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Good morning
Well hello, Australia, and welcome to the third-last sitting week of the parliamentary year. I just learned that the word for that is “antepenultimate”.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese joined South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas yesterday to kick off what some are referring to as the election campaign. When we’re all distracted by the shenanigans in the United States!
The centrepiece was an announcement on student debt relief to the tune of $16bn and fee-free Tafe places and the obligatory three-word slogan (in this case, “Building Australia’s Future”).
The Coalition has been out already this morning saying they probably can’t afford to match that pitch to younger Australians. Nationals leader David Littleproud told ABC television this morning that they would “struggle” to find the dosh. He said:
We’re going through a process now, but I just can’t see how we can pick winners to that scale of money and support a mechanism like this. In the totality of this cost-of-living crisis, there are more pressing things about getting your energy bill down, and we can do that quickly with more gas and a long-term policy around energy.
We’ll hear more about that today, but there’s little chance it’ll knock conversations about Qantas flight upgrades and the Chairman’s Lounge off the agenda.
Key events
AAP has a roundup of the week ahead in Canberra:
Federal Labor is banking on education reform to give it a much-needed boost, as MPs and senators return to Canberra for the final month of parliamentary sittings.
But a furore over flight upgrades and the outcome of the US election threatens to overshadow any plans the government has for a pre-election reset.
The upcoming sitting week in Parliament House is set to be dominated by education after Labor announced it would slash HECS debts for university students by 20%, if it is returned at the next election.
The government is also hoping an emphasis on fee-free Tafe will give it a boost, after announcing there will be 100,000 places made available each year from 2027. On Sunday, prime minister Anthony Albanese said:
More tradies to build our homes, more apprentices getting a start, more carers to look after our loved ones, whether they be young or old, more opportunities for Australians to train and retrain.
The House of Representatives is also expected to pass laws supporting a 15% pay rise for early childcare workers, ahead of the boost coming into effect in December.
But the Coalition is likely to continue to press the government on the prime minister’s travel arrangements, amid revelations he received 22 flight upgrades from Qantas, with some reportedly granted after Albanese contacted the airline’s former head, Alan Joyce.
Albanese has denied he had contacted Joyce for flight upgrades.
Education minister Jason Clare on Sunday admitted he also sought a flight upgrade in 2019 after surgery on his leg. He called Qantas to ask for the upgrade.
With the upcoming sitting week also featuring a round of Senate estimates hearings on government spending and decision-making, questions about MPs travel arrangements are expected to feature prominently.
While the debate in Parliament House is expected to be fiery, all eyes in Canberra on Wednesday will be trained on the US as the results from the presidential race between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump feed through.
Both sides of politics have stressed Australia’s relationship with the US will remain unchanged, regardless of who wins.
Economic management in Australia will also be high on the agenda, with the Reserve Bank of Australia set to hand down its decision on interest rates on Tuesday.
The cash interest rate has been on hold at 4.35% since November 2023, while the government has been buoyed by key inflation figures showing price pressures fell to 2.8% in the September quarter.
It’s the first time inflation has been within the central bank’s preferred 2% and 3% target range since 2021.
The lower house is also set to debate laws that would bar the NBN from being sold off, along with aged care and merger reform.
Home affairs minister Tony Burke said misinformation laws would also be back up for debate:
Misinformation and disinformation pose a threat to the safety and wellbeing of Australians, as well as to our democracy, society and economy.
As usual, the opposition will come to parliament to try and stand in the way of Labor reforms that are delivering for Australians.
The federal election will be held by the end of May.
In case you missed it – political editor Karen Middleton talked to shadow transport minister Bridget McKenzie about the Qantas saga for the Australian Politics podcast – please enjoy McKenzie’s nimble wordcraft:
Westpac delivers $7bn profit as more mortgage holders fall behind
Jonathan Barrett
Westpac has recorded a $7bn full-year profit, representing a modest decline on last year’s strong result, as the number of homeowners falling behind on repayments jumped higher.
The major bank blamed “elevated interest rates and cost-of-living pressures” for a 24 basis point increase in 90-day mortgage delinquencies for the 12 months to the end of September, which refers to loans with repayments that have fallen behind by more than three months.
Westpac’s hardship provisions also rose sharply as the lender allowed under-pressure customers to restructure their loans.
Westpac chief executive Peter King said that while the majority of clients were showing resilience, “we recognise some customers are facing difficult choices”.
