Gallagher says government remains committed to RBA reforms
Katy Gallagher was also up on ABC RN this morning, where she was again asked about the Greens’ position regarding the RBA reforms. She responded:
Well, I just think the Greens are out of control at the moment, full of self importance and out seeking populist approach to everything. It’s crazy what they’re saying to us.
So if that’s their ultimatum – and you know, it’s a bit unseemly, Nick McKim going around issuing ultimatums – you know, no, we won’t work with that, because that is crazy. It’s economically irresponsible, and we won’t do it.
Gallagher said that the government remained committed to the RBA reforms:
They remain on the table. We’re pretty keen on them. So is the bank, and we certainly thought that the Reserve Bank support for these reforms would sway the Liberal Party… The treasurer has been working with the shadow treasurer closely on it, but they’ve dealt themselves out, for whatever reason…
Key events
ACCC taking Coles and Woolworths to court over alleged misleading claims
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is taking Woolworths and Coles to court, over allegedly making misleading “prices dropped” and “down down” claims.
The allegations relate to products sold by Woolworths and Coles at regular long-term prices which remained the same, excluding short-term specials, for at least six months and in many cases for at least a year, the ACCC said.
The products were then subject to price rises of at least 15% for brief periods, before being placed in Woolworths “prices dropped” and Coles’ “down down” promotions at prices lower than during the price spike but higher than, or the same as, the regular price that applied before the spike, the ACCC said.
Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said:
Following many years of marketing campaigns by Woolworths and Coles, Australian consumers have come to understand that the ‘Prices Dropped’ and ‘Down Down’ promotions relate to a sustained reduction in the regular prices of supermarket products. However, in the case of these products, we allege the new ‘Prices Dropped’ and ‘Down Down’ promotional prices were actually higher than, or the same as, the previous regular price.
Moving to housing, Nick McKim was asked what it would take for the Greens to back some of Labor’s proposals – including help to buy.
He said the Greens want to see action on negative gearing and on the capital gains tax discount:
We have $176bn planned to be handed out to property speculators over the next decade. And what that means is that renters who want to get into the market to buy their first home are bidding against property speculators with all of these massive tax breaks … some who own seven or 70 or in some cases many hundreds of investment properties have this unfair advantage.
We want to see something done to level the playing field so renters can get in the housing market, and we also want to see a reform that isn’t going to do more – as Labor’s reforms will – to put up housing prices in a market which is already seeing housing unaffordability at the worst rate in the country’s history.
McKim says Greens ‘make no apology’ for ‘dragging RBA into political debate’
Given that the treasurer Jim Chalmers has already said he is unlikely to intervene in the RBA, Nick McKim was asked what else the Greens would need to see to support the reforms? Or would they be “happy to see it die”?
He responded:
If Jim Chalmers wants this bill passed, as he said he does, and if the governor of the Reserve Bank, Michele Bullock, wants to see this bill passed, as she has said she does, they know what they’ve got to do.
We’re agnostic in terms of whether it’s Jim Chalmers using his powers to bring interest rates down, or whether the RBA actually make a decision to bring interest rates down, we just want to see some relief for mortgage holders.
McKim said the Greens “make no apology” for their stance or for “dragging the RBA into the political debate, because every decision the RBA makes is political.”
High interest rates are driving a mass transfer of wealth out of the pockets of mortgage holders and into the already eye-wateringly large profits of the big banking corporations in Australia. It’s time for some action.
Asked if an intervention into the RBA to cut rates would “shatter” its independence, Nick McKim argued that the “Reserve Bank has never been independent.”
That’s unambiguous, the power exists in Australian law for the government of day to set interest rates. We’re simply urging the government to step in, bring interest rates down, and provide some much-needed relief for mortgage holders who are getting absolutely smashed at the moment.
We’ve got the governor of the Reserve Bank out recently saying that people, some people are going to have to sell their homes because of high interest rates, housing affordability has never been worse as I said, it’s time for significant action. It’s time for significant relief. We make no apologies for fighting for renters and we make no apologies for fighting for mortgage holders.
Greens senator defends ultimatum on RBA reform
The Greens senator Nick McKim is speaking with ABC News Breakfast, after the Greens earlier announced they wouldn’t help Labor pass its RBA reforms unless it intervenes to cut interest rates.
Responding to comments from the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, that the Greens were “out of control”, McKim responded: “I can tell Labor what is out of control, and that is the housing crisis in Australia.”
And if she thinks we’re damaging, I can also tell Labor what is damaging, and that is the fact that rents have gone up 30% since Labor came into power, and we’ve had a record series of 13 interest rate rises in a row.
Renters and mortgage holders are getting smashed. Housing affordability, on the figures out this morning, has never been worse in Australia. And we are unambiguously using our political power in the parliament to fight to bring interest rates down [so] mortgage holders get some much needed relief.
