her comments were “extremely offensive”, to which McKenzie replied: “Name one power broker who is a woman” and continued:
Tanya Plibersek should be leading your party. What happened to Tanya?
We don’t have quotas in the National party and I don’t think we ever will. What the Liberal party does with getting more women involved is up to them. The reality is our Senate leader, Michaelia Cash, is a female, Anne Ruston is also on the leadership team, Sussan Ley, et cetera, myself, and others.
(Plibersek was deputy Labor leader between 2013 and 2019.)
Updated
Woman charged with attempted murder after Queensland stabbing
In Queensland, a 49-year-old woman has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly stabbing a man repeatedly and contravening a domestic violence order.
At about 3pm yesterday, police allege the woman stabbed the man, who was known to her, a number of times with a knife at a home in the Brisbane suburb of Banyo.
Attending police applied first aid to the man and apprehended the woman upon arrival at the scene. He sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to hospital for treatment.
The 49-year-old Banyo woman has been charged with one count each of attempt to murder (domestic violence offence), contravention of a domestic violence order and obstruct a police officer.
She has been denied police bail and is expected to appear in Brisbane magistrates court today.
Updated
PM says Australia has ‘no more important relationship’ than with Indonesia
Albanese goes on to discuss his trip to Indonesia – which is his “first port of call” after being re-elected.
It’s important in our own interests but also in the interests of the region that we have a strong relationship with Indonesia. That’s why when elected prime minister the first country I had a bilateral trip with was Indonesia. And this time in my second term once again I’m returning to Indonesia as the first port of call. Because there’s no more important relationship than the one we have with Indonesia.
Asked about Russia’s play for an airbase in Indonesia, which drew extensive concern from Peter Dutton over the election campaign, Albanese said Indonesia had made their position “very clear”.
Indonesia is a sovereign nation, but they made it very clear that the position that Mr Dutton spoke about just wasn’t the case. And the verballing of the Indonesian president is not a good idea by anyone in a senior position in Australia.
The Australian can continue to report on something that isn’t happening if you wish. But the truth is, it’s not happening. And everyone senior in the Indonesian government said it wasn’t happening and I find it just a bit strange I continue to be asked about something that’s not happening.
Updated
Albanese speaks to media in Perth
The prime minister just fronted the media in Perth ahead of his trip to Jakarta, Indonesia. Standing behind him were elected Labor MPs in Western Australia.
Anthony Albanese said he visited WA 33 times as PM in his first term, and was “starting to click over to 34 now as we go forward”.
WA is so important. It’s an engine room of our national economy. It’s a growing state.
The PM said he just met with the state’s premier, Roger Cook, where they discussed their “joint vision” of a future made in Australia, with WA “front and centre”.
When you look at the transformation of the clean energy economy, WA is a driver of it … the capacity they have for resources, for value adding, it’s going to continue to drive the national economy.
I said when I came here … that I wasn’t just about holding the seats we won in 2022, I was about building on them. And build on them we have … our members right across the board campaigned so strongly and I thank them for it … We have for the last two elections run very specific WA campaigns as separate from the national campaign, recognising that there are particular interests here.
Updated
Abortion provider welcomes ‘historic moment for NSW’ after bill passes
Independent abortion and contraception provider MSI Australia has welcomed the “historic moment” expanding health practitioners who can prescribe medical abortions.
MSI’s medical director, Philip Goldstone, said in a statement:
This an historic moment for NSW, expanding choice and improving access.
We support legislative change that broadens access by enabling nurses and midwives to provide medical abortion safely and that aligns with the changes made by the TGA.
The provision of medical abortion by nurses and midwives expands choice for women, making abortion care more accessible. It is particularly important for women in rural and regional areas, where there is still stigma surrounding abortion care and a limited number of doctors that provide it.
We continually advocate for better access to abortion care, and have agreements in the ACT, Queensland and Western Australia to work alongside government to provide abortion care where there is inadequate public provision. Unfortunately, no such arrangements exist in NSW where public abortion provision is poorly funded or non-existent.
Updated
NSW passes bill to allow easier access to abortion pills
New South Wales women will have easier access to abortion pills after both houses passed a bill allowing nurse practitioners and registered midwives to prescribe the medication.
The new legislation on medical abortions brings NSW in line with other Australian states which have passed similar laws. A medical abortion involves taking prescribed abortion pills up to nine weeks’ gestation, while a surgical abortion is a procedure undertaken in a clinical setting.
The vote on Greens health spokesperson Dr Amanda Cohn’s abortion amendment bill was carried in the lower house with 65 in favour and 20 opposed.
The bill already passed the upper house on Thursday last week. However, it will have to return to the upper house in a few weeks’ time to be officially passed into law due to a typographical error in the bill from the upper house.
Read more here:
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Liberal-National coalition has ‘very positive future’, Ruston says
Ruston was also asked about the Coalition’s energy policy going forward, and whether the Liberals’ partnership with the Nationals was still serving the party.
She said the Coalition over the years had been able to work together while “understanding and respecting” differences in some policy positions.
We come together and we work together in what we think is in the best interests of the people we represent … I think there’s a very positive future and there will be a future of the Coalition going forward.
On the Coalition’s commitment to net zero by 2050, Ruston said the most “critical issue” to solve for the government was energy bills.
There’s a very, very serious issue that is right before us now, and that’s affordable reliable power.
Updated
Anne Ruston says Ley leadership a ‘wonderful opportunity’ for Liberal party
Still on Ley, Liberal senator Anne Ruston says her leadership is a “wonderful opportunity” for her party to “move forward and rebuild”.
Appearing on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, Ruston – a backer of Ley – described her as an “extremely capable politician” with a extensive experience in parliament and the “real world”.
At the same time, Ruston said she was realistic about how “devastating” the election results were for the Liberals.
We all need to take a very analytical look at what happened on the election and the lead-up to the election. You only learn and are able to make change, positive change, to move forward, by reflecting on what went wrong.
Pointed to whether it was time to act on quotas to improve female representation in the party, Ruston said “we need to look at everything” – whether it be “women voters” or other communities – but cautioned “you should pick the best person for the job”.
I have never been a great supporter of quotas. I do believe that you have to take affirmative action to make sure you’ve got representation … I want to make it one of my roles going forward, to make sure we’re supporting young women, so they’re joining our party. I want to support all young people because they’re the future of the party.
Updated
Will Sussan Ley fix the Liberal party’s “woman problem”?
