Greens Leader Adam Bandt and housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather have called for a national rent freeze to be implemented by the National Cabinet when they meet tomorrow.
With further reports today on the worsening housing and rental crisis and Mr Bandt’s rent and housing proposal announced at the National Press Club yesterday the Greens will continue their push for leadership from the Albanese government.
Greens Leader Adam Bandt MP said:
“The PM must stop delaying and seize the opportunity to put a national rent freeze on tomorrow’s National Cabinet agenda and get on with implementing caps on rents.
“Rents are skyrocketing across the country, but the Prime Minister thinks a national rent freeze is too hard.
“Yesterday the Greens released a fully-costed plan to incentivise the states to freeze rent increases for two years to give wages a chance to catch up.
“A rent freeze is not just legally possible, it’s also politically possible. With the Greens’ support the government could pass a serious plan for renters through the parliament by July.
“One third of the country is renting. If the government doesn’t show up to National Cabinet tomorrow with a real plan for renters, they’re throwing renters across the country to the wolves of the private market.”
Greens Housing spokesperson and member for Griffith Max Chandler-Mather MP said:
“One of the central demands in today’s Anglicare Rental Affordability Snapshot is national tenancy standards including national action on rent increases.
“Every day Labor refuses to coordinate a national freeze on rent increases via National Cabinet is another day a family will face eviction because they can’t afford the rent.
“With multiple investment properties maybe it’s hard for the Prime Minister to understand just how urgent this rental crisis is, but I encourage him to go to talk to renters and ask them what they think of freezing rent increases.
“The Prime Minister might call rent controls “pixie dust”, but for renters, a freeze on rent increases means staying in their home and not being evicted into homelessness.
“According to Anglicare, less than 1% of private rentals are affordable for someone on the minimum wage. That’s who this government is leaving behind.
“With rents predicted to increase even faster this year, either National Cabinet freezes rents, or hundreds of thousands of families will be pushed onto the streets and into their cars.”
The Greens are urging Labor to use the upcoming Budget to remove the Parenting Payment Single cut off and fully reinstate the eligibility age to 16, as recommended by the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce.
Greens leader in the Senate and spokesperson on Women, Senator Larissa Waters said:
“Budget savings should never have been made by pushing single parents into poverty. A decade on from this terrible decision it’s time to overturn it, and restore support to single parents until their kids turn 16.
“Single parenting doesn’t stop when a child turns 8, or 13, and neither should the Single Parenting Payment.
“The upcoming budget must fully reverse the Gillard government’s shameful decision to cut off Parenting Payment Single when kids turn 8, not tinker around the edges with a lift to 13 or 14.
“Poverty and homelessness are disproportionately impacting women and children. This is a crisis, and it demands an urgent government response.
“People voted for change at the last election, and an end to the sexist policies of the Morrison government. Those people deserve policies that will fix gendered economic inequality.
“If Labor are serious about taking a gendered lens to this budget, they could start by scrapping the Stage 3 tax cuts, which mostly benefit rich men, so we could fund things that will actually help the people who need it – like single mums.”
Today, Prime Minister Albanese met with His Excellency Russ Kun, President of the Republic of Nauru, in Brisbane.
Prime Minister Albanese and President Kun discussed Australia and Nauru’s shared priorities for regional security, climate resilience and regional connectivity.
Australia is supporting infrastructure projects in Nauru through the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific. These include Nauru’s Airport Refurbishment Project and the East Micronesia Cable Project.
Prime Minister Albanese reaffirmed Australia’s commitment to Nauru and to the future of the strong and longstanding partnership between the two countries.
The Albanese Government is committed to deepening ties with our Pacific family though partnerships built on trust, cooperation and shared aspirations for our region.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said:
“I was delighted to meet with President Kun for our first bilateral meeting.”
“Australia and Nauru have a strong and longstanding partnership, and we continue to stand together as members of the Pacific family.”
“I look forward to continuing to work together and strengthen the bond between our two nations.”
At the National Press Club today, Greens Leader Adam Bandt will accuse Labor of making the country’s rental crisis worse, saying the upcoming Budget must include more for renters and that the Greens were willing to hold out on passage of the government’s housing bill until Labor addresses the rental crisis.
