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ABC News
42 minutes ago
- ABC News
Julie Bishop rejects bullying allegations and Labor abandons the P-word
Welcome back to your weekly federal politics update, where Brett Worthington gets you up to speed on the happenings from Parliament House. It's one big happy family at the good ship government and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. In interview after interview Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers were jumping out of their skin to tell the world just how aligned they were. We text all the time, they said. We meet in person all they time, they insisted. Don't believe what you read in the newspapers, they cried. Questions arose after the Australian Financial Review reported on Wednesday that the two men had held private talks to agree to rein in public expectations about the artist formerly known as the productivity roundtable. The paper reported any tension was mere "frisson" rather than anything serious but it prompted no shortage of rebuttals. It's been months since Albanese first announced the treasurer would hold a three-day productivity summit in August. In the time since, the rebrandings have been thick and fast, as no shortage of ideas emerge ahead of the what's now being called the three-day economic roundtable (productivity is so yesterday, it seems). There is nothing new about points of tension between prime ministers and treasurers, and there is little to suggest Albanese and Chalmers' relationship is any different to their predecessors. Treasurers have the freedom to be ambitious, while prime ministers tend to be more cautious, acutely aware of public sentiment. That's been on display here. Chalmers has bemoaned the "rule in, rule out" game, encouraging people instead to bring forward their best ideas to boost productivity (or whatever word the government is now using). Albanese, meanwhile, has been very willing to rule out proposals, whether its changes to negative gearing or adopting a four-day work week. When it was first pitched, the government vowed the roundtable wouldn't bear the hallmarks of the first term jobs and skills summit, the announcements from which seemed pre-ordained before the event. Leaked Treasury advice, revealed by the ABC on Thursday, went some way to undermining that thanks to a pre-written list of outcomes for the yet-to-be-held event. The document was prepared for the cabinet. Chalmers insists that it shouldn't be a "big surprise" that briefings had been prepared. But Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, smelling a rat, argued it showed the talks were a "stitch up". Both men say there is low hanging fruit that they hope the economic reform-nee-productivity roundtable can tackle. While it remains to be seen what fruit will be picked next week, one thing that is almost certain is that if you drive an EV, you should expect things are about to get more costly. Labor looks set to use the summit the thrash out road user charging rules to see electric vehicle owners make a greater contribution to road repairs, to help offset falling fuel excise revenue. As for why no one says productivity? Ask people in Labor and they will tell you the word tanks in focus groups. When people hear it, they think it means they need to work harder, even if the ambition is the opposite. Albanese's week started with a highly choreographed event, in which he and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong pledged Australia would recognise Palestine next month. The scale of the moment can't be understated. Decades in the making, Albanese and Wong have spent recent months painstakingly preparing for the pledge, knowing all too well that once said, there'd be no going back. Shame no one told Parliament House's lawn mower, the engine of which roared so loudly that the Albanese and Wong could hardly be heard. Albanese has talked about recognising Palestinian statehood for decades and he seemed acutely aware of the moment. But telling too was how quickly he then donned a hard hat and high-vis vest. He headed to Melbourne on Tuesday to talk about housing and to Brisbane on Wednesday to talk batteries and to attend the Ekka, where he happily ate a famous strawberry sundae (maybe don't look up the pictures of the consumption). While questions about Palestinian recognition might have followed him, the image people saw was that of PM moving throughout the country, signalling his agenda was much bigger than events in the Middle East. Attracting barely a peep from the United States, the Coalition quickly announced it would repeal the recognition if it won the next election, before accusing Labor of emboldening Hamas. Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Michaelia Cash has taken with gusto to adding theatrical flair to her pronunciation of Hamas, so much so it's almost impossible to describe. Pronunciation aside, this is where things start getting confusing. On Wednesday, Nine newspapers published comments attributed to one of Hamas's co-founders, Sheikh Hassan Yousef, praising Albanese's "political courage", comments the Coalition couldn't pounce on quick enough. But then a statement published on Hamas's English and Telegram channels denied the issuing of the statement, insisting Yousef was imprisoned without any means of communication. Awkwardly for Ley, after saying Hamas was "cheering" on the government, when told Hamas had rejected the comments she replied: "I am not responding to comments by Hamas and nor am I taking them seriously." A quick look at former foreign minister Julie Bishop's Instagram profile shows a dizzying post-political career filled with curated images of her travelling the