What you need to know today
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Here’s what you need to know today.
Minister defends jobseeker overhaul
Earlier today we reported that Australia’s employment services system will get its first overhaul since being privatised by the Howard government almost 30 years ago.
The one-size-fits-all system will be changed to split jobseekers into three streams that will determine which job-seeking services they can access as well as their obligations.
Minister Amanda Rishworth addressed the National Press Club this afternoon, after which she was asked why the government was not bringing back a fully government-run, free employment service “if the market is failing and the services are of poor quality”.
“Firstly I would say our employment services – whichever stream you’re in – will be free, and I would acknowledge that we have seen through stream one, investment in the Australian public service,” she replied.
Marles: ‘AUKUS is happening’
Defence Minister Richard Marles has brushed off a question about the fragility of the AUKUS security deal with the United States and United Kingdom.
While speaking on the sidelines of the Indian Ocean Defence and Security conference in Perth, Marles was asked whether Australia needed to “massively invest” in drones and unmanned marine vessels “in case the AUKUS subs never arrive”.
“AUKUS is happening,” Marles replied. “I’m really confident we will see the Virginia Class submarines come in the early 2030s in the timeframe that has been agreed. We are confident about … the US industrial and sustainment bases.”
Marles said the nuclear-powered submarines were on track at South Australia’s Osbourne Naval Shipyard as well.
Marles’ comments comes after former ambassador to Washington Joe Hockey said yesterday he was worried about the possibility the United States will not supply nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, as promised under the AUKUS pact, because of faltering American production rates.
Reconciliation Week: Government urged to create formal truth telling commission
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has welcomed Victoria’s former Yoorook justice commissioner Travis Lovett to the forecourt of Australian Parliament House at the culmination of the First Nations statesman’s 800km walk from Portland, in Victoria’s south-west, to deliver the “walk for truth” petition calling for an Australia-wide truth-telling project.
Dressed in a kangaroo-skin cloak and holding up a kangaroo-skin petition, Lovett told the crowd: “This is the moment that has come to meet you. This walk has reached the steps of Parliament, but it must not be allowed to end at the stone and glass of this place.
Let this be where the country turns its face towards the truth. Let this be where the delay ends … I ask this country to walk the next part with us.”
In August 2024, following the 2023 defeat of the Voice to Parliament referendum, Albanese told the ABC his government had not committed to creating a formal truth-telling commission, despite providing $5.8 million towards establishing a Makaratta commission to explore truth-telling and treaty.
“That’s not what we have proposed,” he told the ABC’s Insiders program. “What we’ve proposed is Makarrata just being the idea of coming together.”
Drones that fell from the sky during Vivid show are still in the water
Authorities are still figuring out what to do about the drones that ended up in Sydney’s Darling Harbour on Monday night, cancelling drone shows as part of the Vivid festival.
A Vivid Sydney spokesperson said today recovery efforts are being co-ordinated with “relevant stakeholders and government agencies”, which include the NSW Environment Protection Authority.
“Assessments are ongoing regarding the safest and most practical approach to recovery operations, including any potential environmental considerations associated with the drones entering the water,” the spokesperson said.
“Visibility conditions in Darling Harbour are currently a factor in determining the timing and method of retrieval, with operators needing to ensure any recovery activity can be undertaken safely and effectively.”
Treasurer says extension to fuel excise cut unlikely
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the fuel excise cut was unlikely to be extended beyond its scheduled end next month.
“We’re … expecting to extend it, but we keep it under review really, from week to week,” Chalmers told reporters in Canberra this afternoon.
“That’s because what we’re trying to do here is to provide costly relief in the most responsible way that we can, and that means, in this case, in a temporary way.”
Two bidders remain in sale of collapsed Whyalla steelworks
The sale of Australia’s troubled Whyalla steelworks has narrowed to a final shortlist of two contenders, pitting coal billionaire Matt Latimore’s M Resources against Indian steel giant Jindal Steel.
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas and federal industry minister Tim Ayres said this morning a bidding process that had attracted more than 70 interested parties was now in its “final stages”.
The update comes just over a year after the steel mill, its associated iron ore mines and port operations – which had been owned by British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance – were pushed into administration due to tens of millions of dollars the business owed in unpaid debts and royalties.
The state government appointed KordaMentha to be Whyalla’s administrators to manage the steelworks and the sale process. Up to $1.9 billion is on offer from state and federal governments to upgrade the steelworks to a “modern, low-emission” facility if a new owner can be found.
Watch Live: Treasurer speaks after release of latest CPI figures
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has welcomed today’s inflation figures – down 0.4 points to 4.2 per cent – but warned the consequences of the Iran war would continue to linger.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has welcomed today’s inflation figures – down 0.4 points to 4.2 per cent – but warned the consequences of the Iran war would continue to linger.
He said the government’s decision to halve the fuel excise for three months helped ease price pressures.
“Treasury analysis shows that our cut to the fuel excise reduced headline inflation by around half of a percentage point,” Chalmers told reporters in Canberra.
“Automotive fuel fell 7 per cent in April. It was rising 32.8 per cent in March, and that’s why we stepped in.”
Inflation eases but price pressures remain embedded in economy
Inflation has eased back from a three-year high as the federal government’s cut to petrol excise artificially reduces the cost of living.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics this morning reported that inflation fell to 4.2 per cent in April, after spiking to 4.6 per cent in March.
Last month alone, prices fell by 0.1 per cent after jumping by 1.1 per cent in March.
The result was driven by the movement in petrol prices. Transport costs, which soared by 9.2 per cent in March, fell by 2.7 per cent last month.
But in a sign that price pressures remain embedded in the economy, the closely watched measure of underlying inflation rose slightly to 3.4 per cent after reaching 3.3 per cent in March.
Senator requests investigation over claim MP enrolled on vacant land
The Labor MP who unseated Peter Dutton at the last election has been referred to the electoral commission over claims she is enrolled to vote at a vacant block of land in the Brisbane electorate.
In a statement released by Queensland senator James McGrath today, the Liberal said he had written to the Australian Electoral Commissioner, requesting an immediate investigation into Dickson MP Ali France over alleged breaches of the Electoral Act.
“It has come to light that Ms France is currently enrolled to vote at a vacant block of land as her principal residence, which has sat empty for a significant period of time,” McGrath wrote in a statement.
“Under AEC guidelines and regulations, this would suggest a clear breach of the Act and therefore should be investigated with the upmost seriousness,” he said.
Read more: Labor MP referred to AEC over claim she’s enrolled at vacant plot of land
Hanson opposes CGT change, wants negative gearing limited to two homes
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says negative gearing should be limited to two homes for all Australians, rather than the government’s plan to restrict the incentive to the purchase of new properties only.
Hanson also said her party “completely oppose” winding back the capital gains tax discount, which the government will introduce to parliament tomorrow.
The government’s changes to negative gearing – a tax arrangement allowing landlords to deduct property losses against other income – will keep the incentive for existing investors, while new investors will only get the benefit if they purchase a new build to encourage growth in housing supply.
“The Labor government claims to be helping the younger generation, yet they’re taking away an investment strategy that has been used by generations before them,” Hanson said in a post on social media.
“We completely oppose the changes to CGT.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
