Health News at Your Fingertips

Milton Dick has been asked to rule whether Labor can use the word ‘rort’ in its answers. Tony Burke points out that it was Peter Costello who started that.

Dick is handing down his ruling on David Littleproud’s complaint that Labor is not reading out a full tweet on foot and mouth disease it has referred to earlier in the week. Dick says it is not his role to adjudicate what is true.

Question time ends.

Update on Ukrainian refugee visas

Andrew Giles takes a dixer from Sally Sitou on what Australia is doing to help refugees from Ukraine.

More than 8,600 visas have been provided so far, Giles says.

He also says there were a few surprises in how the former government set up the visa process – there was a deadline to apply, which was not communicated to the Ukrainian community.

Giles says he has extended the offer of the temporary humanitarian visas, as well as extending it to family members of Ukrainians who did not hold Ukrainian citizenship.

Labor: over 6,500 more childcare staff needed to pursue universal childcare

Back in the chamber and the LNP’s Angie Bell wants to know how many more early childcare staff will be needed to meet Labor’s universal childcare policy.

Amanda Rishworth says Labor knows there is more to be done, and that she met with members of the early childcare sector and that one of the main issues raised was the workforce; not just attracting staff, but retaining staff.

But how many staff? Rishworth says the figures published earlier this week of about 6,500 vacancies were correct, but that Labor expects those numbers to increase.

Bell chooses then to try and interject with a point of order on relevance, just as Rishworth was talking about the numbers.

Milton Dick sits Bell down and Rishworth says there is a “rigorous” consultation process which is ongoing ahead of the skills summit to work out those numbers.

“We have not underestimated the challenge ahead of us,” Rishworth says.

Peter Hannam

Quite a bit to pick over in RBA governor Philip Lowe’s statement accompanying the fourth rate rise in as many meetings.

It’s clear, though, that investors are interpreting the words to imply the pace and size of future rate increases may be less in the future than expected prior to today’s commentary. Stocks have pared their losses on the ASX, and the dollar has dropped against other currencies, including the US.

However, the fact interest rates might not rise so fast has a sting in the tale. The RBA has cut its GDP growth forecast to 3.25% in 2022, compared to the 4.25% expansion pace it predicted in its most recent quarterly statement of monetary policy. (The RBA will update this statement on Friday.)

Likewise, growth in 2023 and 2024 will be a modest 1.75%. That compares with the May forecast by the RBA of 2% in 2023, and 2% in the year to June 2024.

Still, there’s quite a bit of good going in the economy.

The labour market remains tighter than it has been for many years. The unemployment rate declined further in June to 3.5%, the lowest rate in almost 50 years.

Job vacancies and job ads are both at very high levels and a further decline in unemployment is expected over the months ahead.

Beyond that, some increase in unemployment is expected as economic growth slows. The bank’s central forecast is for the unemployment rate to be around 4% at the end of 2024.

The shadow treasurer Angus Taylor has responded to the rate rise.

Here is the statement in full. (Yes, he goes there):

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has today raised interest rates for the fourth consecutive month in a row.

Australians with a $610,000 mortgage are now paying over $500 more per month on their repayments since May.

The government still does not have a plan to deal with this.

Nothing outlined in the treasurer’s economic statement last week will help Australians with these rising cost of living pressures. The treasurer continues to sound more like a commentator than a treasurer. Australians need a real plan, not just hollow words.

All the government has done so far is walk away from promises, abandoning its commitment to cut power bills by $275 and real wage increases.

Australians are already paying the price for Labor’s lack of a plan.

If the treasurer fails to act, it will mean more pressure on inflation, more pressure on interest rates and higher cost of living for Australian families and small businesses.

In the absence of a plan from the Albanese government to deal with rising inflation and interest rates, Australians will get a plan from the Reserve Bank.

That plan will be to raise interest rates even further and Australians with a mortgage will pay the price.

