There is a lot to cover this week both inside and outside the Canberra Bubble.
While only Senators were required in Canberra this week, other Ministers were busy with international and domestic travel – especially the Prime Minister. However, they will all be back in Canberra on Monday and there is no doubt that rate rises and growing cost of living pressures will dominate the debate.
On the global front, we take a look at a variety of topics – including the war in Gaza, Republican presidential debate and what Cate Blanchett really thinks of her home country.
Coverage of celebrities continues in the sport/pop culture section with an end to the actors strike finally insight. Turning your attention to sport, we cover the race that stops the nation and celebrate cricket legend Glenn Maxwell.
But first, what made headlines this week?
- Liberal Party picks top tech executive and skilled legal and political adviser Gisele Kapterian to contest Teal-held North Sydney.
- Facebook reinstates RMIT Fact Lab after suspending their accreditation over posts relating to the Voice referendum.
- Optus offers customers 200GB of free data as compensation for nationwide network outage.
- Australian actor Johnny Ruffo (only 35) sadly lost his long battle with cancer.
- Millions of Aussie fans’ missed out on a second round of Taylor Swift concert tickets as the Sydney and Melbourne shows sold out in just over an hour.
Government forced to compromise on signature IR bill
This week the Australian Senate sat in Canberra but the House of Representatives didn’t.
The Senate crossbench, led by Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie and Canberra Senator David Pocock, successfully compelled the government to divide Labor’s industrial relations bill, referred to as the ‘Closing Loopholes’ Bill.
The bill has been widely opposed by much of the business community as they argue it will create a new class of workers and add complexity to working conditions, particularly for those in the gig economy. Furthermore, they anticipate the requirements of the bill will add over $900 million to the annual wage bill for gig and labour hire workers which would likely lead to increased costs for consumers, particularly in services such as food delivery.
There are several other reasons why the bill has been opposed and these reasons have been well covered in the current Senate Inquiry which is traveling the country hearing from impacted stakeholders. The bill is broad and wide-ranging, and not all elements have been opposed.
As such, four non-controversial sections of the bill passed the Senate this week. They include measures to support first responders with PTSD in claiming compensation, and to protect victims of domestic violence from discrimination.
The Albanese government was hesitant to split the bill due to concerns over gaining support for more contentious aspects related to labour hire and casual conversion laws. Lambie and Pocock are now urging the House of Representatives to enact the non-controversial parts of the bill when they resume sitting on Monday.
Prime Minister’s popularity dips at home as he makes Australia’s case overseas
In Monday’s Newspoll – the first since Australians comprehensively voted down the Government’s Voice referendum – Prime Minister Albanese’s approval rating plummeted to its worst position since last year’s election.
Labor’s primary vote also saw a significant decline, as voters voiced their disapproval over the government’s handling of the cost-of-living crisis.
The poll revealed the gap between Albanese and Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton for preferred PM had narrowed to just 10 points, from 20 points last month.
As has been the case since the election, Labor still leads the Coalition comfortably in the two-party preferred contest (52-48) but this is the closest margin since Labor took office last May.
The Prime Minister has copped some flak in recent weeks for the amount of time he’s spent out of the country while Australians grapple with cost-of-living and housing pressures, although the high-profile visits he’s made to the US and China in the last fortnight have been undoubtedly crucial in strengthening the bilateral relationship with both major global powers.
Following his meetings with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and President Xi Jingping this week, Albanese announced the annual leaders’ dialogue between Australia and China will recommence, and that both meetings had been ‘very positive’.
He remained firm on Australia’s position on China joining the major regional trade pact the CPTPP, saying for that to happen China must prove it can abide by a rules-based trade system. Australia is hopeful the remaining COVID-era trade sanctions imposed by China will be removed following the successful visit.
Government responds firmly to Optus crash
Millions of Australians were affected on Wednesday when Optus’ entire national network crashed, with the outage taking more than 12 hours to be resolved – affecting lives and livelihoods for an entire day.
The Albanese Government, sensing the fury of consumers and business owners who were forced to turn away sales, were quick to announce the Department of Communications would be tasked with a review of the outage to ‘take stock’ and look at potential lessons.
Optus will also be forced to front up and explain the outage at Parliament, with the Greens winning the Senate’s support to establish a public inquiry yesterday.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said some government departments that utilise Optus services were looking at alternative suppliers in the wake of the delayed outage.
Cost of living fuelled by RBA rate rise
On Tuesday, in an attempt to curb inflation, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) raised the official cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.35 per cent. Increasing the cost of money aims to slow down inflation by reducing spending and borrowing.
The rise comes off the back of higher-than-expected inflation data the previous month. When announcing the rate rise, RBA governor Michele Bullock highlighted that the risk of inflation remaining higher for longer has increased, and progress towards the central bank’s target inflation rate of 2-3 per cent is slower than expected. Furthermore, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecasted that Australia’s inflation may not settle into the target range until 2026, suggesting a longer period of higher inflation than the Reserve Bank’s estimate of 2025.
The Treasurer has acknowledged the rate rise as a necessary response to inflationary pressures, including those beyond the major driver of petrol prices. However, the rate rise will put significant pressure on Australian mortgage holders who are already struggling, and the federal opposition are using the rise to criticise the government over “their failed economic policy”.
