‘The whole system is busted’: NSW reignites calls for GST reform
Daniel Mookhey says that in his three years as NSW treasurer, his state’s share of the GST has gone from 93 cents in the dollar down to 82 cents, while Victoria’s share has gone up from 96 cents to $1.07.
Mookhey says other state except for Western Australia – including South Australia, Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania – are all calling for reform to Scott Morrison’s controversial GST deal struck in 2018 that hands over billions to WA.
The latest distribution calculation, released last week, shows WA will over the next year get an extra $5.5bn from the deal.
Mookhey says NSW has been “carrying” the federation, and takes aim at his southern neighbour.
double quotation markIt’s in dire need of an overhaul, the whole system is busted …
I know that NSW people will accept that we have an obligation to help Tasmania, South Australia, and the territories, but I do think it’s a bit rich to ask NSW to be shipping billions of dollars down the Hume Highway to Victoria.
Updated at 19.37 EDT
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ABC staff end strike, first news program to return to local radio at 5pm
Amanda Meade
ABC staff ended their strike at 11am today but the first key news program to return to local radio stations will be PM at 5pm.
After 11am listeners would have heard a repeat of Conversations with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski, which is networked across the broadcaster’s eight metropolitan stations in capital cities and 45 regional station.
The usual noon program, The World Today with Andy Park, will not be aired today because there was no time to prepare the current affairs show.
The World Today missed two shows over the 24-hour strike by around 2,000 ABC union members.
This morning, radio audiences heard ABC 702 manager Nick Lowther hosting the show across most states, including NSW and Victoria, although some markets did host their own breakfast shows.
Without comment, Lowther played 1980s pop song Our House by English band Madness as he signed off minutes before 11am.
Former AM presenter Sabra Lane read the radio news bulletins from Hobart where she is based as a Tasmanian reporter and presenter.
Updated at 20.21 EDT
Radio National returns after strike action
Normal programming wasn’t back immediately on Radio National at 11am, despite the official end of strike action at the ABC.
Or rather, it was Bach immediately… the soothing strains of Bach’s Air on a G String heralded the lapse of industrial action, as staff returning from their strike clearly weren’t quite ready to improvise a top-of-the-hour news bulletin for the national network.
Minutes later the station was still MIA, with the program guide’s promised edition of Global Roaming instead a recording of Jonathan Green’s Saturday morning cooking program Every Bite.
Updated at 20.17 EDT
Luca Ittimani
ASX slips slightly as Iran rejects US war negotiations
The Australian sharemarket is treading water as hopes for an end to war in the Middle East fade.
Donald Trump’s promises of a pause in his war on Iran gave US stock markets a boost overnight, and the ASX was expected to follow today, in what would have been its third consecutive day rising.
Sentiment has now turned as Iran rejects negotiation, with oil prices rising – the benchmark West Texas Intermediate heading up from US$88 to US$91 – and the ASX200 tiptoeing just under its close of 8,534 points yesterday.
Share prices are falling for more than half of Australia’s 200 top companies. REA Group, owner of realestate.com.au, is at lows not seen since 2023, facing a weakening property market and stronger competition from Domain.
Most of the big banks have been holding steady in recent days, with the exception of NAB, which hit a record high market value of $150bn in the days before the war broke out and is now worth $130bn.
Updated at 19.52 EDT
Stephanie Convery
ABC journalist calls Marks’ comments on strike ‘utterly offensive’
ABC journalist Michael Slezak, co-chair of the MEAA ABC national house committee, has described managing director Hugh Marks’ comments this morning as “utterly offensive”.
As we reported earlier, Marks said he felt that ABC staff saw taking industrial action as “a bit of a game”, and said “if they want the audiences to suffer more, of course it’s their right to take protected industrial action.”
Slezak, an environment reporter and also the president of the media section of MEAA, urged Marks to retract the comments.
He told the Guardian:
double quotation markThe idea that ABC staff see this as a game is utterly offensive. We have been at the table with management for nine months trying to reach an agreement that allows us to continue our work and deliver quality news and content to the audiences that we love.
The claims that we have are all about creating a strong ABC with a bright future. The suggestion that ABC staff want to hurt audiences is beyond offensive. It’s outrageous, and he should retract those comments immediately.
Slezak said Marks’ recent claims that the ABC was not an insecure place to work “shows he’s not listening to the staff”.
double quotation markWhat we are saying is that you cannot do fearless journalism if you’re fearing for your own job. That is just not conducive to quality news. He needs to come to the table and address these major issues.
