What we learned, Tuesday 29 July
We’ll leave our live coverage of the day’s news there for this evening. Pressure over Palestine dominated our politics blog today – here were the major updates:
Anthony Albanese said it was “beyond comprehension” for Israel to claim there is no starvation crisis in Gaza. Labor minister Tim Ayres said the PM’s rebuke was just a case where “friends communicate”.
Independent senator David Pocock called for more targeted sanctions on the Israeli government “starting with Prime Minister Netanyahu”.
The Greens have called for Australia to dramatically toughen sanctions on Israel, demanding Labor match the measures applied against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
The deputy PM, Richard Marles, blamed Coalition ‘chopping and changing’ on submarine plans when asked about Australia’s plan B after the US Navy told Congress that submarine production is around half the level needed for the
The opposition targeted Labor over Medicare and bulk billing rates in question time.
Coalition frontbencher Dan Tehan was kicked out of question time, for calling Labor’s Pat Conroy a “clown”.
And the re-elected Tim Wilson announced he’s in his “truth bomb phase,” blaming Liberals’ lack of vision for election rout in his second first speech to the House of Representatives.
See you tomorrow.
Updated
Tim Wilson has echoed the words of the Liberal party’s founder, Robert Menzies, who once said the modern Liberal movement is “not the conservative party dying hard on the last barricade, but … of a lively mind and a forward-looking heart”.
Wilson has actually used this quote once before. Back in 2017, in the throes of the marriage equality plebiscite, Wilson delivered a speech criticising some MPs, including those within his party, for putting marriage equality to a popular vote – before ending the speech by proposing to his then-partner and now-husband.
But returning to 2025, Wilson was back on the attack – this time criticising his party’s conservative wing and the teal movement that ejected him from parliament back in 2022.
Wilson said:
I don’t wear my faith on my sleeve, but the good book’s insight that ‘a house divided against itself cannot stand’ is truer today than ever before ... I reject the politics that infected too many – from the extremities of the political spectrum and the corporate-funded independents who all share a different vision anchored in the same idea: that we might stand for some, but not all Australians ...
Our party’s founder called these attempts to pit Australians against each other ‘false wars’ ... we are all Australians. And nothing is more corrosive to the Australian promise than people no longer believing sacrifice and effort will get them ahead.
Updated
Man faces court accused of selling police uniforms
At least 28 pieces of police uniform have allegedly been sold illegally by a man who had access to the items through his employment, AAP reports.
Benjamin Lee Onley, 50, appeared at Sydney’s Sutherland local court on Tuesday after he was accused of stealing 71 pieces of unauthorised law enforcement uniform and attempting to sell them.
Police allege Onley was employed by a company involved in the procurement and disposal of NSW police force uniform and insignia.
Onley was arrested on Tuesday after detectives searched his home in Thirroul on the NSW south coast earlier in July and seized a mobile phone. Police allege the phone contained evidence that Onley had attempted to sell 71 pieces of NSWPF uniform and insignia, of which 28 were sold.
Onley was also allegedly in possession of unauthorised firearms, including a pistol.
Following his arrest, he was charged with four offences including stolen property charges and possession of prohibited firearms.
Onley is in custody after not applying for bail at his first court appearance on Tuesday. The matter is expected to return to court on 12 August.
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Cautious gains on ASX as forthcoming inflation data could sway Reserve Bank on interest rates
The local share market has clawed back losses to close marginally higher ahead of a key inflation readout that could determine whether the Reserve Bank cuts interest rates, AAP reports.
After a small decline early on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index moved into positive territory in the last 40 minutes of trading to close 6.9 points higher at 8,704.6.
The energy sector was the biggest gainer on Tuesday, rising 0.7% as Santos rose 2.1% to $7.91 and Woodside gained 1.6% to $26.60. In the financial sector, CommBank dropped 0.4% to $174.29 as NAB advanced 1.2% to $38.20, while ANZ and Westpac stayed flat.
Traders were cautious ahead of tomorrow’s release of inflation data for the three months to June, IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said. He said the consumer price data would be key for the RBA:
[It’s] the final determining factor as to whether the RBA cuts rates in August – bringing potential relief to Australia’s mortgage holders – or elects to keep rates on hold, opting for short-term pain for long-term gain in the fight against inflation, which many think has already been won.
HSBC’s chief Australia and New Zealand economist Paul Bloxham said the bank expects the readout would show the RBA’s preferred inflation metric to print at 0.6% quarter-on-quarter and 2.7% year-on-year, which HSBC sees as allowing the RBA to trim rates in August.
But if trimmed mean inflation comes in at higher than that, an August rate cut would be less likely, Bloxham said.
Updated
Tim Wilson announces ‘truth-bomb phase’ as he blames Liberals' lack of vision for election rout
Goldstein MP Tim Wilson says the Liberals’ miserable election losses came down to the opposition not offering a “bold and courageous” vision for Australians.
The former MP, who was returned to the House of Representatives in the 2025 federal election after being ousted in 2022 by teal MP Zoe Daniel, delivered his second first speech in the lower house this evening, where he reflected on the opposition’s recent losses.
Under the chamber’s practices, members who have already delivered a first speech in the same chamber don’t usually get a second chance. Wilson recognised the cheeky move, describing his earlier first speech as his “first-first” speech as opposed to his second-first speech.
But moving on, Wilson has used this (second) first speech to announce he’s in his “truth-bomb phase” before offering some insights about why Australians punished the Liberals at the polls.
Wilson said:
It’s simple: You can’t multiply your vote by dividing Australians. It betrays Menzian liberalism, because liberalism has no geography ... Liberalism is the spark of aspiration that compels a young farm hand to milk cows before sun’s rise so they can save to own their own dairy farm one day ...
And at the last election, we let them down because we were not the bold and courageous Liberals that gave Australians confidence to dare for a better future.
Updated
‘Good on them’: Liberal MP applauds Nationals push to dump net zero
Liberal frontbencher James McGrath has compared concerns over a campaign to drop Australia’s target of net zero emissions by 2050 to a meltdown and a caffeine overdose.
Asked about the push, led by Nationals backbenchers Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack, McGrath told the ABC:
The whole building is having a meltdown because some members of the National party have a different view on net zero and want to push forward and advocate their views. Guess what? Good on them. So what? Are there any other issues out there? I want to focus on Chris Bowen and focus that Labor promised to cut power bills by $275.
McGrath said he believed Australia should cut emissions as long as economic crash could be avoided but said the Coalition was a “boisterous party”:
I don’t understand why this building is having [a meltdown]. It’s almost like everyone has overdosed on caffeine or something like that.
Updated
Data on Indigenous deaths in custody prompts call to cut NT police funding
More than 600 Indigenous Australians have died in policy custody since 1991, new data shows, prompting calls for cuts to police funding in Northern Territory.
Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe and First Nations advocacy organisations have called for the Albanese government to pause federal funding for NT policing and prisons until the Territory moves to reduce incarceration of First Peoples and children.
Thorpe told the ABC the government had provided $205m in funding to the NT police, labelled as ‘closing the gap’ money. She said this should be redirected to community organisations:
Imagine $205m going to communities to self-determine what is best for us or what is best for them. Our children don’t belong in prisons …
The federal government, through the Closing The Gap initiative, is funding the police instead. So there is a way that feds can step in, firstly to remove that money, take it back and give it back to those self-determined programs that actually work.
The number of Indigenous people who have died in custody has reached 602 since 1992’s royal commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, according to the Australian Institute of Criminology. That includes 60 in 2025 alone.
Advocacy groups including North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency have warned the incarceration crisis is escalating, backing calls for suspending commonwealth funding until the police force changes direction. The number of NT residents imprisoned has hit a record high since the Country Liberal government was elected with a tough on crime approach.
Updated
Not possible to declare Palestinian state while Hamas dominates, Labor frontbencher says
Labor frontbencher Rebecca White has said the government has “grave concerns” at the prospect Palestine could be recognised as a state, due to Hamas’ strength in the region.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has said Australia has no plans to follow France and more than 140 other countries by recognising the state of Palestine.
That reluctance is in part due to fears over Hamas’ ongoing power in the region, Rebecca White, Labor’s assistant minister for health, has said. She told the ABC:
I don’t think any of us at the moment feel that it’s possible, with Hamas being so dominant in the region, to just simply declare a Palestinian state without having grave concerns for what that looks like and the prime minister has been clear that we won’t do this as a tokenistic gesture.
It’s about making sure that when we can join with other nations across the world to support a two-state solution. We would like to see that achieved and I understand that both sides across the chamber want the same thing.
