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International student caps won’t lead to job losses: education dep sec
By Angus Thompson
A top government mandarin has hit back at the universities’ claim international student caps will lead to thousands of job losses, describing the assertion as baseless.
Department of Education deputy secretary Ben Rimmer, who oversees higher education, said the status quo was creating economic uncertainty for providers “and I would not make the assumption at all that new arrangements would result in lower revenue”.
Universities Australia chief executive Luke Sheehy accused the government and Coalition of teaming up to use international students as a scapegoat in the housing crisis and warned 4,500 jobs and $500 million were at risk.
“There’s no basis on which to make that prediction,” Rimmer told a budget estimates hearing this afternoon after being questioned on whether universities were wrong to make that claim.
“No stakeholder has a valid rationale on current information available to them to be talking about any job losses,” he said.
Penny Wong visits Solomon Islands to shore up ‘very important’ relationship
By Josefine Ganko
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has appeared on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing from the Solomon Islands, where she is visiting for the first time since the election of new prime minister Jeremiah Manele.
Wong remarked that the Solomon Islands is “a country that is very important to Australia”.
“This is a country which is important to the stability and future of the region so, of course, I have come here open to listening to the priorities that Prime Minister Manele, and others have put to us, what their priorities are, what their economic priorities are. We are up for a broader relationship, a deeper relationship,” Wong said.
“We are already the number one development partner but we understand that this government has priorities in terms of how it wishes to navigate its challenges.”
Wong said she had made it clear to Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele that Australia wants “to continue to be their first partner when it comes to security issues”.
“We continue to work with other countries such as Papua New Guinea and Fiji – that is the Pacific family working together to ensure security.”
‘Suggestion we are exporting weapons to Israel is false’: Defence industry minister
By Olivia Ireland
As question time ended, Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy rose to finish his answer about the government’s connection with Elbit Systems and the Greens’ accusations the government is funding Israel’s attack on Gaza.
Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Earlier in question time, Greens member Max Chandler-Mather accused the Labor government of having a contract with Elbit Systems, which Conroy says is misinformation.
Conroy confirmed Australia has a contract with Hanwha Defence Australia – a Korean based company – which is contracted to build infantry fighting vehicles in Australia.
However, Conroy confirmed Hanwha Defence has contracted Elbit systems to build turrets (the mounting platform from which a weapon can be fired) “without the Commonwealth being a party to that contract”.
“Any suggestion that we are exporting weapons or ammunition to Israel is false, Defence has confirmed Australia has not supplied weapons or ammunition to Israel since the Hamas-Israel conflict began and for at least the past five years,” he said.
“Defence export permits that were issued for items other than weapons and ammunition, such as dual-use technologies and components of ADF equipment being repaired.
“As the conflict has evolved, the government is approving export permits only for items for Australian Defence and law enforcement that will return to Australia.
“The recent data published by DFT to the export of $1.5 million in arms and ammunition to Israel in February refers to the export of a single item for the Australian Defence Force that will return to Australia, disproving the misinformation being peddled by the Greens.”
Lending to property investors jumps amid rising rents
By Poppy Johnston and Kat Wong
Lending to property investors has picked up, reflecting favourable conditions in the rental market and the willingness of banks to provide finance to landlords.
Over April, the Australian Bureau of Statistics recorded a 5.6 per cent increase in the value of new loans to investors, which was 36.1 per cent higher than a year ago.
Bureau head of finance statistics Mish Tan said lending to investors was rising strongly, and largely due to the size of the loans, likely reflecting “expectations of higher rental yields and the greater borrowing capacity of investors”.
Rents have been rising fast and more quickly than home values, allowing rental yields - the difference between rental income rent and investment costs - to trend higher.
Lending to investors was also outpacing the value of owner-occupier loans, which rose 4.7 per cent over the month and 18.8 per cent over the year, after excluding first home buyers.
The value of first home buyer loans rose 3.4 per cent, to be 18.6 per cent higher than a year ago.
