Australia politics live: Albanese ‘bullish’ about double-dissolution threat, Hanson-Young says as Greens push for concessions on housing bill | Australia news

Lambie pushes for release of report on Inspector‐General of the Australian Defence Force

The independent Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie has been running a campaign to have the 20-year review of the Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force report released. It came up at the royal commission into veteran and defence suicides, but Lambie said she had been hitting brick walls in her attempts to have it made public.

Lambie released this statement to say the report had been released – quietly. And was then removed again.

I have been running radio ads and asking defence minister Marles to release this report for six months!

I was on my feet again today in the chamber still battling to get this report out there.

Then, Senator David Shoebridge’s office told me that the report was sitting on the royal commissions’ website and there it was – just sitting there!

Lambie said she had downloaded the report and printed it, but soon after her staff contacted the royal commission to ask when the report was uploaded to the website, the report was removed.

US talking to Canada, NZ and Korea about possible collaboration on Aukus ‘pillar II’

The White House has released a joint leaders statement on the third anniversary of the signing of the Aukus agreement.

Right down the bottom is a little more information on ‘pillar II’ which is where other countries get involved:

In April 2024 our Defense Ministers announced principles for additional AUKUS Pillar II partner engagement on specific projects where new partners could contribute to, and benefit from, AUKUS.

Following initial consultations this year and leveraging Japan’s deep technical expertise, AUKUS partners and Japan are exploring opportunities to improve interoperability of their maritime autonomous systems as an initial area of cooperation.

Recognising these countries’ close bilateral defense partnerships with each member of AUKUS, we are consulting with Canada, New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea to identify possibilities for collaboration on advanced capabilities under AUKUS Pillar II.

Bandt questions whether Labor’s housing bills will push up rents and do nothing to lift supply

Told that is a “political point” and that if the situation were that bad then wouldn’t the Greens do anything to increase supply, Adam Bandt says:

Let’s look at the measures that the government is proposing.

In the middle of a housing crisis, a housing and rental crisis where people are being pushed to breaking point, the government’s got two bills before the parliament, which is the sum total of their approach to housing between now and the election.

One of them pushes up rents by giving more tax breaks to developers to build expensive apartments that’ll be unaffordable.

Host: “There is no evidence it will increase rents.”

Well, they’re giving, they’re giving tax, public money to developers to build apartments with no limit on how much they can …

Host: “To increase supply, and the experts, Adam Bandt, are saying supply is a massive problem. Why shouldn’t they be increasing supply?”

Not one expert fronted up to the government Senate inquiry to say that the government’s bill would increase supply.

The Greens leader Adam Bandt spoke to ABC RN Breakfast earlier this morning, where he was asked why the Greens were not passing the government’s housing legislation:

This housing and rental crisis is seeing people skip meals because they can’t afford to pay the rents, which have soared 30% under Labor people.

We’ve got people who have jobs and mortgages coming along to the Greens free community dinners, because they’re telling us that any night that they can skip paying a meal helps them with their mortgage payment.

Food bank queues are growing. It is massive, and meanwhile, the government is just bringing a bucket of water to a house fire bill.

Bill Kelty, a Labor luminary, said earlier this week that this Labor government is mired in mediocrity, and he’s right, and nowhere do you see that more than the government’s approach to the housing crisis.

James Patterson says business community ‘finally speaking up’ about ‘costly’ policies

But even James Paterson is forced to admit that for the past couple of years, during which Labor has passed industrial relations reforms, the business sector has stayed largely quiet.

He told Sky News:

It is welcome to see the business community now finally speaking up about the ridiculous and costly policies of the Albanese government, particularly on industrial relations, but also energy and tax and other issues, which is holding Australia back.

It is only as the polls show the Albanese government dropping in popularity and proximity to the next election that the business council is now making some noise.

By the by, the ASX 200, which is the biggest 200 Australian companies listed on the stock market, posted record highs yesterday, beating the previous record set in August.

What’s in a subject line?

The Liberal senator James Paterson’s staff are taking a leaf out of Sussan Ley’s staff book and headlining their press releases with the tone they would like journalists to read the answers through.

Subjects: Albo’s war on business, Labor puts community at risk by repealing Direction 63, AUKUS pillar two expands.

Labor’s Patrick Gorman’s staff have also started to do this, but so far, none have managed to challenge Ley’s transcripts subject lines for sheer creative brilliance.

NFF president: ‘It’s time to push back against those who seek to diminish Australian agriculture’

The National Farmers’ Federation president David Jochinke has released a statement thanking members who attended last week’s farmers rally outside the parliament.