Sussan Ley says her appointment sends a positive signal to Australian women. But does the party really believe its “woman” problem can be fixed so easily? Former Liberal MP for Chisholm, Julia Banks, who later became an independent, is not so sure.
Writing for Guardian Australia, she recalls Scott Morrison addressing the Liberal party room in 2018 with an “evangelical Trumpian fervour” after taking down Malcom Turnbull to become leader.
He pointed to the framed photographs of previous Liberal leaders and prime ministers and said, in what I’m sure he thought was a Churchillian tone: “One day there will be a woman there.” The room was glum with silence, pierced only by [Julie] Bishop’s quiet quip. In which century?
Read the piece here:
Updated
Two arrested after homemade shotgun found in Melbourne car
In Victoria, two 22-year-olds have been arrested after a homemade shotgun was discovered in a car.
Detectives undertook a search warrant early this morning at a home in the Melbourne suburb of Pakenham. As part of the investigation, they searched a woman’s car outside the address, where they discovered a slam gun (a homemade shotgun) and four cartridges of shotgun ammunition.
The woman, 22, and a 22-year-old male, both from Pakenham, were arrested and interviewed by investigators.
This afternoon, they were charged with two counts of possess handgun and two counts of possess ammunition.
They were bailed to appear at Dandenong magistrates court on 25 August.
Updated
NT anti-corruption commissioner resigns after a year of paid leave following claims of inappropriate behaviour
An anti-corruption commissioner on paid leave for nearly a year has resigned after the completion of a report into claims of inappropriate behaviour in his office, AAP reports.
The resignation of Michael Riches has prompted the inspector of the Northern Territory’s Independent Commissioner Against Corruption to terminate further investigation into the matter.
The chief minister, Lia Finocchiaro, said in a statement that her predecessor Eva Lawler had referred workplace allegations within the office of Icac to the Commissioner for Public Employment for investigation. Finocchiaro received the report last week and it was referred to the Icac inspector to determine any further action.
Riches, who was appointed in July 2021 and understood to be on a salary of about $500,000, tendered his resignation on Tuesday.
The Icac inspector informed the chief minister he exercised his discretion to terminate further investigation as it was “no longer in the public interest and is an unnecessary expenditure of territory resources”.
Finocchiaro said:
As a new government we share the community’s frustrations regarding the length of time and costs in which this whole process has taken.
In June 2024, the then chief minister Lawler said the Icac inspector, Bruce McClintock, found Riches had not “improperly offered $20,000 to his former wife to suppress an allegation of domestic violence”.
AAP is not suggesting Riches committed any criminal acts or broke the law.
Updated
Expert council to examine senior university staff pay, education minister says
The education minister has confirmed an expert council will provide recommendations to ministers later this year on the salaries of senior university staff, after Guardian Australia revealed just three of Victoria’s vice-chancellors took pay cuts last year.
The findings come amid outside pressure to address “broken” university governance and accusations of “executive largesse”.
Jason Clare told Guardian Australia “we need to strengthen governance arrangements in our universities”:
That’s why I have set up an Expert Council on University Governance that will look at everything from how universities pay staff, to the remuneration settings of senior university staff, and report to education ministers later this year.
The council will help build better institutional governance structures and contribute to making universities better places to study and work.
Updated
NSW debates bill to allow nurse practitioners and midwives to prescribe abortion pills
NSW is debating a bill that would allow easier access to abortion pills if it is passed by allowing nurse practitioners and registered midwives to prescribe the medication.
The vote in the lower house on Greens health spokesperson Dr Amanda Cohn’s abortion amendment bill to progress to debating amendments took place shortly before 3pm. The speaker confirmed that with 64 members who supported the bill and only 20 who opposed, the motion was carried.
A final vote will take place after amendments are debated and voted upon.
The new legislation on medical abortions would bring NSW in line with other Australian states which have passed similar laws. A medical abortion involves taking prescribed abortion pills up to nine weeks gestation, while a surgical abortion is a procedure undertaken in a clinical setting.
The bill already passed the upper house on Thursday last week.
This blog post was amended on 14 May to correct the description of the vote. A previous version incorrectly stated the final vote had occurred.
Updated
Bradfield back ‘in doubt’ as Liberals hope Kapterian can hold off late Boele surge
Liberal party members in New South Wales say they are optimistic Gisele Kapterian can hold off an apparent late surge in support for independent Nicolette Boele, with the seat of Bradfield to be decided by a tiny margin.
Media outlets including the ABC and Sky News called the seat for Kapterian earlier this week, but Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) counting on Wednesday showed her lead slimming to just 80 votes. The ABC elections results page was listing Bradfield as a seat “in doubt” on Wednesday afternoon.
Read more from Tom McIlroy here:
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Universities need to make case for the benefits of higher education sector, Shorten says
Industry needs to “lift its game” in Australia and spend money on research and development, Bill Shorten says, while calling on universities to make their case to the public.
Speaking at an online event hosted by La Trobe University on Tuesday evening, the former federal Labor leader said in a world with competing priorities for resources, higher education had to explain the benefits of the sector:
The world doesn’t owe us at universities a living, we have to make the case. When universities go to governments, they say, ‘We’re very good people, fund us’. That doesn’t work any more. A lot of Australians don’t know what universities do.
Shorten, now the vice-chancellor of the University of Canberra, said a discussion with industry was needed about them paying for more of higher education.
Industry needs to lift its game in this country. If you want an R&D [research and development] budget, how about you spend some money?
Shorten said universities had to go beyond marketing themselves and ensure they prevented wage theft, in addition to giving domestic and international students a quality experience.
– AAP
Updated
Police take 68-year-old man into custody in far north Queensland after alleged shooting
In far north Queensland, a 68-year-old man has been taken into custody after an alleged shooting on Tuesday evening in a small Tablelands town.
At about 9.30pm, a 44-year-old man attended an address in Silver Valley and became involved in an alleged altercation with the 68-year-old male, who police say was known to him.
During the altercation, the 44-year-old sustained gunshot wounds to his abdomen and calf, police allege. He drove home before calling police and was transported to Mareeba hospital, then airlifted to Cairns hospital.
He was in a serious but stable condition on Wednesday afternoon.
Following “protracted negotiations” with police, the 68-year-old man was taken into custody at a Silver Valley property at about 11.45am today.