Nino Bucci

Australian Law Reform Commission recommends federal judicial commission to handle complaints against judges in federal courts

The ALRC report into judicial impartiality and the law on bias was tabled in parliament today.

It makes 14 recommendations, including establishing the commission, that the government should develop a more transparent process for appointing federal judicial officers on merit, and that the attorney general should report annually on the diversity of the federal judiciary.

The report was sparked by the case known as Charisteas v Charisteas, which involved allegations of an improper relationship between a barrister and a judge presiding over a family law case.

Last October, the high court found that the failure of the judge in the case to disclose the private communication he had with the barrister was “particularly troubling”.

The former attorney general, Michaelia Cash, had already reportedly been seeking to implement an independent federal judicial commission while in government. Current attorney general Mark Dreyfus also said he supported such a commission while in opposition.

Currently, complaints regarding the conduct of judges either have to be raised as part of the court process, such as by making an application for the judge to recuse themselves or by lodging an appeal, or to the court itself. These mechanisms were perceived as lacking transparency, the report found.

According to the report, the commission could:

Provide a transparent and independent mechanism to consider litigants’ and lawyers’ concerns about judicial behaviour or impairment, including those that might give rise to an apprehension of bias.

This would provide an important institutional mechanism to protect both the public and the integrity of the courts. It would also provide a more transparent process than currently exists for addressing concerns that a judge’s conduct has fallen below the acceptable standard, even when the conduct does not amount to actual or apprehended bias under the law.

The fact that a judicial commission would be independent from the courts would, to an extent, address perceived conflicts of interest in the self-disqualification procedure, under which the judge or court the subject of a bias allegation is required to consider and respond to the allegation.

The ALRC said the reform would be significant, and should be accompanied by broad consultation. It did not propose any particular model of commission.

Rishworth: No evidence the cashless debit card made a difference when it came to safety and harm

Michael Sukkar to Anthony Albanese:

Will you guarantee there will be no increase in the number of drunk and violent acts suffered against women and children when you cancel the [cashless debit] card as you promised?

Amanda Rishworth (as the minister for social services) gets this one:

… I remind the House that the government was not able to demonstrate that the CDC (cashless debit card) program was meeting its intended objective. That is from the ANAO report. I continued reading the report and found some other interesting information in table 1.2.

In 2020, the former government reduced, in the objectives of the Act, to actually reference violence and harm in the reduction of trial sites … it removed that from the objectives. So in the new objectives there was no reference to trying to determine whether violence or harm was reducing.

Sukkar has a point of order, but the speaker rules Rishworth is in order. She continues:

In 2015, the former government was interested in whether the cashless debit card reduced harm in the trial areas, but by 2020 they were no longer interested. Why, why you might wonder. That is because they could not provide any evidence to suggest there was a reduction of harm and violence in community.

We have heard a lot from those on the other side about the University of Adelaide report … I want to go to the part of the report that talked about safety, crime and family violence.

Where it said that 60% of CDC participants reported that they did not feel safer since the introduction of the CDC card and 28% – that’s more than one in four – reported their safety had reduced since the introduction of the CDC card.

If we go to the evidence and ignore the ideological rhetoric from those over the back, we see that this program did not make a difference when it came to safety and harm. Indeed, what it did for participants was make discrimination normalised in communities [and] stigma normalised in communities, and of course it had practical problems that meant that people couldn’t buy a secondhand bfridge because they did not have enough cash. It meant families could not take their children to the football because they did not have enough cash.

This has had real problems in communities and we are acting to fix it.

Bowen: 43% climate target is modelled result of range of policies we have committed to

The independent MP Allegra Spender to Chris Bowen (this is Spender’s first question):

Many people in my community are concerned about climate change. Climate scientists are telling us we need [a] 2030 emission target reduction of at least 50% to prevent catastrophic climate change, and the Business Council of Australia has said Australian businesses can thrive under a 46 to 50% reduction by 2030. So, my question is: what are the business reasons for the government’s 2030 target of 43%?

