Category: Australian News

The Albanese Government has prioritised politics over people, as it is confirmed they were waiting until after the Dunkley by-election to announce increases to private health insurance premiums.

The announcement today marks the longest time in 15 years that Australians have had to wait to find out how much more they will need to fork out for private health cover.

In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, it is completely unacceptable that the Prime Minister would purposely provide Australians with less time to prepare for a price hike.

The Prime Minister tried to hide from accountability last week by saying they were negotiating for ‘the best deal possible,’ but clearly this was not the case.

In comparison to the 3.03% increase announced today, PHI premiums were at the lowest level since 2001 at 2.7% when the Coalition left government, a change which we were able to announce during the prior December.

The Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care, Senator Anne Ruston questioned whether Minister Butler really expects us to believe he was at the negotiating table over the weekend in the middle of a by-election.

“The Prime Minister had an opportunity to be honest with the Australian public last week, but instead we saw more lies from Anthony Albanese.

“He has blatantly delayed this announcement, with no apology to the more than 14 million Australians who need to prepare for this additional cost as they already struggle to pay the bills under Labor.

“We also know that the increase announced today is only based on the average industry price, so some consumers will be paying substantially more – with less time to budget or shop around.

“Australian families just cannot afford this Government’s wrong priorities. They will always be paying more under Labor, and this hidden price hike is just another example.” Senator Ruston said.

The Opposition remains strongly committed to supporting the role of private health insurance in our healthcare system. During our time in Government, we supported the more than 14 million Australians to take out private health cover at the lowest rate in more than twenty years.

The Albanese Government is establishing a $2 billion investment financing facility to boost investment in Southeast Asia as part of a suite of economic initiatives announced at the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit in Melbourne.

Australia’s two-way investment with ASEAN was worth $307 billion in 2022. Two-way trade with ASEAN accounted for $178 billion in 2022, accounting for 15 per cent of Australia’s trade, which is greater than our trade with Japan or the United States.

The intiatives fulfil recommendations from Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, which was launched last year by Prime Minister Albanese to deepen Australia’s economic engagement with the region and ensure our shared prosperity.

Addressing 100 Australian and Southeast Asian CEOs at the Special Summit today, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese unveiled a package of focussed initiatives that represent the next phase of the Government’s response to recommendations in the Southeast Asia Economic Strategy, including:

• A $2 billion Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility (SEAIFF). Managed by Export Finance Australia, the SEAIFF will provide loans, guarantees, equity and insurance for projects that would boost Australian trade and investment in Southeast Asia, particularly in support of the region’s clean energy transition and infrastructure development.
• $140 million over four years to extend the Partnerships for Infrastructure Program. The Program will support efforts to improve regional infrastructure development and attract more diverse, quality infrastructure finance – including from the Facility. The program has been running since 2021 and has assisted partners to accelerate transport connectivity, the clean energy transition and telecommunications reforms.
• Appointing 10 Business Champions to facilitate greater commercial links between Australia and the economies of ASEAN. The Champions are senior Australian business leaders who will ensure Government and the private sector work in tandem to boost our two-way trade and investment.
• The launch of regional technology ‘Landing Pads’ in Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City. The new Landing Pads will provide on-the-ground support for Australian businesses to boost technology services exports to Southeast Asian markets, following the establishment of the initial ‘Landing Pad’ in Singapore in 2017.
• Improving visa access for Southeast Asia. Business Visitor visas will be extended from three to five years. The ten-year Frequent Traveller stream will be extended to eligible ASEAN Member States and Timor-Leste.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said:

“Australia’s economic future lies in our region.

“I am proud to lead a Government that is strengthening our trade and investment ties with Southeast Asia, directly contributing to our shared economic prosperity.

“These initiatives represent further investments in our future and ensure we are working with Southeast Asia as it continues to grow in economic size and reach.

“When our region prospers, Australia prospers.

“Our work internationally is delivering for Australians – for jobs, for our economy and for our people.”

The Albanese Government is strengthening its co-operation with Southeast Asia through a new $10 million Climate and Clean Energy Window, designed to bolster our joint efforts on climate change and clean energy.

