Albanese has hot-mic moment while joking with US official about Pacific policing plan
Daniel Hurst
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has been caught on camera in Tonga joking with a senior US official about going “halvies” on the cost of a newly announced Pacific policing plan.
The video also suggests that the US had been planning to pursue a police-related proposal but had been told by Australia to hold off.
The video was filmed at the Pacific Islands Forum venue yesterday and was posted online by Radio New Zealand.
At the beginning of the video, the deputy US secretary of state, Kurt Campbell, told Albanese that the US delegation was making its way throughout the Pacific.
Albanese replied:
Well, we had a cracker today getting the Pacific policing initiative through, it is so important, it’ll make such a difference.
Campbell said it was “fantastic” and the senior US official recounted:
I talked with Kevin about it – so you know, we were going to do something and he asked us not to so we did not. We’ve given you the lane, so take the lane!
“Kevin” is most likely a reference to the Australian ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd.
Albanese then joked:
Oh you can go us halvies on the cost if you like.
The pair shared a laugh. The Australian minister for the Pacific, Pat Conroy, then appeared to notice the conversation was being filed and said: “Come on!”
Key events
Qantas books $2.1bn profit as fares moderate
Jonathan Barrett
Qantas Airways has posted a $2.1bn annual underlying profit, down 16% from last year’s record result, as fares moderated from their pandemic highs.
Australia’s biggest airline said bookings and travel demand remain stable across its flying brands.
Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson said on Thursday the airline was using its strong balance sheet to renew its fleet.
Hudson said:
These investments come at a time when Australians are continuing to prioritise travel over other spending categories, with intention to travel over the next 12 months remaining high.
One year ago Qantas celebrated a bumper profit after emerging from a period of pandemic disruptions, before it suffered one of the most tumultuous years in its history.
The former chief executive, Alan Joyce, brought forward his exit date as the airline faced mounting public anger at poor service and refund policies.
Qantas also struck a deal with the competition regulator to pay a $100m penalty and pay $20m to customers in compensation, after conceding it misled consumers by selling tickets for thousands of flights it had already cancelled.
Plibersek extends ‘deepest sympathies’ after death of Tamil asylum seeker in Melbourne
Tanya Plibersek was also asked about the death of a Tamil asylum seeker, Mano Yogalingam, in Melbourne, who reportedly took his own life. The Tamil Refugee Council believes the amount of time he had spent on a bridging visa to be a contributing factor.
Plibersek said:
The first thing I would say is that my deepest sympathies go to his friends and family. This is a particularly devastating way to lose someone.
I am not going to comment on the individual case because I don’t know all of the details. That is something that I am sure the immigration minister will be looking at very closely. I will leave it for him to make more detailed comments when the time is right.
Plibersek dismisses dam delay fears as ‘nonsense’
Tanya Plibersek said it is “nonsense” it would take the company behind the proposed Blayney mine five to 10 years to redevelop plans for the project, and that there could be job losses.
It is nonsense. I have doubled on-time project approvals since Labor has come to government. I recently approved a windfarm in just nine weeks because it was located in the right place, that avoided threatened species and it avoided a significant negative impact on nature so I was able to give that the tick in nine weeks.
This idea that it would take five to 10 years is nonsense. It depends on the company finding a suitable location that doesn’t impact cultural heritage and is suitable environmentally. Of the 2,500 hectare site, they still have 2,100 hectares to have a look at on the land that they already own.
Plibersek said the rest of the site is not impacted by her cultural heritage decision, and it is in the company’s interest to look at alternate sites.
They are saying publicly that there is up to $7bn worth of gold in the ground. If that is the case, it is in their interests to look around at alternate sites.
I would also note that the last time I checked their share price was up by 9% since I made my decision to protect the head waters and springs of the Belubula River. I take from that that their shareholders imagine that there is a way forward.
Plibersek defends decision to protect Aboriginal heritage from proposed waste dam
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, has been speaking with ABC News Breakfast on the latest on the situation with the proposed Blayney goldmine in New South Wales.
As Lisa Cox reports, Plibersek has faced criticism after she issued a partial section 10 declaration to protect Aboriginal heritage from being destroyed by a tailings dam for the proposed project.
The NSW premier Chris Minns told an estimates hearing yesterday that he believes Plibersek made an error when deciding to protect the headwaters of the Belubula River from the waste dam. But Plibersek hit back at “misinformation” about her decision, emphasising that she had not knocked back the goldmine itself.
Speaking just a moment ago, Plibersek said:
I have protected 400 hectares of the site. The 400 hectares I have protected with the head water and springs of the river, significant to local Wuradjeri significant owners and they have been significant for thousands of years. Once the river is destroyed, it is destroyed forever …
The goldmining company themselves have said they investigated four different sites for the tailings dam. They have gone for the cheapest and most convenient, that is their job. They have got shareholders to keep happy. My job, as the environment minister, is to protect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage and that is what I am doing.
Aemo chief comments on latest report looking at renewable rollout
Renewable energy is providing 40% of the electricity in Australia’s main grid, according to the latest outlook from Australia’s electricity authority.
