Författare: Michelle Grattan Professorial Fellow University of Canberra

Bill Shorten has declared himself “a proud moderate” in a valedictory speech declaring parliament has the responsibility to ensure the extremes of left and right do not set the terms of political debate.

Shorten, former Labor leader and current cabinet minister, told parliament: “I reject outright the argument that being moderate is a sign of conservatism or apathy.

”You can be in the centre and be a reformer, a humanitarian, or radical in terms of your ambition to get things done for the Australian people.

”Being in the centre is an acknowledgment that Australians hold broad, diverse views. The majority in the middle should never be hostage to the intolerant few on the zealous fringe.”

Shorten retires from parliament in February to take the position of vice-chancellor of the University of Canberra. He was a minister in the former Labor government, and opposition leader from 2013-19, narrowly losing two elections. He is Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme and Minister for Government Services and has been devoting his efforts to getting the NDIS back on track after a huge spending blow out.

In his speech, Shorten said parliament “must rise to the big issues and engage with them thoughtfully and respectfully.

”Let’s not be a stage for noisy actors talking at each other, over each other and past each other.

”Parliament has the responsibility to ensure the extremes of the left and right do not set the terms of debate. Otherwise, the ideological trenches become deeper – and the centre ground becomes a no-man’s land”.

Shorten outlined what he saw as some key priorities for the parliament in the future, including being ambitious on climate change and tax reform.

He said the tax system still taxed property lightly and income heavily.

This meant young Australians  carried a disproportionate share of the tax burden and paid  more tax than a generation ago.

It was harder than ever for young people to save for a home, and  increasing supply was an essential  part of solving this problem, Shorten said.

“We must not become a society where  realising the dream of home ownership is dependent on having rich parents.”

Shorten also there was also unfinished business on defence and foreign policy.

“We need to develop even further our own defence capabilities within the bonds of existing alliances.

”And prioritise, even more, Australian foreign  policy with an Australian accent.”

Shorten said parliament had “unfinished business” with First Nations people, including their being recognised in the constitution.

“I remain hopeful that – with good faith on all sides – we can achieve recognition of Indigenous Australians in our nation’s birth certificate.”

He said parliament and Australians generally also had “unfinished business on equal treatment of women.

”Because there is no more shocking measure of inequality between men and women than domestic and family violence.”

Shorten urged the parliament: “Be ambitious for this place. This great democratic institution and its power to forge a path to a more productive, moderate, inclusive, compassionate and equal Australia.

”I’ll be urging you on – and wishing you well.” Läs mer…

The Albanese government has rewritten the mandate of the Future Fund – the nation’s sovereign wealth fund – to urge it to direct investment into the “national priorities” of housing, the energy transition and infrastructure, where the risk and returns are acceptable.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said a new “investment mandate” and “statement of expectations” would modernise, refresh and renew the fund so it played “an enduring and prominent role” in the economy.

The ministers said the Australian economy faced big structural shifts coming from the global net zero transformation as well as technological and demographic changes and global fragmentation.

The $230 billion fund, which is independent in its investment decisions, is headed by former Labor minister Greg Combet.

The new investment mandate “will require the fund to consider Australia’s national priorities in its investment decisions, where possible, appropriate and consistent with strong returns”.

These priorities are:

boosting the housing supply
supporting Australia’s energy transition
delivering improved infrastructure including economic resilience and security infrastructure

The government stresses the new mandate does not mean the fund would be making riskier or less profitable investments.

To provide certainty to the fund, the government says it would not start any draw-dwns until at least 2032-33. By then, the fund is expected to reach a worth of $380 billion, from its present $230 billion.

“The government remains committed to the Fund’s independence and commercial focus,” the ministers said.

“Its primary objective will continue to be to maximise returns, the benchmark return rate will remain at between 4% and 5% above CPI per annum over the long term, and there will be no change to the expected risk profile.

”The Fund will provide the same strong returns to the government’s balance sheet while supporting national priorities where it can.”