When parliament resumes later this month, expect to see the opposition ramp up their attack on the government over cost of living and economic policy.
Israel agrees to brief ‘humanitarian pauses’ in Gaza
The US announced overnight that Israeli Defence Forces have agreed to four-hour pauses each day in its assault on Gaza to defeat Hamas terrorists, although Israel hasn’t publicly committed to the same daily timeframe.
The White House said the pauses would allow safe passage for Palestinian civilians fleeing to the north and south of the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, US officials have warned Israeli forces they have only a small window of time to carry out its operations in Gaza before their presence in the Palestinian territory inflames broader tensions in the Middle East.
Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison earlier this week became the first Australian MP to visit Israel since the October 7 attacks, in a coordinated ‘solidarity’ trip with former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The pair toured some of the worst-affected parts of Southern Israel, with Morrison urging global onlookers not to support a ceasefire that he said would allow Hamas to ‘regroup’. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has joined many other world leaders in calling for a ‘humanitarian pause’ in hostilities.
The third Republican debate – still no Trump
Five candidates participated in the third Republican presidential candidate debate this week in Miami. Once again, Donald Trump was absent – instead holding a separate rally at the same time.
With Trump way ahead in the polls, the debates are becoming known as the ‘race for second place’. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was initially seen as a serious contender, however as time goes on he appears to be slipping even further behind.
The attacks on each other increased during the third debate with former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and DeSantis clashing over their records on dealing with China and accusing each other of being too accommodating to Chinese industry interests.
Vivek Ramaswamy was also aggressive in his approach, attacking Haley and DeSantis and warning of their potential policies leading to war in Europe.
Abortion emerged as a divisive issue among the candidates, with differing views on how the party should address it following recent election results showing it remains a contentious issue for Republicans.
All candidates expressed frustration with recent Republican losses in elections and discussed the need for accountability within the party. Ramaswamy took it further and criticised the chair of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel.
Cate Blanchett slams Australia’s refugee policies in speech to EU
Homegrown Hollywood megastar Cate Blanchett has condemned the Australian Government’s offshore processing policy in a speech to the European Parliament this week.
The actress, who has been a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Goodwill Ambassador since 2016, said she felt ‘shame and regret’ at Australia’s treatment of refugees – calling the policies inhumane and ineffective.
In her speech to the EU, Blanchett called for more funding and humanitarian support for refugees in the EU and urged Members to stand strongly against externalising asylum seeker processing.
The Albanese Government has committed to maintaining offshore processing as a key pillar of Australia’s border security policy, despite ongoing calls from the Greens and crossbench senators to abolish the scheme, as well as some lingering discontent among Labor’s Left faction.
Hollywood to get back to work – soon
Sticking with celebrities and Hollywood, after a 118-day work stoppage, actors have finally reached a tentative agreement with the major studios. For the past 118 days, some of Hollywood’s biggest celebrities have spent their days on the picket line.
Writers were the first to commence strike action and actors soon followed. Their two major issues were the use of AI in production and changes to royalties due to the rise of streaming services. Writers were able to reach an agreement last month, and now the actors have too.
It’s been reported that actors and studios agreed to a three-year contract, valued at over $1 billion, which increases minimum salaries and adds a new bonus from streaming services. It also includes protections against the unauthorized use of AI-generated images.
The SAG-AFTRA union’s national board will consider the agreement, with a final ratification vote by members expected in the coming weeks.
Melbourne Cup
The race the stops the nation, the Melbourne Cup, first ran in 1861 and has become a cultural phenomenon, celebrated by racing enthusiasts and the general public alike.
While we love Cup Day, we were surprised to learn this year that the race did not initially take place on a Tuesday but has done so consistently since 1875, with a few exceptions. The prize money has also grown significantly from the original 710 pounds to over $8 million, reflecting its stature as one of the world’s richest horse races.
The 2023 Melbourne Cup was won by “Without A Fight,” followed by “Soulcombe” and “Sheraz” in second and third place respectively. Unfortunately, we didn’t pick a winner, but we still celebrated and enjoyed the day.
Australia’s Maxwell stuns again in Cricket World Cup
The cricketing world is debating whether Australian cricketer Glenn Maxwell’s absurd innings in their must-win World Cup clash against Afghanistan is the greatest ODI innings ever, or simply the greatest innings ever.
Returning from injury after concussing himself falling out of a golf cart and missing the last World Cup match, Maxwell took up Australia’s run chase at 7/91 when it looked all but impossible to reach the 292 Afghanistan had set for victory.
What followed had cricketing stars and commentators around the world gobsmacked. He finished unbeaten on 201 from 128 balls, with 21 fours and 10 sixes.
Maxwell’s 201 is Australia’s highest individual score in any ODI match, and he became the first batter from any country to score a double ton in a run chase. It was the second-fastest double-century in ODI history and the first time a non-opener scored 200 or more in an ODI innings.
Maxwell struggled with cramps throughout the innings, at times struggling to walk between overs, making the achievement even more unbelievable.
The Aussies take on Bangladesh in the semi-finals tomorrow.