Currently, Labor’s biggest Budget expenditure on housing is set to be on negative gearing and capital gains tax breaks, which will push up rents and make the housing crisis worse. Mr Bandt will present the Greens’ PBO-costed proposal to scrap tax handouts for landlords and wealthy property investors with more than one home, to fund an incentive for states to implement a two year rent freeze, build publicly-owned housing and double rent assistance for 1.4 million students, single parents, pensioners, people with disabilities, families and those looking for work. Mr Bandt will say that Labor should include these measures in the upcoming Budget to ensure its housing bill gets passed.
The Prime Minister has previously said he has no power to act on the rental crisis, dismissing such claims as ‘pixie-dust’, but Mr Bandt will use the suite of measures to demonstrate that the federal government has the power to act to solve the rental crisis, and there are urgent and available interventions that the government could implement that would pass the Senate in the next three months.
With the Greens’ support, the following measures would pass the Parliament before July and renters would receive immediate support, while also building out a pipeline of publicly-owned rental stock.
The Greens have identified significant concerns with the government’s Housing Australia Future Fund Bill, which includes nothing for renters and has no guaranteed minimum spend for social housing in the event that the fund doesn’t generate a return. Mr Bandt will confirm that if the government doesn’t come to the table on tackling the rental and housing crisis, the HAFF Bill will not pass the Senate in its current form.
Ending tax handouts for property investors with more than one investment property, while grandfathering tax arrangements for one investment property, and abolishing the capital gains tax discount would save the budget $74.1 billion over the decade.
The expenditure measures including a rent freeze incentive, doubling rent assistance and building public housing would total $69.4 billion over the decade.
The Greens proposed housing package would:
Establish a Rent Freeze Housing Fund for State Governments by doubling the $1.6 billion in annual funding provided under the existing National Housing and Homelessness Agreement to increase stock, for example by immediately starting to purchase existing properties for affordable housing, on condition that the jurisdiction freezes rents for two years and limits increases thereafter
Double the rate of Commonwealth Rent Assistance if government continues to refuse to lift income support payment rates above the poverty line
Directly build 225,000 publicly-owned properties over the decade which will generate rental income, instead of gambling money on the stock market via the neoliberal housing fund
Immediately abolish the 50% capital gains discount for individuals for assets held for more than 12 months
Phase out the deductibility for all investment property interest expenses against personal income for individuals with more than one investment property purchased before 1 July 2023 over a 5-year period
Housing Policy Measures – Fiscal Balance
2022-2033 ($b)
Revenue
End tax breaks for property investors
$74.1
Expenditure
Double Rent Assistance
-$43.6
Rent Freeze Housing Fund
-$16
Government-Owned Affordable Housing Build
-$9.8
Subtotal
-$69.4
Total budget improvement
$4.7
Distributional analysis of CGT and NG handouts
According to the Treasury’s Tax Expenditure and Incomes Statement, in 2019-20 over half a million people benefited from the capital gains discount for individuals and trusts. Nearly 91% of the total benefit was received by tax filers with above median taxable income, and 75% by the top 10% of tax filers, 61% were men and most of the benefit went to people aged over 50.
In 2019–20, 79% of the rental tax reduction went to people with above median income, and 35% of the reduction went to people in the top taxable income decile. Rental deductions are most commonly claimed by those with higher taxable incomes, particularly those in the seventh or higher taxable income decile.
Around 1.2 million men claim rental deductions and derive a larger tax reduction than women from these deductions by $2,180 on average. Men received around 59% of the tax reduction whereas women received 41% of the tax reduction.
Excerpts from Greens Leader Adam Bandt MP’s address to the National Press Club
Above all, right now, we’re in a housing and rental crisis.
Rents have skyrocketed. There are not enough affordable homes. Millions are stressed just trying to keep a roof over their heads.
More and more people are sleeping in their cars with their kids, others are lying awake at night wondering whether there’ll be a letter from the real estate agent telling them the rent has gone up again by hundreds of dollars a week, or worse, they simply have to leave.
More and more people are spending hours in line to simply view a rental property. Some people have not been able to get back into a permanent home after years of floods and fires.