The Window, announced at the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit in Melbourne today, will provide multi-year funding for climate and clean energy programs including technical capacity building, and will ensure Australia and ASEAN countries are sharing expertise and learning from each other.

Building on existing cooperation, the Window will enable Australian Commonwealth and State and Territory Government agencies to expand and sustain lasting relationships with Southeast Asian counterparts on climate change and the clean energy transformation.

It will also include a flexible funding stream to respond to partner country requests.

The Window will be the first initiative to be designed under the Southeast Asia Government-to-Government Partnerships program, announced by the Albanese Government in 2023.

It will also support implementation of Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, which recognises the critical enabling role of government-to-government partnerships and the opportunities and challenges of the clean energy transformation.

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong said:

“Climate change is an existential threat to our region and we are working with our ASEAN partners to mitigate its impacts and accelerate the clean energy transition.

“The new Climate and Clean Energy Window is one example of how we are creating opportunity and addressing shared challenges together.”

Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen said:

“Australia is strengthening cooperation with our ASEAN partners, working together to rewire our region and build new clean energy manufacturing and trade opportunities.”

“The $10 million Climate and Clean Energy Window will assist to build capability across the region to respond to climate change and accelerate the clean energy transformation.”

Minister Tony Burke and the weak Albanese Labor Government are refusing to stand up for vulnerable women workers who want the right to leave Australia’s most militant union, the CFMEU.

In the Senate today Labor said they would not support a private Senators’ Bill brought forward by Senator Jacqui Lambie. Senator Lambie’s bill will enable the manufacturing division of the CFMEU, which includes the Textile, Clothing & Footwear workers, timber workers and furniture workers, to hold a secret ballot to consider whether they wish to demerge from the CFMEU.

Senator Michaelia Cash said the Coalition strongly supported the Bill.

“We have seen numerous examples of intimidation, standover tactics and even violence from members of the CFMEU,’’ Senator Cash said.

“It is no wonder that textile workers, including a very large number of women, want to split off from the CFMEU and form their own organisation,’’ she said.

“Labor talks a big game about standing up for women but when it comes to a test like this they show their true colours,’’ Senator Cash said.

“We know Labor hates small businesses but it’s also obvious now that they hate small unions as well,’’ she said.

In 2020 the Coalition brought forward and passed important legislation allowing greater freedom for registered organisations, which the Labor Party actually supported at the time. Now Labor has removed those freedoms and refuses to back their re-instatement.

“This Government is hopelessly beholden to the big unions and in particular the CFMEU. We know its all about the millions of dollars those large unions give to Labor,’’ Senator Cash said.

“Minister Burke and the entire Labor side should bow their heads in shame,’’ she said.

Meta’s refusal to renew deals made under the News Bargaining Code is highly disappointing.

The Coalition put the code in place to address bargaining power imbalances between multinational digital platforms and Australian media companies.

The News Bargaining Code is critical competition policy to ensure that global social media giants do not abuse market power and that Australian publishers are fairly remunerated for the content they create.

This is important to support Australian jobs, small businesses, and a competitive media market that delivers good outcomes to consumers.

The government must consider all options under the existing legislation to support Australian publishers and deliver a sensible outcome to support Australian media.

When Meta made similar announcements in the UK, France and Germany in September last year, the government should have immediately taken measures to prevent this from happening in Australia.

The recent experience of Canada’s negotiations with Meta were also a clear indication of its intentions.

If the government is serious about competition, they must not allow digital service providers to hold Australian jobs and publishers hostage to dominant market power.

This is a critical test about whose side the government is on: Australian jobs, media, and publishers – or large multinational tech giants.

Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor said Labor has been caught on the back foot.

“This is another example of a government that’s asleep at the wheel.

“This is a world leading competition policy, and the government needs to use it.

“The warning signs were there and the government ignored them.

“Labor has been all talk and no action.”

Shadow Minister for Communications David Coleman said the government must take action.

