Albanese says criticism from Howard towards Chalmers ‘not surprising’Former prime minister, John Howard, has criticised comments from the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, that the RBA is “smashing the economy” with its rate rises.According to The Australian, Howard said, “She [RBA governor Michele Bullock] does not deserve the ­Chalmers broadside.”Anthony Albanese was asked about this a moment ago and responded:
I think John Howard criticises the Labor party whenever he’s asked as long as the day ends in Y.
It’s a matter for him. I treat former prime ministers, including John Howard, in a respectful way, but I think it is becoming what it is, and I think that is a matter for him to reflect, but it is pretty regular and it’s not surprising.
ShareUpdated at 03.14 CESTKey eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featurePeter HannamSource of economic growth might be hard to find without rate cutsExcluding the 0.3% contraction during the 2019-20 year, the economy’s 1.5% financial year expansion was the weakest since 1991-92, the ABS said.Early economist reaction is mostly about the weakness of the economy (although the 1% year-on-year pace for the June quarter alone was a bit better than the 0.9% pace the RBA had pencilled in).Sean Langcake, head of macroeconomic forecasting for Oxford Economics Australia, makes a good point about the lack of “a clear engine of growth” in the economy.Aside from public spending, private investment was lower and the modest propellant from the trade sector may well become a drag in coming quarters as China and the US economies falter. Langcake said:
Tight policy settings have successfully reined in demand, but inflationary pressures are yet to be completely tamed. Income tax cuts and consumer subsidies will aid momentum in the second half of the year. But any improvement in activity will be unspectacular.
The latest GDP numbers were released earlier today. Photograph: The GuardianKrishna Bhimavarapu, APAC economist at State Street Global Advisors, reckons the RBA has done enough.
This data should at the very least lead the RBA to make a dovish pivot, considering how uncertain they were during the last meeting. We still look for the first rate cut in November as headline CPI could ease to around 3% in [the September quarter].
Australia’s growth rate compared with an annual pace of expansion of 3.1% in the June quarter in the US, according to The Economist data. The Eurozone’s growth pace was 0.6%, while Britain’s economy expanded 0.9% and Japan’s contracted 0.8%.Anyway, you can follow on with updates to this article:ShareChalmers says ‘collective responsibility’ for disappointment felt following census question exclusionsOur own Paul Karp asked who in the government had ultimate responsibility for telling the ABS that the government wouldn’t be including the gender and sexuality questions?He also asked if the dispute is about whether the gender and intersex characteristics questions are too complicated and too confusing, why not just release those so we can judge those for ourselves?Jim Chalmers said he was “not going to get into the internal processes around that” but in terms of responsibility, it is collective.
I think we take collective responsibility and I take my share of the responsibility for the disappointment, frankly, that was felt in parts of our community. I take my share of the responsibility for that but I’m not prepared to go into the various kind of internal discussions that have been had about it over the course of the last little while.
The treasurer said he is “confident” the government will get the census right and be “as inclusive as we can be”:
I say to members of the Australian community who were disappointed about the public discussion around this last week, I take my share of the responsibility for that and we take collective responsibility for getting it right in the future, and I’m confident that we will.
ShareCircling back to the treasurer’s press conferenceHas the government “reached the end of the line” or would it be willing to introduce more cost-of-living relief measures if needed?Jim Chalmers responded:
What we see in these figures today and what we saw in the budget in May was a budget that was really carefully calibrated for the conditions that we confront, and I think it has been vindicated in the numbers that you have before you now.
So you should expect us to take a similar approach in the Myefo but more substantially in the budget next year … because I think one of the reasons we have broadly got some of these judgments right is because we have been prepared to consider new initiatives where the economic circumstances warrant that and where the budget can afford it.
SharePeople were trying to support Higgins but she ‘wouldn’t have a bar of it’, Reynolds’ lawyer saysSarah Basford CanalesLinda Reynolds’ lawyer, Martin Bennett, is going through each of the defence’s claims in the senator’s case against her former staffer, Brittany Higgins.In one example, Bennett says Higgins’ recollection about her treatment by the senator following her alleged rape was incorrect.Earlier evidence from Higgins’ lawyer, Rachael Young SC, claimed the then 24-year-old staffer had been left isolated in April and May 2019 while campaigning in Perth shortly after the incident.Higgins told The Project in a 2021 televised interview she was handed a brochure for employee assistance counselling services but there was a “two-month wait” before she could receive support.Today, Bennett claimed there had been “20 attempts” to offer phone counselling support to Higgins but they were not taken up. The court isn’t shown the documents, which he said appeared in his yet-to-be released closing submissions. Bennett said:
People were trying to support [Higgins] but she wouldn’t have a bar of it.
