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Anthony Albanese inspects an honour guard with Singapore’s deputy prime minister, Lawrence Wong, at the Istana in Singapore on Friday. Photograph: Reuters
Anthony Albanese inspects an honour guard with Singapore’s deputy prime minister, Lawrence Wong, at the Istana in Singapore on Friday. Photograph: Reuters
PM says 'inappropriate' to comment on detail of Roberts-Smith defamation ruling
Daniel Hurst
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, speaking in Singapore, has been asked about the impact of the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation ruling on Australia’s international standing.
The prime minister responded cautiously:
The determination that was made yesterday is a determination of a civil proceeding between two parties. It didn’t involve the government and it would be inappropriate to comment on the detail of that given the potential that is then there for future action that the government might be a party to.
Albanese went on to express Australia’s commitment to act on the Brereton report into alleged war crimes, which followed a four-year long inquiry and was released in late 2020:
Can I say, though, [on] the Brereton inquiry and report – we are committed as a government to implementing the recommendations to the extent possible. And that is very important going forward. That is an area in which we have a responsibility and we have indicated very clearly that we would take up that responsibility.
Albanese also argued Australia’s international standing was “extraordinarily strong”. He said that included “the standing of our defence forces and our defence personnel”.
The Fair Work Commission announced minimum wages would lift by 5.75%, but taking into account a lift of base payments, some workers will get a wage boost of up to 8.6% from 1 July. The commission said this minimum pay boost would not lead to a wage-price spiral, but nevertheless business groups have warned it will add to inflation and hurt small businesses. Union groups have welcomed the move, with ACTU’s secretary, Sally McManus, saying it will make a huge difference for the up to 3 million workers affected.
In the wake of losing his long-running defamation case on Thursday, Ben Roberts-Smith has resigned as the general manager of 7News in Queensland. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, did not comment on the judgment, but said the Labor government was committed to responding to the Brereton report.
The Australian War Memorial responded to calls to remove Ben Roberts-Smith’s uniform from display in the wake of the ruling, saying it is “considering carefully the additional content and context to be included in these displays”.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, also refrained from commentary, noting that former defence ministers could be called to give evidence if there is a criminal investigation.
The education minister, Jason Clare, has said there is merit in considering how Hecs/Help debt is calculated after current and former students were hit with a 7.1% increase on their debt in line with inflation.
The outgoing WA premier, Mark McGowan, marked his last day in office on Friday, saying he had no regrets and was looking forward to more Netflix time.
We’ll be back again tomorrow with all the latest. Until then, enjoy your evening.
Cameron Caldwell emerges as frontrunner for Liberal National party in Fadden byelection
A Gold Coast councillor is shaping up as the likely Liberal National party contender for the Fadden federal byelection, AAP reports.
Cameron Caldwell is a former federal LNP candidate who has generated a strong local profile as planning chair of the council.
The 11-year veteran of the council will vie for preselection against four other candidates to be voted on by LNP members at a meeting on Saturday afternoon.
The other candidates are wealth manager Owen Caterer, disability advocate Dr Dinesh Palipana, Craig Hobart and businesswoman Fran Ward, the only female contender.
Labor’sLetitia Del Fabbro, a nurse educator at Griffith University, has been endorsed as the party’s candidate to take a second tilt at the seat following her unsuccessful run at the 2022 election.
The Greens have yet to select a candidate for the 15 July byelection and there are expected to be at least three other minor party and independent candidates.
Health department reviewing PwC contracts worth $25m
The federal health department is taking a fresh look at contracts worth $25m with PwC to check on any conflicts of interest, AAP reports.
A Senate estimates committee heard on Friday the department had 12 contracts with the major consultancy firm.
“We are actively engaging with PwC at the moment to identify any of those potential areas (of conflicts),” the department’s secretary, Brendan Murphy, said. “They assure us that they have processes to manage these things, but we are going through every one of our contracts.”
The committee heard some of the contracts were entered into this year, after the Tax Practitioners Board took action against former PwC partner Peter Collins over his sharing of confidential government briefings on multinational tax reform with partners and clients.
The Australian Federal Police is investigating the matter.
Murphy revealed his department had engaged in “very frank discussions” with the new acting PwC CEO, Kristin Stubbins. “She is very aware ... they have a clear obligation to convince us and regain trust,” he said.
“They’re going to continue to provide us with layers of information which we will reality check – we won’t take anything at face value – and we will seek to reassure ourselves that all potential conflicts have been managed and are being managed.”
Bureau of Meteorology: last autumn coolest since 2012
Now that it’s winter, the Bureau of Meteorology’s report for autumn is out. They have reported that rainfall was 10.1% below average for Australia as a whole, but above average in central Western Australia, central NT, north-western Queensland and much of central South Australia.
It was the coolest autumn for Australia on since 2012: the national mean maximum temperature was 0.39C above average, while the national mean minimum temperature was 0.40C below average, the coolest since 2015 and 2012 respectively.
That’s why I’m here at the Annual Leaders meeting with @RichardMarlesMP.