“The News Media Bargaining Code was a world-leading initiative of the Coalition Government. It has played a vital role in ensuring that Australian journalism is properly valued online. The Albanese Government must ensure that all parties are fully compliant with the Code, now and in the future.”

Prime Minister Albanese hosted Malaysian Prime Minister the Honourable Anwar Ibrahim for an official visit to Australia in Melbourne today. The two Prime Ministers held the second Australia-Malaysia Annual Leaders Meeting.

Malaysia is an important regional partner and friend to Australia. Leaders discussed their desire to bring our people and economies closer together, guided by our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040.

The Prime Ministers agreed to a range of initiatives to achieve this vision.

The Southeast Asian Economic Strategy highlighted the digital economy as a priority growth area for Australian business in Malaysia. In response to this opportunity, leaders announced a new agreement to encourage collaboration between Australian and Malaysian technology companies, which will boost two-way investment.

Leaders also welcomed new cooperation on maritime decarbonisation and clean energy which will reduce shipping emissions and drive cooperation on renewable energy uptake.

A new Maritime Cooperation Package reflects the importance of maritime trade to Australia and Malaysia. This partnership will bolster maritime cooperation between Australia and Malaysia, strengthen maritime domain awareness capability and build expertise in international law of the sea and marine environmental protection.

Our people are the greatest asset to our relationship, with more than 170,000 people of Malaysian heritage calling Australia home.

The leaders agreed to collaborate more closely on education – from early childhood to university, and on opportunities for our young sportspeople to develop together.

Australia is also pleased to support Malaysia’s democratic reforms through the Australia-Malaysia Institutional Strengthening Program, which will support Malaysia’s work to strengthen government integrity and transparency.

In recognition of the evolving security issues we face together, Australia and Malaysia committed to working more closely to manage cyber security threats and train our professionals in cyber skills. The two countries also agreed to strengthen cooperation on nuclear non-proliferation.

These important and practical initiatives will see more generations of Australians and Malaysians studying, training, and working together.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said:

“I was honoured to welcome Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to Australia for his first official visit as Prime Minister of Malaysia.

“The Australian Government is committed to deepening links with Southeast Asia, and Malaysia is a longstanding friend and partner in the region.

“Looking to the future, there are enormous opportunities to be realised by closer cooperation between Australia and Malaysia.

“Australia and Malaysia share a firm commitment to an Indo-Pacific region that is open, stable and prosperous. I look forward to continuing to work with Prime Minister Anwar, particularly as Malaysia takes on the role of ASEAN Chair next year.”

The Australian Government has imposed additional targeted financial sanctions and travel bans on three Russian officials linked to the prison where Alexei Navalny died.

This announcement follows the Magnitsky-style human rights sanctions the Government imposed on seven individuals involved in the mistreatment of Mr Navalny in the IK-6 Penal Colony prior to his transfer to IK-3.

Mr Navalny died in IK-3, one of Russia’s harshest prisons, on 16 February 2024.

At IK-3, Mr Navalny was held in sub-zero temperatures and reports suggest he was repeatedly subjected to stretches in punishment cells. After his death, the Russian Government withheld Navalny’s remains from his mother for over a week.

Our thoughts are with Mr Navalny’s family and his supporters in Russia and across the world as they mourn him at his funeral later today. We recognise the work of all in Russia who promote democracy and human rights.

Australia holds President Putin and the Russian Government responsible for Mr Navalny’s treatment and death in prison. These sanctions, and those imposed by our partners, reinforce our commitment to accountability for Mr Navalny’s death.

Australia again calls for an independent and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mr Navalny’s death.

Australia must get on board with the global billionaires’ tax proposed at the G20 meeting, the Greens say.

“As the gulf between super-wealthy and everyday Australians widens, the need for fair tax policy grows every day,” Greens Economic Justice Spokesperson Senator Nick McKim said.

“The G20 proposal is for a 2% annual tax on the world’s richest people, which would be the bare minimum, given the frightening pace at which they have accumulated wealth in recent years.”

“While billionaires have seen their fortunes more than double since the start of the pandemic, millions of Australians continue to grapple with the cost of living crisis.”