world, speaking at global events and attending glitzy opening nights. The former foreign minister and deputy Liberal leader retired from federal politics in 2019 after failing to replace Malcolm Turnbull as PM. In the years since, she's opened an advisory firm, joined boards and become a special UN envoy on Myanmar. Among her more prestigious appointments was becoming the chancellor of the Australian National University (ANU). For such a high-profile figure, Bishop has been noticeably quiet in the role in recent months as festering tensions at the ANU boil over amid widespread job and funding cuts. Which brings us to this week and a Senate inquiry interrogating the quality of governance at the nation's universities. Appearing on Tuesday, ANU academic Liz Allen used parliamentary privilege to accuse Bishop and other members of the executive of bullying. Allen, a staff-elected member of the ANU council until she quit earlier this year, accused Bishop of being "hostile and arrogant" to staff and suggested the previous vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt had "kept the chancellor's behaviour in check". In highly charged testimony, she spoke of the personal toll she had experienced and accused Bishop of blocking her from leaving a room after berating her. Bishop didn't appear at the hearing but issued a statement to "reject any suggestion" that she had acted in "any way other than with respect, courtesy and civility". Speaking on Wednesday, ACT senator David Pocock said "everyone in the room was really moved" by Allen's testimony and said it highlighted the human toll poor leadership and governance was having at the ANU. He's also called for Bishop to stand aside while the allegations are investigated. For now, neither Bishop nor embattled vice chancellor Genevieve Bell are budging but neither are the calls for their removal.
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Treasurer downplays leaked department document listing possible outcomes of productivity round table
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has downplayed a leaked document from his department that included possible outcomes of the government's upcoming productivity round table, saying it should not come as a "big surprise" that briefings have been prepared. The pre-written list of recommended outcomes, prepared for cabinet and seen by the ABC, includes advice to pause changes to the National Construction Code, which is similar to a Coalition proposal that was panned by Labor at the federal election. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has seized on the document as evidence that the much-touted talks are a "stitch-up", despite the government's repeated pledge to not rule anything in or out before business leaders, unions and economists gather at Parliament House on Wednesday. "When I read information that says it's all been choreographed, it's all been lined up, even to the level of announcements being made from outcomes, I wonder whether people who are attending this round table are indeed wasting their time," Ms Ley told reporters in Adelaide on Thursday. The treasurer, however, was adamant that the forum was a "genuine attempt" to tackle big issues in the economy and that the government did not "pre-empt any of the reform directions" that would come out of it. "I don't think it should come as a big surprise to anyone that the Treasury has been briefing us on those ideas, helping us to prepare for those proposals that people have said that they will put to us," he said. The Treasury advice, first reported by the ABC on Thursday, also included measures to speed up housing approvals, such as a national artificial intelligence plan to cut environmental red tape, and reforms to clear a backlog of 30,000 housing approvals currently being assessed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act. Mr Chalmers would not be drawn on on whether the government would accept the recommendation to pause changes to the National Construction Code, telling reporters "there are a number of issues that have been proposed to us". He also stressed that the document was "not a government announcement" and that the recommendations within it were not government policy. "I have been consulting for weeks now in probably one of the most intensive periods of consultation that people have seen for a long time and ideas like that have been put to us, not just those ideas that have been reported today but probably hundreds of different ideas have been put to us," he said. Housing Minister Clare O'Neil confirmed the code would be up for discussion at the talks, but echoed the treasurer in stating she did not want to pre-empt any outcomes. Industry has approached next week's summit cautiously, after some business leaders left the government's 2022 Jobs and Skills Summit feeling the government had entered with a pre-determined outcome. Mr Chalmers has repeatedly said nothing would be off the table at the talks, only specifying that any proposal should be budget positive or at least budget neutral. He has previously flagged that tax reform would be a priority, but that was thrown into question after the prime minister last week suggested the government was "only" looking at tax policies it took to the election. Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also batted away accusations the meeting was a waste of time, saying "ideas are popping up all the time". "Those ideas are getting assessed as they're being made. Government will make decisions, to be very clear, governments make decisions," he said. "What next week is, though, is an opportunity for people to advance their ideas, to advance policies, and that's a really constructive thing."
