The Point Live: Estimates returns for day four, budget bills introduced, Australia suing 3M. As it happened.

Estimates is still going, but the house is winding down and so are we.

It is a public holiday in the ACT on Monday – so we will be back on Tuesday as normal.

Speaking of estimates AFP commissioner Kristy Barrett is fronting the committee as we speak – with Bondi one of the main lines of questioning.

A very big thank you to everyone – it is so lovely to see the community grow and we appreciate you all. We will be back next week to cover off all the gaps in what is going on, as well as throw in a few fact checks – we hope to see you with us.

Until then – stay warm, and take care of you x

Despite the government saying it is funding the CSIRO, the science and research body has announced more job cuts.

 Science & Technology Australia CEO Ryan Winn has some thoughts:

Today’s 59 job cuts to CSIRO’s Health and Biosecurity team are another blow to Australia’s science capability. While the cuts were expected as part of up to 350 roles foreshadowed to be lost last year, it’s a difficult day for the staff directly impacted.

We understand that the cuts are five less positions than originally proposed and the remainder of the Health and Biosecurity team will be folded into a new Human and Animal Health team.

The Health and Biosecurity team at CSIRO already went through jobs cuts two years ago. How can we expect to keep or attract people to be part of Australia’s STEM workforce when there is so much instability?

Australia has recently come through the COVID-19 pandemic and is currently dealing with a Diphtheria outbreak. These jobs are not just a loss to the CSIRO, they could impact Australia’s capability to respond to future health and biosecurity emergencies.

CSIRO is often required to jump into action when there is a health emergency. And the agency’s response is always ‘how high?’ They keep us safe when big challenges come along.

CSIRO received some additional funding in the Federal Budget, including for the modernisation and refurbishment work of the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, but that’s needed to maintain research infrastructure. It won’t save jobs.

We urge the Australian Government to address the future sustainability of the research, development and innovation industry through the implementation of the Ambitious Australia report, including a plan for the future of the STEM workforce.

Here is how question time looked to Mike Bowers:

She has just asked the SBS executives to take her through how people voted publicly – how it works and how Israel received no votes from Australia.

She is taken through the process – which SBS has no oversight of and can not access the details for. So she turns her attention back to the jury, and how they judged Israel as worthy of no points, when Israel finished second overall.

Those questions are taken on notice.

Yes. This is a thing that happened in senate estimates.

SBS was in front of the estimates committee and Henderson used a lot of her questions to interrogate why Israel didn’t receive a single vote from Australia in Eurovision. Australia’s public vote gave Israel zero points and Australia’s seven-person jury gave Israel zero points. Australia placed Israel 25th out of 25th.

She wanted to know how the jury was selected.

I’d just be keen to understand how this works, but as it looks on its face, zero votes were provided to Israel, and Australia’s public vote also awarded zero votes to Israel and so Australia ranked Israel 25th out of 25 countries in the final and just full context, Israel in fact came second in the competition. So can you just explain how that happened?

Henderson is told SBS has nothing to do with the public vote – that is run through Eurovision and online.

So she double downs on why the jury gave zero points to Israel. They can’t say. So she wants the name on the panel. Because Israel came second and Australia gave them NOTHING!

Anthony Albanese calls time after that question and then the opposition MPI – which is basically the same thing as its screwed up attempt at suspending standing orders.

So what did we learn?

The government is feeling OK about its changes. So far. And the opposition has nothing more than its original scare campaigns – which is still a lot, but it’s not changing the script.

The LNP still don’t understand how to use the standing orders, which is a problem for the opposition. Dan Tehan and the tactics team have some home work to do!

Speaking of the upside down – Queenslander Bob Katter is sporting a Blues scarf in the chamber today – I think he lost a bet with Andrew Gee after the NSW side pulled a Queensland last night and came from behind to win.

That is what Greens MP Elizabeth Watson-Brown wants to know. And the answer is no.

You can hear in this answer from Anthony Albanese a bit of the frustration over not being given the plaudits for securing Australia’s fuel supplies in the midst of the US and Israel’s attack on Iran and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

I belong to the Australian Labor Party, and what we’re doing when it comes to these issues of energy, firstly, is securing Australia’s fuel supply, which those opposite the member who asked the question mightn’t be conscious of the war in the Middle East, and the impact that it’s having on fuel supplies right around the world, not the least of which is here, but we certainly are, and it’s quite remarkable that today we have more petrol than we had on february 28 we have more diesel than we had on February 28 and indeed we have more jet fuel than we had on February 28.

We have worked with industry, and in spite of the fire at the Geelong refinery, it has exceeded expectations.

People might recall that prior to Easter, we had people turning up at petrol stations, filling up jerry cans and putting them in their garage. We had businesses…

Watson-Brown wants to know relevance.

Albanese continues:

I say to the member with respect that most people recognize who have looked at this issue for more than a nanosecond recognize that the connection between Australia being a secure supplier of energy in our region is one of the things that has led to us being a secure receiver of energy in our region as well, and that at a time where we have a global crisis as a result of the war in the Middle East, then to just dismiss that and pretend that that is not happening is something that I, it’s on the news every day. It is not a secret war. It is not secret that the Strait of Hormuz is shut and it is not secret that that is having an impact here.

It also is not a secret because we have declared that this is our absolute priority and, quite frankly, the achievements that have been done with the support of industry through Export Finance Australia, through working with our refineries, through working with our suppliers, has been quite extraordinary. I take the opportunity to thank Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, South Korea, Malaysia, and China for the cooperative way in which they’ve delivered.

And I can tell you why someone turns up at a petrol station and there’s no fuel, that’s when you have a big issue, because it’s so important as well for our agricultural sector.

He ends. But he doesn’t end question time, because he has a dixer on this issue next and that is what he will want to finish QT on.

Julie Collins gets another question – can she guarantee that farming families won’t be worse off under the tax changes.

Collins:

Mr. Speaker, they seem determined to continue this scare campaign on that side of the house. I answered the questions in the past about how the capital gains tax changes will work, and those on the other side need to stick to the facts when it comes to the changes that we are making. We have been very clear that the capital gains tax changes start from one July 2027 and apply only to gains from that date. Obviously, there are generous capital gains tax concessions for small businesses, and according to the latest ABS data, it indicates that nine out of 10 businesses across agriculture, forestry, and fisheries will get that concession

The NFF has just released a statement on this and they are still cranky:

NFF President, Hamish McIntyre:

The National Farmers’ Federation is disappointed the Federal Government has introduced its tax reform legislation without explicitly committing to review the outdated small business Capital Gains Tax (CGT) concession thresholds.

In introducing the legislation, the Government signalled that this is the first tranche of legislation, with more consultation to come on small business and further legislation required for implementation. Earlier this week, the Treasurer acknowledged that CGT small business concessions had been raised by stakeholders. 

The NFF stands ready to engage, and will continue to advocate on behalf of farming families about their very real concerns on how these changes could impact succession and investment. 

