Australian news and politics live updates: Anthony Albanese announces $10 billion fuel security package

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has promised his fifth Budget will avoid stimulus spending but declined to rule out a $300 tax offset despite criticising the former Coalition government in Opposition for having a similar policy during a time of high inflation.

Federal Government spending is already at the highest level in four decades outside of COVID and Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock on Tuesday warned that more government spending would simply add to demand during a global oil crisis.

This followed the Reserve Bank’s third consecutive hike, taking the cash rate to a 15-month high of 4.35 per cent and undoing last year’s relief, with inflation running at 4.6 per cent or a level well above the RBA’s 2-3 per cent target.

In Opposition, Dr Chalmers criticised the former Coalition government’s tax offset program, for low and middle-income earners, for failing to tackle high inflation.

But despite a warning from Ms Bullock on Tuesday afternoon, Dr Chalmers declined to confirm or deny a report of a $300 tax offset in next Tuesday’s Budget, on top of tax cuts already planned for July 1 to help low-income earners and give most workers $268 in relief.

“Overwhelmingly what people will see in that Budget when we hand it down is a big effort to be as responsible as we can be,” he told Sky News on Wednesday morning.

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Jim Chalmers is trying to convince Australians that out-of-control inflation is not his fault, raising an interesting question: if you repeat a deception enough, will it be believed?

In a radio interview this morning the Treasurer said: “Government spending wasn’t the reason why rates went up yesterday. It wasn’t a factor in the decision.”

On Tuesday official interest rates were increased for the third time in three months, to 4.35 per cent, by the Reserve Bank of Australia to bring inflation under control.

Credible economists say Dr Chalmers’ expanding government — roughly $100 billion deliberately added to spending since elected in 2022 — is contributing to inflation.

This isn’t a fringe view. Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock said on Tuesday: “The extent to which the government makes up the shortfalls for households by giving them more money, it makes it harder to dampen demand”.

Ms Bullock, a Labor appointee, was referring to the unfortunate necessity to use interest rates to reverse the effects of spending by all levels of government.

Dr Chalmers tried to write off Ms Bullock’s observation as a response to a hypothetical question, and therefore irrelevant.

Read the full story here.

A man wearing an antisemitic T-shirt has been moved on by police outside a Sydney CBD building hosting the Bondi terror attack royal commission.

NSW Police said officers were patrolling Clarence Street about 11am on Wednesday when they saw a 68-year-old man wearing clothing that allegedly displayed an offensive slogan.

“About 11am officers were patrolling outside a building on Clarence Street,where a man was seen to be wearing clothing which allegedly displayed an offensive slogan on the front,” a police spokesperson said.

Police issued the man with a move-on direction, which he complied with.

“Inquiries are ongoing in respect of the alleged offensive conduct.”

The Royal Commission confirmed it was aware of the incident and that police were handling the matter.

“The Royal Commission is aware that this morning an individual wearing an antisemitic shirt was moved on by NSW Police from out the front of the Royal Commission hearing location. We understand the matter is being dealt with by NSW Police,” a spokesperson said.

“The Royal Commission is appalled that such an item of clothing was worn in the vicinity of our hearing venue.

“Safety of witnesses is paramount to the Royal Commission. We want to reassure witnesses and those wishing to engage with the Royal Commission that safety protocols are in place.

“The Royal Commission is determined to investigate antisemitism in Australia without fear or intimidation.”

The incident occurred as the commission continues public hearings examining antisemitism and social cohesion across Australia, including testimony from members of the Jewish community.

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Three Northern Territory child protection workers have been sacked over their handling of the case of a five-year-old girl allegedly murdered in Alice Springs.

NT Minister for Children and Families Robyn Cahill is reportedly furious about how her department handled the case of the little girl, now referred to as Kumanjayi Little Baby for cultural reasons,

“On hearing of Kumanjayi Little Baby’s disappearance I reached out to the department asking if we have any connection with this family, any concerns,” Minister Cahill told news.com.au.

“They told me there was nothing to see here.

“I called for a briefing, which took too long to reach me and that’s when I learned there was a lot to see there. I was shocked and questioned how could this possibly happen.”

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Tony Burke says migration is the solution. Try telling that to anyone paying rent, stuck in traffic or locked out of the housing market. If this is the answer, a growing number of Australians are starting to wonder what the problem actually looks like.

The Home Affairs Minister made the comment last week in an interview with the India Link podcast, in a statement that felt astonishingly tone-deaf to the reality many Australians are living.

In the interview, Burke also accused the Coalition of “singling out” Indian migrants, referencing Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s controversial comments last year, when she suggested Indian migrants were being brought into Australia because they voted Labor.

In doing so, he risked dragging the debate back into territory it doesn’t belong.

For most Australians, this has never been about where migrants come from. It’s about how many the country can realistically absorb.

Read the full story.

Opposition leader Angus Taylor has told a press conference in Melbourne on Wednesday that the PM’s plan to lift the reserve was still a long way short of the recommended 90 days.

Anthony Albanese announced a new plan, which will be funded in the upcoming Federal Budget, to lift Australia’s fuel reserves to 50 days in the wake of the Iran war prompted energy crisis. It comes as current reserve stocks sit between 30-40 days, depending on the type of fuel.

The crisis has highlighted how heavily reliant Australia is on Asian markets for refined fuels, as only two domestic refineries remain operational.

“We’ll look at the details of the package and decide what we can support and what we can’t,” Mr Taylor said.

“But as always with this government, it’s too little too late, with respect to the funding of feasibility studies into new refinery capabilities.”

On the expansion of the amount of fuel in storage, Chris Bowen says the government will work with the sector to identify the best locations.

“They will have facilities where we can hold it, and they will also have ideas about how we can best add to theirs. That process begins today,” the Energy Minister said.

“If you think about the early days of this situation, where we had regional shortages … caused by massive spikes in demand, I was ringing fuel chief executives and asking them to send fuel to those areas of shortage, which they did to the best of their ability.

“But if we had a government-owned reserve which, at the direction of the government, could be sent to those areas of shortage, like we had in regional NSW at the time and … areas of Western Australia and across the board in regional areas, that would have been very handy.”

Asked about the government’s confirmation that the four women and nine children associated with ISIS are returning to Australia, Anthony Albanese reiterates that there is no formal support for their return.

“The government has not and will not provide any assistance to this group,” the Prime Minister said.

“These are people who have made what is a horrific choice to join a dangerous terrorist organisation and to place their children in an extraordinary situation.”

Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the $10 billion would be “a centrepiece of next week’s Budget” and would prepare Australia for whatever lies ahead.

“We know that the international environment is getting more unstable, not less, and so we have to look at what we have done in this crisis and see what we can do to build Australia to be better prepared even for the next international crisis, whenever it might occur,” he said.

Australia was among a minority of countries that didn’t have a government-owned fuel reserve, so the funding to build one was “a big change in our approach”, the minister said.

Next week’s Budget will include a $10 billion fuel security package, Anthony Albanese has announced.

This will include $7.5 billion to increase supply and storage of fuel and fertiliser through loans, equity, guarantees, insurance and price support for purchasers and suppliers.

Another $3.2 billion will be spent establishing a government-owned fuel security reserve of about 1 billion litres. This will increase the nation’s onshore critical fuel reserves to about 50 days’ worth.

That reserve will have a particular focus on helping ease regional stock shortages and supply constraints.

As well, $10 million will go to feasibility studies on new or expanded refining capability, jointly funded by states and territories.

Mr Albanese said there was at least one serious proposal already being examined that would get the backing of both levels of government.