The UK government has faced rising internal and external pressure to recognise the state of Palestine. Australian Labor branches are also pushing for immediate recognition – you can read more here:
Updated
New Bradfield MP ‘ready to roll’ if court challenge forces byelection
Nicolette Boele has committed to working constructively with the court as the Liberal party challenges her narrow election to a North Sydney seat.
The independent MP for Bradfield won the seat after a recount of the federal election result, which delivered her the seat on a thin margin of 26 votes. She said she was confident in that process but wouldn’t stand in the way of the Liberal challenge:
It’s a great credit to the strength of our democracy that we have that relief valve and I’ll be doing everything in my power to be a constructive part of getting a resolution. … [The challenge] has sharpened my attention and made me work really, really hard.
Boele said she would go back to her electorate campaigning on climate, cost-of-living and housing issues if the challenge produced a byelection. Asked whether she was ready for that outcome, Boele said:
Ready to roll.
Updated
NSW police threaten court action to block pro-Palestinian march across Sydney Harbour Bridge
The New South Wales police have knocked back an application to facilitate a pro-Palestine protest across the Sydney Harbour Bridge this weekend due to “public safety”.
Deputy commissioner Peter McKenna said the police were yet to inform the Sydney-based Palestine Action Group of their decision, but were open to negotiate an alternative route for the protest.
If the group stands by its plan to proceed with the protest across the bridge this weekend, he said the police would challenge it in the supreme court.
McKenna said:
I know people will say that we have closed [it before]. You need to understand, months and months of planning goes into that.
Asked what the minimum amount of notice is that the police would need to facilitate such a protest, he said:
It depended on many, many factors, [that’s] probably too complex to articulate in a few words. But like I said, if I give the example of a Sydney marathon, there’s about 10 months of planning.
If the matter is heard in the supreme court, and it sides with police, then it means anyone who attends the protest will not be protected from being charged under the anti-protest laws.
McKenna said the police will have resources on standby in case the protest does go ahead.
Updated
‘The time for just words is over’: Pocock calls for more targeted Israel sanctions ‘starting with Netanyahu’
Independent senator David Pocock has repeated calls for sanctions on Israel over its war in Gaza, criticising the Albanese government’s approach of “saying harsher and harsher things”.
The prime minister over the weekend heightened his criticism of the Israeli government but the Canberra senator said he was not satisfied with Labor’s approach. Pocock told the ABC:
The time for just words is over. We’ve even got President Trump now saying that clearly starvation is happening. It’s time to start with more targeted sanctions, starting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, ratcheting them up …
What’s it going to take for this government? Just saying harsher and harsher things is not going to have an impact.
Pocock, who has advocated targeted sanctions on Israel for over a year, said the government’s approach had given rise to increasing community protests and advocacy.
A lot of the unrest we’re seeing, people wanting to protest, is looking at what we’re seeing: this sort of live-streamed human-induced famine and then seeing a prime minister and a ‘government that just says, ‘Oh, well, we’re saying harsher and harsher things’. They want our government to act.
One of those protests in support of Palestine, a march planned for this Sunday across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, is facing pressure from the government in New South Wales. We’re expecting an update on how police will handle the march shortly.
Updated
Labor minister says ‘friends communicate’ after PM criticises Israel
Government frontbencher Tim Ayres has compared the prime minister’s rebuke of the Israeli government to communication between friends,
Anthony Albanese earlier today said it was “beyond comprehension” that Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Israeli embassy in Australia have claimed there is no starvation crisis in Gaza.
Ayres, Labor’s minister for science and industry, repeated that the government believed conditions in Gaza amounted to starvation. He told the ABC:
It is hard to understand how it could be anything else [than starvation]
The minister was asked whether Labor was concerned about the claims, given the support it has provided Israel in the past. Ayres said:
Calling these things out, in what is an absolutely distressing set of circumstances, is the right thing for the prime minister to do. It’s not inconsistent …
Friends communicate directly to each other. This is important. It’s consistent with Australia’s interests and it’s consistent with our values.
Updated
Thanks to the indomitable Krishani Dhanji for taking us through Tuesday’s breaking news. I’ll be with you for the afternoon’s developments.
That’s where I leave you today, thanks for joining me on the blog, you’ll have the wonderful Luca Ittimani to take you through the rest of the afternoon.
I’ll see you back here first thing tomorrow morning!
As new MPs and senators continue to make their maiden speeches, there’s one member who’s particularly “excited” to do his.
Tim Wilson is doing his second maiden speech tonight, and has been encouraging supports to register for “tickets” to see the speech from the chamber.
The booking website states:
We are delighted to invite you to a special and symbolic occasion, the (Second) First Speech of the Hon Tim Wilson MP …
After an extraordinary journey back to parliament, Tim will be delivering his (second) first address in the House of Representatives.
Guardian Australia understands the second first speech was a topic of discussion at this morning’s Coalition party-room meeting, with jokes – some out loud and some hushed – made at how “excited” Wilson is.
Updated
Tl;dr here’s what happened in question time today
Honestly, all the question times of the new parliament have felt pretty subdued, and the Coalition still seems to be figuring out how best to put pressure on the government where it hurts.
Today the opposition started on aged care, and then asked a few questions on bulk-billing rates, but couldn’t get the government to say how many Australians aren’t seeing a GP for free.
There were a few climate questions from the crossbench – asking whether the government would be ambitious in setting new climate targets (Bowen said Labor is waiting for advice from the climate change authority), and whether the government would stand up to fossil fuel companies and stop investing in coal and gas.
The government’s dixers were all pretty predictable – starting on Hecs legislation that’s being debated in parliament, then on climate action, cost of living and the NBN.
And Dan Tehan was kicked out of QT today, for Pat Conroy a “clown”.
With a final dixer on the NBN, question time is over for another day.
Elizabeth Watson-Brown asks a second question from the crossbench, on whether the government will place further sanctions on Israel, to the extent that it has done in Russia. She asks the prime minister:
Netanyahu’s genocidal assault on Palestine now means that more than two million people are at risk of starvation, will you commit to applying equivalent sanctions to Israel as you imposed on Russia?
Anthony Albanese says the government has already sanctioned Israel’s minister for finance and minister for national security. He says comments about Gaza made by both of those ministers have been “reprehensible”.
“We don’t take these issues lightly,” says Albanese, and adds that the government doesn’t try to secure domestic political advantage or damage social cohesion. Watson-Brown shakes her head at Albanese as he says that.
What we do is act in principle in a way [which] is consistent. We condemn Hamas for their actions and we condemn what is occurring in Gaza in breach of international law.
Updated
Back to the House, Alex Hawke asks the prime minister about reports in the media this morning that multiple CFMEU officials allegedly received gold bracelets from underworld crime figures, and other reports that one CFMEU member allegedly openly threatened the Queensland parliament.
Anthony Albanese says his government has acted and intervened in the construction union to put it under administration after the airing of widespread allegations against it.
The role that unions have played … have been critical. That is why it is so disgusting and abhorrent that a small number of people have chosen to abuse their positions to engage in conduct which is criminal. Criminal conduct should be a subject to criminal penalties.
Updated
Senate question time has been a pretty mediocre affair this afternoon but unsurprisingly, net zero and climate change are among the hot topics.
Penny Wong took a dixer from the fresh Tasmanian Labor senator, Richard Dowling, on Labor’s support for renewable energy, which she quickly turned into an attack against the Coalition to rile them up.
She said:
You do not need to go far in this building to find people who oppose net zero, like Senator [Michaelia] Cash, who led the charge on the weekend [at] the WA Liberal convention, to oppose net zero, putting her at odds with the opposition leader Sussan Ley. Now, why would the Coalition’s Senate leader publicly take on her party leader? Well, yesterday News Limited columnist James Campbell offered some views, saying that ‘now, when a previously somnolent, otherwise known as sleepy Liberal senator, suddenly starts going like a Rocket Racer on the elephant juice, there’s almost invariably a one-word explanation. It’s her preselection’.
The heckling on the opposition’s benches crescendoes.
Updated
Greens MP, Elizabeth Watson-Brown gets the next question from the crossbench, and asks the government if it will “stand up” to coal and gas companies and phase out fossil fuels. She says even when fossil fuels are exported, the emissions are still Australia’s responsibility.
The resources minister, Madeleine King, takes the question and says fossil fuel exports provide regional energy security, and the industry will remain “integral” to Australia’s economy.
I would just like to point out the importance of Australia’s role in the regional energy security. This is something that is perhaps not as well understood as it could be or even should be.
Watson-Brown tries to interject but Milton Dick won’t allow it.
King continues saying Australia’s gas exports support countries like Japan and South Korea that don’t have renewable resources like Australia.
Updated
Dan Tehan is kicked out of QT
We have our first question time booting for the day under 94a, and it’s the member for Wannon, the shadow energy minister, Dan Tehan.
