Unemployment rate holds steady at 4.2% in AugustPeter HannamAustralia’s unemployment rate in August came in at 4.2%, unchanged from July, and in line with forecasts, the ABS has just reported. Employers added 47,500 more jobs last month, giving the Reserve Bank little cause for an early interest rate cut.ShareUpdated at 03.39 CESTKey eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureThe Queensland and federal governments have made their official statement on the new affordable housing development they are jointly funding:Work is planned to start next week on Queensland’s biggest ever social and affordable housing project, jointly funded by the Albanese and Miles Labor Governments.The big housing build will deliver 490 homes in Woree and will be the biggest social and affordable housing project to be built in Queensland.It’s aimed at older Queenslanders who are looking to downsize from their current home, and will in turn free up larger homes for families.The complex will include 245 social, 223 affordable and 22 specialist disability apartments.The purpose-built, architecturally-designed precinct features modern, low maintenance and energy efficient one and two-bedroom homes for people over 55 and those with disability, and is set among landscaped gardens and picnic grounds.The Woree site has direct access to transport routes, the Bruce Highway, the local shopping centre and the Woree Aquatic Centre.The project is being funded through the Miles Government’s Housing Investment Fund, as well as lending from Housing Australia, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) and ANZ as well as a capital grant from the National Housing Infrastructure Facility.Community Housing Limited (CHL) and Tetris Capital are joining forces to deliver and manage the homes with construction undertaken by FCC Construction Australia and Modscape.SharePeter HannamFor what it’s worth, Australia’s jobless rate at 4.2% is in line with the US’s 4.2% (also in August), and the Federal Reserve starting to cut interest rates there.The UK’s was at 4.1% in June and New Zealand’s at 4.6% (both in June), while the European Union’s was a hefty 6.4% (July) and Canada’s 6.4% (in August), according to The Economist.The latest ACCI/Westpac business survey, meanwhile, found “a net 13.1% of respondents indicated that labour was more “difficult to find” in the September quarter, a modest increase from the net 11.7% in Q2.Good, then, if you’re hunting for work, but not so good if you’re hungry for an RBA interest rate cut.SharePeter HannamA bit more on the jobs figures. There’s a fair bet treasurer Jim Chalmers will soon be telling us the August labour market numbers mean there’s been a million jobs added since the Albanese government took office.(Back in August, he’d put the tally at 989,200 taking into account July’s data – although my abacus had them at topping the 1m-mark by then. Oh well, time to trade it in, I suppose.)Across Australia, WA, SA and the ACT (which goes to the polls 19 October) get the bragging rights for the lowest jobless rate, at 3.9%.Queensland’s unemployment rate improved by 0.1 percentage points (seasonally adjusted) to 4.2% in August. Voters in that state are also going to the polls soon, on 26 October, and unless they vote really early, most will have September jobs data to mull over when they land on 17 October.Of the big states, NSW continues to do ok, with a 4.1% unemployment rate (up from 4% in July), which might help explain why Moody’s left its triple-A credit rating intact yesterday despite the state’s budget woes.And Victoria’s jobless rate was still the highest but at 4.5%, easing from 4.6% in July.ShareDaniel HurstThe opposition leader, Peter Dutton, used his regular weekly chat with 2GB to blast the government’s “abstain” vote at the UN general assembly.Speaking to 2GB president Luke Grant, Dutton was asked whether abstaining was the right call. Dutton replied:
No, they should have voted with the United States.
That much is very clear, and that’s exactly what the Hawke Government would have done, it’s what a Howard Government would have done, it’s what an Abbott Government would have done, and I think Penny Wong here is – and along with the Prime Minister, frankly – damaging our relationship very significantly with Israel, with the United States and with like-minded partners.
New Zealand, France, Japan and Ireland were among the majority of states that voted yes to the resolution. Australia was alongside Germany, the UK, South Korea and others in abstaining.ShareDaniel HurstAustralia Palestine Advocacy Network ‘extremely disappointed’ by abstention in UN voteThe Australia Palestine Advocacy Network says it is “extremely disappointed” that the Australian government had not joined with New Zealand, France and many other countries to support the UN resolution overnight calling for end to the Israeli occupation within 12 months.The network’s president, Nasser Mashni, said the government’s claim to support international law was not matched by action:
Australia, as a respected middle power, missed a significant opportunity to take a leadership role in ending the occupation of Palestine and ending the Gaza genocide …
Whilst the Gaza genocide is live-streamed all over the world with the daily horrors broadcast to our handsets, it is clear now that Israel will not stop without decisive intervention from third party states.
Penny Wong said earlier today that Australia had been seeking amendments to ensure that the wording more closely matched the advisory ruling of the international court of justice in July.ShareUpdated at 04.20 CESTLuca IttimaniSydney Metro industrial action will cost taxpayers $100m a month, NSW transport minister saysThe New South Wales transport minister, Jo Haylen, says there will be “significant” disruption to works on a new Metro train line at a cost to the taxpayer of more than $100m a month unless the rail union calls off its industrial action.Haylen also warned commuters to prepare for limited services this weekend after negotiations with the Rail Tram and Bus Union hit an impasse on Wednesday night.Train staff have refused to work outside normal rosters, limiting network coverage for the NRL and AFL finals and Bledisloe Cup on Friday and Saturday,Addressing the media at parliament house this morning, Haylen hit out at the RTBU:
Don’t let your opposition to Metro stop people getting to the footy on the weekend .. that’s not fair on families. There is still time to reach an agreement.