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Bowen mocks Liberals’ equivocation on ‘bare minimum’ target of net zero by 2050
Chris Bowen has ridiculed the Liberal party for putting net zero by 2050 up for review after its election defeat, comparing it to putting the “sky being blue” up for debate.
The climate change and energy minister also warned that breaking Australia’s bipartisan commitment to the “bare minimum” emissions target risked creating a sovereign risk for renewables investors.
Read more from Dan Jervis-Bardy here:
Updated
Local stock market edges lower while financial sector remains flat
The Australian stock market is edging lower as an improved US economic outlook helped push Wall Street within reach of its all-time highs, AAP reports.
The S&P/ASX200 was down 13.9 points, or 0.17%, to 8,255.1, while the broader All Ordinaries lost 9.8 points, or 0.12%, to 8,501.5.
Wall Street’s S&P500 continued to push higher for a second session amid cooling trade tensions between the US and China, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq rallied 1.6% as deals were struck between US tech companies and Saudi Arabia startup Humain.
The broader market painted a picture of investors moving out of defensive stocks in the hunt for more growth.
“There’s the reversal of the sell-America trade, which had prevailed since Liberation Day, which is to say investors were selling US assets because of growth risks but … also because of basically country risk,” Capital.com market analyst Kyle Rodda told AAP.
The S&P500 and Australia’s two leading indexes are within 5% of their all-time peaks. Six of 11 local sectors were trading higher by lunchtime, led by a continued rebound in energy stocks after oil prices rose for a fourth straight session.
The financial sector is trading roughly flat in its third session of anaemic performance, with the Commonwealth Bank rising 0.5% after quarterly earnings were in line with expectations.
Investment bank Macquarie’s three-day, nearly 10% rally is set to snap, with shares down 2.1% after its cash brokering arm was sued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
Updated
I will now hand over the blog to my colleague, Caitlin Cassidy, who will take you through the remainder of the day.
Updated
Chalmers says he supports Asic’s work but will not comment on Macquarie Bank case
On the Asic case against Macquarie Bank over allegedly failing to report sales to the sharemarket operator, Chalmers said he supports the work of Asic, but would not comment on the details citing the ongoing litigation.
We want to make sure that everybody is playing by the rules in our economy, and especially in our financial system and the regulators play an important role in ensuring that. And I support their work.
He said the case shows that Asic is a well-funded regulator.
Updated
Higher tax rate for super earnings on balances over $3m would affect 0.5% of people, treasurer says
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has held a press conference off the back of the latest wages growth numbers. He’s asked about the policy on taxing super earnings on balances over $3m at 30%, up from 15% currently.
He says the changes have been in the public domain for two years now, and affect just 0.5% of people.
On a proposal to tax unrealised gains, he notes two newspapers have been covering it a lot but says he is “not generally or genuinely stopped in the street about these changes”.
I think that most people recognise that these are modest changes, affect a tiny, tiny sliver of people with superannuation. Still concessional tax treatment – just slightly less concessional for people with very large superannuation balances.
And so I know that I read about it obviously in a couple of our newspapers most days. But I’m sure that people broadly recognise that it’s a modest change, but it makes a difference to the budget. And that’s why we put it forward more than two years ago.
Updated
Coal power broke down 128 times over hottest months, analysis finds
Australia’s ageing coal power stations broke down 128 times during the hotter months of 2024-25, according to a report from Reliability Watch.
On average 5.1 gigawatts of coal fired capacity was offline across New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria between October 2024 and March 2025 – the equivalent of powering 1.2m homes.
Breakdowns were eight times more common than forecast outages, according to the report, which also found a strong correlation between coal being offline and high wholesale prices.
Reliability Watch – a collaboration between the Queensland Conservation Council, Nature Conservation Council of NSW, and Environment Victoria – live-tracks the breakdowns of Australia’s ageing coal units.
Queensland Conservation Council director Dave Copeman said:
Australia’s ageing coal power stations are breaking down nearly every day. Any responsible government can see that we have to urgently build more renewable energy backed by storage to keep the lights on and keep power prices under control.
Updated
Cheek Media chief Hannah Ferguson to run for Senate, endorses Sarah Hanson-Young
At the National Press Club today, the co-founder and chief executive of Cheek Media, Hannah Ferguson, announced her intention to run at the next federal election for the Senate as an independent candidate.
Ferguson was also asked about the controversy over content creators interviewing politicians during the election and whether it required authorisation on their posts during an election campaign. Ferguson said content creators should not be collaboratively posting with politicians.
I think that is an endorsement. And even if we can say it’s clearly not, I think the public are fair to be confused by that when consuming Instagram content.
She said she had said no to money from multiple political organisations during this election cycle:
And that was why so much of it was offensive, because I actively ensured I was a commentator that was freed from everything was my bias, but I was forthcoming with this.
She said there needs to be clear regulations and guidance for social media on authorisations, endorsements and collaborative posting.
Ahead of the Greens making a decision on a new leader, Ferguson said it should be Senator Sarah Hanson-Young (who was sitting in the audience).
Updated
The latest numbers from the Bradfield and Longman ballot counts
An update on two seats we have been watching as the Australian Electoral Commission continues to count votes.
In the NSW seat of Bradfield, the Liberal candidate, Gisele Kapterian has extended her lead but just out to 80 votes ahead of independent Nicolette Boele, with 92.8% counted. So a recount still seems quite likely at this stage.
In the Queensland seat of Longman, the LNP’s Terry Young leads Labor’s Rhiannyn Douglas by 121 votes, with 87.1% counted.
Updated
Labor government claims credit for wages growth
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and employment minister, Amanda Rishworth, have claimed credit for the 0.9% wages index increase we reported earlier. In a joint release, the pair say annual real wages have grown for 18 months in a row under the current government:
We’re really pleased with today’s figures which show annual real wages have now grown for six quarters in a row, after going badly backwards under the previous Liberal government and falling for the five quarters in the lead up to the 2022 election.
Australians voted for higher wages at the election, and that’s what today’s numbers show.
Chalmers and Rishworth said the government’s policies were driving wage growth:
We’re acting to boost wages, close the gender pay gap, deliver workplace relations reforms and secure pay rises for some of the lowest-paid workers in our community. Our support for the lowest paid workers means minimum wage earners are now earning $143.30 per week more than when we came to government.
At the same time, we’ve overseen the creation of more than 1 million jobs in our first three years, a record for a parliamentary term and stronger employment growth than any major advanced economy.