During a dixer on the government’s Future Made in Australia policy, Tehan makes a point of order, saying the answer (by government frontbencher Pat Conroy) went into Liberal policy when that’s not what was asked.
Tehan says this:
The question was very specific. It asked about what the Labor party was doing in this area. It said nothing about the Coalition, and only a clown would answer like that.
Milton Dick is absolutely not having that and says in disbelief, that comment was “next level” and tells Tehan to leave.
Updated
Nationals MP, Alison Penfold, asks the next question on disaster recovery in NSW.
Penfold’s seat of Lyne in regional NSW was heavily affected by the most recent major flooding event.
She asks why category D funding isn’t available for businesses and primary producers trying to rebuild.
The emergency management minister, Kristy McBain, says the federal government has been working with the NSW government to provide support.
We have expended over $212m on a whole range of income supports, over 170,000 applications across 19 LGAs [local government areas]. Category D funding was available to rural landholders up to $10,000 to help with clean-up, there has been a range of other support measures put in place including concessional loans and freight subsidies for primary producers, we have worked closely with the NSW government on a range of supports, including $25,000 grant supports for small businesses. To date we have expended $300m with the NSW government on a range of supports across those 19 LGAs.
Category D assistance is specifically requested by the states and requires agreement from the prime minister. It includes grants or can include loans for disaster recovery.
Updated
Steggall dares government to be ambitious on emissions
Over to the crossbench, Zali Steggall asks if the government will set a target of 70% of methane emissions abatement by 2035 – will the government be ambitious? she asks.
Chris Bowen, the energy minister, says the government is waiting for the Climate Change Authority to provide its advice to the government on setting a 2035 emissions reduction target.
He also says it’s important to set a target that can be achieved.
As I have said elsewhere, it is very important a target be able to be achieved, it is not a useful contribution to the debate to set a target without outlining how the country can actually achieve that target. Yes, ambition is very important but so is achievability.
Updated
Nationals MP Pat Conaghan says there have been a record number of small business insolvencies and 34,000 job losses in the last quarter alone, and asks if the government’s economic agenda is failing small business.
The minister for small business, Anne Aly, says since Labor took office in 2022, there have been 800,000 new small businesses created. She says 35% of those are female-led.
Conaghan tries to make a point of order, saying the question was about the government’s “economic mismanagement”.
The point of order doesn’t really take with Milton Dick, who says Aly is providing relevant information.
Aly continues, saying the government has already convened a small business economic roundtable (they love a roundtable) and will continue listening to the industry.
Updated
Opposition targets Labor over bulk-billing rates
Sussan Ley gets the next question asks directly, “how many Australians today are using their credit card to see a GP?”
This time there’s no preamble to the question, so Albanese has less room to move.
He says “too many” but blames that on the opposition.
Because of those opposite and the undermining of the health system – too many is the answer, too many. Which is why we want 90% by 2030 to just use this little card here. This piece of green and gold plastic.
(He’s holding a Medicare card in his hand).
Manager of opposition business, Alex Hawke, says Albanese is missing a prop – his credit card – to go along with the Medicare card.
Albanese then talks about Australians who have gone to a medicare urgent care clinic (which are free).
Ley tries to make a point of order, saying it was a very “tight” question, but Milton Dick says Albanese is being relevant.
But the PM still won’t say exactly how many people have had to see a GP and pay a gap fee.
Updated
Opposition targets Labor over Medicare
Shadow communications minister Melissa McIntosh asks the next question – again on GP bulk-billing rates, and whether Anthony Albanese still stands by his statement that all an Australian needs to see their GP is their Medicare card.
Albanese says he was “surprised” that when the government announced its $8.5bn bulk-billing incentive for GPs, the opposition immediately matched it.
There’s a bit of back and forth here because McIntosh tries to make a point of order but Milton Dick says he’s being relevant. Dick says he can’t force the government to give the opposition a yes-no answer just because it’s what they want.
Before Albanese returns to his answer, someone in the Coalition shouts if the PM has brought his Medicare card to the chamber today. Albanese says:
For those opposite, who wanted a yes or no answer – you know what the people of radio answered on 3 May? They answered yes to saving Medicare, they answered yes to increasing bulk-billing, they answered yes to another 50 urgent care clinics on Medicare.
Updated
Marles takes aim at Coalition ‘chopping and changing’ on submarine plans
The first question from the crossbench is from Allegra Spender, who says that last week the US Navy told Congress that submarine production is around half the level needed for the US to be able to supply Virginia class submarines to Australia by 2032.
She asks the deputy PM and defence minister, Richard Marles, whether Australia has an alternative plan, and if not, why not?
Marles says the government went into the deal with open eyes, that the government was, “aware of the challenges of US production and sustainment of Virginia and the need to lift that production”.
Marles says that the three former Coalition prime ministers (Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull, and Scott Morrison) were too focused on plan Bs for submarines.
They [the Coalition] were in and out of the deal with Japan, then in and out of a deal with France, and it was the better part of the entirety of their government, before they ended up settling on the arrangement that is Aukus …
If you are focused on a plan B, and there is always chopping and changing, that is not a decision to walk down the path of plan B, that is a decision not to have a capability at all. Unless you stick to a plan for longer than a couple of years … you don’t get a capability at all.
Updated
Sussan Ley takes the next question, on bulk billing rates and asks how many Australians have had to use their credit card to see a GP since the government promised they wouldn’t need to.
Anthony Albanese says bulk-billing rates for concession cardholders have increased to 90% since the government tripled the billing incentive.
Before he gets much further, Milton Dick tries to get the chamber to settle down a bit and says the House needs to be “getting into good habits early”. We’ll see how long that lasts.
Ley then tries to make a point of order, because Albanese still hasn’t given a figure on how many Australians have had to use their credit card to see a GP. Dick says Albanese is being relevant but he could be more relevant.
Albanese continues:
We had costed policies of a $8.5bn [package] to deliver, to lift bulk billing rates to 90% by 2030. The timeline hasn’t changed, the investment is unchanged, the modelling is the same. The question is: has the Coalition changed their position?
Those on that side are led by someone who said if you don’t pay for it you don’t value it.
Updated
The first dixer goes to the prime minister, on Hecs reform that just passed the House.
The new member for Griffith, Renee Coffey asks the question, and the PM says she’s his “favourite” member for Griffith in some time.
The opposition has a good chuckle at that one, as Coffey ousted Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather. Albo adds:
I’m pleased it has got some bipartisan support across this chamber.
Updated
Ley targets PM over aged care as question time gets under way
It’s question time!
Sussan Ley starts, asking about aged care, and the delay in bring additional home care packages online.
Ley says that the now health minister said back in 2022 that it was a “national disgrace”, when there were 60,000 people on the home care package waitlist – but there are now 87,000 people on that waitlist.
Anthony Albanese starts the answer, saying the government, with the opposition, has passed legislation to fix the aged care sector that was in a state of neglect.
We have been working through all of these issues, including the reform to both aged care residential and homecare. We have been working that through and making an enormous difference and it has been positive.
Health minister Mark Butler adds to the answer, and says that the number of home care packages has doubled over the last five years.
Butler also says Ley, as a former health and aged care minister, cut funding to aged care in 2016.
Updated
Number of Australians switching jobs drops to approach all-time low
The share of Australians switching jobs has dropped for a second year to near the all-time low recorded at the height of the pandemic.
New figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that 1.1 million workers, or 7.7%, changed their employer or business in the 12 months to February.
Despite a booming labour market, job mobility was down from 8% in the previous year, and 9.6% in the year to February 2023.
Economists believe that falling rates of job switching have contributed to the sharp decline in labour productivity over recent decades, with mobility steadily declining after averaging around 15-16% in the 1970s and 80s.
Job mobility fell to an historical low of 7.5% in the 12 months to February 2021 – a period disrupted by lockdowns and other health restrictions.
An increasing unwillingness to change jobs also comes at the expense of more pay, according to analysts at the e61 Institute, who calculated that workers who switch employers typically enjoy a 9 percentage point pay advantage over those who don’t.
Almost two-thirds of the more than 1 million job switchers in the latest data stayed within their industry, the ABS said.
The report shows we become less likely to change employers as we age, with 11.5% of workers aged 15 to 24 changing jobs, compared with less than 5% of those aged 45 to 64.
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Albanese meets Tuvalu PM
The prime minister of Tuvalu is in Canberra today, to officially open the Tuvalu high commission in Australia.
Feleti Penitala Teo met with Anthony Albanese, the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, climate change minister, Chris Bowen, and minister for the Pacific, Pat Conroy.
The two nations recently announced a new “climate visa” for Tuvalu citizens to migrate to Australia under a lottery system. It would allow 280 Tuvaluans to move to Australia each year, but more than 8700 have already applied for the visa.
