Key events
Prime minister receives community note on X for cost of living post
The prime minister has received a community note on X for a post attempting to highlight the government’s cost of living measures.
The post featured a CD cover mock-up titled “so helpful: Cost of living relief – Winter 2024” in reference to the 2000s album series, “So Fresh”.
It listed a number of cost of living measures the government has announced, including paid prac for students, increased rent assistance, cheaper medicine, paid parental leave “… and so much more!”
But as the community note mentioned, many of the policies do not full come into effect until much later than Winter 2024. The community note reads:
Paid prac for students doesn’t start until July 2025. More paid parental leave will be phased in by 2026. Only $75 of the $300 power bill relief will be paid by winter 2024.
Taylor asked to outline areas opposition would propose funding cuts
Host Patricia Karvelas has been questioning Angus Taylor on what the opposition would chose to cut public spending on. He responded:
The key here is not slash and burn. The key here is to make sure your economy grows faster than your spending. That is the fiscal strategy.
He wouldn’t give specifics on where cuts could be expected under the opposition, despite multiple questions from Karvelas, suggesting that spending needed to be pared back on “multiple fronts.”
Taylor did state “we don’t need corporate welfare initiatives” and spoke against the addition of 36,000 Canberra-based public servants – seemingly referencing Labor’s Future Made in Australia plan.
Would the opposition look to cut back money on infrastructure spending? Taylor responded:
Well, I’m not going to announce all of our policies now on your program. We’ll do that in good time in the lead-up to the election.
Shadow treasurer responds to 15% pay rise for childcare workers
The shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, has been speaking with ABC RN after news the government will fund a 15% pay rise for childcare workers.
Asked if he supported the move, he said the opposition would work its way through the specifics and responded:
We want to see higher real wages for all Australians right now, and we know the primary way to achieve that is to beat inflation … And if we’ve got a situation with real wages going backwards – which it has been the case for Australians since Labor came to power – then we’re not getting the outcome …
The principle of higher real wages for all Australians is one we will always support, but you can’t achieve that if prices continue to go up at the rate they have been.
Australia achieves best result for a single Olympic day with six-medal haul
Wednesday will go down as one of the greatest days in Australia’s Olympics history, as Matt Wearn, Keegan Palmer, the men’s track cycling pursuit team and Nina Kennedy all won gold.
The six-medal haul (including two bronze) was easily Australia’s best for a single Olympic day – and it took the team to a total of 18 gold medals, 12 silvers and 11 bronze, a total of 41 and the best return in the country’s history.
Catch all the details of what you missed overnight below, from our sports editor, Mike Hytner, in Paris:
The prime minister was asked about criticism that increased public spending is fuelling inflation.
Anthony Albanese pointed to two budget surpluses and said this, plus cost-of-living measures, are applying downward pressure:
Fee-free Tafe, cheaper childcare, energy price relief – all of these measures are aimed at making sure we look after people but do so in a way that’s designed to see inflation continuing to moderate, which is what we want to make sure happens.
15% pay rise for early education workers to ensure stable workforce: PM
Anthony Albanese was also asked about an offer being put forward for childcare centres and workers – set to receive a 15% pay increase funded by the government, if centres agree to limit fee increases.
Asked what this would achieve, the PM said:
What this will do is deliver a 15% wage increase. 10% in December – over $100 in their pocket, as well as a further 5% increase on 1 December the following year, in 2025.
This is a two-year commitment … They deserve decent wages and conditions, and the Productivity Commission inquiry has shown that, unless we do something about wages in this sector, we won’t have a workforce.
PM to welcome Olympic athletes home to Australia next week
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking with ABC News Breakfast. First up, he congratulated the Australian athletes bringing home gold medals at the Paris Olympics:
[It’s] the best-ever performance by an Australian team at an Olympic Games, and all Australians are so proud of our team … Parliament is sitting next week, so I’ll be flying up pretty early [on Wednesday] – either that or late the night before – and welcoming them home.
