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Labor asked about televised debate with Nine
By Katina Curtis
Nine News political editor Chris Uhlmann has just asked Labor’s senior frontbenchers if Anthony Albanese will commit to doing a debate on the television network, which shares a parent company with this masthead.
Uhlmann says Prime Minister Scott Morrison has committed to a debate on May 8.
Labor campaign spokesperson Katy GallagherCredit:Alex Ellinghausen
Campaign spokeswoman Katy Gallagher points out the usual arrangements for debates is that the party head offices work out who and when and where between them.
“Anthony Albanese smashed Scott Morrison at last week’s debate,” she says.
“I have no doubt that it’s in our interest to have more debates occur.”
Shadow treasurer says inflation figures prove the government is ‘out of touch, out of plans and out of time’
By Katina Curtis
Labor is about to release its economic plan to crack down on tax avoidance by multinational companies, but first shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers has some thoughts on the inflation figures.
“This should be a wake-up call for a government that is out of touch, out of plans and out of time,” he says, brandishing a graph with a big red arrow going up to represent cost of living.
Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers displaying a cost of living chart for the media on Wednesday.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
“Only Labor is taking these challenges in our economy seriously. Only Labor has a plan for beyond the end of the election.”
Watch: shadow treasurer addresses the media
Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Shadow Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, and Shadow Assistant Minister For Treasury Andrew Leigh, are in Canberra today and are addressing the media after the Australian Bureau of Statistics announced annual inflation had surged to 5.1 per cent.
Vandalism issues continue in Goldstein, Victoria
By Rachael Dexter
The defacing of political signs continues to play out in the Melbourne Bayside seat of Goldstein, currently held by Liberal MP Tim Wilson.
Wilson, who is being challenged by the Climate 200-backed independent Zoe Daniel, took to social media this morning claiming his home had been targeted by vandals overnight.
Responding to questions from this masthead, Wilson said the incident referred to in his tweet was the vandalism of a political sign at the front of his home.
“The damage was mostly to the sign out of the front of our hose, but we have recently had damage done to our fence where it has been smashed,” the Liberal MP said.
He said it was the third time his property had been vandalised. He declined to provide photographs of the vandalism, stating he did not want to reveal the location of his home.
“We already have extensive security on our homes, including three cameras, and we are going to have to upgrade it again,” Wilson said.
“The AFP is being called to protect the office at least once a week, and we are having to regularly update them of our movements.”
Daniel, who herself has had posters defaced with swastikas, has previously called out the vandalism of her opponent’s signs – saying it was “not on”.
The former ABC journalist’s supporters have criticised Wilson for what they say is a refusal to say the same thing. But Wilson told this masthead he had consistently stated he is against all forms of vandalism.
“It’s simple. I am against vandalism. Not just her signs. All vandalism,” he said.
The AFP has been contacted for response.
Inflation shows Australians need ‘strength and stability’: treasurer
By Katina Curtis
Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has stepped up to address today’s inflation numbers.
The Liberal MP noted that housing, food and transport – particularly fuel costs – as the biggest drivers of the 5.1 per cent inflation rate.
Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.Credit:James Brickwood
The jump in fuel prices is the single biggest increase since Iraq invaded Kuwait more than 30 years ago, he added.
“Today’s inflation numbers are a reminder to Australians that we are living in a complex and highly volatile environment,” the treasurer said.
Inflation should also serve as a reminder to voters about the choice they face on economic management, Frydenberg said, echoing the central message of the Coalition’s election pitch.
“This is not a time to put at risk the gains we have made. We have come too far. This is a time for strength and stability. This is not a time to roll the dice on fake independents, a weak Labor leader and the chaos of a hung parliament.”
Frydenberg added that today’s inflation figures don’t take into account the full effect of the halving of the fuel excise in the budget (one of the government’s key measures to help people with rising costs of living).
Treasury anticipates the 22.1 cent cut to the excise, which lasts for six months, will take 0.25 percentage points off the inflation rate. But that won’t be seen until the June quarter figures are revealed.
Watch: federal treasurer’s press conference
Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will address the media after the Australian Bureau of Statistics announced annual inflation had surged to 5.1 per cent.
Emissions safeguard mechanism in the spotlight
By Katina Curtis
Amid all the discussion about climate policies and what they mean for business, the Business Council of Australia has weighed in to support the use of the safeguards mechanism (remember: that’s the bit the Coalition created and Labor plans to use to drive down emissions).
“The safeguard mechanism is already in place alongside a suite of other measures to reduce emissions, with careful consultation with industry we believe it is the right incentive to drive investment, deliver more jobs and meet our net-zero commitments,” the BCA tweeted.
The powerful lobby group also says the bipartisan commitment to net zero emissions was a critical step towards the certainty business needs.