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Childcare legislation passes lower house
A little earlier, the house passed the government’s childcare bill, meaning it will now go to the Senate.
The government has said it wants the bill passed through parliament this week, which means they’ll have until Thursday to debate and pass the bill through the upper house.
The opposition and Greens have said they’ll support the bill, so it should go through smoothly.
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Greens call for Australia to impose same sanctions on Israel as it does on Russia
The Greens have called for Australia to dramatically toughen sanctions on Israel, demanding Labor match the measures applied against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
The plan for so-called autonomous sanctions would target members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and other key decision-makers, limiting their travel and use of financial assets.
The Greens’ foreign affairs spokesperson, David Shoebridge, said Australia has sanctioned about 1,400 people in Russia over the war in Ukraine, but only a small number related to the war in Gaza.
In June, Australia joined countries including the UK and New Zealand to sanction far-right Israeli government ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich for inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
The Greens will also seek sanctions to stop the export of goods and materials from Australia to Israel, including arms. The party is critical of the Albanese government for not blocking exports of key parts for fighter jets, manufactured in Australia and assembled in Israel. Shoebridge said:
If applied to Israel, it would mean no more F35 parts, no more drone shields, no more aluminium and steel that we know feeds the armaments industry and allows the Israel Defense Forces to engage in those repeated breaches of international law in the horror show in Gaza.
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Pro-Palestinian protest organisers 'determined' to go ahead with Sydney Harbour Bridge march despite Minns' rejection
Organisers of a pro-Palestine protest who have planned a march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge are vowing to go ahead despite the NSW premier rejecting the protest.
In a statement to social media, spokesperson for the Sydney-based Palestine Action Group, Josh Lees, said: “[The premier] made clear on the radio this morning that he’s not opposing it because of the timing of the protest. He is opposed to it happening at any time.”
We are determined to go ahead this Sunday.
If the police and the premier want to stop us from protesting, they have to take us to the supreme court, and we’re prepared to fight them in court if necessary. Obviously, we wish it won’t come to that. We would rather have the authorities in agreement that we should all be standing together against the genocide.
Earlier this morning the premier, Chris Minns, said on ABC Sydney that he wouldn’t close it “for any circumstances”.
I’m asking the organisers to work with NSW police on an alternative route, and to shut it down in these circumstances would be beyond the resources of the NSW government.
I do acknowledge that there’s widespread community concern about the humanitarian aid and war situation in Gaza, particularly in relation to Palestinians, shared by many Australians.
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Commonwealth to fund high school anti-vaping program
The federal government will fund a vaping education course in high schools across the country after new research demonstrates the program’s effectiveness.
About 5,100 year seven and eight students across 40 schools were involved in the trial of OurFutures vaping prevention education program designed by the Matilda Centre at the University of Sydney.
Half of the students received their usual health education and the other half received the four-lesson web-based skills and education program.
The results, published today in the Lancet show students who participated in the program were 65% less likely to have used vapes after 12 months compared to those who did not do the course and 80% said the information they learned will help them handle vaping situations in future.
The program had already been designed by researchers to be used for education around alcohol and the government funded the trial to adapt the model to vaping behaviours.
The health minister, Mark Butler, told the media at parliament that the program would be rolled out in every high school, and schools could register their interest to participate in the program immediately.
This highly prestigious evidence-based program that’s proven to work at the 40 schools where it was trialled will now be funded by the federal government to roll out in every single high school.
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Jumping back to the Coalition press conference, Sussan Ley is asked a final question on whether she believes the US president, Donald Trump, is wrong to float applying 15% to 20% tariffs on Australia, as reported overnight.
Ley said she doesn’t comment on the domestic or international policy of other nations but suggested Anthony Albanese needed to have a face-to-face conversation with Trump.
In response to that, it’s very clear that the impact we can have is the conversation that allows the real reassurance that I know Australians want, about tariffs, about Aukus, about the strength of the relationship between our most important ally, and without a personal relationship, without a personal conversation, that’s not happened.
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Hecs debt relief bill being debated in lower house
The house is debating the government’s Hecs debt bill, to cut existing debts by 20%.
The opposition has just said they’ll pass the legislation – which was a key Labor election promise.
Anthony Albanese spoke on the bill a little earlier.
Education is the most powerful weapon we have against disadvantage, it is the best investment that we can make in a stronger, more productive and more skilled economy. Education is fundamental to the Labor mission, it opens the doors of opportunity and widens them.
The house will also debate the childcare legislation today, which the government has said it wants to pass through parliament this week.
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Coalition will recognise Palestine when Hamas no longer in charge, Ley says
Sussan Ley has reiterated the Coalition’s policy to recognise Palestinian statehood will only occur when “there is peace” and Hamas is no longer in charge of Gaza.
The opposition leader was asked whether the Coalition still retained its long-held policy of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine following France’s decision to recognise Palestine as a means of achieving peace in Gaza. Ley responded:
When there is peace, our policy is a two-state solution, but first there has to be peace, and we shouldn’t get ahead of a process that is not present at the moment. And unfortunately, with Hamas in charge, there is no partner for peace, and until that situation resolves, only then could we take those important next steps.
Asked what the federal government should be doing to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Ley said:
The Australian government should make it very clear that they know that the war could end tomorrow if Hamas surrender and release the hostages.
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Albanese needs to secure a meeting with Trump, Ley says
Asked how the government should deal with a Trump administration that keeps changing its mind and public statements, Sussan Ley says the PM needs to meet with Trump in person.
Ley says 20 world leaders have already met with Trump face-to-face.
You need to ask the prime minister, and I’m sure you will, what is he doing about getting a meeting? What is his plan? How much longer do we have to have a situation where we haven’t had that face-to-face meeting?
She adds that the government still has questions to answer on its decision to open up more beef imports from the US.
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‘We have time to get the energy policy right’: Ley
The opposition leader says it’s the opposition’s role to hold the government to account on energy.
Sussan Ley promises the opposition will form an energy policy before the next election, but it has time to get it right.
We have about two years and nine months to the next election. We have the time to get energy policy right. We need to reflect on the result that we had on 3 May, listen to the Australian people and develop energy policy with two fundamental principles, playing our part in reducing emissions in a transparent and responsible way and assuring that we have a stable, reliable grid that provides affordable energy.
Ley says the government can’t fulfil its energy policy that is “renewables only” without expecting prices to increase.
The shadow energy minister, Dan Tehan, says the first meeting of his policy committee was constructive, and the short-term focus will be on gas.
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Ley ‘incredibly distressed’ by images out of Gaza but won’t say whether they constitute evidence of starvation
On to questions, Sussan Ley says she’s “incredibly distressed” by the images coming out of Gaza, but won’t say whether she believes that it’s evidence of starvation.
Ley says Hamas, who still hold dozens of hostages, could release those hostages and end the conflict now.
Asked directly if there is evidence of starvation of the Palestinian population in Gaza, Ley says it’s a “complex situation”.
I’ve been incredibly distressed by the images that I’ve seen, incredibly distressed, as has everyone around the world. I’m pleased that aid is now starting to flow into Gaza …
There are reports of Hamas interrupting the flow of aid and carrying on its atrocious activities at this time. Now, if we want the war to end, and we all do, we know the simplest, quickest way is for Hamas to surrender and release the hostages.
(A leaked US assessment found no evidence of Hamas interrupting the flow of aid.)
She’s asked by a few journalists about the situation in Gaza, but says again that she’s “distressed” by the images, and that Hamas should end the conflict.
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Coalition confirms it will not oppose Labor’s Hecs debt reduction bill
The opposition has confirmed it will pass the government’s bill to cut Hecs debts by 20%.
The Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, says the opposition cares about students who are struggling with the cost of living, and won’t block the bill from passing through parliament.
Speaking to the media at a press conference in Parliament House, she says:
We agreed to not oppose the bill as it makes its way through the parliament. We do care about students who are struggling with the cost of living and said we would be positive where we can be, and critical where we need to be.
The shadow education minister, Jonno Duniam, adds that the opposition will also be constructive with the government to fix the childcare system (the other piece of legislation that will be debated this week).
This is not a Labor problem, not a Liberal problem … it is something we all need to be responsible for as leaders.
This is not a blame game, let’s get on and fix the mess and we will stand with [the government] in doing it.
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'Beyond comprehension' for Israel to claim no starvation crisis in Gaza, Albanese says
Anthony Albanese says it is “beyond comprehension” that Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Israeli embassy in Australia have claimed there is no starvation crisis in Gaza.
The prime minister criticised the claims from the Israeli government in comments to the Labor caucus room this morning. He was referring to comments from Netanyahu, reported overseas, as well as reports from Australian media outlets about comments from the deputy Israeli ambassador, Amir Meron.
