| Politicians were once again in Canberra this week, however only the lower house, the House of Representatives, sat as usual. Despite this, the government was able to make significant progress with their enormous legislative agenda. The government started the week strong, ratifying their industrial relations reform, Closing Loopholes 2, in the House. The Bill passed the Senate on Thursday last week, but it had to come back to the House for final sign-off. They then moved onto the changes to stage three tax cuts. Senators were kept busy with another round of Senate Estimates. This is where all Senators have the opportunity to ask questions to the Departments and the Government about programs, policies and initiatives. It’s usually a time when the opposition uncover information that the government of the day would rather not share. The opposition, amongst other issues, used this round of Estimates to hone-in on the release of 149 immigration detainees and then used the information to ask numerous questions in Question Time. This issue is far from over! Let’s take a look at what happened in Parliament House this week. |
| Love is in the air Starting off on a happy note, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used Valentine’s Day to propose to his partner Jodie Haydon. The Prime Minister told the media that a lot of planning went into the proposal (which happened at The Lodge), and he even helped design the ring. The couple have been together for about four years and during that time Ms. Haydon has accompanied the PM on official business here and overseas, and she was by his side for much of the 2022 federal election. There have been many well-wishes shared for the couple, including from Opposition leader Peter Dutton. He congratulated the Prime Minister in Parliament and joked that he looked “…forward to our version of the royal wedding sometime in the future”. Congratulations to the happy couple! Anniversary of the national apology This week marks the 16th anniversary of the national apology to the Stolen Generations. To mark this significant anniversary, nearly 400 people, including survivors, attended an event on Tuesday at Parliament House. The Prime Minister addressed the group and acknowledged the disappointment of last year’s failed Voice to Parliament referendum, saying work is still needed to close the gap. He said, “We were disappointed by the result, we respect the outcome, but it does not diminish one bit our determination to listen to First Nations people about how to close the gap.” He also used his address to announce a new national commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people that he says will be dedicated to protecting and promoting the rights, interests and wellbeing of First Nations children and young people. To help close the gap, Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney also announced a new $707 million program that she says will create 3,000 jobs in remote areas of Australia over the next three years. Immigration detainees Last year, 149 immigration detainees were released after the High Court ruled that indefinite immigration detention was unlawful. However, it is important to note that around half of the people released are believed to have been convicted of violent offences, kidnapping or robbery. You might recall that not long after their release in early-December, multiple detainees were arrested for breaching visa conditions. The offences included the alleged assault of a woman at a South Australian hotel by a man declared “a danger to the community” by a judge, and a breach of restrictions placed on a convicted pedophile who used social media apps to contact juveniles days after release. Before the end of 2023, parliament passed new preventative detention laws in response to the crisis. Despite the new laws, this week the opposition used Senate Estimates to uncover more information about the circumstances and whereabouts of those individuals who were released. Immigration Minister Andrew Giles was then peppered with question from the Opposition and the Opposition leader has called for his sacking over the matter. Stage three tax cuts The enabling legislation for the government’s changes to the stage three tax cuts dominated parliament this week and after several attempts by the Opposition to move amendments, the legislation ultimately passed. Although the Opposition has campaigned hard on the PMs “broken promise”, the Coalition had agreed to pass the legislation. However, until this week they refused to announce what, if any, amendments they would seek to move. Well, when the Bill did hit the floor of parliament this week, the Coalition started moving their amendments. In what can only be described as theatrics, the Coalition tried to amend the name of the Bill. There was no proposed change to substance, rather a series of name changes that were intended to highlight the “broken promise”. The government’s title is Treasury Laws Amendment (Cost of Living Tax Cuts) Bill 2024, however the Opposition proposed the following changes – all of which were voted down: Treasury Laws Amendment (Cost of Living Tax Cuts but Not Actually Dealing with the Cost of Living) Act 2024 Treasury Laws Amendment (Broken Promise) Act 2024 Treasury Laws Amendment (Entrenching Bracket Creep) Act 2024 The Bill, as originally titled, has now passed the House and will now move to the Senate for further debate. The Coalition has indicated that they will again seek amendments to the Bill. Unemployment rate hits two-year high Treasurer Jim Chalmers has often used Australia’s record low unemployment rate as evidence of Labor’s ‘successful economic policy and management’. However, he will now need to rethink his narrative as the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) announced this week that Australia’s unemployment has risen to 4.1 per cent. The unemployment rate rose to 4.1 per cent in January, from 3.9 per cent in December. This is the first time since January 2022 that the unemployment rate has been above 4 per cent. This increase means there are an additional 22,000 people unemployed in Australia. The ABS data also shows that the underemployment rate has increased to 6.6 percent. Commonwealth Bank economist Gareth Aird said the unemployment rate had risen “quite sharply” and that a lift of 0.5 percentage points in five months was “significant and somewhat concerning”. |