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12.41pm
Heckles and boos for New Zealand government at Waitangi
And in New Zealand, Maori leaders have chastised the new government amid raucous scenes at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds ahead of the country’s national day.
In return, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has hit back at a hostile crowd, telling one to “get an education and get some manners” as he was heckled.
Chris Luxon’s coalition government travelled to the fabled treaty grounds today for a public meeting, or powhiri, with Maori leaders.
The right-leaning government has policies to roll back use of the Maori language, and incentives to learn it, to disestablish Maori-specific public services, and most controversially, redefine how the Treaty of Waitangi impacts law.
National leader Chris Luxon, the new prime minister of New Zealand.Credit: Getty
After a summer of protest at Luxon’s plans for Maori, expectations of a tense atmosphere were realised.
Government speakers were met with heckles and haka, and Peters was booed after he announced he would be making a short speech due to a later meeting.
Peters attacked Maori leaders for fearmongering over his government’s plans to redefine the legal principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.
“Whoever said we’re getting rid of the Treaty of Waitangi? Who?” he implored.
“Stop the crap. Stop the nonsense. Stop the hysteria.
“Some of us were out here before you were born, fighting for Maori land rights … so we aren’t here to apologise.”
In recent weeks, Maori have staged a national day of protest, and rallied around a once-in-a-decade Royal Proclamation from the Maori King for a national gathering for unity.
Today’s gathering, an annual ritual where government leaders travel to the far north, where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840, was always likely to be a flashpoint.
AAP
12.20pm
New race discrimination commissioner announced
By Olivia Ireland
Giridharan Sivaraman, a principal lawyer at Maurice Blackburn and the chair of Multicultural Australia, has been appointed as the next race discrimination commissioner.
The role is a part of the Australian Human Rights Commission and is responsible for combatting all forms of racial discrimination and promoting understanding, tolerance and harmony across all sectors of Australian society.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus congratulated Sivaraman, who will commence his appointment on March 4, filling the vacancy resulting from the conclusion of Chin Tan’s appointment.
“[Sivaraman’s] comprehensive understanding and demonstrated passion in the race discrimination and human rights space will be a great asset to the Australian Human Rights Commission,” Dreyfus said.
Sivaraman has run numerous state and national race discrimination cases and led the pro bono compensation scheme for underpaid 7-Eleven workers, many of whom came from migrant backgrounds.
Also a member of the Queensland Multicultural Advisory Council, Sivaraman appeared at a state parliamentary inquiry to demand legal reform to better protect the rights of victims of racial vilification, while his work with Multicultural Australia oversees the continued support provided to new arrivals in Queensland.
Australian Human Rights Commission president Rosalind Croucher said they were excited for Sivaraman to begin his role while noting the challenge of the role.
“There has been a marked increase in reports of racism and hate speech in recent months, and it is therefore vital that we amplify efforts to empower communities to address racism at its root causes and continue our public campaign to take action to combat racism,” Croucher said.
11.59am
AFP responds to finding on radicalisation of 13-year-old
By Olivia Ireland
It was not the intention of counter-terrorism police to radicalise an autistic 13-year-old boy, Australian Federal Police deputy commissioner Ian McCartney has said, as he accepts the finding by a Victorian magistrate that an undercover agent fed the boy’s fixation.
Thomas Carrick, a pseudonym, was 13 years old and had an IQ of 71 – well below the average person’s IQ – when an AFP agent initiated extremist discussions with him over 71 days.
Officers charged Thomas with two terrorism offences in October 2021, but magistrate Lesley Fleming granted a permanent stay on the charges which were published recently.
The AFP responded to a court decision involving a 13-year-old boy.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Fleming found the police officers’ conduct fell “so profoundly short of the minimum standards expected” that to refuse the stay application would be to condone and encourage further instances of such conduct.
Greens senator David Shoebridge questioned McCartney on the incident this morning during a Senate hearing into the AFP annual report, and accused the AFP of failing to be accountable for the situation.
“It was obviously a decision I didn’t take lightly, Senator, it was a set of exceptional circumstances and the decision to approve the controlled operation was due to the escalation of threat, the need to protect the community but at the same time take into account the age of the individual,” McCartney said.
“We’ve got a problem in Australia at the minute, we’ve seen a spike in similar cases in recent years, the radicalisation of youth, predominantly online and predominantly unfortunately with mental health being a factor.”
McCartney said the AFP acknowledged and accepted the magistrate’s finding, and it was not their intent to radicalise the 13-year-old.