The bank also warned of a “less favourable outlook for commercial property”.
Analysts have noted that any future shock to the banking system would likely stem from their exposure to commercial properties, where there are some concerns over falling office tower valuations and constrained retail spending.
Westpac declared a final dividend of 76 cents, up from 72c a year ago.
Its $7bn annual net profit was down 3% from last year’s $7.2bn result.
Andrew Giles says boosting construction skills an ‘absolute priority’
The Australia Institute reported last week on the surge in the cost of university – including the expense of arts degrees. Giles says it’s a real issue the government has to confront, and that these measures on student debt will be part of that response.
He says the government is particularly targeting construction skills:
This is an absolute priority … building a workforce that will enable us, amongst other things, to build the houses Australians need.
Aaaaaaand back to Qantas upgrades and lounge access … Giles says voters are more focused on what the government is doing for them than what they are doing for themselves.
What we do need to do though is support trust in politics and the system of declarations is obviously fundamentally important in that.
Skills and training minister Andrew Giles is up on ABC radio now talking about the student debt plan. He says students are doing it tough:
This is going to continue to incentivise people to do something which is good for them – getting a good education – but also good for the country.
They will contribute the economy and pay tax, he says, when asked about the impact on the budget bottom line.
Some more on that bulk-billing guff that health minister Mark Butler was talking about earlier – here’s a wrap from chief political correspondent Paul Karp:
Fletcher said it was a matter for the finance department to enforce politicians choosing the cheapest airfares. (On the weekend, the Nine newspapers reported that Virgin had complained that the vast majority of MPs and staffers’ flights were on Qantas.)
He told ABC radio the Coalition stood up for competition in aviation, that in government they focused on building western Sydney airport, and questioned why the Labor government had not opened up the aviation sector to Qatar in 2022.
Here’s a good wrap of what happened at the time, if you’ve not been glued to the saga since then:
Student debt relief an ‘unfair’ burden on taxpayers, Liberal MP says
Coalition frontbencher Paul Fletcher has been on ABC’s Radio National saying it’s a “profoundly unfair policy” because taxpayers will bear the cost.
What this will simply do is increase the burden on all taxpayers … this has to be paid for. There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
Asked about generational inequality, Fletcher talked about inflation getting “out of control” and driving up those student debts. He said the government had “given up” on tackling inflation and the cost of living. But host Steve Cannane didn’t let him get away with that answer, and brought it back to generational inequality. Fletcher said “of course there are issues” with concerning the needs of young Australians, including housing.
Fletcher said young people would benefit from the Coalition’s housing policies. But he wouldn’t say whether the opposition would reverse those changes to student debt if they went through parliament.
Bulk billing turning a corner – Butler
And naturally Butler was also asked about the upgrades saga. He said MPs had complied with the rules, and said the stories had “occupied a lot of column inches, a lot of radio and TV time” but that they were just getting on with the job.
He also foreshadowed an announcement on bulk billing, saying they were starting to “turn a corner”.
We’re seeing more doctors, we’re seeing more bulk billing, and we’re seeing more Medicare urgent-care clinics.
Butler defends student debt relief
Health minister Mark Butler has been asked on ABC television whether it’s “fair” that taxpayers foot the burden for students’ debt relief. He said students were under “real financial pressure”:
It’s something we can afford as a country because we know there’s no better investment we can make than in the skills and the education of our young citizens.
Good morning
Well hello, Australia, and welcome to the third-last sitting week of the parliamentary year. I just learned that the word for that is “antepenultimate”.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese joined South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas yesterday to kick off what some are referring to as the election campaign. When we’re all distracted by the shenanigans in the United States!
The centrepiece was an announcement on student debt relief to the tune of $16bn and fee-free Tafe places and the obligatory three-word slogan (in this case, “Building Australia’s Future”).
The Coalition has been out already this morning saying they probably can’t afford to match that pitch to younger Australians. Nationals leader David Littleproud told ABC television this morning that they would “struggle” to find the dosh. He said:
We’re going through a process now, but I just can’t see how we can pick winners to that scale of money and support a mechanism like this. In the totality of this cost-of-living crisis, there are more pressing things about getting your energy bill down, and we can do that quickly with more gas and a long-term policy around energy.
We’ll hear more about that today, but there’s little chance it’ll knock conversations about Qantas flight upgrades and the Chairman’s Lounge off the agenda.