They deserve absolutely every accolade that we can give them because it is uplifting. At a time when there’s so much conflict and turmoil and bad news in the world, what they have given Australians is a great deal of pleasure and pride.
Australia ‘sleepwalking into big corporate economy’, ombudsman says
Australia is “sleepwalking” into an economy dominated by big players, warns an ombudsman calling for tax discounts and other policies to advance small business.
As AAP reports, small firms are still a major employer and sizeable contributor to the nation’s economic activity, but Australian small business and family enterprise ombudsman Bruce Billson says their prominence is slipping.
In 2006, small firms contributed 40% of gross domestic product and employed 53% of those with a private-sector job. Now, small firms contribute 33% to GDP and make up 42% of the private workforce. Billson said:
This is a worrying trajectory. We are sleepwalking into a ‘big corporate’ economy.
Challenges brought on by the pandemic recovery have further weakened the small business sector, with small outfits particularly vulnerable to inflationary pressures and higher interest rates.
Small businesses had been doing it tough in the Covid-19 recovery, Billson said.
If you believe, as I do, that small and family businesses are the ‘engine room of the economy’, we have lost a cylinder in a four-cylinder engine in the aftermath of Covid.
Some Australians remain living with ex-partner because of affordability concerns
A survey by comparison site Finder has found some Australians are continuing to live with an ex-partner because of affordability concerns.
A survey of 1,049 respondents found that one in five – or 17% – had remained living with an ex because of the cost of living. Four per cent were currently living with an ex, while 13% had lived with an ex in the past but had since parted ways.
Gen Z (those aged 12 to 27) were the most likely to share a home with an ex-partner due to cash flow worries, with 37% saying they had done so. This is compared with 11% of Gen X (44 to 59-year-olds) and 5% of baby boomers (60-69).
Graham Cooke, head of consumer research at Finder, said facing the housing market as a single person is daunting:
Thousands of Australians decide to separate but remain living together for a prolonged period because they can’t afford to go their separate ways … [It’s] incredibly difficult to find suitable accommodation in some parts of Australia right now so staying together under one roof might be the most realistic option in the short term.
Good morning
Emily Wind
And happy Thursday – thanks to Martin for kicking things off! I’m Emily Wind and I’ll be with you for most of today on the blog.
As always, you can reach out via X, @emilywindwrites, or you can send me an email, emily.wind@theguardian.com, with any thoughts or story tips.
Let’s get started.
Nino Bucci
More on the Victoria disclosure case, as mentioned in our previous post:
In relation to issues about disclosure in the case exposed by Guardian Australia, a spokesperson for Victoria’s Office of Public Prosecutions said that these obligations were shared with investigators and prosecutors, and that generally “the role each party plays in assessing whether all relevant material has been disclosed will depend on who has possession of the information”.
But Liberty Victoria said it appeared clear that more needed to be done to ensure compliance with these obligations, given the state’s anti-corruption commission had also recently urged the force to improve its practices. Its president, Michelle Bennett, said:
Victoria police should learn from the criticisms it has received in respect of its disclosure obligations, rather than repeat its mistakes.
The ongoing disclosure issues are familiar to those practising in criminal law and the example reported in the Guardian will not come as any surprise to them.
In Liberty Victoria’s view, it is time that the government introduce legislation for there to be serious consequences for police officers and prosecutors who fail to disclose relevant evidence.
Calls for disclosure laws after case exposed by Guardian Australia
Nino Bucci
Liberty Victoria says failures in the proper disclosure of evidence by Victoria police that were uncovered by Guardian Australia show the state government should introduce laws to protect against similar injustices.
In a statement, the civil and human rights organisation said it was deeply concerned by Guardian Australia’s reporting regarding the botched police investigation into the murder of Aguer Akech.
Guardian Australia found that flaws in the case led to a 15-year-old boy spending a year in custody before the murder charge against him was dropped.
The Liberty Victoria president, Michelle Bennett, said:
Liberty Victoria is deeply concerned by recent reports in the Guardian of a 15-year-old child being charged with murder and remanded in custody for almost a year on the basis of fundamentally flawed evidence in circumstances where police had failed to disclose relevant and exculpatory evidence.