Meron reportedly told journalists in a briefing, to which Guardian Australia was not invited, that Israel believed photos of starving Palestinians were “false pictures” from a “false campaign that is being [led] by Hamas”.
“We don’t recognise any famine or any starvation in the Gaza Strip,” Meron reportedly said.
In comments to the Labor party meeting today, Albanese referred to such claims as “beyond comprehension”.
Albanese also told the party room that while there should be a “caveat” on any health information shared by Hamas, he added that Israel had blocked many journalists from entering Gaza to report first-hand.
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CommBank won’t refund $270m to low-income customers despite big banks’ promises
Commonwealth Bank has told the corporate regulator it won’t pay back the $270m in fees it charged over 2 million low-income customers despite new refund promises from three other big banks in the watchdog’s sights.
We told you earlier this morning refunds of a further $57m in fees to 730,000 customers will be made by three other big banks in the sights of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic).
ANZ, Bendigo Bank and Westpac had already paid $8m to over 55,000 customers after the ASIC last year found banks had charged high fees to people earning low incomes who were entitled to low-fee accounts. The new refunds from those banks, and several others not originally part of Asic’s report, were announced in the regulator’s update overnight.
CBA, though, admitted it charged $270m to 2.2 million other customers in similar circumstances from 2019 to 2024 but said it would make no further refunds, having already made goodwill payments of $25m to nearly 90,000 customers.
The Asic reports were focused on helping lower-earning customers who likely had First Nations heritage. Banks don’t collect data on customers’ heritage so outcomes focused on customers who were receiving government payments and eligible for concession cards.
CommBank told Asic low-income customers benefited from the flexibility of overdraw features on high-fee accounts. The bank told Guardian Australia the group was a diverse cohort with varying income, savings and home ownership.
The other three banks also committed to migrate an additional 815,000 low-income customers from high-fee to low-fee accounts, saving them an expected $40m a year, while making it easier for customers to move to low fee accounts.
CommBank told Asic it planned to migrate 1.5 million customers in similar circumstances to a new account with no overdraw fees, pending authorisation, and would pause fees for those customers in August if it did not receive an authorisation decision by 31 July.
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Wondering why parliament hasn’t begun sitting yet?
Tuesdays are party room days, which means all the parties have their own meetings to discuss through policies with their members. It’s also a chance for the leader to gee up their caucus or for members to air any grievances or concerns they might have.
After the party room, the media get a bit of a rundown about what was discussed, including what legislation might be supported or rejected this week.
Sitting starts at 12pm, and of course question time goes ahead at the normal time of 2pm.
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Queensland premier can’t recall if he discussed gender-affirming care ban with director general
Queensland premier David Crisafulli has told parliament he can’t recall if he discussed a ban on gender-affirming care with the public servant who made it in advance.
Under state law, the decision was required to be made by department of health director general, David Rosengren.
Crisafulli met with Rosengren five days before it was announced, without health minister Tim Nicholls.
In a parliamentary estimates hearing on Tuesday, Greens MP Michael Berkman asked Crisafulli if he discussed the ban at the meeting. The premier responded:
I can’t say to the member whether or not we discussed that or not, because I can’t recall.
That was a decision taken by cabinet. So ultimately, I accept that decision. Whether or not I discuss it with the director general, I’m not certain, member, I genuinely am not.
Crisafulli was also asked if he viewed a copy of the directive before it was made, but didn’t answer the question.
The ban covers to the state’s public health system, but does not apply to cisgender children seeking puberty blockers.
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Jacinta Allan condemns ‘shameful’ behaviour of pro-Palestine protesters outside NGV on Sunday
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, said some of the behaviour at a pro-Palestine protest held out the front of the National Gallery of Victoria on Sunday, which forced the gallery into lockdown for a brief period of time, was “disgraceful”.
Some protesters said they targeted the gallery because it is supported by well-known Jewish philanthropists John and Pauline Gandel. Allan says the criticism of the Gandels was “shameful”.
We are blessed to have the philanthropic generosity from families like the Gandels … That behaviour that we saw on Sunday, where antisemitism came to the street, the National Gallery was just disgraceful. It is shameful.
It was shameful behaviour, and those people who choose to cloak their extremism under the conflict of the Middle East are shameful and should be condemned.
Allan says she is concerned both about the starvation crisis in Gaza as well as the “extremist behaviour” at protests.
We can condemn, and I do condemn in the strongest terms, that behaviour on Sunday, but we can also share the grief of the community of what we are seeing at the consequences of this ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
She says the images coming out of Gaza are “devastating”. Asked whether it was time to recognise Palestine, the premier says she would “follow the lead of the federal government” on the issue, and said there must be a permanent ceasefire in the region.
It comes as Victorian Labor members will use this weekend’s state conference to demand the federal government “immediately” recognise a Palestinian state and impose sanctions on Israel – in what will be their strongest push to date on the issue.
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Bigger hailstones and more hailstorms expected as world heats up
As the Nationals row about net zero, research adds “bigger hail” to the list of threats from the climate crisis.
With some in the Nationals pushing for the party to scrap its commitment to reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and One Nation again reminding Australians they don’t believe the climate crisis is even a thing, comes another reminder of the risks of global heating.
Now we can add bigger hailstones and more frequent hailstorms to the very long list of risks from global heating.
Dr Tim Raupach of the University of New South Wales used climate models to work out what might happen to hail in a warmer world – one that would be about 2.8C hotter than before the industrial revolution.
Raupach’s projections – published today in the journal Geophysical Research Letters – found an increase in the frequency of hailstorms in the areas around Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane.
The research also found the models forecasting the size of hail would get bigger around Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Kalgoorlie and Perth.
A reason for the potential increase in the size of the hail could be down to changes in the strength of the updraft in thunderstorms which keep hailstones in the cloud for longer, allowing them to grow larger before gravity eventually wins and the stones drop. Raupach said:
We looked at changes in hailstone size between simulations of historical and future periods and we can see increases in hail size produced by the model around Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Perth.
For example, in past simulations, very large, 10cm hailstones were expected once every 20 years around Melbourne. But in a warmer future, it’s once every three years.
How to cut the risks? Raupach says two obvious steps are to cut greenhouse gas emissions and allow for the increased risk in the design of the urban environment.
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Pocock and Ryan want exporters to divert uncontracted gas for domestic use
Senator David Pocock has joined fellow teal independent, Monique Ryan, in calling on the government to force exporters to divert uncontracted gas for domestic use.
Amid soaring energy prices and fears of supply shortfalls on the east coast, Labor has commissioned a review of the gas market to be conducted over the next six months.
Australian Institute analysis released this morning shows that electricity prices have doubled and wholesale gas prices on the east coast have tripled since exports began in 2015.
The government has opened the door to an east coast gas reservation scheme.
But Pocock said there was no need to reserve extra gas as there was more than enough of the resource to play its part in the clean energy transition without opening new gas fields.
We’re paying international prices for our own gas, and we’re not even getting a return through things like the PRRT (petroleum resource rent tax), which the latest forecasts show is actually going to decline.
This is a scam.
Ryan said that “in the last four years of the slow-dawning realisation from Australians of how significantly we have been duped by our government by decades of policy failure, particularly on gas”.
Every time one of us opens up bills for electricity or for gas, we are seeing evidence of government failure.
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Minns opposed to Gaza protest on Harbour Bridge: we ‘can’t close down the central artery’ of Sydney
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, says he’s “particularly concerned” about the number of innocent children that have been killed in Gaza, and doesn’t question the motives of people wanting to protest against the conflict.
The NSW government has blocked a pro-Palestinian demonstration from protesting on the Sydney Harbour Bridge that was planned for Sunday.
Minns told ABC radio this morning this he acknowledges the widespread community concern, but “can’t close down the central artery” of Sydney.
Many people are worried about aid and humanitarian care getting into Gaza, and I want the killing to stop as well, and I’m particularly concerned, like a lot of people, about the number of innocent children that have been killed. So, I’m not questioning the motives of many of the protesters …
I wouldn’t [close the Harbour Bridge] for any circumstances. I mean, I think that you have to appreciate that there are, and has been major community protests in relation to this issue in New York City, for example, completely understandable, and it occurs on a weekly basis, like it does here in Sydney. But they don’t close down the Brooklyn Bridge to traffic for that to happen.
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Canavan says Ley can take her time on net zero policy because Coalition is 'irrelevant right now'
Matt Canavan, one of the loudest climate action critics in the Coalition, says the Coalition is “irrelevant” right now as it continues to debate its position on net zero.
The senator from Queensland is currently undertaking a review of the emissions-reduction policy for the Nationals, but has pushed hard from the start to ditch the 2050 target.
