The shadow energy minister, Dan Tehan, says Australia is now an active participant in the war in the Middle East, after a decision to deploy surveillance aircraft to help protect civilians – including Australian civilians – in the region.
Speaking to RN Breakfast soon after the prime minister announced the deployment of the E-7A Wedgetail surveillance aircraft, upon request by the United Arab Emirates, Tehan said that on principle, it was the right thing for Australia to be playing a role in the conflict.
“Given that Australia will be providing military assistance to the UAE, are we now active participants in this war?” he was asked.
I think by the very nature of that action, yes, we are [participants to this war]. And we’re doing that because we want to keep Australians safe and we want to see an end to this evil Iranian [regime].
We want to be doing our bit to keep the region safe and obviously bring this conflict to an end. You know, the best thing that can happen now is for the Iranian regime to say, enough’s enough.
He says the Coalition looks forward to receiving a briefing from Labor on any requests made to Australia to provide military support in the Middle East.
No questions to PM on UAE deployment in Labor partyroom
No Labor MP asked questions to the prime minister about the Middle East deployment of ADF members in their weekly caucus meeting today, according to a partyroom spokesperson.
The partyroom, which meets each week during parliament sittings, heard a report from Albanese about his phone call with Donald Trump overnight, the humanitarian visas granted to Iranian women’s football players, and the decision to deploy a surveillance aircraft and personnel, as well as contribute missiles, to the United Arab Emirates.
Albanese has stressed Australia isn’t contributing to the offensive efforts against Iran, characterising the government’s contribution as being about protecting Australians in the region – but we’re told there were no questions to the PM about the military decision.
Several Labor MPs asked energy minister Chris Bowen and Jim Chalmers about reports of petrol and diesel shortages, though. Bowen repeated his public statements about Australia having adequate supplies of diesel, and that there had been no interruption to shipping to Australia, but conceded that demand had spiked and some suppliers were having difficulty in meeting demand.
Chalmers said the ACCC was keeping an eye on petrol prices spiking, and said some of the increases at the bowser were not defensible by suppliers or retailers.
Households bracing for cost-of-living blow amid Middle East conflict
Australians are bracing for the Iran war-linked rises in petrol prices to deliver another cost-of-living blow, with ANZ’s weekly sentiment survey showing inflation expectations recorded their biggest increase on record.
Consumer confidence collapsed to its weakest level since mid-2023, the latest survey also showed, as average fuel prices in the major cities have jumped by about 25 cents since the start of the month, according to Motormouth.
Inflation expectations spiked by 0.8 percentage points to 6.1%, the highest since late 2022 during the last global energy shock triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. NAB economists have warned inflation could reach 5% by the middle of the year, from 3.9% now.
The ANZ survey was completed before the weekend’s surge in global oil prices to nearly US$120 a barrel.
The Reserve Bank’s governor, Michele Bullock, has flagged that the central bank may have to respond to higher oil prices amid a global inflationary pulse linked to the Iranian war.
Financial markets and economists expect the cash rate to stay at 3.85% at the conclusion of the RBA board’s next board meeting in a week’s time.
Greens attack Labor’s ‘mission creep’ in Iran war
The Greens will push the Albanese government on its decision to send aircraft and air-to-air missiles to the United Arab Emirates, believing it’s not in Australia’s national interest.
At a party room briefing this morning, the minor progressive party discussed the Labor government’s announcement to deploy 85 defence force members by midweek to the region, along with a specialist surveillance aircraft and air-to-air missiles.
Earlier this morning, the Greens’ defence and foreign affairs spokesperson, David Shoebridge, said Labor’s “mission creep” and “deception” has been frightening.
Shoebridge said:
Labor has gone from supporting the war politically, to having Australian personnel part of US military attacks, to now putting troops on the ground.
If we want to protect people in the region, the best thing the Albanese government could do is call for an end to the war, withdraw support and stop all military engagement.
Human rights groups welcome protection for Iranian women’s soccer players
Refugee and human rights groups have welcomed the granting of humanitarian visas to five members of the Iranian women’s soccer team.
They say it represents a recognition of the very real dangers the women would have faced in returning to Iran.
The government has granted visas to five players, but said the door is open to more women if they want to seek asylum.
The Refugee Council of Australia’s chief executive, Paul Power, said:
Australia’s protection system exists for exactly these kinds of situations, to ensure that people who face serious harm if returned to their country have the opportunity to seek safety and have their claims properly considered.