What’s happening in the house?
Ok, so after the Coalition introduced a motion to bring on debate and expedite a vote on the ACCC bill to increase penalties on fuel price gouging, the government made an amendment to also include expedited debate and a vote for their legislation to help truckies with fuel price spikes.
The second piece of legislation – an amendment to the Fair Work Act to help truckies – was only introduced this morning, and the Coalition says it hasn’t had any time to read it.
Under that legislation, truck drivers and transport operators will be able to make an emergency application for a contract chain order, cutting down the current wait time of six months.
The Coalition voted against the whole motion that they brought on (with the government amendment), but the government, with its big majority, got it over the line.
Now, the house is debating both bills (which the parliament calls in cognate), and each member only gets five minutes to make their argument.
Debate will be guillotined at 1pm, at which point the two bills will be voted on (and they’re guaranteed to pass).
The shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, says the Coalition supports the ACCC penalty bill but bringing a vote on the Fair Work Act is a “dangerous precedent” after the amendment was only just introduced.
double quotation mark[The government] has allowed time to drift, we are simply asking that that matter which is simple, straightforward and clear be resolved.
Instead what the government is now doing is a shambolic process to try and shut down parliamentary scrutiny, shut down parliamentary accountability … It was introduced this morning, a copy has not even as far as I am aware been available to the opposition or [if] it [has] I haven’t had a chance to read it yet.
The shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, earlier in March. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPShare
Updated at 19.43 EDT
Stephanie Convery
Media union refuses to rule out further industrial action
The deputy chief executive of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, Adam Portelli, has refused to rule out further industrial action if ABC management does not make an offer that meets staff needs.
Speaking to ABC Sydney this morning, Portelli criticised ABC management for prioritising “a significant amount of money on court cases” and “other payment” which “we would say have been unnecessary”.
Portelli continued:
double quotation markWhat they don’t seem to have done is budgeted for-cost of-living increases. Now for the national broadcaster not to have in its budget a cost-of-living increase that meets inflation, we say simply isn’t good enough.
On insecure work, Portelli gave the example of a staff member at the ABC who had, over their 3.5 years with the broadcaster, been on “no less than 19 contracts”.
double quotation markNow, that’s an outrageous situation and goes to really the heart of one of the significant concerns our members have. But it also doesn’t seem to be something that would be particularly cost-effective to the ABC.
ABC staff taking industrial action today are members of either the journalists’ union, MEAA, or the non-journalists’ Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), which represents staff in technology and control systems.
Portelli would not rule out further industrial action, but said ABC staff were not taking action unnecessarily.
double quotation markOur members would rather not take action. They would rather get back to work and do what they love doing, which is delivering for their audiences. But ultimately, if the offer on the table doesn’t provide those sustainable jobs that they need, we certainly wouldn’t be closing the door to further action.
Updated at 19.23 EDT
Opposition flip on their own motion in the house
There’s been an interesting turn of events in the House of Representatives this morning, with the opposition moving a motion – and then backflipping on it after the government added an amendment.
Let’s go through it.
The opposition moved a suspension of standing orders to bring on Labor’s bill that doubles penalties the ACCC can dish out to fuel companies which are price gouging. The manager of opposition business, Dan Tehan, said:
double quotation markThe government made a big deal about this ACCC bill, said it was urgent, we had the minister saying that it was urgent, yet here we are on Thursday of this parliamentary sitting week in the middle of a national fuel crisis and all we’ve had is this bill introduced …
It brings me no joy doing the government’s job for them.
The motion Tehan was trying to bring on would have shortened debate on the ACCC bill and allowed it to be voted on and passed today.
The government then moved an amendment to tack on the legislation that it announced earlier this week to protect the trucking industry from fuel price spikes.
The opposition doesn’t support that amendment, but the government – as we know – had the numbers to add their amendment.
But now, with that amendment, the opposition didn’t want to support its own motion any more! So it feels like we’ve gone in a bit of a circle here.
Updated at 19.22 EDT
Penry Buckley
Minns says Australia needs energy autonomy ‘across the board’
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, says Australia should have energy autonomy “across the board”, including but not limited to its oil and liquid fuel needs.
At a press conference this morning, Minns provided an update on fuel shortages in the state, including the establishment today of its fuel emergency operations centre today.