Right now, there’s a shortage of 640,000 public, community and affordable homes, and it’s increasing every year.
Rents are rising six times faster than wages. People are being encouraged to bid higher than the advertised rates, forcing rents higher and higher. According to Homelessness Australia, an average student will be left with $13 dollars a day after they pay their rent. Many essential workers, like nurses and aged care workers, would have to spend two thirds of their income on rent to afford a place in our capital cities.
It does not have to be this way. Labor can freeze rent increases and build more public and affordable homes.
The Prime Minister says ‘bad luck’ to renters by mocking these suggestions, calling them “pixie dust” when I asked him about it in Question Time, or according to Labor backbencher Julian Hill, “simply impossible”.
But it is possible.
A rent freeze is both legally and politically possible.
During the pandemic, National Cabinet decided to collectively act to protect the interests of renters with a moratorium on evictions. The then PM Scott Morrison reportedly put federal government financial assistance on the table, including through taxation arrangements, as part of a package to provide rent relief.
If Scott Morrison can act, Anthony Albanese should as well.
The Ministerial Council Meeting of Housing Ministers is about to meet and it should be on their agenda. They could seek a submission from the ACT, where Labor, in government with the Greens, put caps on rental prices.
Scotland – again with the Greens in shared government – has just implemented rent controls and it can be done here too.
The Victorian, South Australian, Tasmanian and the ACT governments all froze rent increases during the pandemic.
Many state governments already limit rent rises to once a year, and if they simply extended that to two years, there would be a two year rent freeze.
It is unacceptable and irresponsible for the Prime Minister to throw his hands up and put the Greens’ rent freeze proposal in the too hard basket when Labor holds almost every seat around the National Cabinet table.
With wall to wall Labor State governments on the mainland, Labor can’t pass the buck on the rental crisis anymore.
We know Federal Labor can get State governments to act on issues where they share responsibility.
Labor acted on energy prices at the end of last year, organising for Parliaments across the country to be recalled and complementary state and federal legislation passed, with Greens support after the government agreed to put household electrification measures in the Budget.
The Prime Minister must treat rising rents with the same urgency he brought to rising power bills.
And as Labor has no ideas of its own to tackle the rental crisis, here’s another proposal. The Federal government uses the power of its purse strings all the time to drive change, and they can do it with the housing crisis too. It’s not ‘pixie dust’, it’s what the Federal government already does.
So the Greens’ proposal, which I am announcing today, is to establish a Rent Freeze Housing Fund, with an annual $1.6 billion of extra funding for states and territories under the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement, effectively a doubling of their NAHA funding. States and territories could access this fund if they impose a 2 year freeze on rent increases and cap rental increases after that. States could put that money towards expanding their own stock by building more public housing, or by buying up existing empty homes or NRAS properties to deal with the crisis immediately.
This is a real and concrete pathway for the Federal Government to introduce a freeze on rent increases. We have put to the Government that we are ready and willing to pass a housing plan that includes a commitment to coordinate a freeze on rent increases, $5b a year invested in public and affordable housing, owned by the government, which people could rent for 25-30% of their income, along with an immediate doubling of rent assistance for the struggling students, single parents, pensioners, people with disabilities, families and those looking for work as a downpayment on raising all income support payments above the poverty line.
So there’s the pathway for the federal government to deal with the rental crisis, Mr Albanese.
The Government’s own National Housing Finance Investment corporation has said we need $15 billion a year invested in public and affordable housing for the next 20 years. The Greens, in the spirit of compromise, have suggested that the Federal Government should contribute a third of that.
Is Labor really saying that they are willing to spend over half a trillion dollars on Stage 3 tax cuts for the wealthy and on nuclear powered submarines, but can’t find $5 billion a year for public housing and $1.6 billion a year for a rent freeze, in the middle of a housing crisis? Any moderately progressive government would scrap the Stage 3 tax cuts and submarines, but even if Labor remains resolutely committed to handing over $9000 a year to Clive Palmer, there’s another way to fund a proposed solution to the housing crisis.