The Government still has time to get this right, but the message from agriculture is clear: The last thing this country should be doing is making it harder for the next generation to stay on the land.

Independent MP Monique Ryan asks Jason Clare:

Minister, 3 million Australians are in for a horrible shock next week. On the first of June, their total HECS debt will increase by over a billion dollars. Compulsory repayments that they have made in the last 12 months will not be counted towards their debt before their HECS debts go up yet again. Minister, will you fix hex by changing the timing of indexation so that repayments can be counted before graduates are hit with indexation?

Clare goes through what the government has done so far in cutting debt and then links that to housing. Because it is all about housing at the moment.

Now on to part two – making it cheaper to get a degree. (Although they have done nothing to get rid of the Morrison-era Job Ready package which increased the cost of arts degrees.

Ryan wants to know relevance and she is right- the question was will the government change the timing of indexation.
Clare is not being relevant….but he continues on the same track. He wants to make university cheaper and easier to access.

But on index – he says there are changes already. He then points to work ongoing within the tertiary education commission, which is a very political way of saying ‘we are working on it, but don’t have anything yet and may not’.

Ok, the Nationals are still going on this (but I guess it’s one of the rare times the National remember they have farmers as constituents and not just mining companies)

My question is to the Minister for Agriculture. Peak agricultural bodies are warning that farmers are exposed to massively high capital gains tax under your government’s budget. The National Farmers Federation has said, and I quote, “The concern is these changes could force families to delay succession, take on more debt, or even sell parts of the farm just to manage the tax impact. Minister, will you guarantee Australian farming families that they won’t be worse off under Labor’s budget of broken promises and higher taxes?

Julie Collins:

And I thought we dealt with this yesterday, frankly – ore scare campaigns from those opposite. Let’s be honest about this. Yesterday, I quoted the National Farmers Federation, who are pleased that the government has listened to them, and you coming in here, talking about things like this, is really not very helpful.

The budget is very clear.

The budget is very clear that the capital gains tax changes start from one July 2027 and apply only to gains from that date. Very clear.

It’s also very clear that, of course, the small business exemptions that are there mean that a lot of farmers right across Australia will be exempt, and indeed the latest ABS data says that nine in 10 businesses in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries industry will be eligible for these discounts.

Angus Taylor and the opposition messed up their big stunt, and so the house just moves on.

Honestly, in this game – it does pay to be across the detail.

It is a bit loosey-goosey in the opposition today – their stunt to hold up signs was thwarted because the MPs who were going to hold up the L.I.E.S signs laid them out on their desks, face up, so everyone, including the clerks could see – and the Speaker was warned ahead of time of what was coming (honestly, amateur – you can tell these people did not go to public schools) and now the big stunt of suspending standing orders is thwarted because they didn’t follow standing orders.

Not beating the can’t run a meat raffle at the RSL charges today.

Oh we haven’t had this in a while- the opposition is now moving a suspension order so it can move this motion:

That this house condemns the Albanese Labor government for:

One: arrogantly misleading Australians about the government’s plans for toxic taxes, two: not having the courage to take their toxic taxes to the Australian people at an election, three: taxing Australians more than any other Australian government in history, four: betraying the hardest working Australians who are willing to take risks and who have made the biggest sacrifices, and five: hurting Australians without any understanding of who will be punished and to what extent Australians will be worse off

He sits down. Which is strange because usually they give a speech and no one has seconded this and….ohhh. Yeah, he messed up.

Burke is pointing out that Taylor forgot to give the speech and sat down and no one seconded it. And when the seconded did get there, they also sat down, so he thinks they both have technically, given their speeches.

The thing is no one in the opposition knows the standing orders like Burke does (or Albanese does) so they often mess up these things.

“This has not happened before in this way,” Milton Dick says charitably.

While Angus Taylor wants to talk about the CGT tax changes and a lot of blah blah about is it is lie or not. Let us just have a quick note about the cuts to the NDIS.

As I noted earlier when the bill was introduced in parliament, the cuts are cruel and brutal

In nominals terms it just looks like the spending on the NDIS will flatline:

But nominal dollars don’t take into account inflation of population.

We can however compare the spending with the projected size of the GDP – ie the economy. And on this score the real size of the cuts becomes apparent:

That’s the overall account. But the bill made it clear the true personal impact. 

For example one of the changes is it allows the minister to just decide that a certain “specified group of supports is reduced” by a set amount – say 25% or even 50%.

What could this involve. Well the main target of the government is “Social, Economic and Community Participation”. These are things such as services they provide people with disabilities skills in dealing with the community, or in work. My daughter for example is involved in such program and they not only involve learning how to “work” in a café but also just how to interact with other people learning how to dance, engaging in exercise, pretty much the range of things that ensures she has a good quality of life. 

How would this work?

Take this example provided in the Explanatory Memorandum:

Example – Riley

Riley has a 12 month NDIS plan which was created through a plan renewal. Their plan is due for another renewal as the plan end date is approaching. There is a ministerial determination in place reducing the amount of funding for assistance with social, economic and community participation by for example 50 per cent. Riley had $20,000 in their plan for assistance with social, economic and community participation supports before the ministerial determination commenced. Their last plan renewal was completed after the ministerial determination was in place so the 50 per cent reduction was applied and they have $10,000 in their current plan for assistance with social, economic and community participation.

When Riley’s plan is renewed, the amount of funding that would have been provided for assistance with social, economic and community participation supports without the ministerial determination in place is retained as $20,000 as per the prior plan. Then the ministerial determination is applied to this amount, so Riley’s renewed plan is $10,000 for assistance with social, economic and community participation.

Such a change will destroy lives.

The Fairwork Commission has announced it will hand down its decision on the minimum wage review at 10am on June 2. (not the firework commission as I wrote in a previous post, but that also works)

You can watch it live if you like – they are live streaming it.

To watch the hearing you can watch the live stream on our YouTube channel or use the link which will be provided on the home page of our website shortly before the hearing.

Seems the Speaker is very exercised over the props in the house – not only were the MPs who were planning to hold up the LIES signs given a warning, the photographers in the press gallery were given a warning about not taking photos of the signs on the desks – there is a standing rule that photographers can’t take photos of what is on MPs question time desks for obvious reasons (they bring a bunch of work in to sign and whatnot) but they can take photos of the chamber and the signs are letters the size of A4 pieces of paper.

So bit of sensitivity going on at the moment.

After a bunch of questions that go nowhere and we have heard all week, Dai Le then goes to:

Prime Minister, will the ISIS-affiliated women who landed in Sydney yesterday be living in Fairfield, Liverpool, or Bankstown, and has the government or any representative of the government been in contact with local community leaders regarding this issue.

Tony Burke seems a bit emotional here as he says:

As I’ve said to the member for Fowler before in this house, the government isn’t settling anyone.

The government is not involved in settling people at all.

We have had citizens return as we have had citizens have self-managed returns before we came to office, including 45 men who had gone there to fight.

And then this is the bit which gets to him.