As Adam Morton reports, the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo) says Australia’s main power grid will remain reliable as it shifts from coal to running overwhelmingly on renewable energy – but only if investments in new generation are delivered “on time and in full”.
The chief executive of Aemo, Daniel Westerman, was on ABC AM earlier this morning to speak about the report. Host Sabra Lane noted that every new promised project has to be built in the years ahead, with no delays, to ensure Australia has a stable supply of power – is that realistic?
Westerman responded:
What we know is that we do have a very strong pipeline of projects, and today’s grid’s about 64 gigawatts – and there’s around four times that in proposed projects that are coming down the pipeline.
What we’re seeing is that we’ve got a strong starting line of projects. We now need those to have their final investment decisions made, procure kit, build the plant, and come on to the grid – as well as, of course, building the necessary transmission.
They are needed on time and in full and that is a real call for investors and for governments – for us all to chip in to help and make sure that these projects are delivered on time and in full, so that reliability is there when we need it.
Chalmers says government attempting to avoid ‘nastiness’ by excluding census question
Jim Chalmers was also asked to comment on the government’s decision to exclude questions on gender diversity and sexuality in the next census.
As Sarah Basford Canales reports, crossbench MPs are seeking an urgent explanation from the Albanese government about its decision, which left the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras “deeply concerned and disappointed”.
Chalmers said it’s “not unusual” for the Australian Bureau of Statistics to “test and tease out questions in advance” but the census isn’t until 2026.
I take very seriously the feedback that we’ve got. You know, I don’t dismiss it. My fear, and one of the things that’s guided us here, and I’m being frank here, is that we’ve seen the way that these issues can be weaponised against members of our community. We don’t want to see that happen.
But it’s members of the LGBTQ+ community that are upset, host Patricia Karvelas said. Chalmers said he was just here to explain how the government came to this decision:
We want to avoid the kind of nastiness and weaponisation of some of these issues, we saw some of that around the Olympics. We’ve seen it on other occasions.
Treasurer disagrees that international student cap would impact economic growth
Jim Chalmers also defended the government’s proposed cap on international student enrolments for next year:
When it comes to the public universities, we’re talking about the same number of overseas commencements next year as they had last year, and we think that’s pretty reasonable …
I’m a huge supporter of the university sector and the education sector more broadly, it’s a key industry for Australia. It’s a very big export earner. It’s consistently in the top five when it comes to our exports, and we don’t expect that to change. What we’re talking about here is managing the growth and managing the pressures in a responsible and methodical and a fairer way, which recognises the central role that uni’s play.
You don’t think there will be any impact at all on economic growth as a result of this shift? Chalmers responded:
We know that there’s feedback about this, but …. I don’t accept that that will crawl the industry. The industry is consistently [in the] top five in terms of exports. That will continue to be the case.
Chalmers weighs in on yesterday’s inflation numbers
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is speaking with ABC RN after yesterday’s inflation numbers were published. You can read all the details on that below:
Asked if inflation is falling fast enough for him, he said that “we need it to fall further and faster”.
But yesterday’s numbers were pretty welcome and [have] been quite encouraging. We saw the monthly indicator go down, we saw non-tradable inflation go down, and all of those things are good developments.
But it’s not mission accomplished on inflation, because people are still doing it tough, and that’s why our primary focus is on rolling out the cost-of-living relief to make to help people deal with these cost-of-living pressures that we know are still too persistent.
Chalmers disagreed that the government’s temporary cost-of-living measures were making it harder to decipher CPI.
I think it’s pretty easy to decipher in the figures that we have been receiving that inflation, and not just underlying inflation, the trend is down …
Commonwealth, Westpac heads to face bank inquiry
The bosses of some of Australia’s biggest banks are set for a parliamentary grilling, AAP reports, as mortgage holders grapple with stubborn interest rates.
Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn and Westpac head Peter King will appear to give evidence before a House of Representatives committee reviewing Australia’s big four banks today. The big four control about 80% of the Australian banking sector.
The committee chair, Labor MP Daniel Mulino, said interest rate decisions would be a key focus of the inquiry.
The Reserve Bank governor told us it is premature for commentators to be thinking about rate cuts yet the major banks all predict an easing cycle in the near to medium term. We want to understanding the reasoning.
Mulino said how the major banks dealt with scams would also be addressed by the parliamentary inquiry.
Australians lost $2.7bn to scams last year, with a marked increase in scams from social media. The banks are obviously not the only powerful corporations in this space, but they are incredibly important and many people are rightly calling on them to do more to protect vulnerable customers.
Today will be the first of two days of hearings into the big four banks, with NAB and ANZ executives to appear tomorrow.
Queensland fire department says hot and windy conditions expected across south-west
In more weather news, the Queensland Fire Department has provided an update amid the hot and windy weather:
Bushfire season is upon us and we’ve already seen several grassfires across the state. With warm and windy conditions expected in south-west [Queensland] over the coming days, it’s important to know your risk.
The department said that the Channel Country, Maranoa and Warrego, Darling Downs and Granite Belt are forecast to reach a high fire danger rating tomorrow.
In these conditions, grassfires can start easily. Avoid anything that could spark a fire, such as slashing, grinding or welding outdoors.
