PM and Asean secretary-general discuss Myanmar ahead of bilateral meetings
Henry Belot
The Asean summit in Melbourne is beginning to kick into gear today. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has half a dozen bilateral meetings scheduled with the leaders of Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste, Brunei, Cambodia and Indonesia.
This will be a last chance for Albanese to meet with the outgoing Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, who will soon be replaced by Prabowo Subianto.
Albanese has just concluded a meeting with the secretary general of Asean, Dr Kao Kim Hourn, which among many topics, focused on the regional bloc’s “efforts to find a resolution on Myanmar”.
Three years on from the military coup, the situation in Myanmar is being discussed by many leaders ahead of a negotiated statement by the group of nations.
Earlier this morning, the independent MP for Goldstein, Zoe Daniel, argued that Asean hadn’t done enough on the issue and needed to do more. Daniel cited “a desire within Asean for economic cooperation and to try to take that route with the junta as a form of leverage”.
Key events
Henry Belot
Business group calls for improved ‘political risk’ insurance to boost investment in south-east Asia
The Business Council of Australia‘s chief executive, Bran Black, has welcomed the Albanese government’s $2bn fund to “turbocharge” trade and investment in south-east Asia, with a focus on clean energy and infrastructure.
Black has held a short press conference on the sidelines of the Asean conference in Melbourne to talk about trade and investment opportunities for Australian businesses operating in south-east Asia.
Black has also supported calls for a new form of political risk insurance, which would allow Australian investors to partly or fully share risk with government agencies that also have an interest in the investment. The insurance would guard against the risk of projects collapsing due to political instability, or issues like corruption. The proposal was raised in a recent report by Australia’s special envoy for southeast-Asia, Nicholas Moore.
Here’s Black’s take:
That recommendation, particularly, is very interesting. We are very interested in seeing what that would look like… No business relationship can be risk free, but to the extent that you can minimise risks, to the extent you can work together, that’s ultimately [a good thing].
Eden Gillespie
The Queensland premier has apologised for denying he sent a text message to a Labor colleague in response to a question asked in parliament earlier this year.
Nine News reported on Monday the premier, Steven Miles, allegedly sent a message to member for Pumicestone, Ali King, which advised her to rise during a parliamentary sitting and apologise for telling prospective Queensland Health employees to send their resumes to her office.
In February, Miles denied sending a text message to King and a right to information request returned no correspondence.
But in parliament on Monday, Miles rose to correct the record after Nine obtained a photograph of King’s phone taken in the chamber by another MP.
Miles said he answered to the “best of” his “recollection” at the time.
I wish to update the House and advise that I, as the Member for Murrumba, did text the Member for Pumicestone during the Question Time which was the subject of the Members question and [right to information request].
The text message was from 6 months prior, and I did not recall it at the time.
Attorney-general Mark Dreyfus has announced Katie Kiss will be the next Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner.
In a statement, Dreyfus said the commissioner’s role is to lead the Australian Human Rights Commission’s (AHRC) work relating to the human rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Her five-year appointment will commence on 3 April, filling a vacancy after June Oscar’s appointment concluded. Dreyfus said:
Ms Kiss has extensive experience in public policy and human rights, including work promoting and protecting the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for a wide variety of government and non-government organisations.
I congratulate Ms Kiss on her appointment and thank her for taking on this important role. I also take this opportunity to thank Ms Oscar for her outstanding contribution during her term of appointment.
The AHRC also welcomed Kiss’ appointment. President Rosalind Croucher said this is a “delicate and critical time”, and following the “disappointment” of last year’s Voice referendum, it has become “even more imperative for Australia to heal and find solutions to support and empower its First Nations communities”.
Independent MP for Kooyong Monique Ryan says that the Coalition’s nuclear push is “not a serious policy contribution”.
Earlier today, opposition leader Peter Dutton said the Coalition’s pre-election energy policy would include large-scale nuclear power plants and small modular reactors.
Ryan, in a post to X, responded to the announcement and said:
Raising nuclear now is not a serious policy contribution. It is a way to keep the climate wars going for as long as possible.
The Coalition receives $100,000s every year from fossil fuel companies. Its MPs routinely question climate science and have always backed coal and gas.
Raising nuclear now is not a serious policy contribution. It is a way to keep the climate wars going for as long as possible.
— Dr Monique Ryan MP (@Mon4Kooyong) March 4, 2024
NSW premier says new polling is a ‘good wake-up call’ for his government
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has said new polling showing falling support for Labor is a “good wake-up call for the government”.
Labor’s primary vote has dropped to 34% while the coalition’s primary has increased to 38%, new polling shows. When it came to power in March 2023, Labor had a primary vote of 37%, while the coalition garnered 35.4%. We had all the details earlier in the blog here.
Responding to this, Minns said:
The temptation is to say there’s only one poll [that] counts (the election) and to shrug it off. But I have to say we take it seriously and it’s a good wake-up call for the government.
The message to MPs would be to have a renewed focus on living cost increases that were affecting families, he said.
We have to constantly be working on their behalf and delivering to household budgets.
– with AAP
PM and Asean secretary-general discuss Myanmar ahead of bilateral meetings
Henry Belot
The Asean summit in Melbourne is beginning to kick into gear today. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has half a dozen bilateral meetings scheduled with the leaders of Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste, Brunei, Cambodia and Indonesia.