But in terms of the consultation with the community, I can give examples of consultation that has been very powerful that has happened in the lead up to when it was first reported that these individuals might might seek to return, I’d include … the Assyrian National Council, the Assyrian Australian Association, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Assyrian Church, the East, although I’d also add to that probably no meeting more powerful when then when a delegation came here from Wagga from the Yazidi community, which involved a one woman who, from memory, she would have been 19, had herself effectively been a slave, hadn’t seen her mum since she was eight.

There are reasons why the government has the view that we have of what these individuals did.

Milton Dick then says:

I understand the member for Bowman, McPherson, Gray, and Groom have signs that they’d prepare to hold up, L.I.E.S

There is a back and forth over whether or not there are the signs.

Dick:

There are props not allowed in this house. I will not have signs held up like that for the dignity of this house. I’m giving you fair, I’m giving you fair warning that we are not having the Parliament of Australia denigrated into that

Which is amusing to me as a long time QT watcher, because while in opposition, Milton Dick was one of the main prop embracers, including one memorable time when he held up a muppet and was booted for the act. (This was around the time of the ‘no more muppet show’ from Scott Morrison)

After that answers the words ‘arrogant prick’ can be heard. I don’t catch who said them, but Tony Burke then asks for Angus Taylor to withdraw an unparliamentary comment. Milton Dick hasn’t heard it, but asks Taylor to withdraw whatever it was to assist the parliament. Which he does,

But yeah – things are getting gross in there.

Anthony Albanese answers the Taylor question with:

In the legislation that the treasurer introduced this morning, it proposes to change the tax system to give young people a fair crack at a first home, as well as to build more homes.

That is what the legislation does.

It also changes the way that capital gains tax is treated, so that there’s more fair treatment of income earned from working, which is how most Australians get their income and pay their bills and buy their food and income earned from assets, which is something that is different from earning from working, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but why is it?

Why is it that for so long, so many have commentated that there’s actually a disadvantage in income earned from working compared with income earned from assets.

Now that is, in addition to that, there are two further changes. One is $1,000 automatic tax deduction, something that will assist particularly low and middle income earners, and the other change, of course, is our latest income tax reduction.

We have introduced reduction after reduction after reduction after reduction after reduction, five lots of income tax reduction and the members on my left, [when we introduced], tax cuts, when we introduced them in the last budget, they went to an election saying they would increase taxation and managed to at the same time have bigger deficits, quite an achievement from the former shadow treasurer. So, how did they respond to that? They made him the leader.

The AEC have released this statement – some might remember this case from the election:

A Sydney man has today been ordered to pay a penalty of $30,000 for distributing unauthorised pamphlets at the 2025 federal election. 

Australian Electoral Commissioner Jeff Pope said today’s Federal Court decision sends a strong message to the community that it is important for everyone to comply with electoral laws. 

“This case was one of the clearest breaches of Australia’s electoral authorisation laws the AEC has seen in some time,” Mr Pope said. 

“Australian voters have a right to know the source of campaign material at a federal election, and today’s result reinforces this expectation as a fundamental aspect of electoral law.”

Mr Jarrod Davis has agreed that his distribution of approximately 47,000 unauthorised pamphlets in the electorate of Wentworth at the 2025 federal election constituted a breach of section 321D(5) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918. 

In addition to agreeing to pay a penalty of $30,000, Mr Davis has agreed to pay $15,000 towards the AEC’s legal costs in this matter. The Federal Court has now made orders consistent with this agreement. 

The AEC’s regulatory approach is set out in our Regulatory Framework and Compliance Strategy.

And the LNP MP for Herbert, Phil Thompson is booted on 94A for immediately heckling.

The government is feeling a bit of a bounce at the moment – it feels like it is having a fight worth having with the 3M announcement (the Commonwealth is suing the chemicals company over the so-called forever chemicals and the damage done to communities around defence bases) and it is willing, at this point, to have a fight over the CGT and negative gearing changes.

Angus Taylor is up:

Labor has refused to be honest with Australians about its plan for new toxic taxes, a lie that the government hid from Australians at the last election.

Dan Tehan wants to know why lie can’t be used, because it has previously after Milton Dick said he wanted the last bit of the question changed.

Dick now hands down a ruling, based on the 90-second statements and the issues with some of the questions of late:

An accusation that a member has lied or deliberately misled is an imputation or an improper motive. This language is unparliamentary and has been ruled by successive speakers, including when directed at governments or political parties, and I have observed when such accusations have been made in recent sittings, language has led to disruptive and disorderly behavior in the chamber.

I deem it undesirable from that perspective as well. I want to also address the comments that have been made, both in this place and outside of it, about occasions when the approach about language has not been followed in a consistent way over the years.

I’ve looked back at previous speakers’ rulings on this matter, and the number of times each speaker has asked a member to withdraw these exact type of words: Speaker Hawker 10 times, speaker Jenkins 40 times, speaker Slipper six times, speaker Burke nine times, speaker Bishop 21 speaker Smith 13 and former speaker Wallace twice.
So I want to make it very clear as i have been doing i intend to treat any accusations of lying as out of order and i will continue to ask such accusations to be withdrawn and will not allow as part of questions. If this behavior persists, members may find that they lose the call or lose their opportunity to ask a question. I’m following all speakers before me for the last 40 years in such a way

So that’s it – he is out of patience. That’s a new ruling and a new line in the sand.

AAP has what you need to know from the ABC senate estimate hearing (also known as Sarah Henderson’s Christmas)

ABC managing director Hugh Marks has denied threatening or pushing out the national broadcaster’s news director, as it prepares to announce its new hire.

Simon Robinson, the London-based executive editor at global newswire Reuters, will reportedly be imminently appointed to the chief editorial role.

He would replace Justin Stevens, a 20-year veteran of the ABC, who resigned as news director on Wednesday for “reasons both professional and personal”.

Mr Marks appeared before senate estimates on Thursday, where Liberal communications spokeswoman Sarah Henderson said it “very much looks like he was pushed … and was on the chopping block” for recent controversies.

In a tense hearing, where Mr Marks faced questioning over allegations of ABC bias, another recent firing and a gamut of other issues, Senator Henderson put it to the managing director that he threatened to terminate Mr Stevens’ role. 

“I don’t make threats, senator,” Mr Marks said, declining to elaborate on discussions.

Whatever the reason for the departure, it is clear the ABC has been preparing for it for months.

Mr Marks, appointed in December 2024, confirmed he had interviewed several individuals as part of a hiring process looking for “someone of the highest calibre”.

He declined to confirm Mr Robinson’s appointment, saying an announcement would be made most likely on Friday.

During his four-year tenure as news director, Mr Stevens oversaw a number of controversies and challenges, not least the ABC’s reporting in the editorially fraught landscape following the October 7 attacks.

Mr Marks said the changeover brought the chance of renewal “to make sure that we’re future fit”.

