Opposition calls for more information on aged care report
The shadow minister for health and aged care, Anne Ruston, just spoke to the media from Adelaide after the release of the aged care taskforce report.
Ruston said the opposition has been providing bipartisan support on this issue “for quite some time now” and remains committed to supporting “sensible changes” to ensure the sustainability of aged care into the future.
But she said if the government wants genuine bipartisan support, it needs to provide information to them quicker:
Disappointingly, the government has had this report now for three months and we only received it over the weekend.
Ruston was asked what specific elements of the report the opposition supports. She said it was “wide-ranging” and there is “not enough information for us to make comments on anything specifically”.
I think there’s some very good high level recommendations that have come from the taskforce and I commend the taskforce for the work they’ve done. But there isn’t enough information that sits behind those recommendations for us to assess what it is they’re intending to do.
Asked about the suggestion that older Australians with the means should contribute more for their aged care costs, Ruston again said there wasn’t enough information:
It is very difficult to be able to provide an answer to a question like that, when we don’t know what the intention [is] in terms of the overall deliberations about the response by the government. We stand very open, we’ll support sensible reforms, but we’ll also like to know what the details behind those reforms are before we make any commitment.
Key events
Cabinet minister Murray Watt has been asked what would need to happen before the Australian government restores $6m in emergency funding for UNRWA.
Australia was among more than a dozen donor countries to suspend funding to the agency in late January, after the Israeli government alleged that 12 UNRWA staff members were involved in the 7 October Hamas-led attacks on Israel.
Here’s what Watt told ABC a few moments ago:
I think there is widespread recognition not just within the government, but right around the world, that we do need to see more aid delivered into Gaza at the moment.
The conditions that people are living in our horrible and they clearly need help.
The issues with UNRWA have been widely ventilated and it is appropriate that an investigation is undertaken. But I know that [foreign minister] Penny Wong is working incredibly hard to have this situation resolved and to explore the best way to get aid in where it is most desperately needed.
Opening Round balances out MCG grand final: Longmire
Switching to sport for a moment: Sydney Swans coach John Longmire has declared it is only fair to keep the interstate Opening Round on the AFL calendar if the grand final is to be played exclusively at the MCG.
As AAP reports, Longmire floated the possibility of one day moving the grand final interstate, though conceding such a move was probably “off the agenda” for now.
The AFL’s inaugural Opening Round proved a hit with local fans across four games between the emerging Brisbane and Sydney markets last weekend.
Here’s what Longmire said:
The MCG has the grand final every year, I think that’s just a reality that everyone accepts that it’s very difficult to get everything equal and we deal with that all the time.
Having a couple of games up here probably balances it out okay.
Tamsin Rose
Surplus ‘virtually impossible’ for NSW: treasurer
A surplus in the New South Wales budget was far less likely following recommendations from the Commonwealth Grants Commission (CGC) to reshape the GST carve-up released on Tuesday.
The state treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, said a surplus was now “virtually impossible”.
He said:
It will take a miracle. Equally, I want to be clear that this is going to pile even more pressure on the state’s triple-A credit rating, which was already under immense pressure from the moment this government was sworn in.
He said the government would not make any “sudden jerk movements” on service delivery and would instead “calmly and methodically work our way through this decision”.
The treasurer also took aim at the Commonwealth Grants Commission process, saying that “a system this absurd cannot last”.
You can read more on this here:
Seniors body says transparency essential in user-pays aged care model
National Seniors Australia says there must be transparency and a robust complaints system if the government decides to require wealthy Australians to pay more for the cost of their aged care.
A government-appointed expert panel has recommended the user-pays model, potentially from a resident’s superannuation balance, in a bid to reduce financial pressure on the struggling sector.
Chris Grice from National Seniors Australia has spoke to the ABC about the proposal:
From our perspective, if there are contributions that will apply going forward, there must be transparency. People have got to understand it. It doesn’t matter whether it’s personal, individual, or the government, there should be transparency as to how money’s being spent.
Also, importantly, there has to be a robust complaints system.
Alleged Nazi salutes at Melbourne cinema sparks police probe
Police are investigating after Nazi salutes were allegedly performed and racial slurs yelled by a group of people during the screening of a Holocaust movie.
As AAP reports, the salute allegedly occurred at Cinema Nova in Carlton on Saturday night as moviegoers watched Zone of Interest, which is set at Auschwitz concentration camp.
A Victoria police spokesperson said the force “understands incidents of anti-Semitism can leave communities feeling targeted, threatened, and vulnerable” and should not be tolerated:
It is believed a group of patrons performed a Nazi salute and called out a racial slur at a cinema on Lygon Street about 9.15pm.
The exact circumstances surrounding the incident are yet to be determined and the investigation is ongoing.
Vacancy rates drop as rents increase in most capital cities
Some more tough news for renters: Vacancy rates in Sydney, Canberra, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne and Brisbane have all fallen, according to SMQ research.
The total number of rental vacancies Australia-wide now stands at 30,161 residential properties across Australia, down from 32,108 in January.
According to SMQ Research, this has led to an increase in capital city asking rents. Unit rents jumped by 1.2% in the 30 days to 12 March. Melbourne recorded the fastest increase at 1.5%, while Darwin and Hobart recorded declines in rents of 2.1% and 0.1% respectively.