No legislation is needed for the changes.

The Future Fund said in a statement that the government’s announcement was an endorsement of its work over 18 years to deliver a “demanding investment mandate of CPI+ 4-5% a year over the long term”.

It said delivering this investment target remained the fund’s focus under the new investment mandate. The fund’s Board of Guardians “will continue to make investment decisions independent of the government with the priority of generating commercial returns”.

The fund said the priorities it had now been given aligned with its thinking.

It also noted various investments it presently has in infrastructure and the energy transition. It plans to appoint an executive director, energy transition, to help with efforts in this area.

Social media age ban: companies face fines up to $50 million

The government on Thursday will introduce its legislation to ban minors under 16 from accessing social media, with companies facing fines of up to $50 million for breaches.

Under the legislation, the onus will be on the plaforms, not the parents or children, who will not face penalties.

The penalties of up to $50 million will be for companies that systematically breach the law as well as for violations of enforceable industry codes and standards.

The bill also allows the minister to exclude specific classes of services that support the health and benefit of children.

It contains privacy provisions including that platforms ring-fence and destroy any information collected. Läs mer…

The government says it will take “big money” out of election campaigns – or, more realistically, curb it – with its legislation imposing donation and spending caps and real-time disclosure.

But crossbenchers and other critics are up in arms, about the effect on small players and the fact the package is being rushed through parliament in a fortnight.

On this podcast we are talking with Special Minister of State Don Farrell about the bill and the criticisms.

Why the rush? Farrell argues people knew what was coming:

Nothing in this bill is a surprise to anybody who’s been involved in the process that has taken place over the last two and a half years. We went to the last election saying we were going to reduce the disclosure threshold, saying that we were going to introduce real-time disclosure of donations, saying that we were going to introduce caps on spending and donations. And that’s exactly what we’ve done in this legislation and there’s now been two Senate inquiries into this legislation. And all of the parties have absolutely adequate time to have looked at the recommendations.

Why do we need to get it through so quickly? Well, these are significant changes to the electoral system. They’re probably the most significant changes to the Australian electoral system in decades. And it’s going to take time to set up the systems that are going to be required to implement this.

Farrell has introduced truth-in-advertising provisions but he won’t push them this time, given a lack of bipartisan support. They will be a matter for another term:

We’ve had truth in political advertising in South Australia. We had a [state] byelection in South Australia last weekend and that legislation was used to clarify some statements that the opposition were claiming against the state government. So I think it’s a good provision. I’ve said all along that I want to get the maximum support for any piece of legislation in the electoral space.

Just at the moment, we haven’t been able to convince enough people that the legislation is worth their support. But I’m going to be continuing to work on that and one day we will get legislation through for truth in advertising.

Labor’s changes have also been criticised for not disallowing certain groups and industries from donating, such as those associated with the gambling industry. Farrell says:

If we were to do what you’re suggesting there, and then ban some companies, I think we would run into exactly the issues that [constitutional expert] Anne Twomey was talking about in her article in The Guardian Australia. One thing that would guarantee a challenge and perhaps a successful challenge is if we started to pick which companies in this country could donate. The cap that we’re applying, $20,000, really does limit the ability of any company, or any union for that matter, or any other party, or any individuals to dramatically influence the outcome.

We’re seeing Clive Palmer putting at the last election, $117 million dollars into the electoral process. I don’t think that’s what Australians want to want to see. But if I was to ban, say, the companies I don’t like from donating, I think that would result in a challenge to this legislation.

When asked if he intends to serve out the rest of his term as a senator (which isn’t due to end until 2028) Farrell says

Yes.

I love my job. I’ve got three terrific portfolios trade, tourism and special minister of state. I enjoy all of them equally. I think I can continue to contribute to political debate in this in this country. Just in my trade space: we started with $20 billion worth of trade impediments from China. We’ve managed to get that removed, or certainly by the end of the year to get that removed.