The RTBU and the government are locked in disagreement over a new pay agreement for train staff as well as the union’s safety concerns about the metro conversion of the T3 line between Sydenham and Bankstown in western Sydney.NSW transport minister Jo Haylen. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAPShareUpdated at 04.22 CESTPeter HannamHours worked rises by 0.4% in August as unemployment stays steadyBack to the unemployment figures: of the jobs added in August, 50,600 were part-time, with 3,100 full-time roles being shed. That will moderate the hawkish view that this is another particularly strong month for jobs.Hours worked increased by 0.4%, though, underscoring what looks to be still a pretty tight labour market.Much like the Fed Reserve’s interest rate cut overnight, the jobs figures are pretty close to what financial markets had expected. As a result, the Australian dollar was little moved, hovering at close to 67.5 US cents, and the stock market remained flat.ShareUpdated at 03.54 CESTTamsin RoseNSW parliament Speaker warns MPs against offensive, racist or sexist languageThe New South Wales parliament Speaker, Greg Piper, has warned politicians against using offensive, racist or sexist language in the state parliament ahead of question time.He said that as part of implementing the Broderick report’s recommendations, he would issue a guideline that “exclusionary or discriminatory” behaviour would not be allowed in the chamber.He said:
We can all agree that such words are beneath the dignity of the house and this guideline confirms the standards for conduct and language to be observed in this place. It will signal to the broader community the assembly’s commitment to upholding the standards expected of elected representatives.
He warned he could expel members using language, making gestures of behaving in a way that could be considered sexist, racist, homophobic, exclusionary or discriminatory.The NSW parliament in Sydney. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAPPrevious reporting on the Broderick report:ShareUpdated at 03.56 CESTUnemployment rate holds steady at 4.2% in AugustPeter HannamAustralia’s unemployment rate in August came in at 4.2%, unchanged from July, and in line with forecasts, the ABS has just reported. Employers added 47,500 more jobs last month, giving the Reserve Bank little cause for an early interest rate cut.ShareUpdated at 03.39 CESTHelen Haines calls for better government funding for outside school hours childcareIn the last question time in the lower house, Helen Haines asked out-of-school-hours care centres in her electorate that she said were in danger of closing after missing out on government funding grants.Her office said seven services that offer out-of-school-hours care, mostly in small rural communities, were rejected for government funding in recent months, including some that have been reliant on funding for ten years or more.Haines said she is aware of at least five services that are “at risk of imminent closure without a lifeline from the government”.
If these services close, parents won’t be able to work if they can’t find alternate care.
This situation will have devastating impacts on hundreds of families and their schools.
Haines says her office is now helping services apply for special circumstances funding to stay open, but it shows how big the need is:
Over 800 services across Australia met the criteria for funding but only 475 received funding. The need is huge.
ShareUpdated at 03.52 CESTWhat about China infiltrating tech devices?The Washington Post reports that the US and allied countries say they have taken control of a network of 260,000 internet-connected cameras, routers and other devices that the Chinese government had been using to spy on sensitive organisations.Simon Birmingham is asked about this. He says:
Technology can and will be deployed by different actors for nefarious purposes, and that we must all be alert to how we build the protections for it.
But in relation to China in particular, this announcement by the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia identifying these actions comes, of course, just a day after the revelations that Chinese propaganda was celebrating and glorifying military actions that endangered Australian military personnel.
And it’s completely unacceptable to see these types of conduct occur. China is now a great power, a great economic power, and a significant military power, and it should be acting and we should be urging it to act in a responsible way, in ways that actually preserve the peace and stability of our region and the world, rather than undermine it and jeopardise it.
Sadly, be it in those aggressive military conduct or in areas of cyber attacks, the actions we see coming from the Chinese government or sponsored or tolerated by the Chinese government all too often undermine that peace and stability.
ShareUpdated at 04.12 CESTBirmingham asked about attacks in LebanonSimon Birmingham was also asked about what has been happening in Lebanon in a Sky News interview and said:
None of us wish to see a situation where the war broadens out into a regional conflict. And of course, we all wish to see ultimately steps taken towards peace. But we do have to remember that Hezbollah is a listed and active terrorist organisation that relentlessly sends rockets into Israel.
Just two months ago sent rockets that, of course, killed children in a playground in the Golan Heights, has displaced tens of thousands of Israelis from the north of Israel and from their homes, and acts in constant defiance of a UN resolution that is meant to essentially keep southern Lebanon as a demilitarised zone.
But instead Hezbollah are constantly using that as a base for their rocket and military attacks on Israel.
(Hezbollah denied responsibility for the Golan Heights missile, which hit the predominantly Druze town of Majdal Shams in the mountainous Golan Heights, close to the border with Syria. Israel has occupied the area since 1967, annexing it in 1981)ShareUpdated at 04.13 CESTSuperannuation for parents on paid parental leave passes SenateWhile all of that was going on, we neglected to tell you that a piece of legislation has passed the Senate – the super on paid parental leave bill has gone through with no amendments.So huzzah! A bill has passed.ShareUpdated at 03.40 CESTDaniel Hurst reported on this earlier, but you can watch Australia’s UN ambassador explain why Australia was abstaining in the vote, here:UN ambassador explains why Australia abstained from vote on Israel – videoShare