This means under Labor real wages are up, unemployment is low, inflation is down, interest rates have started to fall, every taxpayer is getting a tax cut and living standards are growing again in our economy.
But they said the job is not finished, with Australians still under pressure and more global economic volatility and unpredictability predicted over the next three years.
Updated
More on the decision of City of Yarra council electing not to return the statue of Captain Cook to Edinburgh Gardens in Melbourne’s inner north in the story below.
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NSW Greens introduce bill to enact statewide 30km/h residential speed limit
Unsafe roads are forcing parents to drive children less than one kilometre to school, say safety advocates pushing for lower speed limits, AAP reports.
Restricting cars and trucks to 30km/h would be the norm for neighbourhood streets under proposed laws being unveiled on Wednesday. The change comes amid rising fatalities on Australian roads in the face of a national goal to eliminate all road deaths and serious injuries by 2050.
While nine out of 10 people die when hit by a vehicle driving at 50km/h, nine in 10 people survive when hit at 30 km/h, safety advocate Jennifer Kent says.
NSW Greens MP Kobi Shetty has introduced the bill to enact a statewide 30km/h limit on residential roads. She says it’s the “most impactful” way to protect motorists, cyclists and pedestrians from road accidents as drivers will be forced to travel slower in high traffic areas.
If adopted, NSW would follow Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK in lowering limits to such levels.
In those areas, communities have seen a 40% reduction in fatalities on roads that have these limits, Shetty said. The cost to motorists was meanwhile between 30 seconds to one minute for each journey, research suggested.
The premier, Chris Minns, however, doubled down on opposition to 30km/h caps first aired in 2024. “I think that’s too slow,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
Shetty’s bill will be debated at a later date.
Updated
Lending falls in March quarter
The number of new investment loans fell by 3.7% in the March quarter, while new home loans fell by 3.4%, new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows.
Head of finance statistics at the ABS, Dr Mish Tan, said the overall fall in lending followed strong growth in 2024 and still remained higher (+6%) than this time last year.
There were 79,890 new home loans approved in the most recent quarter, while the total value of new home loans approved was $53.2bn, a quarterly fall of 2.5% ($1.3bn). The average loan size fell by $6,100 to $659,922.
The largest fall was in Queensland, which dropped by 2.5% or 44 loans, followed by Victoria (a 1.1% fall, or 270 fewer loans).
Tan:
While higher than this time last year, the 79,890 new home loans approved in the March quarter was lower than the pre-pandemic quarterly average of 84,405 loans between 2015 and 2019.
While we have seen two consecutive quarters of falls in the value of new investment loans, it remained just below the all-time high seen in March 2022.
The number of owner-occupier first home buyer loans fell by 4.2% (1,243 loans) to 28,383. There were falls in Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria.
Updated
Wages growth outpaces inflation to bring cost-of-living relief
Wages picked up a little stronger than expected at the start of 2025 to continue clawing back the purchasing power households lost from three years of high inflation.
The wage price index rose 0.9% in the three months to March, holding steady with inflation over the same period while lifting annual wage growth to 3.4%. Consumer prices rose just 2.4% over the same period, meaning the gap between Australians’ living costs and pay packets is gradually narrowing.
Private sector wage growth has eased from its 2024 high of 4.2% to remain at 3.3% annually to March, but public sector growth jumped to 3.6%, helped by recent wage decisions for aged care workers and nurses and early childhood workers.
Those agreements also saw enterprise agreements overtake individual agreements to become the biggest contributor to quarterly wage growth, for the first time since 2020.
Major banks CBA, ANZ and Westpac had expected wage growth to pick up from its 0.7% December quarterly rate but not as high as 0.9%. Commonwealth Bank economist Stephen Wu, in a note last week, said:
Overall wages growth is expected to continue to slow as further spare capacity in the labour market emerges. Indeed, we view risks to the wages outlook this year as skewed to the downside.
The Albanese government will cheer the result, after campaigning on the promise the economy had turned the corner and real wages were rising. Australians’ purchasing power would have fallen had wages risen any slower than inflation.
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Jane Hume describes Labor spotlight on her ‘Chinese spies’ comments ‘disturbing’
Liberal senator Jane Hume has said it was “disturbing” Labor used her claims of “Chinese spies” handing out for Labor at the election as a “scare campaign”.
In the last weeks of the election, Hume claimed some Chinese Australians handing out how-to-vote cards for Labor may have been “Chinese spies”.
The claim came in response to reporting that a Chinese community association, which was allegedly linked to China’s Communist party, was handing out election material for Labor and teal candidates, including Clare O’Neil.
Analysts suggested swings against the Liberals in key marginal seats may have been affected in part by the comments.
Speaking on Sky News on Wednesday, Hume acknowledged her comments wouldn’t have helped the Coalition, but she did not back down from them.
Let’s be clear what the issue there was, is, there was a suspicion by the Australian electoral integrity taskforce of foreign interference in our electoral system. Now that is a genuine concern, and something that I think that the government should be equally concerned about.
It wasn’t something that they could so easily dismiss, and instead, they turned it into a scare campaign against Liberals. I find that a little bit disturbing.
For the foreign minister to dismiss it out of hand, I think, speaks volumes. I’ll be very interested to see what that electoral integrity assurance taskforce comes up with, because the last thing we want is that for election results to be influenced by non-Australians, by organisations, wherever they may be, state actors outside of the country.
Updated
Data breach at Australian Human Rights Commission
The Australian Human Rights Commission has said it suffered a data breach after 670 attachments to submissions made on its website were found to be publicly accessible and discoverable via web search.
The commission said of these 670 documents, about 100 were accessed. The breach has been addressed, the commission said.
The commission takes the issue of privacy and data protection very seriously. It is critical that people are able to securely share personal and sensitive information with the commission via our website. We sincerely apologise to people who may be affected.
The commission is contacting affected individuals for whom we have contact information to advise them of the breach.
We are working as hard as we can to fully investigate and address the breach. The commission has reported the unauthorised disclosure of personal information to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
The commission said it became aware of the breach of documents submitted on its complaint form on 10 April, and the disclosure was inadvertent rather than malicious. The commission said it affects complaints made on the site between 24 March and 10 April, and the documents were publicly accessible for one week, between 3 and 10 April.
Other web forms, including the Speaking from Experience project, the Human Rights Awards nominations for 2023, and the National Anti-Racism Framework were also affected and available between 3 April and 5 May.