Right now, Labor is giving billions in handouts to investors and landlords through negative gearing and capital gains tax handouts. This is driving up prices and rents, and locking young people out.
Labor’s biggest Budget expenditure on housing is for tax breaks for wealthy property investors.
Labor is making the rental crisis worse.
Labor should stop giving handouts to property moguls with more than one investment property and instead use that money to fund a rent freeze, double rent assistance and build even more government-owned public and affordable housing.
This isn’t about someone who owns one extra house or flat as an investment in addition to their main residence. They’re not affected by the Greens’ proposal. We’re calling for an end to tax breaks the government is currently giving to people who own three, four, twelve or twenty-five properties.
It is about the 20,000 wealthy moguls who own more than six properties each and claim these handouts for the 151,000 houses they own between them.
Half of all the billions in negative gearing tax concessions goes to the top 20% of households.
All up, the Greens’ proposal would raise $74.1b over the decade and cost $69.4b.
Tackling the rental crisis actually saves the government money.
Instead, Labor wants to gamble $10 billion in the Future Fund and if it makes a profit, build social and ‘affordable’ homes, with no minimum spend and spending capped at $500 million a year. And if the fund makes a loss, like last year, nothing is spent. Imagine if the government spent no money on public schools one year because a stock market gamble backfired: that’s what they’re proposing for housing.
Labor says it will build 30,000 homes in five years, across the country, then nothing, and at the end the waiting lists will be longer than they are now.
Even if Labor’s bill passed tomorrow, by the next election, there won’t be a single home built.
We don’t need billions gambled on a fund for the future – we need direct investment now.
$5 billion a year would see 225,000 homes built.
The Greens want to see the government do what governments have done in the past. Spend public money on public investments. Government should just build the damn homes itself, not gamble money on the stock market.
Labor is currently pressuring the Greens to pass their weak housing bill that sees the crisis get worse.
But if Labor wants our support on its housing bill, it needs to come to the table on the rental crisis and on building more public and affordable housing.
With all his Question Time contempt about a rent freeze being ‘pixie dust’ and his reported delight about campaigning at the next election on his housing bill failing in the Senate, the Prime Minister needs to understand this isn’t an inner Sydney council meeting and a chance to get even with the Greens.
There is a full blown nationwide rental crisis and it must be confronted.
The Prime Minister’s scorn shows he hasn’t kept up with the sea change in Australia’s housing system.
There’s now a third of the country who rent.
As a group, renters have been ignored by the old parties.
The Greens campaigned strongly on renters’ rights at the Federal election and our vote went up.
After investing for many years in our grassroots organising model, another key to our success in the last election, the Greens now have the means to communicate directly with many of these renters, most of whom don’t spend their time listening to the Prime Minister’s question time threats.
We have already been going to the queues at rental property inspections in Melbourne and handing out rent freeze materials, as well as door knocking in Labor electorates around the country about our stance on Labor’s housing bill, and we are receiving great support.
People know that as things stand, Labor is actively choosing to make the housing and rental crisis worse.
Labor is the party of property moguls.
The Greens are fighting for renters and affordable homes for all.
If Labor wants our support on their housing bill, they need a package that meets the scale of the crisis. A package like the one I have just outlined can be legislated and in place before July.
Labor negotiated on the Safeguard Bill, they recalled Parliament to deal with power bills, and they should show the same urgency on housing and rents so that everyone has an affordable place to live.
On 24 May Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will host the 2023 Quad Leaders’ Summit in Sydney.
It will be the first time Australia has hosted the Quad Leaders’ Summit, and follows the Prime Minister’s attendance at the Quad Leaders’ Summit in Tokyo in May 2022. It will be the third in-person Quad Leaders’ Summit.
The Prime Minister looks forward to welcoming his Quad counterparts to Australia for the Summit. These visits build on the meetings the Prime Minister has already had with Prime Minister Modi, Prime Minister Kishida, and President Biden.
The Quad is a diplomatic partnership of four countries committed to promoting stability, resilience and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific. Australia, India, Japan and the United States share a vision for a region that is governed by accepted rules and norms, where we all can cooperate, trade and thrive.