The NSW government has used an emergency power to compel major fuel companies to advise where they are sending reserves released by the federal government. Minns says the use of additional powers, including rationing, will follow a “graduated approach” with particular attention paid to the number of inbound fuel tankers to Australia.
Asked if he supported more domestic oil production and refining, he said:
double quotation markWe’re going to have to look at our strategic returns in the months ahead. We’ve got to deal with the acute issues as they land today, but we’re more than willing to work with the commonwealth government about what I would call autonomy and having a strategic ability, the independence when it comes to energy.
Now, we are an energy producing economy, whether it’s coal, whether it’s gas, that’s something that we want to see exploited here in New South Wales, particularly in Narrabri or whether it’s renewable energy, which is rapidly expanding and hugely important for our economy. But this crisis is evidence that economies need to have their own access to energy, and I wouldn’t put it specifically or only as it relates to oil or diesel or petrol, it has to be across the board.
Australia relies on imports for 90% of its liquid fuel needs, with oil production at its lowest since the late 1960s.
Updated at 19.02 EDT
‘The whole system is busted’: NSW reignites calls for GST reform
Daniel Mookhey says that in his three years as NSW treasurer, his state’s share of the GST has gone from 93 cents in the dollar down to 82 cents, while Victoria’s share has gone up from 96 cents to $1.07.
Mookhey says other state except for Western Australia – including South Australia, Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania – are all calling for reform to Scott Morrison’s controversial GST deal struck in 2018 that hands over billions to WA.
The latest distribution calculation, released last week, shows WA will over the next year get an extra $5.5bn from the deal.
Mookhey says NSW has been “carrying” the federation, and takes aim at his southern neighbour.
double quotation markIt’s in dire need of an overhaul, the whole system is busted …
I know that NSW people will accept that we have an obligation to help Tasmania, South Australia, and the territories, but I do think it’s a bit rich to ask NSW to be shipping billions of dollars down the Hume Highway to Victoria.
Updated at 19.37 EDT
‘We can only do what we can afford’: NSW negotiates with commonwealth over Tomago bailout
There’s a split between the commonwealth and NSW governments over a proposed rescue package for the Tomago aluminium smelter, after the state received a smaller share of GST revenue.
Speaking to Sky News this morning, the NSW treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, weighed into the row and said his states resources are “even more limited than before”.
The Tomago aluminium smelter. Photograph: Michael Gorton/AAP
Yesterday the federal government announced it would go 50/50 with the Queensland government on a $2bn subsidy package for Rio Tinto’s Boyne aluminium smelter.
Mookhey warned that GST revenue NSW has been cut to the “lowest level since GST was introduced” 26 years ago, which would impact how much the state could contribute.
Mookhey said:
double quotation markWe want to help save the jobs at Tomago ,we do think there’s a strong case, we know how important that is for the Hunter but we’re just making the point here that we can only do what we can afford, and after the GST carve-up we can afford a little less than we could before.
Mookhey said NSW is talking to the federal government and “we’ve made it pretty clear what we can do”, but would not say how much money he was willing to chip in.
Updated at 18.42 EDT
Labor faces defeat in the Senate over housing bill
The Greens and Coalition have teamed up this morning to support shadow housing minister Andrew Bragg’s bill to create parliamentary oversight of the Housing Australia body, which controls the housing guarantee scheme and housing Australia future fund facility.
The government – without parliamentary oversight – expanded access to its home guarantee scheme which gives people access to 5% home deposit without paying lenders mortgage insurance. Labor last year lifted property price caps, and scrapped caps on places and income limits.
Bragg’s legislation would force the government to make changes like the scheme expansion, through the parliament.
The government faced defeat in the Senate this morning, with the bill passed through the upper house.
Bragg says it’s the first private senators’ bill to pass the Senate in two years.
But – and there’s a big but here – the bill won’t pass through the House, where the government has a huge majority.
Shadow minister for housing, Andrew Bragg. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare
Updated at 19.23 EDT
Amanda Meade
ABC muddles through strike action
Local ABC radio stations are being hosted this morning by the manager at 702 ABC Radio Sydney as the 24-hour strike heads into its final straight.
Battling through a few technical glitches, Nick Lowther was heard in most states including NSW and Victoria, although some markets did host their own breakfast shows.
Former AM presenter Sabra Lane read the radio news bulletins from Hobart where she is based as a Tasmanian reporter and presenter.
As we brought you earlier, the ABC managing director, Hugh Marks, gave a second interview in as many days to local radio, repeating his position that the ABC could not afford to pay the staff any more.