Some attachments contained personal information, the commission said. Individuals affected will be notified.
Updated
National approach preferred on church liability: Victorian government
Kilkenny says her preference is for a national approach to changing the law and has been pushing “really strongly” for the standing council of attorney generals to act.
A national approach ... makes it easier for victim-survivors to seek compensation. They’re not having to wade through different judicial areas or different jurisdictions that might be applying different types of law. We’re also looking at employment law, which is a federal issue as well.
So it is really, really complex. It is important that we get this right. The last thing we want to do is deliver unintended consequences that will not serve justice and not deliver justice [for] these victim-survivors.
But she didn’t close the door on a state-based approach, saying: “We will do what we need to do to ensure justice for victim-survivors here in Victoria.”
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Victorian government ‘considering options’ on bill on Catholic church liability
A bill put forward by Legalise Cannabis MP Rachel Payne to remove a key legal barrier preventing victims of historical child sexual abuse from accessing justice is being debated in Victorian parliament’s upper house today.
It’s a direct response to the high court’s decision late last year, which found the Catholic church was not vicariously liable for abuse by a Ballarat priest as he was not technically an employee.
This bill seeks to make institutions liable for abuse committed by individuals “akin to employees” and apply the change retrospectively.
The attorney general, Sonya Kilkenny, says the government is considering how to respond to the high court decision. She told reporters:
The Legalised Cannabis Victoria party is introducing a bill … I have no doubt there will be just respectful, empathic discussion and debate on that bill as is deserving in our place of parliament. I’ve met many times with the private member who is bringing in that bill to talk about her bill and options as well, and earlier this year, I led discussion at the national level, at the standing committee of attorneys general on this very matter ...
We are considering our options right now. I am also still and will continue to lead that discussion at a national level. We will always stand on the side of victim-survivors of this insidious abuse that has been perpetrated against such innocent victims here, and we’ll have more to say on that soon.
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Macquarie Bank faces Asic lawsuit
Macquarie Bank’s stockbroker arm is being sued by the corporate regulator, which alleges it misled the sharemarket operator for 14 years by failing to properly report at least 73m sales, and potentially as many as 1.5bn.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) claims Macquarie Securities faced multiple systems-related issues, many of which remained undetected for over a decade and were responsible for the alleged misreporting.
Including Wednesday’s announcement, Asic has taken four regulatory actions against Macquarie Group in just over a year. Joe Longo, Asic’s chair, said:
Our actions reflect the ongoing and deep concerns we have with Macquarie Group and its weak remediation of longstanding issues.
Asic just last week imposed additional licence conditions on Macquarie Bank over what it has described as “multiple and significant compliance failures” in sales of some financial instruments.
Today’s announcement relates to a separate arm, the subsidiary Macquarie Securities or MSAL, which had issues reporting short sales. Asic increased reporting requirements for short sales in the wake of the global financial crisis to improve transparency. Longo said:
This action is timely given significant recent global market volatility. Accurate and reliable data underpins the integrity of, and confidence in, Australia’s financial markets …
We allege Macquarie’s failures may have led to the financial services industry relying on misleading and false information for over 14 years.
Short sales are trades where the seller seeks to profit on a financial asset when its price decreases – the opposite of the traditional buy-and-hold approach to stock trading. A short seller borrows a security or stock and then sells it at the current high price, with the intention of buying the stock back at a lower price in future to repay the loan obligations.
In the wake of the announcement, Macquarie Group said MSAL identified the issues in reporting trading volumes and told Asic in 2022 before identifying and sharing a number of related issues.
Macquarie said it had remedied those issues and implemented additional controls and took its compliance obligations very seriously, and MSAL was reviewing Asic’s claim.
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Pokies manufacturer complains about negative political and media sentiment around gaming
One of the world’s largest poker machine manufacturers, Aristocrat, has complained about “politically driven inquiries” into the gambling industry and “negative political and media sentiment around gaming”.
The criticism was outlined in Aristocrat’s latest half-year financial results, which detailed a 5.6% increase in year-on-year net profit after tax of $732m. The company’s games division recorded a 141% increase in revenue.
Aristocrat was initially a member of the NSW government’s independent expert panel on gambling which was advising on regulatory changes.
The company withdrew from a NSW government trial of cashless gaming which was introduced in response to concerns about money laundering. The Victorian, Queensland and federal governments have recently held their own inquiries.
The gambling giant did not refer to any specific inquiries or policies in its financial results:
In Australia, negative political and media sentiment around gaming impacting our capacity for effective industry advocacy, and increasing the scope for negative policy-making, politically driven inquiries and increased shareholder requirements continued.
Aristocrat continues to engage with the government. We have also seen an increasing trend of allegations that social casino games should be classified as illegal gambling, particularly in the US and Australia. Increased regulatory scrutiny and the need for enhanced consumer protection continue to drive changes to the risk profile.
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Liberal VP walks back earlier comments on Ley's longevity in top job
The federal Liberal vice-president, Fiona Scott, has walked back earlier tongue-in-cheek comments after responding “a day is a long time in politics” when asked how long she thinks the Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, would last in the job.
Speaking on Sky News after her Nine appearance, Scott said people should “definitely not” read into her comments that she thinks Ley would only last 24 hours in the job.
That was just a bit of a joke at the time.
She said she supports Ley and the deputy, Ted O’Brien, and was not concerned about the longevity of their leadership given the divided vote in the partyroom.
We also have had opposition leaders like Tony Abbott that took us to an election nearly won, and then stayed on as opposition leader. I think you’ve got to see as the ebbs and flows as things move forward. But I think Sussan and Ted that they’re not there for a short time. They are there to help rebuild and refocus our party, and I’m completely confident that both of them will do so.
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NT doubles tax on gambling companies prompting wagering lobby ‘concern’
The gambling industry’s lobby group has expressed “serious concern” about the Northern Territory government’s decision to double tax on bookmakers, arguing it risks undermining the territory’s reputation as a hub for gaming.
A majority of online sports gambling companies are registered and regulated by the NT government, which has traditionally offered lower tax rates to entice businesses to open there.
Responsible Wagering Australia’s chief executive, Kai Cantwell, said the decision would threaten the investments of several bookmakers. Cantwell also said the decision had been made before a review of the wagering industry was released.
