Oz Politics Writ Large
‘Major changes to the Reserve Bank Act mean that, amongst other things, the bank will now have a second board solely responsible for setting interest rates’ reports the ABC
‘We now live in a world where the sainted independence of the RBA is such that the treasurer can’t even be seen to be giving it a few “helpful suggestions” about interest rates.’
‘Former Labor senator Fatima Payman has emerged as a key player in the collapse of a deal on environmental reforms.’ reports the ABC
‘Senator Payman’s decision not to back the legislation came as an “oh shit” moment for the prime minister’s office, said one person familiar with events this week, because it meant the government did not have the numbers in the Senate.’
The Saturday Paper reports that ‘after a long, long stand-off between Labor and the Greens over a package of bills reforming Australia’s environmental protection laws, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and Greens spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young finally reached an agreement that would have allowed their passage through the Senate.’
‘Then, late on Tuesday, Albanese reversed his position and pranged the whole agreement.’
According to The Guardian, ‘About 3 million Australians charged debts totalling $4.3bn by the Australian government may have been affected by an unlawful debt calculation practice.’
‘The release under freedom of information laws raises questions about whether the government can properly remediate what it has previously described as an “unquantifiable” potential liability.’
‘Despite it being illegal to recruit soldiers for foreign armies, the Israeli Defence Forces recruiters are hard at work here enticing young Australians to join Israel’s army.’ reports michaelwest.com.au
‘MWM understands a batch of Australian recruits is due to arrive in Israel in January, and this is not the first batch of recruits to receive assistance as IDF soldiers through this Australian program.’
ABC News reports that Megan Herbert has been named 2024 Political Cartoonist of the Year.
‘A selection of Ms Herbert’s work is also featured in Behind the Lines 2024: No Guts, No Glory, which officially opened today at the Museum of Australian Democracy (MoAD) at Old Parliament House. Impressive feats for a self-confessed industry rookie’
From www.benzinga.com: ‘The Greens, Australia’s third-largest political party, announced Wednesday that its Legalizing Cannabis Bill 2023 was voted down in the Senate by a margin of 13 to 24 votes, marking a setback in its push for reform.’
From Pearls & Irritations: ‘Julian Assange may no longer be behind bars, but his conviction casts a shadow over press freedom and the safety of journalists everywhere—a wrong Assange and his supporters world-wide are determined to set right by overturning his wrongful conviction via a presidential pardon from Joe Biden.’
‘Australian campaigners for Julian Assange are hopeful that prime minister Anthony Albanese can convince his friend outgoing US president Joe Biden to deliver a pardon for the WikiLeaks founder.’
Reported by Reuters: ‘Australia approved on Thursday a social media ban for children aged under 16 after an emotive debate that has gripped the nation, setting a benchmark for jurisdictions around the world with one of the toughest regulations targeting Big Tech.’
‘Between the investigations into Thales and the legal action of his chief of staff, it’s getting harder for the media to ignore the flaws of Richard Marles’ reports Bernard Keane at crikey.com.au
‘Two scandals continue to bubble away that reflect poorly on Richard Marles’
‘Australia plans to trial an age-verification system that may include biometrics or government identification to enforce a social media age cut-off, some of the toughest controls imposed by any country to date’ reports Reuters.
‘There will be very strong and strict privacy requirements to protect people’s personal information, including an obligation to destroy information provided once age has been verified, Albanese told parliament on Monday.’
‘The end of a parliamentary year is usually a mess. But 2024’s finale was beyond bad. A prime minister who likes to claim he runs an orderly government found himself presiding over a shambles, in which process was thrown to the winds and quick fixes and expedient capitulations became the order of the day’ – from The Conversation
‘If Australia is to have any influence at all in resolving the horrendous carnage now taking place in the Middle East it needs to demonstrate that it acts independently of American pressure.” writes Dennis Altman at Pearls & Irritations
‘The politicians who lament the fraying of our ties with Israel seem totally unconcerned about the impact of our position on countries far more significant to Australia, such as Indonesia and Malaysia, whose support for Palestine recognition goes far further than anything supported by the Albanese government.’
The Australian Taxation Office, Fair Work Ombudsman and Department of Home Affairs have joined forces under the Shadow Economy Taskforce to investigate labour hire providers suspected of unlawful conduct in the agriculture industry through surprise visits in the Gatton region in Southeast Queensland. – reported at www.ato.gov.au
The Guardian reports that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has denied that the passage of 45 bills through parliament this week indicates preparations for an early election.
Despite these achievements, Labor still faces challenges in securing support for electoral and environmental reforms, while also addressing issues within the immigration system through newly passed migration legislation.
The Conversation reports that Opposition leader in the Senate, Simon Birmingham, 50, has announced his retirement from parliament at the election, to take up a “new, commercially oriented” career.
‘He has represented South Australia in the Senate since 2007, and served in a number of portfolios including finance, education and trade in the Coalition governments. In 2020 he replaced Mathias Cormann as Senate leader.’
The ABC reports that ‘consultancy firm McKinsey has been awarded a $9 million contract by the Australian Submarine Agency (ASA) for “management advisory services” ‘.
‘Tender documents reveal the Australian Submarine Agency (ASA) awarded the lucrative AUKUS contract to the local subsidiary of McKinsey & Company last month, around the same time US legislators were highlighting its links to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).’
‘Like most of Labor’s other housing measures , the Help to Buy and Build to Rent tax reform initiatives are rather narrowly targeted and quite modest in scale’ reports The Conversation.
‘Importantly, though, Help to Buy is a more ambitious scheme that complements the guarantee program by targeting people on lower incomes.’
‘Baby Boomers will no longer be the dominant demographic among Australian voters as Gen Z and Millennials step up.’ – reported by ABC News
‘Gen Z and Millennials now make up 47 per cent of the electorate. Boomers are around 33 per cent.’
‘Banning under-16s from social media may be unconstitutional – and ripe for High Court challenge’ – reports The Conversation
‘it might violate the implied freedom of political communication (IFPC) in the Constitution if it is passed. If so, it will be invalid.’