This will be a last chance for Albanese to meet with the outgoing Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, who will soon be replaced by Prabowo Subianto.
Albanese has just concluded a meeting with the secretary general of Asean, Dr Kao Kim Hourn, which among many topics, focused on the regional bloc’s “efforts to find a resolution on Myanmar”.
Three years on from the military coup, the situation in Myanmar is being discussed by many leaders ahead of a negotiated statement by the group of nations.
Earlier this morning, the independent MP for Goldstein, Zoe Daniel, argued that Asean hadn’t done enough on the issue and needed to do more. Daniel cited “a desire within Asean for economic cooperation and to try to take that route with the junta as a form of leverage”.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese has shared this photo to social media ahead of further Asean meetings in Melbourne today.
He thanked “all the staff working around the clock to make this summit possible”.
This week, Australia will proudly host Southeast Asia’s leaders in Melbourne for the ASEAN-Australia Summit.
Working together, we are shaping the future we want to see for our region. pic.twitter.com/MZO7e6w09z
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) March 4, 2024
Foreign minister Penny Wong has shared photos meeting with Thailand’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister Dr Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara:
Australia and Thailand share a longstanding partnership based on mutual respect, trust and understanding.
An honour to welcome Deputy Prime Minister & Foreign Minister Dr Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara on his first visit to Australia in the role for the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit. pic.twitter.com/VzvS82A0zw
— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) March 4, 2024
And her meeting with Timor-Leste’s foreign minister Bendito Freitas:
Australia and Timor-Leste are close security and development partners, and we strongly support Timor-Leste’s accession to ASEAN.
Fantastic to welcome FM Freitas to Melbourne for the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit following our excellent discussions in Perth last month. pic.twitter.com/0ll10ydv2j
— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) March 4, 2024
NBN reveals plan to turbocharge high-speed tiers
NBN has launched a proposal to provide five times faster download speeds for customers connected to the nbn network, via fibre to the premises (FTTP) and hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) technologies.
According to a statement, the accelerated speeds would be made available to customers who are already using one of the three highest-speed products, and to those who upgrade to one of those three higher speed tiers in the future.
nbn is proposing to introduce the accelerated speeds within the next 12 months and today issued an industry consultation paper and, in addition to canvassing a number of implementation considerations, it is seeking retailer input on the potential to introduce the changes even sooner.
In total, approximately 9 million homes and businesses would have access to the upgraded speed tiers by December 2024, growing to up to 10.2 million eligible premises, or approximately 90 per cent of nbn’s fixed line network, by December 2025.
Anna Perrin, chief customer officer, said that ten years ago, the average Australian home had seven internet-connected devices and consumed around 40 gigabytes per month.
Today, some people would use that much data in a day.
Insurer NIB announces its premiums to go up by 4.10% on average
Private health insurance provider NIB has announced its premium will increase by an average of 4.10%, effective 1 April.
This is steeper than the 3.03% increase announced by health minister Mark Butler just earlier.
In an ASX announcement, CEO and managing director Mark Fitzgibbon said the increase reflects the return of hospital and ancillary treatment post Covid, and a rise in health and medical treatment costs.
According to Fitzgibbon, claims inflation has moved back to long-term trends and “it’s crucial that insurers are able to price for this”.
We’re doing our very best to maintain affordability yet spending is growing across healthcare, driven by an ageing population, the rose of chronic conditions and the cost of new technologies.
We’re not sitting back passively responding to inflationary pressure by just lifting premiums. We have a range of new measures designed to help members maintain good health as well as reduce out of pocket expenses.
Paul Karp
Haven’t heard gender representation issue raised: Liberal Cook candidate
The Liberal candidate for Cook, Simon Kennedy, has spoken to Sky News after he won preselection last night. Kennedy defeated the local mayor, Carmelo Pesce, and war widow Gwen Cherne and is now pretty much a lock to win the safe Liberal seat.
Asked about the issue of poor representation of women in the Liberal Party, Kennedy claimed he hadn’t “heard that issue raised” because voters are far too concerned with the cost of living.
Kennedy said that Cherne is “an outstanding candidate” who has a “bright future … hopefully in the Liberal party”.
Kennedy noted he had done a press conference with the member for Hughes, Jenny Ware, and the area is also represented by Eleni Petinos at the state level, in the seat of Miranda.
Kennedy said that party had preselected Gisele Kapterian an “outstanding candidate” in North Sydney.
Electric vehicles accounted for 9.6% of car sales in February
Battery electric vehicles accounted for 9.6% of car sales in Australia this February, according to the federal chamber of automative industries.
One in five vehicles sold were powered by low emissions technologies.
Chief executive Tony Weber said the growth in EV sales proves that “where a battery electric product exists which suits the driving habits of Australian motorists, work and recreation needs they will purchase these vehicles”.
The Tesla Model 3 was the third highest selling vehicle overall, with 3,593 sold in February. The Ford Ranger was most popular, followed by the Toyota HiLux.
Motorists’ strong preference for Utes – accounting for 20.3% of sales last month – demonstrate the challenges with the proposed New Vehicle Emissions Standard, the chamber said.
Out of 21,327 utes sold in February, only one was an EV.