“The person was on the path to radicalisation long before we became involved, long before Victoria Police became involved,” he said.
“There’s a range of reviews that is happening in relation to this matter … as a matter of transparency and confidence, I’m more than happy to come before this committee.”
11.37am
Liberals, Nationals have ‘no more excuses’ on tax changes: Chalmers
Treasurer Jim Chalmers was questioned in Canberra about the tax changes this morning and if the governmnt would compromise.
Last month, federal government ministers and backbenchers endorsed Anthony Albanese’s plan to decrease the lowest tax bracket rate from 19 per cent to 16 per cent for those earning less than $45,000, and to keep the 37 per cent tax bracket for those earning between $135,000 and $190,000.
The treasurer was asked if there was any “wiggle room” in the government’s proposed tax changes.
“We want to see the tax changes that we’ve proposed legislated by the Parliament. I’ll be introducing the legislation tomorrow at the earliest opportunity,” he told reporters.
He said the government had provided all the detail, and all of the legislation.
The Liberals and Nationals have no more excuses to keep stumbling around and stuffing around and trying to come up with some kind of excuse to oppose more tax cuts for more people.
Now whatever the Coalition party room decides, they’ve already shown that they are diabolically out of touch with middle Australia and the communities that they are supposed to represent, and we already know because Sussan Ley said so that no matter what happens in the Parliament that it is the Liberals’ and Nationals’ intention to unwind the changes that we are seeking passage for in the parliament.”
He said the Coalition would keep “stumbling around and stuffing around” to try to come up with an excuse to oppose the Labor government on political grounds.
11.18am
Join the conversation
Sean Kelly’s opinion piece on how Anthony Albanese has finally come to the realisation that he’s in power is sparking much debate with subscribers.
@Reece Agland says: “Dutton was helped by the poorly thought through Yes campaign (not the idea of the campaign) and Albo’s desire to not offend anyone. But it was the first year out from the election, people’s minds are fickle and short term, so by the time of the next election those issues won’t be in people’s minds. Tax on the other hand sticks in people’s minds. Regardless though, Albo needs to stay on the front foot and be prepared to annoy some people some of the time.”
@Matto writes: “Time to abolish negative gearing. It will save the government a huge amount in tax concessions, help keep a lid on housing prices, and allow more renters to get a foot on the property ladder if they are not competing with investors. A win, win, win.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese campaigning in the Victorian seat of Dunkley on the weekend.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
@Riddley Walker says: “People voted Labor because they wanted Labor policies and Labor values – not Liberal policies and Liberal values. It’s well beyond time this government stepped up and showed a sliver of courage to do the right thing.”
But @Kazbah has a different take: “If any one [sic] thinks Labor has improved any cost of living metric, housing or rental affordability (try finding rental in Melb), or as Sean states, their strong points – health or schooling – they are living in a bubble.”
What do you think? Let us know via the link above.
11.01am
It was the department’s decision to look at stage 3: Treasury official
By Rachel Clun
In a heated cost of living committee hearing this morning, Treasury officials said it was the department’s decision to look at changes to stage 3 income tax cuts to provide relief for households.
Liberal senator Jane Hume has been pressing Treasury officials about the process that led to the department providing advice to Treasurer Jim Chalmers on January 20 that the government could overhaul the tax cuts to provide more relief to low- and middle-income earners, while keeping the overall cost of the package roughly the same.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the tax changes on January 23, and Hume said the process had been rushed and that the prime minister had lied to Australians, and had potentially implicated the department in lies.
Opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Treasury’s deputy secretary for the revenue group, Diane Brown, said the department had not been implicated, but had a process. Hume countered that the departments of Treasury and Finance would have been aware the decision would be controversial, and suggested the government decided to change stage 3 months ago.
Brown said no decision was made until cabinet met on January 23, but Hume said the government knew it was going to decide to change the tax; otherwise it would not have tasked the department with investigating it.
Brown said that’s not what the government asked Treasury to look at.
“They tasked us with the charge with tasked us with looking at cost-of-living options. The department decided that the best way to do that would be through changing personal rates and thresholds,” Brown said.
“We thought that was the best way to both return bracket creep to provide broad cost-of-living relief, to do so in a way that did not add to inflationary pressures.”
10.41am
NBN set to boost economy by $400b, but users dump it because of cost
By David Swan
A faster NBN is set to deliver a $400 billion boost to Australia’s economy by 2030, the first longitudinal study into the network’s economic outcomes has found, despite recent price rises for many customers and new statistics showing thousands of Australians have dumped the NBN in the past three months.