Together, Quad partners are taking practical action to address shared regional challenges, including improving regional health security, advancing critical and emerging technologies, strengthening connectivity, enhancing clean energy innovation and boosting supply chain resilience.
This year Quad partners are playing a strong leadership role in the Indo-Pacific through hosting the G20 (India), G7 (Japan), and APEC (US). In Sydney, Quad Leaders will discuss how the Quad can work alongside partners and regional groupings, foremost ASEAN and the Pacific Islands Forum, to strengthen our cooperation and shape the region we all want to live in.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said:
“I am honoured to host the first ever Quad Leaders’ Summit in Australia in Sydney.”
“Quad partners are deeply invested in the success of the Indo-Pacific. Leveraging our collective strengths helps Australia advance its interests and more effectively respond to the region’s needs. We are always better off when we act together with our close friends and partners.”
“The Quad is committed to supporting an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific that is respectful of sovereignty and ensures security and growth for all. I look forward to discussing with Quad Leaders how we – alongside important regional institutions, such as ASEAN, the Pacific Islands Forum, the Indian Ocean Rim Association and our regional partners – can shape the Indo-Pacific region we all want to live in.”
Today the Albanese Government has released the public version of the Defence Strategic Review (the Review), the Government’s response to the Review, and the National Defence Statement 2023.
Commissioned in the first 100 days of Government, the Review sets the agenda for ambitious, but necessary, reform to Defence’s posture and structure.
The Government’s response to the Review sets out a blueprint for Australia’s strategic policy, defence planning and resourcing over the coming decades.
The Albanese Government has agreed, or agreed in-principle with further work required, to the public Review recommendations, and has identified six priority areas for immediate action:
Acquisition ofnuclear-powered submarines through AUKUS to improve our deterrence capabilities;
Developing the Australian Defence Force’s (ADF) ability to precisely strike targets at longer-range and manufacture munitions in Australia;
Improving the ADF’s ability to operate fromAustralia’s northern bases;
Initiatives to improve the growth andretention of a highly skilled Defence workforce;
Lifting our capacity to rapidly translate disruptive new technologies into ADF capability, in close partnership withAustralian industry; and
Deepening of our diplomatic and defence partnerships with key partners in the Indo-Pacific.
Realising the ambition of the Review will require a whole-of-government effort, coupled with a significant financial commitment and major reform.
The Government is making the hard decisions necessary to cancel or reprioritise Defence projects or activities that are no longer suited to our strategic circumstances, as outlined in the Review.
The Albanese Government’s response to the Review includes specific directions to Defence with immediate effect, while establishing a methodical and comprehensive process for long-term and sustainable implementation.
To inform this, the Government has accepted the Review’s recommendation for an inaugural National Defence Strategy in 2024, which will be updated biennially.
The National Defence Strategy will encompass a comprehensive plan of Defence policy, planning, capabilities and resourcing, including reprioritisation of the Integrated Investment Program, in line with the recommendations of the Review.
The Albanese Government will work with industry, the community and stakeholders to implement the work and the recommendations of the Review.
We thank His Excellency Professor the Hon Stephen Smith and former Chief of the Defence Force, Sir Angus Houston for their work.
Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon. Anthony Albanese MP said:
“My Government commissioned the Defence Strategic Review to assess whether Australia had the necessary defence capability, posture and preparedness to best defend Australia and its interests in the strategic environment we now face.
“We support the strategic direction and key findings set out in the Review, which will strengthen our national security and ensure our readiness for future challenges.
“The Government will continue to invest in our capabilities and invest in our relationships to help build a more secure Australia and a more stable and prosperous region.”
Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon. Richard Marles MP said:
“The Defence Strategic Review, and the Government’s response, is about maintaining peace, security and prosperity in our region.
“There are a lot of tough decisions which need to be made, but in doing so, we are making them in the best interest of our Defence Force and our nation.
“Work to implement the Review starts today, ensuring our ADF and our Defence personnel has the capability they need to keep Australians safe.”
Greens Leader Adam Bandt and Treasury spokesperson Senator Nick McKim have said the Greens will fight the proposal to remove the Treasurer’s power to overrule the RBA’s decisions to set interest rates.
