Key eventsAnthony Albanese is holding a press conference with the Solomon Islands prime minister Jeremiah Manele.He opens by speaking about the strength of the relationship:
Australia and Pacific nations are well-placed to reach the security needs of our region.
We regard security as the job of our Pacific family. As we demonstrated during the Solomon Islands historic joint elections in April when Australia worked with Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Fiji, to assist the Royal Solomon Islands police force with election related security and logistics.
And, Prime Minister, can I say that I very much look forward to working closely with you in the future? This has been an important visit for you.
It’s been a visit in which you will see, go to the State of Origin tonight in Melbourne to experience some Australian culture, before visiting Brisbane as well.
You and your delegation are welcome here. You are very familiar with Australia having been here as we discussed in our one on one meeting, as part of the public service engagement and cooperation that we have with exchanges.
Those people to people relations are so important. And I see as an important next step in a personal partnership but also a partnership between our two nations that I want to see grow into the future.
SharePay rise for incoming governor general being legislated in SenateAlso in the Senate, the chamber is just about to pass the legislation which will increase the incoming governor general’s salary by $214,000.The Greens attempted to amend the legislation to add in that until low-paid workers get a 43% pay rise the governor general shouldn’t either, and that the government should cut ties with the British monarchy, establish truth telling and treaties with First Nations people and make Australia a republic – but that did not go anywhere.The vote passing the legislation is happening as I write this and the Coalition is in support, so there is no question of it passing.The legislation would raise the salary for the incoming governor general, Sam Mostyn, from $495,000 to $709,017. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPAn important element in all of this is the salary is being increased as Sam Mostyn, the incoming governor general, does not have a pension from a previous public service position. David Hurley, the outgoing governor general, receives a very generous pension from his ADF senior service.That pension was considered in setting his base salary, which was 43% lower than what is being set for Mostyn, but his pension also came from taxpayer funds.It is normal to set the governor general’s salary in-line with what the chief justice of Australia receives, making allowances for any other taxpayer-funded pensions which may be paid due to previous positions. If you don’t have one of those pensions, then the base salary is increased. If the next governor general after Mostyn does have one of those pensions, then the base salary would decrease.ShareUpdated at 01.53 BSTNationals senators cross floor to support Greens supermarket divestiture legislationOver in the Senate, there has been a bit of drama around Nick McKim’s legislation giving the ACCC divestiture powers over the major supermarkets.The Liberals and Labor voted against it – but we had some Nats cross the floor.Ross Cadell and Matt Canavan both voted for the Greens legislation. No Nationals senator voted against it – the rest of the Nationals’ Senate team abstained.As McKim pointed out, the last time the Greens and the Nationals came together on an issue, the banking royal commission was called.Labor and Liberal, the Coles and Woolworths of Australian politics, have just voted down the Greens’ Bill to break up the supermarket duopoly. Thanks to the Crossbench and Nationals senators who supported us. Not a single Nationals Senator opposed the Bill.— Nick McKim (@NickMcKim) June 26, 2024ShareUpdated at 01.39 BSTIndependent MP Sophie Scamps also spoke in favour of the Greens motion, just as the debate ends.The chamber is divided. You won’t be surprised to learn the government is voting against it, which means the motion will be defeated.ShareThe local government minister, Labor’s Kristy McBain, is now speaking against the Greens motion, saying the government followed the law in approving the Atlas gas project.McBain then turns to the Greens:
If any of the Greens were anywhere near serious, if they were pragmatic, instead of standing up and protesting they would have said more about the opposition leader’s nuclear plan.
We’ve had one tweet, one tweet, one tweet from the leader of the Greens about nuclear energy.
… It’s the continual performative politics that we see over and over again from the Greens, not pragmatic, not dealing with the issues at hand, instead, it’s politics.
The Greens have been critical of the coalition’s nuclear idea – immediately after it was announced, Adam Bandt said:
Peter Dutton can talk about nuclear power as much as he wants, but it’s not going to happen.
If I wanted to tune in to a fantasy I’d watch The Lord of the Rings.
Peter Dutton can’t win government and he can’t repeal the nuclear ban in the Senate. It’s a “dead cat” strategy, a dangerous distraction from Liberal and Labor’s push to open up more coal and gas.
ShareUpdated at 01.25 BSTGreens MPs condemn Atlas gas project in parliamentIn the house, Greens MP Elizabeth Watson Brown has moved a motion to suspend standing orders to debate a motion condemning the government for approving the Atlas stage three gas project, while insisting the approval be overturned.The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, is also speaking on the motion – but so far, there has not been anyone from the government come and speak on it.
I thought we had got rid of Scott Morrison and his gas-led recovery.
… The first step to tackling a problem should be to stop making the problem worse. Stop approving new coal and gas mines. This is a contemptible decision that should be overturned.