Amnesty International welcomed the decision but says it also remains concerned about the wellbeing of the rest of the Iranian women’s team players.
Amnesty International Australia’s Zaki Haidari said he hopes the government continues to “protect people who have a well-founded fear of persecution in their home country”.
We thank the Australian public and international supporters who have shown solidarity with the Iranian women’s soccer team, offering their support and advocating for them to be welcomed and allowed to remain in Australia. We celebrate the courage of these women and commend their bravery in peacefully speaking out for their rights.
Super bill a ‘down payment’ on genuine taxation reform say Greens
The Greens say they will support the government’s superannuation tax reforms, as a “signal of our determination to see a serious, progressive tax reform package in the upcoming budget”.
Under the superannuation tax changes, the concessional tax rate on earnings for balances between $3m and $10m will double from 15% to 30%.
Balances above $10m will be subject to a new, higher 40% rate.
The Greens Treasury spokesperson, Nick McKim, says he’s disappointed that the government watered down its original bill which proposed to tax unrealised gains.
We are going to support the bill as a down payment on genuine, progressive tax reform in this budget. This budget is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for ambitious tax reform, and we are opening the door for Labor to walk through.
The current tax system has turbocharged the housing crisis, wealth inequality and a deepening intergenerational divide.
What’s happening today?
After a particularly busy morning with confirmation that five women on the Iranian women’s football team have been granted asylum in Australia and that the government will deploy a surveillance aircraft and missiles to the UAE in a “defensive” capacity to protect civilians, what’s actually going to happen in parliament for the rest of the day?
Great question (if I do say so myself).
The parties are currently holding their party room briefings where they discuss positions on policy, and generally give each other a bit of a gee up for the week ahead. The parties will soon conduct their post party room briefings to the media (which we’ll bring you the details of once they happen).
Both houses will begin sitting at noon today, and while the agenda in the House of Reps will be a little on the thinner side, the government’s superannuation bill will be debated in the Senate today, where it will pass this week with the Greens’ support.
And of course we can look forward to question time at 2pm!
NSW rezones one of ‘world’s best neighbourhoods’ amid concern over housing targets
The NSW government has announced the proposed rezoning of a neighbourhood chosen as one of the world’s coolest, which it says will deliver as many as 18,300 homes, a more than 3,000 increase on its previous plans.
The rezoning of the 800-metre area around the under-construction metro station at Burwood will include buildings between eight and 42 storeys high, expanding on a plan announced in August last year to build 15,000 homes. The NSW planning minister, Paul Scully, says:
Burwood already ranks as one of world’s best neighbourhoods and with both the Sydney CBD and Parramatta set to be a quick 10-minute trip from the new Burwood North Metro station it’s a no brainer to support its continued growth.
The government is attempting to plug the gap following the rejection of a proposal to redevelop the Rosehill Racecourse to build 25,000 homes. This month it announced the creation of a new suburb – to be known as Bays West – around Glebe Island, the home of Sydney’s remaining working port, with as many as 8,500 new homes.
At budget estimates last month, Scully rejected the opposition’s suggestion the government was 40% behind on its National Housing Accord targets to build 377,000 new homes by 2029, but said: “I would prefer to be much further advanced.”
Analysis by the Urban Development Institute of Australia suggests NSW will fall 157,000 dwellings behind the national five-year targets, but Scully said with two-and-a-half years remaining, NSW had the highest number of dwellings under construction of any state, and was seeing growth in housing completions.
Australia ‘dragged into another US forever war’, say Greens
The Greens are scathing of the government’s decision to deploy a military surveillance aircraft and missile to the UAE to protect civilians in Gulf nations against attacks from Iran.
The Greens leader, Larissa Waters, says the assertion by the government that the troops on the surveillance aircraft and the military assets are only being used for defensive purposes is a “fig leaf”.
Waters says Australians don’t want to get dragged into this conflict and into another “forever war”.
Labor shouldn’t be sending troops to help a military that’s killed 150 schoolchildren in a primary school bombing. That will only escalate an illegal conflict that’s already spiralling out of control, and leave Australia trapped in yet another forever war.
Greens senator David Shoebridge says the deployment of troops (85 defence personnel will be sent on the surveillance E-7A Wedgetail) is contrary to the national interest.