The government has given in-principle support to Recommendation 1.1 of the RBA Review released this week, which proposes removing the democratic safeguard that currently exists in Section 11 of the Reserve Bank Act 1959.
Greens Leader Adam Bandt said:
“It seems Labor wants to use this review to further shirk its responsibility to deal with the housing crisis. Labor needs to keep the government’s power to override the Reserve Bank’s interest rate decisions, especially in a crisis.
“In the middle of a housing and rental crisis, there is a real risk the Reserve Bank is going to ruin lives and undermine our collective future with further rate rises.
“If Labor washes its hands of the inflation problem and outsources it to the Reserve Bank, it risks more pain for people already doing it tough.
“Tackling the cost of living and housing crises needs more government intervention, not less.
“Instead of shifting towards social democracy, Labor’s change further entrenches neoliberalism.”
Greens Treasury spokesperson Nick McKim said:
“Instead of getting rid of his existing power to set interest rates, the Treasurer should be using this power right now to help renters and mortgage holders by freezing interest rates.
“The Greens will vigorously oppose this fundamentally anti-democratic policy.
“This safeguard was put in place by Ben Chifley and kept in place by Robert Menzies.
“But Jim Chalmers has swallowed the technocratic kool-aid.
“If the Section 11 safeguards are removed the government would have no recourse over an RBA board that goes rogue.
“Removing democratic oversight would be the final capitulation to neoliberal groupthink and would totally cede monetary policy to the central banker’s club that has done nothing to stop rising inequality or the breakdown of the planet’s climate.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the Minister for Home Affairs and the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs have today announced a new direct pathway to Australian citizenship for eligible New Zealand citizens.
Changes in 2001 made it more difficult for New Zealanders in Australia to attain citizenship.
Today we have announced that from 1 July 2023, New Zealand citizens living in Australia will have a direct pathway to Australian citizenship.
All Special Category Visa holders will be able to apply directly for citizenship without becoming permanent residents first, as long as they meet a four-year residence and other eligibility requirements.
This is a fair change for New Zealanders living in Australia, and brings their rights more in line with Australians living in New Zealand. This is consistent with our ambition to build a fairer, better managed and more inclusive migration system.
Many New Zealand citizens choose to live and contribute to Australia, so it is reasonable they have the opportunity to become Australian citizens and enjoy the rights and obligations that come from citizenship.
Prime Minister Albanese said:
“Australia and New Zealand have a deep friendship, which has been forged through our history, shared values and common outlook.
“As we mark the 50th anniversary of the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement, I look forward to strengthening our relationship.”
“We know that many New Zealanders are here on a Special Category Visa while raising families, working and building their lives in Australia. So I am proud to offer the benefits that citizenship provides.”
Minister Clare O’Neil said:
“Australians and New Zealanders share a special bond and it’s important that we reflect that in the way we treat New Zealand citizens who choose to make Australia home.
“Today’s changes will strengthen ties with our closest neighbour, and will mean the many people already living and working in our communities can enjoy the benefits of citizenship.
“Anthony Albanese is ensuring the deep, strong connection between our two countries is reflected in how we treat Kiwis living in Australia.”
Minister Andrew Giles said:
“Australia is a country built on citizenship. It is only fair the opportunity to become an Australian Citizen is made easier for our closest friends and allies.
“This announcement will make a significant difference to the lives of people already living and working and in our communities.”
The shipwreck of Australia’s largest loss of life at sea has been discovered, more than 80 years after it sunk.
Japanese merchant vessel the SS Montevideo Maru was sunk on 1 July 1942 off the coast of the Philippines after setting sail from the former Australian territory of New Guinea.
The ship was carrying approximately 1,060 prisoners from around 16 countries, including 850 Australian service members from Rabaul. The ship was not marked as a Prisoners of War transport.
The number and identity of those on board the Montevideo Maru was not fully revealed until after the war, but the location of the shipwreck has remained a mystery.
81 years after its final voyage, the resting place of the Montevideo Maru has been discovered.
The search was led by not-for-profit Silentworld Foundation, deep-sea survey specialists Fugro, and supported by Defence.
At over 4000m depth, the wreck is deeper than the RMS Titanic, and it’s hoped the discovery will bring relief to the families of the Australians on board.