The impartiality of the national broadcaster, consistently seen as one of Australia’s most trusted and beloved organisations but increasingly under fire from conservative politicians, was also questioned by senators.

Senator Henderson said the description by ABC chair Kim Williams – who was absent from proceedings despite a request for him to appear – of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as an “aberrant creature” was appalling.

“What sort of standard is that when you’ve got the chair of the ABC indulging in that sort of personal criticism?” Senator Henderson asked Mr Marks.

Mr Marks said the “less than desired” comments were regretted by Mr Williams and constituted his personal view and not that of the ABC.

During the hearing, Nine newspapers also broke news that the ABC had terminated the employment of Four Corners reporter Mahmood Fazal.

Mr Fazal, a former gang member, was probed for starting a non-ABC podcast partnering with a vigilante journalist.

Senator Henderson likened the week to “killing season” for the ABC, while Mr Marks would only confirm the sacking was linked to the probe.

Asked about the use of AI to create digital stories from radio reporting, Mr Marks said the aim was to broaden the radio audience.

“Jobs will probably change but it’s not a jobs replacement,” he said.

“Our use of technology will be to enhance the experience of the audience.”

For my sins I switched over to check out what is happening at SBS estimates hearing. The very first word I heard uttered by Senator Sarah Henderson was “Hamas”.

She is annoyed that when mentioning the Palestinian health ministry figures on the deaths of civilians she is citing a directive that they should not mention that Hamas is in charge of Palestine* and thus is in control of the health ministry. She wants it always stated that Hamas is a terrorist organisation. 

Just of note, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, at least 52,400 Palestinians have been killed, more than 118,000 wounded and more than 1.9 million displaced—many repeatedly—over the past 18 months. Henderson does not like those figures being quoted. 

*A reminder that Hamas was elected in Gaza, but the Palestinian Authority is in charge across the West Bank. Most of Gaza has not been able to vote for the last 20 years because of an Israeli directive.

There was also a pro-American intervention in Iran rally outside Parliament House today, which Mike Bowers captured:

The Nationals have just held a press conference outside of parliament house (guess they wanted the backdrop) to call for an early election.

Which would, on these polling numbers, wipe them out.

The minor party says the government has betrayed Australians with its negative gearing and CGT changes.

Clare O’Neil:

Today I’m announcing that the Productivity Commission will undertake an inquiry into the remaining regulatory barriers holding back housing supply. To help us tackle the next wave of reforms.

Building homes matters. So too does the question of who gets to own them. 

And I think you would have picked up already from my speech – that I am fiercely and proudly committed to delivering the opportunity of home ownership to more Australians. 

If you talk to Australians who are renting, many will tell you that the biggest barrier they face is the deposit hurdle. Australians are now saving 11 years for a deposit. Almost 17 if they live in Sydney. 

That is why we expanded Labor’s 5 per cent deposit scheme. It brings the time it takes to save a home back to just a few years – that’s where it was decades ago. 

A quarter of a million Australians have used the program to buy a home. 

I don’t care what your politics is, that is a massive number of Australians who have the keys to their first home, because a Labor Government saw their aspiration, and helped them realise it. 

But for us, that is not enough. 

Australians are working incredibly hard to save for a home of their own.

Picture a young first home buyer turning up to an auction after more than a decade saving for a deposit. 

Standing next to them is an investor on the same income, bidding for the same home.

Negative gearing concessions alone can give that investor a hundred-thousand-dollar head start in how much they can bid. 

At a time when housing affordability is under such pressure and home ownership rates are declining, we just cannot keep tilting the playing field away from first home buyers.

It is not fair.

And we need to change it.

And that is why we’re introducing our legislation before the Parliament today. 

The April Household spending figures have come out and they show that we all spent 1.1% less in April than we did in March.

The problem with these figures is that they are in nominal dollars – ie they don’t account for inflation. 

Usually this means that spending rises because prices as a rule go up. But in April the cost of petrol went down because of the halving of the fuel excise. That saw a 4.7% fall in spending on “transport”. All up we spent $658.1m less on transport costs in April than we did in March. That accounted for 72% of the drop in total spending. 

I usually like to cut out tobacco and alcohol spending because the illegal tobacco sales don’t get counted and so are of limited use.  If we also remove transport costs to get rid of the impact of the price surge and falls, it’s clear that the growth in spending is slowing 

The ABS only puts out the volume of spending figures every quarter, but given CPI rose 4.2%, the total annual growth of spending of 4.9% suggests pretty weak household spending volumes.

That matters because just over 50% of the economy is made up of our spending. So if that is weak, the economy is weak.

Clare O’Neil is laying heavy on the emotion here. Which I get – it is emotional and it has done more to rip apart the social fabric almost more than any other issue.

But the government could also return to social housing as an answer. But we are not there yet.

O’Neil:

Our housing crisis was not caused by one policy failure. 

It is many systems failing together.

Planning.

Infrastructure.

Skills.

Construction capacity.

Innovation.

Tax.

Finance.

Public housing. 

All broken. 

That’s why there is no silver bullet. No one announcement, no one budget, that will fix this overnight. 

There is one final ingredient I haven’t mentioned. 

Housing is not just a social and economic failure.

It is a political failure.

I’m not going to bore you with the usual finger pointing. Let me be really direct. 

Governments – Labor and Liberal – have not done enough to fairly house Australians, for decades. 

In their retreat, there was, I believe, a hope that a functional private housing market would work for all. 

But that is not reality. 

In every country in the world where housing works, government is integrally involved in making it happen. 

So there we have it. A complex, long-term crisis, with many problems to solve. And governments unwilling to step in and make big, hard decisions to reshape it. 

That era has ended. 

And when people write the history of housing in our country, a new chapter will begin in 2022, when our government was elected. 

The first Commonwealth Government in 70 years to put housing at the heart of the national agenda. 

That is what our Homes for Australia Plan is all about.

The Greens are welcoming the decision to hold the 3M company to account over the damage caused to Australian communities by the forever chemicals like PFAS.

Peter Whish-Wilson has said:

The Greens congratulate the federal government for taking on 3M Company and for seeking justice on behalf of all Australians who have unfairly had their communities impacted by toxic forever chemicals. 

Big corporate producers and retailers of plastics and plastic packaging currently have no obligation to take responsibility for the products they unleash into the world.

The onus is currently placed on the waste and resource recovery sector to safely manage the recycling or disposal of plastic packaging products that contain PFAS. This is an untenable situation.

To end the plastic waste crisis, we need to change the system that creates it. Australia desperately needs legislation and regulation that addresses plastic waste and PFAS at the design stage instead of waiting for these pollutants to be created, only to then work out how to manage them. 

If action is not taken to manage PFAS out of packaging Australia risks becoming the global dumping ground given other countries have taken this action years ago. 

The Greens have been raising the alarm on PFAS for many years and implore the government to ban all types of PFAS across all uses – including in consumer packaging, agrichemicals, and cosmetic products, and to adopt a design-first approach by regulating harmful chemicals and contaminants out of packaging to prevent pollution at the source.”