ShareUpdated at 05.08 CESTChalmers denies this is the ‘consumer recession we have to have’A reporter asks if this is the consumer recession that we have to have? Jim Chalmers said he doesn’t see it in those terms and “I wouldn’t describe it in those terms, respectfully.”
What we’re seeing is that the consumer is under really extreme pressure. We knew that before today, but this has been confirmed today.
Consumption going backwards, discretionary spending going down substantially, household savings being really low. These are all the signs of an economy where people under really substantial pressure and that is why our cost of living help is so important.
ShareUpdated at 05.14 CESTNino BucciChalmers stands by comments that high interest rates were ‘smashing the economy’Jim Chalmers has been asked a few times about comments he made on Sunday which were seen as critical of the RBA. He said high interest rates were “smashing the economy”.He stands by the comments, and, as he said earlier this week, reiterates that he’s said similar several times before. Chalmers also says the GDP data backs him up.
I’m not someone that tries to shy away from feedback.
I like that some of the issues we are grappling with today are a big part of a national conversation, that’s a good thing, and I’ve always tried to be up front, I’ve always tried to be pretty blunt about our economic challenges, and I say what I said on Sunday night, first of all it wasn’t new, been saying the same thing since June, I think, for some months. But also I think I owe it to Australians to speak plainly about the challenges in our economy.
It is one of the reasons I like to be here with you to have this opportunity to try and inform people of how we are seeing the challenges in the economy and more importantly what we doing about it, and I just see what I said early in the week as a statement of fact.
ShareUpdated at 05.14 CESTNino BucciTreasurer wants to pass laws reforming RBA board by end of this year or early next yearJim Chalmers says he would like to pass new laws reforming the board of the Reserve Bank by the end of this year or early next, as he does not want it to be an election issue.He said that the ball was in the court of Angus Taylor, the shadow treasurer.
There has not been anything where he’s raised that I haven’t tried to accommodate his view and that is because I want to land it, I would like to legislate at this year and started the start of next year.
I would like it not to be part of an election campaign and I would like it to be an agreement between the two major governing parties in the Senate.
ShareUpdated at 05.14 CESTNino BucciGDP data proves cost-of-living relief crucial, says ChalmersMore of the same from Chalmers: he is now saying the data shows the government must continue helping with cost-of-living pressures but without contributing to inflation.He said some cost-of-living measures were expected to increase growth in the 2024-25 financial year.
We now know that growth in the economy through the year was 1%. Treasury expects growth to pick up in this financial year but modestly. And there is nothing in these figures that change your expectation for that.
Really, I think the most important take-out from today’s figures is around consumption but we also see the weakness in household budgets when it comes to household savings, consumption, as I said, discretionary spending and mortgage interest costs.
People are under a lot of pressure. This is precisely why we are rolling out substantial cost-of-living help but in the most responsible way.
ShareUpdated at 05.15 CESTNino BucciGDP data backs government approach: ChalmersJim Chalmers, perhaps not surprisingly, says the data backs up the government’s approach. He said:
This justifies the way that we have managed the economy responsibly. Fighting inflation is our primary concern by doing that without slashing and burning in a budget that is in an economy which is already weak and when people are already doing it tough.
This indicates the approach we took in the budget and frankly torpedoes a lot of the free advice we got at budget time to cut harder and harsher.
That would have been a recipe for a much weaker economy, we know that from the June quarter data that you have before you now.
We will continue to manage the economy in the most responsible way that we can, maintaining a primary focus on inflation but rolling out cost-of-living relief in the most responsible way.
ShareUpdated at 05.07 CESTNino BucciGDP figures are as expected: CharmersJim Chalmers says the data shows that the figures are what the government and market expected. He said it showed:
… that people are still doing it tough and that is why the cost of living remains the highest priority.
Helping people with cost of living is the highest priority of the Albanese Labor government.
Without government spending or without government spending growth, there would be no growth in the economy at all.