The economic modelling from consulting giant Accenture and commissioned by NBN Co found that for every 1 megabit per second in average broadband speed Australia’s productivity-driven GDP rose by 0.04 per cent on average between 2012 and 2022, an uplift worth about $122 billion to the economy.
NBN Co chief Stephen Rue says the network is delivering on its promise of lifting Australia’s digital capability.Credit: Edwina Pickles
Amid a pandemic-driven shift to remote work, the network is also reshaping Australia’s workforce, with rural areas benefiting from faster broadband at a rate 16 times greater than the cities, and Australia’s most disadvantaged communities experiencing up to five times the productivity boost compared to more advantaged communities.
Read more about the NBN here.
10.25am
Treasury started looking at stage 3 tax changes in December
By Rachel Clun
Treasury was asked to investigate options for changing the legislated stage 3 tax cuts in mid-December, a senate committee has heard.
The Senate’s cost of living committee is questioning Treasury officials about the changed tax cuts today, and senator Jane Hume kicked the hearing off by asking when exactly Treasury was directed to model changing the tax cuts.
Liberal senator Jane Hume.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Treasury’s deputy secretary for the revenue group, Diane Brown, said the request came on December 11, and staff worked hard through the summer on cost-of-living options, before handing its research to the government on the weekend before the January 23 cabinet meeting.
“How did the government indicate that Treasury would be asked to undertake that work?” Hume asked.
Brown said Treasury secretary Stephen Kennedy had also been thinking about how cost-of-living relief could be provided without adding to inflation.
“He was interested and had mentioned to us around roughly the same time that he would like the department to think about whether adjusting the personal income tax rates and thresholds could provide broad-based relief to all taxpayers in a way that didn’t add inflation,” Brown said.
Hume asked whether Treasury was also providing advice on changes on negative gearing or capital gains tax, and Brown said the department was always looking at the tax system, but there had been no direction from the government that there were decisions to change those taxes.
10.09am
Former Labor premiers back Indigenous governor-general
By Lisa Visentin
Former Labor premiers Bob Carr and Steve Bracks have backed the selection of an Indigenous Australian to be the country’s next governor-general, as speculation swirls that the prime minister may use the opportunity to make a historic appointment.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed last week that an announcement on the next governor-general would be made in the first half of this year but refused to be drawn on speculation that he was considering appointing the first Indigenous Australian to the vice-regal office.
Former NSW premier Bob Carr and former Victorian premier Steve Bracks have backed calls for an Indigenous person to be appointed governor-general.Credit: James Alcock; Joe Armao
Governor-General David Hurley, who was appointed by former prime minister Scott Morrison, is due to finish his five-year term on July 1.
Carr, the longest-serving premier of NSW and a former foreign minister, said he believed the country would welcome an Indigenous Australian as governor-general and such an appointment would tie together many considerations.
“There is the proof of Indigenous resilience, survival and achievements,” Carr said. “There is the unifying sentiment to combat Indigenous disadvantage and eliminate the gaps, and there is the abundance of Indigenous Australians with the knowledge of law, government and society that rivals that of the generals with clanking medals we’ve become accustomed to installing in Yarralumla.”
Learn more here.
9.46am
‘Absolute rubbish’ that fuel efficiency standard would increase costs: Chalmers
Earlier, Treasurer Jim Chalmers was asked about the government’s long-awaited fuel efficiency standard.
It applies only to new car sales and limits the average emissions of a carmaker’s overall fleet of vehicles sold each year, measured in grams of CO₂ per kilometre.
The standard is designed to encourage car manufacturer’s to sell more efficient petrol cars or electric vehicles.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
However, the opposition has revived memories of the Morrison government’s 2022 election campaign claim that federal Labor’s policies to promote electric vehicle sales would “end the weekend”.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers also hit back at claims the standard would push up the price of utes and cars.
“No, that’s absolute rubbish. This is about getting costs down rather than up,” he told Nine’s Today program.
He said Americans had a similar program in place, and the standard was about getting more options on the market including more fuel-efficient cars and utes.
“This is a cost-of-living measure which is all about getting costs down, not up, and giving people more choice. It doesn’t tell anyone what kind of car to buy or what kind of ute to buy, it just means there are more options for people who want to get a more fuel-efficient vehicle to get their costs down.”
He said the standard would help people save $1000 per year on petrol if they had a fuel-efficient vehicle.
“This is not about mandating what kind of car you buy, it’s about giving you more choices, so if you want to get your running costs down, you can.”
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