The case highlights ongoing issues of Victoria police failing to properly abide by its duty of disclosure. Disclosure is of fundamental importance in every case, however it is gravely worrying that Victoria police failed to abide by their obligations in circumstances where a child was being held in custody as a result of, in Justice Hollingworth’s words, a “corrupted process”.
These reports raise many questions about the standards that we as a community should expect and demand from criminal investigations and prosecutions. Disclosure of all evidence – regardless of whether it assists the prosecution or not – is a fundamental and basic right of every member of our community who is investigated or prosecuted for a criminal offence.
Victoria police said in relation to disclosure in the case that it treated these matters with the “utmost importance” and ensured all employees complied with their legal obligations.
We also acknowledge that this can be a time-consuming process during any investigation. In relation to this matter, advice was sought on a number of occasions from the [Victorian government solicitor’s office] and a significant amount of time was required to undertake redaction of a large amount of material.
New Zealand PM Chris Luxon takes swipe at Australians
New Zealand’s prime minister says “in my dealings with Australians it always pays to be incredibly simple”.
As AAP reports, the quip by the National party leader, Chris Luxon, came in response to questioning from the Labour opposition leader, Chris Hipkins, over the government’s use of the Māori language, known as te reo Māori.
This week, broadcasters TVNZ revealed the culture minister, Paul Goldsmith, instructed officials to remove several te reo expressions from an invitation to Matariki, the annual celebrations of the Māori New Year. The invitation was bound for Tony Burke, Australia’s multicultural affairs minister.
The Māori words included the greeting “tena koe” (meaning hello), the sign-off “naku noa, na” (which became “yours sincerely”), and the removal of the widely accepted Māori name for New Zealand: Aotearoa.
Te reo is an official language of New Zealand, along with sign language and the de facto English, and increasingly spoken by Māori after decades of decline – in part due to hostile government policies.
Luxon’s right-leaning coalition has reduced its use in government since taking office last November. Goldsmith said he didn’t think Burke would know what Aotearoa meant:
It’s hardly the scandal of the century. I just didn’t think it needed a lot of te reo in it … I thought, let’s just keep it simple.
In parliament yesterday, Hipkins included Goldsmith’s letter in a line of questioning to Luxon around ministerial standards. Luxon:
Well, I would just say to that member, we value te reo in this government. The correspondence was being directed to an Australian minister overseas and what I’d say to you in my dealings with Australians, it always pays to be incredibly simple and clear and use English.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer with the best of the overnight stories before my colleague Emily Wind takes over.
Our top story this morning is that the New South Wales environment watchdog has vowed to crack down on the waste industry after tests found asbestos at seven of 13 facilities producing or handling cheap landscaping products. A Guardian Australia investigation revealed earlier this year that similar tests in 2013 and 2019 found potentially contaminated products had been distributed across the state. More coming up.
A Guardian investigation this week into Victoria police’s mishandling of the murder of 17-year-old Aguer Akech has prompted calls for the state government to introduce laws to protect against similar injustices. Liberty Victoria said this morning it was “gravely worrying that Victoria police failed to abide by their obligations in circumstances where a child was being held in custody as a result of, in Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth’s words, a “corrupted process”. More coming up.
Ocean temperatures in the Great Barrier Reef are now the hottest in at least 400 years and are an “existential threat” to the planet’s unique natural wonder, according to a report in Nature. Scientists analysed long-lived corals in and around the reef that keep a record of temperature hidden in their skeleton and matched them to modern observations. The “existential threat” to the reef from the climate crisis was “now realised”, the scientists wrote, and without ambitious and rapid cuts to greenhouse gas emissions “we will likely be witness to the demise of one of the Earth’s natural wonders”.
And New Zealand’s prime minister has made a quip in parliament about the intelligence of Australians that didn’t go so well. The National party leader, Chris Luxon, said “in my dealings with Australians it always pays to be incredibly simple”. More on that soon.