Sarah Henderson is having the time of her life in ABC estimates – she has taken over from the old Eric Abetz role of just relishing the chance to question ABC executives over whatever takes her fancy (and all of it from a very ideological and conservative lens).

Hugh Marks has been asked if he threatened to sack Justin Stevens if he didn’t resign and Marks notes how few people were in his meeting with Stevens, says he doesn’t make threats and its inappropriate to discuss further.

She moves on to why the ABC (and I am sure SBS will get these questions a bit later) hasn’t adopted the controversial IHRA definition of anti-Semitism, which, in the examples, can conflate criticism of Israel with being anti-Semitic.

Marks says the ABC’s operation is consistent with the definition and adds:

It is important we operate on the basis of our own independently formed views, but in doing that we take a number of things into account, which in this case would include the IHRA definition.

Some of the examples used in the IHRA definition… there is some discussion around experts and other industry commentators and the like about those examples and if they are ambiguous or contentious.

Those are matters that we include in our references to whether are operating on the basis that we think is the appropriate basis to operate.

We believe our definition is entirely consistent with he principles of the IHRA definition.”

It’s not just the federal Parliament that has a Budget Estimates process – the state parliaments do as well. And if you think the government sweats it in the Senate, where the committees are at least chaired by government members, consider Tasmania.

The Tasmanian Legislative Council is dominated by independents; Labor and Liberal together are not even in the majority.

Perhaps it’s pique, then, that motivated someone in Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff’s Department of Premier and Cabinet to leak an email from Estimates Committee about chair Ruth Forrest, an independent member of the Legislative Council.

The email just asks that those attending (Tasmanian) Estimates hearings not wear strong fragrances as Ms Forrest and some others have experienced adverse reactions to them.

Not exactly the Panama papers, then.

The email was leaked to Pulse Tasmania. That’s the same news site that the Rockliff Government spent $13,000 in public money for two “full digital takeovers” to advertise its earlier budget on.

Governments seem increasingly bold in leaking personal information in order to manage the media. Earlier this year, the Malinauskas Government in South Australia leaked a dead man’s email to try to discredit his widow.

That would be bad enough – but they didn’t even get the right man. They leaked the personal correspondence of a different man with the same name.

Then they leaked a second patient’s personal information to discredit her concerns about multiple surgery delays.

At least they got the right person that time.

The Malinauskas Government apologised for the first leak but maintain they did nothing wrong in the second case.

All very reminiscent of the Morrison Government leaking Centrelink details to punish people complaining about Robodebt.

While the traditional media dwindles, the communications teams of ministers and departments are getting bigger. Perhaps taxpayer-funded spin doctors are not the best use of public money.

This has been something which has been called for, for some time – and it looks like the government is now taking some first steps to addressing it. As AAP reports:

Victims of scams could soon receive automatic compensation under plans from the federal government. 

Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino said scam victims with verified losses below $3000 will be automatically reimbursed to decrease the cost of investigations. 

“We are working with industry to make sure that the system is as robust as possible, so that we can prevent scams happening in the first place,” he said on Thursday.

“Where very low-value scams occur, we don’t want those cases to go through very lengthy and costly and stressful dispute resolution processes.”

Major banks will be responsible for paying the reimbursements. 

The federal government will also release frameworks for the banking and communications sectors, along with digital platforms, about how they must respond to scams. 

Sectors will be required to take stronger action from March 31.

Mr Mulino did not confirm specific requirements in the frameworks, but said he expected industries to do more work in preventing and detecting scams.

“We’ve been involved in in-depth consultations with all three sectors, and also consumer groups, to make (this work),” he said.

Australians lost $2.18 billion to scams in 2025, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

The largest types by monetary value were investment and redirection scams.

In the three months between October and December 2025, almost 110 million scam calls and 41 million scam texts were blocked.

“Everyone, including the telecommunications industry, has a role to play to stop people being ripped off by dodgy scams,” Communications Minister Anika Wells said.

“The Scams Prevention Framework is another way the Albanese government is cracking down on those who are being taken advantage of.”

Clare O’Neil is about to address the National Press Club on housing. She has been very much pushing the line that the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing changes are needed to help people compete against investors in the future (true) and that it is still mostly a supply issue (less true – housing stock has been outstripping the population growth, and it is also outstripping migration currently) but we like to talk about housing being a supply issue rather than a distribution issue in this country, at all levels.

The AFP is holding a press conference on the latest charges laid against women who have returned to Australia from Syria. The women, and their young children, have spent years in detention in Syria’s refugee camps following the fall of the ISIS caliphate. The women are alleged to have left Australia to join ISIS fighters, some willingly, and some as either children taken by their parents or were very young teens when they left.

Some of the women have faced terrorism charges on their return. AFP officers said Operation Kurrajong (which is the name of the operation linking domestic and international police and security agencies looking at the women’s actions) had determined another woman met the criteria for terrorism charges and had would face Australian courts.

One Australian woman and her child remain in Syria – the woman has been prevented from travelling to Australia by a temporary exclusion order (which is one of the only ways to prevent citizens from returning) and is said to have elected to keep her child with her. The Sydney Morning Herald has reported the child is in need of medical care, after being hit with shrapnel from a bomb when she was just 11 months old. The exclusion order does not expire until 2028.

The Bill for changes to the NDIS have also been introduced today, under the Orwellian title of National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026

The impact will be pretty severe for some people

For example there is this section 34:

34A   Determination reducing funding for groups of supports

(1)  For the purposes of ensuring the financial sustainability of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the Minister may, by legislative instrument, determine:

                     (a)  a percentage (lower than 100%) that is the percentage by which a funding component amount for a specified group of supports is reduced while the determination is in force; and

                     (b)  the old framework plans to which the determination applies (which must be plans that come into effect on or after the day the determination commences).

The explanatory memorandum gives some detail son what this means:

The effect of this amendment is to remove references in the legislative note to the fact that ‘a participant’s disability support needs arising from an impairment in relation to which the participant meets the disability requirements or the early intervention requirements may be affected by a variety of factors, including environmental factors or the impact of another impairment in relation to which the participant does not meet either of those requirements.’ This will reduce ambiguity on how paragraph 34(1)(aa) is intended to operate.  

It then gives some examples of how the changes will affect people

Example – Nykolai

Nykolai is 14 years old and lives with his parents and two younger siblings. Nykolai was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was 18 months old and became an NDIS participant due to his physical impairment related to cerebral palsy.

Nykolai was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) one year ago and is undertaking a plan reassessment for an old framework plan. Nykolai’s parents have requested support to assist with Nykolai’s support needs related to the ADHD as they are struggling to manage some behaviours associated with ADHD which are impacting on their other children and also causing issues for Nykolai at school.

When the NDIS planner is considering the reasonable and necessary supports for Nykolai, they cannot consider support needs related to ADHD as this impairment does not meet the disability requirements or early intervention requirements for access to the NDIS. The reasonable and necessary supports are developed to cover Nykolai’s support needs related to his physical impairment only.