The independent Warringah MP, Zali Steggall, is also speaking in support of the motion.ShareUpdated at 01.19 BSTHere are some more photos from this morning’s official welcome for the Solomon Islands prime minister, Jeremiah Manele, at Parliament House: Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShareUpdated at 01.15 BSTIndependent board of Australian Research Council announcedThe Australian Research Council, which awards grants to researchers, now has an independent board which will make most of the decisions on where those grants will go, rather than the education minister of the day.You can read about the history of that decision here, but a review of the ARC under the former Coalition government found “at least six projects had been unfairly blocked by former ministers including Simon Birmingham, Brendan Nelson, Stuart Robert and Dan Tehan”.Under the new regime, the education minister will have final approval over the funding guidelines and be able to direct the board to not approve a grant, or terminate funding based on national security concerns, but they will have to report to parliament their decision and why it was made.The members of the ARC Board include:
Prof Peter Shergold AC (Chair)
Prof Susan Dodds FAHA (Deputy Chair)
Distinguished Prof Maggie Walter
Prof Cindy Shannon AM
Prof Paul Wellings CBE
Emeritus Prof Margaret Harding
Mr Mark Stickells AM
Ms Sally-Ann Williams FTSE
ShareUpdated at 01.43 BSTAlbanese meets with Solomon Islands prime minister in CanberraMost eyes will be on the US district court in Saipan, but in Canberra, Anthony Albanese is meeting with the Solomon Islands prime minister, Jeremiah Manele.Solomon Islands’ budget is in a bit of peril, which will be one of the issues discussed at the bilateral meetings today.Earlier, Richard Marles told ABC radio:
I’ll be having lunch with Jeremiah Manele myself, and we constantly talk about ways in which we can support Solomon Islands. And obviously, we’ve been providing development assistance to Solomon Islands for decades. So, we’ll look at the requests that are being made by Solomon Islands and how we can help.
I would say that we seek to be the partner of choice for Solomon Islands, and that includes in respect of security. We understand we don’t get rights here, that’s something we need to earn, but in prime minister Manele’s government, there is the opportunity for a new partnership with a new government, and we are very optimistic, optimistic about the prospects of being able to pursue that with him.
Anthony Albanese greets the Solomon Islands prime minister, Jeremiah Manele, at Parliament House in Canberra. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShareUpdated at 01.01 BSTPeter HannamRBA assistant governor speaks ahead of inflation data releaseLots of eyes will be on the ABS’s release of May inflation figures later this morning, and what the data means for the Reserve Bank’s key interest rate.Before then, though, Christopher Kent, the RBA’s assistant governor, has made it clear that the central bank thinks its current cash rate – at 4.35% – seems to be doing the trick.In a speech to the Australian Banking Association in Melbourne this morning, he’s laid out the bank’s thinking about the impact of the interest rate hikes (425 basis points in total) since May 2022.Kent said:
We know that many are feeling a painful squeeze on their finances because of higher interest rates … high inflation, though, has also reduced people’s purchasing power. It has adversely affected all households, but especially those on lower incomes.
He makes the now compulsory point that nothing is being “ruled in or out” about future moves. The key takeaway, though, looks to be this line:
Monetary policy is restrictive and so it is continuing to bring aggregate demand into better balance with aggregate supply, as intended.
Steady as things go, in other words.The CPI numbers, out at 11.30am AEST, will give us an update about how demand and supply are aligning in the economy. Economists are expecting May inflation to come in at an annual rate of 3.8%, a pickup from 3.6% in both March and April.Sounds bad, but remember, the RBA’s forecast has already assumed the June quarter CPI (out on 31 July) will be 3.8%. A big number, say 4%, would get the rate-hike bulls running.Stay tuned for those figures in a couple of hours.ShareUpdated at 00.50 BSTGood news for those hoping to get into the parliament – the Senate car park gate has been fixed.Bad news – the car park is just about full and you might as well head to the overflow carpark now and do the trek up, because it will save you time.On the positive side, it might be the only bit of fresh air you get all day.ShareUpdated at 00.35 BSTHow does John Shipton feel about his son Julian Assange having to plead guilty in order to be freed?Shipton told the ABC:
I divide it into two. One is the human factor. You only get a bit of time on this earth to spend with your loved ones. That’s all you get. The construction or, if you like, the exposition and understanding of that is encapsulated in the decision to make freedom available to Julian under certain circumstances is vital.
You can’t live here without time on this earth and spending time with your loved ones is really important.
The other section, as I have previously expanded upon, state to state relationships, how states can work together and do work together, particularly when the United States is immensely powerful, a super power in economy and military and Australia relatively is small and weak, relatively to that gigantic super power.
ShareUpdated at 00.54 BST