Brandis outlines concerns over US support of Ukraine in conflict if Trump is re-elected
George Brandis says that the Australian government is not giving the priority to the defence of Ukraine that it ought to.
The former attorney general and former high commissioner to the UK spoke with ABC RN earlier this morning and described the war in Ukraine as “a conflict of global dimensions”.
Because it … potentially sets against one another all the great superpowers. Russia is enabled by China, Ukraine resistance is supported by the West, led by the United States and European nations …
Were Russia to succeed, [it] will be the most important defeat for the western democracies since the second world war.
Brandis said if Donald Trump is re-elected as US president, he believes one of the first things he would do is pull American military support from Ukraine. Brandis said he “very much fear[s] the possibility of Donald Trump returning to the White House”.
People on my side of politics concerning Mr Trump have been to the effect [saying] that were Trump to be re-elected, the Australia-US relationship would continue, largely as is, and in particular, that Aukus will be safe …
My concern is a broad concern, not about the bilateral Australia-US relationship, but about America’s broader commitment to the defence of the democracies … [against] authoritarian powers who are more linked up at the moment than they have been in two generations.
Cait Kelly
Victorian Pride Lobby says slate of candidates trying to ban LGBTQ+ books
The Victorian Pride Lobby’s Rainbow Local Government campaign says a slate of candidates running in the upcoming Whittlesea city council elections are trying to ban books with LGBTQ+ content.
The group of candidates, led by Aidan McLindon, the former deputy leader of the far-right Freedom party, is pushing for books containing information on sexuality to “be withdrawn” from public libraries. Equality advocates say the group is censoring LGBTQ+ content.
Sean Mulcahy, co-lead of the Rainbow Local Government campaign, said:
Our libraries must remain safe spaces for diverse ideas and beliefs where everyone is seen, heard, and valued. People have the right to choose which library books they read and borrow and which library events they attend – without interference.
This comes in the wake of a failed attempt by Cumberland city council in NSW to impose a similar book ban.
Dutton to lay out detail on nuclear power plan in speech today
Further details on how Australia could use nuclear energy are set to be revealed in a major speech by the opposition leader on the power proposal, AAP reports.
Peter Dutton will give an address to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia today, laying out how the Coalition’s proposal to build seven nuclear reactors across five states would work. However, it’s not expected the cost of building the reactors will be unveiled in the speech.
The coalition outlined in June plans to build reactors in the Hunter Valley and Lithgow in NSW, the Latrobe Valley in Victoria, Callide and Tarong in Queensland, Port Augusta in South Australia and Collie in Western Australia, should it win the next election.
Should the proposal go ahead, it would be 10 to 12 years before the first reactor is built, before the remainder are constructed from the 2040s.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the Coalition proposal would not solve energy issues in Australia, telling Sky News yesterday:
Peter Dutton’s nuclear fantasy is economic insanity. It costs more, it will push power prices up, it will take longer. He needs to come clean … in this speech: what will it cost, what will it mean for power bills, how will he pay for it, and what will Australia do for the decades it will take to build these reactors?
Independent says Greens ultimatum on RBA reforms ‘extreme’
The Independent MP for Mackellar, Sophie Scamps, has responded to comments from the Greens that it won’t help Labor pass its RBA reforms unless it intervenes to cut interest rates.
In a post to X, Scamps labelled the move “extreme”:
Calling for the treasurer to intervene and cut interest rates is extreme. The independence of the RBA is critical to our economic system.
NSW firefighters continuing to fight Sydney northern beaches fire that broke containment lines
Inspector Ben Shepherd from the NSW Rural Fire Service was speaking with ABC News Breakfast earlier.
A hazard reduction burn that burst containment lines in Sydney’s northern beaches over the weekend has been brought under control – with significant smoke likely in the area as the fire continues to burn. Shepherd said:
Primarily the fire is contained. There’s still a small section towards Oxford Falls that firefighters will need to work on today, and hopefully then this afternoon we’ll really be on the mopping up and we’ll do that over the coming days.
He said there has “no doubt been [an] incredibly wet period” over the past three years, especially for NSW, leading to increased fuel growth.
This area up on Red Hill hasn’t burned since 1994 – [although] there have been areas around this actual burn that were treated, this main part was not treated since 1994 …
[The] whole area has been treated and they’ll have protection, not just this fire season but for fire seasons to come.
This wasn’t the intent of the burn at the time. We are glad we got it in, but we never wanted to see this amount of escalation on that fire ground.
Shepherd hopes firefighters can declare the fire out towards the end of the week.
Call for thousands of blood donors as demand soars
Blood demand is at a 12-year high and plasma is even more in need, AAP reports, sparking a call for Australians to roll up their sleeves.
The Red Cross is urging 100,000 Australians – the same number who will fill the MCG for the AFL grand final on Saturday – to donate for the first time over the next year.