I think I can look back on a number of things in the tourism space – we’ve pretty much got back to where we were pre-COVID.

I like being involved in politics. I enjoy the process. And I’d like to continue doing it. Läs mer…

Next month’s federal budget update is expected to revise down company tax receipts for the first time since 2020, amid continued low economic growth in the near term.

In his Wednesday ministerial statement on the economy, the forecasts remained subdued but Treasurer Jim Chalmers emphasised the upside.

Chalmers said any growth was welcome, given many countries’ economies have gone backwards. Treasury was expecting a gradual recovery “driven by rising real incomes thanks to our cost-of-living relief, jobs growth and progress bringing inflation down,” he said.

Consumer confidence was already showing a modest recovery and households were feeling more confident about the next year, Chalmers said.

“This is the soft landing we have been planning for and preparing for,” he said. “Inflation coming back to band, an economy still growing and unemployment with a 4 in front of it.”

Chalmers said while there was still data to come, including on the national accounts and tax collection, before the December budget update (titled the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook), the Treasury’s current estimate was that any revenue upgrade would be a “sliver” of Labor’s earlier budget updates.

In each of Labor’s earlier budget updates, revenue upgrades averaged $80 billion.

But this trend is diminishing with the labour market softening, and problems in the Chinese economy hitting commodity prices. Iron ore prices are down more than 30% since the start of the year.

Treasury’s latest inflation forecasts are generally in line with the May budget.

“Treasury expected inflation to be back in the [Reserve Bank’s target band of 2–3%] by the end of this year, and that’s what happened,” Chalmers said.

He said government spending wasn’t the main driver of prices and the government’s budget surpluses were assisting the fight against inflation – “points Governor Bullock has repeatedly made”.

With wages growing and inflation falling, “real wages are growing again. They were going backwards by 3.4% when we came to office,” Chalmers said.

“Real wages grew by 0.7% in the year to September – the largest annual increase in over four years, and there’s now been four consecutive quarters of real wages growth.

”The average full-time worker is now earning $159 more per week since we came to office. For women it’s $173 per week more. Since we came to government, wages in industries dominated by women have risen by more than 8%,” Chalmers said.

In his reply, Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor said there was “nothing soft” about the landing.

He said prices were still rising, and “there is nothing soft about the pain Australians are feeling”.

“On nearly every metric, Australians are not better off than they were almost three years ago,” Taylor said.

Labor had added $315 billion of spending, boosting inflation. “That is $30,000 per household of extra spending,” he said. “The RBA has said extra government spending is making their job harder.” Läs mer…

Treasurer Jim Chalmers will announce on Wednesday a package of reforms to the retirement phase of the superannuation system, to make it easier to navigate and consumer friendly.

In a speech to the industry, Chalmers will point out the superannuation system is reaching “a pivotal moment”, with more than 2.5 million people expected to retire in the next decade.

Over the next four decades, superannuation drawdowns are estimated to increase from 2.4% of GDP to 5.6%.

The changes are aimed at helping people make their superannuation go further, as well as providing “peace of mind” for retirees.

The reforms fall into four areas.

The government will expand resources on the Moneysmart website, so retirees have easy access to independent and reliable information on their options. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) will lead a consumer education campaign for those approaching or in retirement.
Support for innovation in “quality retirement products” will provide more options to meet people’s needs. Updated regulations will begin from mid-2026. The changes will include allowing the funds to offer features such as money-back guarantees, and instalment payments instead of an upfront lump sum.
A new set of “best practice principles” will be introduced, with consultation on draft principles starting next year. These will guide the industry in designing modern, high quality products for retirement.
A new reporting framework will bring greater transparency and understanding of the system. A “retirement reporting framework” will begin from 2027, with data to be collected and published annually.

In his speech, released ahead of delivery, Chalmers says the superannuation system is a “great strength of the Australian economy and a great source of security for Australians, building wealth and wellbeing in retirement”. But it still needs more work, he says. Läs mer…

The Albanese government has been put on the spot by a new agreement – which it has declined to join – signed by the United Kingdom and the United States to speed up the deployment of “cutting edge” nuclear technology.