Asked whether Sussan Ley needed to come out and state her position on net zero (she’s said she’ll allow a committee led by shadow energy minister Dan Tehan to review the policy), he said there’s “no particular rush” for her to do so.
We’re irrelevant right now, who cares what it looks [like] right now. We have got to get the results. That’s what’s important. It doesn’t have to be neat or tidy or pretty, it has to be effective.
Canavan and fellow conservative Liberal senator Alex Antic voted in favour of Pauline Hanson’s motion on repealing net zero in the Senate last night.
He said that when Barnaby Joyce told him about his private member’s bill to repeal net zero he thought, “Jeez why didn’t I think about that, and I think Pauline had the same view.”
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150 offences excluded from Victoria’s second strike rule
Following from our last post …
Kilkenny says 150 offences will be excluded from the second strike rule, such as “low- level drug possession and petty crimes that we know are often driven by homelessness or other forms of disadvantage”.
We know from experience in the past that vulnerable cohorts were caught up in various changes. So we’re making sure we’re taking a much more nuanced approach.
The premier, Jacinta Allan, says the bail changes strike the right balance and the government will take a similar approach when they introduce long-awaited protest laws to parliament. She says:
This is all about having that focus on community safety coming first here in Victoria. Repeat serious offending is what we are focused on here today ... We’re [also] focused on strengthening police powers to crack down on that extreme behaviour at protests.
Allan says the protest laws are still being worked through but will include outlawing “face masks, attachment devices and the display of terror symbols and signs”:
It’s not protest that’s the issue here. It is shameful extremist behaviour, and that is what we are zeroing in on, bringing new laws and toughening powers for police.
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Victoria’s attorney general confident vulnerable people won’t be caught in proposed bail law changes
Victoria’s attorney general, Sonya Kilkenny, says she is confident vulnerable people will not be caught up in the proposed bail law changes she will be introducing to parliament today.
As we brought to you earlier, the Victorian government has announced further changes to the state’s bail laws that will see people charged with six serious offences such as aggravated burglary, carjacking and armed robbery while on bail will be subject to the nation’s “toughest bail test”.
Kilkenny says the test will see people “denied bail unless they can prove to the court that there is a high degree of probability that they will not commit” further offences.
A new “second strike” rule is also proposed in the bill, which will make it harder for people to get bail if they are accused of committing another indictable offence while already on bail.
This will apply to charges such as theft, assault, sex offences and serious drug offences. Kilkenny says:
They will face a tougher, stricter bail test, a test that reverses the onus and requires the approved person to show to the court there are compelling reasons why bail should not be denied. In order to ensure that we are not scooping up vulnerable cohorts, there will be some carve-outs of these indictable offences.
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Butler clarifies maths around 90% bulk-billing promise
The health minister, Mark Butler, has shed some new light around how the government’s bulk-billing figures square with other reports you may have read about GPs being reluctant to take up their offer.
In February Butler announced the government’s $8.5bn investment would mean nine out of 10 GP visits will be bulk billed by 2030, but at the same time Butler has confirmed a department brief provided to the government after the election showed almost a quarter of clinics won’t join the program.
Butler has cleared up how the department’s maths works on last night’s ABC 7.30 program:
I said that about three-quarters of general practices we were confident would go to full bulk billing because it would be in their financial interests as well as in the interests of their patients. The other quarter, we think, will probably continue to mix bill, so they’ll bulk bill their pensioners, the kids who come through their door.
On average, a practice that doesn’t fully bulk bill is still bulk billing about 70% of their consults. Three-quarters at 100%, a quarter at about 70% gets us to 90% over the course of the coming years.
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Queensland police union says it’s secured ‘largest ever’ pay rise to the state’s police service
Leaving federal politics for a moment, the vast majority of Queensland police will receive bonuses of $8,000, with cops in rural and regional areas receiving thousands more, under a deal signed on Monday night.
Police will also receive an increase in base pay of at least 8% over the next three years.
Union leader Shane Prior described the agreement as the “largest ever pay deal for Queensland Police in its history”, with improvements to wages and conditions to cost $562m.
The state government has also agreed to changes to the function of the department, in response to pressure from the union.
The state government is currently negotiating with nurses and teachers unions; both unions have balloted members for industrial action.
Asked if the retention bonus would serve as a precedent for other EBAs, the premier, David Crisafulli, said the police pay was promised before the election.
We aren’t going to be able to do the things that we have to when it comes to dealing with law and order unless we have a properly resourced police service, but one that also feels respected and valued. And that’s why this was targeted. We spoke about it before the election, and we’ve delivered it after.
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Dave Sharma says Israel must ensure aid goes into Gaza
Earlier this morning, Liberal senator Dave Sharma, a former ambassador to Israel, told the ABC that reports of malnutrition in Gaza are credible.
He also said Israel must ensure food and humanitarian aid goes into Gaza, to improve its international reputation.
I think the evidence is pretty overwhelming that there’s a high, you know, there’s malnutrition, there’s shortages of food …
Parts of the Israeli government would say, well, Hamas is using this as a sort of propaganda tool, but I think the way to stop that being used as a propaganda tool is to make sure that there is no food insecurity in Gaza, to make sure that the population is fed, to make sure that Hamas cannot use this to portray you as cruel or uncaring or insensitive.
His comments, like those from Paterson, are different to some of the more hardline statements their colleagues like Tehan and Cash.
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Israel harming its ‘international standing’ by delaying aid to Gaza, says Paterson
Paterson says Israel is harming its own international standing by the delays in providing essential food and humanitarian aid for Gaza.
He tells Sky News that the world is seeing a “very serious, very dire” humanitarian situation, and that innocent civilians “should not be made to be punished” for Hamas’s crimes.
Although I’m a strong supporter of Israel, and I strongly support the campaign to disband Hamas and free the 50 hostages, or bodies of deceased hostages that Hamas is still holding, I also accept as the military power in the region which has effective control of Gaza, Israel does have a responsibility to ensure that the civilian population is fed, and they need to do all reasonable steps to make sure that’s the case.
And it is doing harm, in my judgment, [to] Israel’s international standing that so far in recent months, [they] have not been able to do that.
Paterson’s language today is a fair bit stronger than his colleague Dan Tehan’s on RN Breakfast yesterday, who defended Israel’s actions in Gaza and questioned whether Israel is breaching international humanitarian law as the government has said.
Recent statements by shadow foreign affairs minister, Michaelia Cash, have also suggested that any “moral outrage” should be placed on Hamas.
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James Paterson ‘concerned’ Trump keeps taking Australia by surprise on tariffs
The shadow finance minister, James Paterson, says any new tariffs from the US would be “enormously disappointing”, but is “concerned” the Trump administration keeps taking the government by surprise on tariffs.
Paterson tells Sky News there’s growing evidence that there’s a “problem” in the bilateral relationship between Australia and the US.
The Trump administration is threatening tariffs of 15 to 20% for countries – far higher than the current 10% baseline tariff that has been placed on Australia.
Paterson says Anthony Albanese should have sat down for a face-to-face meeting with Trump by now.
I am concerned by the way in which the Australian government continually seems to be surprised by these developments …
I absolutely concede this is an unconventional US administration that changes its policy, often at short notice, but I think there’s enough evidence now in the public realm that we do have a problem in the bilateral relationship between Australia and the United States.
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Trump’s threat to double tariffs for countries including Australia ‘bad policy’, says shadow trade minister
The shadow trade minister, Kevin Hogan, says Donald Trump’s threat that countries including Australia could face even higher tariffs from the US is “bad policy”.
Trump said on Tuesday morning he plans a new tariff that could be “somewhere in the 15 to 20% range”.
Hogan said Anthony Albanese should seek a meeting with the US president to push back on behalf of Australia.
If Trump is looking to put tariffs higher, I think that is damaging not only to the US consumer, which means their inflation rate will go up, but it has a real danger to slow global growth.
We’ve seen a bit of it, but this could accentuate it, almost like a global trade war. Especially a country like China, if they were to retaliate to these higher tariffs, what would that mean? That would mean slower global growth.
Hogan said as much as $650bn worth of Australian exports could be put at risk from a further breakdown in trade rules.
[It] accentuates in my belief the importance that our prime minister secure a face-to-face meeting.
He has to put a very strong sovereign case to America that their policy is bad … this has to be put very forcefully and has to happen.
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CSIRO report says renewables with storage still cheapest power choice
The CSIRO has released a final version of its annual report looking at the relative costs of electricity generation technologies, with renewables backed with storage remaining the cheapest options for the grid.
The GenCost report has changed little from the draft version that was released in December in the middle of the Coalition’s pre-election push for nuclear energy.
The technologies with the lowest cost range are still wind and solar, the report says, even after the costs of integrating them into the grid are included. Those costs include factors such as the building of transmission lines and the need to “firm” renewables with energy storage such as batteries.