Marks said every 1% in additional pay to staff added $7m to the annual budget, and accused staff of making unrealistic demands.
A talkback caller in her 70s was scathing about Marks’ description of industrial bargaining as a “game”.
ABC’s headquarters in Sydney. Photograph: Hollie Adams/ReutersShare
Updated at 18.32 EDT
Patrick Commins
RBA assistant governor says energy shock ‘making us all poorer’
The Reserve Bank’s assistant governor, Chris Kent, says soaring fuel prices will “make us all poorer”, but that the central bank was focused on making sure the initial energy shock did not lead to “extended inflationary pressures”.
The RBA’s monetary policy board earlier this month delivered a second straight interest rate rise, and warned that the spike in global oil prices would push already elevated inflation even higher.
Kent, speaking in Sydney this morning, said the RBA was monitoring the “countervailing forces operating on the economy”: that the energy shock risked embedding an inflationary mindset that would be hard to shake, versus the uncertain impact of a Middle East conflict. He said:
double quotation markThe longer the conflict persists, the larger the economic impact will be, and the greater the risk of a material repricing of assets.
A negative supply shock pushes up prices and leads to weaker economic activity, making us all poorer. Central banks cannot change that.
But they can ensure that the initial rise in prices does not lead to a rise in longer-term inflationary expectations and extended inflationary pressures.
Financial markets are pricing in a 64% chance of a third straight rate hike when the RBA board next meets in early May, and has fully priced in an increase by June, with another expected by September.
Updated at 18.20 EDT
Continuing from our last post …
ABC staff are protesting what they say is a low pay offer that puts them behind inflation, unfair work conditions including the use of rolling and short-term contracts, and the broadcaster’s refusal to rule out replacing journalists with artificial intelligence.
The ABC has lodged an application with the Fair Work Commission to resolve the dispute.
The managing director, Hugh Marks, said he believed the offer made to staff was “fair and reasonable”. He said use of contractors was “an unavoidable part of being the size of the organisation we are,” but also suggested they were mostly used for maintenance-type roles.
Marks said he expected some forms of industrial action to continue, though he wasn’t aware of plans for another strike.
double quotation markAt the end of the day, the people that are suffering are our audiences. So, you know, if they want the audiences to suffer more, of course it’s their right to take protected industrial action. That’s their right and we should respect that. Respect, I think, is a really important thing when you get into these discussions.
ABC managing director, Hugh Marks. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPShare
Updated at 18.14 EDT
Stephanie Convery
ABC managing director says some ABC staff treating industrial action like ‘a bit of a game’
The ABC strike continues this morning, with the ABC managing director, Hugh Marks, saying he feels like the members of the ABC workforce currently taking industrial action have treated it like “a bit of a game”.
Speaking to ABC Sydney this morning (hosted, today, by Dubbo chief of staff Nick Lowther), Marks claimed the request for pay increases from staff was “unmanageable”, and that “[overindexing] certain payments to staff would put us at peril”.
More than 2,000 ABC staff around Australia walked off the job yesterday for 24 hours, forcing ABC services across TV, radio and digital to use BBC World Service and repeat programming. It follows nine months of enterprise bargaining that had not reached an agreement.
Marks said:
double quotation markI’m sure there will be continual action in the workforce. You know, there are little things like email, you know, changes in Teams usage, and to the extent, Nick, sometimes it feels like a bit of a game to me. And I don’t think this is a game. I think this is really serious. And I think both sides need to say, you know what, the audience comes first and we need to stop playing games and focus on that and get to an outcome …
ABC staff walk off the job during industrial action on Wednesday. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 18.10 EDT
Minns threatens petrol companies blocking supply from independent retailers
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, says his government will use “extraordinary powers” against fuel companies if they are unlawfully blocking independent retailers from purchasing fuel.
Speaking to the media this morning, Minns says distributions are clearly impacting independent retailers, and that he’s speaking with oil companies to fix the situation.
Independent petrol station operators and miners are currently urging the federal government to crack down harder on major fuel wholesalers hoarding supply and withholding deliveries from smaller operators.
Minns says:
double quotation markWe’re speaking with the oil companies to give us greater clarity. And I want to make it clear that if there’s not a lawful reason why independent petrol stations can’t purchase that petrol, we will take extraordinary actions, and the New South Wales government has access to those extraordinary powers.
The NSW premier, Chris Minns. Photograph: Bianca De Marchi/AAPShare
Updated at 18.07 EDT