The original version of the British government’s press release announcing the agreement said Australia, among a number of other countries, was expected to sign it.

But the reference was removed from the statement.

The UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and the US deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk signed the agreement in Baku during COP29.

The agreement promotes nuclear technology to help decarbonise industry and boost energy security.

A spokesperson for Energy Minister Chris Bowen, who is at the COP meeting, said: “Australia is not signing this agreement as we do not have a nuclear energy industry.

”We recognise that some countries may choose to use nuclear energy, depending on national circumstances.

”Our international partners understand that Australia’s abundance of renewable energy resources makes nuclear power, including nuclear power through small modular reactors, an unviable option for inclusion in our energy mix for decarbonisation efforts.”

Australia would remain as observers to the agreement to continue to support its scientists in other nuclear research fields, the spokesperson said.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton said “Australia is starting to become an international embarrassment under Chris Bowen and Mr Albanese”.

In parliament, acting Prime Minister Richard Marles said for Australia to pursue a path of nuclear energy would add $1200 to the bills of each household in this country.

The statement from the British government said the agreement “will help pool together billions of pounds worth of nuclear research and development – including the world’s leading academic institutions and nuclear innovators”.

New technologies such as advanced modular reactors could help decarbonise heavy industry including aviation fuel, and hydrogen or advanced steel production, the statement said.

Nuclear power is at the heart of the Dutton opposition’s energy policy. The Coalition has identified seven sites around the country for proposed nuclear power plants. Läs mer…

The Senate has censured two of its own, Lidia Thorpe and Ralph Babet, both of whom were absent when the votes were taken because of problems with their flights to Canberra.

Thorpe, a crossbencher who defected from the Greens, was condemned for her disruption of the parliamentary reception during King Charles’ visit.

Babet, the sole parliamentary representative of Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party, was condemned for a disgusting social media post.

The censure against Babet went through on the voices. That against Thorpe was carried overwhelmingly, but the Greens, ACT Senator David Pocock and Nationals Matt Canavan voted against.

Canavan spoke on both motions, objecting to their being considered in the senators’ absence. Pocock didn’t speak but had a similar objection.

The motions were moved by Senate leader Penny Wong and supported by the opposition.

Thorpe said after the vote that her flight had been delayed, and “I was denied my right to be in that chamber whilst everybody else voted to shut me down”.

Thorpe said she didn’t “give a damn” about the censure. “In fact, I’m going to use it for kindling later on in the week.”

Senator Fatima Payman, previously a Labor senator but now on the crossbench, condemned the government for proceeding with the motion against Thorpe despite the fact her plane was delayed.

The censure against Thorpe said her protest had been “disrespecful” and “disruptive”.

It called on all senators to refrain from “inflammatory and divisive actions” both inside and outside the chamber.

It said  in light of her conduct, it was not appropriate for Thorpe  to represent the Senate  as a member of a delegation during the rest of this parliament.

Babet had shared a clip from Andrew Tate, and posted “In my house we say phaggot [sic], retard and n—-r. We are sick of you woke ass clowns. Cry more. Write an article. Tweet about me. No one cares what you think”.

The motion censuring Babet condemned him for “his inflammatory use of hate speech designed to drive division for his own  political benefit”.

The notion “assures all Australians that no matter their race, religion, gender, sex, or sexuality that they are  valued, welcome members of our society”.  

It said there could be “no tolerance for hate speech in the course of parliamentarians’ public debate.”

It called on “all senators to engage in debates and commentary respectfully, and to refrain from inflammatory and divisive comments” at all times. Läs mer…

The Albanese government, anxious to prevent a dash from cash by businesses, says it will mandate that they must accept it for essential items.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones outlined the move in a statement, and are also releasing a plan to make the phasing out of cheques as orderly as possible.

