44m agoMon 25 Aug 2025 at 7:36am
That’s the end of our live coverage
That’s the end of our live blog for today. Thank you for joining us!
We’ll be back again tomorrow morning to bring you all the day’s developments in federal politics.
Meanwhile, you can look back on today’s developments below, or download the ABC News app and subscribe to our range of news alerts for the latest updates.
50m agoMon 25 Aug 2025 at 7:30am
Parliamentary inquiry to examine quality and safety of childcare sector
A parliamentary inquiry will look into the safety and quality of Australia’s childcare sector.
Following multiple abuse and neglect allegations within centres, the Greens and Coalition have today help set up the inquiry.
Some of the areas it will look at include:
Health and safety of children in careHow the regulators keep check of centres- worker compensation and pay Workforce pressures What funding the government could provide to families to help with care, aside from child care subsidy Choice of care options to parents
Greens spokesperson for early education and care Senator Steph Hodgins-May said the inquiry will give families and educators a chance to share their ideas on how to improve the system.
“Families have lost confidence in the childcare system, and tinkering around the edges with CCTV and registers won’t bring that trust back,” she said.
Shadow Education Minister Jonno Duniam said aside from safety measures, he looks forward to the inquiry examining funding support for families.
“The child care subsidy model does not suit all Australians. We can’t keep pretending the one-size-fits-all approach works. Parents deserve more choice, and that includes how subsidies are used,” he said.
The inquiry will report back in March 2026.
1h agoMon 25 Aug 2025 at 7:10am
Analysis: Migration talks missing from economic reform round table
I wonder if anyone at the round table last week asked Treasury secretary Jenny Wilkinson, or her predecessor Martin Parkinson, who was also there, about the Treasury’s poor record of net migration forecasting?
The forecasts in the budget papers are the only attempt to put a figure on future immigration — there’s usually a target for permanent and skilled migration, but not for the overall number, which includes students and working holiday-makers, and permanent and skilled migrants are only a small part of the total.
So, there are that many more cars on the road than expected, that many more people looking for health care, and hundreds of thousands more kids in schools than expected.
Would the extra houses, hospitals and schools have been built if the Treasury had correctly forecast immigration four years ago?
Read Alan Kohler’s analysis at the link below.
1h agoMon 25 Aug 2025 at 7:04am
Tax concessions on housing must be considered to improve housing prospects for young Australians
Do we need to be looking at property tax, capital gains tax and negative gearing? Susan Lloyd Hurwitz thinks so.
She says Australians are highly incentivised to over consume housing, whether through family for primary residence or for investment.
Hurwitz says intragenerational inequity is being driven by the fact that Australians over consume housing, mostly because of the tax concessions.
“This is leading to the situation where many young people feel that they can’t get ahead. They’re not getting a fair go. And we have got this very deep inequity building in our society which is not healthy and which needs to be seriously considered,” Hurwitz says.
And that’s where we’ll leave Afternoon Briefing for today!
1h agoMon 25 Aug 2025 at 6:58am
Impact on house prices from 5 per cent deposit scheme to be seen: Hurwitz
Susan Lloyd Hurwitz has been asked what she thinks of the plan to allow people to purchase their first home with a 5 per cent deposit.
She says it will make it easier for people to get into the market, and will have an “upwards” impact on prices.
“It is something that is a policy that probably needs to be tested to see what happens to demand and therefore what happens to prices,” Hurwitz says.
Asked if it will have an immediate impact on house prices, she says it’s a little hard to tell.
“Hopefully it doesn’t affect prices too much and helps people get into the market because we know for the average household it’s more than 10 years to save for the medium deposit, that’s a long time,” she says.
1h agoMon 25 Aug 2025 at 6:54amGovt won’t reach 1.2 new home build target: Housing Council
The Chair of the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, Susan Lloyd Hurwitz, has joined Afternoon Briefing.
Hurwitz says Housing Council modelling shows the government will build 938,000 new homes — short of the government’s target of 1.2 million.
She says while it won’t fix all issues in the housing market, pausing changes to the National Construction Code is an important step.
“That will help people come to terms with the change that come through the NCC at a very regular pace and quite hard to absorb by smaller builders,” Hurwitz says.
Hurwitz says the government needs to continue to look at skills, planning, land amalgamation, tax settings to address the housing crisis.