Prime Minister, the Hon Anthony Albanese MP said:
“At long last, the resting place of the lost souls of the Montevideo Maru has been found.”
“We hope today’s news brings a measure of comfort to loved ones who have kept a long vigil.”
“The extraordinary effort behind this discovery speaks for the enduring truth of Australia’s solemn national promise to always remember and honour those who served our country. This is the heart and the spirit of Lest We Forget.”
Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon Richard Marles MP said:
“For 81 years, hundreds of Australian families have waited for news of this shipwreck. It is my great privilege to confirm their loved ones have been found.”
“Finding the Montevideo Maru has been a remarkable effort by a passionate team of researchers and the Silentworld Foundation, supported by dedicated Defence personnel.”
“I also acknowledge the generous support from the Philippines authorities in permitting this search.”
“These Australians were never forgotten. Lost deep beneath the seas, their final resting place is now known. This remarkable discovery is a reflection of who we are as a nation and remarkably close to our day of national commemoration; Anzac Day. We will remember them.”
Chief of the Australian Army Lieutenant General Simon Stuart said:
“The Australian soldiers, sailors and aviators who had fought to defend Rabaul had enlisted from across the country to serve, met a terrible fate at sea on the Montevideo Maru.”
“Today we remember their service, and the loss of all those aboard, including the 20 Japanese guards and crew, the Norwegian sailors and the hundreds of civilians from many nations.”
“I want to thank the Silentworld team and the dedicated researchers, including the Unrecovered War Casualties team at Army, who have never given up hope of finding the final resting place of the Montevideo Maru.”
“A loss like this reaches down through the decades and reminds us all of the human cost of conflict. Lest We Forget.”
director of Silentworld, John Mullen said:
“The discovery of the Montevideo Maru closes a terrible chapter in Australian military and maritime history.”
“Families waited years for news of their missing loved ones, before learning of the tragic outcome of the sinking. Some never fully came to accept that their loved ones were among the victims. Today, by finding the vessel, we hope to bring closure to the many families devastated by this terrible disaster.”
“I would like to express my gratitude to all of the dedicated Silentworld team involved in this expedition, to the outstanding Fugro crew and technical team on board the Fugro Equator, and to the Australian Department of Defence for their unwavering support.”
“I am proud to be the citizen of a country that never forgets or stops looking for those lost in the course of duty, no matter how many years may pass.”
Greens Leader Adam Bandt and Treasury spokesperson Senator Nick McKim have said the Greens will fight the proposal to remove the Treasurer’s power to overrule the RBA’s decisions to set interest rates.
The government has given in-principle support to Recommendation 1.1 of the RBA Review released this week, which proposes removing the democratic safeguard that currently exists in Section 11 of the Reserve Bank Act 1959.
Greens Leader Adam Bandt said:
“It seems Labor wants to use this review to further shirk its responsibility to deal with the housing crisis. Labor needs to keep the government’s power to override the Reserve Bank’s interest rate decisions, especially in a crisis.
“In the middle of a housing and rental crisis, there is a real risk the Reserve Bank is going to ruin lives and undermine our collective future with further rate rises.
“If Labor washes its hands of the inflation problem and outsources it to the Reserve Bank, it risks more pain for people already doing it tough.
“Tackling the cost of living and housing crises needs more government intervention, not less.
“Instead of shifting towards social democracy, Labor’s change further entrenches neoliberalism.”
Greens Treasury spokesperson Nick McKim said:
“Instead of getting rid of his existing power to set interest rates, the Treasurer should be using this power right now to help renters and mortgage holders by freezing interest rates.
“The Greens will vigorously oppose this fundamentally anti-democratic policy.
“This safeguard was put in place by Ben Chifley and kept in place by Robert Menzies.
“But Jim Chalmers has swallowed the technocratic kool-aid.
“If the Section 11 safeguards are removed the government would have no recourse over an RBA board that goes rogue.
“Removing democratic oversight would be the final capitulation to neoliberal groupthink and would totally cede monetary policy to the central banker’s club that has done nothing to stop rising inequality or the breakdown of the planet’s climate.”
