Business can't fool itself about Chalmers' roundtable
The former Qantas chief executive told The Australian Financial Review on Tuesday how the scales fell from his eyes on the first day of the September 2022 Jobs and Skills Summit. Corporate leaders had not been invited to participate in a genuine dialogue about Australia's economic future, he realised. They had been roped in to give the impression that businesses supported Labor's pre-ordained union-friendly re-regulation of the workplace system.
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AU Financial Review
an hour ago
- AU Financial Review
Israel to mobilise 60,000 reservists for Gaza City offensive
The final day of the government's Economic Reform Roundtable will begin at 8am on Thursday. The third day of the summit will begin with a presentation on budget sustainability by Treasury Secretary Jenny Wilkinson. Discussions on how to make government services and spending more efficient will be the first topic for debate. A pitch on a better tax system will then be delivered by Grattan Institute chief executive Aruna Sathanapally. The roundtable will hear from economists Bob Breunig and Chris Richardson in the same session. Commissioner of Taxation Rob Heferen will be the final speaker of the day. The roundtable had produced consensus for areas of economic reform, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said. 'We've already got a big agenda to ease the burden on businesses, cut red tape and build more homes, but we're keen to do more where we can,' he said.
The Age
2 hours ago
- The Age
Albanese's response to blistering personal attack struck the right tone
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese found himself standing precipitously in the path of a potentially disastrous international storm blasting in from Israel overnight when his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu called him a 'weak' apologist for Hamas. In a blistering letter sent in response to Australia's recognition of a Palestinian state and a diplomatic tit-for-tat visa row, the conservative Israeli leader did not hold back. 'History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia's Jews,' Netanyahu wrote. 'Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on this antisemitic fire,' the letter reads. 'It is not diplomacy, it is appeasement. It rewards Hamas terror, hardens Hamas' refusal to free the hostages, emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew-hatred now stalking your streets.' Loading It doesn't get much more personal or damning than that, and there was a collective holding of breath as the nation waited to see how the Australian leader would respond as Australian-Israeli relations hit a new low. When he broke his silence about noon, Albanese was measured in tone. Speaking from South Australia, he said he treated foreign leaders 'with respect' and didn't take the description of him as 'weak' personally. 'I treat leaders of other countries with respect, I engage with them in a diplomatic way,' Albanese said, declining to descend into an ugly verbal exchange with his Israeli counterpart. The Herald supports this measured tone. There is no upside for Australia getting drawn into a personal slanging match between nations. The latest flare-up in tensions came when Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke's department cancelled a visa this week for far-right Israeli politician Simcha Rothman, based on his views and comments that included calling Gazan children 'enemies' of Israel. While Albanese played a straight bat, he used Burke as his attack dog. 'Strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry,' Burke told ABC radio. While many conservative commentators are appalled at the actions of the Albanese government and would back the overall sentiment of Netanyahu, if not his exact language, this is by no means universal. Some sections of the Jewish community in Australia called out Netanyahu for overstepping the mark. Zionist Federation of Australia President Jeremy Leibler described Netanyahu's comments as 'entirely unhelpful and unproductive', while Alex Ryvchin of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry said the Jewish community had 'never felt abandoned by this government'. So clearly, there is a view that Netanyahu was out of line, and while there is room for debate on Labor's actions on Palestine, the reaction by the Israeli leader was disproportionate. For now, Albanese is correct to focus on the more substantive issues, such as an immediate end to the conflict in Gaza that has dragged on for far too long, rather than play personal politics. But he must also keep pressure on the Palestinian side to uphold its end of the bargain and help ensure any future state rejects terrorism, turns away from Hamas and commits to a peaceful co-existence with its neighbour.
Sydney Morning Herald
2 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Albanese's response to blistering personal attack struck the right tone
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