The next cheapest technologies are black coal and gas and solar thermal, followed by large-scale nuclear reactors and finally small modular nuclear reactors (SMR), which theoretically offer the most expensive forms of power in the report.
We say theoretically because commercial versions of the technology are still unavailable. The GenCost report factored in costs from a Canadian nation-building project in Ontario where four SMRs are being planned. Those costs were similar to the assumed costs in the draft report.
The capital costs for most technologies has gone up, the report says. Financing and construction costs for most technologies have gone up: gas turbines costs are forecast to rise; and the report added the cost of remote work camps to the overall costs of building windfarms.
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Tariff situation in a ‘state of flux’: assistant treasurer
“It’s not surprising” says Daniel Mulino, that Trump is suggesting tariff rates could change globally.
Donald Trump has suggested that tariffs could increase globally, reaching 15 to 20% – and could mean Australia’s baseline tariff of 10% is doubled.
Speaking to Sky News a little earlier, Mulino says the tariff situation has been changing and is in “a state of flux”, but the government is still engaging with the US administration.
I think this has been a situation that’s been in a state of flux for some time now.
The situation in relation to what the US is suggesting they’re going to impose on other countries globally, not just in relation to Australia, has been changing over the last few weeks and months. So it’s not surprising that there’d be a statement that would suggest a change. The president’s been wanting to adjust his bargaining position in a range of ways along the way.
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A timeline of Trump’s tariffs threats
This isn’t the first time Donald Trump has threatened higher blanket tariffs on nations, flagging tariffs of 15 to 20% (the same rate he announced in Scotland this morning) on 10 July.
At that time, he threatened to impose a 35% tariff on Canada that would come into effect on 1 August.
Trump said in an interview with on 10 July NBC that countries would receive letters with higher rates.
“We’re just going to say all of the remaining countries are going to pay, whether it’s 20% or 15%. We’ll work that out now,” Trump was quoted as saying by the network.
On 24 July, Trump also said he would not go below a 15% tariff rate, at an AI summit in Washington.
We’ll have a straight, simple tariff of anywhere between 15% and 50% ... A couple of – we have 50 because we haven’t been getting along with those countries too well.
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Government to set emissions reduction target ‘in due course’, says Butler
A 2035 emissions reduction target will be set “in due course”, says Mark Butler, telling ABC News Breakfast the government has a “serious plan” to tackle climate change.
Earlier this month, the international court of justice ruled that countries must prevent harm to the climate system and that failing to do so could result in their having to pay compensation.
Butler says Australia is on track to meet its current climate targets and “engages deeply” with Pacific Island neighbours.
We will make a decision about a target for 2035 in due course. We engage deeply with our Pacific Island neighbours and friends because for them this is an existential threat and they want bigger countries like Australia doing the right thing. They recognise there is a decade of inaction under the last government. We put in place a serious plan.
Butler says the government is giving clean energy investors confidence, while the opposition is still facing “division and chaos”.
On the other side of politics, you’ve got division and chaos yet again. That is led by Barnaby Joyce. Last night we saw a Senate vote where some Coalition senators voted with Pauline Hanson and some voted against her and the vast bulk didn’t come into the chamber one way or the other.
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Australia will continue to advocate for removal of US tariffs, trade minister says
The government says its position on US tariffs is “unchanged” and will continue to lobby the US to drop them.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the trade minister, Don Farrell, said:
Our position is unchanged – any tariffs on Australian good are unjustified and an act of economic self-harm.
We will continue to engage at all levels to advocate for the removal of all tariffs, in line with our free trade agreement with the United States.
Earlier, senior government minister Mark Butler said the government is still trying to get a “sense” of what the US administration is planning.
The opposition has been critical of the prime minister for not yet having met with Donald Trump since his election to office.
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Ruston quizzed about Hanson’s net zero vote
Last night in the Senate chamber, Pauline Hanson tried to wedge the Coalition by putting a motion forward to scrap Australia’s net zero by 2050 emissions policy.
It was overwhelmingly voted down, but the One Nation senators were joined by Coalition senators, Matt Canavan and Alex Antic, and United Australia party senator Ralph Babet, totalling seven who voted in favour.
Some in the Coalition voted no while others abstained.
RN Breakfast host, Sally Sara, asks Ruston why she wasn’t there for the vote.
Ruston says she was on leave yesterday for a shadow cabinet meeting, but says the Coalition has committed to going through a process to review all its energy policies.
I think we all respect the fact that there is a broad range of views in our party room on this particular issue. But the one thing that I will always do is respect all of those views. I want to hear all of the views of my colleagues, and then we’ll go through a respectful process and come up with a united policy at the end of it.
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Shadow health minister criticises Labor for bulk-billing rates and home care package delay
Following Butler into the RN Breakfast studio is Anne Ruston, the shadow health minister, who has called Anthony Albanese a “snake oil salesman” on GP bulk-billing rates.
You might remember the well worn line from the government that “all you need is your Medicare card” during the election campaign (with a Medicare card in hand), but Ruston says the bulk-billing figures show there are many Australians who are still pulling out the credit card to pay a significant gap fee.
Bulk-billing rates have plummeted by 11%. That’s 1.5 million Australians last year chose not to see their doctor because they said they simply couldn’t afford to.
The opposition has also criticised the government for delaying the release of 80,000 home care packages into the aged care system.
The government made a promise in the election campaign that they were going to release 80,000 new home care packages on 1 July. Then, only minutes into their next term, they actually took those 80,000 packages off the table, and we now believe that they may be released sometime at the end of the year.
Ruston says 87,000 older Australians have been assessed as needing the packages but aren’t receiving them.
The Coalition will support a motion from independent David Pocock to establish an inquiry into the delay. You can read more about that from my colleague Tom McIlroy here:
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Australia trying to ‘prosecute our interest’ on any tariffs on pharmaceutical exports to US: Butler
The trade situation is “shifting around a bit” says Mark Butler, as the US president, Donald Trump, announced in the last couple of hours there could be new tariffs of up to 15 or 20%.
Butler says he’s only seen the news on his phone, and the government is trying to “make sure that we have a sense of what the US administration is planning” while pushing a case for the tariffs to be removed entirely.
Our officials are working hard to get a sense exactly of the nature and the timing of any tariffs on pharmaceutical exports, which, as your listeners would know, is a particular sector or industry that the US administration has been focused on …
We recognise this is a very significant challenge, including to pharmaceutical exports from Australia to the US, which by and large are blood and plasma products. We’re doing everything we can to prosecute our interest as Australians.
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Butler asked whether Australia should recognise a Palestinian state now
There are growing calls for Australia to recognise a Palestinian state now, including by government MP Ed Husic, who penned an op-ed for Guardian Australia yesterday.
Mark Butler is continuing his media rounds, and is asked on ABC RN Breakfast whether he supports Husic’s call.
Butler reiterates the foreign affairs minister Penny Wong’s comments that recognition would form part of the peace process, rather than be worked through at the end of that peace process, but he says there are a number of issues the government needs to consider.
The prime minister over the weekend said that there obviously were a number of issues that we would be considering as a government on the question of recognition. For example, how do you make sure Hamas plays no role in a Palestinian state? What are the guarantees for Israeli security? But also, what is the structure of the state that we would be recognising? So we’ll do that at an appropriate time.
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Albanese government to expand subsidy program for renewable energy projects
The government will expand its subsidy program for renewable energy projects, which it says will help power millions of homes.
Chris Bowen, the energy minister, will give a speech later today, announcing that the capacity investment scheme (CIS) will expand, to underwrite 3 gigawatts of generation and underwrite 5 gigawatts of dispatchable capacity or storage.
It’s right that the sunniest and windiest continent remains at the forefront of solar and wind innovation – and this backing shows the government intends for it to stay that way.
Bowen says the latest Gencost report, prepared by the CSIRO and the Australian Energy Market Operator, shows firmed renewables are the lowest cost form of new energy generation.
The report says the cost of solar fell by 8% and the cost of batteries fell by 20% last year.
Bowen says:
Now around halfway through the CIS, and with the cost of deploying solar and batteries declining faster than expected, we have an opportunity to supercharge our transition.
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Nationals net zero debate ‘total madness’: Pocock
We can’t seem to stop talking about net zero in parliament, and independent senator (and known longtime climate action advocate) David Pocock says it’s “total madness” to see the path the Coalition is taking on the issue.
But Labor’s not off the hook, and Pocock says the government should be doing far more, and taking the opportunity as a country to “punch above our weight”.
I think it’s total madness to see the path that the Coalition is taking on this. The Labor government, yes, they’re doing something, but they’re not doing enough. It’s not actually aligned with what climate scientists are telling us …
Australians love punching above our weight. You look at on the sports field historically in terms of global diplomacy, we’ve punched above our weight. This is an opportunity.