AAP
Corruption watchdog won’t pursue six people referred over robo-debt
By Angus Thompson
The National Anti-Corruption Commission has revealed six people were referred to it for investigation over the former government’s robo-debt scheme but has decided not to pursue any of them.
In a statement released this afternoon, the national integrity body said it was unlikely further evidence could be collected after the conduct of the six individuals was discussed extensively in the 990-page report of Catherine Holmes, SC, who conducted the royal commission into the welfare crackdown.
Inaugural National Anti-Corruption Commissioner Paul Brereton.Credit: AAP
“In the absence of a real likelihood of a further investigation producing significant new evidence, it is undesirable for a number of reasons to conduct multiple investigations into the same matter. This includes the risk of inconsistent outcomes, and the oppression involved in subjecting individuals to repeated investigations,” the NACC statement said.
The Robo-debt royal commission last July referred several unnamed individuals for potential criminal or civil action over the unlawful welfare crackdown after making damning findings about the former Coalition government’s operation of the scheme.
Holmes said at the time the scheme was plagued by collusion and dishonesty in concealing its unlawfulness.
The watchdog revealed five of the six people referred to it were also referred to the Australian Public Service Commission for investigation.
“There is not value in duplicating work that has been or is being done by others, in this case with the investigatory powers of the Royal Commission, and the remedial powers of the APSC,” the NACC said.
Further, it said that beyond finding whether or not the conduct in question was corrupt, it couldn’t impose sanctions like the APSC could, nor make any recommendation not made by the royal commission.
“An investigation by the Commission would not provide any individual remedy or redress for the recipients of government payments or their families who suffered due to the Robodebt Scheme,” it said.
Robo-debt was aimed at identifying people who had been overpaid Centrelink benefits by using an automated system of income averaging to help identify alleged discrepancies between their reported income and income data held by the Tax Office.
But the scheme, which recovered about $750 million from about 380,000 people, was flawed and resulted in debts being calculated based on incorrect data.
The Commonwealth settled a test case in 2019 and conceded that raising a debt using income averaging was unlawful.
Originally billed as a $1.7 billion savings measure, the scheme ended up costing the public more than it was designed to reap after the Commonwealth settled a class action for $1.8 billion in the Federal Court in June 2021, in what a judge described as a “shameful chapter in public administration”.
Shorten’s short-lived foreign affair gets a big laugh in the House
By Olivia Ireland
NDIS Minister Bill Shorten and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton have engaged in some banter across the table during question time, as rumours swirl about Shorten taking the ambassadorship in France.
This masthead reported there is chatter in the ministerial wing about Shorten taking up the post of ambassador to France when that gig opens up later this year – Prime Minister Anthony Albanese offered him London soon after the election, and he turned it down.
NDIS Minister Bill Shorten during question time on Thursday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Shorten was taking a question from Coalition NDIS spokesman Michael Sukkar about the NDIS program and whether it is “still possible for taxpayers money to be spent through the NDIS for prostitutes and cocaine”.
Shorten rises but across the table Dutton asks him if there is any French in his speech, to which Shorten responds, “no au revoir today my friend”, causing the House to erupt into laughter from both sides.
Shorten continues with his answer, saying he acknowledges there are flaws with the system, but the government is working to resolve the issue.
“I tell you something else, the crooks and the frauds know that under this government, the easy ride is over, the easy ride the Coalition gave them for nine terrible years [is over],” he said.
ADF looking into reports a padre told army widow she would ‘find someone new’
By Matthew Knott
A senior Australian Defence Force officer says he is disturbed by reports that a military padre – similar to a chaplain or support officer – told a grieving army widow that she was young and would “find somebody new” after the death of her husband.
Another widow of one of the four army personnel who died when their MRH-90 Taipan helicopter crashed off the Queensland coast during training exercises last July has said that a military padre advised her not to hold her late husband’s funeral on Father’s Day.
“[I was told] I needed to think about my dad and how disrespectful that would be to the most important man in your life, and I needed to be thinking about how that would affect my future husband and my future children,” Caitland Lyon, the widow of Captain Danniel Lyon, told an inspector-general inquiry into the fatal helicopter crash in May.