Small businesses in general will be exempted from the cash requirement.

Treasury will consult on what businesses will be affected. They are expected to include supermarkets, those supplying basic banking services, those selling pharmaceuticals, petrol stations, utilities and healthcare services.

Through the consultations the government will consider the size of businesses that must accept cash, for example in the supermarket sector whether it would apply only to the largest supermarkets.

The question of distance will be relevant – what would be a reasonable distance for a person to have to travel to find a business that took cash.

The regime would likely be established through regulation, so it could be adjusted over time.

The ministers said although people increasingly use digital methods to pay, about 1.5 million Australians use cash for more than 80% of their in-person payments.

“Cash also provides an easily accessible back-up to digital payments in times of natural disaster or digital outage,” the ministers said.

They said up to 94% of businesses still accept cash “and we want to see cash acceptance continue particularly for essentials”.

The consultations would consider the needs of people relying on cash, including those in regional areas and those unable to use digital payments, as well as the impact on businesses especially small businesses, the ministers said.

The details of the mandate would be announced next year and it is proposed it start from January 1 2026.

Cash mandates are in place in countries including Spain, France, Norway and Denmark and in some American states.

Under the cheque transition plan, cheques will only stop being issued by June 30, 2028 and stop being accepted on September 30, 2029.

Cheque use has fallen by 90% in the last decade. Many banks and other financial institutions are ending providing cheque books for new customers.

The ministers said the government was acting to give customers and businesses the help they needed to switch to other payment methods. Banks also had a responsibility to support users in a smooth transition.

Chalmers has written to the CEOs of the four major banks outlining what is expected of them.

Parliament begins frantic last fortnight for the year

Parliament is commencing its final fortnight sitting for the year with much more legislation on the agenda than it can deal with.

Among its priorities will be the caps on international students for universities which are set to start next year. The caps will cost some universities large amounts of income, and have also come under attack from the retail and hospitality sectors.

The government is also anxious to have passed before the end of the year its aged care reforms, with the opposition agreed in principle but a wealth of detail to be considered.

There is as well legislation for the indexation of HELP student loans and for new school funding.

On Monday the government will introduce its sweeping changes to election donations and spending, with the aim of passing the legislation by the end of next week.

Other legislation includes restricting the age of access to social media to 16 and over, with the bill to be introduced this week. The opposition supports this move, and indeed advocated it before the government, so this has a good prospect of passage this year.

But the bill for controls on misinformation and disinformation appears at this stage to be unlikely to pass, with Fatima Payman, who defected from Labor, among the crossbenchers who has expressed opposition.

The Greens are looking for negotiations to be reopened on the housing legislation they have been holding up.

Greens spokesman Max Chandler-Mather has written to Housing Minister Clare O’Neil with a list of demands on the Build to Rent and Help to Buy bills, saying the Greens would pass the bills if the government “agrees to make progress” on their points.

With the election fast approaching and housing a central issue, it would seem in the interests of both Labor and Greens to strike a deal. Läs mer…

The head of the National Anti-Corruption Commission. Paul Brereton, has rejected calls he resign after a finding of “officer misconduct”, declaring to do so would harm the NACC.

In a spirited defence of his digging in, Brereton argued if he was to be “deterred from discharging my duties by adverse publicity, the important independence if the commission would be undermined.

”It would be a statement that our yardstick should be popularity, not integrity.

”It would say that we should avoid making difficult decisions, lest they be unpopular.

”From there it is a short path to becoming an architect of oppression and vehicle of vengeance, rather than an instrument of integrity.”

Brereton was found by the Inspector of the NACC to have committed “officer misconduct” because he only partially, rather than adequately, excused himself during the NACC’s consideration of whether the body should investigate six people the royal commission into Robodebt referred to it.

He delegated the actual decision-making in the matter to a deputy commissioner because he had had a professional relationship with one of the people, but he took part extensively in the process of consideration.