Pocock adds that it’s “so unhelpful” to see the Nationals who he says should be helping farmers, when they’re at risk of floods and drought due to climate change.
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Health minister says it’s ‘deeply concerning’ doctor wrote 72,000 medical cannabis scripts in two years
The health minister, Mark Butler, is doing the media rounds this morning, making his way through the press gallery.
On Sunrise, he’s asked about a story in the Sydney Morning Herald, which reports that one doctor at an Australian medical cannabis company wrote out 72,000 prescriptions to 10,000 patients over two years.
Butler says he’s “still struggling to get my head around how you do it physically”, and says it’s “deeply concerning”.
There are some business practices that have emerged that are frankly, I think unsafe and certainly unscrupulous. I’ve asked the regulators to look at this and a provide all health ministers – not just me but the state ministers as well – with advice how to regulate this industry in a more safe way.
Asked about laws around testing positive to cannabis in a workplace, Butler says the first principle should be about “supporting people through their medical treatment”.
There will obviously be questions about using heavy equipment and the like, I think it is time to have that debate about updating our laws.
Staying on regulation, he’s asked about whether there need to be some more rules for e-scooters. Butler says it “does need some regulation”.
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Trump threatens higher tariffs for countries including Australia
Australia could face even higher tariffs from the US, as President Donald Trump says he plans a new tariff that could be “somewhere in the 15 to 20% range”.
The US has currently placed a “baseline” 10% tariff on Australia, rather than a higher “reciprocal” tariff.
Trump made the comments in Scotland, after negotiating a 15% tariff rate with the European Union this week.
Trump said that his administration will notify about 200 countries soon of a new tariff rate for “the rest of the world”.
“I would say it’ll be somewhere in the 15 to 20 per cent range,” he said. “Probably one of those two numbers.”
It puts even more pressure on the government to negotiate with the US to avoid a higher rate.
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Following a previous post on Victoria’s bail laws …
The proposed changes to Victoria’s bail laws follow reforms in March, which scrapped the principle of remand only as a “last resort” for accused youth offenders. In its place, community safety has become the “overarching principle” when deciding bail for children and adults.
Two bail offences – “committing an indictable offence while on bail for indictable offence” and “breaching of condition of bail” – were also reintroduced, each adding an additional three months of imprisonment to any other sentence imposed.
The offences had been scrapped by the government in 2023, after advocacy by the family of Veronica Nelson and recommendations from a coronial inquest into her 2020 death in custody.
Legal, First Nations and human rights groups all condemned the March changes at the time and are likely to oppose this latest round of reforms as well. The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (Vals) and Flat Out already had a planned rally at parliament on Wednesday morning.
Vals have said since the March changes there has been a 100% increase in youth offenders remanded in custody, with a 300% increase among their clients. They said this has put youth facilities “drastically under pressure”, resulting in more lockdowns and less access to education and support services.
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Good morning,
Krishani Dhanji here with you for what will be another busy day of parliament, thanks to Martin Farrer for getting us started.
There’s a few key issues running through parliament this morning: the net zero debate continues to kick off in the Coalition, while the government promises to increase its subsidy scheme for renewables projects (I’ll have more details on that in a moment).
As my colleague Josh Butler tells us, the government will try to speed through its reforms to childcare this week, and will use the new powers as soon as it can to crack down on childcare safety.
There’s plenty to come, so stick with us (and bring your favourite caffeinated beverage with you!).
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Victoria to introduce further changes to state’s ‘toughest’ bail laws
People charged with serious offences such as aggravated burglary, carjacking and armed robbery while on bail will be subject to a tougher bail test under further changes to Victoria’s bail laws being introduced to state parliament today.
The premier, Jacinta Allan, attorney-general, Sonya Kilkenny, and police minister, Anthony Carbines, will this morning announce a second round of bail reforms in just four months, amid concerns about the state’s growing crime rate.
Under the proposed reforms, bail will be refused for anyone accused of a serious offence while already on bail for another serious offence, unless the decision-maker is satisfied there is a “high degree of probability” the person will not reoffend.
This new test, which is being described by the government as the “toughest” in the country, would apply to alleged offenders of all ages – including youth – and covers six offences: aggravated home invasion, aggravated carjacking, armed robbery, aggravated burglary, home invasion and carjacking.
The government said the change will increase the “likelihood that bail will be refused and prevents re-offending.”
A new “second strike” rule that is being proposed will also make it harder for people to get bail if they are accused of committing another indictable offence while already on bail. This will apply to charges such as theft, assault, sex offences and serious drug offences.
But the government said low-level offences like minor drug possession would be excluded to “avoid remanding vulnerable people unnecessarily”.
The government said other safeguards would also be in place to “mitigate any disproportionate impact on vulnerable people” but it did not outline these measures in the media release.
Kilkenny said:
These laws protect the community from serious repeat offenders who endanger Victorians, while ensuring vulnerable people aren’t unfairly caught up.
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CSIRO report reveals renewable energy still cheapest
Renewable energy production is the cheapest and nuclear reactors the most expensive on the latest figures, AAP reports.
The CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, released its GenCost report on Tuesday, revealing rising construction and finance costs would push up prices for energy projects of all kinds in the coming years.
Renewable technology continued to provide the cheapest energy generation, the report’s lead author and CSIRO chief energy economist Paul Graham said.
“We’re still finding that solar PV and wind with firming is the lowest-cost, new-build low-emission technology,” he told AAP.
“In second place is gas with (carbon capture storage) … then large-scale nuclear, black coal with CCS, then the small modular reactors.”
Small modular nuclear reactors proved the most expensive technology of the eight options by a large margin.
Banks to refund charges to low-income customers
Banks will refund more than $93m to low-income customers who were charged high fees on their accounts, AAP reports.
More than a million people have already been moved to low-fee accounts, saving an expected $50m in annual fees, according to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (Asic) Better and Beyond report released today.
The review follows the Better Banking for Indigenous Consumers report, released in July 2024, which revealed at least 2 million low-income Australians, who relied on Centrelink payments, had bank accounts charging high fees.
There were 21 banks included in the latest report, which found even larger numbers of low-income Australians paying too much.
The Asic commissioner, Alan Kirkland, said:
What started as an initiative focused on addressing avoidable bank fees for low-income customers in regional and remote locations, particularly First Nations consumers, revealed a much wider problem affecting customers nationwide.
Since July 2024, the four banks involved in the initial report – ANZ, Bendigo Bank, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank (including Bankwest) – have paid more than $33m in refunds to the customers identified.
Three of those four banks have committed to refunds to a broader group of low-income customers who have been in high-fee accounts.
The Commonwealth Bank and BankWest have indicated they don’t intend on making payments to customers outside the initial cohort, Asic’s report said.
Several other banks have also reviewed the impact of high-fee accounts on low-income customers and have committed to remediation.
A further $60m will be refunded to more than 770,000 customers as a result.
The Asic chair, Joe Longo, said while banks had made improvements during the commission’s surveillance, there was still work to be done.
EU deal means Australia unlikely to secure US tariff exemption, experts say
Australia’s hopes for a total tariff exemption are dwindling as Donald Trump’s deals with other nations lay bare the limits of trade negotiations, Australian Associated Press reports.
Since pushing his tariff deadline to 1 August, the US president has struck trade agreements with Japan, and overnight, the European Union – much to the disgust of French ministers who think the EU has caved in to Trump.
While the deals landed on tariffs lower than Mr Trump’s initial threats, both were higher than the 10% baseline levy imposed on Australian goods.
No US trading partner has managed to completely dodge tariffs on their items.
So it seems unlikely that Anthony Albanese and his trade minister, Don Farrell, can negotiate their way out of any tariffs at all.
“Trump really does see tariffs as something that is good in themselves,” University of Sydney US politics expert David Smith told AAP.
“Even though there were a lot of hopes at the beginning of this process that countries could negotiate their way out of tariffs altogether – that’s not really happening.”
Australia, like other nations, might instead have to pivot approaches and try to strategically position its industries within these deals.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it’ll be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.
Anthony Albanese could find it hard to negotiate a tariff-free trade deal with the US after the European Union became the latest American trading partner to settle for higher tariffs on exports to the world’s biggest market. One expert warns today that it’s looking increasingly unlikely that Labor will cut a tariff-free deal. More coming up.
Four banks will refund charges to low-income customers after the financial regulator found that a much higher number of Australians were paying too much than originally thought. More on that shortly.
And Labor is going to introduce new bail laws to the Victorian parliament which it says are the “toughest” in the country, despite opposition from legal, First Nations and human rights groups. More on that too, in a few minutes.