“Amid a backdrop of rising inequality and a climate crisis, the global tax on billionaires is a moral necessity.”

“The Greens have long advocated for making billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share, aiming to redirect wealth towards creating a society that values people over profit.”

“By supporting measures such as an annual wealth tax on billionaires, Australia can invest in essential services like healthcare, education, and social services, which have been eroded by years of neglect by the major parties.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will host leaders of ASEAN and Timor-Leste for the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit in Melbourne from 4-6 March. 2024 marks 50 years since Australia became ASEAN’s first external partner.

Australia has strong and far-reaching ties with the region. We are connected by families, friends, education and business.

As a bloc, ASEAN is Australia’s second largest two-way trading partner. More than one million Australians have Southeast Asian heritage.

During the Special Summit, Leaders will discuss bolstering ASEAN-Australia cooperation, our vision for the region’s future and how we can work together to address shared challenges. A focus of the discussions will be on Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, a blueprint for stepping up Australia’s economic links with the region, launched by Prime Minister Albanese in September last year.

Preceding the Leaders’ engagement, there will be a range of meetings and events across four thematic Tracks that will bring together Australians and Southeast Asian business and community leaders, experts and academics to discuss:

• Boosting economic engagement;
• Supporting an accelerated clean energy transition;
• Increasing practical maritime cooperation; and
• Supporting the region’s current crop of emerging leaders.

In addition to the Special Summit, Prime Minister Albanese is honoured to host official Guest of Government programs with a number of Southeast Asian leaders:

• HE Ferdinand Marcos Jr, President of the Philippines;
• The Hon Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia;
• HE Mr Sonexay Siphandone, Prime Minister of the Lao PDR; and
• HE Mr Pham Minh Chính, Prime Minister of Vietnam.

The Prime Minister will also hold the Australia-Singapore Annual Leaders Meeting with the Prime Minister of Singapore, HE Mr Lee Hsien Loong. He will have bilateral meetings with the leaders of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Timor-Leste and with the ASEAN Secretary-General.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said:

“Australia is proud to be ASEAN’s first Dialogue Partner, sharing 50 years of mutual respect and cooperation with our friends in Southeast Asia.

“Building Australia’s links with the countries of Southeast Asia is a priority for the Government.

“The Special Summit commemorates our shared history and focuses firmly on the future – on how we can deepen our ties and Australia’s engagement with our region.

“Australia sees ASEAN at the centre of a stable, peaceful, and prosperous region. Strengthening our relationship ensures our shared future prosperity and security.

“I look forward to welcoming my counterparts to Australia to discuss the shared challenges facing our region, opportunities to enhance our prosperity and how we can build on our strong relationships.”

The Australian Government has imposed Magnitsky-style targeted financial sanctions and travel bans on seven prison officials involved in the mistreatment of Alexei Navalny.

Mr Navalny was detained at the IK-6 penal colony, a maximum-security jail known for its systematic abuse of prisoners. He was regularly mistreated, denied healthcare and placed in prolonged periods of solitary confinement. He died in custody on 16 February 2024.

The Australian Government is deeply shocked and saddened by the death of Mr Navalny. These sanctions are the next step in Australia’s efforts to hold to account those responsible for grave breaches of Mr Navalny’s human rights. We will continue to work closely with our partners to hold the Russian Government and all involved in Mr Navalny’s death accountable.

The Government’s first tranche of Magnitsky-style human rights sanctions, announced on 10 December 2022, included individuals involved in the 2020 poisoning of Mr Navalny.

Australia holds President Putin and the Russian Government responsible for Mr Navalny’s treatment and death in custody. As Australia has made clear to Russia, we join calls for an independent and transparent investigation into Mr Navalny’s death.

We acknowledge Mr Navalny’s heroic contribution to promoting democracy in Russia and his tireless opposition to President Vladimir Putin’s regime – work for which he has paid the ultimate price.

This announcement builds on our recent actions in response to human rights abuses in Russia. This includes sanctions in response to the poisoning, arrest, trial and sentencing of Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza, and Australia’s statements in key multilateral forums.