Australia is proud to join Singapore in implementing the Green Economy Agreement, creating more opportunities for our families, workers and businesses.
Activist who allegedly forced 2,500 staff to evacuate from Woodside office using stink gas placed under house arrest
An activist who allegedly forced 2,500 Woodside Energy staff to be evacuated from the company’s Perth headquarters has been placed under house arrest, AAP reports.
Disrupt Burrup Hub campaigner Kristen Morrissey was released on bail on Friday after appearing in Perth magistrates court charged with one count of act creating false apprehension as the existence of threats or danger.
The 49-year-old is accused of releasing a non-toxic stench gas called ethyl mercaptan in the lobby area of the oil and gas company’s building on Thursday. Police and firefighters were called to the scene, with workers unable to return to their desk until later in the day.
Morrissey, who was protesting against Woodside’s plans to expand its gas operations on the Indigenous rock art-rich Burrup Peninsula in WA’s Pilbara region, was arrested at the scene and kept in police custody until her court appearance.
Magistrate Kevin Tavener expressed concern over the number of people the gas release had impacted and said Morrissey’s beliefs were such that the bail conditions may not stop her from attending other protests.
Outside court, Morrissey’s lawyer, Zarah Burgess, said the bail conditions were onerous and unusual.
“There’s no evidence that police were able to put before the court today that there were any adverse effects on any of those 2,500 people evacuated,” she said outside court.
Morrissey, a musician, was released on home bail and can only leave to attend work.
The proportion of teenagers smoking has increased for the first time in 25 years in a situation health experts have labelled “alarming”.
Data analysed by Cancer Council Victoria’s Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer (CBRC) has revealed a threefold increase in the proportion of 14 to 17-year-olds smoking tobacco in the past four years, from 2.1% in 2018 to 6.7% in 2022.
ACCI chief: minimum wage increase ‘will put a lot of pressure on vulnerable small businesses’
After McManus, there’s the chief executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Andrew McKellar.
He says the 8.6% increase for the national minimum award is above inflation, and he predicts it will add to inflation, and also hit businesses hard. He says it doesn’t strike the right balance.
When asked how around $1.80 per hour extra can tip the balance, McKellar says it’ll hit small businesses worst.
It will put a lot of pressure on vulnerable small businesses at the moment. They’re the ones who are paying award wages. Their profitability hasn’t been strong in, declining in many areas in retail, manufacturing, construction, under a lot of pressure at the moment. Restaurants, cafes, accommodation. All of these areas struggling at the moment. They’re the ones who are going to be impacted.
He then talks about concern around the Labor government cracking down on “flexibility” – ie casualisation and contracts – in the workforce, and says focus needs to be on productivity.
McManus on big business: ‘Some of them have expanded their profit margins … they’re not feeling any pain whatsoever’
On claims from employers that the increase will lead to job losses, higher prices and struggling businesses, McManus points to the profits being reported by big businesses currently.
Big business post their profits and have maintained, and some of them expanded, their profit margins at this particular time. They’re not feeling any pain whatsoever. They’re doing very well. So they can all afford this pay increase.
If you look at small businesses, some of them can as well. But it is true, there’s always some small businesses that struggle every year regardless of what the pay increase is. And so the choice is do you give people more of a bigger real wage cut and have them cut back on spending and have them materially struggle, and when we talk about materially struggling, we’re saying not getting to the doctor and skipping meals or do we increase wages so they can tread water? On the balance of all of that, it’s the right thing for the country to make sure that the lowest paid workers don’t continue to carry it all the way of the current economic situation.
Wage rise less than what was sought but ‘will make a huge difference’, Sally McManus says
The secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), Sally McManus, is on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing discussing the Fair Work Commission decision to raise the minimum wage 5.75%.
She admits it is less than the 7% that was sought, but the number “will make a huge difference” to around 3 million people on those awards and minimum wage. She says shop assistants will be about $51 a week better off, and disability workers will be a minimum of $66 better off.
That’s a lot of money when you’re considering how you’re going to pay for the groceries. We welcome the increase and we know it will make a real difference.
She says those who are saying the pay increase will be inflationary are doing so for political reasons or “simply employers that just don’t like giving pay rises”.
PM says 'inappropriate' to comment on detail of Roberts-Smith defamation ruling
Daniel Hurst
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, speaking in Singapore, has been asked about the impact of the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation ruling on Australia’s international standing.
The prime minister responded cautiously:
The determination that was made yesterday is a determination of a civil proceeding between two parties. It didn’t involve the government and it would be inappropriate to comment on the detail of that given the potential that is then there for future action that the government might be a party to.
Albanese went on to express Australia’s commitment to act on the Brereton report into alleged war crimes, which followed a four-year long inquiry and was released in late 2020:
Can I say, though, [on] the Brereton inquiry and report – we are committed as a government to implementing the recommendations to the extent possible. And that is very important going forward. That is an area in which we have a responsibility and we have indicated very clearly that we would take up that responsibility.
Albanese also argued Australia’s international standing was “extraordinarily strong”. He said that included “the standing of our defence forces and our defence personnel”.