RWA have participated meaningfully in the review and eagerly anticipated a new strategic vision for racing in the territory. This decision, made before the review has had a chance to lay that strategic vision, has blindsided wagering service providers and materially undermines any outcome of the review.
One gambling industry operator not authorised to comment publicly said the tax increase was unlikely to hurt large players registered in the NT – like Sportsbet – but could harm smaller operators:
The change lets foreign giants totally off the hook while harming their domestic competition. Small operators will have to recoup the cost by decreasing their investment and employment in the northern territory.
A parliamentary inquiry led by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy called for the establishment of a national regulator, arguing the NT was not adequately resourced to monitor the industry.
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Premier says vandalism of Yarra Captain Cook memorial ‘deeply disrespectful’
Allan was also asked about the City of Yarra’s decision to permanently remove a Captain Cook memorial from Edinburgh Gardens in Fitzroy North after repeated acts of vandalism.
She says the development is “deeply disappointing”:
Any sort of senseless vandalism of monuments, of public spaces and places – it’s deeply disrespectful and I think we’ve seen enough of the division.
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Allan says stamp duty helps pay for essential services
Allan was asked whether she would go further and scrap stamp duty altogether in favour of a broad-based land tax. She says her government has “already done that” for industrial and commercial land – though that wasn’t the question.
Allan went on:
What we’re announcing here today is another tax cut, having listened to industry, but also too recognising there’s a range of initiatives that we need to take and we must take. If you want to talk about different settings in different states, look at what the data is telling us – we are building, completing and approving more homes here in Victoria than any other state.
Pressed on why she won’t scrap stamp duty, Allan says the revenue it raises helps pay for essential services:
All states have state-based settings that provide revenue … to deliver school funding, to deliver hospital funding, to provide the pay rise to nurses that we delivered last year, to support our police. The investment that we receive gets put back into those frontline services that Victorians that working people and families rely on. That’s true for all states, but particularly true here in Victoria.
But also too we’re looking at what more can be done, which is why we’ve announced the extension of the off-the-plan stamp duty concession today.
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Allan says stamp duty concession extension will save thousands for buyers and help developers
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, held a press conference this morning at a new development in Docklands to announce the extension of stamp duty concessions for off-the-plan purchases for 12 months.
As we brought to you earlier, next week’s state budget will include $61m to continue the concession for new apartments, townhouses and units. Rather than basing stamp duty on the final sale price, it is calculated on the land value prior to construction.
Allan told reporters it is saving buyers thousands:
We first announced this in October of last year and … it is already making a difference … On average, $25,000 is being saved through this slashing of the planned stamp duty concession. But also for developers … it provides them with an opportunity to get projects like this out of the ground more quickly. It means that they can get more pre-sales with that off the plan purchasing approach, which means these developments can get away with greater certainty.
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‘A day is a long time in politics’
The Liberal vice president, Fiona Scott, was asked how long she thinks new leader of the party Sussan Ley will last, appearing on the Today show earlier this morning. She said:
I don’t know. I mean, a day is a long time in politics!
When the host responds “that is not exactly a ringing endorsement,” Scott clarifies “it won’t be a day, [I’m being] cheeky” and thinks “Sussan is fantastic”.
Penny Wong’s response? “Ouch!”
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Woolworths is cutting prices from today. Expect more supermarket competition – but not an all-out price war
Woolworths is cutting prices on hundreds of products from Wednesday, raising hopes the supermarket sector is entering a new period of intensifying competition, colloquially known as a price war.
But after a bruising period for the supermarket sector, marked by allegations of price-gouging during a cost-of-living crisis, shoppers may be sceptical of seeing any relief.
Is the era of fast-rising grocery prices and supercharged supermarket profits really coming to an end? Read more here:
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NSW health minister will support state abortion bill but says it will ultimately be a conscience vote
The NSW minister for health, Ryan Park, said he supports the abortion bill being debated in NSW parliament this week, noting that the amendments made in the legislative council make it a bill he can support, and that ultimately it will be a conscience vote in the parliament.
He told RN Breakfast it was an issue that weighed heavily on MPs.
From my perspective as a feminist, I take the view that we need to try and make sure that this of this level of healthcare and this accessibility, this type of healthcare, is improved across New South Wales. But I also respect having listened to and spoke with a number of colleagues across the parliament, as well as in the community, that this is a tough issue for many people, and certainly when I spoke last night in the parliament on this.
I encourage members to have a look at the bill, but also encourage people to make their contributions in a respectful way, because for many people, this is a deeply personal issue, and I think as legislators, we have to reflect that as well.
He said the legislation will make abortions much more accessible for women in regional, rural and remote areas by allowing nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives to carry out this type of healthcare.
Park said he hopes NSW doesn’t go down the pathway of the “Americanisation of the abortion debate”, as the opposition leader, Mark Speakman, claimed it has in NSW.
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A parent group with more than 20,000 members will challenge one of Australia’s largest energy companies in court over claims it misled customers about emissions from its products, AAP reports.
Representatives from EnergyAustralia will appear in the NSW Federal Court on Wednesday to defend the lawsuit filed by Parents for Climate in August 2023.
The group claims the company misled more than 400,000 customers using its Go Neutral products, which EnergyAustralia allegedly marketed as “carbon neutral” due to the purchase of offsets, and claimed consumers would have a “positive impact on the environment” by purchasing them.
But Parents for Climate will argue EnergyAustralia’s claims were misleading and deceptive, chief executive Nic Seton said, in a lawsuit that will become the first greenwashing case launched against an energy firm in Australia.
It’s one of the most ambitious things that our organisation has ever done. It’s an Australian first in that no other product has been tested on these grounds of making carbon-neutral claims based on offsets.
The charity, represented by Equity Generation Lawyers, will seek a declaration that EnergyAustralia misled customers about greenhouse gas emissions, a corrective statement to customers, and restrictions on its future marketing.
EnergyAustralia withdrew its Go Neutral products for new customers in November but a spokesperson for the company said it was committed to offering customers clean energy solutions.
“We have been working closely with Parents for Climate over the last number of months,” the spokesperson said.
“We remain optimistic we can resolve this issue together.”
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Mortgage arrears hit six year highs at CBA
More Australians are falling behind on their mortgage repayments, according to a trading update at Commonwealth Bank, with arrears now at six-year highs.
The percentage of CBA’s home loan book that is more than 90 days behind increased to 0.71% in the March quarter, which is the highest level since 2019 and above the lender’s historical average.