It’s been just over a week and the mission creep and deception from Labor is frightening. Labor has gone from supporting the war politically, to having Australian personnel part of US military attacks, to now putting troops on the ground.
‘You can’t fix a problem if you can’t admit there is one’: McKenzie
Leader of the Nationals in the Senate, Bridget McKenzie has lashed out at the government over concerns around fuel shortages around the country.
The government has been trying to allay fears and calm the country, and has said panic buying makes the problem worse.
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, says Australia enters the crisis “very well prepared”.
McKenzie tells journalists at Parliament House that Bowen should be doing more to protect regional supply chains and stop Australians getting “slugged at the bowser”.
This has huge implications for Australian industry and Australian households. You can’t fix a problem if you don’t admit there is one. And last week, we saw senior cabinet ministers telling us that prices were holding steady.
The shadow energy minister, Dan Tehan, says Australia is now an active participant in the war in the Middle East, after a decision to deploy surveillance aircraft to help protect civilians – including Australian civilians – in the region.
Speaking to RN Breakfast soon after the prime minister announced the deployment of the E-7A Wedgetail surveillance aircraft, upon request by the United Arab Emirates, Tehan said that on principle, it was the right thing for Australia to be playing a role in the conflict.
“Given that Australia will be providing military assistance to the UAE, are we now active participants in this war?” he was asked.
I think by the very nature of that action, yes, we are [participants to this war]. And we’re doing that because we want to keep Australians safe and we want to see an end to this evil Iranian [regime].
We want to be doing our bit to keep the region safe and obviously bring this conflict to an end. You know, the best thing that can happen now is for the Iranian regime to say, enough’s enough.
He says the Coalition looks forward to receiving a briefing from Labor on any requests made to Australia to provide military support in the Middle East.
No issues of fuel supply, but Australia not building 90-day stockpile, says Bowen
Chris Bowen’s had a very busy morning: shortly before appearing at a press conference with the prime minister, the energy minister spoke with RN Breakfast, saying for the hundredth time that there’s no need for petrol stockpiling.
He says Australia enters this crisis “very well prepared”, and adds that panic buying makes the situation worse, not better.
On criticisms that Australia isn’t following the International Energy Agency recommendation for a 90-day fuel stockpile, Bowen says that isn’t for fuel being held domestically but “to sell to international markets to help reduce prices”.
We haven’t had 90 days and not [on] one day of the Abbott-Turnbull Morrison government did we have 90 days. There’s a good reason for that, Sally, it’s very expensive to build 90 days’ worth of supply, that would cost $20bn over the next four years. Now, I’ve seen David Littleproud and Ted O’Brien saying they want to move to 90 days, well, I look forward to seeing the costings.
Four flights scheduled to depart from Dubai to Australia today
Four flights from Dubai to Sydney, Melbourne and Perth are scheduled to depart from Dubai today, though the situation remains volatile.
The first flight, from Dubai to Sydney, is due to depart in a few minutes.
The government has confirmed that 2,697 Australians have arrived back home from the UAE on 18 direct flights since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran.
The government is still encouraging all Australians in the Middle East to take up commercial flights when they’re available, and have been bussing Australians from Qatar to Riyadh to fly out of the Saudi Arabian capital.
Australian shares are poised to rebound strongly today after Donald Trump called the war on Iran a “short-term excursion”, raising investor hopes that oil supply in the Middle East would soon normalise.
Futures pricing indicates the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 will rise more than 2.2% this morning to the 8,750 point market, erasing a large part of yesterday’s steep losses.
Equity markets have been pulled up and down by the Middle East conflict given energy disruptions and increased oil costs contribute to global inflation by elevating costs across nearly all goods and services.
The latest bout of optimism was sparked by Trump’s comments overnight indicating the conflict could end sooner than expected. He also said vessels were already beginning to move more freely through the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
Oil prices fell overnight in response and Wall Street stocks climbed, paving the way for a bounce on the ASX today.
Chris Weston, the head of research at Melbourne-based financial firm Pepperstone, said this morning that the “pressure valve” has clearly been released for now.
However, volatility across energy markets remains exceptionally elevated.
Burke posts picture with five Iranian women’s football team players
Tony Burke has posted a picture meeting the five Iranian women’s football team players who will now live in Australia with humanitarian visas.
The government announced this morning it had been working with the players and security agencies over several days to grant them asylum.
Burke quickly took to social media to spread the good news (and post the obligatory “signing the important document photo”).
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theguardian.com