Bowen:

I thank the honourable member for her question and her engagement and time so far in this parliament. I make a number of comments about the target.

The prime minister has made clear repeatedly we went to the election with that target and sought a mandate and received a mandate for that target. It is important to the prime minister and this side of the House to maintain the commitments that we made during the election.

Professor Mark Howden of the AMU Centre for Climate and Energy and Disaster Recovery and a vice-chair of the IPCC has said a 43% reductions target is entirely consistent with the obligations set out at the Glasgow conference last year and consistent with Australia’s obligations under the Glasgow conference.

Another point I would make … is that targets are very important. But even more important than targets are the policies underpinning it. When we released the 43% reduction target, it was the modelled result of the range of policies we committed to at the time.

They are easier said than met. It is important to accompany targets with the policy.

Whether it is safeguards reforms, Rewiring the Nation policies, reforming [the] electric vehicle tax cut and electric vehicle strategies which will give the Australians the [chance] to buy electric vehicles and enjoy the weekend at the same time, community batteries, solar banks policy … the range of policies is important and we are getting on and implementing them all.

The other thing important to get the investment in renewable energy is certainty and policy frameworks being legislated.

I thank the member for Wentworth for her public announcement that she will be supporting our legislation in the House. It sends the message that not only does Australia now have a government that gets it, we have a parliament that gets it too.

It will provide policy certainty and framework for investors around the world who see Australia as an opportunity … because we want Australia to be a renewable energy powerhouse, we want Australia to take advantage of those economic opportunities because we see the world’s climate emergency, and there is one, as Australia’s jobs opportunity.

Albanese: jobs and skills summit will address skills shortage impact on business

Back to question time, Paul Fletcher has a question for Anthony Albanese:

Will the government support the Coalition’s policy to help veterans and pensioners who may choose to work more hours to help fill vacancies in sectors like aged care, agriculture, hospitality and home care?

Albanese:

One of the things that the jobs and skills subsidy is going to address is bringing unions, employers, and civil society together to discuss how we address the acute skills shortages impacting on business.

One way that we can do it … I refer the shadow minister to my ageing vision statement given at the beginning of 2020 in Brisbane, where I referred to exactly the sort of idea of how we work through, constructively, ways to encourage older Australians to participate more in the workforce.

That is something that I proposed way back in 2020. It is something that is going to be considered along with a whole range of other measures about how we can deal with the acute skills shortages which are there in our economy, which are holding people [and] businesses back.

One of the things that occurred, because of … the pandemic, was that Australia, we told all people on temporary visas holders to go.

That is had a real impact now, because what [has] occurred now in critical areas, including the hospitality sector, is that you have around the country restaurants that cannot open seven days a week, cannot even open five days a week, because they simply cannot get the staff that were available.

It is having an impact in agriculture, it is having an impact in construction and [the] infrastructure sector as well. Is also … leading into inflation, because if you have a failure to be able to access the labour market that can increase your costs.

This government is determined to have compared the plans. We are determined to consult with business and unions on these ideas, and I am pleased and I recommend … our book of vision statement … which I recommend to the shadow minister, there are lots of ideas there.

We put a whole range of those ideas, we had fully costed policies during the election campaign. [We will be] feeding those ideas into the jobs and skills summit.

I am not sure whether the opposition … some have called for the jobs and skills summits and to go ahead, others have sought an invite. I’m not sure what their position is.

We will be consulting with the business community and with civil society about how we address these great challenges. I am pleased that my ministerial colleague, minister O’Connor, he is working hard in the leadup to the summit, on a series of local events as well that will take those ideas.

Greens: corporate super profit taxes are needed instead of interest rate rises

The Greens treasury spokesperson, Nick McKim, has responded to the rate rise:

The RBA is smashing workers, renters and recent homebuyers to try to bring down inflation that is being driven by supply shocks and corporate profiteering.

We are hearing plenty from the government and the RBA about supply pressures. What we aren’t hearing from the government or the RBA is about the role of corporate profiteering.

