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The Australian
33 minutes ago
- The Australian
Treasurer Jim Chalmers flag approvals changes in environmental laws
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says Australians are 'burning cash' waiting for approvals as he takes aim at Australia's sluggish productivity rate ahead of a three-day talkfest in Canberra. Chalmers will next week host an economic reform roundtable in Canberra where boosting productivity and building resilience in Australia's economy and budget will take centre-stage. Speaking with The Guardian, Mr Chalmers said slow approval times by governments and councils had stymied productivity. 'It will be one of the main ways that people think through our regulatory challenges and our challenges around the time it takes to get projects approved,' Chalmers told the Guardian. 'In all the consultation I've been doing – in housing, renewable energy projects – there are too many instances where people are burning cash waiting for approvals to build things that we desperately want people to build.' The treasurer's remarks signal reform to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act is a high priority for the re-elected government. The Albanese government failed to deliver on its promise of reform the country's complex environmental laws its first term. Treasurer Jim Chalmers told The Guardian reform to the country's environmental laws, including the permitting process, could boost productivity. Picture: NewsWire/Martin Ollman. Separately, Mr Chalmers told NewsWire on Friday that Australia's sluggish birthrate meant the country would have to lift productivity to maintain living standards. 'It's not surprising that the birthrate has slowed given the pressures on people, including financial pressures,' he said. 'We want to make it easier for them to make that choice. If they want to have more kids, we want to make it easier for them to do that, and that's what motivates a lot of our changes.' As Australia struggles to boost the economy, and in turn raise wages and living standards, it's contending with a sluggish birthrate of 1.5 births per woman, which is under the 2.1 figure needed to sustain population growth. Boosting productivity will be essential to ensuring that Australia's ageing population can weather economic headwinds, the Treasurer said. 'Now, the reason why the productivity challenge is important to this is because our society is ageing, and over time, there will be fewer workers for every person who's retired,' he said. 'We need to make sure that our economy is as productive as it can be, as strong as it can be to withstand that demographic change, which is going to be big and consequential.'
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Clashes with police in Melbourne's CBD as Women Will Speak rally held at state parliament
There have been scuffles and angry confrontations between police and protesters who converged on Melbourne's CBD to counter a women's rights rally. Vision shows a group of people dressed in black with their faces covered clashing with officers on Russell Street on Saturday morning. It is believed the group was connected to a counter-protest against a Women Will Speak rally being held on the steps of state parliament on nearby Spring Street. The rally was organised by Women's Voices Australia and attended by dozens of people. Women's Voices Australia's social media accounts described the group as working to maintain and strengthen women's and girls' sex-based rights, freedom of speech and eliminate all forms of silencing through legislation. A social media call-out by Trans Queer Solidarity urged counter-protesters to come wearing masks and to cover identifiable features. "Be ungovernable," a post said. "Don't let fascists speak. "The terf networks are mobile again." TERF is a term used to describe 'trans-exclusionary radical feminists'. Police set up barricades on Spring Street to keep the two groups apart. A small group of counter protesters banged drums, clapped hands and blew whistles while waving transgender flags. Most members of the group did not directly confront officers on Spring Street or the rally attendees, but there was a report of a small scuffle with a member of the media. On Friday, Victoria Police alerted the media to online posts encouraging some of the protesters to interfere with journalists covering the event, including damaging cameras. News outlets were encouraged to consider their security arrangements. Melbourne's CBD was declared a designated area for Saturday, allowing police to randomly search people and ask them to remove headwear, scarves and outer clothing. Police were yet to confirm how many arrests were made.
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says too many Aussies are ‘burning cash' waiting for approvals
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says Australians are 'burning cash' waiting for approvals as he takes aim at Australia's sluggish productivity rate ahead of a three-day talkfest in Canberra. Chalmers will next week host an economic reform roundtable in Canberra where boosting productivity and building resilience in Australia's economy and budget will take centre-stage. Speaking with The Guardian, Mr Chalmers said slow approval times by governments and councils had stymied productivity. 'It will be one of the main ways that people think through our regulatory challenges and our challenges around the time it takes to get projects approved,' Chalmers told the Guardian. 'In all the consultation I've been doing – in housing, renewable energy projects – there are too many instances where people are burning cash waiting for approvals to build things that we desperately want people to build.' The treasurer's remarks signal reform to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act is a high priority for the re-elected government. The Albanese government failed to deliver on its promise of reform the country's complex environmental laws its first term. Separately, Mr Chalmers told NewsWire on Friday that Australia's sluggish birthrate meant the country would have to lift productivity to maintain living standards. 'It's not surprising that the birthrate has slowed given the pressures on people, including financial pressures,' he said. 'We want to make it easier for them to make that choice. If they want to have more kids, we want to make it easier for them to do that, and that's what motivates a lot of our changes.' As Australia struggles to boost the economy, and in turn raise wages and living standards, it's contending with a sluggish birthrate of 1.5 births per woman, which is under the 2.1 figure needed to sustain population growth. Boosting productivity will be essential to ensuring that Australia's ageing population can weather economic headwinds, the Treasurer said. 'Now, the reason why the productivity challenge is important to this is because our society is ageing, and over time, there will be fewer workers for every person who's retired,' he said. 'We need to make sure that our economy is as productive as it can be, as strong as it can be to withstand that demographic change, which is going to be big and consequential.'
