Australia news live: Albanese insists he’s ‘up for big reform’ ahead of productivity summit; arrest after firearm discharged at Sydney airport | Australia news
Albanese says he’s up ‘for big reform’ ahead of productivity roundtable
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said he is up for “big reform” as his government heads into a long-promised productivity roundtable next week. Albanese spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying his government had a strong agenda of promises from the last election, but said there is plenty of room for more ideas.
I had a really successful meeting with some business leaders on Monday evening in Melbourne. And some of the ideas that were kicked around there are really positive. They’ll feed into our processes. And that is how good government should operate. We’re an inclusive government. We are up for consultation and we’re up for ideas.
RN host Sabra Lane pressed the prime minister about how big the ideas could get, or if the status quo would remain. Albanese replied:
I’m up for big reform. … We are up for big reform, whether it’s strengthening Medicare, the changes to childcare, the benefit to education.
Key events
Fatima Payman doesn’t regret leaving Labor over Palestine stance, and would not go back
Independent senator Fatima Payman said she has let “bygones be bygones” after leaving Labor last year amid major disagreements over the government’s action on Palestine, but said she was hopeful after seeing Anthony Albanese say Australia would recognise a Palestinian state.
Payman spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying the recognition should just be a first step, pointing to calls for targeted sanctions and further accountability. Payman said:
It’s great to see that the government’s finally catching up with what’s morally right and politically necessary. It’s a monumental step, definitely long overdue, but we can’t stop at this. …
I’ve let bygones be bygones. I have not regretted the decision of leaving the Labor party. It’s unfortunate that it, you know, the whole thing panned out the way it did. But I know that … I was on the right side of history.
Host Sally Sara asked Payman if she would go back to the Labor party.
“No”, Payman said.
It’s ridiculous that it’s taken them this long. You know, symbolism matters, but saving lives matters more.
Coalition will support roundtable ideas that ‘reduce red tape and regulation’, but there are limits
James Paterson, the shadow finance minister, said the Coalition will support the Labor government if “good ideas” come out of the economic roundtable, saying those that “reduce red tape and regulation” would earn the opposition’s support. But Paterson told RN Breakfast that support was not endless:
We’re open-minded about anything that can improve productivity because it is so critical to our prosperity as a country. Where we have reservations is if the government tries to do things it doesn’t have a mandate for because it didn’t earn it at the election. For example, increasing taxes.
Labor didn’t tell anyone before the election that they would raise taxes, and a hand-picked roundtable of people in Canberra doesn’t provide them the mandate they failed to earn at the election.
Man arrested after police firearm discharged inside Sydney Airport terminal
More from the incident at Sydney Airport this morning, as we reported earlier in the blog:
The Australian Federal Police said a man has been arrested at Sydney Airport after an incident where a police firearm was discharged inside the T2 domestic terminal.
An AFP spokesperson said the agency has launched an investigation into the incident and a crime scene has been established. There were no injuries and there is no ongoing threat to the public.
Sydney Airport said earlier the airport is operating as normal.
Chalmers says he is in complete agreement with PM on productivity roundtable
Chalmers was asked about recent suggestions by Albanese that those hoping for dramatic reform from the roundtable should lower their expectations.
The treasurer said he was completely aligned with the prime minister, saying the event next week would build on an already ambitious agenda:
The point that the prime minister made last week is the same point that I have made, which is that this economic reform roundtable is not to make decisions, it’s to inform the government’s decisions. And that’s the point that we have made all along.
We are aligned. We have an ambitious agenda that we’re focused on delivering, and this economic reform roundtable is a good opportunity to shake the tree for more ideas in our economy. And the people who criticise this process appear to be saying that we should consult less with the business community or the union movement or the community more broadly, experts and economists.
Chalmers says rate cut ‘welcome relief’, but warns unpredictable economy must keep nation on its toes
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said yesterday’s interest rate cut is “welcome relief” to millions of Australians, saying he has confidence the country is on the “right track” addressing inflation and seeing real wages.
Chalmers said while inflation had fallen dramatically in recent months, what he called “remarkable progress”, the treasury must remain “always vigilant” amid an unpredictable economy:
We are never complacent about developments in the global economy. There is more than the usual amount of churn and change right now. It’s unpredictable, it’s volatile, it’s uncertain. And that’s why one of our key goals is to make our economy more resilient.
We will do that by making it more productive over time.
Arrest made after incident at Sydney airport this morning
An arrest has been made after an incident at Sydney airport this morning. An airport spokesperson said there were no injuries, noting the facility was operating as normal:
Sydney Airport is currently assisting Australian Federal Police following an incident earlier this morning. No injuries occurred as a result of the incident. An arrest has been made and the airport is operating normally.
We’ll have more details from the AFP soon.