1h agoMon 25 Aug 2025 at 6:53am
Lambie says Coalition’s votes will dwindle if it doesn’t address net zero
Senator Jacqui Lambie says the Coalition doesn’t want to recognise the seat is rising and that their votes will continue to dwindle.
“If they can’t show some responsibility that something is going on out there and we have a problem and if we don’t do something … then yes they are going to have problems in the future,” Lambie says.
She says Australia doesn’t have an effective opposition, and that will turn around soon.
Lambie says it will be very unexpected if Labor wins the next two elections.
Moving on to housing now, and Lambie says the government isn’t willing to address capital gains tax and negative gearing.
She says the government’s 5 per cent housing deposit scheme has merit, but that it’s all dependent on interest rates.
Lambie has challenged the government to adopt some of the ideas from the roundtable, and says the government should seriously consider changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing to alleviate the housing crisis.
“When it comes to housing we need to look at everything. We need every thing on the table … to get back to making sure people have a roof over their heads than that is everything the country has to do,” she says.
1h agoMon 25 Aug 2025 at 6:45am
‘I’m coming’: Jacqui Lambie’s warning to Richard Marles on defence
Senator Jacqui Lambie has joined Afternoon Briefing where she’s been asked about the functioning of parliament.
Lambie says the independents don’t have the balance of power so she’s not getting calls from the government.
“I can tell you they are not chasing us. I guess we are now chasing them, using our time more productively,” Lambie says.
Asked if she’s getting a good response from chasing, Lambie says she’s getting ready to “hammer” the government on defence.
“I have it stacked up ready to hammer them but I haven’t had the time. We now have the time so Richard Marles, that’s a warning for you because I’m coming,” she says.
1h agoMon 25 Aug 2025 at 6:41am
Tehan rejects suggestion that Coalition has abandoned net zero
Dan Tehan says he rejects the suggestion that the Coalition has abandoned a policy of net zero emissions by 2050.
“I’ve talked about how the government’s approach isn’t working, they’re flat lining. The levels they’re at are pretty similar to the levels we were at when they left office,” Tehan says.
Tehan says the Coalition needs to examine the economic cost of net zero and balance that with emissions reduction.
He’s taken a shot at Chris Bowen for being “arrogant” and “not a great listener”.
1h agoMon 25 Aug 2025 at 6:37am
Tehan says Coalition may have a net zero policy by middle of next year
Dan Tehan has been asked what the time frame is for determining the Coalition’s net zero energy policy, considering the grassroots opposition to it.
The shadow energy minister says he’s made it clear from the outset that the Coalition wants to get its policy position right.
Tehan says he hopes the Coalition will have formulated a policy by the middle of next year.
“My hope is that we’ll have something that we’ll be able to seriously put towards the middle of next year but we’ve got to get it right and we’ve got to see what’s happening with what the government is doing,” Tehan says.
“They’ve walked away from their modelling. They did it just before the last election. They’ve got no plan,” he says.
1h agoMon 25 Aug 2025 at 6:32am
Dan Tehan says Australia has an issue with energy prices
Shadow Energy Minister Dan Tehan has joined Afternoon Briefing where he’s been asked about Barnaby Joyce’s private member’s bill.
Asked what the Coalition will do when it comes up for a vote, Tehan says it “will be a decision that we’ll take”.
He says the Coalition has a “serious policy approach” that the joint party room is going through “to make sure the facts are on the table”.
The shadow minister says Australia has problems with electricity, and needs more gas in the system.
“We have a real issue in this nation when it comes to energy prices and energy abundance. And the government is getting it all wrong,” Tehan says.
“If we don’t get it right, people are going to suffer when it comes to their household budgets and industries are going to suffer as a result,” she says.
1h agoMon 25 Aug 2025 at 6:27am
Electric vehicle road user charge not a ‘done deal’: Bowen
Chris Bowen says an electric vehicle road user charge is not a “done deal” and that there’s still a lot of work yet to do.
He says over time, petrol revenue will decrease as electric vehicle uptake will increase, and that the government has to find ways to ensure the ongoing revenue base.
“Let’s not get ahead of this process. It is not getting to be resolved in coming weeks. There will be further discussions. The states are doing a discussion paper,” Bowen says.
1h agoMon 25 Aug 2025 at 6:22am
Chris Bowen says 2035 climate target will be made public in September
Chris Bowen has been asked about when Australia will set a 2035 emissions reduction target.