There were a variety of causes promoted at the rally, and our reporter who covered it thought there were between 500- 700 people or so. Coalition MPs addressed the rally (David Littleproud spoke over a farmer who was questioning his record as water minister), but in the wash up, and the welcoming of a new free trade deal with the UAE, the NFF seems to want to turn the temperature down a little.

Jochinke says the rally “wasn’t about politics; it was about policy”.

We want forward-thinking solutions that will allow Australian agriculture to thrive, not ideological battles driven by out-of-touch activists and detractors who would like to see less food and fibre grown in Australia. These groups often push agendas that would undermine our ability to feed and clothe the nation, without understanding the realities of farming or the vital role we play in the economy and regional communities.

We’re ready to work with all sides of politics to develop policies that support sustainable farming practices, enhance productivity, and ensure a bright future for rural communities. It’s time to push back against those who seek to diminish Australian agriculture and instead focus on solutions that will keep farmers farming.

To those who attended or supported us from afar, thank you. Your presence and solidarity sent a powerful message that cannot be ignored. This rally marks the beginning of our campaign to ensure farmers’ voices are heard and that we can continue to produce the food and fibre Australia relies on.

Watt says gender pay gap at lowest level on record

As Paul Karp reported a little earlier, workplace relations minister Murray Watt will be addressing the National Press Club later today.

He’ll be speaking about the positive changes the government says it has made to IR laws, which includes increasing early childhood educators’ pay.

Watt will say that it’s been part of a drive to lower the gender pay gap:

These pay rises are just a couple of ways that our government has deliberately prioritised economic equality for women, in addition to reviving multi-employer bargaining and lifting the minimum wage.

We also did it by making gender equality an objective of the Fair Work Act. We banned pay secrecy clauses, which disproportionately hurt women, and introduced paid family and domestic violence leave – so no one has to choose between their safety and pay.

And we strengthened the right to flexible work. And the result? The gender pay gap in Australia is now at its lowest level on record at 11.5%. Down from 14.1% when the Coalition left office.

That is making a material difference in the lives of women across the country.

If the gender pay gap stayed at the Coalition average of 15.4%, women would overall be $78.70 per week worse off than they are now.

That’s an extra $4,092 in the pockets of women every year under this government.

For this I pay particular tribute to the minister for women Katy Gallagher who has driven a lot of reform from within our government.

Sometimes, having one Gallagher in your band is more than enough.

(That final line is a reference to the band Oasis, in case you weren’t making the connection. Gen X ministers are gonna Gen X.)

A look at Hanson-Young’s choice of words

You may have noticed Sarah Hanson-Young referred to being “bullish” – that is not an accident.

Hanson-Young has begun referring to Anthony Albanese as a “bulldozer” or attempting to “bulldoze” the Senate in a deliberate reference to Scott Morrison’s self-evaluation. As we get closer to the election, you are going to see more and more attempts from all sides of politics to redefine MPs in the eyes of the electorate.

On the double-dissolution threat floated by Anthony Albanese yesterday, Sarah Hanson-Young says:

Again, why, why be so bullish about this? The Australian people don’t need a panicked prime minister who wants to press the exit button because he can’t get his own way.

They want a government that’s willing to work across the parliament. Now, a third of Australians voted for parties other than Labor or Liberal at the last election. And they did that because they want a parliament that works for them.

That requires negotiation, that requires compromise.

And it requires more than just bulldozing your way through.

Hanson-Young says PM ‘just wants to do it all his way’

And on why the Greens didn’t let the government bring the Help to Buy legislation to a vote yesterday, Sarah Hanson-Young says:

We want to fix it. We want to give the government the opportunity to fix it. I’m not just interested in saying no to things. I want to get outcomes. I guess that’s my concern.

This prime minister seems to have such a chip on his shoulder, doesn’t want to work with anyone. Just wants to do it all his way. I don’t think this is a very good sign for the future. Come on, come on, prime minister, you know, let’s put – put aside the politics and get on with getting some outcomes.

Labor’s housing bill ‘doesn’t deal with the real crises’, Hanson-Young says

The Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has spoken to ABC News Breakfast about why the Greens won’t just pass the government’s housing bills:

Because we want to work with the government to actually make this a policy that works for people. The millions of renters out there who are struggling to pay their rent, and let alone get in the housing market. Many people, particularly younger people, who are just looking at the housing market and thinking there’s no way they will possibly be able to afford to save up for a deposit or pay those soaring mortgages.