Chadine Whyte, the widow of Lieutenant Maxwell Nugent, said a padre told her “that I’m young, and I’ll find somebody new”.
“Which is an incredibly cruel thing to say because he’s not replaceable,” Whyte told the inquiry.
After raising the matter at Senate estimates hearings on Thursday, Greens Senator David Shoebridge asked: “Who on earth would say that to a widow?...How is this happening?”
Deputy Chief of Army Chris Smith said he was not aware of the details of the padre’s comments but added: “I agree with you that they sound in the circumstances concerning.”
Smith said he would seek to find out if the padre who offended the grieving widows was still working in the field.
End of ‘discriminatory’ junior rates could see pay bump for young workers
Young workers across the nation could soon get a pay bump as unions seek to bring 18-year-old workers’ earnings in line with the adult wage.
Unions on Thursday filed an application asking the industrial relations watchdog to abolish “discriminatory” junior rates in retail, fast food and pharmacy awards and pay the full adult rate for workers 18 and over.
Currently, workers under the age of 20 in retail, fast food and pharmacy are paid less than the full adult wage.Credit: AP
The proposed changes could also give a pay bump of between five and 10 per cent to workers under 16 to 50 per cent of the award and a 15 per cent pay increase to 17-year-olds.
The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association national secretary Gerard Dwyer said some retail and fast food workers had many years experience in the sector by the time they were 18.
“If you’re of adult age, you should be paid an adult wage, there is no justification for them being paid 30 per cent less,” Dwyer said.
Australian Retailers Association chief executive Paul Zahra said the unions rushed through the bid without consulting with the industry, claiming junior rates are used “to incentivise employment of young people who are less skilled”.
“Without these rates, these young people may otherwise struggle to compete against older, more experienced applicants.”
AAP
Greens, government clash over claim Labor is funding Israeli weapons
By Olivia Ireland
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has accused the Greens of seeking to weaponise misinformation through their claims that the Labor government is funding Israel’s weapons program.
Greens member Max Chandler-Mather asked Albanese:
Labor awarded a $970 million contract Israel weapons Corporation Elbit systems, the same company that made the drone that Israel used to bomb the World Central Kitchen convoy [with] Australian aid workers. Elbit is one of the largest suppliers of the Israeli military as it carries out a genocide in Gaza.
Elbit system is blacklisted in other countries for violation of humanitarian law, why won’t the government cancel the Elbit system contract?”
Albanese begins his answer by claiming there have been no weapons or ammunition exported to Israel in the last five years and the Greens are engaging in misinformation.
Chandler-Mather gets up to argue to Speaker of the House Milton Dick that Albanese was not being relevant to his question about the contract but was overruled.
Albanese continues: “It is beyond my comprehension why anyone in this place would seek to suggest that Australia were participants in a conflict when we are not. When we are simply not. When we are simply not. When we have repeatedly called for a ceasefire.”
“They seek in a divisive way to raise these issues in order to … cause division.”
Albanese then gives the rest of his time to the Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy to answer, who rises to further accuse the Greens of spreading misinformation.
“The misinformation continues in the question. They do not have that contract with the Government of Australia.”
Conroy is then cut off because his time runs out.
ABC manager at centre of Lattouf case to depart
By Calum Jaspan
Leaving question time briefly for some media news. One of the managers at the centre of the Antoinette Lattouf radio saga will depart the ABC at the end of June, a spokesperson confirmed on Thursday.
“ABC Radio Sydney manager Steve Ahern has decided to leave the ABC at the end of June after successfully leading the ABC Radio Sydney team for 2 years including during their recent transition to our new offices in Parramatta,” the spokesperson told this masthead.
“The ABC passes on our sincere thanks to Steve for his dedication to the role and his contribution to the ABC.”
A source with close knowledge of the decision said it was made before, and was unrelated to the Fair Work Commission ruled Lattouf was in fact sacked by the ABC three days into a five-day shift in December.
Lattouf and the ABC have a mediation date this month ahead of a second case filed in the Federal Court over her dismissal.
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