Then we have this little example

Example – Omar

Omar has an old framework plan with $40,000 in the Assistance with Social, Economic and Community Participation budget. The Minister could make a determination that the funding component for Assistance with Social, Economic and Community Participation will be reduced by for example 25 per cent. The Minister would have to consider participant safety when setting the determination.

After the determination is made nothing will change for Omar until his plan is next reassessed or renewed.

If Omar’s plan is renewed, the amount that he can spend on community participation supports under his new plan will be the funding amount set in the new plan for community participation reduced by 25 per cent. This means he will have $30,000 in his Assistance with Social, Economic and Community Participation budget.

If Omar’s plan is reassessed, the reasonable and necessary amount for his community participation budget will be determined by the delegate as per usual processes. If the delegate determines Omar’s new plan should have $35,000 in the Assistance with Social, Economic and Community Participation budget, the 25 per cent reduction will apply so that $26,250 (75 per cent of the reasonable and necessary amount for Assistance with Social, Economic and Community Participation) included in Omar’s new plan will be available for him to spend.

Absolutely fricken brutal and cruel. 

Australia takes on 3M over chemicals

Australia is suing 3M Australia over PFAS chemicals, which have caused major health and environmental problems at air bases around the country (and for firefighters and the communities around them)

Michelle Rowland says the government is open to a settlement, but is seeking $2bn in damages.

That’s largely the cost of the clean up and the consequences of these chemicals for people and the land.

Budget bills

Jim Chalmers has introduced his budget bill, putting the tax changes in with the tax offset

Despite opposition to the CGT changes applying to business, industry and start ups, Chalmers wants them to go through as one.

WA premier Roger Cook is the most recent Labor person to call for carve outs (Chris Minns has previously criticised the bill)

He wants the minerals industry to be exempt from (because Dolly forbid they pay any more tax!)

The Greens have said they will send the bill to an senate inquiry, which the Coalition is likely to support

The bills measures don’t come into effect until 2027, so there is no time issue with the bill, but it will mean the debate will go on for longer

ABC

Hugh Marks has fronted senate estimates – he would not be drawn on whether former news director Justin Stevens had been made to resign

The ABC hunt for a new news director is already underway and the Guardian has reported that Reuters executive (Reuters is a news wire service) Simon Robinson is the new appointee.

Marks would not be drawn saying he would not be making announcements at senate estimates (which doesn’t sound like much of a no to be honest)

New official figures from the regulator show Australian super is now worth $4.4 trillion – yes trillion. Over one trillion dollars is in self-managed super funds which are often used by the rich as a tax avoidance mechanism.

For context, Australia’s GDP is worth about $2trillion

Here is the release:

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released its Quarterly Superannuation Performance publication report for the March 2026 quarter.

Key statistics for the superannuation industry as at 31 March 2026:

Total superannuation assets decreased by -1.0 per cent over the quarter to $4.4 trillion as at March 2026, of which $3.1 trillion was in APRA-regulated funds. Total contributions increased by 11.3 per cent to $226.1 billion in the year ending in March 2026. Employer contributions increased by 8.4 per cent over the year to $159.8 billion. Member contributions increased by 19.1 per cent over the year to $66.3 billion.

Benefit payments increased by 12.3 per cent to $143.5 billion in the year ending in March 2026. This increase was the result of lump sum payments rising by 13.6 per cent to $79.7 billion and pension payments increasing by 10.7 per cent to $63.8 billion.

Key statistics for entities with more than six members for the year to March 2026:

*Net contribution flows comprise of contributions plus net benefit transfers, less benefit payments

Copies of the publication are available on APRA’s website at:  Quarterly superannuation statistics

Today the Financial Review is foreshadowing its annual 200 Rich List which will be published tomorrow.

However, today’s paper has some teasers and points out that “the country’s 200 largest fortunes have collectively leapt $39 billion to total $707.25 billion – 31 per cent of which is controlled by the country’s 10 wealthiest families.”

We have previously pointed out that the wealth of the richest 200 Australians has risen from the equivalent of 8.4% of the nation’s GDP in 2004 to 23.7% of GDP in 2024.

For 2026 we can now say that the wealth of the top 200 is 24.8% of GDP or a quarter if we round up to the nearest whole number.

In theory, on their own, our rich 200 could keep the whole Australian economy going for a whole 3 months.

Not only is the wealth of the top 200 obscene but we can be fairly sure most of them had lots of help from a tax system that is biased in favour of unearned income, that is the income people receive without lifting a finger. When you see the profiles of the richest of the rich it is clear that they got there through capital gains in companies they were associated with. At the moment capital gains are income but are not taxed until the owner sells the shares they own, something that may never happen.

Even when the rich sell their company shares they are taxed very lightly anyway which is the whole point of the 2026 budget initiatives designed to better tax capital gains.

Attorney-General Michelle Rowland on the lawsuit against 3M:

Video by Mike Bowers

Assistant Defence Minister Peter Khalil speaking about the government’s legal action against 3M over PFAS contamination:

Video by Mike Bowers.

Assistant Defence Minister Peter Khalil and Attorney-General Michelle Rowland are giving a press conference in the Blue Room at Parliament House, explaining why the government has launched a multi-billion-dollar lawsuit against US company 3M.

Earlier, in a statement, Khalil and Rowland put out a statement:

The Commonwealth has commenced legal action in the Federal Court of Australia against 3M Australia Pty Ltd and 3M Company for damages to recover costs relating to per- and poly fluoroaklyl substances (PFAS) contamination at 28 Defence bases across Australia.

PFAS are chemicals that are contained in legacy firefighting foams for many years, including on Defence sites. PFAS-containing foams are no longer used in Australia due to concerns linked to environmental contamination.

The Commonwealth’s case includes allegations that:

• 3M withheld a range of information and misrepresented the effects of 3M’s aqueous filmforming foam (AFFF). This included what it knew about the environmental risks of AFFF;
• 3M did not fully disclose what it knew about the environmental risks of AFFF; and
• 3M gave assurances about disposal and environmental safety that were inconsistent with
  what the company knew at the time.
  This action will see the Commonwealth seek damages to recover significant costs taxpayers
  have carried for investigating, managing and remediating contamination resulting from 3M’s
  AFFF containing PFAS.
  The Department of Defence continues to use responsible methods to manage and remediate
  PFAS contaminated environments on and around Defence bases.

Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said:

The Government is committed to holding 3M to account for the economic and environmental harms associated with PFAS contamination.

The Commonwealth has commenced this legal action to pursue appropriate accountability through the Federal Court and to seek recovery of costs borne by the Commonwealth in responding to PFAS contamination at Defence bases.

This is about ensuring these issues are addressed through proper legal processes.

Assistant Defence Minister Peter Khalil said:

I have visited communities right across Australia that have been affected by PFAS contamination, and they need action. That’s why the Commonwealth commenced this legal action today.

