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Fuel prices increase (slightly) tomorrow

In response to the fuel crisis and war in the Middle East, the government cut the fuel excise in half – which was saving motorists about 26c per litre – which was due to end tomorrow.

But earlier this month, the government extended it for another month, but cutting 16c off the full price of petrol per litre, rather than the 26c – so prices will tick up a little.

In response, the government has told the consumer price watch dog to make sure that petrol retailers aren’t taking the mickey.

Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, the treasurer Jim Chalmers the extension will provide more cost of living relief.

This is a really important warning from the ACCC because we want to make sure that every cent of the government’s fuel excise cut is passed onto motorists who need this extra bit of relief.

It’s been really terrific to see petrol prices and diesel prices come down very substantially in recent months. In fact, this week, we think for the first time, both petrol and diesel is cheaper than it was before the war in the Middle East began. But people are still under pressure. That’s why we’re extending this fuel price relief, this petrol and diesel tax cut for another month, at a tapered rate.

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Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here with you, thanks to Martin Farrer for getting us started!

It’s going to be another busy day in Parliament with just a few sitting days left before the winter break.

Jim Chalmers has drawn the short (or long depending on where you stand) straw and is doing the media rounds this morning. The government, despite experiencing a small uptick in the polls yesterday, is still working overtime to sell their budget and the tax changes that passed at the end of last week.

I’ve got my coffee, I hope you’ve got yours, let’s get stuck in.

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Happy last day of the financial year, to those who celebrate.

For reasons best known to accountants, tomorrow is the day when a whole heap of legal changes kick in: minimum wage rises, payday super, parental leave tweaks and a lot more.

We’ve got a handy summary of all of them for you:

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Australian engagement with Asia ‘facing existential crisis’

Anthony Albanese’s special envoy for the Indian Ocean, the Labor MP Tim Watts, says Australia is running a serious risk by not building more engagement with key Asian neighbours.

Launching a new parliamentary report, Watts has warned schools, universities and businesses are not building sufficient understanding of Asian culture, languages and history, despite skills for the region now becoming “a vital sovereign capability”.

He paints a worrying picture. Enrolments in south-east Asian languages have fallen by 75% since 2005 at Australian universities, with only about 500 students in the country studying Indonesian. Just 3.3% of year 12 students studied a priority Asian language in 2023.

Australia’s diplomatic and thinktank population size is insufficient for independent foreign policy, the report warns, with the capability of Asia experts today described as the product of investments made a generation ago. Similar investments are not being made by current governments.

“Building Asia capability in Australia requires sustained national policy focus over the long term,” Watts says.

The dividends of these efforts, and the costs of inaction, are not realised within a single electoral cycle. Asia capability has always been too difficult to tackle today, and too easy to leave to a future government.

The report calls for a new 10-year national Asia capability strategy, a network of “leader schools” and renewed investment in immersion experiences and higher education courses.

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‘Paul Hogan nailed it,’ Albanese says in praise of the actor’s One Nation critique

The prime minister also used his 7.30 appearance to push back against Pauline Hanson’s advocacy for a “monocultural” society, describing multiculturalism as “who we are as Australians” and shouted out Paul Hogan after the veteran actor called the One Nation leader a “pelican”.

Albanese had been asked to define multiculturalism, as many politicians have been pressed by journalists to do since Hanson’s address at the National Press Club (with varying levels of competency – Andrew Hastie called it an “extreme” and “politically loaded word”).

Hanson used Hogan as a representative of a “monocultural” Australia that she wished to see returned but the actor dismissed her as “living in the past” and pointed out “we’re all migrants”. Albanese said:

It’s who we are as Australians, and I thought that Paul Hogan nailed it today as well. We’ve never been a monocultural society … We are a modern country that is multicultural in our nature. That means that we have respect for each other.

Albanese was also asked about support for One Nation, which has dipped in a recent poll but remains hovering around 30%. Pressed on why so many Australians believed Labor “don’t understand them”, he replied:

What my job is to do is to represent the national interest. That’s what I do to respect every voter … Pauline Hanson has a long political career. But we have seen the rise of populist rightwing parties throughout the western world.

Albanese said that was something that reflected a “range of frustrations”, but the government “firstly and primarily” was fixed on addressing cost-of-living pressures.

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Housing reforms are about making system ‘fairer’ for young people, Albanese says

The prime minister says he “doesn’t want to live in a society that’s defined by intergenerational inequity” after clearance rates fell below 50% in most major capital cities after the government’s housing reforms.

Appearing on ABC’s 7.30 program on Monday evening, Anthony Albanese pushed back at criticism that a post-budget fall in housing prices was evidence that Labor had taken the wrong path in legislating the taxation changes:

What is important is that last Saturday, when people went to buy their own home … they weren’t competing against investors who knew that if they could bid an extra $20,000, or $50,000, then taxpayers would essentially be subsidising that by increased deductions.

Albanese reiterated that the housing system was “broken” and pointed to Treasury estimates that house prices would continue to increase but by a lesser amount. Major banks have said prices will remain flat or marginally fall through 2026.

He said:

This is about making the system fairer … We know there’s been a 400% increase in house prices since 1999 – more than double than wages, and that’s why we couldn’t continue to sit back and not pursue this reform … We’ve seen home ownership rates drop for younger Australians. And I don’t want to live in a society that’s defined by intergenerational inequity.”

Greg Jericho has done some interesting analysis on house prices, and whether concern over falling prices is justified, here:

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Welcome

Good morning and welcome to our live politics blog, as the last week of parliament before the winter break rolls on. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.

Anthony Albanese has defended the government’s housing reforms, telling 7.30 last night that he didn’t want to live in a country defined by intergenerational inequity. More coming up.

He also praised Paul Hogan for pushing back at Pauline Hanson’s attack on multiculturalism, with the prime minister saying the actor “nailed it”. More coming.