Profit’s share of national income was already at a record high and workers’ share of national income was already at a record low. Now big companies are using the cover of inflation to gouge prices and further drive up inflation.

This is why raising interest rates is the wrong medicine.

To tackle the cost of living crisis, we need government action to make big corporations pay their fair share of tax.

We need corporate super profits taxes to help rein in corporate profiteering and to help fund cost of living relief, such as by putting dental and mental into Medicare, building 1 million new affordable homes, and providing free childcare.

Here is how Mike Bowers has seen question time so far (a story in two parts)

Peter Hannam

RBA governor: Board expects to take further steps to normalise conditions but is not on ‘pre-set path’

The 50-basis point increase in the RBA cash rate today was bang in line with market expectations.

Much of the interest, though, will zero-in on what Philip Lowe, the RBA governor, had to say in the accompanying statement. In particular, what might come next.

Here’s what he said:

Today’s increase in interest rates is a further step in the normalisation of monetary conditions in Australia.

The increase in interest rates over recent months has been required to bring inflation back to [the 2-3%] target and to create a more sustainable balance of demand and supply in the Australian economy

The Board expects to take further steps in the process of normalising monetary conditions over the months ahead, but it is not on a pre-set path.

The italics are an addition on the July statement.

Jim Chalmers has responded to the rate rise in the house

It is another difficult day for Australian homeowners with a mortgage. The independent Reserve Bank has just announced its decision to increase interest rates by another 0.5%, bringing the cash rate to 1.85%.

Australians knew that this was coming, but it won’t make it any easier for them to handle.

This cycle of interest rate rises began before the election, in response to inflationary pressures that began accelerating at the beginning of this year. Average homeowners with $330,000 outstanding balance will have to find extra money on top of $220 in extra repayment since May.

For Australians with a $500,000 mortgage [it’s] an extra $140 per month. In addition to the extra $335 they have had to find since early May.

As I said, Mr Speaker, this decision does not come as a surprise. It is not a shock to anybody but it will still sting. Families will now have to make more hard decisions about how to balance the household budget in the face of other pressures like higher grocery prices and power prices and the costs of other essentials.

Now, obviously, higher interest rates primarily affect mortgage holders, but there is a broader economic impact as well because of there is an impact on economic growth, which I talked about in a ministerial statement last week. There is also an impact on the budget. It means that the trillion dollars of debt the previous government left us gets even more expensive for us to service.

(The answer goes on, but it is well-worn political territory.)

Albanese: all workplaces should be safe

Over in question time, Melissa McIntosh has asked Anthony Albanese about the CFMEU:

Is a prime minister aware of CFMEU picketers verbally abusing and bobbing a female employee at an Adelaide building site? To the extent that she was unable to leave the site for fear of her personal safety? This CFMEU has given over $10m to the Labor Party since the last watchdog was abolished so why is this prime minister prioritising the interests of the CFMEU over the safety of women?

Albanese:

I make this very clear point. All workplaces should be safe workplaces. I am not aware of the specific example that the member raises.

But it sounds on the face of it as being completely unacceptable. Completely unacceptable. Unacceptable behaviour in all workplaces, including Parliament House, to be acted upon by appropriate authority

Those opposite know that in fact the ABCC does not have the power … or the jurisdiction to act on crimes. That is not the role of the ABCC. Those opposite know that is the case but they continue to pretend that there is some connection between those two elements. There is not. All workplaces should be safe.

That as principal number one. No they are not! And this workplace hasn’t always been safe either. All workplaces – (Interjections) …

But I would not have thought this was a controversial statement, Mr Speaker … I was asked a serious question and giving a serious answer which is all workplaces should be safe.

Whether they [are] white, blue-collar [jobs] or whether they be construction … workers or an accountancy firm or a legal firm, all workplaces should be safe workplaces, and we should work towards that. That is why we will implement all 50 recommendations of the Jenkins report when it comes … To making workplaces safe. I look forward to the opposition voting for that legislation when it comes before the parliament.