Defence is seeking more than $2 billion in damages to recover significant past and future expenses incurred by investigating and managing contamination resulting from the historical storage and use of AFFF.

These court proceedings are about recovering the significant costs Defence has and will continue to incur while investigating and managing the Defence Estate and supporting Australians affected by PFAS.

Defence has spent over $1.3 billion on its PFAS response, and continues to work closely with state and local authorities to support local communities near bases affected by PFAS, and that work will continue.

Except it’s not funny. In a Cabinet meeting yesterday, Trump mused again about the possibility of a peace deal with Iran. It’s clear that there hasn’t been any progress. Trump does this all the time: he suggests a deal is close, headlines dutifully reflect that, the market responds, and then – big surprise – it turns into nothing. As Jeet Heer writes in The Nation, “Trump is caught in a trap of his own making”.  

Trump does this in an attempt cover for the lack of progress on critical issues like Lebanon and the Strait of Hormuz – both of which remain in the same place they have for months now. Which is to say, stuck. Asked about control of the Strait and whether he would accept joint Omani-Iranian control, Trump said no: “we’ll watch over it but nobody’s gonna control it” (which just seems like code for US control). And then he chucked this in about longtime US ally Oman: they “will behave just like everybody else or we’ll have to blow em up”. Cool.  

As if we needed a reminder, this is how the Trump administration treats America’s allies. He literally threatens to blow them up if they don’t do exactly what he wants. 

I’m sure we’re different though.

Angus Taylor spent the morning at Canberra printing business, where he had some fun printing out the Liberal party new slogan.

The Guardian is reporting that the ABC has already chosen Justin Stevens‘ replacement as its new Head of News.

It says Reuters executive Simon Robinson has been tapped for the top job and will be appointed in the next few days.

The story quotes two sources who say they’ve seen Robinson in the ABC’s Sydney headquarters recently.

Robinson is currently deputy to Reuters’ Editor in Chief.

Stevens resigned yesterday after 19 years at the ABC and just four in the news hot seat.

AAP

The ABC has already interviewed for a replacement director of news and will “imminently” move forward a fresh hire after the surprising exit of a key executive this week.

Managing director Hugh Marks addressed Senate estimates on Thursday, a day after Justin Stevens announced his departure from the key post after four years for “reasons both professional and personal”.

Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson, the coalition’s communications spokeswoman, said it “very much looks like he was pushed … and was on the chopping block” for recent controversies.

While not commenting on Mr Stevens’ situation, Mr Marks said the decision allowed the organisation to renew.

“It’s an opportunity, obviously, for the ABC to enter into a new phase of operations, where we look to, you know, refresh and rejuvenate our output … to make sure that we’re future fit,” he said.

Reports have suggested the ABC will look to bring in an outsider, with Mr Marks – a former head of media giant Nine – saying only they had landed “someone of the highest calibre”.

The Guardian has named Simon Robinson, the London-based executive editor at global newswire Reuters, as Mr Stevens’ successor.

Before senators on Thursday, Mr Marks said he had already interviewed candidates for the position, and he was of the view that a “globally experienced executive is the right thing at this point in time for the ABC”.

“I’ve met a number of people over the years who might be opportunities for that role. I expect an announcement will be made imminently, and we will proceed with a candidate who I think has the potential to lead the organisation’s editorial into a bright future,” he said.

The impartiality of the national broadcaster, consistently seen as one of Australia’s most trusted and beloved organisations, but increasingly under fire from conservative politicians, was also questioned by senators.

Senator Henderson said the description by ABC chair Kim Williams – who was absent from proceedings despite a request for him to appear – of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as an “aberrant creature” was appalling.

“What sort of standard is that when you’ve got the chair of the ABC indulging in that sort of personal criticism?” Senator Henderson asked Mr Marks.

Mr Marks said the “less than desired” comments were regretted by Mr Williams, which were his personal view and not that of the ABC.

Mr Williams said the comments were made of Mr Netanyahu’s leadership of Israel compared with past leaders, and should not be considered criticism of Israel.

Mr Marks rejected suggestions of systemic bias.

The Greens plan on sending Labor’s tax changes to an inquiry – which will delay the passage of the bill. They will get the Coalition’s support on this I suspect:

Here is Larissa Waters:

These are very significant changes to our tax system, and will go through the inquiry process to ensure they get the scrutiny they need.

We are hearing countless young people and first homebuyers express their frustration that Labor is letting wealthy property investors keep billions in handouts – an inquiry will help examine the consequences of Labor’s decision on grandfathering.”

Angus Taylor has held a press conference outside of Parliament House for the second day in a row – yesterday it was a farm just outside of Canberra, and today it is a business in the Canberra Southside suburb of Philip.

He has taken the opportunity to officially congratulate Tony Abbott on becoming the Liberal party president:

I welcome him to the role because he’s been one of our most successful opposition leaders in history and he’s going to work with me and rebuild the party.

…He is a great patriot, a great believer in this great country. And I really welcome him, into that role.”

And here is how Chalmers’ finished on his speech – so at the moment, the government is holding firm against any changes.

Speaker, we know that these changes are contentious.

We have seen dishonest scare campaigns and deliberate distortions of the truth.

But the facts matter and I want them to be clear.

Firstly, we are not introducing a tax on inheritances or inherited assets.

Secondly, people will still have their capital gains tax reduced under the new system, with the reduction now accurately reflecting inflation.

Thirdly, the vast majority of small businesses in this country will remain eligible for generous CGT concessions.

This means the overwhelming majority of small businesses can pay reduced or no capital gains tax when they sell.

These are the facts.

It’s also a fact that this Bill presents a choice.

A choice between cutting income taxes for Australian workers, or keeping them higher.

Standing with first home buyers, or locking more Australians out of the market.

Taking intergenerational responsibilities seriously, or defending a broken system that fails future generations.

Here is the main part of Chalmers’ tax bill – and how he has knitted support all together:

This Bill delivers on three objectives.

It cuts taxes for every Australian worker – again, and again.

It makes it easier for people to buy their first home. 

And it better aligns the tax treatment of labour income and asset income.

The Bill has four core elements:

·   A new $250 Working Australians Tax Offset for over 13 million Australians,

·   A $1,000 instant tax deduction for workers,

·   Reforming future negative gearing to apply to new builds from 1 July 2027,

·   And returning the capital gains tax to its original intent by reintroducing cost base indexation so that only real gains are taxed.

And the negotiations are well and truly underway now. The bill will pass the house, but may get stuck in the senate depending on how much the government wants to play ball.

She likes to focus on things like coverage of the genocide conducted by Israel, or climate change. 

A few week’s back I did a fact check on an ABC article that suggested there were 8 people on income support.

The article was laughable bad. It needed to be corrected to make it clear that absurd figure included people taking sick leave!

Well the ABC Ombudsman responded to people’s complaints… and gave it the tick of approval

It found:

“The Ombudsman considers that the action taken by ABC News in relation to the headline and summary adequately addresses the concerns raised.