More than 560,000 people actively donate to maintain the population’s blood and plasma supply. However, new donors are needed to keep up with the growing nation.
Executive director of donor experience Cath Stone said:
We know 100,000 people will show up if they have a compelling reason to do so, like cheering on their team at the MCG. We’re calling on 100,000 people to find their reason to show up to donate blood and plasma.
Demand for blood has increased 10% in the past four years while the demand for plasma is even more, reaching an all-time high. The Red Cross now collects more blood than plasma with the substance used to treat more than 50 serious medical conditions.
Stone said with Australia’s ageing population and advances in treatment options, more donors are needed.
Gallagher claims negotiation not happening ‘behind office doors’ with Greens on help to buy scheme
Circling back to Katy Gallagher’s interview on ABC News Breakfast: she was asked about negotiations around the help-to-buy scheme, and if the government would work with the Greens to pass this?
The finance minister responded:
We’ve been trying to negotiate with them. I think the housing minister, [Clare] O’Neil, has met with their housing spokesperson. They’re not trying to negotiate. They are saying we want to negotiate in the media, but behind the office doors there’s none of that happening.
She said that Peter Dutton and Adam Bandt were “working together” to stop the scheme.
I mean, I don’t know how you … say you’re after improvements in housing and then vote against a help-to-buy scheme which is about trying to get people into home ownership. But that’s what happened last week. The RBA waving the threat around this morning is just another example of the Greens political party and the Liberal party working together.
For more on this, Paul Karp spoke with Full Story host Nour Haydar on all things housing last week:
Latest polls show equal weighting for PM and Dutton in eyes of voters
Anthony Albanese is returning from the Quad summit to a close battle with the opposition for voter sentiment, according to the latest polls.
As AAP reports, support is equal for the prime minister and the opposition leader Peter Dutton, with each notching 35% in one gauge of voter sentiment.
The remaining 30% remain undecided, according to Resolve Political Monitor analysis for the Sydney Morning Herald, based on responses from 4,620 voters between July and September.
Albanese leads Dutton in the two most populous states of Victoria (39% to 33%) and NSW (36% to 34%), the newspaper reports.
As parliament resumes after the winter break, the latest Newspoll conducted for the Australian has Labor and the Coalition neck-and-neck on a two-party-preferred basis for the third time since May 2022.
Cost-of-living and inflation pressures are continuing to add pressure to the Labor government, while the Coalition has increased its primary vote lead to an equal post-election high. However, its seven-point lead on first preferences isn’t enough to put the Liberals and Nationals into an election-winning position.
Indeed, the majority of voters – 57% – believe a minority Labor or minority Coalition government is the most likely outcome at the next election.
Gallagher on national debt and latest polling data
Katy Gallagher was also asked about news that the final budget outcome will show gross debt in 2023-24 is $149.1bn lower than what Labor inherited at the time of the election, as Paul Karp reported earlier.
The finance minister said it was “a huge difference”.
So we continue to chip away at that. The less we have to borrow, the less interest we pay, the better the budget shape is in. And you know, that’s been a key part of Jim [Chalmers] and my approach to the budget is looking at ways we can invest in good, high quality services, but at the same time, getting the budget in much better shape than when we came to government.
Host Patricia Karvelas asked if the “economic story” the government was telling was resonating with voters, given the Coalition had lifted to a stronger position nationwide? Gallagher responded:
I don’t think it’s any surprise that people, when they’re feeling those cost of living pressures, will seek to attribute responsibility. Our job, though, is to turn up and continue to make the right economic decisions for the times that we’ve got right now … I’m not going to pretend it isn’t a complicated story to tell, and that, you know, the numbers that you’ll be talking about in the papers today, I think, reflect people’s experience of doing it tough at the moment.
We’ll have more details on the latest polling numbers in a moment.
Gallagher questioned on prospect of minority government
Katy Gallagher was also asked about the prospect of a minority government, and where this places the government in terms of being able to work with the Greens. This was her full response:
In the Senate, it’s a minority chamber. You work with everybody in in that chamber. It’s the Greens, there’s a very large crossbench, there’s the National Party and the Liberal Party. That is not unusual to have minority government in the Senate. So, in order to do anything PK, we’ve got 25 votes, we have to get 39, so it requires us to talk to people and work with people.
But in terms of the election campaign – and I hope that people are engaging on some of these crazy ideas the Greens have, and the fact that Peter Dutton is blocking some sensible areas, like our Help to Buy scheme in the housing program, and see that the government is genuinely trying to push forward on both on all of these issues in the long term interests of this country.
And that’s why we will continue to campaign for majority government. And there’s a lot of what ifs. It’s very hard to speculate what ifs. I mean, the Australian people have their say when the election is held, but we are certainly campaigning for majority government.