Earlier, Agriculture Minister David Littleproud – a Nationals MP – dismissed the role of the BCA in helping Labor reach its policy, saying it only looks after “a very few” businesses.
“This broadens the net and makes more businesses pay, many of which the Business Council don’t represent,” the minister told Sky News.
“So with all due respect to the Business Council, they might be able to afford it. But there’s plenty that don’t.”
Labor says its policy will only apply to the same 215 biggest polluters already captured under the safeguards mechanism.
Inflation at highest level since GST
By Rachel Clun
Consumer prices jumped by 2.1 per cent through the first three months to March, taking annual inflation to 5.1 per cent – its highest level since the introduction of the GST.
In figures that go to the heart of the election debate about the cost of living, the Australian Bureau of Statistics today stated that a combination of soaring prices for petrol, home building and tertiary education drove up inflation to levels not seen since 2000.
Consumer prices jumped by 2.1 per cent through the first three months to March, according to the ABS. Credit:SMH/ The Age
Head of price statistics at the ABS Michelle Marquardt said the most significant contributors to the rise in consumer prices were new dwellings (up 5.7 per cent), fuel (up 11 per cent) and tertiary education (up 6.3 per cent).
“Strong demand combined with material and labour supply disruptions throughout the year resulted in the highest annual inflation for new dwellings since the introduction of the GST,” she said.
“Annual price inflation for automotive fuel was the highest since the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.”
Liberals using failed Labor tactics against crossbench challengers: pollster
By Rachael Dexter
A former Labor Party strategist claims the Liberal Party is attempting a failed strategy in painting the so-called teal independents as “fake”.
Kos Samaras, who now runs polling company RedBridge, said the Labor Party tried similar tactics 15 years ago when it first began losing seats to the Greens – and failed.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has labelled his independent challenger a “fake” independent. Credit:Justin McManus
“It’s basically a strategy based on mechanics – it’s gotcha moments, it’s trying to prove to the electorate that these candidates are not real, that they have been funded by certain quarters within the corporate world and so on,” the pollster told ABC radio earlier this morning.
“What we [in the Labor Party] learned over 15 years, was the reason we were losing support to the Greens was simply because we did not represent people’s values and didn’t appeal to them from a policy perspective.”
The Liberal Party in recent weeks has escalated its rhetoric around the independents challenging seats such as Wentworth, Mackellar and Goldstein. The independents are backed by the funding group Climate 200.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has repeatedly referred to his opponent in Kooyong, Dr Monique Ryan, as a “fake” independent.
“I am up against a fake independent who is a former member of the Labor Party,” Frydenberg told Nine’s Today show this morning.
“[These independents] have no plan to meet emissions reduction targets, they have no details, they have no costings. They’re literally the vibe of the thing. They’re just a slogan and a billboard.”
Ryan wants a 60 per cent emissions reduction by at least 2030, which is in line with the climate change bill written by sitting independent MP Zali Steggall.
Samaras’ company previously conducted polling on behalf of the Ryan campaign, which critics labelled an example of push polling.
Push polling refers to polling in which questions are asked or framed in such a way that could potentially sway voters.
Solomon Islands security deal ‘wasn’t an intelligence failure’: top spy
By Anthony Galloway
Australia’s top spy, Andrew Shearer, says the security deal between China and Solomon Islands “wasn’t an intelligence failure, this strategy has been unfolding for a number of years”.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has faced days of criticism during the election campaign over not doing more to stop the security pact from being signed.
The director-general of the Office of National Intelligence, Andrew Shearer.Credit:Louie Douvis
Speaking at a major geopolitical conference in India, Shearer – director-general of Australia’s peak intelligence agency, the Office of National Intelligence – said China wants to be the world’s leading power and to do that “it needs to establish dominance” in the Indo-Pacific.
“It is also using military power, cyber power, foreign interference in other countries to build out a position of influence right across the region,” Shearer told the Raisina Dialogue.
“That includes an ambition to establish a network of dual use and military facilities right across the Indo-Pacific from the west coast of Africa to the Pacific.
“It [the security pact] wasn’t an intelligence failure, this strategy has been unfolding for a number of years.
“I think for those of us watching closely there were signs of this well over a decade ago, and we’ve seen this building presence over the Indo-Pacific.”
Shearer also raised concern about the prospect of Australian soldiers and Chinese soldiers operating side-by-side in Solomon Islands, and Chinese police officers deploying brutal tactics in the Pacific island state.
“Unity of command is always desirable in any security operation and confusion around unity of command is an issue,” he said.
“We are also concerned that in such a fragile, volatile country, Chinese policing techniques and tactics that we have seen deployed so ruthlessly in Hong Kong for example are completely inconsistent with the Pacific way of resolving issues and could incite further instability and violence in Solomon Islands.”
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2022-04-27 03:57:00Z
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