Australia news LIVE: Mandatory COVID isolation cut from seven days to five; jobs and skills summit under way
Key posts
- Treasurer defends number of union representatives at today’s jobs summit
- ‘Waste of money’: Greens senator lashes Voice referendum ahead of negotiations
- Bid to up migrant numbers by 40,000 a year wins backing
- This morning’s key headlines at a glance
-
1 of 1
Treasurer defends number of union representatives at today’s jobs summit
To the first major political interview of the day, and federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers has popped up on ABC News Breakfast ahead of today’s jobs and skills summit.
The treasurer fronted cameras inside the Great Hall at Parliament House, where attendees are gathering for a light breakfast.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
As regular readers of this blog will know, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton yesterday questioned why around 30 per cent of attendees at the two-day conference are from unions given about 15 per cent of Australian wage earners are union members.
Here’s what the treasurer had to say about that criticism:
When it comes to union representation at the jobs and skills summit, the idea that we wouldn’t have the representatives of working people is absurd. There are more representatives of the business community, whether it be CEOs or peak employer groups, than there are union leaders. But we want the representatives of working people here.
One of our objectives is to get wages growing in a sustainable and strong way. That’s was been missing in our economy for the best part a decade. We welcome the involvement of people from the employer groups, from the unions, from businesses, from community groups and elsewhere because this is about bringing people in the national economic interest [together] to try and confront some of these big economic challenges which have been neglected for too long.
‘Waste of money’: Greens senator lashes Voice referendum ahead of negotiations
Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe has called the Voice to parliament referendum a “waste of money”, saying the funds could be better spent in Indigenous communities, prompting party leader Adam Bandt to stress the party is still committed to “good faith” negotiations.
In a significant hardening of her position, the Greens spokeswoman on First Nations issues said she had not decided whether she would personally support or oppose the Voice, but believedit would be a “wasted exercise”.
Green senator Lidia Thorpe, the party’s spokeswoman on First Nations issues, says the proposed Voice referendum is a “waste of money” and the funds could be better spent in Indigenous communities.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
“The costs involved in a referendum are better spent on what is needed in our communities,” Thorpe told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
“I think it’s a waste of money. It’s a wasted exercise. You don’t need a referendum to have a treaty.”
Read the full story here.
Bid to up migrant numbers by 40,000 a year wins backing
Unions and employers have backed the case to boost migration from 160,000 to 200,000 places a year in a crucial step to a wider deal on jobs after all sides accepted the need for urgent changes to fix chronic labour shortages.
The growing consensus on migration is an early sign of common ground at the federal government’s Jobs and Skills Summit and clears the ground for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to increase the permanent intake in the October 25 budget.
Overseas migration contributed to growth in the fourth quarter for the first time since the pandemic, with 29,100 net new arrivals.Credit:Bloomberg
But industry chiefs and union leaders are at odds over visa conditions and the rates of pay for skilled foreign workers, with employers warning they cannot afford the $90,000 annual salary the unions want to see as the minimum benchmark for those who enter the country.
More on this issue here.
This morning’s key headlines at a glance
Good morning and thanks for your company.
It’s Thursday, September 1. I’m Broede Carmody and I’ll be anchoring our live coverage for the first half of the day.
Here’s what you need to know before we get started.
- Unions and employers have backed the case to boost migration from 160,000 to 200,000 places a year ahead of this morning’s jobs and skills summit. The summit will run across two days and we’ll bring you the highlights as the day unfolds.
- In case you missed it, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday announced that mandatory COVID-19 isolation will be reduced from seven days to five. Masks on planes will be scrapped, but it will be up to individual states and territories to decide whether people need to keep masking up on public transport.
- A Greens senator has called the Voice to parliament referendum a “waste of money” ahead of negotiations with Labor.
- In state news, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has declared war on the rail unions. The Victorian premier’s office faces questions over a push for the founder of the notorious “red shirts” program to help run Labor’s on-the-ground election campaign. And in Western Australia, there are concerns vested interests have blocked the recognition of local wetlands as being “internationally significant”.
- And in international news, the Queen will break with tradition and formally appoint Britain’s next prime minister at Balmoral next week rather than at Buckingham Palace.
-
1 of 1
Most Viewed in National
Source: Read Full Article