The Climate Change minister says the government will release its climate target in September, and has assured there will be “absolutely no shortage of climate news in September”.
He says it will receive the Climate Change Authority’s advice and will take it to cabinet for consideration, and that it will be released to the public in September.
Asked if the government will pursue a target or “range”, Bowen says some countries have decided to go down that path.
“Countries have set ranges and others have said exact numbers. It is up to the countries to how they describe it,” Bowen says.
2h agoMon 25 Aug 2025 at 6:15am
Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen joins Afternoon Briefing
Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen has joined Afternoon Briefing, where he’s been asked about emissions data.
New data out today shows that Australia’s emissions reduction is tracking to hit its 2030 target of 43 per cent below 2005 levels.
Chris Bowen says there’s still a lot of work to do with the transport sector, which the data shows increased its emissions.
“We have some encouraging signs that transport emissions will start to come down but we agree there is more to do,” Bowen says.
Now to Barnaby Joyce’s net zero bill, Bowen has been asked why the government allowed debate on it.
The energy minister says it’s a “very legitimate debate” for the parliament, and shows the Coalition “refused to get the memo” from Australians at the last election.
“It’s Parliament House, we are meant to debate things and this is one of the questions facing the country so why not? We didn’t seek the debates, we didn’t have the bill,” Bowen says.
2h agoMon 25 Aug 2025 at 6:00am
Afternoon Briefing has started!
Join us as we bring you the program here live!
2h agoMon 25 Aug 2025 at 5:54am
PM answering your questions
It’s question time!
But a little bit different to how we normally do it on the blog.
Tomorrow at 5:15pm (AEST) Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be joining us for an interview.
And we want your questions, so got a burning one?
Maybe you’re passionate about the NDIS or education. Or perhaps cybersecurity and international relations is more your thing?
Either way, let us know!
Catch the interview here, on Instagram, TikTok or later on the ABC News Channel, radio and online.
2h agoMon 25 Aug 2025 at 5:33am
Question Time is over for today
And with that, Question Time is finally over! Back to normal programing.
Today’s questions dragged on for nearly an hour and a half and covered topics from the National Construction Code, fiscal rules and natural disaster resilience.
2h agoMon 25 Aug 2025 at 5:28am
Govt says it’s backing manufacturing
Nationals MP Andrew Willcox is up next, asking if the government can confirm if smelters around the country are in crisis talks because of the cost of energy.
Because the industry minister is a senator (Tim Ayres), Pat Conroy has the task of answering this one. He says the government has repeatedly stressed the processing of domestic minerals is vital to our national interest.
“Obviously energy is a critical part of the mix and that is why we are investing record amounts in renewing our energy grid, backing renewable energy which is the cheapest form of new energy as well as improving reliability,” he says.
Willcox raises a point of order that the Speaker doesn’t entertain. Conroy continues:
“We’re
working closely with the companies involved as well as their workers and unions representing them and the state government because it is important that we come at a solution together rather than using this as a political football.”
2h agoMon 25 Aug 2025 at 5:21am
Will the government consider greater investment in natural disaster resilience?
And we’ve got another crossbench question, this time from independent MP Zali Steggall.
She’s asked whether the government will re-evaluate funding priorities and ensure greater investment in natural disaster resilience.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has stepped up first, saying climate change is leading to more severe climate events.
He says he announced changes to the Regional Investment Corporation to allow for investment in resilience, for events like the algal bloom in SA.
“I think the member is quite right to point towards investing upfront. That is something my government is looking at in a range of areas as well, as well as providing for local infrastructure programs that the minister might want to talk about as well,” Albanese says.
Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain says the government is investing in a disaster response fund consisting of $1 billion over four years.
3h agoMon 25 Aug 2025 at 5:13am
Coalition ‘unworthy’ and don’t take international policy seriously: PM
Alex Hawke, the manager of opposition business, is up next, asking the prime minister if the decision to recognise a Palestinian state will help secure a meeting with US President Donald Trump.
Anthony Albanese begins by reading off a statement Opposition Leader Sussan Ley made in the past in support of Palestinian state.
“The fact that we take
international policy seriously. And the fact that the manager of opposition business asked such a flippant question about the relationship between Australia and the US or about Middle East peace. It shows how unworthy they are, those opposite,” the PM says.
Albanese says the government continues to engage constructively with the Trump administration, noting Defence Minister Richard Marles is in the US this week for meetings with his counterpart Pete Hegseth.