In relation to the remaining issues, the Ombudsman finds that the article is consistent with the Editorial Standards for accuracy and impartiality.”

Cripes

ABC estimates is up now in the communications hearing – so far it is as you would expect.

Managing Director Hugh Marks is being questioned over Justin Stevens (the news boss’s) resignation and whether he was made to resign.

Marks:

So now I think it’s inappropriate for me to go into detail and specific staff matters.

I won’t give any further background on that other than what we’ve already said in our public statements and what I mentioned today.

It is an opportunity for us to move forward and look at a refreshed and rejuvenated output as we work out what you know the future of the ABC is.”

Alice Grundy

Reports of evidence from the Royal Commission on Antisemitism have highlighted the shortcomings in the NSW Firearms Registry, the product of a continued lack of resourcing. 

The registry did not have a senior intelligence analyst  “from November 2021, when the position was terminated, until December 2023. When the role was reintroduced, it remained unfilled until February 2025, the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion was told on Wednesday” according to the Sydney Morning Herald. 

As Australia Institute reports have repeatedly made clear, firearm laws are only ever as good the enforcement of those laws. 

While all states and territories agreed to a National Firearms Register in 1996 and again in 2017 and again in 2023, the register still does not exist. 

In February this year there was talk of speeding up the timeline but the Home Affairs website still says it would be operational in mid-2028. 

You can sign the Australia Institute’s petition calling for urgency in establishing the National Firearms Register here. 

You can find me in The New Daily today as well, analysing Labor’s welfare ‘reform’.

It is worth pointing out that there is no legislation required for any of this. So how big can it really be? And while Labor are calling it the ‘biggest welfare reforms in 30 years’ – something that was repeated by the media – Howard created much of the system we have today less than 30 years ago – he launched Centrelink in 1997.

These changes do nothing about ‘mutual’ obligations or the punitive, bloated and useless job provider network which has enriched a few individuals – like Sarina Russo – but done very little to help people who need it, find jobs. Melbourne ABC radio had a phone call from a person who said his job provider did nothing but ‘pray’ over him. He hadn’t eaten in three days.

The rules for people receiving unemployment benefits are clear – they cannot step a foot out of line and must perform meaningless tasks designed to make society feel that it is being “paid back” for the pittance spent on a social security net. Unemployed people pay taxes too – the GST makes sure of that – but don’t receive the benefits from tax cuts. What they do receive, is grief. And guilt. And pushback on the absolute bare minimum.

It is world Blood Cancer Day and the  Parliamentary Group on Bone Marrow Donation – Hon Bob Katter MP, Dr Mike Freelander MP, Mr Ted O’Brien MP, Dr Monique Ryan MP, and Hon Rebecca White MP – are being joined by Mark Butler and his shadow counterpart Anne Ruston to talk about blood cancers, donations and research at a special event at parliament today.

Labor will introduce its structural tax changes to the parliament today, so let’s see where we are at.

The Coalition are against them, but for the working Australians tax offset (and at this stage they are going in together)

The Greens want the negative gearing changes grandfathered to just one property.

One Nation (which is not a balance of power player here) says two homes.

But the Government can pass the bill without the Coalition. It has two path ways – and while it favours going through the Coalition, it does not have to.

 Trevor Hunnicutt, Elwely Elwelly and Jana Choukeir in Washington DC Via AAP

US President Donald Trump has dismissed a report that Iran and Oman would manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz as part of a deal to end the war, in a sign any potential ‌agreement remains elusive.

Trump’s comments came after Iranian state TV reported it had obtained an unofficial draft of an agreement that would restore commercial shipping through the strategic waterway to prewar levels within a month, with Iran and ‌Oman jointly managing traffic. 

That framework also would have the United States lift its blockade of Iranian ports and withdraw military forces from Iran’s vicinity.

Trump said no single country would have control over the waterway, and appeared to threaten Oman, a country with which the US has decades-long military and economic ties.

“Nobody’s going to control (the strait),” Trump said at a cabinet meeting attended by reporters on Wednesday, US time. 

“It’s international waters and Oman will behave just like everybody else or we’ll have to blow them up. They understand that, they’ll be fine.”

The White House and Oman’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump’s statement indicated the two ‌countries remain far apart as ‌they seek an initial deal ⁠to end the war, which has killed thousands and sent global energy prices sharply higher since it began with US and Israeli strikes ​on February 28. 

Trump has repeatedly said a deal is close at hand since a ceasefire took effect in early April. 

Sticking points in talks seeking to end the three-month-long conflict include reopening the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas travelled before the war, and the issue of the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear capacity. 

“We’ll watch over it, but nobody’s going to control it – that’s part of the negotiation that we have,” Trump said of the strait.

Trump has also asked Saudi ⁠Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan to join the Abraham Accords normalising relations with Israel as part of a ‌deal to end the ​war, which they have declined to do.

He brought up the issue again at the cabinet meeting. “I’m not sure we should make the deal if they don’t sign, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said.

Iranian state TV said the draft deal would also have the United States withdraw military forces from the immediate vicinity, though it said the issue of US troops in the region needed further ​discussion. 

The White House dismissed the report as a “complete fabrication”. Tehran did not comment.

Oil prices fell more than five per cent after the Iranian television report, before regaining about a fifth of that fall.

The Iranian TV report did not mention Iran’s nuclear program, which the US wants disbanded. Iranian sources have said talks on the nuclear issue will come in a second round of negotiations – something that may not be acceptable to some of Trump’s closest supporters. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

“The bottom line is Iran’s never going to have a nuclear weapon,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at the cabinet meeting.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Navy said on Wednesday 23 ships including oil tankers, container ships and other commercial vessels passed through Hormuz with its permission in the previous 24 ​hours, a fraction of the daily 125 to 140 vessels passing through before the conflict. 

The war has also created political problems for Trump at home. US polls show the war is deeply unpopular ​with the public, less than six months before midterm ⁠elections that will determine whether Trump’s Republican Party retains control of the Senate and House of Representatives.

with AP

Hello and welcome to day four of the sitting. Today is Thursday (the worst day of the week) which means it is time for the budget to be introduced and the debate to begin.

That is going to get messy because the Coalition thinks it is on to a winner by pushing that industries need to be carved out, and the resulting media campaign has some Labor backbenchers pressed and starting to panic, but to be honest, Labor’s leadership does not seem too worried about it at this point.

There is still a feeling that they want to have the fight over broken promises, which means they think they are on to a winner with the constituents they think they need to win.

Plus, despite all the cries of the sky falling, the sky isn’t actually falling.

But let’s see how long they hold.

Estimates is back for day four, and the media world is buzzing over who may replace news boss Justin Stevens – and the Australian’s Dennis Shanahan felt compelled to write that Tim Wilson needs to grow up. What a world!

We’ll cover all the events of the day as it happens, and probably some more. Ready? Coffee number three is on the stove, so it looks like being a five coffee day.

Let’s do this.