Here’s the managing director of SMQ Research, Louis Christopher:
Our rental market update today reveals a further decline in rental vacancy rates cross the nation.
Most likely the fall in rental vacancies was driven by increased demand from tertiary students following the start of campus semesters for 2024, as well as graduates entering the workforce for the first time.
It is a seasonal demand increase we see at the start of each and every year but is most certainly problematic due to the fact the current rental market remains in crisis.
Emily Wind
Many thanks for joining me on the blog today. Henry Belot will guide you through the rest of our rolling coverage today. Take care!
Government opens consultation on ‘buy now, pay later’ draft bill
The Albanese government has opened consultation on draft legislation to regulate “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) products.
In a joint statement from the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and assistant treasurer Stephen Jones, they said the government is committed to “a financial system that leads to good consumer outcomes with appropriate safeguards in place”.
The pair note that BNPL products have created new opportunities in the economy, adding as much to $18.4bn to GDP and supporting more than 120,000 new jobs, according to the Australian Finance Industry Association.
But at the same time, BNPL products aren’t subject to the same regulatory framework that applies to other credit products, the pair noted.
This can lead to poor product disclosure, inadequate dispute resolution processes, excessive default fees and unaffordable lending practices that lead to hardship and financial stress.
That’s why the government is taking action to regulate BNPL. The draft legislation released today amends the law to bring BNPL into line with other types of credit. This will ensure Australians can continue to enjoy the benefits of BNPL while receiving appropriate protections.
Under the proposed reforms, BNPL providers will be required to hold an Australian credit licence, and take steps to ensure they are lending responsibly.
Exposure draft legislation can be found on the Treasury website, and submissions will remain open until 9 April.
Paul Fletcher touted ‘real benefits’ of fuel standards reform in 2017 op-ed
Circling back to Anthony Albanese’s earlier press conference, where he revealed Paul Fletcher had approached him about fuel standards policy when the Coalition held government:
My colleague Daniel Hurst has found this op-ed from Fletcher, published in August 2017, arguing that reforms to Australia’s fuel efficiency standards “has the potential to deliver real benefits”.
Liberal MP Fletcher held ministerial office from 2015 to 2022, under PMs Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison. Here is what he wrote about fuel efficiency standards back in 2017:
Fuel efficiency standards are about reducing fuel costs and carbon emissions at the same time. Eighty per cent of the global vehicle passenger fleet is subject to fuel efficiency standards, but Australia has none… If Australia had fuel efficiency standards in line with comparable nations, estimates of the fuel saving per passenger vehicle could be above $500 per year, or nearly $28 billion in total by 2040.
Given the long distances travelled in regional Australia, the savings could be even greater for people living outside the main cities. Consumers could also benefit from accessing better vehicles as manufacturers are currently holding back some of their latest fuel efficient stock from Australia.
Fletcher wrote that it was “important to get the balance right and fully understand the implications of any changes” before deciding on a timetable for reform, but argued fuel efficiency standards have “the potential to deliver real benefits”.
Henry Belot
Pokie venues ‘lack understanding’ about money laundering: watchdog
Pubs and clubs across Australia have demonstrated “a lack of understanding” about how poker machines can be used to launder the proceeds of crime, the financial crime watchdog has warned.
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre’s (Austrac) manager of regulator operations, Brad Brown, said this was despite high-profile warnings from law enforcement agencies.
In 2022, a joint law enforcement agency inquiry into money laundering in NSW found billions of dollars in “dirty” money being gambled in pubs and clubs in the state every year.
Brown told the Regulating the Game conference in Sydney that many unnamed organisations had not improved their practices since then:
We have concerns in pubs and clubs with electronic gaming machines around the identification of risks. Many clubs, pubs and clubs are continuing to be reliant on manual transaction monitoring.
We have concerns around a lack of understanding about the risk posed in the sector more generally. In particular, the main risks that were called out by the New South Wales Crime Commission’s Project Islington, which exposed spending and lifestyle considerations and activities. That is: persons gambling the proceeds of crime.
Opposition calls for more information on aged care report
The shadow minister for health and aged care, Anne Ruston, just spoke to the media from Adelaide after the release of the aged care taskforce report.
Ruston said the opposition has been providing bipartisan support on this issue “for quite some time now” and remains committed to supporting “sensible changes” to ensure the sustainability of aged care into the future.
But she said if the government wants genuine bipartisan support, it needs to provide information to them quicker:
Disappointingly, the government has had this report now for three months and we only received it over the weekend.
Ruston was asked what specific elements of the report the opposition supports. She said it was “wide-ranging” and there is “not enough information for us to make comments on anything specifically”.
I think there’s some very good high level recommendations that have come from the taskforce and I commend the taskforce for the work they’ve done. But there isn’t enough information that sits behind those recommendations for us to assess what it is they’re intending to do.
Asked about the suggestion that older Australians with the means should contribute more for their aged care costs, Ruston again said there wasn’t enough information:
It is very difficult to be able to provide an answer to a question like that, when we don’t know what the intention [is] in terms of the overall deliberations about the response by the government. We stand very open, we’ll support sensible reforms, but we’ll also like to know what the details behind those reforms are before we make any commitment.