West Australian
3 hours ago
- West Australian
John Carey admits he wants more money to fix Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital after state of disrepair exposed
John Carey has finally admitted that he wants more money to fix the ailing Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, despite other ministers rejecting evidence it has fallen into disrepair. The Health Infrastructure Minister said that he expected more funding would be allocated but would not say how much he had asked for — or whether previous requests had been refused. 'We are spending currently at Charlies on upgrades, maintenance and equipment, it's around $113 million,' he said outside State Parliament on Thursday. 'I do anticipate that we will be making more investment in Charlies with that ageing infrastructure . . . I will, look, as a minister, every minister and every portfolio advocates for more funding.' Mr Carey would not commit to any fast-tracked funding before the Budget's usual mid-year review in December. 'Respectfully, I'm not going into any internal processes relating to budgeting,' he said. 'I point to the fact that we've already made decisions that's seeing around $113 million invested in Charlies.' Cabinet secretary Daniel Pastorelli, who was previously Premier Roger Cook's chief of staff, insisted when asked about hundreds of leaks and claims of black mould that the $100 million spent was enough. One nurse even said she has seen mushrooms growing out of the ceiling. Mr Pastorelli is in charge of Labor's community consultation process for the Burswood race track and amphitheatre, which the Opposition wants scrapped to free up $217 million for hospital repairs. Outside Parliament on Thursday, Mr Pastorelli said the Burswood project was an election promise. 'The Premier is very committed to delivering election commitments and that's what we'll be doing,' he said. Mr Pastorelli agreed that maintaining WA's hospitals to standard was also an election commitment. 'That's exactly right and that's what the Government is doing as well,' he said. 'The Government's committed a bit more than $100 million on a range of maintenance funding for Charlies hospital and that's been delivered.' Pressed on whether it had been enough, Mr Pastorelli said: 'I think it has.' Treasurer Rita Saffioti appeared to blame the Health Department for maintenance shortfalls, questioning a whistleblower's claims that management was unable to sign off on critical but costly works. 'They request funding in the budget submissions annually,' the staff member said. 'Only our top five requests are funded. Imagine that, only five issues across all of NMHS hospitals are funded. 'Things like critical infrastructure works, fire-related building risks, air-conditioning systems, water quality. 'So things keep failing because large funding amounts are not provided to replace the 40-year-old infrastructure.' Ms Saffioti said those decisions were not for her to make. 'We set a budget each year, we allocate those budgets to the departments,' she said. 'The departments make those operational decisions. We're not signing off on individual maintenance items.' Ms Saffioti accused the Opposition of lying over claims the maintenance budget had been cut. 'They weren't comparing like with like,' she said. 'Total health maintenance expenditure in 2017-18 was $180 million, now it's $240 million. 'We understand that both Charlies and Royal Perth, in particular, are ageing hospitals. We understand that and that's why we're injecting so much.' Ms Saffioti would not say whether more money has been requested by Mr Carey or Health Minister Meredith Hammat. 'There's always huge demand,' she said. 'Every agency across every budget will always have new spending measures. 'We have got more money in the system, there's more money today than there was yesterday. But we want to make sure that it's spent effectively.'