Whether there should be an investigation into the conduct of the six is now to be reconsidered by an independent person to be appointed by the NACC.

Brereton said that after the “stinging finding” by the Inspector, some had called for his resignation, while one commentator even posted that it was ‘revolver in the library time’, which was “liked” by 1700 followers.

Brereton’s detailed defence of his actions comes ahead of a meeting this month of the parliamentary committee with oversight of the NACC.

Speaking to the National Public Sector Governance Forum, he explained why he had remained involved in the process when the Robodebt matter was being considered.

He accepted his judgement had been found to be mistaken when viewed through the legal prism of “apprehended bias” but said “the legal lens is not the only one”.

He said the referrals were received in the first week of the NACC’s operation, when it was just establishing its processes, policies and procedures, including the scope of its jurisdiction and the meaning of “corrupt conduct” under its act.

“I considered that it would have been irresponsible and negligent to abandon any involvement, to provide no guidance on these issues.”

In the circumstances he considered “an appropriate balance” could be achieved by delegating the decision to a deputy commissioner and excusing himself when it was made, while continuing to provide input on issues of general application.

“There was a balance to be struck between my responsibility as a leader for managing the affairs of the commission and issues that would have lasting implications for it on the one hand, and avoiding the perception that my prior professional relationship with one of the referred persons might influence the decision on the other.”

He accepted he had got the balance wrong.

Brereton said the NACC had amended its conflict of interest provision so a person with a declared conflict who wasn’t the ultimate decision-maker did not take part in the process. Läs mer…

The head of the National Anti-Corruption Commission. Paul Brereton, has rejected calls he resign after a finding of “officer misconduct”, declaring to do so would harm the NACC.

In a spirited defence of his digging in, Brereton argued if he was to be “deterred from discharging my duties by adverse publicity, the important independence if the commission would be undermined.

”It would be a statement that our yardstick should be popularity, not integrity.

”It would say that we should avoid making difficult decisions, lest they be unpopular.

”From there it is a short path to becoming an architect of oppression and vehicle of vengeance, rather than an instrument of integrity.”

Brereton was found by the Inspector of the NACC to have committed “officer misconduct” because he only partially, rather than adequately, excused himself during the NACC’s consideration of whether the body should investigate six people the royal commission into Robodebt referred to it.

He delegated the actual decision-making in the matter to a deputy commissioner because he had had a professional relationship with one of the people, but he took part extensively in the process of consideration.

Whether there should be an investigation into the conduct of the six is now to be reconsidered by an independent person to be appointed by the NACC.

Brereton said that after the “stinging finding” by the Inspector, some had called for his resignation, while one commentator even posted that it was ‘revolver in the library time’, which was “liked” by 1700 followers.

Brereton’s detailed defence of his actions comes ahead of a meeting this month of the parliamentary committee with oversight of the NACC.

Speaking to the National Public Sector Governance Forum, he explained why he had remained involved in the process when the Robodebt matter was being considered.

He accepted his judgement had been found to be mistaken when viewed through the legal prism of “apprehended bias” but said “the legal lens is not the only one”.

He said the referrals were received in the first week of the NACC’s operation, when it was just establishing its processes, policies and procedures, including the scope of its jurisdiction and the meaning of “corrupt conduct” under its act.

“I considered that it would have been irresponsible and negligent to abandon any involvement, to provide no guidance on these issues.”

In the circumstances he considered “an appropriate balance” could be achieved by delegating the decision to a deputy commissioner and excusing himself when it was made, while continuing to provide input on issues of general application.

“There was a balance to be struck between my responsibility as a leader for managing the affairs of the commission and issues that would have lasting implications for it on the one hand, and avoiding the perception that my prior professional relationship with one of the referred persons might influence the decision on the other.”

He accepted he had got the balance wrong.

Brereton said the NACC had amended its conflict of interest provision so a person with a declared conflict who wasn’t the ultimate decision-maker did not take part in the process. Läs mer…