ShareUpdated at 05.07 CESTThe treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is speaking to the media after the release of the latest GDP figures.ShareThree states and NT have increased bushfire risk for springThis August was Australia’s hottest on record, with a widespread heatwave breaking temperatures records around the country.All that heat will have made a lot of people anxious about bushfires over the coming months.Fire authorities and the Bureau of Meteorology have just released an outlook for spring and have identified large areas in the NT, Queensland, Victoria and a small corner of South Australia as being at “increased risk of fire” – meaning a higher chance of more significant bushfires.Here’s our full story on that:ShareUpdated at 04.49 CESTGDP numbers ‘an absolute disaster for this country’, shadow treasurer saysThe shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, is speaking to reporters after the release of the latest GDP numbers:
That sixth consecutive quarter of the household recession is the longest since the data began 50 years ago. We have not seen this since we kept records on GDP per capita and since the early 1970s; we have not seen a period where we have had 18 months of negative GDP per capita. It is an absolute disaster for this country.
It is also clear that real, disposable incomes – the standard of living of households in Australia – continues to go backwards. It has fallen almost 9% now since Labor came to power. That is an extraordinary situation.
Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPShareUpdated at 04.46 CESTSarah Basford CanalesReynolds’ lawyer points to view metrics Higgins’ social media posts achievedLinda Reynolds’ lawyer, Martin Bennett, starts the morning by pointing to the number of views Brittany Higgins’ social media posts achieved.The Western Australian senator is suing Higgins over three social media posts made in July 2023, which she alleges damaged her reputation. However, the five-week trial has dealt with a much-wider time period, dealing with actions and interactions in the weeks before Higgins’ alleged rape in March 2019 up to comments and correspondence as recent as this year.One of the specific posts Reynolds is suing over is an Instagram story posted by Higgins and added to her “Advocacy” thread. The post was a screenshot of headlines in July 2023 indicating Reynolds intended to refer Higgins’ $2.445m personal injury settlement to the federal anti-corruption body.Linda Reynolds and Brittany Higgins. Composite: Mike Bowers/AAPHiggins wrote in the post:
These are just headlines from today. This is from a current Australian senator who continues to harass me through the media and in the parliament. My former boss who has publicly apologised for mishandling my rape allegation. Who has had to publicly apologise to me after defaming me in the workplace … This has been going on for years now. It is time to stop.
Bennett said the post had “enormous” reach, showing the court screenshots of posts in the story thread had been seen by more than 10,000 social media accounts.The trial continues.ShareUpdated at 04.43 CESTChalmers responds to latest GDP numbersHere is the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, reaction to the June quarter GDP numbers. He wrote in a post to X:
The National Accounts confirm the economy barely grew last quarter, reflecting global uncertainty, higher rates [and] persistent inflation.
It shows the pressures people are under and justifies our plan to fight inflation without smashing the economy [and] help people doing it tough.
ShareUpdated at 04.15 CESTDutton confirms Australian Jewish organisation funded his Israel tripDaniel HurstThe opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has updated his register of interests to confirm the Australia Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (Aijac) funded his trip to Israel.This wasn’t a secret – Aijac posted online in late July that it was “pleased to have organised” Dutton’s visit to Israel “as part of its Rambam study visit program” – but MPs are obliged to disclose such arrangements to parliament.In a press release on 2 August, Aijac described Dutton’s meeting with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and other senior officials as “very warm, lengthy and constructive”.The executive director of Aijac, Colin Rubenstein, said, at the time, Netanyahu and the other senior officials “were acknowledging Mr Dutton’s demonstration of the courage and friendship to visit Israel at such a volatile time as well as the Coalition’s longstanding principled and moral supportive stance towards Israel”.Opposition leader Peter Dutton. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPIn an update dated 29 August but published on the parliamentary website yesterday, Dutton amended his register of interests to disclose travel and accommodation for his trip to Israel were “courtesy of Australia Israel & Jewish Affairs Council”.The update was first noted in a post on X by Open Politics, which tracks Australian politicians’ compliance with their disclosure obligations.Dutton has strongly backed the Israeli government during the nearly year-long war in Gaza. In an interview with Sky News from Jerusalem on 31 July, Dutton promised that if the Coalition won the next election “Israel would have a more reliable ally” and he criticised the ABC’s 7.30 program for the way it questioned an Israeli minister.ShareUpdated at 04.31 CESTSpeakman says he had ‘no knowledge’ Stokes would be put forward to federal executive meetingContinuing on from our last post, the NSW Liberal leader, Mark Speakman, fronted the media earlier and provided his perspective:
I did not know that that motion was going to federal executive, but of course there had been suggestions that there would be federal intervention. So very late in the piece, I sounded out Rob Stokes about his interest in serving on such a committee. He indicated to me a happiness to serve. I conveyed that to federal identities.
There was off the record, I thought private discussions, about other possibilities, but I had no knowledge that his name was going to be put forward to a federal executive meeting yesterday.
ShareUpdated at 04.19 CEST