CBA is Australia’s biggest lender.
The data shows that while there has been some easing in cost-of-living pressures, those already behind on their repayments are falling further behind. It is often an insurmountable task for a borrower to recover from a deficit once they are more than three months behind on repayments.
CBA customers with personal loans also fell further behind, according to the quarterly update, with 90-plus day arrears also rising to six year highs.
The bank reported a cash profit of $2.6bn during the three months to 31 March, up from $2.4bn a year earlier. Its profit margins have remained stable.
Ted O’Brien refuses to make ‘vice-captain’s call’ on if nuclear policy will be kept or dumped
The newly appointed deputy Liberal leader, Ted O’Brien – who was responsible for advocating the party’s nuclear policy prior to the election – would not commit to keeping or dumping the policy at this stage.
He told ABC’s News Breakfast that he won’t be “making any vice-captain calls on policy”
We will engage with the Australian people, we’ll be driven by data and evidence, as well as big ears – listening to people – and then we’ll be regrouping as a party, as a party room, we’ll be having debate and, hopefully, these debates are robust. They need to be, for the sake of Australia, they need to be, before we then land on policy direction.
He said he had not had discussions with leader Sussan Ley about what portfolio he may have in the shadow ministry, noting Ley’s mother is unwell and Ley is spending time with her.
O’Brien said he’s “really proud” to have Jacinta Nampijinpa Price in the Liberal party and the Liberals and Nationals work best as a coalition. He said Price, who bowed out of the deputy run after Angus Taylor lost the vote for leader, will continue to play an important role in the party.
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Bradfield margin narrows with just 59 votes separating the candidates
There are just 59 votes separating Liberal Gisele Kapterian and independent Nicole Boele in the Sydney seat of Bradfield on a two-party preferred count, with 1,687 votes still to be counted.
The ABC had initially called this seat for Kapterian, but has now put the seat back in doubt. It says, however, Kapterian is still favoured to win the seat.
If the margin holds, or if it narrows as the count progresses, Boele is likely to ask for a recount. The AEC in the 2016 election opted independently – that is ,without a request – to recount the seat of Herbert when the difference between the two candidates was less than 100 votes.
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Liberals slipped from their core values, party vice-president says
On why the Coalition lost the election, Scott says there were “a range of challenges” but said the “Australian public didn’t see themselves in us in this election.”
Scott said the party has slipped from its core values, which should be uniting, around freedom of choice, of association, of voice, of worship, and a tolerant cohesive national society that rewards effort.
We need to build a platform around those things.
The other factor, she said is the Coalition – prior to 2022 – had been in government for nearly a decade, and there needed to be a rebuilding after that to evolve for new generations.
Scott said she was torn on whether quotas for female MPs should be introduced.
There’s been a challenge around female representation. As a woman, I haven’t felt myself hamstrung … even regarding going into one of the four vice-president’s roles, which there are two women and two men in that space. I do, though, believe that I can see the reason why a lot of women are pro quotas, and I’m not against quotas, but I think we need to ensure that there is a full diversity within our membership and within our female representation.
Scott said quotas could potentially had a negative impact on ensuring that multicultural communities are represented if a female candidate was chosen instead of someone representing those communities.
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Liberal vice-president says appointment of Ley ‘unique opportunity’ for women of Australia and rebuilding of party
The Federal Liberal vice-president, Fiona Scott, says the appointment of Sussan Ley as the Liberal party leader is a “really unique opportunity, not just for the women within the Liberal party, the women within Australia, but really embodying what it is the Australian dream and how the Liberal party can now rebuild around that.”
Scott told ABC’s RN Breakfast the closeness of the vote between her and leadership rival Angus Taylor reflects the “broad church” of the Liberal party.
What I think we will see is the Liberal party will rally behind Sussan and Ted [O’Brien]. You know, it doesn’t mean that great talents in our party, like Angus [Taylor] won’t still provide superb input, same as Jacinta [Nampijinpa Price], and it’s good to have that diversity of perspective and view, but right now, I think the party room did make the right decision yesterday, and you know, it’s really important on us that we’ve been given the opportunity, maybe taking kicking and screaming to have to rebuild the party and take it back to basics and move forward from there. And I think Sussan is a is a step forward to say that we have listened.
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Wong refuses to comment on if Husic could be breaching cabinet solidarity
Wong said she understands why former minister Ed Husic is upset about being excluded from the new ministry in the government. On whether it was over his comments in relation to Gaza, Wong said “we all share concern about what is happening in Gaza”:
We know how difficult it has been for the people of Gaza these last weeks and months. And we continue to join with others to call on Israel to ensure that aid is delivered.
Wong would not comment on whether Husic was close to breaching cabinet solidarity.
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Wong comments on tariff deals and Ukraine
On whether Australia should be lobbying harder for a tariffs deal with the United States, following the UK and US coming to an agreement, Wong says Australia will make “sensible decisions in our interest” and develop trading relationships with other countries.
On reports of an Australian being killed fighting in Ukraine, Wong would not comment specifically but said it is a “very dangerous place to be” and consular assistance is being provided to a family in this matter.
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Wong says ‘there is no country more important for Australia’ than Indonesia
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, says there is no more important country to Australia than Indonesia as Anthony Albanese heads to the nation today on his first overseas trip since re-election.
Wong told ABC News Breakfast:
That reflects the importance Indonesia has for Australian stability, for Australian security, for our region. There is no country more important for Australia, so we are very focused on making sure that we continue the work we did last term to invest in the relationship and to strengthen it, keep strengthening it and going further.
Wong says the focus of the visit will be around partnership on the economy, trade, investment and defence.
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AEC confirms container of ballot papers in Barton went missing but says it did not affect result
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has confirmed one container of ballot papers for the NSW seat of Barton was temporarily misplaced during the count, with a transport officer found to have possession of the container.
The AEC said, however, it was recovered still sealed and undamaged and did not affect the outcome in Barton.
In the seat, which Labor retained with Ash Ambihaipahar winning 61.66% of the two-party preferred vote, the AEC said all votes had been counted in the Hurstville polling place on election night. Once the ballot papers were transported securely for a second count as required, the AEC identified that one of two containers for House of Representative ballots at the polling place had not been returned.
A spokesperson for the AEC said it was determined an authorised transport officer “inadvertently maintained possession of the single missing container.”
The container was recovered with all uniquely coded security seals unbroken and without any damage.