This bill doesn’t deal with the real crises. We want to work with the government to do that. We have given the government an extra two months to negotiate with us on this piece of legislation.

And frankly, again, the prime minister needs to … put his pride aside for a moment and work with the parliament in a constructive way.

Early childhood education report expected to be step towards universal system

Education minister Jason Clare and early childhood education minister Anne Aly are in Brisbane today, to talk about the final Productivity Commission report into early childhood education.

The report is expected to be another step towards the government’s stated goal of creating a universal system, with heavily subsidised or free care for families.

Yesterday. the prime minister decided to throw in the possibility of a double dissolution election.

Don’t expect the issue to go away today.

Hello and welcome to day three of the Senate only week: Return of the Senate.

Thank you to Martin for catching us all up on some of the news this morning.

You have Amy Remeikis with you for most of the day as we move to politics. Ready? Coffee number two looks lonely, so let’s get into it.

The turmoil in federal politics has brought talk about a double dissolution of parliament to break the deadlock.

Our political editor Karen Middleton looks at what that could mean in her analysis piece here:

And this is all you need to know about double dissolutions:

Murray Watt says IR policies have helped economy: ‘I haven’t seen anyone dressed in chain mail’

Paul Karp

The workplace relations minister, Murray Watt, will address the National Press Club on Wednesday, arguing that Labor’s industrial relations policies have lifted wages, particularly in the childcare sector which got a 15% pay rise.

“Just imagine how much worse things would be for families if Peter Dutton had had his way and these pay rises had never happened,” Watt says, in an advance copy of the speech, seen by Guardian Australia.

He says:

Now, there are some who continue to run scare campaigns about the impact of our changes on employers or the Australian economy. These are the same people – hello Michaelia Cash – who claimed our changes would “close down Australia” or take us back to “the Dark Ages”. Well, Australia looks pretty open to me. And I haven’t seen anyone dressed in chain mail, wheeling catapults down Northbourne Avenue any time lately.

I hate to disappoint the fearmongers, but there is no evidence the economy has collapsed due to our workplaces. To the contrary, the facts show that many employers are benefiting from our emphasis on cooperation and rewarding employees.

Again, employment is up, not down. More businesses are reaching agreements with their workers and unions. Further, under the Albanese government, more businesses are being created. The ABS estimates that there was a net increase of 122,500 trading businesses between the September quarter 2022 and the June quarter 2024. Not exactly “closing down Australia.

And most surprising to some, industrial action has actually fallen under Labor. On average, from 2.4 working days per 1,000 workers over the Coalition’s decade in office to around 1.8 working days per 1,000 employees under Labor. So much for the warnings of nationwide strikes.

Construction workers and their supporters are set to stage mass rallies across the nation for a second time as the CFMEU’S administrator promises to crack down on bikie infiltration, AAP reports.

Thousands of workers and their comrades from unions, including electrical trades, maritime and manufacturing, are expected to down tools today and march through major cities to express their displeasure over the federal takeover of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union.

The union is facing allegations that the construction and general division was involved in criminal and corrupt conduct, as uncovered by Nine newspapers earlier in 2024.

Demonstrations are due to begin from 11am at Trades Hall in Melbourne and Belmore Park in Sydney.

More than 60,000 workers assembled across the nation in August, when up to 50,000 CFMEU members gathered outside Melbourne’s Trades Hall.

A further 8,000 attended in Sydney, with around 4,000 in Brisbane.

Good morning and welcome to the live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll bring you the best overnight stories before Amy Remeikis comes along.

Anthony Albanese launched a defence of his government’s economic policies last night in a speech to the Business Council of Australia. The prime minister said Labor was both pro-business and pro-worker as he attempted to navigate a path between attacks on mining matters from the Coalition and environmental issues from the Greens.

Construction workers and their supporters are due to stage mass rallies across the country for a second time today to express their displeasure over the federal takeover of the CFMEU. The construction wing of the CFMEU is facing investigations into alleged corruption and criminal links in its Queensland, New South Wales and South Australian branches and a further inquiry in Victoria backed by new coercive powers, after its interim administrator accepted the findings of an initial investigation in full. More coming up.

The Scottish government has agreed a rescue deal for a scaled-down version of the 2026 Commonwealth Games to be hosted by Glasgow after Australia offered a “multimillion-pound commitment” to save the event. Victoria had to pay $380m in compensation to the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), $200m of which will now be directed to Scotland to cover their hosting costs. However, it could just be a temporary fix for the troubled event.