Albanese says he’s up ‘for big reform’ ahead of productivity roundtable
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said he is up for “big reform” as his government heads into a long-promised productivity roundtable next week. Albanese spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying his government had a strong agenda of promises from the last election, but said there is plenty of room for more ideas.
I had a really successful meeting with some business leaders on Monday evening in Melbourne. And some of the ideas that were kicked around there are really positive. They’ll feed into our processes. And that is how good government should operate. We’re an inclusive government. We are up for consultation and we’re up for ideas.
RN host Sabra Lane pressed the prime minister about how big the ideas could get, or if the status quo would remain. Albanese replied:
I’m up for big reform. … We are up for big reform, whether it’s strengthening Medicare, the changes to childcare, the benefit to education.
Good morning, Nick Visser here to take over the blog. Thanks to the always great Martin Farrer. Let’s get to it.
Tasmanian Greens declare they are unable ‘at this point’ to support state Labor
Tasmania’s minority Liberal government appears increasingly likely to continue ruling, with the Greens declaring they are unable to “at this point” support Labor.
The July 19 state election returned another hung parliament, with the Liberals (14 seats) finishing closer than Labor (10) to the 18 seats required for majority.
Jeremy Rockliff, the state Liberal leader, has been reappointed premier but both major parties have been trying to garner support from a crossbench containing five Greens, five independents and one Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MP.
Labor’s leader, Dean Winter, has held talks with independents but has continually ruled out “doing a deal” with the Greens, despite needing their numbers to govern.
Winter has flagged a no-confidence motion in Rockliff when parliament resumes on the 18th.
Winter and Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff held a formal meeting on Tuesday. “At this stage we cannot have any confidence in the proposed motion to make Dean Winter the premier of Tasmania in parliament,” Woodruff said.
Mark Latham to defend claims of homosexual vilification against fellow MP
Mark Latham is set to defend claims of homosexual vilification against a fellow parliamentarian, Australian Associated Press reports.
The former federal Labor leader is due to give evidence at a civil tribunal in Sydney today after the NSW independent MP Alex Greenwich accused him yesterday of having an “abusive obsession” with him.
The case relates to a sexually explicit tweet the federal court has previously ruled as defamatory and subsequent media appearances made by Latham, who sits as an independent in the state parliament.
Greenwich has sued Latham for homosexual vilification and workplace harassment in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
The online sparring match between the two politicians followed violent protests outside a church in Sydney’s south-west, where Latham was giving a pre-election speech in March 2023. About 250 mostly male counter-protesters violently attacked police and 15 LGBTQI protesters.
Here’s our report on yesterday’s hearing:
RBA could wait until November for another cut, economist says
Belinda Allen, a senior economist at the Commonwealth Bank, expects the RBA to wait until November before cutting again – but that could shift depending on how the data unfolds, Australian Associated Press reports.
“The governor did not rule out back‑to‑back cuts. Inflation appears under control, so any acceleration of the cutting cycle we expect would have to be driven by a deterioration in the labour market,” she said.
Allen said the most important data readings before the next meeting would be labour force surveys released on Thursday and in September, as well as economic growth figures for the June quarter to be released on September 3.
RBA staff lowered their GDP growth forecasts as they pared back their expectations for trend productivity growth from one per cent to 0.7% per year.
We’re reporting today on how borrowers might have to wait a few weeks to get the benefit of yesterday’s cut.
Penny Wong signs joint statement with 29 countries decrying Gaza situation
Overnight the foreign minister, Penny Wong, signed Australia to a joint statement with 29 international partners decrying the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
It said, in part:
The humanitarian suffering in Gaza has reached unimaginable levels. Famine is unfolding before our eyes. Urgent action is needed now to halt and reverse starvation.
We call on the government of Israel to provide authorisation for all international NGO aid shipments and to unblock essential humanitarian actors from operating.
All crossings and routes must be used to allow a flood of aid into Gaza, including food, nutrition supplies, shelter, fuel, clean water, medicine and medical equipment. Lethal force must not be used at distribution sites, and civilians, humanitarians and medical workers must be protected.
The statement was signed by two EU representatives as well as the foreign ministers of: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it’ll be Nick Visser to take over.
Mark Latham will appear at a tribunal in Sydney today to defend claims of homosexual vilification against his fellow NSW MP. It comes after Sydney MP Alex Greenwich told the tribunal yesterday that Latham had an “abusive obsession with me”.
A leading bank economist thinks that the Reserve Bank will wait until November before cutting rates again after yesterday’s decision to reduce the cash rate by another 0.25% signalled some relief for borrowers. More coming up.
And Australia has signed a joint statement on behalf of 29 international partners saying the humanitarian suffering in Gaza has reached “unimaginable” levels and urgent action is needed to halt and reverse starvation. It calls on Israel to facilitate a “flood” of aid into the territory.