All ballot papers were still in the recovered ballot paper transport container and were promptly returned to the counting centre and have undergone fresh scrutiny. The fresh scrutiny count matched the initial count and the election in the Division of Barton was unaffected by this incident.
The AEC said it was investigating the incident to see what could change to prevent it happening again in future elections.
This shouldn’t have occurred, and the AEC is deeply concerned that on this single occasion our process did not prevent the issue on polling night when ballot papers were initially returned.
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Victoria to extend stamp duty concessions for off-the-plan purchases by 12 months
The Victorian government will extend its stamp duty concessions for off-the-plan properties by another 12 months, as part of next week’s state budget.
The premier, Jacinta Allan, will today announce $61m to continue the concessions for off-the-plan apartments, townhouses and units until October 2026.
First announced last year, the concession applies to new properties at any price point and is open to all buyers, including investors. Rather than basing stamp duty on the final sale price, it is calculated on the land value prior to construction.
For a new $620,000 off-the-plan apartment, that could mean a stamp duty bill of $4,000 – saving the buyer $28,000.
According to the government, buyers have saved an average of $24,517 since the concession came into effect. Allan said in a statement:
Young people can’t afford homes in a housing crisis, and I’m on their side. That’s why we’re slashing stamp duty for off-the-plan units and townhouses – to build more homes and make them cheaper to buy.
The treasurer, Jaclyn Symes, said the extension responds to industry feedback:
This isn’t just great news for homebuyers trying to get into the market. It’s also a huge win for homebuilders.
The budget will also include $24m to develop the 50 proposed activity centres across Melbourne’s inner and middle suburbs while $12.1m will be spent to plan for 13,200 new homes in growth areas, including Clyde South and Derrimut Fields in Melbourne’s outer suburbs.
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Hello, this is Josh Taylor taking the live blog for this morning.
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As an experienced pilot who learned her trade in the Queensland outback, Sussan Ley is metaphorically better equipped than anyone in the Liberal party to plot a course back from the edge of the political wilderness to the centre ground.
Her rise to the very frontline of politics after her victory in the Liberal party room election yesterday has lifted the lid on a varied Cv of which her aviation skills are but only one part. She can also boast of stints as a station cook and accountant, not to mention raising three children along the way.
Tom McIlroy profiles the Liberal’s first female leader.
Economists’ views on Trump tarriff chaos on our markets
As mentioned above, there are serious concerns among market analysts that chaos unleashed by Donald Trump will cause problems for Australia.
Jenny Gordon, an honorary professor at the ANU and a former chief economist at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, told our reporter there was no end in sight to the market uncertainty.
Gordon said the experience of the UK and China demonstrated that countries were not coming to the White House as supplicants.
“I think the one thing that has changed is that the world is pushing back against this idea that there would be countries turning up to the US and offering things,” she said.
“And part of that is the Americans don’t know what they want. The Japanese asked the Americans ‘Tell us what you want’, and the response was ‘Tell us what you’ve got to give’.
“Certainly countries are not coming on bended knees.”
Read the whole story here:
Separately, there are concerns the US president’s pressure on medicine companies could drive up the cost of Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme or see companies withdraw some medicines from Australian shelves.
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Albanese heads to Indonesia
Global tensions and Indonesia’s developing relationship with China and Russia will likely be on the agenda when Anthony Albanese makes his first overseas trip of his second term, Australian Associated Press reports.
The prime minister will travel to Jakarta today where he will meet Indonesia’s president, Prabowo Subianto.
Prabowo released a video of his conversation with Albanese after his thumping election win, saying he was “so happy” to see him win another term. The prime minister told the Indonesian president he wanted Jakarta to be his first visit – not Washington or Beijing.
The first state visit to Indonesia continued a legacy set up by the Howard government, which was symbolic in projecting Australia’s identity as being close to Asia, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s senior analyst, Gatra Priyandita, said.
“Albanese is interested in maintaining that image of Australia as being independent of the United States and close to the region,” he told AAP.
“There is great interest in Indonesia’s developing relationship with both Russia and China, with Indonesia establishing some of its first naval exercises with Russia recently, so it will probably be under discussion.”
Reports in April that Moscow was seeking permission from Jakarta for Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft to be based in Indonesia alarmed Canberra. Indonesian authorities reassured their Australian counterparts that would not be the case, but did not confirm if the request had been made.
The prime minister went back on a pledge to attend Prabowo’s inauguration in October 2024 because of a visit to Australia by King Charles.
Dr Gatra said his concern was that this new visit to Jakarta would be purely symbolic. “I haven’t heard much in the context of practical deliverables,” he said.
“It’s very important for Australia and Indonesia to think about strategic co-operation ... especially since both Albanese and Prabowo will likely be counterparts for quite some time.”
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Child killed and three injured in NSW road collision
A child has died and three people have been injured in a collision between a ute and a truck on the New South Wales south coast, the state’s police force has said.
Last night, police said emergency services had been called to Towamba Road in Nullica near Eden at about 4.10pm yesterday, where they found a six-year-old boy who had been travelling in the dual-cab ute had died at the scene.
The driver, a man aged in his 30s, and a three-year-old girl, who was a passenger in the ute, suffered multiple injuries were flown to hospital from Merimbula airport, police said.
A third passenger in the ute, an eight-year-old girl, was taken to South-East Regional hospital in Bega, police said.
Police said the driver of the truck, believed to be aged in his 50s, had been taken to the same hospital in Bega for mandatory testing and to be treated for the effects of shock. Police said police from the southern region crash investigation investigation unit would examine the scene of the collison.
Towamba Road was expected to be closed for part of the night as the investigation began.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories before your regular blogger takes over the reins.
Yesterday Jim Chalmers said policy uncertainty means Australia is in for a lot of economic uncertainty. Today, we report on how although signs of appeasement between the US and China on trade is good news for Australia’s China-dependent economy, many market experts think that the chaos created by Donald Trump is “worse than the 10% tariff”. Reflecting that, perhaps, the ASX200 is set to open down around 0.5% when it opens later this morning. We’ll have more as it happens.
Anthony Albanese will make his first overseas visit since winning the election when he sets off for Indonesia today. The prime minister will travel to Jakarta where he will meet Indonesia’s president, Prabowo Subianto. The summit follows reports during the election campaign that Moscow was seeking permission from Jakarta for Russian aerospace forces aircraft to be based in Indonesia, causing alarm in Canberra.
